You are on page 1of 22

Introduction:

Throughout the experiment, the three apparatus being studied are the Venturi, Orifice and
Rotameter. The venturi meter (Diagram 2) through using differential pressure, which is the
pressure difference between the pressure entering the meter and the pressure at the neck of the
meter. After the constricted area, the fluid is passes through a pressure recovery exit section,
where up to 80% of the differential pressure generated at the constricted area, is recovered. The
Venturi meter is generally preferred because it has less head loss than the other methods due to
its streamlined design.
The Orifice meter functions similarly to the Venturi meter. As the fluid approaches the orifice
the pressure increases slightly and then drops suddenly as the orifice is passed. It continues to
drop until the vena contracta is reached and then gradually increases until at approximately 5
to 8 diameters downstream a maximum pressure point is reached that will be lower than the
pressure upstream of the orifice. The decrease in pressure as the fluid passes thru the orifice is a
result of the increased velocity of the gas passing thru the reduced area of the orifice. When the
velocity decreases as the fluid leaves the orifice the pressure increases and tends to return to its
original level. All of the pressure loss is not recovered because of friction and turbulence losses
in the stream. The pressure drop across the orifice (Diagram 1) increases when the rate of flow
increases. When there is no flow there is no differential. The differential pressure is proportional
to the square of the velocity.
The rotameter's (Diagram3) operation is based on the variable area principle: fluid flow raises a
float in a tapered tube, increasing the area for passage of the fluid. The greater the flow, the
higher the float is raised. The height of the float is directly proportional to the flowrate. With
liquids, the float is raised by a combination of the buoyancy of the liquid and the velocity head of
the fluid. With gases, buoyancy is negligible, and the float responds to the velocity head alone.
The float moves up or down in the tube in proportion to the fluid flowrate and the annular area
between the float and the tube wall. The float reaches a stable position in the tube when the
upward force exerted by the flowing fluid equals the downward gravitational force exerted by the
weight of the float. A change in flowrate upsets this balance of forces. The float then moves up
or down, changing the annular area until it again reaches a position where the forces are in
equilibrium. To satisfy the force equation, the rotameter float assumes a distinct position for
every constant flowrate. However, it is important to note that because the float position is gravity
dependent, rotameters must be vertically oriented and mounted.
In a nozzle or other constriction, the coefficient of discharge is the ratio of the mass flow rate at
the discharge end of the nozzle to that of an ideal nozzle which expands an identical working
fluid from the same initial conditions to the same exit pressure.
Whenever the fluid speed is sufficiently subsonic (V < mach 0.3),
the incompressibleBernoulli's equation describes the flow. Applying this equation to a streamline
travelling down the axis of the horizontal tube gives,

From continuity, the throat velocity V
b
can be substituted out of the above equation to give,

Solving for the upstream velocity V
a
and multiplying by the cross-sectional area A
a
gives the
volumetric flow rate Q,



Ideal, inviscid fluids would obey the above equation. The small amounts of energy converted
into heat within viscous boundary layers tend to lower the actual velocity of real fluids
somewhat. A discharge coefficient C is typically introduced to account for the viscosity of fluids,



C is found to depend on the Reynolds Number of the flow, and usually lies between 0.90 and
0.98 for smoothly tapering venturis.
The mass flow rate can be found by multiplying Q with the fluid density,
















Objectives:
a. To compare flow measurements by Venturi meter, Orifice meter and Rotameter
b. To determine the coefficients of discharge for the Venturi and Orifice meters, and to
calibrate the Rota meter.
c. To compare the pressure drops across each device and also across a gradual enlargement
and a sharp bend.

Apparatus:
TecQuipment Flow Measuring Apparatus, TecQuipment Hydraulic Bench, stopwatch
Important dimensions:
Inlet and outlet diameters of the venture tube = 25.4mm
Throat diameter of the venturi tube = 15.9mm
Change of diameters at gradual enlargement = 25.4 to 50.8mm
Included angle of gradual enlargement = 53
Diameter of orifice = 22.2mm
Change of diameter in sharp bend = 50.8 to 38.1mm


