FCI ST Series Flow Meters for breweries

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Today’s modern breweries not only produce a fantastic product, but their tasty brands depend on the accurate measurement of air, compressed air, natural gas heating, specialty gases like nitrogen (N₂) and monitoring residual gas CO₂ levels and mixed waste gases to reduce their carbon footprints. From fermentation vessel steam heating to product kegging or bottling to CO₂ recovery for co-gen power or combined heat and power (CHP) systems to flaring, the emphasis is on total product quality and protecting the environment.

FCI’s ST Series Flow Meters are designed to assist brewery teams in performing a wide range of tasks, such as optimising complex fermentation tank steam heating processes by measuring the ratio of boiler burner fuel gas to air for efficient combustion. For example, the CO₂ gas that is naturally produced during the brewing process and any additional CO₂ gas necessary for finishing the beer also require air/gas measurement within tight tolerances.

The thermal flow meters are calibrated under user installation conditions in actual gases, a feature that is designed to achieve good installed accuracy and repeatability in their intended application. They are direct mass flow measuring and inherently multivariable, providing both flow and temperature outputs. Thermal mass flow meters with their no-moving-parts design also virtually eliminate wear, breakage and maintenance. The ST series has a wide selection of process connections, including compression fittings, NPT male and female threaded connections, flanges, ball valves, hot taps and more to ensure installation site compatibility.

The versatile ST family offers solutions from meters for large pipe diameters to small pipe; compact meters with basic 4–20 mA analog output to feature-enhanced versions with multiple 4–20 mA outputs; digital bus communications such as HART, Modbus, Foundation Fieldbus and Profibus; in-situ calibration, self-checks, on-board data logging and more. Furthermore, all FCI ST Series air/gas flow meters are direct mass flow measuring, carry global agency approvals for installation in Div.1/Zone 1 environments, and offer good ruggedness and long life with NEMA 4X/IP 67-rated low-copper content aluminium or 316 stainless steel enclosures.

Standard turndowns of 100:1 and flow ranges from 0.07 to 305 NMPS ensure their application versatility. The ST’s transmitter/electronics can be integrally mounted with the flow body or may be remote-mounted to 305 m away. They are available in either DC or AC powered versions. Their readout/display options include basic flow rate and totaliser to a best-in-class multivariable digital/graphic backlighted LCD with FCI’s through-the-glass activated 4-button array.

In crowded brewery plant air/gas measurement applications with limited straight-runs and/or for operating in transitional flow ranges that can adversely affect accuracy and repeatability, ST Series Flow Meters are also optionally available with calibration-matched Vortab Flow Conditioners. These conditioners are designed to overcome challenging piping configurations by delivering a uniform, swirl-free flow profile to the meter inlet in as little as a few pipe diameters.