ELBOW FLOWMETER CALIBRATIONS FOR SLURRIES

Abstract

The use of an elbow flowmeter for the volumetric flowrate measurements of water, a glass bead/water slurry, and a sand/water slurry was experimentally investigated. It was found that as long as the slurry behaved as a homogeneous single phase fluid, the calibration of the elbow flowmeter was the same as that for a single phase fluid and the pressure difference across the elbow was that expected from single phase correlations. The effects of concentration were accounted for by using the density of the slurry for these calculations. The coefficient of discharge was calculated and analytically predicted to within 5%. If the conditions were such that a considerable slip velocity existed between the fluid and the slurry particles, the flowmeter behaved differently from that expected for a homogeneous fluid. The flow of a sand/water slurry through the elbow flowmeter which consisted of large particles resulted in stratification of the sand in the elbow. This caused a substantial change in the value of the elbow...