Since flowmeters are integrated instruments that measure different flow quantities by different technologies, it is difficult to categorize them by one parameter. Typically flowmeters are referenced by:

• Technology Employed
• Instrumentation Configuration
• Physical Quantity Measured
• Flow Quantity Converted

 

	Technology		Instrument	Measure	Result
1.	Coriolis		Miscellaneous	Acceleration	Mass
2.	Differential Pressure	Elbow	Pressure	Pressure	Volume
3.		Flow Nozzle	Pressure	Pressure	Volume
4.		Orifice	Pressure	Pressure	Volume
5.		Pitot Tube	Pressure	Pressure	Volume
6.		Pitot Tube (Averaging)	Pressure	Pressure	Volume
7.		Venturi	Pressure	Pressure	Volume
8.		Wedge	Pressure	Pressure	Volume
9.	Magnetic		Electronic	Electromagnetic Field	Velocity
10.	Positive Displacement	Nutating Disc	Mechanical	Volume	Volume
11.		Oscillating Piston	Mechanical	Volume	Volume
12.		Oval Gear	Mechanical	Volume	Volume
13.		Roots	Mechanical	Volume	Volume
14.	Target		Mechanical	Force	Velocity
15.	Thermal		Miscellaneous	Heat Transfer	Velocity
16.	Turbine		Mechanical	Volume	Volume
17.	Ultrasonic	Doppler	Electronic	Acoustic Waves	Velocity
18.		Transit Time	Electronic	Acoustic Waves	Velocity
19.	Variable Area	Movable Vane	Pressure	Pressure	Volume
20.		Rotameter	Pressure	Pressure	Volume
21.		Weir, Flume	Pressure	Pressure	Volume
22.	Vortex		Mechanical	Frequency	Velocity

Flowmeters may be categorized by the instrumentation architecture.

 

	Instrument	Technology		Measure	Result
1.	Electronic	Magnetic		Electromagnetic Field	Velocity
2.		Ultrasonic	Doppler	Acoustic Waves	Velocity
3.			Transit Time	Acoustic Waves	Velocity
4.	Mechanical	Positive Displacement	Nutating Disc	Volume	Volume
5.			Oscillating Piston	Volume	Volume
6.			Oval Gear	Volume	Volume
7.			Roots	Volume	Volume
8.		Target		Force	Velocity
9.		Turbine		Volume	Volume
10.		Vortex		Frequency	Velocity
11.	Miscellaneous	Coriolis		Acceleration	Mass
12.		Thermal		Heat Transfer	Velocity
13.	Pressure	Differential Pressure	Elbow	Pressure	Volume
14.			Flow Nozzle	Pressure	Volume
15.			Orifice	Pressure	Volume
16.			Pitot Tube	Pressure	Volume
17.			Pitot Tube (Averaging)	Pressure	Volume
18.			Venturi	Pressure	Volume
19.			Wedge	Pressure	Volume
20.		Variable Area	Movable Vane	Pressure	Volume
21.			Rotameter	Pressure	Volume
22.			Weir, Flume	Pressure	Volume

Another way to categorized flowmeters is to base on the physical quantity that the flowmeter measures.

 

	Measure	Result	Technology		Instrument
1.	Acceleration	Mass	Coriolis		Miscellaneous
2.	Acoustic Waves	Velocity	Ultrasonic	Doppler	Electronic
3.		Velocity		Transit Time	Electronic
4.	Electromagnetic Field	Velocity	Magnetic		Electronic
5.	Force	Velocity	Target		Mechanical
6.	Frequency	Velocity	Vortex		Mechanical
7.	Heat Transfer	Velocity	Thermal		Miscellaneous
8.	Pressure	Volume	Differential Pressure	Elbow	Pressure
9.		Volume		Flow Nozzle	Pressure
10.		Volume		Orifice	Pressure
11.		Volume		Pitot Tube	Pressure
12.		Volume		Pitot Tube (Averaging)	Pressure
13.		Volume		Venturi	Pressure
14.		Volume		Wedge	Pressure
15.		Volume	Variable Area	Movable Vane	Pressure
16.		Volume		Rotameter	Pressure
17.		Volume		Weir, Flume	Pressure
18.	Volume	Volume	Positive Displacement	Nutating Disc	Mechanical
19.		Volume		Oscillating Piston	Mechanical
20.		Volume		Oval Gear	Mechanical
21.		Volume		Roots	Mechanical
22.		Volume	Turbine		Mechanical

• Volume flow rate (Volume)
• Mass flow rate (Mass)
• Flow velocity (Velocity)

 

	Result	Technology		Measure	Instrument
1.	Mass	Coriolis		Acceleration	Miscellaneous
2.	Velocity	Magnetic		Electromagnetic Field	Electronic
3.		Target		Force	Mechanical
4.		Thermal		Heat Transfer	Miscellaneous
5.		Ultrasonic	Doppler	Acoustic Waves	Electronic
6.			Transit Time	Acoustic Waves	Electronic
7.		Vortex		Frequency	Mechanical
8.	Volume	Differential Pressure	Elbow	Pressure	Pressure
9.			Flow Nozzle	Pressure	Pressure
10.			Orifice	Pressure	Pressure
11.			Pitot Tube	Pressure	Pressure
12.			Pitot Tube (Averaging)	Pressure	Pressure
13.			Venturi	Pressure	Pressure
14.			Wedge	Pressure	Pressure
15.		Positive Displacement	Nutating Disc	Volume	Mechanical
16.			Oscillating Piston	Volume	Mechanical
17.			Oval Gear	Volume	Mechanical
18.			Roots	Volume	Mechanical
19.		Turbine		Volume	Mechanical
20.		Variable Area	Movable Vane	Pressure	Pressure
21.			Rotameter	Pressure	Pressure
22.			Weir, Flume	Pressure	Pressure