Pulsar FLOWPULSE User manual

FLOWPULSE
Instruction Manual

FLOW PULSE (SECOND EDITION)
June 2017
Part Number M-560-0-002-0P
COPYRIGHT
© Pulsar Process Measurement Limited, 2012-17. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may
be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in
any form without the written permission of Pulsar Process Measurement Limited.
WARRANTY AND LIABILITY
Pulsar Process Measurement Limited guarantee for a period of 2 years from the date of delivery that it
will either exchange or repair any part of this product returned to Pulsar Process Measurement
Limited if it is found to be defective in material or workmanship, subject to the defect not being due to
unfair wear and tear, misuse, modification or alteration, accident, misapplication or negligence.
DISCLAIMER
Pulsar Process Measurement Limited gives nor implies any process guarantee for this product, and
shall have no liability in respect of any loss, injury or damage whatsoever arising out of the
application or use of any product or circuit described herein.
Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of this documentation, but Pulsar Process
Measurement Limited cannot be held liable for any errors.
Pulsar Process Measurement Limited operates a policy of constant development and improvement and
reserves the right to amend technical details as necessary.
TECHNICAL ENQUIRIES
Please contact Pulsar Process Measurement Limited for technical support.
COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS
If you have any comments or suggestions about this product, then please contact:
Pulsar Process Measurement Limited
Pulsar Process Measurement Inc.
Cardinal Building
Enigma Commercial Centre
Sandy’s Road
Malvern
Worcestershire
WR14 1JJ
United Kingdom
PO Box 5177
Niceville
FL 32578-5177
USA
Tel: + 44 (0) 1684 891371
Fax: + 44 (0) 1684 575985
Tel: + 1 850 279 4882
Fax: + 1 850 279 4886
Web Site: http://www.pulsar-pm.com
e-mail: [e-mail] (general
information)
e-mail: support@ pulsar-pm.com (product
support)
Web Site: http://www.pulsar-pm.com
e-mail: [e-mail] (general
information)
e-mail: support.usa@ pulsar-pm.com (product
support)

Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................................1
About this Manual...................................................................................................................................................1
Additional Information...................................................................................................................................1
About the Flow Pulse ...................................................................................................................................................2
Functional Description............................................................................................................................................3
Product Specification..............................................................................................................................................4
EU Declaration of Conformity...............................................................................................................................6
Chapter 2 Installation............................................................................................................................................7
Unpacking................................................................................................................................................................7
Power Supply Requirements..................................................................................................................................7
Cable Screen and Earth Requirement.....................................................................................................................7
Dimensions..............................................................................................................................................................8
Terminal Connection Details..................................................................................................................................8
Terminal Connections.....................................................................................................................................9
Power.............................................................................................................................................................10
RelayOutput.................................................................................................................................................10
Current Output..............................................................................................................................................10
RS232 Serial Interface..................................................................................................................................10
RS485 Serial Interface with Modbus...........................................................................................................10
Flow Pulse Installation Procedures............................................................................................................................11
Flow Pulse PC Installation.........................................................................................................................................12
Preparation for Operation......................................................................................................................................12
Maintenance..........................................................................................................................................................13
Chapter 3 Setting-Up Flow Pulse ...........................................................................................................................14
Interface.................................................................................................................................................................14
Using FlowPulse PC.............................................................................................................................................14
Pipe Internal Diameter..................................................................................................................................14
FlowTab................................................................................................................................................................17
Signal Strength..............................................................................................................................................17
Stability..........................................................................................................................................................18
FlowRecord Tab...................................................................................................................................................18
Trace Tab...............................................................................................................................................................19
Parameters Tab......................................................................................................................................................20
Pipe Internal Diameter..................................................................................................................................21
Calibration Factor..........................................................................................................................................21
Sensitivity......................................................................................................................................................21
Damping........................................................................................................................................................22
Volumetric Unit and Time Unit...................................................................................................................23
Access Level.................................................................................................................................................23
Step Response...............................................................................................................................................24
Step Response Threshold..............................................................................................................................24
Step Change Limit........................................................................................................................................24
Flow Lowand Flow High ............................................................................................................................24
mAOutput.....................................................................................................................................................25
mAOutput: mATrim..................................................................................................................................26
Relay/Alarm..................................................................................................................................................27
RS-485...........................................................................................................................................................28
Manual Setting.......................................................................................................................................................29
Setup Menu............................................................................................................................................................30
System Menu.........................................................................................................................................................30

