What's the Right Flow Technology for Your Application?
Need help figuring out which flow measurement instrumentation to use in your process? Start with the reference charts below. Depending on your application, there may be more than one technology for you.
| Key | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ▲ | Excellent! Recommended | H | High |
| ◆ | Fair. Depends on application | M | Medium |
| ▼ | Poor. Do not use. | L | Low |
Rating Technology for Media Types
| Technology | Media Properties | Specifications | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean Liquid | Dirty Liquid | Viscous Liquid | Corrosives | Slurries | Clean Gas | Dirty Gas | Steam | Cryogenics | Turndown Ratio | Sizes | Accuracy (%Rate) | Repeatability (%) | Upstream Pipe Diameter | Permanent PSI Drop | Relative Cost | |
| Accelabar with Averaging Pitot Tube | ▲ | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ | ▼ | ▲ | ◆ | ▲ | ▲ | 60:1 | 3"-12" | 0.75 | 0.05 | 0 | M | H |
| Coriolis Flowmeter | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ | 25:1 | 0.1"-6" | 0.15 | 0.1 | 0 | L | H |
| DP Mass Flowmeter | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ◆ | ◆ | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ▼ | 40:1 | — | 0.1 | 0.1 | — | — | H |
| DP Orifice Plate | ▲ | ◆ | ◆ | ▲ | ▼ | ▲ | ◆ | ▲ | ▲ | 4:1 | >1" | 1 | 0.1 | 10-30 | H | L |
| DP Pitot Tube | ▲ | ▼ | ▼ | ◆ | ▼ | ▲ | ◆ | ▲ | ▼ | 4:1 | 0.5"-72" | 0.75 | 0.1 | 10 | L | L |
| DP Wedge | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ▼ | 10:1 | 0.5-30" | 3% | 0.5% | 12 | H | H |
| DP Venturi | ▲ | ▲ | ◆ | ◆ | ▼ | ◆ | ◆ | ▲ | ▼ | 10:1 | 0.5"-72" | 1 | 0.1 | 10 | M | L |
| Fluidic Oscillatory | ▲ | ◆ | ▲ | ◆ | ▲ | ▼ | ▼ | ▼ | ▲ | 15:1 | 1-3" | 1.5% | 0.2% | 10 | L | H |
| Magnetic Flowmeter | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ▼ | ▼ | ▼ | ▼ | 10:1 | >0.1" | 0.5 | 0.2 | 5 | L | M |
| Open Channel (Flume & Wier) |
▲ | ◆ | ▼ | ◆ | ◆ | ▼ | ▼ | ▼ | ▼ | 300:1 | -- | 2-5% | 2% | 4H | 0 | L |
| Oval Gear Flowmeter | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ◆ | ▼ | ▲ | ◆ | ▼ | ◆ | 20:1 | 0.125"-4" | 1 | 0.3 | 0 | H | M |
| Paddlewheel | ▲ | ▼ | ◆ | ◆ | ▼ | ◆ | ◆ | ▼ | ▼ | 3:1 | 0.1"-1.5" | 2.5 | 1 | 0 | H | L |
| Positive Displacement | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | ◆ | ▼ | ▲ | ◆ | ▼ | ◆ | 20:1 | 0.5-6" | 1% | 0.3% | 0 | H | M |
| Rotameter | ▲ | ▼ | ◆ | ◆ | ▼ | ▲ | ▼ | ◆ | ▼ | 5:1 | 0.2-3" | 4-8% | 2% | 0 | M | L |
| Thermal Dispersion | ▲ | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ | ▲ | ▲ | ▼ | ◆ | 100:1 | 0.2"-72" | 0.5 | 0.2 | 10 | L | H |
| Turbine Flowmeter | ▲ | ▼ | ◆ | ◆ | ▼ | ▲ | ◆ | ▲ | ◆ | 10:1; 50:1 | 0.5"-4" | 0.5 | 0.1 | 10-20 | H | H |
| Ultrasonic (Clamp-on) |
▲ | ◆ | ▲ | ▲ | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ | ▼ | ▼ | 40:1 | 0.25"-360" | 0.5-1.0 | 0.15 | 10 | L | M |
| Ultrasonic (In-line) |
▲ | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ | ▼ | ▲ | ◆ | ▲ | ▼ | 1500:1 | 2"-48" | 0.5-2.0 | 0.15 | 20 | L | H |
| Verabar with Averaging Pitot Tube |
▲ | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ | ▼ | ▲ | ◆ | ▲ | ▼ | 10:1 | 2"-192" | 1.0% | 0.10 | 10 | L | L |
| V-Notch | ▲ | ◆ | ▼ | ◆ | ◆ | ▼ | ▼ | ▼ | ▼ | 300:1 | -- | 2-5% | 2% | 4H | 0 | L |
| Vortex Flowmeter | ▲ | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ | ▼ | ▲ | ◆ | ▲ | ▼ | 25:1 | >1" | 1 | 0.2 | 20-30 | M | L |