SCAN- a maintenance-free flowrate meter with direct digital read-out for computerised control applications in radiochemical plants

In radiochemical plants, the choice of flowrate sensor is subject to stringent requirements of fail-safe design and freedom from maintenance. The SCAN remote digital direct indicating flowrate meter described in this paper was developed to meet the requirements of flowrate and transmitting it to the control room, and to a computerised control system. SCAN is designed on the principle that flowrate through an orifice is a function of the head of liquid acting upon it. SCAN consists of a small chamber which receives the flow, and discharges it through an orifice located in bottom. The level of liquid in the pot represents the flowrate of the input stream. SCAN has been developed into an accurate, rugged and practical device by refinements in the design of internals, and by introducing a special end-section which makes the calibration insensitive to location. An important feature of SCAN is that it is passive, maintenance free, fail-safe device and contains no moving parts. There is no liquid hold up in the SCAN when idle, which is a desirable feature for the radiochemical plant environment. (author)