IQS Newsroom Articles on Flow Meters
About Flow Meters and Flow Meter Distributors Including:
Air Flow Meters, Peak
Flow Meters, Rotometers, Ultrasonic
Flow Meters, Water
Flow Meters, Fuel Flow Meters & Vortex Flow Meters.
Flow meters are used to measure the flow of air, fluids and gas. Some of the
most popular flow meters are:
peak flow meters,
water flow meters, fuel flow
meters, air flow meters,
ultrasonic flow meters
and flow monitor services. Many flow meters measure the volume of the material
while other flow meters measure the speed, and still other flow meters measure
the mass of the materials. For the most part, flow meters are used to infer mass
flow through calculations that flow meters and flow monitor instruments make
after taking various flow measurements, such as absolute pressure, differential
pressure, viscosity and temperature. Most flow meters are made of three parts:
the primary device, transducer and transmitter. These three flow meters parts
are usually combined so that the flow meter is one complete instrument.
Flow meter distributors manufacture various instruments for different measurements of
flow. Thermal mass flow meters take measurements with two sensors that work together.
A temperature sensor reference and an active heated sensor take measurements
by calculating how much heat loss occurs in the flowing liquid, and thus these
flow meters can determine the flow rate based on this amount. Another type of
flow meter is the Coriolis mass flow meter, which operates on the basis of the
Coriolis Effect. In the Coriolis Effect, an excitation force is applied to the flow meter
tube, causing the fluid or gas to rotate because the acceleration is acting in
opposite directions on both sides of the applied force. A flow meter measurement
can then be taken. Other kinds of flow meters operate using sound: These are
called ultrasonic flow meters, and include several types, like Doppler Effect
flow meters and time-of-flight flow meters.
Flow meters are useful in a variety of fields.
Medically, flow meters are used to measure a patient's air intake. These
types of flow meters are called peak
flow meters and are particularly beneficial
for asthma patients. In plumbing, water
flow meters are used to measure the amount
of fluid running through a tube for efficiency purposes. In general, flow meters
are used in many industrial purposes for flow measurements to help companies
determine profit gain or loss. Other industries that benefit from the use of
flow meters, peak flow meters, fuel flow meters, water flow meters and flow
monitor services include automotive, petroleum and gas,
utility services, HVAC, food processing and raw materials.
Each type of flow meter has specific guidelines that must be followed for proper
use. For example, when using gas flow meters, the flow meters must remain full
of gas. Liquid in gas flow meters can affect the flow meter's accuracy. Similarly,
in order for liquid flow meters to work properly, they must remain full of liquid.
Gas in liquid flow meters can affect the accuracy of flow meters' readings. Generally,
contaminants of any kind will cause an inaccurate reading of flow meters, so
flow meter distributors advise that flow meters and flow monitor instruments
must be treated with care and cleaned regularly.
Flow Meter Types
- are used to measure the flow of air.
-
are used to measure the force of acceleration resulting from a moving
object towards or away from the center of rotation.
- are used to measure the flow of fluids and gases
in a pipe by introducing constriction that causes the pressure to drop.
The pipe must be clean to result in accurate measurements.
- Fuel flow meters are ultrasonic, turbine or positive displacement flow meters
which measure fuel usage rate and remaining fuel quantities in transportation
devices and stationary pumps.
-
measure flow at one position in a pipe, and then, based on the measurement,
they estimate the flow rate for the entire pipe.
-
measure by creating a magnetic field that is channeled into the liquid
and causes a voltage signal to be sensed that is proportional to the
flow of liquid.
-
are used to measure gas flow and are one of the more popular flow meters.
This meter is relatively unaffected by changes in temperature or pressure
in the tube or pipe.
-
are used to measure the flow of liquids when they are open to the atmosphere.
-
are used by patients with asthma or other lung disorders to measure
the amount of air patients take into their lungs. These flow meters
allow physicians to determine the severity of the illness.
- trap liquid to measure its flow by rotating parts
that move between seals and the meter body.
- have a rotating float that moves vertically through a tapered tube.
-
allow the operator to view the liquid as it is moving. Some models come
equipped with lights to enhance the visibility of the fluids.
-
measure the amount of force that is exerted on a target in a particular
liquid or gas. This should not be used to measure high viscosity liquids
because the target can be damaged.
-
are meters that use thermal properties of fluids to measure the flow.
The meter is heated and as the liquid flows by, it can tell the flow
rate by the amount of heat lost.
-
consist of a rotor that measures the fluid when it passes through the
blades. The blade speed is translated into the speed of the fluid
-
use sound to determine flow rate. Both Doppler Effect meters and time-of-flight
meters are different kinds of this type.
- measure by letting the flow stream change the opening
in the meter with a movement of an internal part.
- Vortex flow meters calculate flow rate by measuring the differential pressure of
vortices created downstream from a partial obstruction, or "bluff body"; they
are highly resistant to vibration and are often used in harsh environments.
- are flow meters designed for measuring flow rates of water in various channels, tubes, partially filled pipes, streams, and rivers.
Flow Meter Terms
Absolute Pressure - Atmospheric pressure plus gage pressure in flow
meters.
Accumulator - Area where fluid is under pressure and stored as a source
of power within flow meters.
Bluff body - An obstruction, often wedge-shaped, placed in the middle of a
gaseous or liquid flow designed to create a downstream vortex in vortex flow
meters as a means of measuring flow rate.
Control Point - The temperature flowmeter instruments need to maintain to
perform designated functions of flow meters.
Coriolis Force - The force that occurs when a mass has a velocity moving
outward in a rotating plane of flow meters.
Counter Weight - A mass that is added to a particular substance to create
a more balanced and stable apparatus for flow meters.
Current - The flow rate of electricity within flow meters.
Density - A substance's mass per unit of volume in flow meters.
Flow - The travel of materials in response to a force, such as pressure
within flow meters.
Flow Nozzle - A constriction made of a contoured plate that forms a hole
in flow meters for the flow stream so a flowmeter measurement can be taken.
Flow Rate - The velocity of flow in flow meters.
Head-Loss - The loss of pressure in flow meters or a flowmeter system
that is measured with a length parameter (such as amount).
Hot-Tap - Allows for flow meters to be inserted or removed without
causing a complete system shutdown.
Integrator/Totalizer - A flow meters device that measures the total flow
of fluids.
Manometer - Measures fluid pressure. This is a U-shaped flowmeter tube
containing liquid which adjusts with the pressure in the flowmeter tube.
Mass Flow Rate - The volumetric flow rate of a liquid or gas times its
density, expressed as pounds per hour or kilograms per minute in flow meters.
Potential Energy - The potential of energy when a liquid is in a position
or height above a flowmeter place to which it can potentially flow.
Transducer - The part of flow meters that sense fluid as it passes
through the flowmeter device.
Transmitter - The part of flow meters that produce the usable flowmeter
information from the transducer of flow meters.
Weldolet - A connection for a metal pipe that is used to aid as a fitting
for insertion-type sensors or flow meters.