Excellent Article: Specifying a Thermal Gas Flowmeter for Gases

Thermal Mass Flowmeter

There are important factors to consider when defining a thermal mass flowmeter to ensure precision and performance in a gas flow application.


A thermal mass flowmeter has numerous advantages over other technologies for measuring the mass flow rate and consumption of gases. Featuring wide rangeability, pressure independence, extreme low-end sensitivity and ease of installation, they have become widely popular for countless commercial, industrial and environmental applications. Furthermore, by offering a variety of configurations and outputs, TMFMs provide the flexibility and economy to accommodate mostly any type of gas flow application.

To use a TMFM to its fullest potential, give thoughtful consideration to the installation location, the meter’s flow body and which features are best for the application.


The topics it covers are:
  • What is mass flow?
  • Why is mass flow important?
  • 9 benefits of thermal mass flowmeters
  • Importance of proper installation
  • Selecting the proper meter and specifications
  • Wiring considerations
  • Applications to avoid
For more information about Sage Metering products, contact Swanson Flo. Call them at 800-288-7926 or visit their website at https://swansonflo.com.

Advanced Sliding Gate Design: The Heart of Jordan Regulators and Control Valves


The Jordan Valve Sliding Gate Seat is a true value-added alternative to conventional trim designs.  Here's why:

Easy Maintenance

Sliding Gate Seats only have one moving component. The seats are not pressed or screwed, making removal simple. Cv values are interchangeable. Valve action is easily changed. 

Seat Materials

Jorcote is tougher than stainless steel, offering excellent wear, corrosion, and galling resistance. It has lower friction coefficient than Teflon, providing higher pressure drop capability and less offset. Jorcote seats handle temperatures from sub-zero to 550 ° F (288 ° C). Seats were tested to 1,000,000 full stroke cycles in 70 psi steam, maintaining ANSI Class IV leakage while exhibiting negligible wear. 

Constant Seat Contact

Disc and plate are in constant contact. Therefore, there is no 'chatter' inside the valve, less mechanical wear and greater stability at the stroke's low end. Constant touch results in self-lapping and self-cleaning.

Straight Thru Flow

The control element is perpendicular to flow, resulting in lower turbulence and greater trim life. 

Short Stroke

In regulators, this results in faster response to input signals, less droop (greater accuracy), and longer diaphragm life. In control valves, the gate seat's short stroke results in less packing wear. Smaller actuators may also be used, resulting in lighter weight, smaller envelope dimensions and less air consumption. 

Multiple Orifice Layout

The sliding gate seat's multiple orifice dissipates wear from downstream flow, resulting in longer trim life and quiet activity. 

Disc plate overlap

Disc and plate overlap 1/32 "(0,8 mm) around each tube. This creates an area of closure, not line of closure, resulting in better shutoff for a longer period of time, reducing waste and lowering costs.

For more information on Jordan Regulators and Control Valves, contact Swanson Flo. Call them at 800-288-7926 or visit their website at https://swansonflo.com.





The Sage Paramount™ Industrial Thermal Mass Flow Meter for Gases

Sage ParamountThe new Sage Paramount™ Industrial Thermal Mass Flow Meter provides state-of-the-art components, a dual-sided, explosion-proof, NEMA 4X enclosure, a fast response to rapid temperature fluctuations, and a well-thought-out terminal arrangement with a 3-way switch for externally or internally isolating the 4-20 mA or for non-isolated, self-powered operation.

One of the most compelling features of the Paramount™ is its accompanying free software, SageCom™. The SageCom™ software effortlessly connects the Sage Paramount to your PC via a separate mini USB connector1 (cable supplied) located within the back terminal enclosure. This connector is independent of the normal Modbus communication channel allowing validation or reconfigurability of your Paramount, even while it’s standard Modbus output is connected to a network of additional Paramount meters going to the SCADA system.





