Flow Through an Orifice

Laboratory Experiment

Mohammad Luqman Hakim Bin Mechanical Engineering

The experiment conducted resulted in findings of Coefficient of Discharge (Cd) value at various

heads (Ho). This Cd value can be calculated by dividing Actual Mass Flowrate (Qact) with

Theoretical Mass Flowrate (Qth). Qact can be measured from the Hyrdaulic Bench. Qth can be

calculated using the formula 𝑄𝑡ℎ = 𝐴𝑜 √2𝐺𝐻 with Ao is the cross-sectional area of orifice and

H is the static head.

Introduction

Orifice plate experiment have the same application as the orifice meter that is used in most

of engineering industry that handles fluids. The reason of the usage of orifice meter in the

said industry is to measure the consistent flowrate of fluids that the factory used to meet a

high efficiency measures for the company in terms of money and time.

Three examples of where the orifice meter is relevantly used are;

1. Water treatment plants

2. Natural gas industries

3. Petrochemical plants

The objectives of this laboratory experiment are;

1. To determine the flow velocities using Pitot tube

2. To calculate the Coefficient of Contraction (Cc).

3. To calculate the Coefficient of Discharge (Cd).

4. To calculate the Coefficient of Velocity (Cv) by multiplying Cc and Cd.

As the tank diameter is much larger than the orifice diameter, the velocity of the water in the

tank in the direction of the orifice flow is very low and can be neglected. The velocity of water

slowly increases as it approaches the orifice. The streamline of the flow is shown in figure 2,

from point 1 on the water surface of the tank to point 2 which is at the smallest area of the

jet. The water jet will reduce its diameter after passing through the orifice. This is known as

Vena Contracta. Pitot head level can be adjusted to measure the velocity of the jet at the Vena

Contracta.

Apply Bernoulli’s equation between point 1 and point 2 which gives;

𝑃1 𝑢12 𝑃2 𝑢22
+ + 𝑧1 = + + 𝑧2
𝜌𝑔 2𝑔 𝜌𝑔 2𝑔

P Pressure N/m2

U Velocity m/s

ρg or γ Specific weight of fluid N/m3

g Acceleration due to gravity m/s2

Z Elevation m
 𝑃 𝑃2
P1 and P2 have the same pressure resulting in cancel off 𝜌𝑔1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 on both sides.
𝜌𝑔

𝑧2 has zero value because of no elevation measured from only at the bottom of the orifice

tank.

𝑢12 has zero value because of the velocity of the water at the surface of water in the orifice

tank is neglected and can be considered approximately zero. The velocity at the top of the

orifice tank is considered zero due to the large diameter of the orifice tank compared to

diameter of the orifice plate. This will cause the distortion of water very low at the water

surface and making the velocity of the water starts at stationary and slowly increasing when

reaching the bottom of the orifice tank or in another word is when it is moving closer to the

orifice plate.

From the eliminations of the known zero values, what left is as below;

𝑢22
𝑧1 =
2𝑔

By rearranging we will get;

𝑢2 = √2𝑔𝑧1

To measure mass flowrate, velocity is needed to be multiplied with area of the orifice (A0).

The value of z1 is in meter so can be written as H which stands for Static Head.

This will give the final equation of the Theoretical Mass Flowrate (Qth) with the unit of volume

per second (m3/s).

𝑄𝑡ℎ = 𝐴0 √2𝑔𝐻
Equipment

 The picture above shows the orifice tank setup.

 Water supply is flown into the orifice tank from the inlet pipe through the diffuser.
 Diffuser have a basket shaped cage to disperse the fast-moving water flow to

decrease the disturbance of water at the surface of the water to ensure the static

head can be measured precisely.

Static Head (H) Dynamic Head

 There are two manometers on the orifice tank. First is used to measure the static

head (H) and the second one is to measure the dynamic head (Hc).

 H is measured when the manometer tube is connected to the bottom of the orifice

tank.
 Micrometre screw

Pitot tube

 In the picture above, Hc is measured using the manometer tube connected to the

pitot tube located below of the water flow coming out from the bottom of the orifice

tank through the orifice plate.

