The associated gas generated from oil production has received a lot of attention recently. In many areas, the lack of gas collection infrastructure requires this gas to be flared off. Many jurisdictions now require flare gas monitoring in order to reduce emissions and to allocate taxes, fines, and other fees. Choosing the best tools for […]

Why Are Dry Sensors Critical for Flowmeter Lifetime Sensor Warranty, Accuracy, and In-Situ Validation? When it comes to flow meters, what matters to plant managers and engineers alike is if their meter is measuring flow accurately and reliably. They want to know they can depend on the data their meter is providing. However, the answer […]

  We have been in the capillary thermal mass flow business for nearly 45 years, many have asked us why we recently introduced MEMS thermal mass flow controllers into our product offering.  Combining superior physics, high reliability, and unparalleled flexibility, our new Sierra MEMS-based RedySmart brand mass flow controllers complement our Sierra Capillary-based SmartTrak brand […]

Did you know most chemical plants use electricity derived from an on-site natural gas power plant or co-generation plant burning waste gas streams?  In large boilers, power plants bring together air and fuel (natural gas, waste gas, oil or coal) for combustion, which creates heat. The heat boils the water, creating steam. The steam runs […]

Have you ever wanted to look inside a mass flow meter or gas controller to understand the mechanical components? This blog, as part of our ongoing core technology series based on excerpts from Sierra’s Founder and Chairman, Dr. John G. Olin’s, white paper entitled, “Capillary Tube Thermal Mass Flow Meters & Controllers – A User’s […]

Understanding Capillary Tube Thermal Mass Flow Meters & Controllers:   Flow meters and controllers are used every day in general purpose industrial and laboratory applications and in the semiconductor industry.  Have you ever wondered how capillary tube flow meters work?  or How to specify the perfect flow meter for your application? I am excited to present this ongoing core technology […]

Whether you are running a large municipal water facility or one of the over 37,000 rural water utilities in the United States, water usage rates and costs drive your decisions. For any water system, it’s critical to answer key questions like: What’s your water usage and/or production? How much water are you distributing or allocating? […]

Gas mixing sounds simple enough. You simply mix a number of pure gasses to create a new mixture. Unfortunately, it’s not usually as simple as it sounds. There are many variables and factors that play a role.  In this post, we’ll dissect this challenging application and discuss how to obtain perfect gas mixing and blending […]

From facilities management to district heating applications, accurate steam flow energy measurement is a critical flow measurement needed to incur substantial savings on energy and maintenance costs. However,  steam flow energy measurement is also the most difficult flow measurement to make due to the unknown factors of what type of steam is being produced, various […]

As the infrastructure of our Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities age and government-driven energy efficiency mandates rise, VA facilities’ engineers are faced with a decision to upgrade existing equipment or replace older equipment in order to improve energy efficiency. Dealing with the upgrade or replace decision is a big one. Replacing older equipment is costly, but in the […]

Improving energy efficiency in facilities, campuses and hospitals is top of mind for most facilities managers and engineers.  Government regulations like Boiler MACT and other energy efficiency mandates for government buildings like VA hospitals have put the pressure on facilities engineers to take a hard look at their equipment to optimize for energy efficiency.  Optimizing energy efficiency comes in the form of both […]

Solving the Biogas Flow Measurement Conundrum In recent years, concern about climate change has increased interest in alternative energy sources, specifically in biogas energy. Biogas energy can be extracted from landfills. Digester gas produced at wastewater treatment plants is another common form of biogas. So why is it so popular? In a word, economy. This […]

How do you tame the compressed air energy hog in your facility? As most facilities managers can attest to, the electricity used to produce compressed air can be one of the most expensive energy costs in your facility. Questions arise such as: How can I verify my compressed air capacity? How do I balance distribution and allocation […]

Vortex flow meters are increasingly becoming the flow technology of choice for gas, liquid, and steam flow measurement. Vortex flow meters are ideal for measuring saturated and supersaturated steam in large facilities to improve steam production efficiency and allocation. Volumetric water flow and high flow gas measurements are also strong applications for vortex flow meters. […]

