Aqua probe

© ABB Group April 10, 2023 | Slide 1

AquaProbe TrainingOctober 2011

Steve Winkley, Technical Support Manager, Water Flow Products


AquaProbe


Insertion Type Flowmeter

Rugged & Robust Construction

‘Hot Tap’ Capability

Good Accuracy over Wide Flow Range

Price Virtually Independent of Pipe Size

Suitable for Permanent or Temporary Installations

No Moving Parts – High Reliability

Choice of Transmitters and Power Supply Options

AquaProbe Service TrainingBasic Concept


2

-2

0.10.02 5

Flow Velocity m/sA

ccu

racy

%

Suitable for pipe diameters from 200mm to 8000mm

Accuracy ±2% (or ±2mm/sec) of Measured Velocity

Volume Flow Accuracy –Refer to ISO 7145 - 1982

Bi-Directional

For Clean Water Only

OVERALL ACCURACY IS A PARTNERSHIP

AquaProbe Service TrainingSpecification


0

5

10

15

20

200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000

Line Size (mm)

Fu

llbo

re /

Pro

be

Co

st

Ra

tio

AquaProbe Service TrainingPricing


0 1 2 3

Velocity m/s

Actual 700mm probe calibration

0

-1

-2

-3

+1

+2

+3

% A

ccu

racy

ALL AquaProbes are Wet Tested

Calibration Rigs Accredited to National Standards

Proven Performance

AquaProbe Service TrainingCalibration


1

2

3

41. Fit boss or tapping to pipeline

2. Fit isolating valve

3. Drill using ‘Hot-tap’ drill set

4. Fit AquaProbe to pipe line

AquaProbe Service TrainingHot Tap Capability


1. Measure the pipe internal diameter

2. Open Valve

3. Slacken Lock Nut

4. Fully insert probe to far pipe wall

5. Slide positioning collar down and lock in place

6. Fully retract probe

7. Unlock collar and move [ID / 2] – 30 mm. Re-lock in place

8. Insert probe to collar position

9. Tighten Lock Nut

AquaProbe Service TrainingInsertion in Smaller Pipes


1. Measure the pipe internal diameter

2. Measure to top of valve plate

3. Slacken Lock Nut

4. Insert probe to touch valve plate

5. Slide positioning collar down and lock in place

6. Fully retract probe

7. Unlock collar & move [ID/2] + Valve Plate offset + pipe thickness + 30 mm

8. Re-lock collar

9. Insert probe to collar position

10. Tighten Lock Nut

AquaProbe Service TrainingInsertion in Larger Pipes


Ensure the AquaProbe ‘Handlebars’ are aligned with the flow direction

This places the sensor electrode axis perpendicular to the flow direction axis

Handlebars

Flow Direction

ElectrodeAxis

AquaProbe Service TrainingAlignment of Sensor Head


AquaProbe incorporates a safety clamp which enables the operator to withdraw the device from the line (while pressurised) without fear of injury

When the lock nut is released, a pressurised main can propel the probe shaft outwards at high speed. The clamp restricts the travel of the probe shaft, enabling safe withdrawal from the line

AquaProbe Service TrainingSafe Withdrawl of the Probe – Restraining Clamp


Permanent

Network Management

Leakage Monitoring

District Metering

Temporary Installations

Surveys

Profiling

Distribution Investigation

Checking in-situ fullbore flowmeters

AquaProbe Service TrainingTypical Applications


AquaMaster (AquaProbe II)

Submersible locations

Mains or battery operation

Local indication

Pulse output

MagMaster (AquaProbe I)

First choice for all other applications

Local indication

Pulse & mA outputs

AquaProbe Service TrainingChoice of Electronic Transmitters


Upstream pipe conditions need to be good

25 to 50 diameters

(Ref ISO7145)

Poor conditions can be tolerated by the use of ‘flow profiling’

Measurement of pipe diameter CRITICAL

Location of AquaProbe is important

AquaProbe Service TrainingInstallation Conditions


AquaProbe Service TrainingInstallation Conditions - Upstream Straight pipe

Extract from ISO 7145 Min Upstream Straight Length

Expressed as Multiples of Diameter

Mean Point Centre Line

90 Elbow or ‘T’ 50 25 Several 90 Bends (Coplanar) 50 25 Several 90 Bends (Not Coplanar) 80 50 Cone 18 - 36 deg 30 10 Diffuser 14 - 28 deg 55 25 Fully Open Butterfly Valve 45 25 Fully open Plug Valve 30 15


Alignment of probe is important

Programming of transmitter is CRUCIAL

TRUE FOR ANY INSERTION PROBE

AquaProbe Service TrainingInstallation Conditions – Probe Alignment


Measurement of Pipe Internal Diameter is CRUCIAL to accuracy

e.g.

