Greetings from SoundWater Technologies! Today, I share a case study that clearly illustrates the advantages of using non-contacting ultrasonic flowmeters and the risks and costs of insertion-type flowmeters.

A local customer in Washington State recently built a facility which diverted water from the Columbia River through five pipes, each 24 inches in diameter. The initial design of the facility had implemented five turbine flowmeters - one for each pipe. Turbine flowmeters function by inserting a mechanical turbine into the pipe and flow, and as water flows past the turbine, the turbine spins and registers flow.

There are four concerns with this type of technology (technologies that contact the fluid):

1. The system must be shut down, and pipes drained for flowmeters to be installed.

2. There is potential for leaks if not sealed properly as part of the initial turbine installation.

3. Turbine bearings deteriorate over time, and eventually need replacement.

4. Debris in the fluid can affect and/or damage the turbine blade.

This particular installation was at a new facility, so the flowmeters were installed during the initial construction. When the facility started the flow, a massive amount of water began flowing through the pipes and carried with it debris from the river. The debris then collided with the turbines, destroying their blades which rendered the monitoring system useless. Making matters worse, this process could not easily shut down, so the flowmeters could not be removed for repair/replacement.

SoundWater ultrasonic flowmeters do not contact the fluid, are installed on the outside pipe, and can be quickly installed without shutting down the existing process. In this instance, SoundWater Camano flowmeters were quickly installed upstream of the turbines and the facility was again operating with flow data.

As we learned in this case, there are risks and costs associated with flowmeters that are installed inline and/or contact the fluid. With the use of SoundWater Technologies ultrasonic flowmeters, you can do it right – the first time!

Best Regards,

Jeff Peery, CEO
SoundWater Technologies