Flow Measurements

Objectives

1. The students can measure flow rates of the fluids by Orifice measurement, Venturi
measurement, Pitot tube measurement, Rotameter and Hydraulic bench.
2. The students can determine the values of Discharge Coefficient of Orifice Measurement,
Venturi Measurement, Pitot-Static Measurement and Rotameter.

Introduction

Flow measurements become a significant subject of fluid mechanic in engineering for two
main reasons. The first reason is that fluid measurement is utilized in many daily life
applications. Some applications are daily and practically used. Sufficient understanding of
the principles can help to use the instruments properly. The second reason is providing the
student skill of measuring fluid velocity. The fluid velocity is very dominant variables in fluid
mechanics and applied thermodynamic. These subjects are the main courses in mechanical
engineering.

Flow measurements are easily found in daily life. When people go to Oil Station, they find
fuel dispenser with some instruments for measuring the fuel that people buy. People can
also find the flow measurement on their water tap meter that counts how much water that
they consume. Such instrument also can be easily found in chemical industries, power
plants, food - beverage industries, and any others. Some measurement principles are
applied in analytical instruments. It sounds that flow measurement is very important in
current life.

Currently, there are some basic principles of flow measurement. They are weir-notch
measurement, direct measuring flow meter, pressure difference flow meters, positive
displacement flow meter, variable area flow meters, electromagnetic flow meter, ultrasonic
flow meter, and Coriolis flow meter. Every method has its own advantage and disadvantage.
It also appropriates for specific application that should consider type of flow, range of flow,
accuracy, and some other aspects. Apart of the first method that is suitable for open
channel flow measurement, the other methods are applicable for in pipe flows. It means
that understanding of the pros and contras of every instrument is important.

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 Figure 1. Some flow measurement instruments that we daily find (oil dispenser, water
meter, pitot of the aircraft, single direction digital turbine flow-meter)

Orifice Meter

Orifice measurement is based on Bernoulli’s equation. It is based on pressure difference of

the flow before the orifice and the flow after the orifice (especially on vena contracta). Due
to friction effect, the actual velocity of the fluid flow doesn’t exactly equal to theory that is
derived from Bernoulli’s equation. There is a coefficient that is called discharge coefficient.
The discharge coefficient tells about the friction correction of the measurement to the
Bernoulli’s ideal condition.

(http://www.engineeringexcelspreadsheets.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Orifice-Meter-Parameters.jpg)

Figure 2. Orifice meter diagram. Measurement should be done in fully developed flow.

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The velocity of the fluid flow on the vena contracta is defined by Eq. (1).
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𝑉2 = √2𝑔∆ℎ (1)
𝐷 4
√1−( 2 )
𝐷1

The actual flow rate is determined by Eg. (2).

𝐶𝑂 𝐴𝑂
𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡 = √2𝑔∆ℎ (2)
𝐷 4
√1−( 𝑂 )
𝐷1

where :

𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡 = actual flow rate

𝐶𝑂 = coefficient of discharge for orifice

𝐴𝑂 = cross section area of the orifice

𝐷1 = pipe diameter, (29 mm)

𝐷𝑂 = orifice diameter, (20 mm)

∆ℎ = difference in pressure head

Venturi Meter

(http://img.bhs4.com/a0/d/a0d93423fff524d13dd4bc1c20adf37327b0de95_large.jpg)

Figure 3. Venturi meter diagram

The venturi meter also exploits pressure difference between flow at inlet and flow at throat
by applying the Bernoulli’s equation. In this equipment, the flow rate is defined by Eq. (3).

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 𝐶𝑉 𝐴2
𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡 = √2𝑔∆ℎ (3)
𝐷 4
√1−( 2 )
𝐷1

where :

𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡 = actual flow rate

𝐶𝑉 = coefficient of discharge for venturi

𝐴2 = cross section area of the throat

𝐷1 = pipe diameter, (29 mm)

𝐷2 = throat diameter, (17 mm)

∆ℎ = difference in pressure head

Pitot Tube

(protorit.blogspot.com)

Figure 4. Pitot tube diagram. The stagnation point is on the tip of the tube.

Pitot Tube is a kind of flow meter instrument that applies the pressure difference of the
stagnation point and another place on fluid flow. In this case, the velocity of fluid flowing on
the stagnation point is assumed as zero. The equation to calculate the actual flow rate of
flowing liquid is

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 𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡 = 𝐶𝑃 𝐴1 √2𝑔∆ℎ (4)

where :

𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡 = actual flow rate

𝐶𝑃 = coefficient of discharge for pitot tube

𝐴1 = cross section area of the pipe (D1=19 mm)

∆ℎ = difference in pressure head

Rotameter

This kind of flowing instrument is applying the force balance on the floater for measuring
the flow rate. The equation for determining the velocity of the fluid is provided at Eq. (5).

