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Characteristic test methods of the thermal mass flow controller

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Abstract

A thermal mass flow controller (MFC) is used to measure and control the mass flow of gases in industrial fields, for example, in the semiconductor manufacturing process. In the present study, the characteristic test methods for rangeability, linearity, reproducibility, effects of temperature and valve response time are proposed to evaluate the performance of the MFC. Three commercial MFC products are tested by gas flow standard system and a sonic nozzle to verify the effectiveness of the proposed test methods. Linearity tests show that reading errors before and after adjustment must be provided to consumers. Reproducibility tests were conducted to evaluate the short-term stability of MFCs. Temperature effect tests represent that deviation due to temperature effect of MFC body is larger than that of gas flowing. Three MFCs show different response characteristics according to direction of flow rate change in response time test by measuring the flow setpoint, flow output signal, and real flow rate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Physical Metrology, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, 209 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-340, Korea

    Yong Moon Choi, Hae Man Choi, Saeng Hee Lee & Woong Kang

Authors
  1. Yong Moon Choi
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  2. Hae Man Choi
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  3. Saeng Hee Lee
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  4. Woong Kang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Woong Kang.

Additional information

Recommended by Associate Editor Simon Song

Yong-Moon Choi is a principal researcher at KRISS. He received Ph.D. in 1999 from KAIST. He developed a gas flow rate standard system for industry and air velocity standard system. His main research interests include air velocity standard, micro-scale heat transfer and fluid flow, and velocity measurement technology in industry.

Hae-Man Choi is the head of the Center for Fluid Flow and Acoustics in KRISS. He joined the Division of Physical Metrology in 1985. He majored in fluid mechanics at University of Tsukuba, Japan. His primary focus for his Ph.D. degree was the visualization of multi-phase flows by using PIV. His current work is on the low-pressure gas flow measurement and liquid viscosity fields.

Saeng-Hee Lee is a principal research technician working at KRISS, Korea. He has been working in the field of gas flow rate and air velocity metrology for over 20 years. He is an expert in the calibration and the testing of various flow meters such as sonic nozzles, turbine meter, mass flow meters, venturi/orifices, Pitot-tubes, and anemometers.

Woong Kang is a senior researcher at KRISS in Republic of Korea. He joined the Division of Physical Metrology since 2011. He received a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from KAIST in 2009. His research interests are the gas flow rate metrology, turbulent flow, LDV/PIV measurements, and flow-induced noise.

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Choi, Y.M., Choi, H.M., Lee, S.H. et al. Characteristic test methods of the thermal mass flow controller. J Mech Sci Technol 28, 907–914 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-013-1158-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-013-1158-8

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