FCI celebrates 60years of flow, level and temperature innovation

Fluid Components International (FCI), a PST brand, is marking 60 years of service with a renewed dedication to delivering cutting-edge instrumentation, exceptional quality, reliability, and outstanding value to its customers.

Randy Brown, FCI President, said, “We are privileged to be one of a few select companies that can claim 60 years of instrumentation service. From our origins in oil field flow detection, FCI has grown into a world leader in applying thermal dispersion technology to solve flow and level challenges in a wide range of industrial processes and aircraft applications.”

FCI was established in 1964 by engineers Malcolm “Mac” McQueen and Bob Deane. The company first achieved success in the oil and gas industry by becoming the first to develop a durable thermal flow switch capable of detecting low flow rates in stripper wells. In the 1970s, FCI expanded its offerings with flow rate and liquid level switches and transmitters, and later pioneered the creation of air/gas thermal dispersion mass flow meters.

Process Sensing Technologies (PST), which became FCI’s parent company in November 2023, congratulates FCI on reaching this major landmark and looks forward to many more innovative technology industry-first milestones. PST brings together globally renowned brands such as FCI, each of which has an excellent reputation within its various industrial sectors for its products' innovation, precision, dependability, and intense focus on customer service.

Today, FCI still designs and manufactures cutting-edge thermal mass flow meters, flow switches, and level switches for process measurement applications using unique and patented thermal dispersion flow measurement technologies. FCI products deliver precision and reliability to the most demanding industries, including chemical, oil and gas, power and energy, water/wastewater, pulp and paper, nuclear power, and many more globally.

FCI products are tested and calibrated at the company’s first-class, fully NIST traceable flow calibration labs to ensure instrument measurement accuracy under the customers’ actual fluid and process conditions. These calibration laboratories are ISO9001:2008 certified and AS9100 compliant while conforming to MIL-STD45662A and ANSI/NCSL-Z-540 criteria.

FCI’s products are specified in many of the world’s most demanding industries. They are recognised for their precise measurement and repeatability in the harshest field and plant environments, including extreme temperatures and humid conditions. FCI’s instruments’ high level of performance ensures both the end product’s quality and operational safety at the plant. FCI offers a wide variety of application solutions, from standard, off-the-shelf devices to customised systems.

The company’s latest air/gas flow meters combine feature-rich, function-rich, state-of-the-art electronics with the industry's most advanced flow sensors to achieve a truly state-of-the-science flow metering solution. They combine measurement accuracy with a rugged design that is compatible with caustic, corrosive, humid, and elevated-temperature environments.

FCI’s next-generation flow switches are ideal for a wide range of point-level process applications. These versatile devices feature a highly sophisticated, no-moving parts thermal dispersion flow sensor. Their innovative design also lets them measure air/gas flow, liquid level, or temperature. FCI flow switches are the perfect choice for interface monitoring in mixed-density media, including emulsion layers, foams, and slurries.

FCI also provides custom-designed air, gas, and liquid flow and level sensors for OEM applications. These sensors are installed in equipment that requires monitoring for high/low alarming, metering, switching, and totalised flow data. They measure air, gases, or liquids and include micro-electronics for direct mass flow measurement in a no-moving-part design, ensuring the instrument is exceptionally dependable and long-lasting.

FCI’s Vortab Company offers a range of flow conditioners that deliver a low-pressure loss solution for adjusting irregular flow profiles affecting flow instrumentation precision. Vortab® flow conditioners flow disturbances to ensure accurate measurement in crowded and complex plants, elbows, valves, blowers and other devices in the pipeline that might disrupt flowing media, thereby lowering accuracy.

Since 1978, FCI’s Nuclear Division has provided level, flow, and temperature measurement solutions to the nuclear power industry. FCI products are used in both BWR and PWR designs in safety-rated and balance-of-plant applications. FCI products and quality systems have attained certifications and credentials that comply with the nuclear industry's standards.