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Orifice and venturi meters are flow sensing elements which are commonly used in fluid flow
determination. The venture tube has a conical inlet which is converging, it has a cylindrical
throat, and it also has a diverging recovery cone. It does not have sudden contour changes, no
sharp corners and no projection into the fluid. The area of the fluid stream is decreased in the
inlet section, and this causes a decrease in pressure and an increase in velocity. The centre of the
cylindrical throat has the lowest value in pressure, with no velocity or pressure change, and this
is where the low pressure is measured. The recovery of pressure is allowed at the recovery cone
so as to have a total pressure loss of only 10% to 25%. The measurement of high pressure is done
at the entrance cone upstream. The resulting fluid pressure reduction after a fluid flows through a
constricted pipe section is what is referred to as the venturi effect. To satisfy the equation of
continuity, there must be an increase in fluid velocity through the constriction, and there must be
a pressure decrease due to energy conservation where, the kinetic energy gain is balanced by a
An orifice plate is used to measure the fluid flow rate, and the principle it uses is similar to the
venture meter, the Bernoullis principle, which brings out the relationship between pressure and
velocity of a fluid. There is a decrease in pressure when the velocity increases and vice versa. An
orifice plate is thin and bears a hole in the middle. It is usually placed in a pipe through which a
fluid flows. When the fluid flows in the pipe, it has a certain pressure and velocity, therefore
when it reaches the hole of the orifice, it is forced to converge through the hole. The maximum
convergence point occurs downstream the physical orifice, the vena-contracta point. As this
happens, the pressure and velocity changes. Beyond the vena-contracta, the pressure and velocity
changes once again as the fluid expands. From bernoullis equation, the mass flow and
volumetric rates can be obtained by measuring the fluid pressure difference between the vena-
Objectives
The main objective of this experiment is to find out the overall meter coefficient (C) for a venturi
meter and an orifice plate. We are also to consider these meters application in fluid flow
measurement in engineering.
The pressure drop across a constriction (h) is proportional the fluid volume flow rate (Q) when
a fluid flow is constricted. It is therefore revealed by fluid flow theoretical analyses that
or alternatively, 0.5
Where:
v h h
Q d1 d2 d1 d2
2. .
= 1
1 2
[ ] 1
2
Where:
The measured flow rate of real fluids differs from the theoretical value, and the meter coefficient
2. .
= . 1
1 2
[ ] 1
2
Experimental equipment
The main equipment used for this experiment include a venture meter and an orifice plate. Other
equipment include a stop watch which is for measuring the required time for supplying a definite
amount of water, a lever system used for measuring the mass of discharged water. These were
used for the actual rate of flow calculation. A level control device, a water supply tank and a
Procedures used
The pump was first switched on, and to ensure the water flowed into the venturi meter, the
rotameter was adjusted. Measures were taken so that air could not be induced into the system
The measurements for the static heads for each manometric tubes were taken after a steady flow
was established. The discharged water by the system weights were measured per unit time with
the weigh bench. The calculation for the flow rate (Q) was then done using the discharged
volume of water and the above measurements. The piezometric head difference across the
The procedure was repeated five more times to ensure that a wide range of flow rates was gotten.
The meter coefficient for all the six flow rates were calculated using the formula below:
2
2 (1 ) 1
=
1 2
Which was derived from the formula which was used to express the measure of flow rates for
real fluids:
2. .
= . 1
1 2
[ ] 1
2
Calculations
Venturi Orifice
h(m) C h(m) C
Test (h1-h2) (h1-h2)
1 0.27 0.829 0.309 0.0602
From the table of results, the meters coefficient for the venture meter were 0.829 for flow rate 1;
0.872 for flow rate 2; 0.797 for flow rate 3; 0.838, 0.850 and 0.795 for flow rate 4, 5 and 6
respectively. The mean value for the meter coefficient for the venture was found to be 0.791.
On the other hand, the meters of coefficient for the orifice plates were 0.0602, 0.634, 0.579,
0.609, 0.621 and 0.596 for flow rate 1 to 6 in that order. The mean meter coefficient value for the
0.300
0.250
0.200
0.150
Q
0.100
0.050
0.000
0.000471 0.000467 0.0003943 0.000371 0.000331 0.0002561
h
Venturi Orifice
The curves were found to be linear, and the orifice curve was more to the right than the venture
curve.
Conclusion
For venture meters, the coefficient C is constant for given dimensions of the venture, and it must
be adjusted to accommodate water temperature variations. Most of the venture meters that are
commercial have features that are patented. The converging section at the upstream often has
about 21o angle from the axis of the pipe, and an angle of 5 o to 7 o at the diverging section.
Straightening vanes are usually required for the prevention of swirling flow, which can affect
considerably the calibration. Besides, the head loss usually is around 10% to 20% of h.
For orifice, they give accurate Q measurements and are inexpensive in building, though they
cause higher head loss than venture. They present values of true discharge within + or-1% or
better as the venture meters. Eccentric orifices have been used by some engineers to allow
sediment passage. For better accuracy orifices with beveled opening should be used.