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Ask a plant engineer to describe a gas flow meter and most start with the numbers: flow rate, pipe size, output signal. Few start with the reason gas is genuinely hard to measure. Unlike a liquid, a fixed mass of gas does not occupy a fixed volume; squeeze it, heat it, or let the pressure drop, and the same gas fills a different space. A cubic metre of gas at the wellhead is not the same cubic metre once it reaches the burner, even though nothing has been added or removed.

That one fact, compressibility, is why measuring gas is a fundamentally different problem to measuring water, fuel or any other liquid, and why a meter built for one rarely serves the other honestly. It is also why Nixon Flowmeters, having supplied turbine meters into UK industrial and process applications since 1969, built the NTG Gas Turbine as a genuinely different machine rather than a relabelled liquid meter.

This article explains why gas is harder to measure than liquid, how a gas turbine meter is engineered differently to cope, and where the technology is, and is not, the right choice.

Compressed air is, litre for litre, one of the most expensive utilities a plant runs, and one of the least measured. Ask most plant engineers how many hours the compressors ran last week and they will tell you instantly. Ask what proportion of that air reached production rather than a leak, a hose left open, or an oversized regulator, and the answer is usually a guess.

That gap, between compressor hours and productive hours, is where the money goes, and it stays invisible without a flow meter on the system. Leakage of 20 to 30 percent of generated air is commonly reported in unmanaged compressed air systems, and because compressed air is generated so inefficiently in the first place, every leaked litre was expensive long before it left the compressor house. This article sets out why compressed air costs so much, the leak arithmetic that makes a flow meter worth having, the simplest audit you can run this weekend, and an honest view of when a permanent meter earns its keep, and when it does not.

Every vortex flow meter relies on an effect you have already seen: the way a flag flaps in a steady breeze, or a flagpole hums in a stiff wind. Put a shaped obstruction, engineers call it a bluff body, across a moving fluid and it sheds a regular train of swirling eddies downstream, alternating first one side then the other. Count how often those eddies form and you have a direct, reliable measure of velocity. No rotor, no bearings, nothing mechanical to wear out in the way a turbine's bearings eventually do.

That simplicity is why vortex flow meters have become a default choice for one duty in particular: steam. A single vortex meter measures saturated steam, superheated steam, other gases and liquids without changing technology, a useful trick for a boiler house or energy monitoring scheme. But vortex has real limits: a low-flow cut-off some specifications do not account for, and a sensitivity to vibration that catches out installations more often than manufacturers admit. This article covers how vortex shedding works, what it measures well, honest accuracy and range, and where a different technology serves you better.

Every chemical flow application comes down to the same three questions, decided in a strict order. Will the meter survive the fluid? Can it actually measure the duty, which in chemical processing usually means a small, awkward flow rate rather than a comfortable mid-range one? And is it safe to install in the hazardous area the plant actually has, rather than the tidy one on the datasheet? Get the order wrong, specify against flow range before checking compatibility, say, and you can end up with a beautifully accurate meter quietly dissolving in a drum of concentrated acid.

Nixon Flowmeters has supplied flow meters into chemical processing, from agrochemical plants to specialty chemical manufacturers, since 1969, and we still see specifications built the wrong way round. This article works through the three gates in the order that matters: wetted material compatibility, the low-flow dosing duty that chemical work disproportionately involves, and the hazardous area classification of the plant itself. Get all three right and a chemical flow meter earns its keep for years. Get one wrong and it becomes an expensive lesson.

Ask a single-technology specialist which meter you need and the answer is nearly always theirs. Nixon Flowmeters carries turbine, electromagnetic (magnetic) and ultrasonic flow meters, alongside variable area and other specialist ranges, so we start from a different position: we have nothing to sell until we know what is actually in the pipe.

This article is the comparison a single-technology vendor cannot write honestly. It sets out what each of the three main flow meter types does well, where each one lets a buyer down, and why the decision should start with the fluid rather than the meter. There is an application matrix you can read by row or by column, three worked examples drawn from installations we see regularly, and an honest section on the cases where none of the three is the right answer. Choosing between technologies is rarely a catalogue decision, and we would rather this article talked you out of the wrong meter than talked you into any particular one.

A plant engineer who needs a flow figure on an existing line rarely has the luxury of a planned shutdown. An energy survey, a commissioning check, or a suspect reading on an ageing inline meter all want an answer this week, not after the next outage. This is the gap clamp-on ultrasonic flow meters exist to fill: strap a pair of transducers to the outside of an existing pipe and get a flow reading with no wetted parts, no pressure drop, and no cut into the pipe wall.

