Gary Williams, Technical Director at
Saflame, comments: "There were a number
of design hurdles that needed to be
overcome but thankfully flow control for
the gases was easy to solve. The support
from Bürkert was excellent which meant
that our design team could spend more
time on the other aspects of the project.
"The Bürkert product really was a plug &
play item with its connectivity allowing
direct control through our GRX SCADA
system, which allows the parameters
of each experiment to be recorded and
Once the design specification had been
or actual value changes within 100ms and
finalised with the university, the project
also maintain its high sensitivity, even at
needed to become a reality which
low flow rates. Three Type 8713 MFC's, one
meant sourcing all of the components
for each gas, were incorporated into the
to build the rig and making sure that
design and connected to the GRX SCADA
the finished product would deliver the
system, which allowed each MFC to be
precision required for scientific research
independently programmed, controlled
data. Saflame approached Bürkert with
and monitored during each experiment.
replicated if necessary. The MFC's proved
to be easy to set up and following some
commissioning and training with the
university, the combustion rig has been
performing perfectly."
the specifications for the gas control
system and following the consultation,
Bürkert suggested the Type 8713 mass
flow controller (MFC) for gases, which was
ideally suited to this project.
The Type 8713 is a compact device which is
designed to provide precise and consistent
results, based on Bürkert's 60 years of
experience in measuring, controlling
and regulating fluids. It uses CMOSens®
technology to accurately measure the gas
flow rate allowing it to control a set point
Dr Troy Manning, who gave the initial
design specification to Saflame,
commented "We have worked
closely with Saflame to ensure that
the finished rig would fulfil our
requirements. As part of a research
project, it is crucial that we can record
all of our base data and also repeat
experiments with a level of precision
that allows meaningful, reproducible
results to be collected."