700mm nominal pipe size

Transmitter programmed as 700mm

Actual diameter = 707mm (e.g. +1%)

Area of 700mm pipe = 0.3848451 m2

Area of 707mm pipe = 0.3925805 m2

Error in reading = - 2%

There are also secondary

effects due to the variation

in Profile and Insertion

factors between the

actual and programmed

pipe sizes

3.5mm

AquaProbe Service TrainingInstallation – Measurement of Pipe Internal Diameter


This area of empty pipe will cause errors in the measurementThe pipe MUST BE KEPT FULL at all times to ensure accurate measurement

AquaProbe Service TrainingInstallation –Pipe Must Remain Full for Good Accuracy


For a Fullbore Sensor the velocity measurement is an average of the velocity across the whole CSA of the pipe in the plane of the electrodes

For AquaProbe the velocity is a POINT measurement

The flow velocity in the whole pipe is calculated from this point measurement therefore…

…the Flow profile MUST be known

AquaProbe Service TrainingInstallation – Understanding Importance of Flow Profile


Flow Profile is known by;

Virtue of the amount of upstream pipework

Or

Profiling the pipe

TRUE FOR ANY INSERTION PROBE Max Velocity Vector

Mean Velocity Vector

Flat Part Of Curve

Rapidly Changing Velocities

Fully Developed Turbulent Flow Profile

1.722 m/s

2.00 m/s

25 – 50 Diameters



Imagine a slice through a straight section of water pipe…

If you could ‘see’ the flow of the water you would notice that;

The water at the walls of the pipe was hardly moving at all

Moving away from the pipe wall the flow rapidly begins to get faster

The water flowing through the centre section of the pipe is moving quickest



First, take a section of the pipeThen plot how far the water in that section travels over 1 secondFinally, ‘Join the Dots’ to produce a ‘profile’ of the flow within the pipeline

The ‘profile’ shows the flow velocity distribution in different areas of the pipe

The diagram above shows a typical ‘Fully Developed Turbulent Profile’. This shape is typical in long, straight, full pipes




1.7

1 m

/s

2.0

0 m

/s

0.0

0 m

/s

Maximum Velocity Vector (@ pipe centreline)

Mean Velocity Vector (@1/8th pipe ID)

Mean Velocity Vector (@7/8th pipe ID)

Maximum Velocity = 2.00 m/s


Mean Velocity = 1.71 m/s


1/8th Insertion point. Rapidly changing Velocity(prone to errors if insertion point is not exactly corrector installation has slightly less straight pipe)

Centreline Insertion. Stable velocity, preferred point(errors are small if insertion point is not exactly corrector installation has slightly less straight pipe)

0.0

0 m

/s

7/8th Insertion point. Rapidly changing Velocity(prone to errors if insertion point is not exactly corrector installation has slightly less straight pipe)




Flow through a T piece produces a distorted profile with accelerated flow on the outside of the exit leg and even a re-circulation zone where the flow actually travels backward!

Obviously placing any flowmeter within this area causes big problems

AquaProbe Service TrainingInstallation – Understanding Importance of Flow ProfileFlow Profile through a T-Piece



This chart shows why such long upstream lengths are required for a point measurement device (like AquaProbe)

The ‘fully developed turbulent profile’ is not properly established for small lengths of straight pipework

Even and ‘fully developed’ turbulent profile at entry to bend

Uneven and ‘under developed’ turbulent profile at exit from bend


Click on the picture below to view the movie



The ‘Profile Factor’ is used to adjust the point velocity measured by the probe into….

The AVERAGE FLOW VELOCITY in the pipe

AquaProbe Service TrainingProgramming Electronic Transmitter – Profile Factor


1.7

1 m

/s

2.0

0 m

/s

0.0

0 m

/s

Centreline InsertionMeasured Flow Velocity = 2.00 m/s


But! The Average flow velocity = 1.71 m/s

x

So we use the Profile Factor 0.8550 .

= 1.71 m/s

Profile Factor changes slightly with pipe size

Profile Factor can be precisely calculated for fully developed turbulent profile

Use ‘ABB Toolkit’ software for calculation


1.7

1 m

/s

2.0

0 m

/s

0.0

0 m

/s

1/8th Insertion (or 7/8ths Insertion)Measured Flow Velocity = 1.71 m/s


Average flow velocity = 1.71 m/s

x

So Profile Factor 1.0000 .

