MEMS capacitive flow sensor for natural gas pipelines

•Novel concept of MEMS flow sensor using the micro-fabricated paddle and comb-drive transducer.•The device model has been described by theory analysis and FEM calculations.•The prototype has been successful fabricated on Silicon-On-Insulator wafers using only three photo-lithographic mask layers.•Experimental results showed that output capacitance of the device is a quadratic function of air velocity.•Experimentation also showed the capacitance readout mechanism is insensitive to temperature changing.