The Cetiat (Technical Center for aeraulic and thermal industries) extends its expertise in the field of liquid flowmetry with the development of a new dynamic calibration method, representative of the real conditions experienced by water flow meters and meters, under Cofrac accreditation. A world first.
A new dynamic calibration method more representative of the use for water flow meters and meters
As part of the European MetroWaMet project, Cetiat, the national reference in liquid flowmetry, guarantees the best level of uncertainty in France for the calibration of flow meters and water meters, has developed a new dynamic bench for the calibration in real conditions of flow meters and water meters.
The practical use of water flow meters and meters by users (domestic water metering users, industrialists in the pharmaceutical, chemical, petro-chemical, agri-food sectors) is increasingly different from the ideal conditions under which calibrations are carried out in the laboratory. For example, most flow meters are calibrated for static flow rates, i.e. when the flow rate is stable and regulated to a constant value, while they are used to measure variable flow rates more or less quickly. In this case, the significant response time of the flow meter induces a measurement bias not estimated by current static calibration methods, but potentially impacting for the dosing, drawing, mixing of reagents, for which flow measurement is critical.
Aware of these challenges, Cetiat has developed and validated a new calibration method under dynamic conditions (flow fluctuations) representative of the real conditions experienced by water flow meters and meters. The latter can be calibrated up to 12m3 / h for applications that require delivering controlled liquid flows and volumes over short periods such as the manufacture of drugs and agri-food products, physico-chemical treatment processes, etc.
The new dynamic calibration bench of Cetiat has been validated and then accredited ISO17025 by Cofrac since August 2021 to calibrate instruments with fluctuating flow rates. The first performances began this summer. This innovation, both in methodology and in the creation of the new dedicated bench, is a world first. This brings new perspectives to Cetiat to meet the needs of innovation in flowmetry and offer sensor calibration services in conditions close to reality.
"This innovation allows us to study the effect of flow fluctuations on the dynamic metrological performance of calibrated flow meters and meters, which contributes to the improvement of the performance of instruments and processes under development or optimization by our customers and nationals. We are already working to adapt the historical (static) bench so that it can perform dynamic calibrations up to 50 m3 / h, "explainsFlorestan Ogheard, research manager and technical referent of the liquid flowmetry laboratory of Cetiat.
The MetroWaMet project is supported by Euramet's Empir European metrology research and innovation programme as part of the European research and innovation programme Horizon 2020.
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www.cetiat.fr