Monitoring Compressed Air within a manufacturing facility has become increasingly important as the associated costs have risen dramatically in recent years
Compressed air systems are found throughout industry and are often the largest excess user of electricity in a manufacturing plant. Air leaks can be a significant source of wasted energy and can be diagnosed by fitting thermal mass flow meters at strategic points in the system to calculate outflow generated air with downstream usage. Thermal Mass flow meters measure true mass flow which compensates for any differential pressures across the system, providing accurate comparative data from the installed locations.
The primary reason thermal mass flow meters are popular in industrial compressed air applications is the way they are designed and built. They feature no moving parts in a nearly unobstructed straight through flow path, require no additional temperature or pressure corrections and retain accuracy over a wide range of flow rates. Straight pipe runs can be reduced by using conditioning elements and installation is very simple with inline and insertion models available
TGF200 series micro flow meters offer a low cost solution for accurately measuring compressed air based on patented sensor filming technology and advanced thermal mass flow measurement technology. This range is designed to measure pressure and temperature compensated mass and standard volumetric flow within small pipe-lines in general industrial applications and laboratories, offering high turn-down and a choice of outputs
TGF450 Thermal mass flow meter was designed especially for the measurement of compressed air in larger pipes. It can provide stable and accurate measurement at a very economical cost and has 1.5% FS+0.5RD accuracy on a 100:1 wide turndown ratio. The compact design and thick probe are easily installed in high pressure pipelines with limited space. Manufactured from stainless steel, this insertion style flow meter has various power, signal output and mounting options
The fact of the matter is that compressed air is not cheap and is becoming a financial burden to both small and large companies operating expenditures. In this age of energy efficiency and widespread efforts to drive down associated costs in order to ensure a greener footprint, it is becoming more important for a business to identify why is it so important to monitor the air flow rate in compressors?
There have been extensive studies done over the years on plant wide operating costs for the majority of Industrial businesses and one of the largest fixed overheads continues to be electricity. One of the major contributors to this excessive electricity draw in a large number of instances are the company’s air compressors. The simple actions required to reduce excess electricity usage and provide for a more efficient compressor throughput is to monitor the air flow rates and optimize the compressor’s efficiency or else replace any parts in a compressed air system as highlighted during this monitoring.
Modern Thermal Mass Flow meters such as those above can be integrated into Data logging packages such as the Squirrel 2020 via their analogue, digital or serial outputs. Time-base relevant data can then be evaluated to indicate problems with factory shift performance or individual operator technique. Installed flow meters can then also be used for allocating inter-departmental energy costs and managing budgets based on energy saving performance
Further information on Bell Flow Systems Compressed Air Flow Meters https://www.bellflowsystems.co.uk/flow-meters-by-application/compressed-air-flow-meters/
