The Kates automatic flow rate controller (FRC) is a purely mechanical device - it will regulate the flow of a liquid regardless of upstream or downstream pressure fluctuations in your system; and regulate flow of a gas regardless of downstream pressure fluctuations.

By combining an adjustable orifice with a differential pressure regulating valve, the Kates FRC will always have a constant pressure drop across the metered orifice.

By adjusting the dial, we are controlling the area of the metering orifice. And the IDRV is controlling the differential pressure across the metered orifice, thereby controlling flow.

The Kates FRC will automatically compensate for pressure changes. At 10 gpm the pressure drop could be virtually anything.

If your customer is designing a system and needs to know the pressure drop for every item in the pipeline to size their pumps, I would recommend that you allow for a minimum of 20 psi across the Kates. This gives us a safety factor in the event that pressure falls off if the pressure is higher, that is fine too.

The internal differential pressure regulating valve (the IDRV) is a simple force-balance design. When the pressure across the metered orifice is too high, the IDRV will be forced downward and close off. When it's too low, the IDRV will move up and open the valve ports.

The Kates FRC does not have a Cv (pronounced ``C-sub-V``). Cv is a value in a formula for sizing control valves. The Kates valve will have an infinitely variable Cv because it compensates automatically for pressure changes.

A pressure regulator valve (PRV) controls pressure regardless of variations in flow. The Kates FRC is the exact opposite of a PRV. It will control the flow rate regardless of pressure variations.