Flow Conditioners (FC)

Industry-Leading Flow Conditioners

Flow conditioners are essential flow-straightening devices designed to remove swirl, turbulence, and velocity profile distortions caused by elbows, valves, diameter changes, and other upstream pipeline disturbances. Installed ahead of a flow meter, they help ensure a fully developed, symmetrical flow profile, significantly improving measurement repeatability and reducing uncertainty. Two primary styles are available to match application needs:

Flow Straightening Designs:
Tube Bundle Flow Conditioners

Effective for reducing swirl generated by upstream piping elements. Best suited for installations where swirl control is the primary requirement.

Flow Isolating Designs:
Plate-Type Flow Conditioners

Optimize both swirl removal and velocity redistribution while introducing lower permanent pressure loss compared to tube bundles. Plate-type units restore flow symmetry across a range of Reynolds numbers and support liquid and gas applications.

These devices offer a cost-effective way to mitigate installation effects, protect meter accuracy, and reduce the amount of upstream straight-run piping required. When properly selected and installed, flow conditioners can eliminate up to 80–90% of pipeline swirl and enhance meter performance in virtually any flow measurement system.

Flow Conditioner Key Advantages:

• Design Flexibility: Available in both tube bundle and plate-type configurations to match process requirements
• Measurement Stability: Restores flow symmetry and minimizes profile distortions for optimal meter accuracy
• Reduced Straight-Run Requirements: Enables shorter meter runs while maintaining high repeatability
• Lower Pressure Loss Options: Plate-type conditioners typically introduce less pressure loss than tube bundles
• Broad Applicability: Effective for liquids, gases, and applications with suspended solids
• Disturbance Isolation: Shields meters from upstream turbulence, noise, and pulsation effects

Flow conditioners function by reshaping and stabilizing the velocity profile before the point of measurement. By reducing swirl and reestablishing uniform flow, they help flow meters achieve higher accuracy, consistent reproducibility, and lower overall measurement uncertainty, even in constrained or disturbed piping environments.

Typical applications include natural gas and methane service, water and light hydrocarbons, chemical and petrochemical processes, pulp and paper facilities, mining and refining operations, and any system requiring accurate volumetric or mass flow measurement.