Sensors and Actuators A 110 (2004) 413–422

Gas flow meter for application in medical equipment for

respiratory control: study of the housing
G. Kaltsas∗ , A.G. Nassiopoulou
IMEL, NCSR Demokritos, P.O. Box 60228, Aghia Paraskevi Attikis, Athens 15310, Greece
Received 20 September 2002; received in revised form 3 July 2003; accepted 10 July 2003

Abstract

The study of the housing of a gas flow meter for use in medical equipment for respiratory control will be presented in this paper. The
sensor is of the thermal type with dimensions 1.4 mm × 0.9 mm. The housing is developed so as to assure conditions of laminar flow in
a flow range from −200 to +200 standard liters per minute (SLPM). An analytical approach is first used to determine the main housing
configuration. The type and the position of a bypass tube, which is fixed to the main flow tube, are studied in detail. Extensive simulations
of the flow in different housing configurations and different conditions at the inlet and outlet of the housing were performed, using the finite
element analysis (FEA) software package ANSYS. The optimum housing was finally fabricated and evaluated in oxygen flow. Excellent
agreement of experimental results with simulation was obtained.
© 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Gas flow meter; Housing; Medical applications

1. Introduction 2. General considerations for the housing of

Medical equipment for respiratory applications needs
accurate gas flow control, using very sensitive, small and
fast sensors. Micromachined silicon thermal flow sensors
meet the above requirements [1,2]. A variety of such sen-
sors were published in the literature [3–9]. The sensor used
in this work is, however, one of the most promising and it
has been described in detail elsewhere [3]. It uses porous
silicon local thermal isolation from the silicon substrate,
which simplifies significantly the process steps used, while
it offers several important advantages: (a) the process is
compatible with integrated circuit processing, (b) the sur-
face of the sensor is planar and (c) the process steps are
minimized, thus reducing sensor cost. Since the perfor-
mance of a flow meter is directly related to its housing [10],
in this work we present in detail the design, simulation,
fabrication and testing of the housing of a gas flow meter
for use in respiration control, which, according to the spec-
ifications, has to work in a flow range of ±200 standard
liters per minute (SLPM). Evaluation and characterization
of the gas flow meter with the optimum housing is also
presented.
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +30-10-6503247; fax: +30-10-6511723.
E-mail address: g.kaltsas@imel.demokritos.gr (G. Kaltsas).
a gas flow meter
In most medical applications, as for example in respi-
ration control, it is very important to determine both the
inspiration and the expiration of the patient, so there is a
need to use a sensor able to measure flow in both directions.
The silicon flow sensor used in the present microsystem is
appropriate for this application. It is composed of a heater
and two thermopiles on each side of the heater. The hot
contacts of the thermopiles and the heater lie on a porous
silicon layer, which provides local thermal isolation from
the silicon substrate [11]. The cold contacts of the ther-
mopiles lie on bulk silicon. The direction of the flow is
perpendicular to the heater and the sensor can distinguish
each direction of the flow, with a symmetric response with
respect to zero. Fig. 1 illustrates an image of the sensor and
indicates the direction of the flow. A detailed description of
the sensor has been given elsewhere [3].
There are some global specifications for ventilators used
in respiratory and medical equipment. Most of these ven-
tilators are used as part of more complicated systems and
their dimensions have to be adapted to the system size
requirements. In most of the cases the gas flow meter is
positioned in series to the main tube of the system, with
flexible connectors. These connectors are in general not
aligned with the sensor main tube, but they are connected

