The impact of geometric parameters of a S-type Pitot tube on the flow velocity measurements for greenhouse gas emission monitoring

Abstract

In the monitoring of greenhouse gas emission from industrial smoke-stacks, the most common device used to measure the stack gas velocity is the S-type Pitot tube in South Korea, which is used to estimate the volumetric flow rate by what is termed the Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS). The S-type Pitot tube installed in the stack is inevitably affected during velocity measurements by velocity changes, yaw and pitch angle misalignments due to the harsh environments. Various geometries of the S-type Pitot tube can affect the characteristics of the S-type Pitot tube coefficients, including the degree of sensitivity to velocity changes and yaw and pitch yaw angle misalignments. Nevertheless, there are no detailed guidelines pertaining to the S-type Pitot tube geometry considering accurate and reliable measurements in the ISO, EPA and ASTM international standards. In the present study, S-type Pitot tubes with various geometric parameters, in this case the distance between the impact and wake orifices and the bending angle of the orifices, were manufactured by a 3D printer. Wind tunnel experiments were conducted in the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) air speed standard system to determine the optimal geometry of an S-type Pitot tube for the accuracy velocity measurements in actual smokestacks which undergo velocity changes and yaw and pitch angle misalignments. Particle image velocimetry was also used to understand the flow phenomena around an S-type Pitot tube under various geometric and misalignment conditions by means of qualitative visualization. The results indicate that S-type Pitot tubes with a long effective length have more constant distributions of the S-type Pitot tube coefficients when the velocity changes from 2 m/s to 15 m/s. The error indexes for yaw angle misalignments show that S-type Pitot tube models with large effective lengths are less affected by yaw angle misalignments. The S-type Pitot tube coefficients were mostly insensitive to the both positive and negative pitch angle misalignments regardless of the velocity and geometry of the various models tested.