To help agriculture districts, well drillers and flow meter installers cope with the latest water metering conservation programs, the FS100 Flow Straightener from McCrometer provides advanced flow conditioning technology in support of new and retrofit flow meter installations.

The FS100 Flow Straightener allows irrigators to add flow meters in tight locations where the existing straight pipe run is insufficient to provide accurate measurement. When inserted upstream from a new flow meter, the FS100 typically reduces the necessary straight pipe run requirement for accurate measurement to only 1.5 straight pipe diameters upstream and 0-0.5 downstream.

Nearly all liquid/water flow meter technologies require installation with 10 to more than 40 straight pipe diameters upstream from the meter and 5 or more straight pipe diameters downstream. These straight pipe runs are required in order to eliminate the effects of swirl and other pipeline disturbances caused by pumps, elbows, valves and other devices that negatively affect liquid flow measurement accuracy.

Depending on the type of liquid flow meter in use, the FS100 reduces typical installation piping and labor costs by more than 50 percent. Many times the need to insert a new flow meter into existing piping also can be extremely costly because it requires moving other equipment such as pumps or valves. In addition, to avoid the extra cost of pipe materials and technician installation labor, any disruptions in water service may be minimized with the use of a flow straightener.

The FS100 is a cone-shaped 304 stainless steel device designed for low head loss and withstands pressures up to 150 psi maximum in 6-, 8-, 10- and 12-inch line sizes.