A method for measuring the flow rate of a fluid in a pipe, the flow rate being measured using at least two ultrasound transducers,
- the method comprising generating successive cycles, referred to as transmission cycles, which is controlled by a control unit, each transmission cycle comprising:
- a subcycle A comprising:
- a step of a first ultrasound transducer from among said at least two ultrasound transducers transmitting an ultrasound wave,
- a step of a second ultrasound transducer from among said at least two ultrasound transducers receiving said ultrasound wave,
- a step of measuring a time for the ultrasound wave to be propagated from the first ultrasound transducer to the second ultrasound transducer,
- a subcycle B comprising:
- a step of the second ultrasound transducer transmitting an ultrasound wave,
- a step of the first ultrasound transducer receiving said ultrasound wave,
- a step of measuring a time for the ultrasound wave to be propagated from the second ultrasound transducer to the first ultrasound transducer,
- the first subcycle A and the subcycle B of the same transmission cycle succeeding one another in a given order,
- wherein the order of the subcycle A and the subcycle B of a given transmission cycle is reversed with respect to the order of the subcycle A and the subcycle B of a transmission cycle directly preceding said given transmission cycle,
- and in that said method comprises at least one fluid flow rate computation step in which a flow rate of the fluid flowing in the pipe is computed on the basis of an average between:
- a difference between the propagation time measured for the subcycle A and the propagation time measured for the subcycle B of the same given transmission cycle, and
- a difference between the propagation time measured for the subcycle A and the propagation time measured for the subcycle B of the same transmission cycle directly succeeding the given transmission cycle,
- wherein a given first transmission cycle is separated from a second transmission cycle directly preceding the first transmission cycle by a duration, referred to as the intercycle duration, which is greater than or equal to 15 ms,
- said method further comprising a step of at least partially putting the control unit on standby between a first transmission cycle and a second transmission cycle,
- wherein when the control unit is turned on, the subcycle A and the subcycle B are each carried out over a stabilization period of the electronic components of the control unit, the ultrasound wave transmitted during the subcycle A and the ultrasound wave transmitted during the subcycle B of each transmission cycle each being transmitted over a predefined transmission time interval.