Conducting Air Flow Measurements - Flickr - The Official CTBTO Photostream

An air flow meter is a device that measures

air flow Airflow, or air flow, is the movement of air. The primary cause of airflow is the existence of air. Air behaves in a fluid manner, meaning particles naturally flow from areas of higher pressure to those where the pressure is lower. Atmospheric ...

, i.e. how much

air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

is flowing through a tube. It does not measure the

volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). Th ...

of the air passing through the tube, it measures the mass of air flowing through the device per unit time. Thus air flow meters are simply an application of

mass flow meter A mass flow meter, also known as an inertial flow meter, is a device that measures mass flow rate of a fluid traveling through a tube. The mass flow rate is the mass of the fluid traveling past a fixed point per unit time. The mass flow meter d ...

s for a special medium. Typically, mass air flow measurements are expressed in the units of

kilogram The kilogram (also kilogramme) is the unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol kg. It is a widely used measure in science, engineering and commerce worldwide, and is often simply called a kilo colloquially ...

s per

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

(kg/s).

In automobiles

In industrial environments

Air flow meters monitor air (compressed, forced, or ambient) in many manufacturing processes. In many industries, preheated air (called "combustion air") is added to boiler fuel just before fuel ignition to ensure the proper ratio of fuel to air for an efficient flame. Pharmaceutical factories and coal pulverizers use forced air as a means to force particle movement or ensure a dry atmosphere. Air flow is also monitored in mining and nuclear environments to ensure the safety of people.

References

External links

Miata.net, Repair broken Air Flow Meter, by Zach Warner, 2 January, 2009

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100114072836/http://autoshop101.com/forms/h34.pdf Auto shop 101, AFM sensor* Spitzer, David W. (1990), ''Industrial Flow Measurement'', {{DEFAULTSORT:Air Flow Meter Flow meters Engine fuel system technology ja:エアフロメーター

In automobiles

In industrial environments

See also

References

External links