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Chemical Engineering vocabulary · Fluid Flow, Pumps and Piping

Flow rate

Meaning in chemical engineering, with examples

/ˈfloʊ ˌreɪt/nounCore term

In chemical engineering, flow rate means: The amount of fluid that passes a point in a given time, given either as mass (kg/h) or as volume (m³/h).

In Turkish: debi, akış hızı, akış miktarı

How it is used

One of the most common words in control rooms, datasheets and balances. Operators increase, reduce or stabilize a flow rate; engineers specify mass flow rate or volumetric flow rate. In speech people often just say 'flow': 'the feed flow is low'.

Example sentences

  1. Increase the cooling water flow rate to 40 m³/h and watch the outlet temperature.

  2. The design mass flow rate of the feed is 12,500 kg/h.

Common collocations

  • mass flow rate
  • volumetric flow rate
  • design flow rate
  • increase the flow rate
  • flow rate measurement
  • flowmeterAn instrument that measures the flow rate of a liquid or gas in a pipe. Common types are orifice plate, magnetic, Coriolis, vortex and ultrasonic meters.
  • pressure dropThe loss of pressure as a fluid flows through a pipe, valve, filter, bed or piece of equipment, caused mainly by friction.
  • pumpA machine that moves a liquid through pipes by adding pressure to it. Most plant pumps are centrifugal; others are positive displacement types such as gear or diaphragm pumps.
  • mass balanceA calculation based on the rule that mass is not created or destroyed: everything that goes into a system must come out, react or build up inside it.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Fluid Flow, Pumps and Piping

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