Conditioner, Apparatus and Method

An apparatus for determining fluid flow in a pipe having transducer sites comprising:

• an ultrasonic flow meter having transducers that communicate with the fluid flow in the pipe;
• and
• a flow conditioner for displacing and mixing the fluid flow that defines an envelope in a cross-sectional direction having a plurality of ramps disposed in the pipe and extending from the outside of the envelope inward toward the center of the pipe in a downstream direction with respect to the fluid flow and forming an angle between 0° and 90° relative to the pipe's inner surface which displaces a thermal boundary layer from the pipe's inner surface, the plurality of ramps adapted to be positioned upstream of one of the transducer sites, the plurality of ramps extend essentially up to a height of about ⅕ of the diameter of the pipe from the inner surface of the pipe.

A flow conditioner for mixing fluid flow that defines an envelope in a cross sectional direction in a pipe comprising:

• a plurality of ramps adapted to be disposed in the pipe and extending from the outside of the envelope inward toward the center of the pipe in a downstream direction with respect to the fluid flow and forming an angle between 0° and 90° relative to the pipe's inner surface which displaces a thermal boundary layer from the pipewall, the plurality of ramps extend essentially up to a height of about ⅕ of the diameter of the pipe from the inner surface of the pipe.

A method for affecting fluid flow in a pipe comprising the steps of:

• flowing fluid in the pipe;
• and
• displacing a thermal boundary layer in the fluid flow in proximity to the pipe's inner surface with a plurality of ramps extending at an angle between 0° and 90° from the pipe's inner surface, the plurality of ramps extend essentially up to a height of about ⅕ of the diameter of the pipe from the inner surface of the pipe.