Ch 6

Magnetic Flowmeters

Prof. Taha Aldoss

Volume Flowmeters
10. Volume Flowmeters
10.1 Ultrasonic Flowmeters
10.2 Magnetic Flowmeters
10.3 Vortex Flowmeters
10.4 Turbine Flowmeters

Prof. Taha Aldoss

Magnetic Flowmeters

Prof. Taha Aldoss

Magnetic Flowmeters
z Magnetic flowmeters use Faraday's Law of
Electromagnetic Induction.
z According to this principle, a voltage is generated in a
conductive medium when it passes through a
magnetic field.
z This voltage is directly proportional to the density of
the magnetic field, the length of the conductor, and
the velocity of the conductive medium.
z In Faraday's Law, these three values are multiplied
together, along with a constant, to yield the
magnitude of the voltage.
z Magnetic flowmeters use wire coils mounted on or
outside of a pipe to generate the magnetic field.
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Magnetic Flowmeters-2
z Current through these coils generates a magnetic
field inside the pipe section.
z As conductive liquid passes through the pipe, it
generates a voltage detected by electrodes mounted
on either side of the pipe.
z The magnetic flowmeter uses this voltage to
compute flowrate.
z Magnetic flowmeters are used to measure
conductive liquids and slurries, including paper
pulp slurries and black liquor.
z Their main limitation is they cannot measure
electrically non-conductive fluids such as
hydrocarbons, and hence are not widely used in the
petroleum industry.
Prof. Taha Aldoss

e = - B D V x 10-8
B is the magnetic flux density
V is the velocity of the fluid
D is the distance between electrodes or the
pipe diameter for most flowmeters

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History
z Faraday attempted to measure the flow of the
Themes River using the earths magnetic field
and electrodes placed on opposite banks of the
river.
z His attempt was doomed to failure because of
polarization of the electrodes.
z Polarization: Constant applied direct current
causes a process of electrolysis in conducting
liquids resulting in the production of gases which
settle on the electrodes
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Principles
z An electrically conducting liquid in a tube of nonmagnetic material flows
between the poles of an electromagnet, arranged perpendicular to the flow
so that the lines of magnetic force (flux) are perpendicular to the flow
direction.
z Since the flowing liquid contains ions and is electrically conductive, the
interaction of the fluid and the magnetic field results in the ions giving up
their charge to the measuring plates (electrodes);
z Thus an electro-motive-force, emf, is created proportional to the speed of the
fluid.
e = - B D V x 10-8
B is the magnetic flux density
V is the velocity of the fluid
D is the distance between electrodes or the pipe diameter for most
flowmeters
z As seen, e = fn (D, B, V), thus the electromagnetic flowmeter output is
inherently linear with flow-rate change and unaffected by the density or
viscosity.

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The Principle

Prof. Taha Aldoss

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Polarization
z A magnetic flowmeter having a constant magnetic field,
such as the first attempt by Faraday, possesses a
distinctive and defeating characteristic, namely,
polarization of the electrodes.
z Constant applied direct current causes a process of
electrolysis in conducting liquids resulting in the
production of gases which settle on the electrodes
(polarization).
z The nonconducting gases change the resistance of the
electric circuit and cause errors in the measurement or
even destroy the measurement.

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Alternating current type

z
z
1.
2.
3.

To overcome the difficulties with the constant DC-type flowmeter,

an alternating AC and, consequently, an alternating magnetic field
device was developed.
AC-type electromagnetic flowmeter consists of:
Coils and iron return path from an AC magnet which produces an
alternating magnetic field across and perpendicular to the flow
path.
An insulated liner in the flow tube is used to prevent a short-circuit
in the conductive path of the induced emf through the fluid from
one metallic electrode to the other.
Between the electrodes, an alternating current is generated
because of the conductive fluid velocity interacting with the
alternating magnetic field.

4. The alternating voltage minimizes the effects of

polarization.

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Power supply
z Power necessary to produce the alternating magnetic field is
usually supplied from local electrical supply lines.
z These lines are not closely controlled in amplitude,
frequency, and waveform, therefore, the output signal of the
flowmeter is affected by variations in the magnetic field, B,
caused by power-line variations.
z Consequently, it is necessary to ratio output signal to a linereference signal in order to obtain the true flow rate.
z Two common reference signals in use today are the current
in the magnetic coils or the voltage supply to the coils.
z Other reference signals may be derived from a coil wound
around the iron of the magnet or from a coil placed in the air
gap of the magnet assembly.

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Other effects
z Other factors affecting the output signal are the phase
relation between the flow signal, e, and the reference
signal, and that changes in the fluid conductivity may
affect the phase of the output signal.
z The secondary device, that is, the electronics in the
signal-processing part of the flowmeter, is designed to
eliminate or account for all the above signal aberrations.
z The primary device is comprised of the pipe or flow tube,
the electrodes, and the coils and core of the
electromagnet.

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Pulsed direct current type

z The major source of error in the AC electromagnetic
flowmeters is due to stray currents causing zero shifts
and the resulting need to physically bring the fluid to
zero flow rate to correct for baseline or zero
conditions.
z The pulsed DC magnetic flowmeters has introduced
to solve the above problem.
z Basically, a direct current is periodically applied to the
magnetic coils, thereby avoiding any residual DC
voltages on the electrodes arising from galvanic and
thermal action.
z The DC output signal is proportional to the velocity, as
in the case of the constant magnetic field flowmeter,
however, the polarization is avoided.
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Pulsed DC Type-2
z In operation, the DC output frequency signal is
detected and stored during the excitation time of
the magnets and when the magnets are in the
unexcited state.
z By subtracting the voltage signal stored in the
unexcited state from the voltage signal in the
excited state of the magnet, a signal proportional
only to the flow rate results.
z By this the stray signals are effectively ignored
and a stable zero or baseline reference results
z The pulsed DC approach requires less power
and resultant lower power consumption.
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Fluid Conductivity + Velocity Profile

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Characteristics of magnetic flowmeter

density and viscosity effect

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Features and Limitations

Magmeters, as they are often called, are highly accurate, and do
not create a pressure drop.
Their initial purchase cost is relatively high, though generally
Magmeters are priced lower than Coriolis meters.
The application for Magmeters is a conductive fluid that does not
contain materials that damage the liner or coat the electrodes, flowing
through a full pipe.
The most obvious limitation on the use of magnetic flowmeters is
that they only work with conductive fluids.
Gases and steam are non-conductive, so Magmeters cannot measure
them.
Because they compute flowrate based on velocity times area,
accurate readings require that the pipe be full of fluid.
In addition, the accuracy of magnetic flowmeters can be affected by
electrode coating and by liner damage.
Prof. Taha Aldoss
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