Diagram 1 showing an Orifice meter



Diagram 2 showing a Venturi meter


Diagram 3 showing a Rotameter


Diagram 4 Showing the positioning of each meter in the experiment apparatus




Procedure:
The flow measuring apparatus was mounted on top of the Hydraulics Bench facing the weight
hanger. The end of the supply hose from the pump was put unto the inlet pipe. The end of the
discharge hose was positioned so as to lead the discharge to the weight tank.
It was ensured that the supply valve was closed. The outlet gate valve at the top of the unit was
fully opened. The brass valve in the vent line tube to the right of the manometer panel was
closed, before the pump was switched on. The bench supply valve was opened slowly/gradually.
All air bubbles were allowed to leave the flow passages and manometer tubes to help in this
process the tubes were gently tapped to allow the bubbles to leave. The bench supply valve was
adjusted to give a high reading of about 250mm on the Rotameter scale. A pencil was then used
to gently depress the air valve at the left end of the manifold, at the top of the manometer panel,
to release air and bring the level of h1 up to about 350mm. Alternatively, the brass valve in the
vent line at the right of the manometer panel was cracked open to achieve the same effect. All 8
manometric readings were recorded. A stopwatch was used to time the collection of about
13.6kg of water. This procedure was repeated, gradually reducing the flow rate down to a low
reading of about 40mm on the Rotameter to obtain a total of at least 6 sets of readings.
The pump was switched off, the brass valve in the vent line opened and the water allowed to
drain off the unit back to the sump. The bench supply valve and the brass valves were then
closed.

RESULTS

Table 1 showing the results obtained from the Venturi, Orifice and Rota meters in the experiment



Table Showing Readings for The Venturi Meter

1/2
m
1/2
Flow Rate (Q) m
3
/s
0.276 0.525 0.00048
0.212 0.46 0.000428
0.136 0.369 0.00038
0.106 0.326 0.000299
0.082 0.286 0.000264
0.048 0.219 0.000196
0.047 0.217 0.000114

Table 2 showing some readings obtained from the Venturi meter.


ROTAMETER
(mm) MASS kg TIME (s) kg/s h1 h2 h h3 h4 h h5 h6 h h7 h8 h
250 13.636 28.39 0.48031 35 7.4 27.6 30.5 31 -0.5 32.8 12 20.8 16.2 10 6.2
220 13.636 31.89 0.427595 31.2 10 21.2 27.8 28 -0.2 29.4 13.4 16 16.6 11.8 4.8
170 13.636 40.38 0.337692 26 12.4 13.6 23.6 24 -0.4 25 14.8 10.2 17 14 3
150 13.636 45.57 0.299232 24.1 13.5 10.6 22.3 22.4 -0.1 23.4 15.4 8 17 14.6 2.4
130 13.636 51.7 0.263752 22.6 14.4 8.2 21.2 21.6 -0.4 22.1 15.8 6.3 17 15.2 1.8
90 13.636 69.64 0.195807 20.2 15.4 4.8 19.2 19.2 0 19.6 16.4 3.2 17 16 1
40 13.636 119.15 0.114444 18.2 13.5 4.7 17.8 17.8 0 18 16.8 1.2 17.1 16.7 0.4
MEASURED FLOW VENTURIMETER ENLARGEMENT ORFICE METER 90 BEND
Readings Obtained from the Orifice meter
The square root of
1/2
m
1/2
Flow Rate (Q) m
3
/s
0.000208 0.0144 0.00048
0.00016 0.0126 0.000428
0.000102 0.0101 0.00038
0.000008 0.00283 0.000299
0.000063 0.00794 0.000264
0.000032 0.00566 0.000196
0.000012 0.00346 0.000114

Table 3 Showing results obtained from the Orifice meter



Graph 1 showing the Discharge versus h^1/2 of the Venturi meter

y = 0.0011x - 6E-05
R = 0.9329
0
0.0001
0.0002
0.0003
0.0004
0.0005
0.0006
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
D
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e

(
Q
)

m
^
1
/
2

m
^
1
/
2

(h)^1/2 m^1/2
Discharge (Q) m3/s vs (h)^1/2 m^1/2
Flow Rate (Q) m3/s
Linear (Flow Rate (Q) m3/s)


