Patent ID: 7305892

Claim:
A method for operating a mass flowmeter that employs the Coriolis principle, said mass flowmeter incorporating a measuring tube through which flows a fluid medium, which measuring tube is stimulated to oscillate in a predefined pattern, allowing the resulting oscillatory response of the measuring tube to be detected and measured, said method comprising the steps of quantifying the drive power level required for stimulating the measuring tube into the predefined oscillation and by means of the quantified drive power detecting the presence of a multiphase flow of the medium traveling through the measuring tube, determining the viscosity of the medium flowing through the measuring tube, based on the viscosity quantifying the viscosity-induced power dissipation and, for determining the power dissipation resulting from the presence of a multiphase flow, subtracting from the drive power level the viscosity-induced power dissipation and the electrical, electromechanical, and mechanical energy losses caused in the stimulation of the measuring tube to a predefined oscillation pattern.