The cubic metre per minute is a unit of volumetric flow rate equal to one cubic metre passing a point every minute. Its symbol is m³/min. It occupies the middle ground of industrial air handling: large enough for a factory's compressed-air main, small enough that the number stays in two or three digits.
Compressors are its most familiar users. A workshop screw compressor delivers 1 to 10 cubic metres per minute of free air, a large industrial machine 50 or more, and the rating is always given as free air delivery — the volume measured at atmospheric conditions rather than at the compressed pressure, because that is what the tools downstream actually consume.
Sizing a compressed-air system is an exercise in adding these numbers. Each tool has a consumption figure: an impact wrench 0.6 cubic metres per minute, a spray gun 0.3, a sandblasting nozzle several. Total them, apply a duty factor because they do not all run at once, add a margin for leaks, and the result is the compressor the workshop needs.
Mine and tunnel ventilation is quoted the same way. Regulations set a minimum air quantity per person and per unit of diesel power underground, and a working face may require 20 to 50 cubic metres per minute. The main fan at the surface handles the sum of every face, which is why the unit spans four orders of magnitude within a single industry.
Blowers, dust extraction and pneumatic conveying complete the picture. A woodworking dust extractor is rated at 20 to 60 cubic metres per minute, a bag filter for a cement plant at thousands, and a pneumatic conveyor is designed around the air velocity in the pipe, which the flow and the pipe cross-section together determine.
The conversion to its neighbours is easy in both directions. Sixty cubic metres per minute is one cubic metre per second, and one cubic metre per minute is a thousand litres per minute. That last relation is why the same fan can appear in a European catalogue as 1,200 litres per second and in another as 72 cubic metres per minute.
One cubic metre per minute equals about 0.01667 cubic metres per second, 1,000 litres per minute, or about 35.31 cubic feet per minute.
| Unit | Symbol | 1 Cubic meter per minute equals | 1 of these equals | Converter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milliliter per second | mL/s | 16666.6666667 mL/s | 0.00006 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Milliliters per second |
| Milliliter per minute | mL/min | 1000000 mL/min | 0.000001 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Milliliters per minute |
| Milliliter per hour | mL/h | 60000000 mL/h | 0.0000000166666666667 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Milliliters per hour |
| Liter per second | L/s | 16.6666666667 L/s | 0.06 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Liters per second |
| Liter per minute | L/min | 1000 L/min | 0.001 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Liters per minute |
| Liter per hour | L/hour | 60000 L/hour | 0.0000166666666667 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Liters per hour |
| Cubic millimeter per second | mm³/s | 16666666.6667 mm³/s | 0.00000006 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Cubic millimeters per second |
| Cubic millimeter per minute | mm³/min | 1000000000 mm³/min | 0.000000001 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Cubic millimeters per minute |
| Cubic millimeter per hour | mm³/hour | 60000000000 mm³/hour | 1.66666666667 × 10-11 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Cubic millimeters per hour |
| Cubic centimeter per second | cm³/s | 16666.6666667 cm³/s | 0.00006 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Cubic centimeters per second |
| Cubic centimeter per minute | cm³/min | 1000000 cm³/min | 0.000001 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Cubic centimeters per minute |
| Cubic centimeter per hour | cm³/h | 60000000 cm³/h | 0.0000000166666666667 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Cubic centimeters per hour |
| Cubic meter per second | m³/s | 0.0166666666667 m³/s | 60 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Cubic meters per second |
| Cubic meter per hour | m³/h | 60 m³/h | 0.0166666666667 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Cubic meters per hour |
| Cubic inch per second | in³/s | 1017.06240158 in³/s | 0.00098322384 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Cubic inches per second |
| Cubic inch per minute | in³/min | 61023.7440947 in³/min | 0.000016387064 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Cubic inches per minute |
| Cubic inch per hour | in³/h | 3661424.64568 in³/h | 0.000000273117733333 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Cubic inches per hour |
| Cubic foot per second | ft³/s | 0.588577778733 ft³/s | 1.6990107954 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Cubic feet per second |
| Cubic foot per minute | ft³/min | 35.314666724 ft³/min | 0.02831684659 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Cubic feet per minute |
| Cubic foot per hour | ft³/h | 2118.88000344 ft³/h | 0.000471947443167 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Cubic feet per hour |
| Fluid ounce per second | fl oz/s | 586.584662131 fl oz/s | 0.00170478375 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Fluid ounces per second |
| Fluid ounce per minute | fl oz/min | 35195.0797279 fl oz/min | 0.0000284130625 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Fluid ounces per minute |
| Fluid ounce per hour | fl oz/h | 2111704.78367 fl oz/h | 0.000000473551041667 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Fluid ounces per hour |
| Gallon per second | gal/s | 3.66615413832 gal/s | 0.2727654 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Gallons per second |
| Gallon per minute | gal/min | 219.969248299 gal/min | 0.00454609 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Gallons per minute |
| Gallon per hour | gal/h | 13198.1548979 gal/h | 0.0000757681666667 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to Gallons per hour |
| US Gallon per second | gal US/s | 4.4028675393 gal US/s | 0.22712470704 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to US Gallons per second |
| US Gallon per minute | gal US/min | 264.172052358 gal US/min | 0.003785411784 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to US Gallons per minute |
| US Gallon per hour | gal US/h | 15850.3231415 gal US/h | 0.0000630901964 m³/min | Cubic meters per minute to US Gallons per hour |