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EXPERIMENT NO. 4 CALIBRATION OF AN ORIFICE PLATE FLOWMETER MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT KING SAUD UNIVERSITY RIYADH Submitted By: ABDULLAH IBN ABDULRAHMAN ID: 123456789 GROUP A EXPERIMENT PERFORMED ON 29/01/2013 1

EXPERIMENT NO. 4 CALIBRATION OF AN ORIFICE …fac.ksu.edu.sa/sites/default/files/SampleReport.pdf · experiment no. 4 calibration of an orifice plate flowmeter mechanical engineering

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EXPERIMENT NO. 4

CALIBRATION OF AN ORIFICE PLATE FLOWMETER

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENTKING SAUD UNIVERSITY

RIYADH

Submitted By:

ABDULLAH IBN ABDULRAHMANID: 123456789

GROUP A

EXPERIMENT PERFORMED ON 29/01/2013

1

1 Introduction

In this experiment an orifice plate flow-meter is calibrated and the calculated coefficientof discharge, Cd, is compared to the given value in the lab report as well as other publisheddata.

The orifice plate flow-meter provides a simple and low cost method for measuring the flowrate in a pipe using the pressure drop measurement across the plate. The orifice plate is acircular plate with a sharp square edge hole in the center inserted in a pipe. When a fluidis allowed to flow inside the pipe, the orifice plate obstructs the flow which results in fluidpressure loss. A schematic diagram of an orifice plate installed in a pipe with flow from leftto right is shown in figure 1. The pressure loss is dependent on the orifice diameter, pipediameter and the flow rate. Hence the flow rate is less than the theoretical flow rate whichwould occur if there were no losses.

Figure 1: Orifice plate schematic

For ideal flow (no viscous effects) the flow rate can be calculated from Bernoulli’s equation,as follows, [3],

p1ρ

+ V 212 + gz1 = p2

ρ+ V 2

22 + gz2 (1)

Where, p, ρ, V , z and g are the fluid pressure, density, velocity, elevation and accelerationdue to gravity, respectively. The subscripts 1 and 2 denote the conditions upstream anddownstream of the plate, respectively, as shown in figure 2

Since the flow is incompressible we can write the flow velocity upstream of the orifice, V1,in terms of the throat velocity, V2, using the continuity equation given in equation 2, [3],

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Figure 2: Orifice plate stations

A1V1 = A2V2 (2)

V1 = A2A1V2 = d2

2d2

1V2 = β2V2 (3)

Where, β = d2d1

and d1, d2 are the pipe and throat diameters, respectively. Substitutingequation 3 into equation 1 assuming the flow is horizontal (z1 = z2 = 0), we get,

V 22 − V 2

12 =

[1−

(d2d1

)4]V 2

2 = 2 (p1 − p2)ρ

(4)

[1− β4

]V 2

2 = 2 (p1 − p2)ρ

(5)

V2 = 1√1− β4

√2 (p1 − p2)

ρ(6)

Since the flow rate, Q, is given by Q = AV , where A and V are the cross-section area andaverage speed at any section, respectively, then we write the flow rate across the orifice plateas follows,

Q = A2V2 = A2√1− β4

√2 (p1 − p2)

ρ(7)

Equation 7, gives an expression for the maximum theoretical volume flow rate assuming idealflow. However, since real flows are viscous, hence, the maximum flow rate will be less thanthe ideal value due to viscous losses. This is taken into account by multiplying the ideal Qby a factor, Cd, this factor is the coefficient of discharge. Hence, we can define the coefficientof discharge as the ratio of actual to ideal volume flow rate.

QActual = CdQIdeal = CdA2√1− β4

√2 (p1 − p2)

ρ(8)

The coefficient of discharge depends on the Reynolds’ number based on the pipe’s diameteras well as the orifice diameter to pipe diameter ratio, β.

The main objective of this experiment is to determine this coefficient. In the next section,the apparatus and techniques used to determine Cd are discussed. In section 3 the results

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and discussion are presented, then finally conclusions are drawn in section 4

2 Apparatus and Techniques

2.1 Apparatus

The orifice plate used is part of SOLTEQ flow-meter measurement apparatus, model FM 101,shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: SOLTEQ flow-meter measurement apparatus, FM101.

