Validating, verifying, and calibrating flows<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n <\/p>\n
Validation, verification, and calibration all share the common goal of ensuring a process is working as intended. Here, we discuss these three interrelated but distinct processes and detail how to go about validating, verifying, or calibrating your system.<\/p>\n
At a basic level, the three terms may be defined as follows:<\/p>\n
\n- Validation\u00a0<\/strong>ensures a system satisfies its stated functional intent<\/span><\/li>\n
- Verification\u00a0<\/strong>ensures a process or equipment operates according to its stated operating specifications<\/span><\/li>\n
- Calibration\u00a0<\/strong>ensures the measurement accuracy of an instrument meets a known standard<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/h2>\nValidation:<\/strong> Is it producing the right results?<\/h2>\nDuring validation, the user checks to ensure the outputs of a process conform with some expected standard. This standard is typically enforced by an external organization, however, it may also be required to meet internal standards. A common example is found in power plants and refineries, where users must validate that stack gas outputs comply with EPA requirements.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Verification:<\/strong> Is it working correctly?<\/h2>\nThe goal of verification is to make sure a piece of equipment or sub-process is working according to the manufacturer\u2019s technical design specifications. Verification may be performed as a part of routine maintenance, or to ensure that newly purchased instruments work properly prior to installation. This oftentimes involves temporarily inserting a flow meter into a process and measuring parameters such as flow rate or pressure.<\/p>\n
<\/h2>\n<\/h2>\nPerforming validation and verification<\/h2>\n
While validation and verification have distinct goals, the procedure is the same for both: Read a value and check to see if it falls within a specified range. Portable mass flow meters<\/a> are particularly well-suited for quick and easy validation and verification.<\/p>\n\n- These battery-powered devices last up to 18 hours, ensuring that multiple processes\/instruments can be quickly checked.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Multivariate measurement allows for validation or verification of process pressure, mass flow rate,\u00a0or<\/em>\u00a0volumetric flow rate \u2013 all with one device.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Low pressure drop configurations<\/a> are available for processes with low system pressures and\/or to minimize system impact.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In cases where the flow range of a single device isn\u2019t quite enough, a portable calibration unit<\/a> can be used. These units contain three high-accuracy battery-powered mass flow meters. They are specifically designed for easy, rapid verification of multiple process parts operating across a wide range of flow rates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=z_fmXO2PqKk&rel=0#8221; _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” width=”70%” module_alignment=”center” custom_padding=”20px|20px|20px|20px|false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” image_src=”\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/z_fmXO2PqKk\/hqdefault.jpg” play_icon_color=”#E12028″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_video][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
Calibration:<\/strong> Is it still accurate?<\/h2>\nCalibration is a two-step process, where the user first uses a calibration standard to read a flow value and then adjusts the device under test to match the reading on the standard.<\/p>\n
There are two types of standards:<\/p>\n
\n- A\u00a0primary standard<\/strong>\u00a0is a universal measurement reference standard, such as those from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).<\/span><\/li>\n
- A\u00a0transfer standard<\/strong>\u00a0is an instrument that has been directly calibrated using a primary standard.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Primary standards tend to be very expensive, so transfer standards are oftentimes used instead. For flow and pressure calibrations, Alicat\u2019s high-accuracy mass flow meters and pressure meters<\/a> can be used as transfer calibration standards.<\/p>\n<\/h2>\nPerforming calibration<\/h2>\n
When determining which instrument(s) to use for calibration, it is important to consider both accuracy requirements and operating range.<\/p>\n
\n- A single mass flow meter can be used to calibrate devices. These instruments measure with NIST-traceable accuracy to \u00b10.5% of reading or \u00b10.1% of full scale\u00a0and have a flow measurement range of 0.01% to 100% of full scale (10,000:1).<\/span><\/li>\n
- Higher accuracy calibrations may require an additional device, with a setup consisting of either two high-accuracy mass flow meters\u00a0or<\/em>\u00a0one high-accuracy meter and one high-accuracy controller.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Wider operating range calibrations may require a\u00a0<\/span>portable calibration unit<\/a>, with a 100,000:1 operating range.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Alicat also offers\u00a0<\/span>an\u00a0FP-25 complete calibrator kit<\/a> specifically designed for air quality monitoring applications.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Validation, verification, and calibration all share the common goal of ensuring a process is working as intended. Here, we discuss these three interrelated but distinct processes and detail how to go about validating, verifying, or calibrating your system.<\/p>\n
