ABSTRACT
This chapter starts by briefly listing some of the industries involved in flow measurement and the enormous challenges faced by instrument suppliers to meet their often conflicting demands. The question is then raised as to why it is necessary to measure the flow in the first place – whether it's in the field of custody and fiscal measurement or in implementing the open- and closed-loop control.
The author then reviews some of the history and background of flow measurement and its development. Starting at what is often considered the first major milestone in the field of flow technology, the publication of Daniel Bernoulli's Hydrodynamica in which he outlines the principles of the conservation of energy for flow, right through to the harnessing of the Coriolis effect to provide highly accurate mass flow metering of both liquids and gases – a feat that is often regarded as a miracle of this engineering development over and up to use scientific phenomenon. Finally, we look at the subdivisions used to divide the book into its various technological divisions.
