How do you ensure to get the ideal industrial flow meter? From water treatment to agriculture and chemical production, flow measurement is critical. It plays an integral role in a fluid system. First, it’s crucial to consider the device’s functionality, accuracy, and maintenance cost.
If you overlook the afar mentioned, you will have trouble with inaccuracies in monitoring your flow and inefficiency.
Different Types of Flow Meters
Flow meters come in plenty, but they get categorized into how they calculate the fluid volume. These are volumetric and mass meters.
Mass flowmeters
The mass meters calculate the flow rate by measuring the mass of a fluid. And due to their precision performance and accurate reading of product flow, these have become popular and most preferred meters compared to older metering technologies.
Volumetric flowmeters
These are devices that calculate the flow measurement, which they achieve by calculating the fluid volume. It has to be proportional to the volume of the fluid passing by. And with the help of a metering device, it directs the flow and measures the speed of the fluid. These flowmeters are the most popular devices used today, including Turbine, Positive Displacement, Ultrasonic, Magnetic, Vortex meters, etc.
Choosing either meter will depend on your application and metering needs. Ultimately, you can still calculate volume to mass or mass to volume if you understand the fluid density, temperature effects, and other conversion factors.
Industry Application Flow Meters
If you’re looking for industry volume-based meters, these are some of the best meters to consider.
Coriolis Meters
As commonly known by many, these mass meters measure mass flow and not volume. They calculate the flow rate using the Coriolis principle, which is the effect of the moving mass on a body in a rotating way of reference. And the moving mass employs a force on the body resulting in a distortion of the body.
Mass meters are popular in the agricultural industry, mainly in chemicals and fertilizers applications.
Magnetic Meters
These meters come in variants of insertion and full-bore. They use coils to create their magnetic field. When a conductive fluid passes through the area, it generates a voltage proportional to the flow via an electrode in the insertion probe. And function by calculating the electrical content of the fluid.
It’s a technology with no moving parts, while the full-bore design protects the liquid flow from any intrusion. These industrial flow meters are relatively high-end and are common in petrochemical, mining, chemical manufacturing, water purification, pulp, and paper manufacturing.
Positive Displacement (gear meters)
Gear meters work best in high viscosity liquid. They use oval, counter-synchronized gears to rotate with the fluid flow. And due to their perfect simple design, they’re well-suited for installation in harsh situations. PD works well with oil or fuel transfers in the manufacturing industries, including pulp and paper.
As the gears are stainless steel, these meters are excellent for petrochemical industries or other applications using light to heavy oils.
Differential Pressure Flowmeters
When there are no moving parts required, or there is a need for a quick response time, a differential pressure flow meter is an excellent choice. A DP meter usually gauges variations in pressure to find the flow speed. It uses a flow-restrictive feature (orifice), which measures the pressure drop. DP is usually helpful in industrial applications where it calculates the output of fuels.
And this includes specialty chemical manufacturing plain water flow measurement testing and is also used in labs to calculate and control the flow of gases.
In Conclusion
Flowmeters provide a reliable way of monitoring the efficiency of your operation. They also show a tangible reading that helps identify a potential problem in the plumbing system. That’s why choosing the best industrial meter is critical. While we’ve discussed some of the standard industrial flowmeters, these are by no means the only available devices. So, choose what you need and research the best options.