Quality Flow Meters and Why They're Important

by Seth Tachick

Within the competitive world of plant and manufacturing technology, it is obviously very important to keep production costs as low as possible. A lot of this can be accomplished by monitoring a plant's efficiency in regard to its gaseous energy use (e.g. natural gas or oxygen). Implementing a gas flow meter to measure such efficiency is a step in the right direction towards the ultimate goal of saving energy and money.

These days, with soaring energy costs, it is essential that your flow meters are accurate as possible. This is important because when a flow meter is doing its job correctly, it will help to accurately diagnose any problems within an application's energy system, such as an abnormality in pressure or temperature variation. Such abnormalities that go undetected usually lead to a waste in energy, which can become very costly. That is why "mass" flow meters are ideal for your energy monitoring needs.

Mass flow meters utilize the latest in flow sensor technology. This latest technology is called thermal technology. Thermal technology is superior to the older differential pressure technology because the latter does not have the ability to measure at low flow velocities and does not have a comparable turndown and measurement range to that of thermal technology. Thermal technology utilizes direct mass measurement which gives mass flow meters the ability to accurately measure at the lowest flow rates, thus eliminating the burdensome issue of inaccurate measuring due to low sensor response.

In a nutshell, more accurate readings and a broader measurement range capability translates into cost savings, as a result of increased diagnostic capability. The more well equipped your system is for proper diagnosis, the faster you can fix any possible problems that will cost you time and money. Such capability is all made possible thanks to the thermal technology instilled in mass flow meters.