Tools Menu............................................................................................................................................................31
About Flow Pulse Menu............................................................................................................................................31
Chapter 4 RS 485 Parameter Guide.....................................................................................................................32
Parameter System..................................................................................................................................................32
Parameter Access..................................................................................................................................................32
Output Parameters.................................................................................................................................................33
FlowRate (P20 and P21)..............................................................................................................................33
Signal Strength (P22)....................................................................................................................................33
Stability(P23)................................................................................................................................................33
Configuration Parameters.....................................................................................................................................34
RS485 Communication and Modbus...........................................................................................................34
RS232 Communication................................................................................................................................35
Processing Parameters..................................................................................................................................36
mA Output Parameters.................................................................................................................................38
Alarm/RelayParameters...............................................................................................................................41
FlowUnit Parameters...................................................................................................................................43
Device Information Parameters....................................................................................................................44
Device Control Parameters...........................................................................................................................45
Chapter 5 Optimisation and Diagnostic...............................................................................................................47
Interpreting Diagnostic Trace...............................................................................................................................47
PC-over-RS485.....................................................................................................................................................48
Quick-Response Setup..........................................................................................................................................49
Simulated Flow......................................................................................................................................................50
Saving & Loading DeviceParameters.................................................................................................................50
Firmware Upgrade................................................................................................................................................51
High Noise Environment......................................................................................................................................52
Chapter 6 Common Questions and Answers.......................................................................................................53
Will mechanical vibration affect flowmeasurement?.................................................................................53
Is it possible to operate Flow Pulse in a high noise environment?...................................................................53
What is the effect of poor pipe condition?...................................................................................................53
What is the effect of pipe lining?..................................................................................................................53
Does Flow Pulse measurement drift over time?...............................................................................................53
Can Flow Pulse be operated in a wet environment?.........................................................................................54
Chapter 7 Troubleshooting....................................................................................................................................55
LED Indication......................................................................................................................................................55
Fault Registers and Log File.................................................................................................................................55
Flowmeasurement issignificantly different from expectation...........................................................................56
Flowreading under no-flowcondition.................................................................................................................57
Flowreading fluctuates or erratic.........................................................................................................................58
No flowindicated under flow-condition..............................................................................................................58
Relaystatenot stable.............................................................................................................................................58
Appendix: Parameter Record.................................................................................................................................59

Page 1
Chapter 1 Introduction
Congratulations on your purchase of a Pulsar Flow Pulse. This quality
system has been developed over many years and represents the latest in non-
invasive ultrasonic flow monitoring.
It has been designed to give you years of trouble free performance, and a
few minutes spent reading this operating manual will ensure that your
installation is as simple as possible.
About this Manual
It is important that this manual is referred to for correct installation
and operation.
Additional Information
Additional Information
At various parts of the manual, you will find sections
like this that explain specific items in more detail.

