Fuji Electric FSC Portable Ultrasonic Flowmeter

A battery-powered clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeter for temporary and audit measurements

The Fuji Electric FSC is a portable transit-time ultrasonic flowmeter that measures liquid flow from outside the pipe, so there is no pipe cutting, no moving parts, no pressure drop and no process shutdown. A compact transmitter of about 1 kg pairs with clamp-on detectors for pipes from 13 to 6,000 mm. Fuji Electric France lists leak detection, temporary monitoring for maintenance, non-invasive calibration checks of an installed electromagnetic flowmeter, pump flow control, and district heating balancing as typical uses.

Technical specifications

Compatible detectors

Selection notes

The FSC transmitter is supplied with the detector chosen for the pipe size and fluid temperature, so state the pipe outside diameter, wall thickness, material, lining, fluid and temperature. Accuracy depends strongly on straight-run length and good acoustic coupling, so allow for a suitable measuring location. An optional pulse-Doppler detector (FSD) adds flow velocity profile measurement for liquids with suspended solids. For permanent installations Fuji lists clamp-on converters in the same family, and other measuring devices are under flowmeters.

How the FSC portable ultrasonic flowmeter measures

The FSC uses the transit-time method. Two clamp-on detectors are fixed on the outside of the pipe and exchange ultrasonic pulses, one in the direction of flow and one against it. The difference in travel time between the two directions is proportional to the flow velocity, and the transmitter converts that velocity into flow rate using the pipe diameter and the other values entered in the site configuration. Because nothing enters the pipe there is no pressure drop, no moving parts and no need to stop the process.

The transmitter weighs about 1 kg and runs from a built-in battery for roughly 12 hours, recharged in about 3 hours. A 240 x 320 colour TFT display shows velocity, flow rate, forward and reverse totals, waveform and trend graphs, and it is backlit so it can be read outdoors. Up to 32 site configurations can be stored, so a technician moving between several pipes can recall the pipe, material, fluid and detector settings instead of re-entering them.

Applications for the FSC portable flowmeter

• Leak detection and temporary flow monitoring for maintenance work.
• Non-invasive calibration checks of an installed electromagnetic flowmeter.
• Pump flow control and performance checks.
• District heating balancing, using the thermal energy function.
• Short audit or survey measurements on water, hot water, distilled water, alcohol, milk, ethanol and other homogeneous liquids that carry ultrasound.

Selecting the FSC detector and accessories

• Pipe size: FSSD covers 13 to 300 mm, FSSC covers 50 to 1,200 mm and FSSE covers 200 to 6,000 mm.
• Fluid temperature: FSSD, FSSC and FSSE are rated to +100, +120 and +80 C respectively, and FSSH extends to +200 C for pipes of 50 to 400 mm.
• Pipe data: note the outside diameter, wall thickness, material, any lining, the fluid and its temperature.
• Straight run: accuracy of +/-1.0 percent of flow rate depends on diameter, velocity, detector and mounting, so choose a location with a suitable length of straight pipe.
• Data logging: an optional 512 MB card is listed, and SD or SDHC cards up to 32 GB are supported for longer logging.
• Suspended solids: the optional pulse-Doppler detector FSD adds flow velocity profile measurement.

Using the FSC in the field

Set-up begins with the pipe and fluid data entered in the transmitter. The detectors are then placed at the spacing shown by the unit and coupled to the pipe surface, and the signal and waveform display allows the position to be checked before logging starts. The velocity range is 0 to +/-32 m/s with a minimum of +/-0.3 m/s, so very low-flow lines may fall below the useful range. Damping can be set from 0 to 100 s and a low-flow cut-off is available to stabilise the reading.

The analog output is 4-20 mA DC on one point, and two analog inputs accept 4-20 mA or 1-5 V signals, which allows another instrument such as a pressure or temperature transmitter to be recorded alongside the flow. The enclosure is rated IP64 and measures 210 x 120 x 65 mm. Data can be moved over the USB 2.0 Mini-B interface using a cable of up to 3 m.

Requesting a quotation for the Fuji Electric FSC

To quote the FSC, send the pipe outside diameter, wall thickness, material and lining, the fluid and temperature, the detector size range needed and whether the memory card or the Doppler detector is wanted. Seven Star LLC serves industrial customers in Oman and the GCC and will reply with a quotation based on these details.

Documents and quotation

The attached Fuji Electric brochure (21A1-E-0009d) describes the portable flowmeter and detectors; the specifications above follow the Fuji Electric France product page, which the brochure supports. Confirm the transmitter version and detector kit before ordering.