The SOLTEQ FM 101 flow meter apparatus consists of three different types of volumeflow-meters. It contains a Venturi type flow-meter, an orifice plate flow-meter as well as aRotameter. All flow-meters are connected in series. The apparatus also includes a flow controlvalve that can be used to adjust the volume flow rate. Water is allowed into the apparatusthrough the water inlet and is dumped through the water outlet as shown in Figure 3. Theapparatus is connected to a TQ H-10 Volumetric Bench, which contains a closed circuit waterpump. The water exiting the FM 101 module is dumped in a collection tank and is pumpedback into the water inlet.

The SOLTEQ FM 101 also contains a multi-tube manometer to measure the differencein pressure across the Venturi and orifice plate flow-meters. The manometer has a range of450 mm and the graduation is in 1 mm increments.

The orifice plate flow-meter, shown in Figure 4(a), is fitted with two pressure taps locatedone tube diameter upstream of the orifice plate and half a tube diameter downstream the plate.The difference in these pressures is the required ∆p in equation 8. The tube diameter, D, isequal to 26 mm while the orifice-meter throat diameter, DT , is equal to 16 mm. Thereforethe ratio of diameters, β, is β = DT

D = 0.6154.

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(a) Orifice plate flow-meter. (b) Rotameter.

Figure 4: SOLTEQ FM-101

2.2 Procedures and Techniques

In this experiment, the SOLTEQ FM-101 was connected to the TQ H-10 Volumetric Bench.The flow-rate was set at three different values 5, 10 and 15 L/min. This was done by adjustingthe flow control valve. The volume flow-rate value was read off the Rotameter. Before anymeasurements were taken, the flow was allowed to reach a steady condition such that there areno air bubbles in the system and all pressure readings were stable. Once the pressure readingsin the manometer were stable and all air bubbles were out, the pressure measurements wererecorded for each volume flow-rate. Each time the valve position changed, the flow was allowedto stabilize before recording the new pressure readings. The measurements were repeated forthe 10 L/min flow-rate case for uncertainty estimates purposes. It is worth noting thatreading the water height in the manometer was difficult due to the fact that the water usedwas clear and the background was white.

3 Results and Discussions

In this section the results will be presented and discussed. The atmospheric pressure andtemperature during the experiment were measured to be 940 ± 1.5 mbar and 22 ± 1 ◦C,respectively. Since the working fluid is water, the water temperature was measured to be20 ± 1 ◦C. The water density, ρ, and viscosity, µ, at this temperature were taken as998.2 kg/m3 and 10−3 Pa · s, respectively, [2].

The pressure measurements upstream, p1, and downstream, p2, of the orifice plate areshown in Table 1. Also shown in Table 1, are the average velocity U and the Reynolds

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number, ReU defined as follows,

U = Q

A= 4QπD2 (9)

ReU = ρUD

µ(10)

Where, ρ and µ are the water density and viscosity, respectively. Finally, using equation 8

Table 1: Pressure MeasurementQ [L/min] 5 10 15 10p1 [mmH2O] 295 286 283 287p2 [mmH2O] 143 220 263 218U [m/s] 0.47 0.31 0.16 0.32ReU 12220 8147 4973 8147Cd 0.667 0.675 0.613 0.667

we can write the coefficient of discharge, Cd, as follows,

Cd = Q

A2

√ρ (1− β4)2 (p1 − p2) (11)

Equation 11 is used to calculate the values of Cd shown in Table 1. The measured dischargecoefficient values are close to the supplied value in the lab manual of 0.63. While recordingthe pressure measurements it was noticed that there are some fluctuations in the pressurevalues. This might be due to the fact that the pipe length between the Venturi-meter ,andthe orifice flow-meter is too short, less than three pipe diameters. This was amplified whenthe flow rate was set to 5L/min, which corresponds to a Re = 4973. This value is in thetransition region, hence the flow is not fully turbulent. To get a better reading there shouldbe longer pipe connecting the venturi-meter and the orifice plate or the Reynolds numbershould be increased. In the next section the uncertainty in measured quantities is presented.

