P118i Portable Transit Time Flow Meter

P118i Portable Transit Time Flow Meter

P118i Portable Ultrasonic Flow meter offers non-invasive installation, compact handheld size, simple installation (no special tools) and data logging


Typically ‘special order’, inquire for current price and availability

SKU: P118i

$7,750.00 ex. GST

Available on back-order

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P118i Portable Ultrasonic Flow meter features state of the art advanced non-invasive technology which enables the user to do flow measurement checks at many points in a flow process without the need for a permanent installation.

It is clamped to the outside of the pipe without the need to cut into or stop the process. The P118i utilizes unique PICOFLY transit time measurement technology, this technology offers high response, high accuracy, high resolution and a wider measuring range.

While is primarily designed for clean liquids, this flow meter can reliably measure liquids containing small amounts of suspended solids or aeration. This flow meter’s compact size, light weight ergonomic handheld design and intuitive interface via a clear large 3.5″ colour backlit digital display significantly simplifies setup. The unique clamp-on fixture design makes the installation very simple, requiring no special skills or tools.

This flow meter is designed for short term flow measurement surveys on full-pipe liquid systems and includes onboard data logging which could be used for applications like leak detection over time, to find intermittent faults in a flow process, or flow measurement surveys. This flow meter offers high precision, reliability, and capability at an economical price point.

  • Suits a large range of pipe sizes, 1 set of transducer can be used on pipes in size range of approx 25-6000mm OD (1″ to 240″)
    • We recommend that this model best suits 40mm+ pipe sizes when mounted with the common ‘V mounting’ method
    • However, the ‘N mounting’ method can be used for small pipe diameter measurement.
  • This model is suitable for measuring flow velocities of ±0.01~ ±12 m/s (±0.03 ~ ±40 ft/s)
  • Unique PICOFLY technology (high response, high accuracy, high resolution and a wider measuring range.)
  • Inbuilt rechargeable battery (up to 10 hours run time)
  • 3.5″ colour backlit digital display
  • Data logging – Large capacity memory and data download function.
  • Due to the non-invasive nature of clamp-on transducers, there is no pressure drops, no moving parts, no leaks, and no risk of contamination.
  • Lightweight and easily transportable in rugged carry case
  • For measurement of clean liquids (not clear, so even oils can be measured)
Performance Specifications
Flow range ±0.01~ ±12 m/s (±0.03 ~ ±40 ft/s)
Accuracy ±0.5% of measured value
Repeatability 0.15%.
Linearity ±0.5%.
Pipe Size 25mm~6000mm (1ʺ ~ 240ʺ inch)
Function Specifications
Outputs Analog output: 4~20mA, Max 750 Ω.
SD card Storage: 8GB;  Max: 512 files;
Interval: 1 ~ 60 seconds.
Power supply Rechargeable Lithium Battery Power (continuous operation of main battery 10 hours ).
Keypad Capacitive touch keypad
Display 3.5 inch colour screen(320 × 240), backlight LCD.
Temperature Transmitter: 10°c ~ 50°c (14°f ~ 122°f)
Transducer: -40°c ~ 80°c (40°f ~176°f)
High temperature version of transducers are available on special request allowing temperatures up to 150°c, please contact us for more info.
Humidity 0 to 99% RH, non-condensing
Physical Specifications
Transmitter NEMA13 (IP54)
Transducer Encapsulated design, IP68;
Standard cable length: 5m
Weight Transmitter: approximately 1.0kg, full case ~5.5kg

Common applications:

  • Water (Hot water, cooling water, potable water, sea water etc…)
  • Petroleum products
  • Chemicals, including alcohol, acids, etc…
  • Beverage, food and pharmaceutical processors
  • Secondary sewage, waste treatment, etc…
  • Mining industry, power plants for various processes
  • Fire suppression system testing
  • Pipeline leak detection and inspections
  • Flow measurement surveys

If you are not sure if this model is well suited to your needs, please send us an email and describe your application and maybe even a photo of your proposed measurement site and mounting area and we might be able to indicate if the meter may be suited or possibly recommend a different type if necessary.

