Orifice Plate Test Results

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Multidisciplinary Senior Design

P12056Ergonomic Improvements to Personal Smoke Monitoring Device

Christina Smith

April 9, 2012

Orifice Plate Test Results

A test was conducted on the orifice plate and the pressure sensor in order to test the consistencyof the orifice place and its compatibility with the pressure sensor.

Setup

Using the flow meter setup from Project 12055, a labview program (Program is available on

Edge under the Orifice Plate and Pressure Sensor section of the Test Plan) was created to read

and record flow meter readings. The same program also read and recorded data from our chosen

pressure sensor(MB-LPS1-01-200U5R).

Picture 1

Picture 1 shows the setup of theflow meter(AlicatScientific M-50SLPM-D-30PSIA/5M). The male to

female adapter is screwed into the left side of the flo

meter. The yellow tubing fixed to the adapter is

connected to the clear hose, which is shown attached

the orifice plate in Picture 3.
https://edge.rit.edu/content/P12056/public/MB-LPS1-01-200U5R.pdfhttps://edge.rit.edu/content/P12056/public/MB-LPS1-01-200U5R.pdfhttps://edge.rit.edu/content/P12055/public/Alicat%20M%20Series%20Flow%20Meterhttps://edge.rit.edu/content/P12055/public/Alicat%20M%20Series%20Flow%20Meterhttps://edge.rit.edu/content/P12055/public/Alicat%20M%20Series%20Flow%20Meterhttps://edge.rit.edu/content/P12055/public/Alicat%20M%20Series%20Flow%20Meterhttps://edge.rit.edu/content/P12056/public/MB-LPS1-01-200U5R.pdf


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Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 2 shows the setup of the right side of the flow

meter. The flexible tubing is inserted into the smaller left

hole. The other end of the tubing is to the vacuum pump.

Picture 3 shows the setup of the orifice plate. The clear

tubing on the right side of the orifice plate is attached to

the flow meter shown in Picture 1. The two small clear

tubes attached to the pressure taps are attached to the

pressure sensor circuitry. A cigarette is inserted into theleft side of the orifice plate.


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Pictures 4 and 5 show the entire setup of the experiment (the pressure sensor is not hooked up in these

pictures)

Picture 4


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Picture 5


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Pictures 6 and 7 show the setup for the DAQ. AN NI-6008 DAQ was used, which I integrated

within the Labview program for the test.

Picture 6

Picture 7


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Procedure

After zeroing the flow meter and the vacuum pump, the labview program was started. The flow

meter was increased by approximately 0.25 L/min every 15-20 seconds, until it reached 4.25

L/min. This process was repeated five times.

Results and Analysis

The labivew program outputs the flow meter data in mL/s, so no conversion is needed. The

pressure sensor data is outputted as a voltage drop. In order to convert the voltage to a pressure

drop, the following data was taken from the pressure sensor data sheet:

Figure 1


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Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 1 shows the full scale of our

selected pressure sensor to be 0-2 H20

The ratiometric output of this series of

pressure sensor provides a maximum

output voltage of 4.5V, as stated in the

general description on the data sheet.

Using this information, as well as the

linear relationship provided in Figure 2

we can create a linear relationship for

out specific pressure sensor. Taking th

inverse of this relationship gives us the

graph shown in Figure 3. The equation

y = 0.4938x0.2222 represents the

pressure change as a function of voltagoutput. Using this conversion factor, w

were able to create the graph shown in

Figure 4.


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Figure 4


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Figure 5 shows the best-fit equation and R2value for each of the respective trials, as well as the

theoretical curve, final calibration curve, and drilled out curve. The calibration curve was derived

as an average of the best fit curves for the five trials.

Many of the people surveyed about the orifice plate stated that they experience a lot of resistance

when smoking through the device. In order to try and reduce this, the team drilled out the end of

the orifice plate. Figure 6 shows the schematics of the orifice plate before and after being drilled

out. A new test was then performed on the optimized orifice plate, the results of which can be

seen in Figure 4.

The predicted pressure given by the theoretical curve in Figure 4 was shown to be much higher

than the actual pressure drop recorded in our original trials. This could have been because of

numerous step downs present in the tubing used in our experiment. The tubing connecting the

vacuum pump to the flow meter was not tightly fitted into the input hole, and we could likely

benefit from a tighter seal in the future.

Trial Equation R2

1 y = 0.00015653x2+ 0.00257933x - 0.00168944 0.99773962

2 y = 0.00015737x2+ 0.00270556x - 0.00574824 0.99898271

3 y = 0.00015972x2+ 0.00238248x + 0.00010354 0.99846106

4 y = 0.00015960x2+ 0.00239955x + 0.00093494 0.99962162

5 y = 0.00015653x2+ 0.00257933x - 0.00168944 0.99773962

Calibrated Curve y = 0.00015833x2+ 0.00251597x - 0.00114353 0.99885096

Theoretical Curve y = 0.00035559x2- 0.00135681x + 0.00362593 0.99999084

Drilled Out y = 0.00024226x2+ 0.00311794x + 0.00044809 0.99962256

Figure 5


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Figure 6

Conclusions

Overall, the orifice plate proved that it is capable of producing consistent data. Each of the five

trials showed very little variation, with minimal outliers. The calibration curve derived from this

experiment can be used in the future to predict a pressure drop from a given flow rate.

Documents

Orifice Plate Test Results