Acoustic Flowmeter Prototype Evaluation Tests

Washington: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Waterways Experiment Station), 1968. - 66 p.Abstract: Prototype tests of an acoustic flowmeter system were made in a 24-ft-diam power penstock at Oahe Dam to evaluate the system prior to permanent installation in the outlet works at Summersville Dam. Comparative discharge measurements included acoustic, penstock pressure-momentum (Gibson), turbine model test ratings, scroll-case pressure differential (Winter-Kennedy flowmeter), and surge tank volume changes. The acoustic flowmeter measurements were very consistent and many of the comparisons were within 1%. The location of the measuring section for a single-path acoustic flowmeter must be selected to give a known or measurable relation between the flow pattern of the whole section and that along the acoustic path.