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Showing posts with the label Dry Bulk Solids

Choosing a Solids Flow Meter - When is testing is needed?

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Not all Solids Mass Flow Meters are created equally, so how do you know which meter is best suited to measure your product??? When asking this question, the best answer is, when in doubt, test some product!  Most manufacturers of mass flow meters should have a test lab and a list of products that they have tested with their devices, building a database of what works and what does not work. WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN EXPLORING THE TESTING OPTION? REPLICATE THE INSTALLATION - Testing a product sample should also be done in a way that replicates the application or installation location.  This means that the equipment being used for testing should be similar to that of what will be used in the field.  For example, if the application calls for a flow meter (flowmeter) to be installed under the discharge of a screw conveyor, then the testing lab should have a screw conveyor. Simulation of Screw Conveyor Feeding a CentriFlow Type II Meter Simulation of Belt Fee...

Solids Flow Measurement Issues - Accuracy Issues Related to Pulsating Flow

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There are many different ways to move solid materials through a process, ranging from belt conveyors, vibratory conveyors, and pneumatic systems, to bucket conveyors/elevators and screw conveyors.  Many of these devices are great for moving the product, but if you need to measure the mass flow rate or control the flow rate, pulsations created by some of these devices can cause major problems. Devices like bucket conveyors/elevators, rotary valves, and screw conveyors have pockets, flights, or buckets that help to collect the product and move it through the device.  These create pulses or slugs of flow, some of which can be very large and there can be seconds or even moments where there is no flow at all between slugs. Pulsating Flow through a CentriFlow Meter Most mass flow meters require that pulsations be mechanically smoothed if at all possible, because they cannot deal with the pulsations when measuring the flow and computing the totalization.  This is typ...