At a basic level, the three terms may be defined as follows:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Validation\u00a0<\/strong>ensures a system satisfies its stated functional intent<\/span><\/li>\n
- Verification\u00a0<\/strong>ensures a process or equipment operates according to its stated operating specifications<\/span><\/li>\n
- Calibration\u00a0<\/strong>ensures the measurement accuracy of an instrument meets a known standard<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/h2>\n
Validation:<\/strong> Is it producing the right results?<\/h2>\n
During validation, the user checks to ensure the outputs of a process conform with some expected standard. This standard is typically enforced by an external organization, however, it may also be required to meet internal standards. A common example is found in power plants and refineries, where users must validate that stack gas outputs comply with EPA requirements.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Verification:<\/strong> Is it working correctly?<\/h2>\n
The goal of verification is to make sure a piece of equipment or sub-process is working according to the manufacturer\u2019s technical design specifications. Verification may be performed as a part of routine maintenance, or to ensure that newly purchased instruments work properly prior to installation. This oftentimes involves temporarily inserting a flow meter into a process and measuring parameters such as flow rate or pressure.<\/p>\n
<\/h2>\n
<\/h2>\n
Performing validation and verification<\/h2>\n
While validation and verification have distinct goals, the procedure is the same for both: Read a value and check to see if it falls within a specified range. Portable mass flow meters<\/a> are particularly well-suited for quick and easy validation and verification.<\/p>\n
- \n
- These battery-powered devices last up to 18 hours, ensuring that multiple processes\/instruments can be quickly checked.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Multivariate measurement allows for validation or verification of process pressure, mass flow rate,\u00a0or<\/em>\u00a0volumetric flow rate \u2013 all with one device.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Low pressure drop configurations<\/a> are available for processes with low system pressures and\/or to minimize system impact.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In cases where the flow range of a single device isn\u2019t quite enough, a portable calibration unit<\/a> can be used. These units contain three high-accuracy battery-powered mass flow meters. They are specifically designed for easy, rapid verification of multiple process parts operating across a wide range of flow rates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=z_fmXO2PqKk&rel=0#8221; _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” width=”70%” module_alignment=”center” custom_padding=”20px|20px|20px|20px|false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” image_src=”\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/z_fmXO2PqKk\/hqdefault.jpg” play_icon_color=”#E12028″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_video][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
Calibration:<\/strong> Is it still accurate?<\/h2>\n
Calibration is a two-step process, where the user first uses a calibration standard to read a flow value and then adjusts the device under test to match the reading on the standard.<\/p>\n
There are two types of standards:<\/p>\n
- \n
- A\u00a0primary standard<\/strong>\u00a0is a universal measurement reference standard, such as those from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).<\/span><\/li>\n
- A\u00a0transfer standard<\/strong>\u00a0is an instrument that has been directly calibrated using a primary standard.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Primary standards tend to be very expensive, so transfer standards are oftentimes used instead. For flow and pressure calibrations, Alicat\u2019s high-accuracy mass flow meters and pressure meters<\/a> can be used as transfer calibration standards.<\/p>\n
<\/h2>\n
Performing calibration<\/h2>\n
When determining which instrument(s) to use for calibration, it is important to consider both accuracy requirements and operating range.<\/p>\n
- \n
- A single mass flow meter can be used to calibrate devices. These instruments measure with NIST-traceable accuracy to \u00b10.5% of reading or \u00b10.1% of full scale\u00a0and have a flow measurement range of 0.01% to 100% of full scale (10,000:1).<\/span><\/li>\n
- Higher accuracy calibrations may require an additional device, with a setup consisting of either two high-accuracy mass flow meters\u00a0or<\/em>\u00a0one high-accuracy meter and one high-accuracy controller.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Wider operating range calibrations may require a\u00a0<\/span>portable calibration unit<\/a>, with a 100,000:1 operating range.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Alicat also offers\u00a0<\/span>an\u00a0FP-25 complete calibrator kit<\/a> specifically designed for air quality monitoring applications.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Higher accuracy calibrations may require an additional device, with a setup consisting of either two high-accuracy mass flow meters\u00a0or<\/em>\u00a0one high-accuracy meter and one high-accuracy controller.<\/span><\/li>\n
- A\u00a0transfer standard<\/strong>\u00a0is an instrument that has been directly calibrated using a primary standard.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Multivariate measurement allows for validation or verification of process pressure, mass flow rate,\u00a0or<\/em>\u00a0volumetric flow rate \u2013 all with one device.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Verification\u00a0<\/strong>ensures a process or equipment operates according to its stated operating specifications<\/span><\/li>\n