A Guide To Flow Measurement For Heating And Cooling Processes In Chemical Applications

In chemical processing applications, precise temperature control through effective heating and cooling processes is crucial for ensuring product quality, optimizing reactions, and enhancing overall production efficiency. Flow measurement plays a vital role in achieving these objectives by accurately monitoring water for cooling and steam for heating. In addition, many chemical processing companies perform internal audits of water and steam usage (among other things) at each stage of production. This accounting practice helps identify inefficiencies and excess costs, allocate proper costing to each product line, and is an important part of both sustainability and profitability goals.

This article delves into challenges faced by flow meters in heating and cooling applications, highlighting uptime reliability, accuracy, and repeatability. It underscores the importance of accurate flow measurement, detailing the distinctions between percentage of reading and percentage of full-scale accuracy, as well as the importance of repeatability and the need for consistent measurements to ensure process control and quality.