HOME   SITE MAP   SUPPORT   OFFICE

Volumetric flow controllers for gas are common. The most widely known technique and device used is called a Rotameter, also known as a Variable Area (VA) Flow Meter, built for manual control with an adjustable “needle valve” assembly mounted at the base of the “flow tube” or installed through a panel. VA meters are fine to set and then visually inspect flow, with human eyes watching a ball floating in a “V” shaped vertical plastic or glass tube which has gradient marks lines for flow rate. The VA gas flow controller, however, has well understood and common drawbacks in application. They are mechanical in nature, have position sensitivity, exhibit parallax when viewing, are prone to clouding of the plastic or glass, and very typically have low accuracy such as +/-5% or even +/-10%.

There will be a need for VA flow controllers in less critical applications, but a trend for the last 15 years or more has been to “up-grade” to more accurate volumetric flow controllers that indicate but also have modern electronic proportional valves that have electronic feedback and interface capability and are less affected by back pressure. The data and accuracy provided from a flow controller is important, even critical, in certain low pressure atmospheres and in medical, instrument purge, analytical laboratory and environmental applications that require a more capable instrument.

The BI-4000 Gas Volumetric Flow Controller is the modern and precise controller used to address physical and performance limitations of Rotameters/VA meters with needle valves.

Go to BI-4000 Specification Page
Go to BI-4000 How to Order Page

FEATURES of the BI-4000 Gas Volumetric Flow Controller:

• Position Insensitivity
• No manual adjustment
• Proportional valve placement upstream or downstream for pressure sensitive applications
• Corroperm™ product protection from aggressive and/or “wet gases”
• Very low and precise flow control under 2 ccm
• Real time flow sensing in less than 50ms
• Control equilibrium in 250ms
• Set point command: local, remote or PC
• Internal PID and/or external PID tuning
• Panel mount models
• Flow Totalizer
• Streaming RS-232 data for volumetric flow, totalized flow, and set point
• Field gas type selection
• Field flow rate re-ranging and orifice/laminar flow element substitution
• Can be serviced in-line
• Programmable alarms and relay
• Multiple outputs-analog and digital proportional to mass flow
• Touch screen user interface-menu driven
• Clear, bright, adjustable contrast, indicating display