 There are several types of orifice nozzles available in the laboratory. The diameter of

the orifice is 12 mm.

o Channel

o Nozzle outlet: cone

o Nozzle inlet: orifice

o Nozzle inlet: cone

o Nozzle inlet: rounded

 However, there are only two sets of calculations with two types of orifice nozzles

which is the Channel and the Nozzle outlet: cone in this laboratory report.
Procedure

1. Micrometre screw is calibrated using the metal calibrator being screwed on to the

bottom opening of the orifice tank with a fixed radius of 6mm.

2. The metal calibrator is removed and replaced with a channel-type orifice nozzle with

the radius of 6mm.

3. The pump is turned on and the water flow from the inlet pipe through the diffuser

into the tank.

4. The first head of the water is set steady at low.

5. The radius of the jet of the water flow from the orifice nozzle is measured by turning

the knob of the micrometre screw until there is seen a droplet formation at the point

of screw then recorded.

6. The water in the basin of the hydraulic bench is then stopped using a rubber pipe

stopper to fill the basin to take the measurement of the Actual Mass Flowrate (Qact)

using a stopwatch. The time taken for the water to reach 5m3 is recorded.

7. Pitot tube is then put under the jet flow with the distance of the pitot tube from the

bottom of the nozzle is approximately the same as the diameter of the orifice nozzle.

8. Measurement of the static head (H) and dynamic head (Hc) are taken from the two

manometers at the side of the orifice tank when they have fully stopped moving

after 1minute for precision precaution step.

Channel

Height Static Dynamic Radius Volume Time Cd Cc Uact Uth

Head Head (Hc) of jet of water taken

(H) (x10-2m) (x10-3 (x10-3 l) (s)

(x10-2 m)

m)

Low 21.23 13.85 4.35 5.00 21.93 0.82 6.00 1.67 2.04

Medium 29.65 22.70 4.46 5.00 18.47 0.36 6.25 2.11 5.82

High 39.30 33.50 4.60 5.00 18.43 0.33 6.65 2.56 7.71

Nozzle Outlet Cone

Height Static Dynamic Radius Volume Time Cd Cc Uact Uth

Head Head (Hc) of jet of water taken

(H) (x10-2m) (x10-3 (m3) (s)

(x10-2 m)

m)

Low 21.75 21.40 4.66 5.00 22.16 0.99 6.82 2.05 2.07

Medium 29.10 28.75 4.88 5.00 19.53 1.00 7.48 2.38 2.39

High 38.70 38.40 4.82 5.00 18.32 0.99 7.30 2.74 2.76
Calculations

Qth value can be calculated using the formula;

𝑄𝑡ℎ = 𝐴0 √2𝑔𝐻

Area of the orifice is circle so 𝜋𝑟 2 with the radius of respective jet. The calculation below is

an example.

𝐴0 = 𝜋(6 × 10−3 )2

𝐴0 = 11.31 × 10−4

The value of g is 9.81 ms-2.

The value of static head (H) is dependent on the water head being measured on.

For an example of calculations for Qth at low height using the channel nozzle is as below;

𝐴0 = 𝜋(4.35 × 10−3 )2

𝐴0 = 5.94 × 10−5

𝑄𝑡ℎ = (5.94 × 10−5 )√2(9.81)(21.23 × 10−2 )

𝑄𝑡ℎ = 1.21 × 10−4 𝑚3 𝑠 −1

For an example of calculations for Qth at low height using the nozzle outlet cone is as below;

𝐴0 = 𝜋(4.66 × 10−3 )2

𝐴0 = 6.82 × 10−5
 𝑄𝑡ℎ = (6.82 × 10−5 )√2(9.81)(21.75 × 10−2 )

𝑄𝑡ℎ = 1.41 × 10−4 𝑚3 𝑠 −1

For an example of calculations for Qth at high height using the channel nozzle is as below;

𝐴0 = 𝜋(4.60 × 10−3 )2

𝐴0 = 6.65 × 10−5

𝑄𝑡ℎ = (6.65 × 10−5 )√2(9.81)(39.3 × 10−2 )

𝑄𝑡ℎ = 1.85 × 10−4 𝑚3 𝑠 −1

For the value of Coefficient of Discharge (Cd) can also be calculated by multiplying Coefficient

of Contraction (Cc) with Coefficient of Velocity (Cv).

