Cutthroat flumes are among the more interesting kinds of flume styles that have been created in recent years. They haven’t undergone the research that some older styles have, but they offer quite a few benefits you may be inclined to take advantage of depending on your flow rate measurement conditions. Here’s what you need to know about cutthroat flumes.
What Is a Cutthroat Flume?
A cutthroat flume isn’t necessarily a specific design for a flume but rather a kind of modification you can make to an already existing design. The most obvious is the style’s namesake. The throat section has been completely removed, and the inlet walls immediately diverge at a throat point before extending outward again.
What Is It Good For?
This particular kind of flume has a wide variety of applications, including measuring surface water and industrial flows, irrigation, mine dewatering and quite a few others. This kind of adaptability makes it a common favorite across various industries, so you may be surprised at the likelihood that it will fit your unique flow rate measurement needs.
Retrofit Applications
If you need to retrofit a new flume in an already existing channel, the cutthroat may be one of your best options. It utilizes a flat bottom in most designs that serves this kind of purpose well. Other flumes may require some changes in the downstream channel to work properly, but the cutthroat’s flat bottom removes that requirement in the vast majority of cases. The flume itself will only be sitting above the floor by how thick the floor of the flume actually is.
Unique Ratios
The Parshall may be the most popular kind of flume style you’ll find, but it’s not exactly the easiest to scale. You can’t simply increase the size of everything in a Parshall flume by the same degree and expect accurate results. All you can maintain is the layout, but the actual measurements increase by different ratios. In fact, the different Parshall flume sizes are only possible because of decades of laboratory testing and research.
A cutthroat flume is unique in that it’s easy to change its size without having to laboratory test different sizes. The ratio is universal, so if you want to increase or decrease the size, all you have to do is maintain the 3:1 sidewall contrast ratio and 6:1 sidewall divergence ratio. Because of that kind of flexibility, it’s especially easy to adapt a cutthroat flume to serve your unique conditions.
Cutthroat Flumes From Tracom
After learning what you need to know about cutthroat flumes, you may want to get your hands on some yourself. At Tracom, you’ll find cutthroat flumes along with just about any other kind of design you can imagine, making it easier than ever before to find the perfect fit. If standard sizing does work, don’t worry. Our team can work with you to create a completely fresh and custom design that works for your unique open channel flow conditions. Contact us today to get started, and discover what kind of flume can reliably offer you the accurate measurements you need
