You don't say what you are measuring the flow of ( and it makes a difference), more information is needed, but let me give you an example.
In my shop we have to measure the flow of natural gas and air. Typical would be a Rosemont flow transducer, (also called a transmitter or sensor). reading the pressure drop across an orifice plate. Often the output is 4 to 20ma, and an instrument calculates the flow. There are other types, like ultrasonic, vortex, magnetic, etc.
You could possibly find what you are looking for here: