Non-intrusive time-of-flight flowmeter—parametric estimation and optimisation

Ultrasonic flow rate estimation of a fluid, within a circular pipe, is proposed. Numerical integration and inverse-solving problem approaches are compared. A velocity profile reconstruction technique based on parametric functions is presented. For that purpose a finite difference code is used to simulate axial and non-axial velocities, within a pipe with two co-planar bends. Conceptual arguments and numerical proofs are advanced in favour of a parametric estimation method. The optimisation of each method is discussed and illustrations using simulated data are given. A non-intrusive method is proved to be efficient. It is based on new functions whose parameters are more sensitive to the information of nearly diametrical measurements than of classical ones.