The spirit of ACHEMA 2018 can be summed up in three words: reimagine, capitalize, and prepare for the future. ACHEMA was all about seizing the potential opportunities that Industry 4.0  or IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) can bring to the chemical and process industries. Industry 4.0 is the current trend of automation and data exchange in […]

As we’ve discovered in Part 1 and Part 2 of this Flow Energy Management series, determining the best flow meter technology for flow energy management of gas, liquid and steam applications depends on specific measurement goals, fluid, flow rate, turndown requirements, fluid temperature, and flow pressure. In part 3 of this series, let’s consider three […]

Which mass flow controller will work best for my application? Many times, we have had university professors and students contact us in tech support about which scientific flow meter they should get for their research. Sierra has two primary options for you to choose from: SmartTrak 100 SmartTrak 50 We are going to go over the […]

More and more, buzz words like “flow energy” or “flow energy management” have become prevalent as companies grapple to control costs, reduce energy use, and comply with government regulations—all while trying to increase profitability. But what are flow energy and flow energy management? Why should you care? In this three-part series, we will: Explore what […]

Many of us have heard the sound of pipes banging as we turn a faucet on or off. This sound is the water in the pipe being forced to stop or suddenly change direction and is called “water hammer.” Did you know that water hammer is not just limited to water pipes? In fact, water […]

Precision measurement of low flow in gas mixing applications Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on November 28, 2011. Due to its popularity and continued questions on this issue, we updated the post on March 9, 2018. Choosing the right flow controller for laboratory or biomedical research applications is essential to achieving success in […]

Do you have questions about the iSeries flow meter Totalizer App that comes standard with every QuadraTherm 640i/780i Thermal Mass Flow Meter or want to learn more about gas mass flow rate? We get many support questions regarding the app, generally covering the same few points, so let’s spend a few minutes and discuss how to use and understand […]

Another year has come and gone, and it certainly was a big one for Sierra and our customers! Let’s look back at the news and top content that we shared with you in 2017. Most Popular Blog Posts from 2017 We love sharing our news and providing useful flow meter information with you through our Let’s Talk […]

Since the early twentieth century, geothermal energy has been used to produce electricity. In the 1980’s and 90’s, rapid expansion in the demand for geothermal energy put pressure on suppliers to reduce costs and increase efficiencies. Now geothermal energy production is becoming a common practice around the globe. One of the largest energy companies in […]

An ultrasonic flow meter utilizes ultrasound to measure the velocity of a fluid and is used in a variety of fluid applications. Ultrasonic flowmeters are ideal for water and other liquids. Clamp-on ultrasonic flow meters achieve high accuracy at low and high flows, save time with no pipe cutting or process shutdown, and are not affected […]

A water flow meter is a device that measures the amount of water flowing through a pipe. There are several water flow meter technologies to choose from depending on the water measurement application, maintenance requirements, and budgetary terms.  Each of these types of water flow meters has a unique principle of operation, specific application benefits, and overall cost-of-ownership. The question […]

A flow meter works by measuring the amount of a gas, liquid or steam that passes through or around the flow meter sensors. While flow meter sensors work in many different ways, the end goal is the same: Deliver the most accurate and repeatable flow measurements for the specific application, whether for general research, process […]

Vortex flow meter technology is an ideal technology for many applications particularly saturated and supersaturated steam, volumetric water applications as well as flow energy management (natural gas, compressed air, steam, water) in facilities and large campuses. In some of these applications, vortex installations can be tricky and take flow expertise for the most successful installations. Kam Bansal, […]

An insertion-type (immersible) thermal flow meter works by measuring the total mass flow rate of air/gas flowing through a pipe or duct. In a thermal flow meter’s simplest working configuration, gas flows past a heated velocity sensor and a temperature sensor. Instrument electronics work to maintain a constant temperature differential of 50 degrees Celsius between the actual gas temperature and the […]

