Flow Meters in General
Flow Meters are a part of everyday life. Most people will have some kind of meters installed in their home to measure household water consumption, natural gas and electricity.
A flow meter is measuring something that flows. It is literally counting how much or how fast a substance and/or it’s energy is moving from one place to another. Equipment operators normally consider flow meters as devices that measure the movement of fluids.
Introduction to Flow Meters
Flow Meters are common in homes but this website is more focused on the industrial flow meter.
The most popular choices in the industrial space are:
Coriolis Flow Meters, differential pressure flow meters, magnetic flow meters, thermal mass flow meters, ultrasonic flow meters and various types mechanical flow meters.
Each technology has it’s own advantages and drawbacks. Becoming familiar with each type of flow meter is an advantage if a user is trying to optimize a process or gather more accurate flow data.
Choosing a Flow Meter
A fluid is something that can take the form of a liquid, gas or steam. Surprisingly, even air itself is considered to be a fluid.
Before selecting a type of flow meter, it is important to know what type of fluid is being measured, what is the range of measurement and what conditions the flow meter will face.
Industrial Flowmeters?
In a manufacturing environment, a flowmeter is going to face a wide range of process conditions.
There is no universal flow monitor or meter that can handle every application, hence the need for various technologies to be applied to flow meter designs in order to satisfy the user requirements. On this website you will find several different kinds of flow meters.
Introduction to Magnetic flow meters
An electromagnetic flow meter is just one example of an industrial flowmeter and would be a good place to start if the application is water or wastewater. Magnetic flow meters need minerals in the water to work. Having mentioned that – How exactly does the magnetic flow meter work? What are the two electrodes in the magmeter actually reading and how is this converted into a flowrate? The magnetic flow meter presentation attempts to break down the inner workings and possible flow applications within minutes.
FLOWMETER TYPES
FLOWMETER FOR AIR/GAS
- Air Flow Meters
- Gas Flow Meters
- Flare Gas
- Compressed Air Flow meters
- Steam Flow Meters
- Anemometer
What is the Best Flowmeter?
Some might imagine this to be a malformed question but it is a question asked on a regular basis by consultants, engineers, technicians and businessmen. From a business perspective, a flowmeter should be expected to have some sort of return – often financial. If a flowmeter is expected to fulfill a measurement requirement but the expected costs associated with the product and it’s installation exceed a point where there is no financial return, then it should not be considered an economically viable choice. However, some technologies are expensive but they might improve the efficiency of a system or the quality of a product , so spending more money actually saves you money.
Often a particular flowmeter type is mandated because of local or international regulations. Some of the requirements in these cases may involve issues to do with safety, security or because the particular technology meets an accuracy requirement not met by other technologies.
There are a myriad of flowmeter types to suit all ranges of applications in different industrial environments, locations and applications. Since there exists no universal flow solution met by only one product, it justifies the need for experienced individuals familiar with such a wide range of scenarios to offer and provide services
Feature of the Month. What is watercut for crude oil?
A flow meter rental is an easy way to troubleshoot flow velocities or volumes passing through pipes without having to fork out the expenditure for the capital equipment. Sometimes someone might be baffled by what has now become a questionable piping arrangement when it was not designed to be. Of course, the layout of the piping is known, but they are seeing some strange happenings in the process i.e things are not working out exactly as planned. They might be asking the question “Just how much flow is actually going from A to B, and to C?” These questions can be easily answered by conducting a flow survey using a clamp on flow meter.
Not surprisingly, unique problems have been solved by a flow meter rental. It is so much easier to know the real situation once you get your hands on a decent flow meter that works straight off and gives accurate readings. When you are confident that you have solved the most important factor in the initial stage (the right tool for the job) , then the rest is a much easier. Operators can troubleshoot a process or a piping configuration by using a rental flowmeter. Step by step, the origin of the flow issue (whether it is a pump issue, pipe configuration issue, cooling water flow, a leak or even a valve that is in the wrong position. Flow measurement often gives the results we need to pinpoint a process issue or identify where it all started. Common issues might be under rated pumps, cavitation, eroded impellers etc.
Volume Flowmeters - Volumetric Flow Calculator
Volumetric Flowmeters are often classified as either technologies using a direct volume measurement or an inferential measurement which first of all measures the fluid velocity and then calculates the volumetric flow by using the formula Q = v · A
The calculator gives you an indication which approximates the volume flow rate without considering other factors (like the Reynolds number) which when calculated, improve the corrected volume calculation.
What flowmeter will perform direct volume measurements?
Positive Displacement flow meters are the only flow measuring technology to directly measure the volume of fluid that passes though a flow meter. How is this achieved? An oval gear meter is an example of a positive displacement flowmeter.
This type of meter is a common solution for hydrocarbon based liquids and is widely adopted because of it’s ability to self-lubricate with the added advantage of a high accuracy and repeatability within certain ranges.
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Leading through innovation… right from the start
It began in 1946: the first full year of peace after World War II; ENIAC, the first computer was unveiled; the word “automation” came into use. And Brooks Rotameter Company, founded by Stephen A. Brooks, opened for business in Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
The new company was built on the strength of an innovative side-plate, dowel-pin principle of rotameter construction. It was a better instrument that delivered more reliable results — and from the start, that commitment to technology that helps transform how industries measure and control essential processes has been our heritage.