Flow Measurement of High Viscosity Liquids
Measurement & Instrumentation

Flow Measurement of High Viscosity Liquids

Photo of Titan Enterprises Titan Enterprises Send an email 16/05/2023
420 2 minutes read
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There are few industries as demanding as the chemical and petrochemical industry when it comes to liquid flow measurement and control.

Positive Displacement flow measurement devices, such as Titan Enterprises’ Oval Gear (OG) flowmeters, are one of the most widely used types of flow meter for measuring the flow of petroleum liquids and petrochemical additive injection fluids.

They remain a solid choice for many applications in today’s modern process control environment, due to the OG’s suitability in harsh environments, high-pressure capability, and long-term reliability with minimum maintenance. They are also ideally suited for viscous fluids.

High viscosity liquids, such as fuels, thick oils, bitumen, resin and tar, require devices that are precision engineered to provide highly accurate flow measurement. The teeth in an oval gear meter are used to drive the gear and seal the central path, with the differential force being developed by the shape of the ovals rather than the gear teeth on the lobe. Oval Gears vary in size and shape depending on the resolution and flow requirement of the process application.

oval gear meter

The pressure drop is essentially the limiting factor when it comes to metering high viscosity liquids within an application. The Oval Gears within these flow measurement devices provide a larger surface area generating a much greater driving pressure across the gears. This results in a wider flow range capability and lower pressure drop (see graph below) compared to other positive displacement meter types.

Neil Hannay, Titan Enterprises’ Senior Development Engineer, says: “The higher the viscosity of a liquid, the more pressure will be required to ‘force’ the liquid into the flowmeter and around the oval gears. It’s important to bear this in mind when selecting the correct size of oval gear flowmeter for your application. For example, more pressure will be required to push through resin than diesel.”

max flow of oval gear meter Small

Almost immune from the effects of varying liquid viscosity, density and temperature, the measurement accuracy of  Titans’ Oval Gear (OG) flowmeters improves as liquid viscosity increases, from a nominal 1% to around 0.1% of flow rate at higher viscosities. Titan’s standard OG models provide high accuracy up to 1000 cSt; for viscosities above 1000 cSt Titan’s specially profiled gears are supplied to facilitate additional flow of the liquid.

Titan Enterprises offer special options and adaptive designs of its Oval Gear meters to meet specific high-pressure requirements, aid chemical compatibility, and ensure safe operation in potentially explosive atmospheres.

Titan’s Oval Gear range of meters include ATEX compliant IP65/NEMA 4 protection models, and devices that offer intrinsically safe options for processes that operate within harsh environmental conditions, such as explosive or corrosive atmospheres, where flowmeters are required to withstand tough environments whilst maintaining accurate and reliable measurement.

high viscosity oval gear flow meter Small

For further information on the full range of Oval Gear flowmeters or to discuss your specific OEM application, please contact Titan Enterprises on +44 (0)1935 812790, email sales@flowmeters.co.uk or visit our website.

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Titan Enterprises Limited

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About us

With over 40-years experience in flow meter innovation, Titan Enterprises Ltd are a UK-based manufacturer of high performance solutions such as the Atrato ultrasonic flowmeter, Oval Gear flow meters and the low flow Turbine flow meters and instrument range.

Our knowledgeable team can offer either an off-the-shelf meter or fully bespoke flow system designed for a particular application whether it is a low cost OEM solution or a specialist flowmeter in exotic materials. Titan supplies innovative flow measurement solutions into a broad range of sectors, including medical, industrial, food and drink, laboratory and pharmaceutical, offshire oil & gas industry, power, chemicals and mining.

For higher volume users we can custom design a flowmeter to match exact application requirements and thus not compromise achievable results with a less than ideal sensor.

At Titan we endeavour to produce devices that are inherently reliable as well as manufactured using the latest and most economical production technology. All flow meters produced by Titan are designed and manufactured to ISO9001 and calibrated to an uncertainty of ±0.25%.

We produce chemically resistant, high accuracy digital flow meters that are not only competitively priced but are engineered to give long-term reliable performance.

What we do in a nutshell

Titan Enterprises is a leading UK manufacturer and international supplier of high-performance liquid flow measurement solutions. We specialise in the design and production of small-bore, affordable off-the-shelf flow meters to bespoke flow sensors designed to customer specifications meeting specific flow ranges and environmental conditions.

Where we supply to

Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, South America, North America

Industries we supply to

Automation, Chemicals, Consultants, Components Electronics, Energy and Power, Food and Beverage, Glass Ceramics Cement, Metals and Minerals, OEM, Paper and Pulp, Pharmaceutical Cosmetics Toiletries, Plastics and Rubber, Recycling, Textiles, Tobacco, Water and Wastewater

Something interesting you may not know about us:

Titan's R&D spend is 20% of our turnover where the industry norm is 8-10%.

  • Atrato Ultrasonic Flowmeter from Titan Enterprises, designed by Trevor Forster

Photo of Titan Enterprises Titan Enterprises Send an email 16/05/2023
420 2 minutes read
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