√2𝑉𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑔(𝜌𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 −𝜌𝑓 )

𝑉𝑓 = (5)
𝐶𝐷 𝐴𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝜌𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

where :

𝑉𝑓 = velocity of the fluid flow

𝑉𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 = volume of the floater

𝐶𝐷 = coefficient of the discharge

𝐴𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 = Cross section area of the floater

𝑔 = 9.81 m/s 2

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Experiment Design

To achieve the objectives, the experiment is designed to have 2 main parts. These parts are
calibration process and measurement using orifice, venturi and pitot tube. The tables that
student has to complete represent this approach. At the calibration, the students learn how
to use Hydraulic Bench for calibrating orifice, venturi and pitot tube. The student will use
rotameter as the instrument for approximating the specific flow rates. Then the student will
use HB for measuring the ‘referenced flow rate’. They should do this experiment many
times and average the results. Meanwhile, they have to record the pressure difference of
each instrument. Comparison of the referenced flow rate and their pressured difference
records are utilized for determining the coefficient of discharges. The result of this process
is coefficient of discharge for every instrument. The second part asks the students to use
the coefficient of discharges that they get for measuring the volumetric flow rate. They just
need to apply the coefficient of discharge into the pressure difference that they have. A
complete experiment design is provided in the flowchart of Fig. 5.

Record the time

Set the rotameter Calculate the flow-
Start needed for 5
flow-rate rates
different HB volume

Record the pressure Average the flow-

difference rates

Square root
the pressure Referenced
Create the graph
difference flow-rate
height

Calculate the
coefficient of
discharge
Calibration process

Calculate the flow Coefficient

rate of discharge

Volumetric
flow rate
end
according
instrument

Measuring rocess

Figure 5. Complete experiment design. The experiment consists of calibration process and
measuring process.

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Experiment Procedure

Equipments

The experiment will be done on HB 106 flow meters that consist of

1. Rotameter
2. Orifice Meter
3. Venturi Meter
4. Pitot Tube
5. Hydrolic Bench
6. Stopwatch

(http://essom.com/product/details/13/29)

Figure 6. The equipment for experiment (HB 016 flow measurement set) and the position of
flow measurement instruments.

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Steps of experiment

1. Start the pump and open the bench flow control valve until air bubbles are completely
removed from the test set. Then reduce the flow rate to about 10 lpm or required flow
rate. (As rotameter shows)
2. Observe water levels in the manometer and ensure that all levels can be observed. If
they are too high, pump air into the manometer head manifold. If they are too low,
slightly close the test equipment discharge valve or bleed air out from the manometer
head manifold by vent valve.
3. Record manometer levels for each flow measuring device.
4. Record the measuring tank volume and time. (Hint : You should proceed at least 5
consecutive times and plot them into graph)
5. Repeat the steps for another flow rate (as you are aked).

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 Tabel of data

Measuring Device Approximate flow rate on Rotameter (liter per minute)

Vol (liter) time (s) Qi time (s) Qi time (s) Qi time (s) Qi time (s) Qi

Hydraulics Bench
Hydraulics Bench

Measuring Tank

Average flow rate, (liter per second)

Average flow rate, (liter per minute)
Average flow rate, (m3/s)
Water manometer level, high (mm)
Water manometer level, low (mm)
Orifice

Level difference, ∆ℎ (mm)

Flow rate, Q (liter/minute)
Water manometer level, high (mm)
Water manometer level, low (mm)
Venturi

Level difference, ∆ℎ (mm)

Flow rate, Q (liter/minute)
Water manometer level, high (mm)
Pitot Tube

Water manometer level, low (mm)

Level difference, ∆ℎ, (mm)
Flow rate, Q (liter/minute)
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 Calculation Tables

Orifice Meter

𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡 (m3/s) ∆ℎ (m) √∆ℎ(m1/2) 𝐶𝑂

Venturi Meter

𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡 (m3/s) ∆ℎ (m) √∆ℎ(m1/2) 𝐶𝑣

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 Pitot Tube

𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡 (m3/s) ∆ℎ (m) √∆ℎ(m1/2) 𝐶𝑃

Comparison of Measurement

Hydraulic Bench Rotameter Orifice Venturi Pitot Tube

Q (liter/min) Q (liter/min) Q (liter/min) Q (liter/min) Q (liter/min)

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 Comparison of the Flow Meters

Measurement Venturi Orifice Hydraulics

Rotameter Pitot Tube Notes
Necessity Meter Meter Bench

Unsteady flow

Turbid Fluids

Different
direction of
flow
Different type
of fluid
(different ρ)

High Accuracy

Low velocity
flow

High velocity
flow

High
temperature

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 Some Miscellaneous Flow Measurements Apparatus

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