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Home > Research > Applied Research > Calibration and Performance Testing

Calibration and Performance Testing at SAFL

Performance Testing
St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL) is located at a fifty foot drop along the Mississippi River allowing delivery flow rates up to 300 cfs which can be measured accurately with our weighing and volumetric tanks. Our volumetric tanks allow testing requiring large volumes of water; our main channel and towing carriage allow testing of bodies moving up to 20 feet per second in standing water. Our laboratory facilities, combined with sophisticated instrumentation and data acquisition systems, enable us to offer testing services for a wide variety of hydraulic and environmental technologies.

Calibration of Flow and Velocity Meters
With our accurate flow measurement capabilities, SAFL is in a unique position to calibrate flow rate and velocity meters, all traceable to NTIC standards. We provide calibrations for both meter manufacturers and users, and have even tested meters for owners in competitive situations. Accuracy for both our weighing tanks (up to 15 cfs) and our volumetric tanks (15 to 300 cfs) are under 0.5 percent.

Flow Metering
Well-designed and accurate flow meters sometimes have to be installed in non-ideal situations. SAFL provides field flow metering and laboratory testing to help reassess flow meter calibrations under these special situations.

Product Development Testing
Mississippi River water, with its high organic content, provides a challenge for water filtration systems. EPA has funded testing in our laboratory space to prove the capabilities of prototype filtration systems designed to remove harmful bacteria and viruses from municipal water supplies. This is just one example of how SAFL can be a proving ground for your hydraulic, environmental or wind technology.

Research Projects

Efficiency Testing of a BaySaver Separation System in a Lab Environment
The objective is to test a full scale BaySaver Separation System in a laboratory setting to determine the removal efficiency of the existing system and to examine the influence of different variables on the system operation. These studies were commissioned by Baysaver Technologies, Inc.

Selected Applications

Aeration technology testing (per ASCE)
Water filtration equipment
Meter calibrations
Field meter performance (dye testing)
Meter comparisons
Roof drains, windows
Commercial water conditioners
Automated metering of field flow problems

Testing an Underdrain System under Backwash Flow Conditions for the Chaparral Water Treatment Plant
Johnsons Screens was required to test its underdrain system under backwash flow conditions to assess the uniformity of flow discharge throughout the manifold system. To test the system, a basin was built in St. Anthony Falls Laboratory and the underdrain system components were provided and installed by Johnsons Screens. To assess the uniformity of flow of the manifold system, a measurement technique was developed to determine the flow at a number of locations at design flows.

Pressure Loss Coefficients of Steel Pipe Fittings
The scope of this study includes the testing of 6, 8 and 10-inch wrought steel fittings with flowing water to determine their head loss coefficient values. Sixty fittings from seven manufacturers were tested at specified ranges of flow velocities to determine their head loss coefficients. In addition, an uncertainty analysis was conducted to determine the errors associated with the test set-up, the instrumentation, and the procedures used for these tests. These studies were commissioned by ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers).

Twin Cities Wastewater Treatment Plant
Recently the accuracy of influent flow metering at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro Wastewater Treatment Plant has come into question. By use of a scaled model, SAFL was able to diagnose the problem and demonstrate that air collected in the crown of the pipe and caused errors in meter output. Air vents were shown to alleviate the problem. In the next phase, SAFL will conduct competitive testing between meters of prospective suppliers.

Flow Meter Testing
Manufacturers of flow meters contact SAFL to perform tests to check calibration and limits on their open channel flow meters. The meters are installed in a straight length of pipe at a known slope, and then operated at several flow rates, ranging from 2 inch depth to full pipe conditions. Data from the meters are recorded and compared with our weighing tanks measurements, to within ± 0.10%.