3.1 Uncertainty Analysis

Uncertainty analysis is performed based on two readings of the pressure difference at 10 L/minflow-rate. The values are listed in Table 2.

Table 2: Pressure Measurement for uncertainty estimates at Q = 10 L/minRun 1 2 p Sp

p1 [mmH2O] 286 287 286.5 0.707p2 [mmH2O] 220 218 219 1.414

Where, p and Sp are the mean and standard deviation of the measured pressures, respec-tively. The uncertainty in the measured pressure is given by Up = tα/2,ν

Sp√n, Where t is the

t-distribution and α = 0.05 is the level of significance, and ν = n − 1, where n = 2 is thenumber of observations. Hence, the uncertainties in the upstream and downstream pressures

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are given as follows,

Up1 = t0.05,1Sp1√n

= 12.7060.707√2

= 6.35 mm H2O (12)

Up2 = t0.05,1Sp2√n

= 12.7061.414√2

= 12.71 mm H2O (13)

(14)

Using, equation 11 we can estimate the uncertainty in Cd, UCd, as follows, [4],

UCd=

√(∂Cd∂Q

UQ

)2+(∂Cd∂p1

Up1

)2+(∂Cd∂p2

Up2

)2(15)

The uncertianty in the measured flow-rate is taken to be 4% Full Scale, such that δQ =0.88 L/min. Using equation 11 and the calculated pressure and flow-rate uncertainties wecan evaluate the uncertainty in Cd as UCd

= ±0.075.Since in general the discharge coefficient is a function of the Reynolds number, Re, a plot of

the measured Cd versus the Reynolds number is shown in Figure 5. Also shown in the figureis a curve fit for experimental data reported in the literature versus Re as given by equation16, [1]. The length L1 and L2 are the pressure taps locations’ upstream and downstream,respectively. In this case, L1 = d1 and L2 = d2.

Figure 5: Discharge coefficient versus Reynolds number.

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Cd = 0.5959 + 0.0312β2.1 − 0.1840β8 + 0.0029β2.5(

106

Re

)0.75

+0.0900(L1D

)[β4

(1− β4)

]− 0.0337

(L2D

)β3 (16)

The measured coefficient of discharge is Cd = 0.67± 0.075 while the value supplied in the labmanual is 0.63. This is about 6% difference. However, the measured values are within 4.5%from the empirical relation given by equation 16 for Q = 10, 15 L/min while the differenceis 8% for the case Q = 5 L/min. This is probably due to the low Reynolds number which isin the transition region. To get higher accuracy we need to make more measurements withmore accurate pressure transducers.

4 Conclusions

In this work the discharge coefficient of an orifice plate flow-meter was estimated at threevalues of flow rate, Q = 5, 10 and 15 L/min. The measured values were compared with thevalues obtained from the lab manual and from a curve fit of empirical data. The followingconclusions are made,• The mean coefficient of discharge was estimated to be Cd = 0.67± 0.075

• The difference between current measured Cd and values in the literature are withinexperimental uncertainty

• Main source of uncertainty is the unsteadiness in pressure measurement. This is due tothe fact that the Reynolds number is in the transition region for low values of flow rates

• The variation in Cd versus the Reynolds number follows the curve fit of empirical datain the literature

• The results can be improved if a more accurate manometer is used as well as more datapoints are taken

• Using a very light dye in the water would improve will eliminate human reading errors

References[1] Emperical fit for cd: www.brighthubengineering.com/.

[2] Water properties: www.engineeringtoolbox.com/.

[3] Robert W. Fox Alan T. McDonald Philip J. Pritchard. Fluid Mechanics. John Wiley &Sons, eighth edition, 2012.

[4] Thomas G. Beckwith Roy D. Marangoni John H. Lienhard V. Mechanical Measurements.Addison Wesley, fifth edition, 1993.

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