A flow meter or more commonly flowmeter is a device that measures the flow of liquids or gasses. In the earliest uses of flow meters they were simple devices measure water and how it was distributed. In the modern world flow meters are used in thousands of ways across all industries. The various technologies used to measure and control flow can be either simple as in the earlier uses but more often are complex.

We have a dependence on flowmeters as they affect commerce, public safety and many other areas of our modern society. For instance if the gasoline pump did not measure flow correctly you may either receive more gas than you should or less. An example of how it could affect public safety is the natural gas meter that not only has to record usage but ensure a steady flow of a flammable fuel at a constant pressure.

Using the correct flowmeter is critical in most of their applications and a good understanding of the basic types of flowmeters is important. Not all flowmeters or flowmeter types will work across all the different applications possible. There are flow meters that are mechanical, electrical or work with a magnetic field or sound waves. Some flowmeters can affect the flow rate while other do not.

There are a number of specifications that you need to know when choosing a flow meter for your operation. The substance being measured, viscosity of liquid, min/max flow rate expected, min/max pressure, min/max temperature and pipe size. You also need to know about liquids an approximation of particulates to expect. In order to ensure a flowmeter will work in your application you also need to know what type of data you will need from it as well as how that data is delivered to other components or read by a person.

Flowmeters are often part of a larger complex system. Most applications will employ many flow meters of different types. A flowmeter usually works with flow control system and/or alarms that call for human intervention in case of system failures. Not all flowmeters offer or need a display as they connect and report directly to other equipment such as a flow computer.

There are many types of flowmeters including differential pressure flowmeters, mechanical flowmeters, electronic flowmeters and mass flowmeters. The next section of this article will begin to focus on each type. By the end of this article you should know the basic operating principles for each of these types and some common applications for them.

The basics of flowmeters - part two. Different types of flowmeters