Suited pipe materials:

  • You can select from the pre-configured pipe materials : Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel, Cast Iron, Ductile Iron, Copper, PVC, Aluminum, Asbestos, Fiber Glass-Epoxy, or ‘other’
  • If you have any other liquid, please select ‘other’ then in subsequent menus you can manually enter the fluid sound velocity of the material
    • Please check back of the full manual for some other common pipe material settings you can use, or you may be able to find this with a web search.
  • It will only work on ‘sound conducting pipe’, please be aware, there will be some pipes it cannot work on; HDPE is a common one that we are asked about which the manufacturer does not recommend it for use with this material, often the pipe wall thickness is so thick that the ultrasonic sound/signal cannot get through it properly.

Can be used on pipes with liners:

  • It can also measure on pipes with liners when configured accordingly, you can select from the pre-configured liner materials: ‘None/No Liner’, Tar Epoxy, Rubber, Mortar, Polypropylene, Polystyrol, Polystyrene, Polyester, Polyethylene, Ebonite, Teflon, or ‘other’
  • If you have any other liquid, please select ‘other’ then in subsequent menus you can manually enter the sound velocity of the material
    • Please check back of the full manual for some other common liner settings you can use, or you may be able to find this with a web search

Suited liquids:

  • It work’s only on clean liquids (not necessarily clear, so oil is okay for example) with little or no particles and entrained air bubbles.
  • They will not work with too much suspended solids in the liquid, as a rough guide we typically advise around 5% suspended solids should be the cut off point, though it can vary between applications.
  • You can select from the pre-configured liquids: water, sea water, kerosene, gasoline, fuel oil, crude oil, propane, butane, diesel oil, castor oil, peanut oil, gasoline #90, gasoline #93, alcohol, or ‘other’
  • If you have any other liquid, please select ‘other’ then in subsequent menus you can manually enter the fluid sound velocity and viscosity.
    • Please check back of the full manual for some other common fluid settings you can use, or you may be able to find your fluid sound velocity and viscosity with a web search.
    • Setting parameters accurate is important for an accurate measurement, If sound velocity is not known, there is a way to estimate it on site but be aware when using estimated figures, the further you are from the ‘true’ value the less accurate the measurement will be.

General information:

  • This is a ‘transit time’ flow meter. Transit time works on the principle of sending a sound signal up stream and then downstream from a pair of sending and receiving transducers. It measures time shift with and against the flow in calculating flow rate.
  • When selecting a measurement site, it is important to select an area where the fluid flow profile is fully developed for an accurate measurement.
    • Choose a section of pipe that is always full of liquid (signal does not pass through air), such as a vertical pipe with flow in the upward direction or a full horizontal pipe.
    • On horizontal pipes it is best to mount the transducers on the side of the pipe. Avoid the top and bottom of the pipe to eliminate issue if air/gas has accumulated at the top of the pipe and sediment collected on the bottom of the pipe.
    • You want to measure where flow is stable and laminar, avoid turbulent areas. Generally, for best results a straight pipe run is required 10 pipe Diameters upstream and 5 pipe diameters downstream, but the recommendations vary depending on the situation, the datasheets have a section on this “installation site selection”
  • You will need to know: Pipe outer diameter, pipe wall thickness, pipe material, liner details (if applicable), and what the liquid is, you set these parameters in the flow meter and it will give you a transducer spacing which is the distance to separate the sensors on the pipe.
  • Included couplant (grease) is to be generously applied to the sensing area of the transducers, then you will need to mount the transducers on the pipe at that specified distance
  • The mounting frames are magnetic so mounting is very easy for most metal pipes, for non magnetic pipes the frames can be strapped on, the flow meter includes metal straps which can be used for mounting to smaller sizes up to approximately 300mm OD, for larger pipes we can offer a set of ratchet straps for a quick and easy mounting solution (additional cost)
  • Something else to note is ultrasonic flow meters are not ideally suited for intermittent flow duration’s (EG a pump powering for 20 seconds on and then flow off, or with diaphragm pumps for example)
    • The reason is that the signal typically will take at least a few seconds to stabilise and display accurate readings.
    • The flow meter has a ‘damping function’ (enabled by default) which will stabilize the flow display, a dampening factor of 3 to 10 seconds is recommended but could be set to 0 for it to much more quickly react to detected flow rate changes. It’s essentially an averaging filter.
    • They are also not suitable for accurate low dosing, or custody transfer applications as they will “miss” some of the totalised flow while the signal attenuates and the flow measurement ‘ramps up’ to it’s measurement accounting for the dampening function setting.