The Badger Meter VN2000 vortex flow meter uses dual piezoelectric sensors and an embedded RTD sensor that never touch the process fluid, resulting in a very long life span.

The sensing element is CNC machined out of one solid piece of stainless steel and engineered to stand up to abusive environments inside and outside the pipe. The dual ceramic piezoelectric sensors are bonded inside the vortex element, which is press-fit to the stainless steel insertion bar and completely welded together. There are no internal o-rings or seals of any kind and absolutely no leak paths into the sensors or electronics.

Within the flow meter, as fluid moves across the tiny strut or "shedder bar", vortices are shed on a smaller scale. The frequency of the vortices shedding is proportional to the fluid velocity. Through the use of an internal RTD, the flow meter software compensates for changes in temperature to achieve an accurate mass flow measurement.

The VN2000 offers compact direct insertion for pipes up to 24 inches, or hot tap insertion for pipes up to 36 inches. Accuracy is ±1% of reading with ±0.25% repeatability. Liquid velocity range is 1.32 to 32 ft/s (0.402 to 9 m/s), and gas velocity range is cube root (140/ρ) ft/s to 300 ft/s (91 m/s). Reynolds number range is 10,000 to 7,000,000. Maximum pressure is up to 1000 psi (68.9 bar), and process temperature range is -250 to 400°F (-120 to 204°C).