By Sierra Instruments: When it comes to metering natural gas, you’ve got several flow meter options. However, thermal mass flow meters offer three distinct advantages over more traditional flow meters:

1. No moving parts. As you can probably guess, moving parts can cause problems over time due to wear, lubrication and coating sensitivity. For example, turbine meters offer excellent accuracy, but they can easily be contaminated by dirt or rust, which is common in gas pipe lines. In addition, clearance for moving parts can result in slippage of the flow you’re trying to measure. These issues can be avoided when you choose a thermal flow meter.

2. Can accurately measure flow over large ranges. Thermal meters can measure almost to zero flow. This can be vital in determining leaks or small usages like pilot lights. More traditional meters (like bellows or turbines) need enough flow to start the wheels or blades rotating, while differential pressure devices (like orifice plates) need enough flow to cause a measurable pressure drop. Thermal meters require neither.

3. Long life and high reliability. Sierra’s patented Dry-Sense® immersible thermal sensor has no moving parts, contains no epoxies or other compounds that will degrade over time and draws only a few milliamps of current. As such, Sierra warranties it for a lifetime of performance. Coupled with Sierra’s superior calibration technology and the ability to field-validate the meter, the Sierra Steel-Mass® 640S offers the most reliable solution for natural gas measurement.

Whatever your industry – automotive, utility, petroleum and gas, HVAC, or R&D – a thermal mass flow meter will deliver more accurate readings over a longer period of time than other metering options. And that, in the long run, equates to a more cost-efficient operation with fewer headaches.

Fuel gas shutoff valves represent the main line of defense in combustion devices such as burners and boilers. They’re key to the safe operation of equipment for nonresidential comfort heating, commercial and industrial heating, and power and steam generation applications worldwide. While conventional modular gas valve designs are popular and effective, the latest generation of valves has even more dramatic improvements. Recent technological advancements — in models such as new modular gas valves from ASCO — offer breakthrough features and benefits. These include higher flows, more compact footprints, and greater modularity and flexibility to enable downsizing of fuel train components, as well as broader temperature ranges, higher close-off pressures, more immediate availability, and reduced costs of ownership.

Please click 'The Insiders’ Guide to Modular Gas Valves' todownload the White Paper by ASCO Valves.

Rotork modulating electric valve actuators have been installed in an efficiency upgrade project at a large water treatment works serving the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam.

The modern and highly automated plant at Vogelenzang, owned by Waternet, has a daily water treatment capacity of 180,000 cubic metres. The treatment regime comprises pre-screening, carbon filtration, ozone injection and sand filtration. Waternet is the only water company in the Netherlands to cover the entire water cycle, from the treatment of waste water and provision of drinking water to cleaning and maintaining levels of surface water. These services are performed on behalf of the Regional Public Water Authority – Amstel, Gooi and Vecht – and the City of Amsterdam.

Case Study by Rotork: 'Rotork retrofit improves valve actuation efficiency at Amsterdam water treatment plant'

A useful Solenoid Valve Terminology in accordance with. ISO-1219 prepared by ASCO Valves.