Facilities managers at large facilities often have the challenging task of managing all the flow energy in their facility with the mandate from upper management to save money on energy costs. To accomplish this goal, it’s critical to get accurate flow measurement data of the flow energy in your facility such as: natural gas, compressed air, steam, chilled […]

Ultrasonic transit-time flow meter technology is becoming one of the most adopted technologies for accurate liquid and energy/BTU measurement. Although a major benefit of the technology is that it is non-invasive and can be clamped to the outside of the pipe, an inherent challenge with ultrasonic clamp on liquid flow meters is finding the best […]

Streamline, simplify and save time and money by plugging the innovative Compod upgrade into the face of any SmartTrak 100 mass flow meter or controller. SmartTrak is not only a true multi-gas digital mass flow controller, it can control your process too. If you need more functionality to control a positive shutoff valve, have a pulse output, or […]

For Liquid Flow Metering, Optimized for Thermal Energy/ BTU Sierra is proud to announce the new InnovaSonic 207i ultrasonic liquid flow meter with thermal energy/BTU capability.  Designed, built and calibrated by Sierra in Monterey, California for non-intrusive liquid flow metering, and optimized for thermal energy/BTU measurement, the 207i transit-time ultrasonic flow meter is the ideal turnkey solution for […]

Many times scientists and researchers spend more time setting up equipment and instrumentation for their experiments than conducting actual experiments to gather important data. This holds true for flow meters and controllers to measure and control gases to experiments. Some flow meters are very cumbersome with no display, can only measure one gas, low value for price, and limited application flexibility.  And if you need application […]

When engineers and systems integrators need to measure gas flow rate in an industrial process or scientific research, there are many types of technologies to choose from. This makes selecting the right gas flow meter a challenge. In addition to technology, engineers must consider many other parameters: price for value, cost of ownership, size of footprint, application flexibility, calibration method, accuracy with […]

It is a fact that in order to comply with various government rules and regulations, oil and gas companies have to continually take natural gas samples to prove the gas composition and amount of gas flowing in their oil fields. The challenge comes in trying to actually take an adequate gas sample representative of the […]

2017 is here and this year will bring many new exciting developments at Sierra, but before launching completely into the new year, let’s take a look back at our top stories of 2016. New at Sierra in 2016 We’re always looking for new ways to communicate and interact with our customers and industry. Find out about three […]

It’s a fact oil wells almost always produce natural gas along with the petroleum. Nine times out of ten, the excess gas (typically hydrocarbons) is flared off or simply vented as-is during upset conditions in the process. The environmental impacts of “flaring” this excess gas into our atmosphere has resulted in government regulations like 40 CFR […]

In today’s world where everyone is watching the bottom line, you need high performance, cost-effective instrumentation—and capillary thermal mass flow meters and controllers have been proven to meet this criteria in a wide range of process applications. Thermal mass flow technology is an industry standard for mass flow control of gases because it measures flow directly, […]

Did you ever wish your mass flow controller could do it all? You’re not alone. End users ranging from machine builders to laboratory researchers are often faced with the challenge of needing flow measurement and control equipment for a wide variety of applications. Many customers call the SmartTrak 100 mass flow controller the “Swiss Army knife” of MFC’s. […]

Accurately measuring fluid flows like steam in large ducts or pipes is a challenging application. Large ducts and pipes often have swirl or turbulent flow which makes accurate flow measurement difficult. Not to mention, installation of steam flow meters can be extremely challenging since in many cases you will need to shut off the steam flow to install […]

Thank you to the readers of industry publication, Flow Control Magazine, who voted for Sierra’s InnovaMass 240i/241i iSeries multivariable and volumetric vortex flow meters in Flow Control’s 2016 Innovation Awards. Sierra was awarded an honorable mention. Sierra’s tradition and spirit of innovation spanning over 40 years drives everything we do, we are happy that the readers of Flow Control […]

At Sierra, we have a saying: “An instrument’s accuracy is only as good as its calibration.” The accuracy of your mass flow controller (MFC) is essential in assuring the efficiency, performance, and quality of your flow meter. In many cases, if your instrumentation is not calibrated, then a decline in performance is possible due to sensor drift from the factory […]