Clamp-on ultrasonic is genuinely remarkable when it is matched to the right pipe and fluid, and genuinely disappointing when it is not, often on the same site within the same week. The difference between the two outcomes is almost entirely down to installation rather than the meter itself. This article sets out how clamp-on ultrasonic actually works, what it needs from the pipe and fluid to give a trustworthy reading, the accuracy you can honestly expect, and when a different technology is the better answer.

At the end of 2025, Nixon Flowmeters supplied flow meters to the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA). That is the whole of what we can tell you about the application: not the fluid, not the model, not the quantity, not what the meters actually measure once they leave our test bench. TASA have not told us, and if they had, we would not be telling you either.

This is not modesty. It is simply how the conversation went. A specification arrived, we quoted against it, the meters were built, calibrated, certified and shipped, and TASA took it from there. Somewhere in Taiwan there is a piece of aerospace research or test infrastructure with a Nixon meter in it, and beyond that, we genuinely do not know more than you do.

We think that is rather a good story on its own terms. A flow meter business from Cheltenham, in business since 1969, passed the procurement standards of a national space agency without ever being told what for. This article is about what that process actually involved, because the answer says more about how we work than any case study with photographs ever could.

Stand F14 is packed away now. The NEC Birmingham hall has gone quiet, and the follow-up emails from CHEMUK 2026 are working their way out one by one. Before that thread of conversations fades, it is worth setting down what we actually heard over the two days we shared the stand with Tecfluid, our Spanish manufacturing partner, showing UK visitors our own turbine range alongside their variable area and sanitary lines.

This is not a highlights reel. It is closer to the debrief we would give a colleague who could not make the trip: who came to the stand, what they asked about, and what the pattern of conversations tells us about where UK process industry stands going into the second half of 2026. It runs through the enquiry themes that kept recurring, what sharing a stand with Tecfluid meant in practice, and the honest mood we picked up on across two days of conversations.

A turbine flow meter is one of the oldest inferential measurement technologies still in daily industrial use, and one of the most misunderstood. Ask ten engineers what "0.5 percent accuracy" on a datasheet actually means in service and you will get several different answers. Ask what the K-factor on a calibration certificate is for, and fewer still can explain it properly. That gap, between what the spec sheet promises and the working knowledge needed to specify, install and maintain a turbine meter correctly, is where most measurement disappointments come from.

Nixon Flowmeters has specified, supplied and supported turbine flow meters since 1969, across UK water utilities, chemical plants, fuel distribution and, increasingly, industrial gas metering through our own NT and NTG ranges. This article sets out how a turbine flow meter works, what K-factor actually means, the real accuracy and repeatability you can expect in service, and, just as importantly, when turbine is the wrong technology for the job. We would rather point you towards magnetic or ultrasonic than sell you a turbine meter that fails within six months.

Two flowmeter datasheets can both promise "1% accuracy" and describe genuinely different instruments; one can be four times better than the other at the flow rate you actually run. The gap is not a manufacturing defect or a marketing lie. It is a single, quietly important phrase buried in the small print: accuracy of reading, or accuracy of full scale. Get that distinction wrong and every other figure on the sheet, turndown, repeatability, pressure rating, becomes harder to trust.

Nixon Flowmeters has read flowmeter datasheets for a living since 1969, across turbine, magnetic, ultrasonic and variable area technologies, and for Tecfluid as well as our own NT and NTG ranges. This article works through a real flowmeter datasheet line by line: the accuracy convention that catches most buyers out, the difference between accuracy and repeatability, what turndown actually promises, why reference conditions matter, and the questions a datasheet cannot answer at all. By the end you should be able to read one like a specialist rather than take the headline number on trust.

Measuring a small flow rate is where generic flow meters fall over. The turndown goes wrong, the velocity drops below the meter's useful range, and the accuracy on the datasheet quietly evaporates. Specifying a low flow meter for a chemical dosing duty, in particular, is one of the most common places where the wrong technology ends up in the pipe.

The problem is that "low flow" is not really a flow rate question. It is a velocity question, dressed up in litres per minute. A meter that works perfectly at 10 litres per minute on a 25 mm pipe may be completely outside its useful range at 10 litres per minute on a 50 mm pipe, because the velocity has dropped by a factor of four. Picking a meter by looking at the flow rate column alone is the specification error we see most often on small-bore and dosing duties.

This article explains what actually makes a flow meter a low-flow meter, why chemical dosing is a special case that demands particular care, and where Nixon's NS Pelton Wheel and M21 metal tube rotameter each fit into the specification puzzle.

