An electronic device that measures or regulates the flow rate of liquids and gasses within pipes and tubes is known as flow sensor or flow meter. To render their measurements flow sensors are connected to gauges, but nowadays they can be connected to computers and digital interfaces. Flow sensor are commonly used in high voltage ac system, medical equipment, chemical factories and septic systems. they are used to detect leaks, blockages, pipe bursts. The cooling effect of the gas passing over a thin is measured by sensor. The higher the flow of gas, higher will be the cooling effect. The sensor needs to know the density of the gas, which is provided to the measurement system by the gas analysis data. Flow sensors comes in A class list of device. They are designed to measure the flow rate of a gas such as air or a liquid through a pipe.
There are two types of flow sensor
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Differential pressure flow sensors
The pressure of the fluid is calculated by the differential pressure flow. While preserving the fluid density, sensors measured the pressure at two varying velocities. A single pressure sensing node like a pitot tube sits on the edge of the fluid flow path In most differential pressure flow sensors. By using Bernoulli equation, we can find the fluid velocity and then we can use that fluid velocity to determine the overall flow through the pipe.
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Thermal mass flow sensors
These are commonly used in gaseous, low-flow, high-accuracy applications like semiconductor manufacturing.
In both methods, the fluid’s velocity is directly related to how much energy it can absorb. More the time the energy has to transfer from the heating element to the fluid, slower the fluid flows. The faster it flows, the less time it has to be absorbed by the fluid. They are commonly used in HVAC systems, medical devices, chemical factories, and septic systems. Flow sensors are able to detect leaks, blockages, pipe bursts, and changes in liquid concentration due to contamination or pollution
Applications of Flow Sensors
The parameters you need that will impact the type of flow sensor you are
- Volumetric ranges of the flow sensor
- Material
- Pressure
- Required accuracy