Experimental research of averaging Pitot tube with rotameter

The differential pressure exported by the averaging Pitot tube is small, it requires an expensive micro-scale differential pressure transducer with very good performance. In order to overcome this drawback, a rotameter was used to take place of the differential pressure transducer in the paper. The rotameter and the main pipe are in parallel lines, so that the rotameter is a by-pass pipe. The scale of the rotameter can reflect the flow rate of the main pipe indirectly. A mathematical model can be gotten according to the experiment, and then linear fitted the curve of the flow rate, so that an easier mathematical model can be obtained. In three different conditions, the method of the averaging Pitot tube with rotameter and the linear fitted model were verified. It is shown in the experiment that, the relative error between the calculated flow rate and the actual flow rate can reach 2.79%. If the requirement of the accuracy is low, this method can satisfy the requirements in the industrial fields.