Graph 2 showing the Discharge versus h^1/2 of the Orifice meter


Discussion:
The results obtained were used to plot graphs of discharge versus h. For the graphs obtained
from the Venturi and Orifice meters, it was observed that there is a direct correlation between the
two entities. As a result a straight line graph was obtained for both meters. As the difference in
h increases thee is also an increase in the values of Q and vice versa. It was found that the
coefficient of discharge for a venturi meter should be at or around 0.98 and that of the orifice
meter should be at or around 0.64. From the calculations the experimental values found for the
respective meters were 0.97 and 0.47. The venturi meter fell in the range it was supposed to nut
the reading of the orifice meter fell short. The venture meter was off by just 0.01 while the
orifice meter was off by 0.17.
The head loss caused by venturi meter is much smaller than that of the orifice meter. This is
because the diameter of the neck of the venturi meter is smaller than that between the orifice
meter with the 90
o
bend. The manometer readings for h
6
and h
7
should not be the same because
y = 0.0008x + 0.0001
R = 0.7417
0
0.0001
0.0002
0.0003
0.0004
0.0005
0.0006
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
D
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e

(
Q
)

m
^
3
/
s

(h)^1/2 m1/2
Discharge (Q) m3/s vs (h)^1/2 m^1/2
Flow Rate (Q) m3/s
Linear (Flow Rate (Q)
m3/s)
there is a difference in diameter between the two. The coefficient of the enlargement was
calculated to be very small because the head loss is also small and the coefficient of the 90
o
bend
is 0 because there is no head loss.


Pressure losses for the orifice and flow nozzles are similar but quite significant,
However pressure losses were lower for the venturi meter.
To ensure that the readings were taken correctly, throughout the experiment the tubes should be
tapped slightly to ensure that there is no air bubbles that develop even though at the beginning it
was ensured that there were no bubbles in the system.
Conclusion
The objectives of this experiment were successful in that the flow measurement of venturi meter,
orifice meter, and rotameter were all compared with each other and all have shown to have
different flow rate.
The coefficients of discharge for the venturi and orifice meters were 0.97 and .046 respectively.
The pressure drops experienced across each device, the enlargement and the 90 bend were all
different due to the varying diameters that the fluid passes through.
References
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). 1971. Fluid meters: Their theory and
application. Edited by H. S. Bean. 6ed. Report of ASME Research Committee on Fluid Meters
wefunda.com/formulae/fluids/venturi_flowmeter.cfmww.
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/bern.html





Calculations
Measured Flow =
39 . 28
636 . 13
=
t
mass

= 0.48031 kg/s
Volumetric Flow rate (Q) = Measured Flow/ (density)
Density of water is 1000 kg/m
3

1000
48031 . 0
=
s m / 10 48031 . 0
3 3
=
Venturi Meter Ah = h
1
- h
2

Ah = 350-74
= 276 cm
Enlargement Ah = h
3
- h
4

Ah = 305-310
= -5cm
Orifice Meter Ah = h
5
h
6

Ah = 328-120
= 208mm
Bend Ah = h
7
h
8

Ah = 162-100
= 62mm
Converting millimetres to meters
1m = 1000mm
Therefore from venture meter calculations 276 mm = 276/1000
= 0.276 m
m
h
525 . 0
276 . 0
2 / 1
=
= A




Venturi Meter

( )
2
1 2
2
1
2
A A
h g
A C Q
d

A
=
The graph plotted yields a straight line thus the equation, y = mx + c where Q = y, x = Ah and m
=
( )
2
1 2
2
1
2
A A
g
A C
d


The gradient m = 0.0011 from the graph
C
d
=
( )
g A
A A m
2
/ 1
2
2
1 2


4
2
1
1
t d
A =
d
1
= 25.4 mm or 25.410
-3
m
( )
2 4
1
2
3
1
10 067 . 5
4
10 4 . 25
m A
A

=
t

4
2
2
2
t d
A =

d
2
= 15.9 mm or 15.910
-3
m


( )
973 . 0
10 803 . 8
779 . 0 0011 . 0
784 . 9 2 10 99 . 1
10 067 . 5 / 10 99 . 1 1 0011 . 0
4
4
4 4
=

=


=


d
d
d
C
C
C


Orifice Meter
h g A C Q
d
A = 2
The graph plotted yield a straight line thus the equation y = mx + c, where y = Q and
x = Ah and m g A C m
d
2 =

g A
m
C
d
2
0
=

The gradient m = 0.0008 from the graph

4
2
1
0
t d
A =
Where d
1
= 22.210
-3
m

( )
2 4
1
2
3
0
10 87 . 3
4
10 2 . 22
m A
A

=
t

( )
2 4
2
2
3
2
10 986 . 1
4
10 9 . 15
m A
A

=
t

467 . 0
568 . 19 10 87 . 3
0008 . 0
4
=

=

d
d
C
C


Venturi Meter
Head loss (h
l
) = h
1
h
3

= 350 305
= 45mm
Inlet velocity

A
Q
v
vA Q
=
=

Where Q = 0.4810
-3
m
3
/s and A = 1.9910
-4
m
2
s m v
v
/ 41 . 2
10 99 . 1
10 48 . 0
4
3
=


