August 2016 – Alicat Scientific has engineered a new mass flow controller with its highest top flow rate suitable to a wider range of applications. The MCRH can accommodate flow rates of up to 5000 slpm, without compromising speed or precision of gas control. The highly stable controller manages industrial processes with more chaotic upstream fluctuations, such as control of industrial combustion gases, or mass flow into food and packaging processes.

The MCRH 5000 slpm precisely and rapidly controls mass flow rate, volumetric flow rate, or back pressure of gases in high flow processes. To overcome the poor turndown ratio and slow response of existing methods (such as interlinking a meter with an external valve) Alicat designed a new flow geometry. This new design accommodates the higher flow rates, with a low pressure drop of 14.1 psig at full scale. A dual valve design enables a fast 100 millisecond control response time without significantly raising instrument power requirements.

The instrument’s Gas Select firmware includes a library of up to 130 preloaded gases, user selectable in the field. The MCRH 5000 slpm can be programmed with the instrument’s push button menus and onboard display, or via remote connection. Digital communications options include RS-232 or RS-485 serial, Modbus, or PROFIBUS, as well as analog 0-5 Vdc, 1-5 Vdc, and 0-10 Vdc, or 4-20 mA.

Part of the international Halma group, Alicat Scientific designs and manufactures mass flow devices used in medical and scientific instrumentation, as well as diverse industrial applications, for high-precision measurement of gas and liquid flows. Its all-digital product range includes mass and liquid flow meters and controllers; pressure gauges and controllers; portable flow meters; secondary calibration standards; software and accessories.