Experimental and numerical studies on metrological characteristics of swirlmeters with different swirler helix angles in a gas–solid two-phase flow

Abstract

Swirlmeters are widely used to measure natural gas because of their simple structure, absence of internal moving parts and high measurement accuracy. However, fine particles in natural gas can affect swirlmeters’ metering accuracy. Hence, this study evaluated the metrological characteristics of swirlmeters measuring gas–solid two-phase flow with fine particles and different swirler helix angles. Experiments and simulations for swirlmeters with different solid–gas mass ratios and helix angles were performed. The results demonstrated that the swirlmeter meter factors decreased and pressure losses increased as the solid–gas mass ratio increased. With different solid–gas mass ratios, the most effective sensor detection position was at the throat outlet a half radius from the centre of the runner. The swirler with a smaller helix angle could significantly increase the meter factor, while the swirler with a larger helix angle could significantly decrease pressure losses. The swirlmeter internal flow losses were mainly derived from the swirler.