= 1.71 m/s

For Fully Developed Turbulent Profile AND Mean Insertion Point, Profile Factor = 1.0000

No adjustment is needed

You are already measuring the average velocity!



Profile Factor vs Pipe Size

0.845

0.85

0.855

0.86

0.865

0.87

0.875

200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200

Pipe Size (mm)

Pro

file

Fa

cto

r


The ‘Insertion Factor’ is used to compensate for 2 effects;

1) The BLOCKAGE of part of the pipe area by the shaft of the AquaProbe itself

2) The DISTORTION that the probe shaft causes to the flow profile

AquaProbe Service TrainingProgramming Electronic Transmitter – Insertion Factor


Cross Sectional Area Blockage

(increases flow velocity)


With no AquaProbe inserted the flow has the whole pipe cross section to pass through

When the AquaProbe is inserted it blocks part of the cross section of the pipe. The flow has less area to pass through. So for the same flow rate, the flow velocity increases


Graph showing 3Dplot of flow profile

velocity distributionwith AquaProbe

Inserted oncentreline


With no AquaProbe inserted, the flow profile is an even shape

However, with the AquaProbe inserted the shaft of the probe distorts the profile shape. This decreases the measured velocity around the probe tip


1/8th

7/8th

C/L

Profile

Cross Sectional Area Blockage

(increases flow velocity)

Flow Profile Distortion

(decreases flow velocity around probe)


For 1/8th insertion

The CSA blockage is small (small increase)

The profile distortion is relatively larger and is the dominant factor (larger decrease)

Therefore the adjusting Insertion Factor is larger/higher than 1

For Centreline Insertion

The CSA blockage and Profile Distortion are fairly well balanced

Therefore the adjusting Insertion Factor is approx 1

For 7/8th insertion

The CSA blockage is larger and is the dominant factor (large increase)

The profile distortion is relatively smaller (smaller decrease)

Therefore the adjusting Insertion Factor is smaller/lower than 1


Free Download from…www.abb.com/flow >Electromagnetic Flowmeters >Water & Waste Water >MagMaster > Software

AquaProbe Service TrainingProgramming Electronic Transmitter – ABB Toolkit


Select ‘AquaProbe’ menu



Input pipeInternalDiameter (ID)



Selectinsertionpoint



Selecttransmittertype



Use theseValues forconfiguration



The maximum allowed flow velocity for AquaProbe sensors is 5m/s

This maximum figure is reduced for longer insertion lengths

Therefore very large pipes must have either;

Low velocity

Or

Shorter insertion length(e.g. 1/8th insertion)

AquaProbe Service TrainingMaximum Allowed Velocity


The insertion length must be calculated from the electrode centreline, to the point at which the AquaProbe shaft is clamped inside the probe body

This ‘effective insertion length’ must include the height of;

The tapping The isolating valve An additional 130mm of the AquaProbe body


Tapping

Valve

To

tal

Eff

ec

tiv

e I

ns

ert

ion

Le

ng

th

Inse

rtio

n L

en

gth

Ta

pp

ing

Va

lve

13

0m

m



Effective Insertion Length (in Inches)

Effective Insertion Length (in mm)


If the maximum allowed flow velocity for a particular ‘effective insertion length’ is exceeded;

The flow reading will become ‘noisy’

There may be excessive vibration of the AquaProbe

The AquaProbe shaft may be bent! Causing irreparable damage



The bending or damage to the probe shaft is not usually caused by the force of the oncoming water

The bending can be caused by the vibration of the probe shaft due to ‘vortex shedding’

AquaProbe Service TrainingVortex Shedding


Any bluff (non-streamlined) body placed in a flowing medium will oscillate (vibrate) at the frequency vortices are shed from either side of the body

ABB Manufacture a Flowmeter based on this principle

Triowirl FV4000 - Vortex…



Click on the picture above to view the movie


Flow Direction

AquaProbe tip


An example of Vortex shedding

Cloud formations downwind from an island




An example of Vortex shedding

Cloud formations downwind from an island


This effect is not normally a problem, however...

The vortex shedding frequency increases with flow velocity

When the vortex shedding frequency coincides with the fundamental frequency of the probe shaft then the probe will resonate (vibration feedback)

This vibration can cause noise on the measurement and in worse cases can cause damage/bending to the shaft of the probe!



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