Flow Meters for the Production of Artificial Snow

Mammoth Mountain is one of the most popular ski resorts in the USA. The history of this eastern Sierra Nevada town dates back to 1857 when a few German gold diggers discovered the precious metal around the headwaters of the Owen Valley River. Today, the area's most precious resources are the mountain scenery and its unique climatic conditions. It offers an average of 300 sunny days per year. 28 ski lifts access roughly 14 km² of ski area between 2,424 m and 3,370 m altitude. The ski season lasts from the beginning of November until the middle of June.

Until now, magnetic inductive flowmeters were typically used to measure the water flow during artificial snow production. These meters are accurate, low maintenance and reliable, even under high pressure. Their major drawback is that high pressure-compatible versions are extraordinarily expensive. Unfortunately, exactly in this application, high pressures are needed: in order for the water to reach the snow gun locations high up in the mountains, it has to be pumped into the system under high pressure.

Mammoth Mountain ski resort now uses the ultrasonic flowmeter FLUXUS ADM 7807. The 3 channels of the meter are used to measure the flow on the 6'' and 8'' pipes supplying the snow guns.

The advantages are obvious: Thanks to non-invasive installation by means of the handy clamp-on technique, the pressure inside the pipe is of no relevance for the measurement. The transducers are compatible with a wide range of nominal pipe widths and can easily be installed on various types of pipes, even during running operations. The non-invasive ultrasonic measurement is accurate, reliable and maintenance-free.