Development of a virtual pump water flow meter using power derived from comprehensive energy loss analysis

Abstract

Water flow rates are key controlled variables in chilled and hot water systems. The water flow rate through a pump can be virtually determined using a measured pump head and input power. Available input power can be either motor input power obtained from the connected variable-frequency drive or variable-frequency drive input power measured by a power meter. The harmonics created by the variable-frequency drive induce additional energy loss in the motor and consequently degrade the motor efficiency. The objective of this article is to evaluate a virtual pump water flow meter using either the variable-frequency drive input power or motor input power with calibrated pump, motor and variable-frequency drive efficiencies along with the consideration of additional harmonic energy loss. First, the water flow correlation with the measured pump head and available power input is discussed, then the calibration procedure is introduced to identify three efficiencies, and finally the experiment is conducted to develop and validate a virtual pump water flow meter on a pump motor variable-frequency drive system. The experimental results show that the water flow rates determined by the virtual water flow meter agrees well with the results measured by a physical water flow meter with the coefficient of determination of 0.91and 0.97, respectively.

Advances in Triboelectric Flow Sensor

“…[67][68][69][70] Accurate measurement of flow parameters can save the cost of materials and improve the quality of products, which could effectively increase economic benefits. Flow measurement is an important part of modern measurement technology, which is of great scientific significance to the development of automation in modern industry, especially in the fields of petrochemical, [71][72][73][74][75][76] biomedical, [77][78][79][80][81] energy metering [82][83][84][85][86][87][88] and pipeline safety monitoring, [89][90][91][92] showing a wide range of application prospects. At present, according to different measurement principles, the types of flow sensors can be mainly divided into volumetric type, [93][94][95] turbine type, [96,97] differential pressure type, [98,99] ultrasonic type, [100,101] and float type.…”

Virtual Pressure Sensor for Electronic Expansion Valve Control in a Vapor Compression Refrigeration System

“…Virtual sensor technology, which uses simulation models/algorithms to process what a physical sensor otherwise would, has attracted many studies in the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) industry due to several significant advantages, such as cost effectiveness, easy maintenance and lack of constraints by the environment or operating condition. Andiroglu et al [1] developed a virtual pump water flow sensor using either the variable frequency drive input power or motor input power with a calibrated pump, motor and variable frequency drive efficiencies along with the consideration of additional harmonic energy loss. Eric et al [2] presented a low cost, practical and non-intrusive virtual flow meter to estimate the chilled and condenser water mass flow rate using data from a building automation system.…”