Flow measurement of gaseous CO₂ using Averaging Pitot Tubes

In this paper, an Averaging Pitot Tube (APT) with Flow Conditioning Wing (FCW) geometry is used as a practical sensing device to measure and characterize the flow of single-phase gaseous CO₂. The technique demonstrates a simple, cost-effective and potentially accurate option towards the measurement, accurate accounting and characterization of CO₂ in Carbon Capture and Storage pipelines. The metrological performance of the flow sensor is verified using air medium before being applied for gaseous CO₂. With a Coriolis mass flow meter acting as a secondary calibration reference to further validate the performance of the APT-FCW flow sensor, both metering instruments were evaluated against a weighing scale apparatus. From experimental and calibration data with air, the APT-FCW's average K-factor and linearity error are found to be 0.5091 and 0.725%, respectively. With operating conditions remaining unaltered in this particular flow measurement application and a target accuracy of ±1%, the error achieved for the Coriolis meter is better than ±0.5% and ±1% for the APT-FCW. Test results and other performance evaluation of the instruments are also discussed.