On-site comparison of flowmeters installed in a parabolic-trough solar collector test facility

Abstract This article presents a comparison of flow measurements taken by three different types of flowmeters in a parabolic-through solar collector testbed working with a high-temperature silicone heat transfer fluid. Two of them were vortex volumetric flowmeters and the third one was a Coriolis mass flowmeter. They were tested at mass flow rates from 1.5 kg/s to 5 kg/s, and at heat transfer fluid temperatures of 140–340 °C. The Coriolis mass flowmeter was used as the reference to check the performance of the two vortex flowmeters. Relative errors and E n numbers calculated were compared. The maximum relative error between vortex flowmeters measurements and Coriolis mass flow measurements was 2.5%. Correction factors were calculated to correct the vortex flowmeters readings.