A rotameter is the single most misunderstood instrument in UK industry. It is dismissed as old-fashioned, patronised as a backup gauge, and treated as something to replace with an electronic meter when budgets allow. And yet every year Nixon Flowmeters ships thousands of them into duties where no electronic meter would do a better job. The physics have not changed since 1908, and neither has the usefulness.

A rotameter, also known as a variable area flow meter, is the kind of instrument you can walk up to, read, and trust. It needs no power. It needs no comms. It needs no configuration. A float sits in a tapered tube, rises to a height where gravity and drag balance, and the scale on the tube tells you the flow rate. That is the entire theory. It is why the design has outlived half a dozen electronic competitors.

This article walks through how a variable area meter actually works, when it is the right answer and when it is not, and maps Nixon's six-strong VA range onto the duties we see across UK process industry.

Transit time ultrasonic flow meters get most of the attention. They are the meter of choice for clean water, large diameter mains, retrofit survey work and any situation where a clamp-on sensor is more practical than cutting into a pipe. We wrote about transit time at length in our previous article on ultrasonic flow meters and how they work.

Doppler is the other half of the ultrasonic family. Same basic technology, different physics, different applications. Where transit time needs a clean fluid to work, a Doppler flow meter needs the fluid to be full of scatterers: particles, bubbles, or solids that reflect sound back to the transducer. On a sewage effluent, a mine slurry or an aerated industrial wastewater, Doppler is not just an option, it is the only ultrasonic technology that will give a reading at all.

After nearly 60 years of flow meter specification across UK water utilities, chemical plants and industrial sites, we know Doppler sits in a narrower band of duties than transit time. But within that band, nothing else does the job as well. This article explains how Doppler works, where it excels, and why Nixon offers both a portable and a permanent non-contacting unit.

Positive displacement flow meters have been measuring liquids accurately for longer than most process instruments have existed. The design is mechanical, the principle is simple, and the accuracy on viscous fluids is something that a lot of more fashionable technologies struggle to match.

Every few years another industry article writes positive displacement off as legacy technology. Every year Nixon Flowmeters ships oval gear flow meter and oscillating disc units into oil distribution, lubricant batching, chemical dosing and fuel monitoring applications where nothing else gives as clean a reading. The technology is not going anywhere because the physics have not changed.

After nearly 60 years of specifying flow meters across UK industry, we have a simple rule for positive displacement: when the fluid is viscous, clean, and needs to be measured accurately on a small or medium pipe, a PD meter is usually the right answer. This article explains why, how the different variants work, and where we would recommend one over a turbine, magnetic or ultrasonic alternative.

Most flow meter specification happens by email. A datasheet goes out, a question comes back, a revised model is quoted, and a decision is reached weeks later. It works, but it is a slow way to learn whether a meter is actually right for the job.

CHEMUK Expo 2026 offers a better alternative for a few days in mid-May. The UK's leading chemical and process industry exhibition brings specifiers, plant engineers, buyers and manufacturers together at the NEC Birmingham, and Nixon Flowmeters will be there alongside our Spanish manufacturing partner, Tecfluid, on Stand F14.

This short preview sets out what visitors will find on the stand, who is available to talk to, and how to get the most out of a visit if flow measurement is on your agenda.

Flow meters play a vital role in ensuring accurate, consistent measurement across countless industries — from utilities and manufacturing to pharmaceuticals and food production. But even the most advanced flow meter will gradually drift out of specification over time, especially under harsh or variable operating conditions.

Flow measurement is a critical element in countless industrial and commercial applications – from water utilities and food processing to chemical dosing and energy management. Regardless of how advanced or accurate a flow meter is designed to be, its performance will always depend on one key factor: proper installation. Even the most precise instruments can yield unreliable results if installed incorrectly, leading to costly consequences down the line.

Accurate flow measurement plays a critical role across countless industries – from water treatment and food production to pharmaceuticals, energy management, and chemical processing. Whether measuring liquids, gases or steam, reliable flow data is essential for maintaining product quality, regulatory compliance, cost control, and operational efficiency.

In modern manufacturing, efficiency, precision, and consistency are critical factors that determine competitiveness and profitability. Advanced Process Control (APC) plays a pivotal role in optimising industrial processes by leveraging real-time data, predictive algorithms, and automated adjustments to enhance production quality while reducing costs and waste. As industries strive to meet increasing demand, regulatory standards, and sustainability goals, APC has emerged as a crucial enabler of smart manufacturing.

