What industries use flow meters?

The application of flow measurement technology and instrumentation roughly has the following several industries and fields.

1. Industrial production process needs flow meters

Flow meter is one of the major types of process automation instruments and devices. It is widely used in metallurgy, electric power, coal, chemical industry, petroleum, transportation, construction, textile, food, medicine, agriculture, environmental protection and people's daily life It is an important tool for developing industrial and agricultural production, saving energy, improving product quality, and improving economic efficiency and management in various fields of the national economy. It occupies an important position in the national economy. Among the process automation instruments and devices, the flow instrument has two major functions: as a detection instrument for the process automation control system and a total meter for measuring the quantity of materials. According to statistics, the output value of flow meters accounts for about 20% to 25% of the output value of all process automation detection instruments and devices. In above industrial production, we often measure sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, organic solutions, solvents, Solvesso1001. ACETONE, Butyl acetate, Ethyl acetate, iso-Propyl Alcohol, Toluene, Xylene, Butyl  Cellosolve, Methanol,Methyl Isobutly Ketone,Methyl Ethyl Ketone, various flow meters are used, such as electromagnetic flowmeters, positive displacement flowmeters, turbine flowmeters, Coriolis mass flowmeters, rotameters, ultrasonic flowmeters, these flowmeters are generally in size It is 1/2”, 3/4”, 1”, 2”, 3”, 4inch and so on.

2. Energy metering need flow meters

Energy is divided into primary energy (coal, crude oil, coalbed methane, petroleum gas and natural gas), secondary energy (electricity, coke, artificial gas, refined oil, liquefied petroleum gas, steam) and energy-carrying media (compressed air, oxygen, Nitrogen, hydrogen, water) and so on. Energy metering is an important means for scientifically managing energy, realizing energy saving and consumption reduction, and improving economic efficiency. Flow meters are an important part of energy measurement instruments. Commonly used energy sources such as water, artificial gas, natural gas, steam and oil all use extremely large flow meters. They are indispensable tools for energy management and economic accounting.
At present, we often use Magnetic flow meters to measure drinking water, portable water, vortex shedding flow meters to measure saturated steam and superheated steam; gas turbine flow meters to measure natural gas and biogas ,process gas and utility gas; thermal gas flow meters to measure compressed air, oval gear flow meters to measure diesel, gasoline, and heavy oil, etc. . These electronic flowmeters not only have an electronic digital meter to display the flow rate and totalized flow, but also flow transmitters can output 4-20mA or have MODBUS, HART interface,GPRS etc.

3. Environmental protection engineering need flow meters

The discharge of flue gas, waste liquid, sewage, etc. seriously pollutes the atmosphere and water resources, and seriously threatens the human living environment. The country lists sustainable development as a national policy, and environmental protection will be the biggest issue in the 21st century. To control air and water pollution, management must be strengthened, and the basis of management is quantitative control of pollution.
China is a country where coal is the main energy source. There are millions of chimneys in the country that continuously emit smoke, exhaust gas into the atmosphere. Flue gas emission control is an important project to eradicate pollution. A flue gas analyzer and gas flow meter must be installed in each chimney to form a continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS). The flow measurement of flue gas, combustion air, and exhaust gas is very difficult. The difficulty is that the chimney is large in size and irregular in shape, the gas composition is variable, the flow rate range is large (from very low flow rate to high speed), dirt, dust, corrosion, high temperature, no Straight pipe section and so on. At present, we often use high-temperature thermal gas flowmeters to measure exhaust gas, flue gas in a duct, stack or flue. Plug-in or insertion gas flowmeters solve problems such as excessively large and irregular pipes or chimneys. High-temperature gas can reach a temperature of 300 degrees Celsius. Thermal Mass Flow Meters are measuring WIP boiler system intake air and back-end flue gasses. Silver Automation Instruments can provide 8", 10”, 12”, 20”, DN1000, DN2000 insertion thermal gas flow meter.
Waste liquid and sewage are discharged into rivers and lakes, destroying water resources, and the already tight water resources are even worse. Discharge control and management is an urgent task. The flow measurement of waste liquid and sewage is also a difficult measurement. It has the characteristics of dirty or solids, large diameter, special shape, low pressure head, partial pipe flow, and so on.
With the in-depth development of environmental protection projects, new requirements will continue to be put forward for the required flow meters, such as large-scale wastewater regeneration equipment, municipal waste treatment equipment, and industrial and mining water recycling systems that require a wide variety of flow rates. We often use inline Mag flowmeters to measure waste water containing solid particles, insertion electromagnetic flowmeters measure volumetric flowmeters for large pipeline water,such as 10”,12”14 inch,16 inch, 20 inch, and non-contact ultrasonic flowmeters measure the flow of carbon steel and pvc pipeline water.