Page 2
About the FlowPulse
The Flow Pulse is an ultrasonic non-invasive flow monitor designed for use
on most industrial liquid flow applications. Flow Pulse uses a novel spread
spectrum analysis technique never before used in flow monitoring. It
introduces a radical new Digital Signal Processing approach for exceptional
repeatability.
Ultrasound is fired through the pipe wall at 90 degrees to the flow via a
tangentially mounted high-output ceramic, then refracted at angles across
the axis of the flow and subsequently reflected from bubbles, particles and
vortices in all directions and at a wide range of frequencies. The wide,
refracted, ultrasonic beam maximises the ultrasound energy captured from
flowing particles. These multiple reflections are received back into the unit
via a second crystal.
The mass of data generated is analysed using Flow Pulse’s Refracted Spread
Spectrum Analysis (RSSA) digital signal processing platform to derive flow
information. RSSA analyses and integrates the received signals over a wide
frequency range, then uses them for real-time analysis and flow rate
calculation.
Flow Pulse operates in a flow range from as little as 0.3m/s through to
4m/s, with a minimum particle size of 100µ and concentration of 200ppm
(the equivalent of hard water) or above.

Page 3
Functional Description
The Flow Pulse injects an ultrasonic signal through the pipe, and analyses the
returned signal in real-time to extract flow information. This provides
robust and repeatable flow monitoring using a scalable 4 to 20 mA output
and a volt-free relay switch. Interface with the PC over both the RS-485 and
RS-232 serial port is fully supported by the FlowPulse PC software, which
can be used for setting up and operating the device.
In addition, there is a RS-485 with Modbus RTU communication protocol
that interfaces Flow Pulse to Pulsar’s optional controllers which are listed
below:
•Flow Monitor wall mount unit
•Quantum 3
•Ultimate Controller
For further details on how to connect and use the Flow Pulse with the
controllers listed above, please refer to their individual instruction manuals,
which can be downloaded from our website:
https://www.pulsar-pm.com/support/downloads/manuals.aspx
For the best results, Flow Pulse should be applied where:
•There is full pipe flow
•The pipe material is steel, cast iron, ductile iron, plastic or glass, but
not rubber or flexible plastic pipes
•The pipe diameter is greater than 30 mm
•The pipe wall thickness is less than 20 mm
•The solids concentration in the fluid is greater than 200 ppm (e.g.
hard tap water), and typical particle sizes are larger than 100
microns
•There is no significant build-up within the pipe

Page 4
Product Specification
Physical
Outside dimensions 120 x 65 x 65 mm
(4.75 x 2.6 x 2.6 inch)
Weight Nominal 1.5 kg (3.3lbs)
Enclosure material/description Type 316 stainless steel casting
Cable entry detail 1 cable entry M20 x 1.5mm gland
Maximum separation 500 m (1,640 ft.)
Environmental
IP Rating (Wall) IP68
Max. & min. temperature (electronics) -20 ºC to +70 ºC (-4oF to 158oF)
CE approval See EU Declaration of Conformity
Performance
Accuracy/Repeatability ±5% typical subject to installation and pipe
conditions
Resolution 3mm/sec.
Pipe wall thickness Metal or rigid pipe up to 20mm (0.8in) thick
Min. Particle size >100µ
Max. particle size >200ppm
Pipe diameter V1 = 30mm to 350mm (1.2 to 14in), V2 =
30mm to 1250mm (1.2 to 49.2in)
Min. range 0.3m/sec.
Max. range (flow) 4.0m/sec. (10m/sec. for high flow version)
Response time fully adjustable (1 sec. minimum for fast
response version)
Signal Processing
Description RSSA (Refractive Spread Spectrum
Analysis)
Outputs
Analogue output 4-20 mA into a 1k

load (when supply
voltage is 22 VDC or greater) with 20µA
resolution and user programmable span.
Digital output Full Duplex RS232 to PC software, Half
Duplex RS485 to PC software, Half Duplex
RS485 with Modbus RTU
Volt free contacts, number and rating 1 form "C" (SPDT) rated at 1A at 24VDC
Programming
PC programming via RS232 or RS485 using FlowPulse PC
Programmed data integrity Via non-volatile RAM
Supply
Power supply 18 - 28V DC
Power Consumption 2.4W @ 24V typical, 3W @24V maximum
Pulsar Process Measurement Limited operates a policy of constant development and
improvement and reserve the right to amend technical details as necessary.