Compressed air flow measurement in the industrial environment offers significant opportunities to save money by reducing energy costs.
Compressed Air Flow
Compressed air generally uses more electricity than any other type of equipment and accounts for as much as a third of the energy usage in an industrial facility. Insertion style thermal mass flow meters help identify leaks in compressor systems, track overall usage to improve plant efficiency, and help departments reduce consumption. Using meters in these applications can save thousands of dollars each month in large industrial applications. For instance, the compressed air flow meter can be used in energy management systems to help determine the optimal number of compressor units that need to be in operation at any given time; this helps meet the demand of various departments and processes. Furthermore, Thermal mass flow meters are sensitive enough to determine leaks. For example, if a typical compressor system running at 100 psi had total leaks throughout its fittings and seals of 1/4″, it would pass 100 CFM of unused compressed air. That alone would waste over $20,000 in power each year!
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Compressed Air Flow Measurement
Sage Metering provides easy-to-install insertion thermal mass flow meters for typical compressor lines and offers a convenient isolation assembly valve for mounting. These direct mass flow meters do not require separate temperature or pressure transmitters, have no moving parts, are highly accurate and repeatable, and have a negligible pressure drop. Sage thermal mass flow meters have extraordinary rangeability of at least 100 to 1 and fast response. Additionally, Sage thermal flow meters are digitally driven, delivering extreme low-end sensitivity without sacrificing performance at the upper end. With sensitivity as low as 5 SFPM (1 SCFM in a 6” pipe), Sage flow meters permit leak detection by assessing whether compressed air lines, thought to be unused, are wasting expensive air through its previous undetected leaks.
Compressed Air Flow Meter
Sage offers a remote flow meter with up to 1000 feet of lead length compensated cable for difficult-to-reach pipes or locations with extreme radiant heat. Sage flow meters have 4 – 20 mA outputs of flow rate pulsed consumption outputs, in conjunction with fully Modbus compliant RS485 RTU communications, which are all ideal for sophisticated energy management systems. The meters also feature bright graphical displays of flow rate, a non-resettable totalizer (often a requirement for Environmental reporting), a temperature reading, plus continuous diagnostics. All electronics and power are at the transmitter – thus, the probe has a terminal junction box.
Air Flow Meter Applications – A Guide for Thermal Flow Meters.