𝐶𝑑 = 𝐶𝑐 × 𝐶𝑣

Coefficient of Velocity is;

𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙
𝐶𝑣 =
𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙

Coefficient of Contraction is;

𝐴𝑗𝑒𝑡
𝐶𝑐 =
𝐴𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒
Trends

From the examples of when the water head is the same but different in nozzle type taken, we

can see that the velocity of the water is higher when passing through the nozzle outlet cone

compared to the channel-type. This is because there is less friction between the water and

the orifice nozzle in the nozzle outlet cone compared to the channel-type. This is because the

openings with the 6mm radius at nozzle outlet cone is much shorter in vertical length which

is just 1mm compared to channel-type nozzle which is for the whole vertical length of the

nozzle.

When water is affected by internal friction, it shows the property of an inviscid liquid.

From the examples of when the water head one set at high and another one set at low with

the same channel-type nozzle taken, we can see that the velocity of the water is higher when

passing through the channel at higher static head. This is because the pressure of the water

is higher in liquid with higher head when using the formula 𝑝 = 𝜌𝑔ℎ with h as the head level.

Taking the data for channel type at low height, the calculated value of Qth is 1.21 ×

10−4 𝑚3 𝑠 −1.

With the same channel type at low height, the data tabulation for Qact taken from the

hydraulic bench is;

𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡 =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

5 × 10−3
𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡 =
21.93

𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡 = 2.28 × 10−4 𝑚3 𝑠 −1

dividing the Actual Mass Flowrate (Qact) with Theoretical Mass Flowrate (Qth).

𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡
𝐶𝑑 =
𝑄𝑡ℎ

2.28 × 10−4
𝐶𝑑 =
1.21 × 10−4

𝐶𝑑 = 1.88

This shows that the actual have a higher mass flowrate compared to the theoretical mass

flowrate. This is because the theoretical value is taking the measurement from the pitot tube

compared to actual value which is taking measurement from the hydraulic bench.
Application in Engineering

The result found with finding the Cd more than 1 is that the presence of channel type nozzle

is making the flowrate decreased compared to when the flowrate without the nozzle.

Therefore, another name for the orifice nozzle is called the restriction plate. It is useful in

engineering to control how much flowrate required based on the usage of a respective nozzle.

Error and Improvements

Random error is present when doing the experiment because the water head level is not

always going to stay at a certain height for the whole time of experiment. This will affect the

amount of pressure asserted on the orifice nozzle. The flowrate of the water through the

nozzle will also changes due to this. On the same context, the static head (H) will keep

changing and not having a precise reading. The dynamic head is also going to keep changing

due to the uneven pressure coming out of the nozzle hitting the pitot tube. To improve this

condition, an average is required to make sure the data value taken for each water head level

to be more precise.

Another random error may occur during the taking measurement of the radius of the jet by

turning the knob of the micrometer screw towards the water jet. The error that could have

happened is that the value of radius might not be precise as the sign to whether it have

touched the water jet is when there is a droplet formation on the tip of the micrometer screw.

However, the tip of the micrometer screw is already wet due to the splashes of water on the

micrometer screw. So, the droplets may form a bit earlier than it is supposed to. To improve

this condition, the tip of the micrometer screw must always be dried out before the

measurement of the radius of jet is taken.

The main findings of this laboratory experiment are achieved which is the Cd value. The Cd

value is achieved with dividing the Qact with Qth. The flow velocities are higher with the usage

of a nozzle outlet cone compared to channel type. The higher head level is causing the

pressure to be higher. The nozzle will restrict the flowrate of the water.
References

Crimtech (2018) Available at: https://www.crimtech.com/orifice-meter/ (Accessed: 10

October 2019).

Tecquipment academia (2019) Available at: https://www.tecquipment.com/flow-through-

an-orifice (Accessed: 12 October 2019)

Chegg study (2019) Available at: https://www.chegg.com/homework-

help/definitions/coefficient-of-discharge-5 (Accessed: 12 October 2019).

Bibliography

Çengel, Y.A. & Cimbala, J.M., 2018. Fluid Mechanics: Fundamentals and applications / 4th ed.,

New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Education.