It’s no secret. Price, but perhaps more importantly, performance, drive every new product acquisition you make. How important is measurement accuracy and control to your lab experiment or industrial process? It’s critical. If your flow readings are off or the flow is not controlled with precise accuracy your research is compromised, product quality suffers, and […]

Traditionally, steam flow has been measured with a differential pressure device. This is typically an orifice plate. However, such devices are inherently volumetric flow measurements. As we have discussed in previous blog posts, changes in pressure and temperature will change the mass flow rate of steam. Even a “small” change of 10% in steam pressure […]

Mass flow control is all around us. One common application for industrial mass flow control is air-fuel ratio control of burners in industrial heating processes for manufacturing and other industries. For burner control in manufacturing, precise mass flow control of the air-fuel ratio to the burner keeps melt temperatures constant which produces quality products including […]

There are so many options for selecting the best mass flow controller out there that is “good enough.” Why compromise when making an investment in a mass flow instrument? Discover the Swiss Army Knife of mass flow controllers in this Minute Flow Tip. The capillary thermal technology used in every SmartTrak mass flow controller measures […]

For over 40 years, Sierra has pioneered the development of precision gas mass flow controllers. Today, our high-performance SmartTrak lineup, with over 100,000 successful installations, proves we’ve never let up. For Lab Researchers and Systems Integrators/OEMs, SmartTrak is often called the Swiss Army Knife of gas mass flow controllers. Find out why in our new video. The SmartTrak Advantage: A […]

The EPA’s Boiler MACT (Maximum Achievable Control Technology) regulations are heating up. Boiler MACT is an EPA rule to limit hazardous air pollutants (HAP) from commercial and industrial boilers and process heaters. Originally published in 2011 as a mandate driven by the Clean Air Act,  the rules are Area Source Boiler MACT 40 CFR 63, subpart JJJJJJ for smaller […]

When scientists at the University of Nottingham’s Centre for Biomolecular Sciences (CBS) in the United Kingdom needed instrumentation to control the flow of gases in their research, they turned to Litre Meter, a UK distributor for Sierra Instruments, and the SmartTrak 100 series mass flow meters and controllers. The working relationship between Litre Meter and the […]

Learn more about the product featured in this video:  InnovaMass 241i Insertion Vortex Flow Meter Need more information on measuring steam? Learn more about maximizing steam productivity and reducing the overall cost of ownership for additional energy savings when measuring steam. A new “Minute Flow Tip” will be posted to our YouTube channel every month. […]

At Sierra, we get very excited about flow measurement and control as you can imagine, and sometimes we want to spread the information we have quickly without a whole lot of fuss. That’s the spirit behind our video series called “Minute Flow Tips.”  In just a minute or so, we discuss a specific flow application […]

The heat is on. Most facilities managers are in the hot seat to account for all of the flow energy, going in and out of their facility which is no easy task. This mandate is no different for steam flowmeter measurement. Vortex flow meters continue to be the industry standard selection for accurate steam flow […]

The flare gas discussion is heating up again. According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. oil production is at an all-time high, and so are the harmful methane emissions from leaks, flaring and venting. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell has proposed to update 30-year-old regulations in order to reduce the excess release of natural […]

Sierra’s next generation InnovaMass “iSeries” features a new hyper-fast microprocessor, robust software apps, and an automated state-of-the-art manufacturing and flow calibration facility to assure the highest level of quality and delivery. It Has Apps! The InnovaMass iSeries features flow management apps driven by our new Raptor II OS that will empower your process and save you time and money. ValidCal […]

InnovaMass. Reinvented. I am proud to announce on behalf of our entire development team, our completely re-designed, next generation InnovaMass 240i and 241i vortex volumetric flow and multivariable mass flow meter product line. Learn more… The all new iSeries InnovaMass 240i inline and 241i insertion vortex flow meters are manufactured at our brand new assembly and calibration facility in […]

