PTFM 6.1 for Farming and Irrigation

PTFM 6.1 achieves accurate readings in farming and irrigation applications.

An agricultural management company located in Chile reached out to Pulsar Measurement for help with one of their applications. They already had a contacting inline flow measurement solution, but needed something that could be moved to various points on a 200 mm (8 in) water intake pipe to ensure that each system was running smoothly. The problem was this water comes from a local dam and does not always stay clean due to various weather conditions that move sediment and debris into the water and cause the water to have more suspended solids.

Since the water is clean for the majority of the time, the PTFM 6.1 Portable Transit Time Flow Meter was suggested as a solution, with SE16B sensors. The SE16B sensors would be the ideal solution as they are recommended for 50 mm to 250 mm (2 in to 10 in) pipe sizes and are compatible with a wide range of pipe materials.

Although the application was within the specifications for the meter and transducers, the first attempt at measurement with the PTFM 6.1 resulted in no signal. Since the water has the potential to run turbid, and with added sediments, it was decided that the PDFM 5.1 would be worth a shot, and this did work well. However, the PTFM 6.1 was returned to the application, this time with the SE16C sensors, the most powerful sensors compatible with the PTFM 6.1.

The PTFM 6.1 Portable Transit Time Flow Meter is a portable clamp-on flow measurement solution that can be moved as needed to verify flow at different points. With three compatible transducers, the SE16A, SE16B, and SE16C sensors it allows you to measure flow on all common pipe materials with sizes ranging from 15 mm (o0.5 in) to 1,200 mm (48 in). You can also view the convenient on-screen flow reports where the daily total, minimum, maximum, and average flow rates are stored in a 24-hour summary for the last 365 days.

This application was a little different from the regular everyday applications that we see, in so much as the water could sometimes be clean and sometimes dirty, so it was absolutely crucial that the end-user had a flow meter that could be adapted to the needs of the application. Thanks to the flexibility of the PTFM 6.1 Portable Transit Time Flow Meter, this was achieved.