ISO 5167-5:2016 specifies the geometry and method of use (installation and operating conditions) of cone meters when they are inserted in a conduit running full to determine the flow rate of the fluid flowing in the conduit.

As the uncertainty of an uncalibrated cone meter might be too high for a particular application, it might be deemed essential to calibrate the flow meter in accordance with Clause 7.

ISO 5167-5:2016 also provides background information for calculating the flow rate and is applicable in conjunction with the requirements given in ISO 5167‑1.

ISO 5167-5:2016 is applicable only to cone meters in which the flow remains subsonic throughout the measuring section and where the fluid can be considered as single-phase. Uncalibrated cone meters can only be used within specified limits of pipe size, roughness, β, and Reynolds number. This part of ISO 5167 is not applicable to the measurement of pulsating flow. It does not cover the use of uncalibrated cone meters in pipes sized less than 50 mm or more than 500 mm, or where the pipe Reynolds numbers are below 8 × 10⁴ or greater than 1,2 × 10⁷.

A cone meter is a primary device which consists of a cone-shaped restriction held concentrically in the centre of the pipe with the nose of the cone upstream. The design of cone meter defined in this part of ISO 5167 has one or more upstream pressure tappings in the wall, and a downstream pressure tapping positioned in the back face of the cone with the connection to a differential pressure transmitter being a hole through the cone to the support bar, and then up through the support bar.

Alternative designs of cone meters are available; however, at the time of writing, there is insufficient data to fully characterize these devices, and therefore, these meters shall be calibrated in accordance with Clause 7.