Campus Utility Plant Instrumentation Solutions
Measure What Matters on Campus
Critical flow, level, temperature, and pressure instrumentation for college and university central utility plants - from steam and chilled water distribution to compressed air and tank level.
Your Engineering Partner in Campus Energy
Most campuses heat and cool from one or more central plants delivering steam, hot water, and chilled water through miles of buried pipe. Every usage statistic, efficiency target, and capacity decision depends on how well that plant is measured. Utilities teams tell us the same three battles come up again and again: allocating energy costs to buildings, proving performance to the administration, and keeping decades-old systems running without unplanned shutdowns. Measurement is where all three start, and industry energy-management programs report typical savings of 5% to 15% once utilities are properly measured and managed. KOBOLD builds one of the industry's broadest lines of flow, level, pressure, and temperature instruments, and our in-house engineers help you select the right one before you spend a dollar.
Free Engineering Consults
Send us your application and our in-house engineering team with decades of collective experience will tell you what fits for any size project. No charge, no minimum, and no sales script. If the honest answer is that you don't need a new instrument, that's the answer you'll get.
Retrofit Without Shutdown
Campus loops are mostly existing pipe and cutting in a meter means draining a line and taking systems offline. Our clamp-on ultrasonic metering installs on the outside of the pipe you already have, so chilled water, hot water, and energy measurement can go in without disrupting service.
Made in the USA
KOBOLD manufactures in Pittsburgh, PA.
One Vendor, Four Variables
Flow, level, pressure, and temperature from a single supplier, so the steam header, the chiller loop, the condensate tank, and the compressed air branch all come with one point of contact and one engineering team behind them.
Potential Instrumentation Solutions
The following products represent commonly applicable instruments for campus utility applications. Specific suitability depends on your unique process conditions. We recommend a free engineering consultation before final selection.
Steam Flow Measurement
Boiler Plant & Steam Distribution - Multivariable Vortex Flow Meters
DVH | DVE
Key Benefits:
- Temperature-compensated mass flow of saturated steam
- Energy monitoring option to calculate energy changes at point of use
- Insertion version covers 3" to 24" headers
- High-temperature versions to 750 °F (400 °C)
- HART and Modbus outputs to plant controls
Potential Applications:
- Boiler plant steam output verification and efficiency tracking
- Steam cost allocation across campus buildings
- Distribution loss detection on large headers
Chilled & Hot Water Energy Metering
Distribution Loops & Building Metering - Ultrasonic, Magnetic & Insertion Flow Meters
DUC | DUK | MIM | MIS | EPM | PITe
Key Benefits:
- Clamp-on ultrasonic flow meter installed with no pipe cutting for line sizes up to 20 feet (DUC)
- Heat quantity and BTU measurement for cost allocation (DUC)
- Ultrasonic flow measurement with database for glycol-water mixtures (DUK)
- Flanged magnetic flow meters up to 8” rated to 4,400 GPM (MIS) and up to 24” rated to greater than 37,000 GPM (EPM)
- Insertion magnetic flow meter for mains 3" to 16" (PITe)
- Small magnetic flowmeter for line sizes from ¼” to 2” with IO-Link and temperature measurement (MIM)
Potential Applications:
- Per-building energy metering and departmental cost allocation
- Commissioning verification and system balancing
- Chilled and hot water loop monitoring on existing pipe
Compressed Air Monitoring
Plant & Lab Air Branches - Inline Thermal Mass Flow Meters
KME | KEC
Key Benefits:
- Direct mass flow for compressed air consumption
- Leak detection you can put a number on
- Compact inline installation, 1/2" to 1" for use point monitoring (KME)
- Main and branch-level metering for system tracking (KEC)
Potential Applications:
- Compressed air consumption tracking by building or branch
- Leak surveys and savings verification
- Lab and shop air monitoring
Tank Level Measurement
Water, Condensate & Chemical Feed Tanks – Magnetic Level Gauges, Pressure Transmitters, Guided Wave Radar, and Free Space Radar
NBK | NGM | NRE | KPW | PAD | PAS
Key Benefits:
- At-the-tank visual indication, no power required (NBK)
- Made in the USA (NBK, NGM)
- Guided wave radar for difficult tank geometry (NGM)
- Free Space Radar for non-contact measurement and tall tanks (NRE)
- Submersible measurement for water and wastewater (KPW)
- Hydrostatic level into the control systems via HART (PAD/PAS)
Potential Applications:
- Water storage
- Condensate receiver monitoring
- Chemical feed tank level with operator-visible indication
- Thermal Energy Storage tanks level measurement
Pressure Measurement
Plant-Wide Pressure Points - Heavy-Duty & Differential Pressure Transmitters
PAS | PAD
Key Benefits:
- Liquid, gas, and steam pressure to 8,700 PSIG (PAS)
- DP flow with orifice plates (PAD)
- ±0.075% of calibrated span accuracy (PAD)
- HART communication for remote configuration
Potential Applications:
- Steam, water, and gas pressure monitoring across the utilities
- Flow measurement using DP transmitter with orifice plate
- Boiler level by differential hydrostatic pressure
Get Started
Ready to discuss your campus utility instrumentation needs?
Free Engineering Consultation - Talk through your application with an in-house engineer, any size project.
Custom Specification - Send us your process conditions and we'll recommend the right instrument and configuration.
Important Notes
Application Suitability: The products above are commonly applied in campus utility systems. Final selection depends on your specific media, temperatures, pressures, and line sizes. We recommend an engineering consultation before purchase.
Steam Measurement: Steam mass flow compensation on the DVH-T and DVE-T applies to saturated steam. Contact our engineers to discuss other steam conditions.
US Manufacturing: Made-in-USA including the DUK, NBK, and NGM.