Power Generation

Whether electricity is generated from nuclear energy, the burning of fuels or from water power - the capability of measuring flow externally is essential in every case making Katronic clamp-on flow meters the first
choice for major energy suppliers.

Your situation

Nuclear and fuel burning power stations generate electricity by heating water to convert it into steam which is then used to
drive turbines and generators. Within this process there are
several flow circles involved which require permanent
metering as well as temporary spot measurements.

Our solutions

Clamp-on ultrasonic flow meters offer a number of advantages which make them ideal solutions for various applications within power plants.

No pressure drop and no risk of leakage

When an inline flow meter has been chosen, high pressures within feed water pipes and other systems bear a high risk of leackage. Moreover, any inline device causes pressure drops in the pipe affecting the flow of the medium. As the sensors of the KATflow ultrasonic flow meters are clamped onto the outside of pipes,
there is no pressure drop and no risk of leakage at any time.

No electric conductivity required

Feed water used in steam boilers of fuel burning power stations is highly purified to avoid corrosion. Due to its high purification level,
it becomes an electrical insulator eliminating the possibility of measuring flow with electro magnetic meters. By employing ultrasound to determine flow rates, the Katronic clamp-on
meters can measure the flow of liquids regardless
of their electric condictivity.

No shut down

The installation of inline flow meters requires pipes to be cut, which in turn results in the shut down of single systems or the whole plant. As the sensors of the KATflow ultrasonic flow meters
are clamped onto the outside of pipes, there is no need to
cut into them and therefore no interruption of flow.

No limitations

The flexibility of our portable and fixed-installation flow meters enables them to be used at many different parts of a power
station, for many different liquids and on pipes of almost
every common material and diameters from 10 mm to
over 3,000 mm (0.4” > 118”).

Due to the high temperature resistance of our clamp-on sensors, our flow meters can also be used on pipes with temperatures of
up to 200 °C which makes them suitable for the use on hot water and condensate pipelines.

Furthermore, recent developments by Katronic engineers have opened up a new field of applications for clamp-on flow meters
on stator cooling systems. These cooling lines are made from flexible PTFE hoses and have little or no straight pipe lengths.
For this reason we have designed a special clamping
arrangement to provide reliable measurements even
under these difficult circumstances.

Nuclear power stations

In the nuclear power industry the advantages of non-invasive flow meters are obvious. The main application for this power source is also for the measurement of cooling liquid flows.

Due to the sensitive nature of the nuclear fuels, the possibilities for the shut down of cooling systems for the installation of inline meters is even more restricted than with fuel burning stations. For this reason clamp-on flow meters are best possible solution.

Hydropower stations

Clamp-on flow meters from Katronic Technologies are also used in hydropower stations to measure the flows in penstock pipelines. As these lines are generally very large, clamp-on meters are the most cost-effective solution.

Typical applications for the KATflow clamp-on flow meters:

• Feed water, cooling water and condensate flow metering
• Pump, valve and inline flow meter performance verification
• Leakage and blockage detection
• Metering of fly ash disposal lines
• Heavy fuel oil metering

What can we do for you?

If you have an application for which you consider the use of our flow meters, please do not hesitate to phone our office on
+44 (0)1926 882 954.

Alternatively, you can send us an email or use the online contact form which can be found on the contact page of our website.

Reference customers:

• Siemens Power Generation
• RWE n-power
• EDF Energy
• Alstom
• E.ON