Mass flow controller system
A mass flow controller with high accuracy flow rate output control is disclosed. In the mass flow controller, relation data that indicates a corresponding relation between a flow rate of a reference gas and a CF value of a sample gas is stored, a target flow rate is converted into a reference gas flow rate by the use of a predetermined CF value, a sample gas flow rate is calculated from the converted reference gas flow rate and a CF value corresponding to the reference gas flow rate, the sample gas flow rate is compared with the target flow rate, and the CF value that is used for conversion of the reference gas flow rate or calculation of the sample gas flow rate is updated by the use of the corresponding relation based on the error between the sample gas flow rate and the target flow rate.
1. A mass flow controller system, comprising:
a flow rate control device, calibrated by a use of a reference gas, which controls at least one valve based on a flow rate set value; and
a control device that outputs the flow rate set value to the flow rate control device, including memory and an associated processor,
wherein the memory stores a relation data that indicates a corresponding relation between a flow rate value of the reference gas and a conversion factor (CF) value of a sample gas, and
wherein the processor is configured to execute a control program including:
a reference gas flow rate conversion part that converts a target flow rate of the sample gas to be flowed by the flow rate control device into a reference gas flow rate by the use of a predetermined CF value,
a sample gas flow rate calculation part that calculates the sample gas flow rate based on the reference gas flow rate obtained by the reference gas flow rate conversion part and a corresponding CF value for converting the reference gas flow rate into the sample gas flow rate, and
a CF value update part that updates the CF value used by the reference gas flow rate conversion part or the sample gas flow rate calculation part in a case where a difference between the sample gas flow rate obtained by the sample gas flow rate calculation part and the target flow rate is bigger than a predetermined range, and once the difference falls within the predetermined range, outputs the flow rate set value to the flow rate control device based on the reference as flow rate.
2. The mass flow controller system described in claim 1 , wherein
the CF value update part updates the reference gas flow rate by the use of a value that relates to the difference between the sample gas flow rate obtained by the sample gas flow rate calculation part and the target flow rate, and updates the CF value used by the reference gas flow rate conversion part by the use of the CF value corresponding to the updated reference gas flow rate.
3. The mass flow controller system described in claim 1 , wherein
the CF value update part sets a flow rate that is obtained by subtracting a difference between the sample gas flow rate obtained by the sample gas flow rate calculation part and the target flow rate from the target flow rate as a new target flow rate, outputs the new target flow rate to the reference gas flow rate conversion part and updates the CF value used by the reference gas flow rate conversion part.
4. A method of operating a mass flow controller system comprising a flow rate control device, which controls at least one valve based on a flow rate set value, calibrated by a reference gas and a control device including memory and an associated processor, that outputs the flow rate set value to the flow rate control device, the method comprising:
executing a control program with the processor of the control device,
storing a relation data indicating a corresponding relation between a flow rate value of the reference gas and a conversion factor (CF) value of a sample gas in the memory,
converting a target flow rate of the sample gas to be flowed by the flow rate control device into a reference gas flow rate by the use of a predetermined CF value,
calculating the sample gas flow rate based on the reference gas flow rate and a corresponding CF value for converting the reference gas flow rate into the sample gas flow rate, and
updating the predetermined CF value or the corresponding CF value in a case where a difference between the sample gas flow rate and the target flow rate is bigger than a predetermined range, and once the difference falls within the predetermined range, outputs the flow rate set value to the flow rate control device based on the reference as flow rate.