speed of the gas moving through the meter. Because the volume of gas is inferred from the flow, it is important that flow conditions are good. A small internal turbine measures the speed of the gas, which is transmitted mechanically to a mechanical or electronic counter. These meters do not impede the flow of gas, but are limited at measuring lower flow rates. Orifice meters An orifice gas meter consists of a straight length of pipe inside which a precisely known orifice plate creates a pressure drop, thereby affecting flow. Orifice meters are a type of differential meter, all of which infer the rate of gas flow by measuring the pressure difference across a deliberately designed and installed flow disturbance. The gas static pressure, density, viscosity, and temperature must be measured or known in addition to the differential pressure for the meter to accurately measure the fluid. Orifice meters often do not handle a large range of flow rates. They are however accepted and understood in industrial applications since they are easy to field-service and have no moving parts. Ultrasonic flow meters Ultrasonic flow meters are more complex than meters that are purely mechanical, as they require significant signal processing and computation capabilities. Ultrasonic meters measure the speed of gas movement by measuring the speed at which sound travels in the gaseous medium within the pipe. American Gas Association covers the proper usage and installation of these meters, and it specifies a standardised speed-of-sound calculation which predicts the speed of sound in a gas with a known pressure, temperature, and composition. The most elaborate types of ultrasonic flow meters average speed of sound over multiple paths in the pipe. The length of each path is precisely measured in the factory. Each path consists of an ultrasonic transducer at one end and a sensor at the other. The meter creates a 'ping' with the transducer and measures the time elapsed before the sensor receives the sonic pulse. Some of these paths point upstream so that the sum of the times of flight of the sonic pulses can be divided by the sum of the flight lengths to provide an average speed of sound in the upstream direction. This speed differs from the speed of sound in the gas by the velocity at which the gas is moving in the pipe. The other paths may be identical or similar, except that the