Fuel flow.

[Matthew Lee Franklin]

Peter brings up an interesting point in his recollection of the bad old days:
>Just to give you an idea of the level of technical expertise we had then
>(1982) we determiined flow rate from how long it took( measured on a wall
>clock with a second hand) to fill up a 1 pint milk bottle :)

What do people use now for good, cheap, reliable fuel flow measurements?

We use Brooks Micro-Oval flow meters in our lab ( $300+, now).  In the bad 
old days (1984), we used a mass scale and a stop-watch.  At Chevron 
(1990-1) they used micro-motion coriollis flow meters ($2000+) with good 
success.

We have used Sierra model 730 ($1000+) and 830 ($2000+) "hot-mass" (they 
had yet another marketing name for one of them, I forget) flow meters for 
natural gas.  They are really poor for fuel flow, but are fabulous for 
airflow.  They seemed like more of a random number (voltage) generator than 
a fuel flow sensor even after two or three "factory" calibrations.  We gave 
up on them for now.

The Pierburgs are way out of sight ($) as far as I know.

Any suggestions for cheap reliable fuel measurement, especially for ~150 to 
300 psi natural gas?.

Also, thanks to all for the input on the Karman vortex air flow meters.

Later,
Matt