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Volume vs Flow Velocity – Why the installation position of a sensor is important

When it comes to flow measurement, the installation position of a sensor within an application is extremely important. To put it simply, it can be the difference between your flow rate measurement being accurate or inaccurate.

In this article, leading sensor and measurement device specialists, Baumer discuss the volume, flow velocity, and the differences in how we measure them in relation to the positioning of a sensor.

Volume vs Flow Velocity

Firstly, it is important to know the difference between the volume of flow and the flow velocity. Simply put, volume in this instance describes the sheer amount of media being used within the application. Flow velocity relates to the speed of which the media is moving within the pipeline.

The measurements for volume and flow velocity are acquired by very different methods. The way to measure flow velocity is on point measurement.
So basically, the rate of flow is measured at the tip of the sensor, inside the pipeline. In contrast to this, the way to acquire volume measurement is through reference measurements on sample pipes, which is the reason why the installation position of the sensor has to be considered.

Other important factors

Volume and flow velocity and how the two work relates closely to pressure. When the media flows through the pipeline and the diameter of the pipe decreases, the volume will remain constant. There are several things that can impact the diameter of the pipeline.

Firstly, the wall thickness, which can differ in relation to the applied nominal pressure. The higher the pressure is, the thicker the wall will be. The other thing that is important to consider is the wall tolerance. In the instance that the diameter of the pipeline increases, the volume of the media it can carry increases so pipe diameter must also be considered for sensor installation. See the video below for a further demonstration.

For more information on flow sensor devices or any of their other products, visit the Baumer website.

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Baumer

The Baumer Group is leading at international level in the development and production of sensors, shaft encoders, measuring instruments as well as components for automatic image processing.

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