The dynamic characteristics of various flow meters for fuel
consumption measurement aboard shipswere evaluated. The
flow rate was measured using the Korea Research Institute of
Standards and Science (KRISS) oil flow standard system using
K-oil(density : 0.804 g/cm3, viscosity : 3.679 cSt), which has
similar fluid properties as diesel oil. The flow meters were tested
in a test bed that simulated the vibration conditions in ships. The
vibration conditions were established in accordance to vibration
standard IEC 60068-2-6 as follows: a±0.7g acceleration and 30
Hz frequency. The K-factors (mL/pulse) of various flow meters
(PD meter, turbine flow meter, Coriolis flow meter, and
ultrasonic flow meter) were obtained for various flow rates (60
L/h ~ 300 L/h). The PD meter, Coriolis flow meter, and
ultrasonic flow meter were found to have almost constant Kfactors
according to the flow rates. However, the K-factor of the
turbine flow meter was reduced at a low flow rate owing to
bearing friction in the turbine blade. The flow rate errors of the
PD meter, Coriolis flow meter, and ultrasonic flow meter were
found to be under ±0.5 % with and without vibration. However,
the flow rate error of the turbine flow meter was approximately
-4.3 % at a low flow rate (60 L/h) owing to the friction effect.
The Coriolis flow meter had the lowest flow rate error (< 0.1%)
according to the flow rate. The vibration influenced the flow rate
error of the Coriolis flow meter at high flow rates owing to its
measuring principle. However, the difference in flow rate errors
was a negligible value (0.05 %) with and without vibration.
Therefore, we confirmed that the PD meter, turbine meter,
Coriolis flow meter and ultrasonic flow meter could be used for
measuring flow rates in ships with a ±0.5 % flow rate error.Papers presented at the 13th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Portoroz, Slovenia on 17-19 July 2017 .International centre for heat and mass transfer.American society of thermal and fluids engineers
