Company Profile

Bronkhorst Mass Flow Controllers and Ultra-Low Flow Gas Lab Applications

Quick Answer: Bronkhorst mass flow controllers are widely used in ultra-low flow gas labs for gas mixing, catalyst testing, and analyzer calibration. Silver Automation Instruments supplies thermal mass flow meters and controllers that match many of these lab tasks at a lower cost. Send your gas type, flow range, pressure in bar, and pipe size DN to get a specific quote.

What Bronkhorst Flow Controllers Do in Gas Labs

In gas labs, researchers often need to dose very small gas flows. A Bronkhorst mass flow controller can deliver repeatable amounts of nitrogen, argon, helium, or reactive gases into a reactor. Common flow ranges go from 0.014 ml/min up to 10 ln/min. This works for gas chromatography carrier gas, combustion analysis, and fuel cell testing.

Engineers use these devices because the response is fast and the setpoint stays steady. A typical Bronkhorst unit includes a thermal mass flow sensor, a laminar flow element, and an integrated PID controller. The control valve sits close to the sensor. This short path reduces dead volume. In practice, dead volume matters a lot when you work with small gas volumes.

Most researchers control the unit through RS232, RS485, or analog 4-20 mA. Some units also support PROFIBUS or EtherCAT. The wetted materials usually are 316L stainless steel or Hastelloy. That covers many inert and aggressive gases.

Ultra-Low Flow Gas Lab Challenges

Low gas flow is not forgiving. A tiny leak, a temperature drift, or a small pressure change can shift the reading. A 0.5 percent error on a 1 ml/min flow is only 0.005 ml/min in absolute terms. But that can be 10 percent of the span on a very low range device.

Here is the thing. Many lab setups use plastic tubing and push-in fittings. These can outgas or leak at very low flows. We have seen this on customer sites many times. A customer in Vietnam once asked us why his gas mix ratio drifted every morning. The cause was not the flow controller. It was a PTFE tube that changed volume with lab temperature.

Bronkhorst solves some of these issues by placing the sensor and valve in one compact body. This reduces internal volume and response time. Silver Automation Instruments also offers inline thermal mass flow meters with small internal volume. We match the process connection size and signal output to your lab PLC or data logger.

Silver Instruments Options for Low Flow Gas Labs

Silver Instruments is a flow meter manufacturer and supplier based in China. We ship to Southeast Asia, Oceania, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. Our thermal mass flow meters cover gas flow from 0.1 ml/min up to 1000 ln/min. Accuracy is typically plus or minus 1 percent of reading plus 0.5 percent of full scale. That is close to many Bronkhorst units in real lab conditions.

For a typical gas lab dosing system, we recommend an inline thermal mass flow meter with a 316L stainless steel body, a PTFE seal, and a 4-20 mA HART output. If you need a controller function, ask us for a model with an integrated solenoid valve. We can also supply a separate control valve if you prefer to use your own PID loop.

In one project, a food laboratory in Indonesia replaced a Bronkhorst air mass flow controller with a Silver Instruments thermal mass flow meter. The gas was dry air at 2 bar and 20 degrees Celsius. The pipe size was DN6. The customer needed 0 to 5 ln/min with a 4-20 mA signal. The total cost was about 40 percent lower, and the delivery took 12 days.

Parameters to Send for a Quote

We cannot select the right flow meter without gas data. Send us your gas type or mixture, flow range in kg/h or ln/min, pressure in bar, temperature in degrees Celsius, pipe size in DN, and the output signal you need. Our team will match a thermal mass flow meter or controller to your lab setup.