We talk a lot about the use of flow meters in flare gas, waste water and sub-metering applications, but Sierra’s innovative flow meters are utilized by a wide variety of industries. You’ll find our flow measurement and control devices orbiting the earth, assisting with the creation of oceanic atmospheres in research facilities and even improving […]

Our flow experts here at Sierra are committed to ensuring your flow meter is accurately calibrated and returned quickly so downtime is kept to a minimum. Sierra’s latest flow meter service and calibration brochure, “Precision Delivered”, details that level of commitment, showcasing four key components of our approach to flow calibration service. Assuring your flow […]

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that oil prices have hit a rock bottom $40 a barrel, the lowest since 2009. How does this affect the oil companies? Well, the consumer gets the benefit of the low pump price which does loosen discretionary spending, but the oil & gas companies are hurting-spending less money on capital investment […]

Find the Right Meter for Your Application—Instantly Let’s face it, specifying the best flow instrumentation for your application can be a daunting task. That’s why we created a new Full Line Flow Product Catalog with all Sierra’s products, key specifications, and application benefits in one, easy-to-use brochure. Quickly specify the right flow meter for your […]

We’ve written quite a bit about the benefits of using thermal flow meters to sub-meter natural gas in large facilities. So much so, that we’ve decided to create one post that can be your go-to resource for finding information on the topic. Here you’ll find links to easily digestible content like infographics and SlideShare presentations, […]

When gas composition changes, typical thermal meters must be sent back to the factory to be re-calibrated in order to maintain required accuracy levels.  All of this is a costly, time-consuming endeavor. Imagine the time and money you can save by not having to send your meter back to the factory for calibration every time […]

What took us so long! Since the ’80s Sierra has been a leader in designing and manufacturing electromagnetic control valves used in our flagship SmartTrak mass flow controllers and legacy 800 series. The catch is that in the past customers had to buy the mass flow controller to capitalize on our precision control valve. Now, after 30+ years […]

Changes in gas composition cut into productivity in the field, exactly when you need accuracy in flow meter measurement the most. But what if you could retain that precision, even when those changes occur? Now you can do just that with qMix Software.  If your gas composition changes over time, you can now quickly field-adjust the QuadraTherm […]

Not many of our flow meter customers know we have been active in the automotive test industry since the early 1990s. Like Sierra’s Flowmeter Division, our Automotive Test Division is passionate about precision measurement and control. There is a lot of flow measurement needed in automotive testing, but Sierra’s capabilities in this area spread well […]

Water is a precious resource! Now, more than ever, businesses and facilities must take charge of their water usage to help with water conservation and lower water bills. Water conservation begins with knowing exactly how much water you are using in your process or facility. When you know how much water you are using, you can adjust […]

Driven by the need to meet quality standards like ISO 9001, reliability engineers for mid-to-large-sized facilities and campuses know the time consuming reality of assuring their flow meters are properly maintained and “in cal”. A unique and highly marketed benefit of Thermal Mass Flow Meter technology is “in-situ” or “in place” flow meter calibration.  This certainly sounds like […]

Overall, Sierra wants better accuracy and control of high pressure gas mass flows across industry in general, leading to better efficiency, and vastly reducing gas losses to save time and money for our customers.  But, how is it possible to accurately measure and control gas mass flow rates at pressures up to 5000 psig (345 barg)? This is […]

In-situ calibration validation is one of the great benefits of thermal mass flow technology. This video reviews in-situ calibration validation and details how thermal sensor stability is the only way a calibration validation is actually valid! Get the truth about in-situ calibration so you can make informed decisions. Watch the video now! For a more detailed […]

Psst. We’ve got a secret. One that could save you money. How much, you ask? Thousands. That’s right. You could be saving thousands on your facility’s natural gas bill. Traditional diaphragm flow meters used for natural gas measurement can’t account for changes in gas composition, resulting in a utility bill that can be less than […]

The liquid measurement market is an extremely large market with many varied measurement requirements. To get the best bang for your buck, a portable ultrasonic flow meter is a practical solution. With a portable ultrasonic flow meter, you can use one liquid flow meter in several locations throughout your flow process. There are many portable […]