0924-4247/$ – see front matter © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.sna.2003.07.005
414 G. Kaltsas, A.G. Nassiopoulou / Sensors and Actuators A 110 (2004) 413–422
Fig. 1. A top view image of the flow sensor.
with different angles with respect to this tube. Thus, it is
of great importance for the sensor response to be inde-
pendent of the connectors configuration. In this work, the
housing of the sensor has been designed so as to minimize
the above-mentioned effect and to provide flexibility in the
fitting angle of the sensor tube to the rest of the system.
Additionally, in our study the goal was to reduce to the
minimum the whole dimensions of the housing, below the
dimensions of systems existing in the market. The maxi-
mum length was taken to be 3.5 cm and the inner diameter
1.8 cm. The whole system was designed to work in a large
flow range from −200 to +200 SLPM, which is quite
appropriate for the above-mentioned medical applications.
3. Flow analysis
There are two options for the positioning of the sensor
into the housing, either to put it directly in the flow tube,
by fixing it at its sidewall, or to use a bypass of smaller
diameter, located internally or externally to the main tube, in
which the sensor is mounted. In both cases, in order to obtain
consistent and repeatable measurements, the flow above the
sensor should not change from laminar to turbulent. With
the restrictions in tube dimensions imposed above, the first
option does not provide laminar flow conditions in the whole
flow range of −200 to +200 SLPM, but only at low flow
conditions. Indeed, at 200 SLPM, in a tube of diameter of
1.8 cm, the Reynolds number Re reaches a value as high
as 15 000, which is much above the value for laminar flow.
The diameter required in order to assure laminar flow at 200
SLPM is at least 27 cm. On the other hand, if we choose
turbulent flow operation, there are limitations in the low flow
range. The maximum diameter required, for example for
turbulent flow conditions at 10 SLPM (Reynolds number,
Re > 4000), is 3.3 mm. However, with this diameter, the
flow velocity through the tube at 200 SLPM will be 379 m/s
(Mach 1.2), which is in the range of compressible flow.
Due to all the above limitations, it is clear that the only
design suitable is that of a bypass tube, at the middle of
Fig. 2. External bypass tube configuration.
which the sensor is fixed. For this design there are two con-
figuration of the bypass with respect to the main tube. The
first one is shown in Fig. 2, where the bypass is external
to the main tube and the second one in Fig. 3, where the
bypass is internal to the main tube. The first configuration
is extensively used in commercial mass flow meters [12].
In both cases, the initial flow (Q) is divided into two parts,
Q1 (in the main tube) and Q2 (in the bypass). According
to continuity equation, for steady flow the volume flow rate
is the same at any section of the tube, so Q = Q1 + Q2 .
This equation is applied to incompressible fluids. Gases are
considered incompressible at low velocities, i.e. less than
100 m/s, which is the case in our study. The initial energy
losses due to friction (hL ) are the same in both the bypass
and the main tube (hL = hL1 = hL2 ). These energy losses
are calculated using Darcy’s equation [13]:
L u2
hL = f
D 2g
where f is the friction factor (dimensionless), which depends
on the Reynolds number and the relative roughness of the
pipe, L and D the length and the diameter of the tube, re-
spectively, u the average velocity of flow and g is the accel-
eration of gravity. The imposed requirements are for laminar
and fully developed flow in the bypass for the whole flow
range. From the above restrictions, the following conditions
are extracted:
u2 D2 > 1.59 × 10−5 Re
L
≥ 0.05Re
D2
u21 u2
f1 = f2 2
D1 D2
By solving this system of equations, we can obtain the
requested flow distribution in the bypass tube.
Fig. 4 shows the Reynolds number for the flow developed
in the bypass tube for different bypass diameters (from 0 to
Fig. 3. Internal bypass tube configuration.
 G. Kaltsas, A.G. Nassiopoulou / Sensors and Actuators A 110 (2004) 413–422 415

Fig. 4. Reynolds number, which is developed at the bypass for different bypass diameters and different initial flows at the inlet of the package.

1.8 cm) and different initial flow values at the inlet of the
main tube (from 0 to 200 SLPM). In all cases the main tube
diameter is 1.8 cm. The values of Re considered are below
2000, which is the upper limit for laminar flow conditions
in the bypass tube. We see that for a specific flow value, the
Reynolds number increases with the increase of the bypass
tube diameter. The maximum diameter for laminar flow at
200 SLPM is 0.6 cm. The maximum bypass tube length was
taken to be 3 cm, since the length of the main tube as imposed
above is 3.5 cm. In order to assure fully developed flow at
the middle of a tube of this length, the following condition
should be satisfied [14]:
0.6(cm)
D2 ≤
Re
The combination of this condition with the results of Fig. 4
gives the optimum bypass tube diameter. Using the results of
Fig. 4, we obtain the evolution of the bypass tube diameter
D2 as a function of the corresponding Reynolds number for
initial flow of 200 SLPM, as illustrated in Fig. 5. If we plot

