In steam boiler control systems, the flow rate of water into the boiler and the flow rate of steam
coming out of the boiler must be matched in order to maintain a constant quantity of water within
the boiler tubes and drums. However, water is a liquid and steam is a vapor, so flow measurements
based on volume are meaningless: a cubic foot of steam will never contain the same number of
molecules as a cubic foot of water. The only reasonable way for the control system to balance both
flow rates is to measure them as mass flows rather than volumetric flows. No matter what form
(phase) the H2O molecules take, every kilogram going into the boiler must be matched by a kilogram
coming out of the boiler in accordance with the Law of Mass Conservation: every H2O molecule
entering the boiler must be matched by one H2O molecule exiting the boiler in order to maintain
an unchanging quantity of H2O molecules within the boiler. This is why boiler feedwater and steam
flowmeters alike are typically calibrated to measure in units of lbm (pounds mass) per unit time