Distinguishing among communication options This article presents an overview of Alicat’s various communication options. For more detailed specifications, check this page. Choosing the best communication protocol to work with your Alicat devices depends on factors such as: Preference for analog, serial, or industrial protocol communication Required operating distance Required data transfer speed Desired device linking […]
What is mass flow? Most Alicat devices measure and control the mass flow rate of a gas. As gas flows through an Alicat, it passes through a flow channel with temperature and pressure sensors. These sensors measure the instantaneous temperature and pressure of the gas stream, and use that information in combination with known gas […]
What is the difference between mass flow and volumetric flow? Understanding the difference between mass flow and volumetric flow is important when determining which flow instrument is right for your application. Here we introduce the concepts of mass flow and volumetric flow and discuss use cases for each measurement. What is a volumetric flow rate? […]
Alicat mass flow instruments operate on the principle of differential pressure-based laminar flow measurement.
Operating principle: Coriolis mass flow technology Alicat’s CODA-Series of mass flow meters and controllers utilizes the Coriolis operating principle and uses the single tube setup described below. The measurement process is demonstrated in this video: The Coriolis effect is commonly used to explain why hurricanes, tornadoes, and typhoons spin clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere and […]
What is laminar flow? Laminar flow is key to the operating principle of Alicat differential pressure instruments, enabling them to output highly accurate mass flow rates across very wide measurement and control ranges. In this article, we briefly discuss different flow types with a focus on laminar flow. Turbulent, laminar, and transitional flow When flowing […]
RS-232 communication with an Alicat The RS-232 protocol is the default method of talking to Alicat devices. While instruments can also be configured using a variety of other protocols (RS-485, Profibus, EtherCAT, Modbus RTU or TCP/IP, DeviceNet, and Ethernet/IP), the tried and true RS-232 communication standard remains the go-to method for commanding and reading Alicats. […]
Pressure drop is the amount of line pressure permanently lost as gas passes through an instrument. This loss is due to the frictional resistance of the components the gas touches. Every instrument and fitting in a line induces some pressure drop. In this article, we go into some of the details of pressure drop and […]