Simulation of a turbine flow meter with a cylindrical support fence using CFD

Abstract

The effects of temperature and viscosity on flowmeters under various conditions were investigated in this study using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling on a turbine flowmeter with a cylindrical fence support. For a standard flowmeter geometry, a 3D computational model was created. As a suitable starting point for additional simulations, work started with a steady-state model. These data were entered into a transient model that featured a rotor swirling region. Considering the rotor as a rigid structure that can freely rotate around its axis of rotation, a fluid-structure interaction simulation was used to automatically adjust the rotor speed based on the torque applied to the rotor by the current. As a result, the simulation's ability to accurately represent both the transient response changes and the equilibrium rotor speed with respect to flow rates is improved. To produce multiples, a parametric analysis was carried out with these models.