Flowmeters: market research reports

Flowmeters are used to measure fluid rates of movement in terms of mass or volume, which can subsequently be converted to the other when the density of the measured liquid is known. Flow meters cannot rely upon density conversions of gases due to gas density alterations with pressure, temperature and gas mixture compositions. Flow meters are primarily differentiated as mass flow meters and volume flow meters, with applications respectively dominant among gases and liquids.

Flowmeters can also be differentiated by their method of measurement: mechanical – bucket (how long it takes to fill a meter-housed container), piston, turbine (axial) flow meter (determines flow rate from mechanical action against impeller) – pressure-based meters, optical flow meters (lasers that determine flow rates from small particles passing by in a gas stream), open channel flow (introduction of acoustic energy, structure, or dyes into the flow), and thermal mass flow meters (heating elements introduce thermal energy that upstream and downstream temperature sensors use to determine flow rate).

Flow meters form a component of flow controllers and flow computers, which automate fluid dynamics calculations and flow control through an analog or digital computer, flow sensor (meter), and a valve used to respond to changes in flow. A major area of development with flowmeters and associated flow controllers and computers is computational fluid dynamics that automate algorithms needed to convert measurements of flow data into useful terms such as energy content, mass flow rate, or volume flow rate.