Oil Flow Meter

The oil flow meter is a flow measurement instrument specifically designed for oil-based media (such as lubricating oil, fuel oil, hydraulic oil, edible oil, etc.). It plays an important role in the fields of petrochemicals, energy, food, and machinery. Here are some common types of oil flow meters.

Oval Gear Flow Meter

As one oil flow meter, oval gear flowmeter is a type of volumetric flowmeter (positive displacement flowmeter). High measurement accuracy is one of its advantage, which can reach ±0.2% to ±0.5%. It is highly suitable to high-viscosity oil products (with viscosity ranges up to 2~1000 mPa·s or even higher). And it has low requirements for the straight pipe sections upstream and downstream when installation. It does not require complex layout of installation space.

However, its defect is that it is sensitive to impurities in the oil. If the oil contains solid particles, it may cause the gears to get stuck or wear out, affecting the measurement accuracy and even damaging the equipment. Moreover, due to its complex structure, the cost is relatively high.

It is suitable for applications where extremely high accuracy is required for high-viscosity oil measurement, such as accurate measurement of lubricating oil in hydraulic systems and quality control during the production process of lubricating oil.

Turbine Flow Meter

As a velocity-type flow meter, it has the advantages of simple structure, convenient installation, relatively low cost, fast response, good dynamic performance, and is suitable for measuring instantaneous flow.

However, its measurement accuracy is greatly affected by the viscosity of the oil. It is generally suitable to low-viscosity oils with a viscosity of ≤ 50 mPa·s. For high-viscosity oils, it will cause the turbine speed to decrease, resulting in an increase in measurement error. At the same time, impurities in the oil are easy to get stuck in the turbine, so a filter is usually installed in front of the flowmeter.

It is commonly used in the flow measurement of light-duty lubricating oil pipelines, as well as in the oil measurement at gas stations. There is a certain requirement for measurement accuracy for low-viscosity oils with less impurities.

Coriolis Mass Flow Meter

As one oil flow meter, Coriolis mass flow meter is well-known for its high accuracy (with an accuracy ranging from ±0.1% to ±0.2%) and strong adaptability to complex working conditions. It can directly measure the mass flow rate of oil products and is not affected by changes in oil density, viscosity, temperature and pressure. It can maintain stable accuracy even in the measurement of high-viscosity and containing impurities in oil products.

However, its price is high, and the flow stopper inside the measuring tube will cause big pressure loss, which needs high requirements for installation and maintenance.

Ultrasonic Flow Meter (time-difference method)

Ultrasonic flow meter adopts a non-contact measurement method, allowing for installation without cutting the pipeline. It causes little interference to the flow state of the oil inside the pipeline. It can measure oil products with high-viscosity and containing impurities. And it is not affected by the electrical conductivity of the oil.

However, compared with volumetric and mass flowmeters, its accuracy is slightly lower, typically ranging from ±1% to ±2%. Moreover, high-viscosity oil products may cause changes in sound velocity, which will affects the measurement accuracy.

It is commonly used for flow measurement in large-diameter oil pipeline systems. It has advantages in some applications where installation convenience is highly valued and accuracy requirements are relatively less strict. Such as the monitoring of oil pipelines outward transfer in large oil depots.