0,50
Flow in the bypass with diameter D2
0,45
Condition for fully developed flow
0,40

0,35
Diameter D2 (cm)

0,30

0,25

0,20

0,15

0,10

0,05

0,00
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Bypass Reynolds number

Fig. 5. The optimum value of the bypass diameter as it is extracted from the conditions for laminar and fully developed flow.
416 G. Kaltsas, A.G. Nassiopoulou / Sensors and Actuators A 110 (2004) 413–422
in the same figure, the required diameter of the bypass tube
for fully developed flow, again as a function of the Reynolds
number, the intersection of the two curves gives the maxi-
mum diameter which combines laminar and fully developed
flow in the bypass. This diameter is the optimum for our
application, because it assures the maximum flow velocity
at the bypass tube for a specific initial flow, which results
to the maximum sensor response. The optimum diameter is
D2 = 0.18 cm.
4. Simulation of flow conditions in the two proposed
bypass tube configurations
The characteristics of the flow in a housing with either an
internal or an external bypass tube, as illustrated in Figs. 2
and 3, were extensively investigated using FEM simulation
with the ANSYS software through FLOTRAN analysis.
Velocity and pressure distribution within the whole housing
tube and bypass were extracted. The influence of both the
bypass tube configuration and the fitting angle of the inlet
and outlet pipes to the above parameters were also studied.
Three different configurations of fixing inlet–outlet pipes
were considered: (a) inlet–outlet pipe parallel to the flow
direction, (b) inlet–outlet pipe in an angle of 90◦ with re-
spect to the flow direction and (c) inlet–outlet pipe in an
angle of 270◦ with respect to the flow direction. The ini-
tial flow conditions varied between 10 and 200 SLPM. A
schematic of the simulated structure with pipes in an angle
of 270◦ with respect to the main tube is shown in Fig. 6.
The dimensions of the different parts are also shown.
1.8 cm
40 cm
3 cm
1.8 cm
4.8 cm
Fig. 6. Schematic of the simulated structure with pipes in an angle of 270◦ with respect to the main tube. The different dimensions considered are shown.
4.1. External bypass tube configuration
A typical result of the velocity distribution into the flow
tube and the inlet and outlet pipes is illustrated in Fig. 7, in
a cross-sectional representation, extracted from the ANSYS
interface. The initial flow was 200 SLPM and the inlet and
outlet pipes were considered in an angle of 90◦ with respect
to the main tube. For all the initial flow values considered,
laminar flow was developed in the bypass, as it was expected,
with mean velocities ranging from 0.014 to 0.35 m/s for
flows from 10 to 200 SLPM, respectively. Fig. 8 illustrates
the flow velocity profile at a cross-section in the middle of
the bypass tube. The initial flow was 200 SLPM. The solid
line shows the laminar flow profile, which is extracted from
the formula that characterizes the fully developed laminar
flow distribution [15]:

 r 2 
u = u0 1 −
R
where u0 is the maximum value of the flow velocity and R
is the tube radius. An almost exact fitting is observed which
verifies the fact that the flow in the middle of the bypass is
fully developed and laminar.
Simulations showed a strong dependence of flow con-
ditions in the bypass on the fixing direction of inlet and
outlet pipes with respect to the main tube. Variations in
flow velocity as large as 200% were observed by changing
the fixing angle of inlet and outlet pipes. In the case of
270◦ angle, the flow in the bypass was inverted and nega-
tive velocities were observed, which may be interpreted by
the sensor as a change of the flow direction. In a gas flow
2.74 cm
0.18 cm
270,0˚
2.94 cm
3.5 cm
 G. Kaltsas, A.G. Nassiopoulou / Sensors and Actuators A 110 (2004) 413–422 417

Fig. 7. Typical result from simulation with ANSYS showing the velocity distribution in the housing of the flow sensor. The initial flow is 200 SLPM
and the inlet–outlet pipes are in an angle of 90◦ with respect to the main tube.

