Experimental investigation of an oscillating circular piston positive displacement flowmeter: I - Piston movement and pressure losses

Tests of an oscillating circular piston positive displacement flowmeter are described which focused on the effect on pressure drop across the meter of variation in key parameters. These included flow rate, liquid density and viscosity, mass of piston and length of connecting pipes. In addition to the average pressure loss, the pressure loss variation during the oscillation cycle was measured and found to vary with an amplitude dependent on the various parameters. A companion paper reviews data on leakage and wear.CEM was supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Litre Meter through an Industrial CASE Studentship. RCB received support from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in 'Flow Measurement and Instrumentation'. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Flow Measurement and Instrumentation, 36, pp47–56 DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.flowmeasinst.2014.01.00