Vertically installed Venturi tubes for wet-gas flow measurement: Possible improvements to ISO/TR 11583 to extend its range of applicability

Abstract

Venturi tubes are commonly used for wet-gas flow measurement, and the majority of commercial wet-gas flow meters generally include a Venturi tube installed vertically with embedded secondary instrumentation. The presence of the liquid causes an increase in the measured differential pressure and results in the Venturi tube over-reading the actual amount of gas passing through the meter. Most of the research in the literature is focused on the investigation of the over-reading for horizontally oriented Venturi tubes, thus limiting the development of over-reading correlations for vertical installation. An experimental campaign was recently conducted at the TÜV SÜD National Engineering Laboratory (NEL) high-pressure wet-gas loop, where three Venturi tubes of the same nominal diameter (4”) but different throat to inlet diameter ratio (0.4, 0.6, 0.75) were tested, installed vertically after a blind tee. The results of this experimental campaign are presented in this paper and the effects of various parameters (line pressure, gas Froude number, diameter ratio) on the over-reading are briefly discussed. It is shown that the over-reading correlation included in the ISO/TR 11583:2012 and developed for horizontally oriented Venturis, is not applicable to vertically oriented Venturis. However, if modified, the correlation included in the ISO/TR 11583 is capable of meeting its stated uncertainty limits for the experimental data presented here for vertically installed Venturis.