Turbine flowmeters and their applications at the Naval Air Propulsion Center

At the Naval Air Propulsion Center, it has a specific requirement to make accurate mass flow measurements on the fuel flow of a gas turbine engine to determine the performance characteristics. The problem of acquiring mass flow from the inherent volumetric flow data of a turbine flowmeter is discussed. The development of a universal curve from calibration data is discussed. The unique curve fits for flowmeter, viscosity and specific gravity and their use during on-line data acquisition is described. The accuracy of the final mass flow data and its dependence on the errors associated with viscosity, specific gravity, temperature and frequency measurement is discussed. Some techniques used at NAPC to reduce these errors are described.