Lab 5 Flowmeter Calibration

MAE 322 Thermal and Fluids Laboratory

Group 1
Adrian Francisco
Dylan McCullough
Elizabeth Matthews
Erin Fangman
Olatunbosun Fakiye
Wyatt Kitzmiller

Submitted: October 16th, 2020

By: Adrian Francisco
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources
West Virginia University
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Table of Contents 1

2. List of Figures 2

3. Introduction 3

a. Materials Used 4

b. Equations Used 5

4. Experiment Setup 6

5. Post Data Processing 7

6. Reference 10
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List of Figures
 Figure 1 4

 Figure 2 7

 Figure 3 7

 Figure 4 7

 Figure 5 8

 Figure 6 8

 Figure 7 8

 Figure 8 8
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Introduction
Having accurate measurements are very important for the engineers to use in design, data

collection, and for many applications. If measurements of flows are inaccurate, dangers can arise

in many different types of designs ranging from faulty ventilators to even congested flow in

pipes in a sewage system. In order to minimize error measurement devices were created using

laws from physics.

For this lab we are going to demonstrate the accuracy of these measurement devices by

collecting data and determining volumetric flowrates and comparing errors from the orifice and

rotameters provided. With the errors presented we can verify the accuracy of the calibrations of

the orifice against a positive displacement meter and the calibration of the two rotameters.
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Materials Used

Figure 1. The air-flow system provided in Lab.

Pressure Regulator
- Used to adjust the pressure of the air flow entering the system

Rotameters
- A variable-area flowmeter that is used to measure the volumetric flow rate by
allowing air to raise a float that can be used to read the measurement

Orifice Flowmeter
- Contains a plate that restricts the air flow going through the orifice. The pressure
going through is dropped and can be measured using the meter attached
o Outside Diameter: 0.541 inches
o Inside Diameter: 1.065 inches

Positive Displacement Meter

- Allows fluid to mechanically displace a meter which will result in RPM
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Equations Used
1 1
Bernoulli Equation: p1 + ρV 21=p 2+ ρV 22
2 2

2 ( p1− p 2)
Ideal Volumetric Flowrate
m3
s
:[ ] V̇ = A 2 V 2= A 2

√ [ ( )] A
ρ 1− 2
A1
2

2 ( p1− p 2)
Actual Volumetric Flowrate
m3
s
:[ ] V̇ =C D A 2 V 2=C D A 2

d orifice
√ [ ( )] A
ρ 1− 2
A1
2

Beta: β=
d pipe

ρV 1 d pipe
Reynold’s Number: ℜ=
μ

pA T B
Corrected Rotameter Flow: V̇ B =V̇ A
√ pB T A

V̇ - Volumetric Flowrate

ρ - Density

d- Diameter

A- Area

p- Pressure

T- Temperature

C D - Discharge Coefficient

V - Volume
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μ- Dynamic Viscosity

Experiment Setup

1. Collect local barometric pressure

2. Clarify is fluid reservoir on pressure regulator is empty

3. Turn on air flow valve and adjust to desired pressure

4. Open up Rotameter 2

5. Set Rotameter 1 to first desired data point flow rate

6. Record data from both Rotameters and the pressure drop across orifice

7. Record the frequency of the PDM in RPMs

8. After collecting data increase Rotameter 1 by the increment provided

9. Repeat steps 6-8 until highest desired setting

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Post Data Processing

Before collecting data, calibration of the measurement devices has to be

recorded.

PDM
PDM Flow Rate
Rotame te r 1 p1 T1 Orifice ∆p Rotame te r 2 p2 p2 T2 Re volutions
(scfm)
CFM psi deg C in. water CFM in. water psi deg C rpm
9 1.0 24.3 3.5 9.8 3.5 1.0 23.5 162.0 8.1
10 1.3 24.1 4.5 10.5 4.0 1.3 23.3 184.0 9.2
11 1.5 24.1 5.5 11.4 5.2 1.5 23.2 204.0 10.2
13 2.8 24.1 9.5 15.0 9.5 2.8 23.0 262.0 13.1
15 3.6 24.0 12.5 17.0 13.0 3.6 22.8 294.0 14.7
17 5.3 24.0 18.0 21.0 above 15 5.3 22.4 390.0 19.5

