Application Note: FLEXIM Solar Powered Ultrasonic Flow Meter for HDPE Pipes

Project overview:

Our customer is a large multinational corporation which produces bulk cementitious materials and bagged cement. In one of their quarries, they surface-mine the rock to obtain raw materials. Large HDPE pipes are constantly running water during the operation and they need to track & monitor how much water goes through them for their environmental reporting. However, it’s not practical to run power to the flow meter, as it’s several hundred feet to the nearest source of power. In addition, the pipe is not always 100% full, so it can be difficult to get a reading with conventional flow meters. The customer previously had an area velocity flow meter inside the flow line, but not only was it inaccurate, it eventually failed.

The Solution:

The solution was a FLEXIM F721 flow meter which runs on solar power. The panels were properly sized for the amount of sunlight in that zip code, so the system can handle around the clock operation. They also added a secondary device, a flow computer, to show daily peak demand for reporting purposes. Now the customer has accurate flow metering for their environmental reporting, without having to run power to a remote and difficult installation. As an added bonus, Cross put all the communication wires for the meter inside a PVC pipe, buried it and replaced the grass back over so they wouldn’t get cut when the area was mowed. Note: Cross also has an option for wireless communication but the customer elected not to choose it for this application yet but may in the future.

Learn more about FLEXIM ultrasonic flow measurement. Cross Company is proud to be a FLEXIM representative throughout several states along the Eastern Seaboard portion of the US. Learn more about how a solution from FLEXIM can help improve your process, reach out and talk with one of our experts today!