A few weeks back  Glen Coblentz, Vice President of North American sales, spent three days in New York City. Unfortunately, he was not able to enjoy the sites of NYC. Instead, he was working 45-feet underground in 120 F degree heat in New York City’s steam tunnels.  For over five hours, Glen worked with Sierra Representative, North East Technical, commissioning […]

In Part 1 of our mass flow controller best practices series, Best Practices for Mass Flow Controller Selection and Installation,  Sierra’s Chief Engineer John Smitherman compiled a comprehensive list of best practices for the selection, installation and operation of mass flow meters and controllers. With so many flow measurement products and technologies on the market, […]

Customers often ask if they need to have their flow meter instrumentation calibrated annually. Along with calibration-related questions, traceability is another area that garners its fair share of inquiries. In this week’s post, I’ll share the answers to these commons questions you may have been wondering about. Do I need to have my mass flow […]

If you have hundreds of mass flow controllers and meters or just a few in your lab, facility, or manufacturing process, how do you keep up with the demands of annual recalibration? Most flow meters and controllers need to be recalibrated yearly to meet stringent ISO quality standards. This requires technicians to remove the mass flow meters from the […]

As scientists, facilities managers and manufacturing engineers, specifying equipment is a part of our daily work life. What product do I need? What’s the best price for the value? How do I install the product once I get it? The more information about best practice principles, the easier the job is of specifying and buying […]

As if your were actor Dennis Quaid in the popular 1987 movie Innerspace, journey inside the pipe to learn the operational principle of thermal mass flow technology and see, from a molecules perspective, why thermal flow meters have become extremely popular due to high accuracy, no moving parts, negligible pressure drop, sensitive direct mass flow measurement with high […]

In my last post, I compared the pros and cons of the various flow meters available for measurement of flare gas. Ultimately, all but one has limitations that will impede your ability to accurately measure excess burn off from the hydraulic fracturing process. In this week’s post, I’ll share a new generation thermal mass flow […]

In my last post on flare gas flow measurement, I shared how the rise in hydraulic fracturing has led to more stringent state and national mandates to regulate the measurement of waste and excess gases that are produced as a result of this process. If you’re affiliated with an oil or gas company, you know […]

If your company is involved with hydraulic fracturing to increase oil and gas production, you’re familiar with the fact that state and national regulations are becoming increasingly stringent. In particular, flare gas now requires the installation of mass flow measurement instruments to measure waste and excess gases burned off as a result of the hydraulic […]

Sierra’s Founder, Dr. John G. Olin, looks at the Principles of Operation, Installation, Calibration and Best Applications for Thermal Mass Flow Meters… Read the full article in Chemical Engineering Magazine.

Europe is quickly becoming a hotspot for the biogas industry, and Sierra and our local French distributor Alto Instruments took advantage of that fact by exhibiting at BiogazEurope in France. Attendees learned about the entire biomass process, from the bio side of things (mass) to the energy side (electricity). Some trending applications featured at the […]

Measuring and controlling ammonia can be tricky. One mistake during the transition from gas to liquid and your instrumentation is ruined. In the video below, Glen Coblentz, Vice President of North American Sales, gives some tips for successful mass flow measurement and control of ammonia. It could mean the difference between success and a costly mistake! […]

It’s alive! No, I’m not talking about Dr. Frankenstein’s monster. But you’d be surprised by what researchers have discovered in the area of therapeutic hypothermia, or using hydrogen sulfide to slow the body’s demand for oxygen. A recent episode of NOVA, “Making Stuff Colder,” highlights research being conducted by Mark Roth, a biochemist for the […]

What do you do when you have an entrepreneurial bent and a revolutionary idea for flow meter advancement? You start your own company, of course. That’s exactly what our founder, John G. Olin, Ph.D., did in 1973 when he founded Sierra Instruments in Minnesota subsequently moving it west to California. It’s that entrepreneurial spirit, as well […]

