Recently, we receive an application from our customer, they need to measure Nitrogen and helium gas flow, but he is not sure which is better or suitable for his application, thermal mass flow meter or Coriolis flowmeter?
Let’s see the case and let Silver Automation Instruments to Analysis and choose proper gas flow meters for them.
Question:
I have an application for mass flow measurement of gas, and it would be preferred to use the new style
Coriolis mass flowmeter if possible.
We would also like to use the same flowmeter for both helium and Nitrogen if possible, hence wish Silver Automation Instruments can calculate the flow range to us and tell us which size may suit both. Flowing velocity will be similar for both applications, however as you can see, helium flowing density is much less so if we need two meters to measure these flows.
Flow conditions as follows:
1/ N2 (Nitrogen) flow , 20 sl/sec to 150 sl/sec @ 130psig, 15 degC = 72 to 540 NM3/hr (7.71 to 57.9 AM3/hr), 90 to 675 kg/hr
-flowing density is 11.67 kg/m3
2/ He(helium)flow, 40 g/sec @ 130psig, 15 degC = 806.7 NM3/hr (86.43 AM3/hr), nominal flow 144 kg/hr
-flowing density is 1.67 kg/m3
-Pipe size: 2”
-we need process connection is PN16 flanges, 24Vdc power, 4-20mA output
I.e Mass flow range 70 to 700 kg/hr would suit both however flowing density will change between gasses.
FYI, I have also considered thermal dispersion Mass flow meters, can you please tell us which size is better?
Answer:
We do not recommend one flow meter to measure both Nitrogen and helium, because these mediums have much density differences.
Coriolis mass flow meter can measure gas, but it is better to measure gas with high operating pressure or gas with large density, in your above application, we do not recommend Coriolis to measure H2 gas, because its density is too small and will have poor accuracy if you use Coriolis, but you can use Coriolis mass flow meter to measure Nitrogen flow.
We recommend DN20 size meter for your application N2 (Nitrogen) according to your provided flow range, model selection:
DN20 Coriolis flow meter is for N2,
SH-CMF-20-P2-H1-T1-O1-C1-E1-A2-B1-P1-M1-PC1
Thermal mass flow meter is a good choice for dry, low pressure and clean gas, and H2 gas flow measurement is strongly recommended Thermal flow meter, however, thermal mass flow meter can also be used to measure N2 .
According to below the table of thermal mass flow meter flow range for different gases,
We choose 2” size for your both Nitrogen and helium application:
Thermal dispersion flanged spool type flowmeter
SKR-100-50-I-PLF-19-6-A0-T0-P1-D-(1/2)-A0-E
Wish it will help you for your application, if you want to know above type thermal mass flow meter and Coriolis mass flow meter price, please do not hesitate to send emails to us. However kindly inform you that Coriolis mass flow meter is much more expensive than thermal mass, so it is more economic and cheaper to choose Thermal dispersion flanged spool type flowmeter for both N2 flow measurement and He flow measurement.
