Turbine Meters with Sanitary Connections
The food and beverage industry are familiar with sanitary fittings. Sanitary fittings are easy to use and unlike standard fittings they are designed to make sure that bacteria do not get trapped in the piping section. Sanitary type flow meters are also easier for inspections.
It is not only important buy the flow meter with the right connections that suit the process (in this case we are dealing with food grade products) but also the best type of flowmeter that is going to work in all conditions faced in the process. Not all processes will be the same. Those who are involved in special reverse osmosis packages where the conductivity of the fluid might drop below 5 micro siemens might prefer a magnetic flow meter because they are full bore and literally non-intrusive but where there are liquids flowing through the pipe that are bound to change, a different approach is often needed. This is where the sanitary type of turbine meter still comes into play.
Tri-clamp used with sanitary flow meters and food grade instruments.
Turbine flow meters are by no means obsolete in the process industry and have their place in such applications. The fact that we are using a mechanical design which is made up of a spinning rotor and a “pick up” is simple enough for most to appreciate that the mechanism is not affected by the conductivity of the liquid and that it will work on applications where the liquid make-up has changed slightly but not to the point where too great an offset has occurred and the flow measurement is still within the accuracy boundaries required by the application. In some cases, the user might opt for a Coriolis mass meter but where economics play a role in the decision process, the user might prefer to minimize costs by using a turbine flow meter.