You have specified the correct industrial Thermal insertion mass flow meter and received your brand new meter. Now what? Where do you install the meter for optimal performance? This is where technical expertise comes in, along with a mixture of science and tribal knowledge.  In fact, Sierra has talked for years about a flowmeter being only as good as how it was […]

We’re always looking for solutions here at Sierra-ones that always give customers precise, accurate data. It’s what drove Dr. John G. Olin to found Sierra in 1973, with a goal of providing the marketplace with accurate flow meter measurement. It’s what drives our engineering team to continue to advance flow meter design. It’s also what […]

I previously shared a post on how mid-to-large size facilities can save money by taking the initiative to submeter natural gas usage, titled Part 1: Challenges with Submetering Natural Gas. The traditional diaphragm meters used by utility companies rely on fixed compensation variables that can lead to inaccuracies and overcharging. While this can affect residential customers, it […]

In an article for Gases & Instrumentation magazine, I explored energy management as it relates to the natural gas industry. Natural gas exists in abundance in this country, with production expected to increase 44 percent by 2040. With such unprecedented growth in production of this natural resource, utility companies must focus on providing the most accurate gas […]

Last week in the first part of my guest post, I shared some of the reasons why the Coriolis flow meter has cornered such a large part of the flowmeter measurement market. Accuracy is the main reason why this type of flowmeter has been so commonly used in industrial applications up to this point. But […]

In this guest post, I’ll be comparing the Coriolis and Thermal flowmeter markets, an interesting undertaking when you consider some of the facts. Both technologies were introduced about the same time, in the mid-1970s. But the worldwide Coriolis meter market has grown to exceed $1 billion, while the Thermal flowmeter market is valued at less […]

If we look at what is considered low flow measurement of air mass flow rate,  those applications ranging from 0 to 10 sccm up to 0 to 1000 slpm ranges, there is a right way and a wrong way to measure. It’s an inherent problem many of our customers face before they find the right […]

The need to measure, totalize, and monetize gas flow is not going away. In fact, the requirement to accurately totalize and monetize gas is becoming even more critical with our boom in natural gas and other industrial processes. Almost all mass flow meter companies have the ability to totalize one gas being measured. This is pretty standard […]

As we have all been hearing in the news, natural gas is becoming a very valuable and abundant natural resource. Almost all of this increase is due to the projected growth in shale gas production which will grow to 16.7 trillion cubic feet in 2040. Now comes the big question: how are utility companies going […]

In recent weeks, I’ve shared some exciting advancements in the biogas industry in regards to renewable energy management. From harnessing biogas energy from landfills to the digester gas produced at wastewater treatment plants, one thing is paramount: Adjusting for changing gas composition is critical to obtaining accurate flow meter measurement for optimal biogas energy collection.  […]

As the e-commerce business model grows to include the mass flow meter market, there are some online players that have emerged. Over the last decade, companies like Instrumart, Omega, and others have entered the light and heavy industrial e-commerce game. Tech savvy 30-somethings are coming of age and embracing online buying as the norm rather […]

In my recently published article in Biomass Products & Technology , Precise Biogas Flow Measurement: Overcoming the Challenges of Changing Gas Composition, I highlight the nationwide search for alternative energy sources.  In the article, I note that this search has led to increased interest in sources of biogas energy specifically. Many flow meter companies have jumped into […]

The buzz around biogas continues to grow and with good reason. Efforts to find renewable sources of energy are in full swing, and harnessing energy from landfill gas or digester gas into biogas is a promising solution to the problem of high oil prices. In the July 2013 issue of Biomass Products & Technology, Sierra’s […]

As you might have guessed, Sierra has a passion for flow measurement and we are always striving for ways to improve our flow meters and processes to give you the best accuracy possible for your application. Today, we are pleased to announce the release of our new InnovaSonic 210 Portable with Bluetooth Wireless Android Tablet […]

Jim Oswald, our technical support guru, has had some great responses from our new videos. He gets call all day about mass flow control installation questions, so we hope these step-by-step videos can help you set up quickly and get to your work at hand. Our last technical support video walked you through the unpacking process […]