Swanson Flo
https://swansonflo.com
800-288-7926

Severe Service Valve Parts, Repair, Replacement & Upgrades


Swanson Flo is pleased to partner with Megawatt Machine Services (MMS). MMS has developed industry leading expertise in severe-service control valve repair and replacement parts. Their state-of-the-art capabilities can meet your needs for replacement trim and valve repair on all brands of AOV and MOV valves including:

  • Valtek®
  • Fisher®
  • CCI-Drag®
  • BTG/Sulzer
  • Copes-Vulcan®
  • Masoneilan®
  • Yarway®
  • Pacific®
  • Edwards®
  • Siemens® - Westinghouse®
  • WEIR/Atwood-Morrill®
  • GE®
  • Velan®
  • ABB/Alstom®
  • Toshiba®
  • Anchor-Darling®
MMS can also reverse engineer and manufacture trim parts and rebuild valves when the OEM is no longer in business or parts are obsolete.

For more information  on replacement valve parts, valve repairs, or trim upgrades contact Swanson Flo. Call them at call 800-288-7926 or visit them at https://swansonflo.com.

The Dynasonics / Badger Meter TFX Ultra Clamp-on Ultrasonic Flow Meter


The TFX Ultra transit time ultrasonic meters from Dynasonics / Badger Meter measure volumetric and energy flow of clean liquids, as well as those with small amounts of suspended solids or aeration, such as surface water or sewage. It works by transmitting ultrasonic waves from outside the pipe into the liquid and propagate upstream and downstream.  The flow velocity is determined by the difference in the time of flight and is used to calculate the volumetric flow.

For more information, contact Swanson Flo. Visit their website at https://swansonflo.com or call 800.288.7926.

Mitigate Hammer in Flashing Condensate Return Systems with Vertical Riser Piping


TLV Consulting and Engineering Services constructed a clear piping system to visualize the complex bi-phase flow within a steam condensate return system to determine if water hammer can be reduced or eliminated in certain less-than-ideal piping configurations.  Sometimes, condensate returns are incorrectly considered to be single-phase flow, but in reality the pipe volume can be primarily filled with flash steam. This creates a two-phase flow condition that presents challenges to the desired action of gravity drainage. Elevation changes in 2 phase condensate return lines are particularly prone to creating condensate backup which can lead to damaging water hammer. The damage can be particularly severe due to the magnitude of condensate mass present as the pipe size increases in diameter.

Two scenarios are examined. First is a commonly seen piping installation of flashing condensate with a vertical rise. Wave action can be seen in the top pipe. It is caused by high velocity steam moving over the surface of the liquid gradually forming waves within the pipe. When the wave grows large enough, it momentarily seals the cross section of the pipe, building a pressure wall behind it. This causes a slug of water to be sent down the line, potentially causing serious damage to piping, valves, gaskets or fittings.

Additionally, in a flashing condensate line, the vapor space is occupied by low energy flash steam which can collapse and generate hammer as condensate rushes into fill the void. In this video, the vapor is non-condensing air, so the violent back slam of condensate filling an instantaneous void is eliminated for safety purposes. The second video introduces a non-ideal method incorporating a drop down loop seal (or DDLS)to help mitigate some water hammer effects. The ideal solution is always to incorporate gravity drainage in the flashing condensate return system design. However, when gravity drainage was not accomplished during the original design, the DDLS may reduce hammer and can be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by a professional engineer for suitability and safe operation. Notice the less violent flow draining into the loop where the wave action was occurring in the upper pipe.

This piping configuration minimizes the length of pipe where surging can occur and reduces the mass of potential water slugs. The result can be smoother flow with lessened water hammer. Although the DDLS is demonstrated using a loop with horizontal piping to enable visualization of the vapor/liquid interface promoting upward flow, it is considered that joining two long radius elbows with no horizontal section between them could further reduce hammer.

For more information about proper steam or condensate system design, contact Swanson Flo. Call them at 800-288-7926 or visit their website at https://swansonflo.com.