THERMAL MASS FLOWMETER AND MASS FLOW CONTROLLER, FLOWMETERING SYSTEM AND METHOD

摘要

A flowmeter (100) or mass flow controller (101) used in a manufacturing process with toxic and reactive process fluids. A fluid flow sensor (114) senses fluid flow. A set point is established based upon predetermined temperature and pressure conditions at which the fluid will be utilized in the process. A valve drive (124) operates a fluid flow valve (126) to the resulting fluid flow rate, this being based upon the sensed flow rate and the set point. A control unit (122) controls the valve drive. The control unit accesses a calibration data set to determine the amount of fluid to be delivered by the fluid flow valve based upon the sensed flow rate and the set point. This calibration data set is created for the controller over its operational range using a calibration fluid having similar thermodynamic transport properties to a process fluid. The instrument is calibrated using the calibration fluid and the data set is produced by converting the calibration data using process fluid data stored in a data base (200). Accessing the data set stored in the instrument together with routing signals over a communication network (300) permits the instrument to precisely control process fluids without having to introduce extemal correction factors or other adjustments to the process.