Figure 2. Data for Measurement Calibrations

Local Barometric Pressure: 29.12 inches per Hg or 98.61168 kPa

Absolute PDM
Rotame te r 1 T1 Orifice ∆p Rotame te r 2 T2
p1 Re volutions

m^3/s kPa K Pa m^3/s K m^3/s

4.25E-03 105.51 297.3 870.94 4.60E-03 296.5 3.82E-03
4.72E-03 107.57 297.1 1119.78 4.96E-03 296.3 4.34E-03
5.19E-03 108.95 297.1 1368.62 5.38E-03 296.2 4.81E-03
6.14E-03 117.92 297.1 2363.98 7.08E-03 296.0 6.18E-03
7.08E-03 123.43 297.0 3110.5 8.02E-03 295.8 6.94E-03
8.02E-03 135.15 297.0 4479.12 9.91E-03 295.4 9.20E-03

Figure 3. Conversion of Figure 2 to SI Units

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ORIFICE
density Ideal Flow Actual Flow Actual
Re
Velocity (m/s) (kg/m^3) (m^3/s) (m^3/s) Flow scfm
6.65 1.239859 1.22E+04 0.005742 0.00355991 7.543026
7.55 1.26502 1.41E+04 0.006446 0.00399622 8.467503
8.37 1.281668 1.59E+04 0.007079 0.0043892 9.30018
10.75 1.388043 2.21E+04 0.00894 0.00554309 11.74514
12.07 1.453954 2.59E+04 0.01002 0.00621257 13.16369
16.01 1.594176 3.77E+04 0.011483 0.00711966 15.08572
Figure 4. Orifice Meter Data

Figure 5. Table used to find Discharge coefficient

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Corre cte d Corre cte d

Error in Error in
Rotame te r 1 Rotame ter 2 Rotameter Rotameter
Rota 1 Rota 2
Flow Flow 1 2
m^3/s m^3/s (scfm) (scfm) (%) (%)
4.19E-03 4.54E-03 8.88 9.61 1.29 1.438455
4.61E-03 4.84E-03 9.77 10.25 2.27 2.46253
5.04E-03 5.22E-03 10.68 11.05 2.89 3.134554
5.73E-03 6.60E-03 12.13 13.98 6.66 7.329191
6.46E-03 7.30E-03 13.68 15.48 8.78 9.847889
6.99E-03 8.62E-03 14.82 18.26 12.83 15.02296

Figure 6. Rotameter data collection

The above data shows the values for the proper calibration of the rotameter errors
(Figure 6). We can observe that as the volumetric flowrate increases the error percentage for
the readings for both rotameters increase as well. This could be very dangerous as providing
false data for higher rates of flow which can result in bursting of pipes. This is also shown in the
pressure drop measurements located in Figure 2 and Figure 4. The readings show an increased
scfm whereas the actual scfm values we slightly lower. This shows the need for calibration for
the devices.

Error in Rotameters
Error in Pressure Drop
16.00
15.02 25.00 22.64
14.00
12.83
12.00
20.00
9.85
10.00
Error (%)

Error (%)

7.33 8.78 15.00

8.00
10.34 10.45
6.00 6.66 8.82
10.00 7.96
4.00 2.46 3.13 6.88

2.00 1.29
2.27
2.89 5.00
0.00 1.44
9.8 10.5 11.4 15.0 17.0 Reference
21.0
0.00
Rotameter Measurement (scfm)
8.1 9.2 10.2 13.1 14.7 19.5

Padmavathy Thiruvengadam,
Error in Rotameter 1
Error in Rotameter 2 PDM Flow
Arvind. "Lab 5 Flowmeter Calibration" . LabRatehandbook.
(scfm)

Figure 7. Shows an exponential increases for error

West Virginia University. Morgantown. 2020. PDF. Figure 8. Pressure Drop Error

Padmavathy Thiruvengadam, Arvind. "Introduction to Flowmeters" . Lab handbook.

West Virginia University. Morgantown. 2020. PowerPoint.

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