Company Profile

Ultrasonic Flow Transmitters and Flowmeter Ultrasonic Hardware for Fixed Pipe Process Integration

Quick Answer: Silver Automation Instruments supplies fixed ultrasonic flow transmitters and flowmeter hardware for permanent pipe installations from DN15 to DN2000. You get 4-20 mA HART, pulse, RS485 Modbus, and optional PT100 energy measurement. Send your pipe size, wall thickness, fluid type, temperature, and pressure to get a fixed price.

Fixed pipe process integration means the meter hardware becomes part of the permanent line. You do not move a portable clamp-on from point to point. You either bolt an inline spool piece into the line or fix clamp-on transducers with a mounting rail. The transmitter stays in a panel or field enclosure. Silver Instruments supplies both clamp-on and inline ultrasonic flowmeter hardware for water, oil and gas, chemical, and food and beverage plants.

Hardware Scope for a Fixed Ultrasonic Meter

A fixed ultrasonic meter kit has four parts: the transmitter, a matched pair of transducers, mounting hardware or a spool body, and the signal cable. Clamp-on kits suit pipes from DN15 to DN2000. Inline spool meters suit DN15 to DN150 for higher accuracy on small lines. Transducers are available in stainless steel or engineering plastic and are rated IP67 as standard. For a DN300 HDPE line in a desalination plant in Vietnam, Silver Instruments supplied a clamp-on kit with 0.5 MHz transducers, a stainless steel mounting rail, and 15 m shielded cable. The output was 4-20 mA HART to the plant SCADA. The pipe wall was 14.2 mm. The total dissolved solids in the brine line were 38 000 mg/L. That level of detail removes guesswork.

Output Wiring for PLC and DCS Systems

Most engineers ask about output first. Fixed ultrasonic meters from Silver Instruments can send 4-20 mA HART to a PLC or DCS. Pulse output works for total flow batching in food and beverage plants. RS485 Modbus RTU is common for water treatment plants that already have a digital bus. If you need heat energy measurement, add two PT100 RTDs. The transmitter computes energy in kW or MJ from flow and temperature difference. A chemical plant in Saudi Arabia ordered a DN80 inline meter with 4-20 mA HART and two PT100 inputs for chilled water. The control room reads flow, supply temperature, and return temperature on one HART loop. So the wiring time is shorter because the meter accepts the RTD signals directly.

Process Integration by Industry

A seawater reverse osmosis plant needs flow readings on feed, brine, and permeate lines. A seawater flow meter for desalination plant service should not require cutting into the pipe. The feed line may be GRP or HDPE. The brine line has high TDS, often 35 000 to 45 000 mg/L. Clamp-on ultrasonic hardware from Silver Instruments works on these pipes without process shutdown. One customer in Chile used a DN350 GRP feed line. We set the meter for a pipe wall thickness of 11.8 mm and a liner thickness of 3 mm. The transducers were mounted in V mode. The 4-20 mA signal went to the local control panel. Because no cutting or welding was needed, the plant stayed online.

Oil and gas sites need flow data on produced water, injection water, and diesel transfer. A fixed clamp-on meter avoids contact with brine and hydrocarbons. For a produced water line in Nigeria, Silver Instruments supplied a DN100 carbon steel spool meter with an ATEX Zone 1 transmitter. The meter had a 0.5 to 10 m/s range and measured 22 m3/h at 60 °C. Output was 4-20 mA HART to the wellhead control system. The pipe schedule was Sch 80. Wall thickness changes the acoustic path, so that data must be correct.

In food and beverage, a milk processor in Australia uses a DN50 inline ultrasonic meter for CIP water and product transfer. The wetted part is stainless steel 316L. The meter handles 2 to 40 m3/h. It sends a pulse output to a batc