Proposed is a thermal mass flowmeter including: a heating unit configured to heat at least a portion of a medium in a tube from the outside of the tube; a first thermometer disposed at a first position that is a downstream side from the heating unit in a flow direction of the medium; a second thermometer disposed at a second position that is a downstream side further than the first thermometer from the heating unit; and a controller configured to calculate the flow rate of the medium flowing through the tube using a phase difference due to flow of the medium between first measurement data measured by the first thermometer and second measurement data measured by the second thermometer.

Provided is a microfluidic device including a lower panel including flow velocity measuring structures for measuring a flow velocity of a fluid; an upper panel separated from the lower panel and including a microfluidic channel through which a sample passes; a thin film provided at a portion where the lower panel and the upper panel adjoin each other in order to prevent the sample passing through the microfluidic channel from coming into direct contact with the flow velocity measuring structures, the thin film being configured to separate the lower panel and the upper panel to enable the lower panel to be repeatedly used multiple times; a specific functional unit configured to perform a specific operation on the sample passing through the microfluidic channel; and a negative pressure forming means configured to suck the lower panel and the upper panel with a negative pressure.

Mass flow controllers and methods for controlling mass flow controllers are disclosed. A method includes providing a gas through a thermal mass flow sensor of the mass flow controller and processing a flow sensor signal from the thermal mass flow sensor of the mass flow controller to produce a measured flow signal. The measured flow signal is corrected to produce a corrected flow signal by gradually changing non-linearity correction to the measured flow signal when a flow rate of the gas changes. A valve of the mass flow controller is controlled using the corrected flow signal and a setpoint signal.

Methods and apparatuses associated with an example flow sensing device are provided. In some examples, the flow sensing device may include a flow cap component and a sensor component. In some examples, the flow cap component may include a heating element disposed in a first layer of the flow cap component. In some examples, the sensor component may include at least one thermal sensing element disposed in a second layer of the sensor component. In some examples, the first layer and the second layer are noncoplanar. In some examples, the flow cap component may be bonded to a first surface of the sensor component to form a flow channel. In some examples, the first layer and the second layer may be noncoplanar and separated by the flow channel.

Provided is a fluid control apparatus capable of setting, to a value as close as possible to an opening start voltage, an initial applied voltage applied when controlling a control valve so that a measured amount becomes a set amount from a fully closed state and capable of preventing occurrence of large overshoot while increasing a response speed. A valve controller inputs a voltage command for setting an initial driving voltage to be applied to a control valve to a voltage generation circuit in a case where the control valve is changed from a fully closed state to a predetermined opening degree, and includes a drive history storage unit that stores therein drive history information of the control valve. The controller is configured to change a value of the initial driving voltage in accordance with the drive history information.

A supply tube assembly for measuring a liquid agricultural product application rate. An upstream portion of a supply tube has an upstream portion outlet end. A downstream portion has a downstream portion inlet end. The sensor body assembly includes a sensor body, a first sensing plate, and a second sensing plate. The sensor body has a sensor inlet end positioned to receive an inlet flow of the liquid agricultural product from the upstream portion and a sensor outlet end positioned to receive an outlet flow of the liquid agricultural product. The sensor body is an enclosure having a cross sectional area larger than the cross sectional area of the upstream portion of the supply tube and the downstream portion of the supply tube. Electronic components are configured to measure the liquid agricultural product application rate between the first sensing plate and the second sensing plate.

The present invention provides methods for determining a parameter associated with a flow of a fluid located within a fluid conduit, based on measuring the difference between electrical signals of at least two second sensing elements contacting different positions on am exterior of the fluid conduit. The sensing elements comprise an assembly of nanoparticles being in electric contact with conductive electrodes; wherein the electrical signals of the sensing elements are responsive to at least one of pressure and temperature. Further provided is a clamping device configured to reduce a cross-sectional diameter of a portion of the fluid conduit, in order to determine said parameter.

A temperature state of one or more fluids in one or more enclosures is determined. Acoustic data is collected using a microphone. Frequency domain features are determined based on the acoustic data, where the frequency domain features are obtained across a frequency range of the acoustic data. The frequency domain features are correlated to the output of a machine learning acoustic analysis model and the one or more fluids are classified based on temperature based on the correlated one or more frequency domain features. In addition, the machine learning acoustic analysis model is trained by recording acoustic training data using a microphone and collecting temperature data for a fluid across a range of temperatures for the fluid. Frequency domain features are determined across a frequency range of the acoustic training data and the frequency domain features are correlated to the temperature data for a fluid.

Methods and apparatuses associated with flow sensing devices are provided. An example flow sensing device includes a flow cap component and a sensor component. The flow cap component or sensor component may include a heating element. The flow cap component can at least partially define a flow channel configured for a media to flow therethrough. The heater element may be orthogonal or perpendicular to the flow channel. The sensor component may include at least one thermal sensing element disposed upstream of the heater element and at least one thermal sensing element disposed downstream of the heater element. The sensor component may include two or more thermal sensing elements disposed in either the upstream direction or downstream direction of the heater element. Thermal sensing elements may be spaced different distances from the heater element to increase the accuracy and precision of flow rate measurement at low flow rates.

A supply tube assembly for measuring a liquid agricultural product application rate. An upstream portion of a supply tube has an upstream portion outlet end. A downstream portion has a downstream portion inlet end. The sensor body assembly includes a sensor body, a first sensing plate, and a second sensing plate. The sensor body has a sensor inlet end positioned to receive an inlet flow of the liquid agricultural product from the upstream portion and a sensor outlet end positioned to receive an outlet flow of the liquid agricultural product. The sensor body is an enclosure having a cross sectional area larger than the cross sectional area of the upstream portion of the supply tube and the downstream portion of the supply tube. Electronic components are configured to measure the liquid agricultural product application rate between the first sensing plate and the second sensing plate.