4. Transportation industry need flow measurement

There are five modes of transportation: railway, highway, air, water and pipeline transportation. Although pipeline transportation has existed for a long time in the five modes, its application is not universal. With the emergence of environmental protection issues, the characteristics of pipeline transportation have attracted people’s attention. For example, coal has always been transported by rail and water. The environmental pollution caused by loading and unloading and open transportation cannot be ignored. The use of pipeline hydraulic transportation is not only rapid and efficient, but also has a lot of airtightness and sanitation. The materials transported by the pipeline include: crude oil, natural gas, artificial gas, water, compressed air, coal, grain, cement, minerals... etc. The world's main pipeline transportation has reached 2.3 million kilometers, and my dispatching eyes are also an indispensable tool for safety monitoring (monitoring of logistics blockage and leakage) and economic accounting. Pipeline transportation must be equipped with flowmeters, which are the eyes of control, distribution and scheduling, as well as an indispensable tool for safety detection (monitoring of logistics blockage and leakage) and economic accounting.

5. Biotechnology industry need flow meters device.

The 21st century will usher in the century of life sciences, and industries characterized by biotechnology will develop rapidly. There are many substances that need to be monitored and measured in biotechnology, such as blood, urine, liquid medicine, nutrient solution and various gases, etc. The measurement objects are mostly mixed-phase flow, pulsating flow, non-Newtonian fluid and micro-flow rate liquid. At present, the precise flow measurement of crotonic acid flowmeter, bromothiophene flowmeter, hydrogen peroxide flowmeter, sulfochlorinated liquid flowmeter, coconut oil acid chloride, sodium hypochlorite, scale inhibitor, acetic anhydride, thionyl chloride and other media, these liquids are running at low and small flow rate such as 20L/h or lower, and the pipe size is also very small, such as 3mm, 6mm, 1/8”, 3/8”, 1/4 inch, 1/2” and so on. We have gear flow Meters or micro Coriolis mass flow meters can accurately measure the flow of these media and chemical solutions. The electronic flow transmitters display the flow rate and total amount. Various communications are suitable for various process control and batch control functions. Flow sensor material can be stainless steel, Teflon, aluminum.

6. Scientific experiments need lab flow meters

The laboratory flowmeters required for scientific experiments are not only large in number, but also extremely diverse in variety. According to statistics, a large part of the more than 100 varieties of flowmeters are needed for scientific research. They are not produced in batches and are sold on the market. Many scientific research institutions and large enterprises have set up special teams to develop special lab flowmeters, especially in the defense sector. For example, chemical pilot testing is an intermediate link in chemical production. A chemical product must undergo pilot testing from laboratory development to mass production. This kind of pilot plant can be called a plant that produces experimental data. The accuracy and reliability of the data is the first One. The flow meter is a necessary instrument in the pilot plant. Due to its small scale, most of it measures small and micro flow, microfluidic low-flow liquid flow meters are needed.
. Another example is the efficiency test of an engine, which needs to detect three parameters: pressure, temperature and flow. It is generally believed that flow measurement is more difficult because of its special conditions of use, complicated flow blocking parts in front of the detection part and no straight pipe section arrangement, fluid composition changes, and pulsating flow. Ultra low flow meter are required ,Micro thermal gas flow meters, micro volumetric and positive displacement flow meters, mini turbine flow meters, micro electromagnetic flow meters, and micro mass flow meters can be used in laboratory flow meters. The size of these flow meters can reach 2mm, 3mm, 6mm, and 10mm and so on, flow units can be kg/h, ml/min, L/h, it has flow indicator , 24V DC or battery operated flow meters.

7. Marine meteorology, rivers and lakes

These areas are open flow channels, and generally need to detect the flow rate, and then calculate the flow rate. The physical principles and fluid mechanics foundations on which the flow meter and the flow meter are based are common, but the instrument principle and structure as well as the conditions of use are quite different. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has a special technical committee to formulate international standards for this type of flowmeter, and it has been one of the main contents of the previous international flow academic conferences. Before tomorrow, we will use open channel flow  meters to measure channel flow,weirs and flumes flow rate and totalized flow.