The Review of scientific instruments
-
An optoelectronic target-type volumetric air flow-rate transducer for bidirectional measurements is presented. The sensor is composed of a T-shaped target and two nominally identical LED-photodiode couples which are operated in differential mode. The sensitive surfaces of the photodiodes are differentially shadowed by the deflection of the target, which in turn depends on the gas flow-rate. ⋯ The sensor is able to detect a flow-rate equal to 1.0 l min(-1) with a sensitivity of about 400 mV l(-1) min. The differential nature of the output minimizes the influence of the LEDs' power supply variations and allows to obtain a repeatability in the order of 3% of full scale output. The small pressure drop produced by the sensor placed in-line the fluid stream, of about 2.4 Pa at 7 l min(-1), corresponds to a negligible fluid dynamic resistance lower than 0.34 Pa l(-1) min.