Velocity head (h
v
)
g
v
2
2
=

m h
h
v
v
297 . 0
568 . 19
8081 . 5
=
=



Head loss/inlet velocity head ratio (h
l
/h
v
)
h
l
/h
v
m
m
297 . 0
040 . 0
=

= 0.135

Orifice Meter
Head loss = h
5
h
7

= 328-162
= 166mm
Inlet velocity head for orifice

A
Q
v
vA Q
=
=

Where Q = .4810
-3
m
3
/s and A = 3.8710
-4
m
2

s m v
v
/ 24 . 1
10 87 . 3
10 48 . 0
4
3
=


Head Velocity (h
v
)
g
v
2
2
=

m h
h
v
v
2
10 86 . 7
568 . 19
538 . 1

=
=

Head loss/inlet velocity head (h
l
/h
v
)
h
l
/h
v
m
m
0786 . 0
166 . 0
=

= 2.11

Enlargement
Bernoullis equation
g
v
g
P
Z
g
v
g
P
Z
2 2
2
2 2
2
2
1 1
1
+ + = + +


mm Z Z 70
2 1
=

g
v
g
v
g
P
g
P
Z Z
2
) (
2
3
2
4 4 3
2 1
= +


d
4
= 50.8mm
d
3
= 25.4mm

4
2
4
4
t d
A =

( )
2 3
4
2
3
4
10 0268 . 2
4
10 8 . 50
m A
A

=
t


( )
2 4
3
2
3
3
10 067 . 5
4
10 4 . 25
m A
A

=
t


4
4
A
Q
v
vA Q
=
=


s m v
v
/ 237 . 0
10 0268 . 2
10 48 . 0
4
3
3
4
=



s m v
v
/ 9473 . 0
10 067 . 5
10 48 . 0
3
4
3
3
=


( ) g v v h h 2 /
2
3
2
4 4 3
=

( )
568 . 19
9473 . 0 237 . 0
2 2
4 3

= h h
= -0.043m
h
e
= Ah
1
- Ah
m

Where Ah
1
= -0.043m and Ah
m
= 0.305-0.310 = -0.005
h
e
= -0.043-(-0.005) = -0.038m
g V K h
e e
2 /
2
1
=

1
1
A
Q
v
vA Q
=
=

Where A
1
= 5.067 10
-4
m
2
and Q = 0.48 10
-3
m
3
/s

s m v
v
/ 947 . 0
10 067 . 5
10 48 . 0
1
4
3
1
=



g v
h
K
e
e
2
2
1
=

784 . 9 2 947 . 0
038 . 0
2

=
e
K
K
e
= -0.829
Sharp Bend
d
7
= 50.8mm
d
8
= 38.1mm

4
2
7
7
t d
A =

4
) 10 8 . 50 (
2 3
7
t

= A
A
7
= 2.0268 10
-3
m
2


4
) 10 1 . 38 (
2 3
8
t

= A
A
8
= 1.14 10
-3
m
2




7
7
A
Q
v
vA Q
=
=


s m v
v
/ 2368 . 0
10 0268 . 2
10 48 . 0
7
3
3
7
=



s m v
v
/ 421 . 0
10 14 . 1
10 48 . 0
7
3
3
8
=


( ) g v v h h 2 /
2
7
2
8 8 7
=

( )
568 . 19
2368 . 0 421 . 0
2 2
8 7

= h h
= 6.19 10
-3
m
h
s
= h
(7-8)
-h
m2

h
m2
= 0.162-0.10 = 0.062
h
s
= 6.1910
-3
- 0.062
= -0.000384 m
g V K h
s s
2 /
2
1
=

g v
h
K
s
s
2
2
1
=
Where v = 0.974m/s

784 . 9 2 237 . 0
000384 . 0
2

=
e
K
= -0.134

















The University of Technology, Jamaica
Thermal Fluid Science Lab. 1
Flow Measuring Apparatus


















Name: George Robinson
I.D. # 0907818
Lecturer: Mr Kavian Cook

You might also like