Ultrasonic transit time difference meters are prevelent in industry due to their ease of use and lack of moving parts. But, They often suffer from a cross-sensitivity to the speed of sound in the fluid, which is dependent on the temperature. Other factors like changes in the flow profile or trigger jitter in the signal can also have a large impact on the accuracy to which measurements can be made.
Clamp-on ultrasonic transit time difference flow meters provide opportunities for metering where it is impractical or undesirable to cut into an existing pipeline to install an alternative flow meter. Up until now, it has been difficult to perform this type of measurement on thin-walled metal pipes, due to the difficulty of interpreting the guided wave modes in the combined pipe wall and internal fluid system, but a new method has been reported recently that utilises these guided wave modes for flow measurement.