Standard liters per minute, the usual unit for plasma, carrier and combustion gas flows on mass flow controllers. Flows are corrected to standard conditions so readings mean the same thing regardless of line pressure. Some consoles and many North American specs read in standard cubic feet per hour (SCFH); one SCFH is about 0.47 SLPM, and mixing up the two units on a parameter sheet ruins a coating.
Argon at 40 SLPM, hydrogen at 9, carrier at 3.5, that's the qualified set, don't freelance.
Also heard as
- standard liters per minute
- NLPM
Related terms
Plasma gas
The gas mix ionized in a plasma gun: a primary gas for flow plus a secondary gas for heat.
Carrier gas
The gas stream, usually argon, that carries powder from the feeder through the hose into the spray jet.
Spray rate
How much feedstock goes through the gun per unit time, usually in grams per minute or pounds per hour.