Nearly all types and makes of flowmeters require some length of straight pipe upstream and downstream of the flowmeter itself. Why?

Sometimes you just need to know what’s happening inside a pipe. But promptly measuring the flow of water, chemicals, beverages, petroleum products, or other fluids inside pipes has traditionally been anything but a picnic—until now.

Clamp on style ultrasonic flowmeters (like SoundWater’s Orcas) are extremely convenient tools that install on the outside of pipe to measure the flow rate inside – and they accommodate to various pipe diameters and materials

Searching flow is a normal part of the measurement process, and occurs in three scenarios: (1) during startup, (2) at periodic “check up” intervals, and (3) when the ultrasonic signal is no longer detected. But what is actually happening during “searching flow”?