On-site nitrogen generation or the purchase and storage of N2 from an industrial gas supplier is a significant operating cost for the user and ensuring the best value from that investment is why a nitrogen laser manufacturer approached us for a monitoring solution. They wanted a standalone solution to measure the consumption of their laser systems to ensure that no gas was wasted and the device was adjusted for optimum efficiency. We recommended the 1.5" S421 thermal mass flow meter in conjunction with the S551 portable data recorder to deliver an easily transportable measuring system that would allow extended consumption testing through plenty of use cycles in order to certify each unit.
The S551 has an integral multi channel datalogger and offers the expandability to add further flow sensors as they may need to perform parallel measurements and change to larger flow sensors for bigger machines. The S421 can be supplied calibrated for many standard industrial gases and the insertion type S401 offers the same capability but over a much wider pipe size range.
Similar applications would be monitoring consumption of CO2 or Argon welding gas or N2 consumption in a food plant where it is used for blanketing product to protect from contamination and extend shelf life.