The structure is becoming increasingly simple and lightweight
Early flow meters were purely mechanical on-site displays, such as volumetric flow meters. Not only is the structure complex and bulky, but the weight/caliber ratio is also very large; And the rotating parts need frequent maintenance due to wear and tear. With the increasing diameter of industrial pipelines, plug-in instruments are increasingly favored by users for their simple, lightweight, and easy to disassemble structure. In the past decade, the fastest developing electromagnetic and ultrasonic flow instruments have no rotating or resistance parts in the pipeline, a simpler structure, low pressure loss, and high accuracy, making them the most promising flow instruments for development.
Strive for perfection and diversity in functionality
Early flow meters were based on on-site display (such as volume and rotor), but with the continuous improvement of industrial level, they can no longer meet the process requirements of dozens of instruments for centralized display, adjustment, and control. It is necessary to separate sensors (also known as primary gauges, such as orifice plates, nozzles, and inner cones) from transmitters (also known as secondary gauges). And convert the flow parameters into electrical parameters and transmit them remotely to the central control room. With the further expansion of industrial scale, analog signals are no longer suitable, and output signals need to be converted into digital signals to meet the requirements of fieldbus systems and SCADA systems.
To increase the reliability of instruments, many instruments have added more than 10 self diagnostic functions. As launched by a certain company
Electromagnetic FlowmeterIt can self diagnose various instrument conditions such as bubbles, electrode corrosion, fouling, electrode short circuit, fluid conductivity, non full pipe, damaged lining, external magnetic field, etc.
The diversification of instrument functions is also a development trend, for example, ultrasound can not only measure flow rate, but also fluid composition and sound velocity; In addition to measuring flow rate, Koch can also measure fluid density.