A apparatus 10,110,170 is provided that measures the speed of sound and/or
vortical disturbances propagating in a single phase fluid flow and/or
multiphase mixture to determine parameters, such as mixture quality,
particle size, vapor/mass ratio, liquid/vapor ratio, mass flow rate,
enthalpy and volumetric flow rate of the flow in a pipe, by measuring
acoustic and/or dynamic pressures. The apparatus includes a spatial array
of unsteady pressure sensors 15-18 placed at predetermined axial
locations x.sub.1-x.sub.N disposed axially along the pipe 14. The
pressure sensors 15-18 provide acoustic pressure signals
P.sub.1(t)-P.sub.N(t) to a signal processing unit 30 which determines the
speed of sound a.sub.mix propagating through of the process flow 12
flowing in the pipe 14. The pressure sensors are piezoelectric film
sensors that are clamped onto the outer surface of the pipe at the
respective axial location.