Working Backwards from LPM

[Anonymous No.1371231]

I want to end with 10 to 20 liters per minute of an inert gas (argon, nitrogen, etc.) flowing out of a hose and work backwards from there to specify the equipment I will need.

As far as I know, the chain of items goes:
*A tank full of my target gas (with a CGA 580 connector for argon, nitrogen, etc.)
* Pressure regulator (dual-stage?) to step down the very high tank pressure to something more reasonable
* Inlet connection (CGA 580)
*Outlet connection (???)
* Hose of some kind
* Flow control valve
* Flow meter or flow gauge (which?) to measure what my flow is

I know there's no direct correlation between liters per minute and psig, but this leaves me wondering precisely HOW to select the equipment I need to get the final flow I want.

I've only taken a couple of welding classes and I thought that welding will be a good place to start with my little backyard experiment.

If this isn't the right forum or I am using the wrong terminology, please correct me. I am happy to order books about the topic and read if there are appropriate ones.

[Anonymous No.1371240]

>>1371231

Nothing there is anything special. My bog-standard personal setup is just a 280ft^3 bottle with a cheapo eBay regulator/flowmeter combo. For inert gasses, the hose doesn't matter as long as it'll handle the ~60PSI the regulator outputs. Regular compressed air hose (use a new hose just to be sure it's clean) will work fine. Mine's a length of fiber-reinforced vinyl tubing just because that's what I had handy at the time.

Tl;dr: Buy something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Argon-CO2-Mig-Tig-Flow-Meter-Regulator-Welding-Weld-Regulator-Gauge-Gas-Welder/262677301998?hash=item3d28c98aee:g:GhEAAOSwWxNYqpzn

Buy your bottle. Use whatever pressure-rated hose you've got available. You didn't specify what you're connecting it to, but, in any case, this will get you a metered gas flow at the end of a hose.

That flowmeter kinda sucks, though. It's obvious from its response to the valve being opened/close than it's not terribly linear, and, therefore, probably not terribly accurate.