Many flowmeters, vacuum regulators and gas mixers are used in every hospital and independent clinic. A large proportion of patients come into contact with them in some way. For example, when using nasal prongs with oxygen or during suction. The correct functioning of these flowmeters and regulators is of serious importance and prevents inconvenient situations if the equipment does not function properly.
In this category, there are flowmeters for compressed air, oxygen and CO₂. There are also vacuum regulators and vacuum injectors for suction systems, as well as gas mixers for mixing compressed air and oxygen. These products should be checked and/or maintained with some frequency. This information is provided by the manufacturer. Often, some parts are replaced during this maintenance, such as O-rings, filters and/or the flow tube.
During this maintenance, check whether the flow display on the product corresponds to the flow being measured. This measurement can be performed with a gas flow analyzer such as the VT650 or the VT900. These devices have different measuring ports for different flow and pressure ranges. In the case of vacuum regulators and vacuum injectors, these devices also measure negative pressure.
Some important points to consider:
- Set the gas setting on the measuring device correctly
- Connect the regulator to the correct port with the correct range
- Set the unit of measurement correctly on the measuring device
The VT900 gas flow analyzer also has the ability to measure ultra-low flow from -750 ml/min to 750 ml/min and ultra-low pressure from -160 mbar to +160 mbar. This can help when checking flowmeters for very low flows and regulators for very low pressures.
When using flowmeters, pay close attention to how to interpret the flow rate. Some manufacturers use the center of the ball as the flow setting and other manufacturers use the top of the ball. This is often indicated in the user documentation.
