The derivation and validation of the practical operating equation for electromagnetic flowmeters: case of having an electrolytic conductor flowing through

In this paper, the practical operating equation for the electromagnetic flowmeter is derived for the case of having a circular pipe with an electrolytic conductor flowing through. It is assumed further that the magnetic field is uniform and the velocity profile is axisymmetric (assuming nonconducting walls). The derivation was done before by many authors to whom the author refer to in this paper, but the approach provided here is comprehensive and simple. To add to that, the solution for the electromagnetic flowmeter's operating equation illustrated in this paper is new and is provided using very simple mathematical concepts, eliminating the complexity of solutions provided by other authors in the past. In the end, the practical operating equation derived was validated using a new approach based on the finite element analysis and the moving stream method to estimate the error resulting from using this operating equation with the assumptions of having a uniform magnetic field and an axisymmetric velocity profile, which are difficult to achieve in practice. This error can be used in a dry calibration to estimate the error caused by variable flow characteristics.