March 29, 2017 – Alicat Scientific has expanded the communications protocol offerings on its line of mass flow controllers for vacuum coating applications, adding EtherNet/IP and DeviceNet. Alicat’s MCE-Series and MCV-Series mass flow controllers ensure the optimal coating environment in vacuum chambers, maintaining product integrity in vacuum deposition.
The new industrial automation protocols enable real time data–including mass flow, volumetric flow, absolute pressure and temperature, with full temperature and pressure compensation– to be read centrally by the PLC and used to manage the MCE- and MCV-Series instruments. Users may change setpoint or gas selection, and issue other commands to Alicat instruments using a DeviceNet or EtherNet/IP enabled PLC or computer.
The Alicat MCE and MCV control gas flow rates as low as 0-0.5 sccm full scale or as high as 0-20 slpm full scale and are capable of 20 to 50 millisecond control response times. The integrated pneumatic shut-off valve is normally closed, affording positive shut-off of 1 x 10^9 atm-sccm/sec Helium max.
In addition to the new EtherNet/IP and DeviceNet protocols, Alicat offers Modbus-RTU and PROFIBUS communication options. The MCE-Series and MCV-Series may be used to replace legacy and discontinued MKS instruments
