Variable area (VA) flowmeters or rotameters are relatively low cost and simple to install, easy to read and maintain, require little or no energy and offer reasonable levels of accuracy and repeatability, which is why the technology is so widely used and trusted for gas and air flow measurement.

Yet, says Cambridge-based Bronkhorst UK (distributor of Mass Flow ONLINE in the UK), for many applications, particularly in the Life Sciences and Medicine, where precision, rangeability, accountability and safety are critical, this centuries-old flowmeter principle no longer measures up. That is why Bronkhorst has developed a high technology replacement for the venerable VA meter, the MASS-VIEW® which offers virtually the same configuration and characteristics, but with the extreme accuracy and integrity of direct thermal mass flow measurement, a digital bar graph of actual gas flow visible from all angles, an onboard menu of pre-installed gas conversions and electronic signal output to analogue and fieldbus interfaces.