Air Flow Straightener, Air Flow Profiler, and Air Flow Conditioner - What is the difference?
When measuring the flow of air or gas in a duct or pipe, accuracy is dependent on the type of device used to make the measurement, but is very dependent on the flow profile in the duct or pipe. For example, if the flow in the duct or pipe is turbulent, many types of flow measurement devices will not even be able to measure the flow or have such an error you would be better off not having the measurement at all. Here we will look further into turbulence and ways to minimize or eliminate it so that an accurate air flow measurement can be made. What is Turbulence? Turbulence can come in many forms, for example the flow could be spinning in the duct (cyclonic flow), or the flow could be going in the opposite direction than it is supposed to be going (reverse flow), or it can be off to one side or even angular (not parallel to the center-line of the duct or pipe). When a flow sensor, averaging pitot tube, thermal mass sensor (thermal dispersion), venturi, or even an orifice plate is