0,5

0,4
Flow velocity (m/s)

0,3

0,2 Simulation
Laminar flow profile
0,1

0,0

-0,02 0,00 0,02 0,04 0,06 0,08 0,10 0,12 0,14 0,16 0,18 0,20

Bypass distance (cm)

Fig. 8. Flow velocity profile at a cross-section in the middle of the bypass tube. The initial flow was 200 SLPM. With the solid line a fitting with the
laminar flow profile is shown.
418 G. Kaltsas, A.G. Nassiopoulou / Sensors and Actuators A 110 (2004) 413–422

meter for respiration control, this behavior corresponds to ware, is shown. A clear inversion of the flow direction in
expiration conditions, instead of inspiration. The effect is the outlet (9a) and the inlet (9b) of the bypass, is indicated.
shown in Fig. 9, where a typical form of the flow velocity The flow velocity distribution as a function of the distance
distribution in the bypass tube, obtained by ANSYS soft- from the inlet of the bypass tube is plotted in Fig. 10, for

Fig. 9. Flow inversion in the bypass tube, when the inlet–outlet pipes are in an angle of 270◦ with respect to the main tube.
 G. Kaltsas, A.G. Nassiopoulou / Sensors and Actuators A 110 (2004) 413–422
0,45
0,40
0,35
0,30
Flow velocity (m/s)
0,25
0,20
0,15
0,10
0,05
0,00
-0,05
-0,10
0,00 0,02
Fig. 10. Flow velocity distribution for the three configurations of inlet–outlet described in the text, for initial flow 20 SLPM. The velocity profiles are
taken in the middle of the bypass for both cases of internal and external bypass configurations.
the three fixing angles of inlet–outlet pipes. We observe a
large difference with the variation of the angle between the
main tube and the external pipes.
4.2. Internal bypass tube configuration
The problem of flow inversion at the inlet and outlet
pipe of the bypass tube was overcome by using the internal
bypass tube configuration of Fig. 3. The model devel-
oped for the FEM simulation was three-dimensional (3D)
for more accurate results. Again three different configu-
rations for the inlet–outlet geometry were used, as in the
case of the external bypass. The geometry and a typical
ANSYS result are shown in Fig. 11, where the velocity
distribution at a horizontal cross-section of the housing is
illustrated.
In this case, the bypass cross-section is semi-cylindrical
and it is mounted on the wall of the main tube. In order to use
the flow equations, we have to define an effective diameter:
4A
Def =
P
where, A and P are the cross-sectional area and the perimeter,
respectively.
Simulations showed that in this case the maximum flow
velocity variation was of the order of 35% at a flow of
200 SLPM, while the variation was 9% for a flow of 20
SLPM. Fig. 10 shows the velocity profiles in the middle of
the bypass for both cases of internal and external bypass
configurations for an initial flow of 20 SLPM. We can see
than in this case we have no flow inversion for the case of
270◦ .
419
0
0
0
Internal
90
0 Bypass
270
External Bypass
0,04 0,06 0,08 0,10 0,12 0,14 0,16 0,18
Distance along bypass (cm)
The mean flow velocity within the bypass in the case of
the internal bypass, was in the range of 0.08–9.1 m/s for
flows from 10 to 200 SLPM, which is higher than in the
case of the external bypass. The mean flow velocity in the
bypass as a function of the initial flow is shown in Fig. 12,
for the case that inlet–outlet pipes are parallel to the main
gas flow direction.
5. Fabrication and evaluation of the gas flow meter
The optimum housing with a bypass as in Fig. 3 was
fabricated and tested in oxygen flow, using a gas flow sensor
developed at IMEL/NCSR Demokritos [16]. The results of
testing in a flow range from −200 to +200 SLPM are shown
in Fig. 13. The experimental set-up used for the evaluation
of the sensor is described in detail elsewhere [3]. For the
control of the reference flow, a Brooks 5853S Mass Flow
Controller was used. Very good linearity of the response is
obtained even at large flows. No saturation was observed,
which is an indication that flows even larger than 200 SLPM
can be measured.
As it was mentioned in a previous paragraph the princi-
ple of operation of the sensor is the flow induced differential
temperature measurement through the thermopiles. Accord-
ing to the theory [17], the temperature difference measured
1/3
by the thermopiles, is analog to the factor τw , where ␶w is
the wall shear stress. For laminar flow in a tube, shear stress
can be expressed as
8µu
τw =
d
420 G. Kaltsas, A.G. Nassiopoulou / Sensors and Actuators A 110 (2004) 413–422

