Ultrasonic Flow-Sensing Module Delivers Multi-Year Battery Life
The UFM-02 flow-sensor module from ScioSense, which enables multi-year operation in battery-powered industrial and consumer applications, includes the sensor board and spool piece. It offers a fast and simple way to integrate reliable, accurate ultrasonic flow measurement into a host system.
The ultrasonic flow module is a complete, fully calibrated flow measurement unit with twin ultrasonic transducers and a high-precision measurement circuit based on a ScioSense ultrasonic flow-converter chip. In the UFM-02, average operating current has been reduced to 50 µA, low enough to enable battery-powered applications to run for years.
Well-suited for flow-measurement and leak-detection applications, including food-grade equipment. In industrial and commercial systems, the UFM-02 can measure the total volume flowing through a filter for replacement based on actual usage rather than at specified intervals.
It's available with a thread size of 0.5 in. and an inner diameter (ID) of 13.3 mm, or with a thread of 1 in. (23.7 mm ID), with additional variants to be added with a thread of 3/8 in. (11.2 mm ID) and 1.5 in. (36.3 mm ID). The smallest thread size handles a maximum flow rate of 20L per minute, and the largest handles up to 450L per minute.
The ultrasonic measurement technology has no moving parts for greater reliability and longer operating lifetimes, with no risk of mechanical failure. It has high sensitivity to weak flows, allowing the sensor to accurately detect leakage. In its smallest 3/8-in. thread size, the UFM-02 can measure flows as slow as 0.03L per minute.
The modules are available with a four-wire pulse interface cable that provides a simple output signal with up to 450 pulses per liter. They're also available with a 10-wire SPI cable that delivers digital data, including total volume of liquid flow in cubic meters, filtered flow rate in liters/hour, and a measurement of the liquid’s temperature.
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About the Author
Alix Paultre
Editor-at-Large, Microwaves & RF
Alix is Editor-at-Large for Microwaves & RF.
An Army veteran, Alix Paultre was a signals intelligence soldier on the East/West German border in the early ‘80s, and eventually wound up helping launch and run a publication on consumer electronics for the U.S. military stationed in Europe. Alix first began in this industry in 1998 at Electronic Products magazine, and since then has worked for a variety of publications, most recently as Editor-in-Chief of Power Systems Design.
Alix currently lives in Wiesbaden, Germany.