Accurate flow measurement is essential across a wide range of industries – from chemical processing and food production to pharmaceuticals, energy management, and environmental monitoring. While many applications can be adequately served by traditional volumetric flow meters, there are situations where knowing the exact mass of a fluid flowing through a system – rather than its volume – is critical to process control, efficiency, safety, or billing.

Energy consumption is one of the largest operational costs for businesses across all sectors, from manufacturing and industrial plants to commercial buildings and retail spaces. As energy prices fluctuate and regulatory requirements tighten, organisations are under increasing pressure to optimise their energy usage, reduce costs, and improve overall efficiency. Implementing an Energy Management System (EMS) provides businesses with the tools to monitor, analyse, and control energy consumption, leading to financial savings, enhanced sustainability, and improved operational performance.

Efficient control of cooling water flow is critical in both HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems and industrial cooling applications. Whether managing temperature in a large commercial building, protecting heat exchangers in manufacturing, or optimising energy use in a hospital chiller plant, one thing is clear: precise flow measurement makes a significant difference.

As the world accelerates towards net zero, the energy landscape is undergoing a radical transformation. Traditional fossil fuels are steadily giving way to cleaner, more sustainable alternatives such as hydrogen and biofuels.

Water is one of the most vital resources on the planet, yet it is increasingly under pressure due to population growth, climate change, and industrial demand. Efficient water management is no longer an option but a necessity, with businesses, municipalities, and agricultural sectors all seeking ways to optimise water use while minimising waste.

Accurate water measurement is a fundamental requirement across various industries, from municipal water supply and wastewater treatment to manufacturing and agriculture. Precise flow measurement ensures that businesses and utilities can effectively manage water resources, prevent wastage, and comply with regulatory standards. However, even the most advanced flow meters can experience drift and inaccuracies over time due to environmental factors, wear and tear, or improper installation.

In recent years, the conversation around water usage, conservation, and infrastructure efficiency has intensified significantly. With mounting concerns over climate change, resource scarcity, and the ageing of water delivery systems across the UK, the spotlight is now firmly on smarter ways to monitor and manage water.

Selecting the right water flow meter is a critical decision for businesses and industries that depend on accurate water measurement. Whether it is for monitoring consumption, optimising industrial processes, or ensuring regulatory compliance, choosing the most suitable flow meter can lead to increased efficiency, reduced waste, and significant cost savings. This guide aims to provide a comprehensive overview of how to select the best water flow meter based on industry requirements, fluid properties, and operational conditions.

Water is one of the most valuable resources on the planet, and managing its usage efficiently is crucial across various industries. Whether for residential water supply, industrial processes, or agricultural irrigation, the ability to measure and monitor water flow accurately ensures resource conservation, cost savings, and regulatory compliance.

In today’s dynamic industrial landscape, precise measurement and monitoring of liquid and gas flow are crucial for optimising efficiency and ensuring safety.

Flow meters play a vital role in both industrial and commercial settings, providing essential measurement of liquids, gases, and steam.

Electromagnetic flow meters, commonly referred to as magmeters, are a crucial technology in the measurement of conductive liquids.

Well, perhaps not 20,000 but, at least 4,000 metres.  That’s the depth you can take our Subsea-rated Turbine meters down to. Our in-house designed & manufactured range of Turbine flow meters are also available in specially adapted Subsea versions. 

In 1831, Michael Faraday discovered Electromagnetic Induction. This became known as Faraday's law. As a result, we now have electromagnetic-type flow meters.

They go by many different names; variable area flow meter, rotameters, float type flowmeters, and even carrot flow meters. They can be deployed in many varied applications – dosing, monitoring, and control applications are just a few examples.

Accuracy is very important when specifying & recommending the most suitable flow meter for an application. Once the flow meter leaves our factory, you naturally want to ensure you achieve the same high accuracy in your application.

Alcoholic Flowmeters... Or rather, flow meters for use on alcohols. The UK brewing industry has increased by around 60% over the past few years. There are now estimated to be around 3000+ micro-breweries in the UK alone, 300 of which were only started in the past year.

Tecfluid is proud to celebrate its collaboration with Nixon Flowmeters Ltd as one of its main partners for many years. Therefore, we would like to interview Mr. David Nixon, Managing Director, to understand from his point of view about all these years doing business with Tecfluid.

One of the most common questions we get asked about flowmeters is - ...’ what flowmeter would you recommend for my application?’...To the untrained eye, flow meter technology may initially seem like navigating a minefield. There are so many varied and different types of flow meter technology available.