Fig. 11. Typical ANSYS result for the 3D model of the housing, showing the velocity distribution at a horizontal cross-section. The initial flow velocity
is 40 SLPM.

where µ is the fluid viscosity, u the average flow velocity and experimental sensor response to flows from 0 to 200 SLPM
d is the tube diameter. Since the wall shear stress is analog and the plot of the function u1/3 from Fig. 12, multiplied by a
to the mean flow velocity, it is extracted that the sensor normalized factor. Very good agreement between simulation
output should be analog to the factor u1/3 . Fig. 14 shows the and theory is obtained.

6
Velocity (m/s)

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Flow (SLPM)
Fig. 12. The mean flow velocity in the bypass as a function of the initial flow.
 G. Kaltsas, A.G. Nassiopoulou / Sensors and Actuators A 110 (2004) 413–422 421

5,0
4,5
4,0
3,5
3,0
2,5
2,0
Response (mV)

1,5
1,0
0,5
0,0
-0,5
-1,0
-1,5
-2,0
-2,5
-3,0
-3,5
-4,0
-200 -150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150 200
Flow (SLPM)
Fig. 13. Flow sensor response for flows ranging from −200 to +200 SLPM.

5,0

4,5
Simulation
4,0 Experimental

3,5
Response (mV)

3,0

2,5

2,0

1,5

1,0

0,5

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Flow (SLPM)
Fig. 14. Experimental sensor response to flows from 0 to 200 SLPM and the simulation results of u1/3 , multiplied by a normalizing factor.

6. Conclusion
The housing of a gas flow meter based on a silicon ther-
mal sensor have been designed and simulated for flows in
the range of ±200 SLPM. The overall dimensions of the
housing were chosen to be small enough in order to be used
in medical applications. The length and the diameter of the
housing were 3.5 and 1.8 cm, respectively. An extensive
study of flow conditions developed throughout the whole
flow rage was carried out. The use of a typical external
bypass was found to be strongly dependent on the inlet
and outlet pipes geometry. An internal bypass structure
was found to satisfy the requirements for fully developed
laminar flow conditions, combined with insensitivity to the
inlet/outlet connectors configuration. The optimum housing
structure has been fabricated and tested using a thermal
flow sensor developed at IMEL. Excellent agreement of
experimental results with simulation was obtained.
422 G. Kaltsas, A.G. Nassiopoulou / Sensors and Actuators A 110 (2004) 413–422
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Biographies
Dr. Grigoris Kaltsas received his BSc degree in physics from National
University of Athens in 1993. He joined the Institute of Microelectron-
ics of NCSR “Demokritos” in 1993 as a PhD student. He received his
PhD in 1998 from the National Technical University of Athens. He has
worked in the field of silicides from 1993 to 1994 and then on fabri-
cation and characterization of sensors using porous silicon technology.
His research interests are: integrated flow and gas sensors, silicon mi-
cromachining techniques, MEMS modeling and simulation, microfluidic
systems and porous silicon technology.
Dr. Androula Nassiopoulou received her BSc in physics from the Uni-
versity of Athens in 1975 and her MSc and PhD from the University
of Paris XI (ORSAY) in 1977 and 1980, respectively. She then moved
to the University of Reims, France, from where she received the title
of “Docteur d’Etat” in 1985. She is with IMEL at NCSR Demokritos
since 1986. In 1997, she has been elected by an International Scien-
tific Committee as a Director of IMEL and as a member of the board
of Management of NCSR Demokritos. She is author or co-author of
over 250 publications in international journals, reviews, books and con-
ference Proceedings, with an important number of citations in the ci-
tation index. She coordinates an important number of EU and national
projects. She chaired or co-chaired several National and International
Conferences and Symposia. She is the Head of two scientific groups
at IMEL on (a) nanotechnology and nanoelectronic devices and (b) mi-
crosystems and silicon integrated sensors. She also coordinates the Na-
tional Scientific Network MMN on microelectronics, microsystems and
nanotechnology.