Application Corner: Uncovering the unknowns: Flowmeters

There are things that you know that you know. For example, I know two languages: English and Portuguese. You may know other languages as well. Yet, there are things you know that you do not know. For example, I know that I cannot read, write or speak Japanese, Polish or Norwegian. 

By the way, it may be helpful to think digitally (00 - 01 - 10 - 11) during this discussion. 

Sometimes, you may be surprised by what you don’t know that you might actually know. For example, most engineers are not familiar with pneumatic flow measurement systems and might refuse to troubleshoot them out of hand. However, most flowmeter accuracy issues are related to the primary flow element and its installation, which does not involve pneumatics. Further, pneumatic transmitters perform functions that are similar in nature to those performed by electronic transmitters that are familiar to you. Therefore, if a problem arose, you should feel comfortable working on many aspects of pneumatic flow measurement systems. This is something that you did not know that you actually knew. 

Other possibilities are things you do not know that you do not know. These are the scariest because they can creep up by surprise and cause failure. For example, you might be working on a flowmeter project and think that you have all of the resources and knowledge to complete the project yourself. However, you did not know that the final flowmeter was not configured properly so an instrument technician (who already left for the day) was suddenly required to complete the project. If you had known, you could have had the instrument technician configure the instrument before leaving. As a result, project completion is delayed. 

David W. Spitzer is a principal at Spitzer and Boyes, LLC, which offers engineering, focused market research, writing/editing white papers, strategic marketing consulting, distribution consulting, seminars and expert witness services for manufacturing and automation companies. Spitzer has written more than 400 technical articles and 10 books about flow measurement, instrumentation and process control. He can be reached at 845-623-1830 or via spitzerandboyes.com.