Research and application of magnetic suspension technology in wide range turbine flow meter

Abstract

This paper presents a novel method for fluid flow measurement in pipes. The method concept is to apply magnetic suspension bearing to a turbine flow meter and thus improve the measurement performance. Under design conditions, the turbine flow meter based on magnetic suspension bearing (MSB) has better linearity and repeatability than the one with ordinary bearings. Test results show that the lower flow limit can be significantly reduced with MSB, which results in a remarkable improvement of test range from 1:10 to 1:50. It is also noticeable that MSB turbine flow meter can work with acid, alkali or corrosive media without the need of stainless steel sealing protection for the magnet.