What Is a Manostat?

A manostat is a device that measures the pressure and vacuum of an environment or other certain conditions of an environment. This device measures pressure conditions that are close to atmospheric levels and are usually used for fluids or liquids and is considered a hydrostatic instrument for liquid columns. The device, however, is not limited and can perform pressure measurements in a vacuum as well, with a vacuum range between 10 millibars (mbar) and 10^-11 mbar. These devices are used in a variety of fields and disciplines.

This device is used for maintaining and controlling feed pressure that goes into air gauges. Manostat devices also seek to control and maintain a fluid’s downstream pressure at a number that is substantially consistent. This number is a direct result of the initial fluid’s higher upstream pressure. The manostat operates by a user predetermining a fluid pressure value, where the device’s valves will open and shut in a certain way, depending on the particular device’s specifications. These valves will open and shut, especially by present standards, by an inner electronic component that is preprogrammed with determined adjustments for its valves.

There are many devices that use the manostat, including the manostat pump. This device is used in the medical field as a mechanical pump that pumps fluid to and away from the cavity of a body in surgery. While one syringe source contains replacement fluid and is connected to the body through a conduit, another syringe is connected to the same conduit. Both syringe sources work together, where the first source pumps replacement fluid into a body while the other extracts fluid from the body continually. This process helps maintain a constant pressure inside the body during surgery, ensuring consistency for the body’s systems and benefiting surgeons by reducing the amount of procedures to perform during a surgery or autopsy.

The manostat varistaltic pump is another type of device that measures pressure and vacuum, but is also used for the transfer and movement of fluids. The unit moves gasses and liquids, can transfer liquids from carboys, and is able to move gas through a flow system. It is also able to generate a pressure that can reach 20 pounds per square inch (psi). The device can control the speeds of its flow rates, ranging between 1 milliliter (mL) per minute and 3450 mL per minute. Some of these devices come equipped with analog electronic controls and an interface for selection of flow rate and measurement readouts, respectively.