Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 12 (2001) 175–180

www.elsevier.com/locate/flowmeasinst

Response of a slotted orifice flow meter to an air/water mixture

a,*
Gerald L. Morrison , Dwayne Terracina a, Carl Brewer a, K.R. Hall b

a
Texas A&M University, Mechanical Engineering Department, College Station, TX 77843-3123, USA
b
Texas A&M University, Chemical Engineering Department, College Station, TX 77843-3123, USA

Received 10 May 1999; received in revised form 24 April 2001; accepted 9 May 2001

Abstract

The ability of a flow meter to respond predictably to the presence of liquid and gas is important to the natural gas industry and
to users of steam. In both cases, the gas can become saturated and some liquids can condense in the line. The response of orifice
flow meters to the presence of liquids is erratic and produces considerable uncertainty. Turbine flow meters can sustain severe
damage when subjected to two phase flow. The slotted orifice flow meter has been developed to address the problem of upstream
flow conditioning. This device has been shown to be insensitive to the upstream velocity profile. To further evaluate the flow meter
for use by the natural gas industry, the effects of adding liquid to a gas flow upon the meter performance has been investigated
by subjecting a slotted orifice flow meter with an equivalent b ratio of 0.50 to a two phase flow consisting of air and water.
 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Flow; Meter; Orifice; Slotted; Two; Phase

1. Introduction
The race to develop an accurate, low cost two phase
flow meter has been on for many years. The ability to
accurately and cheaply measure steam quality for use in
process heat, oil well injection, and other applications
will have a significant economic impact upon operating
costs of various industries and the longevity of the oil
wells. The same economic impact is present for the
ability to measure other two phase flows such as oil and
gas. It is also desirable to know the response of a single
phase gas meter to the introduction of some liquids. This
situation frequently occurs in pipelines where condensate
or water contamination occurs.
Many of the multi-phase flow meters under develop-
ment or being sold use some type of obstruction flow
meter as one of the components. Most of the time this
meter must be preceded by some type of mixer to obtain
a homogenous flow or the flow must be oriented in an
upward vertical direction to obtain the same result. In
these conditions, the flow is treated as a homogeneous
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-409-845-5414; fax: +1-409-845-
3081.
E-mail address: gmorrison@mengr.tamu.edu (G.L. Morrison).
flow with no slip between the two phases. In essence the
mixture is treated as a single phase fluid by using the
assumption of homogenous flow. The mixer produces an
additional headloss inside the meter which is undesirable
and the assumption of no slip between the components
is unrealistic. The vertical upward installation can cause
chugging of the flow at low gas velocities and/or high
liquid loadings with the liquid portion even back flowing
through the flow meter. Thus, the desire to use an uncon-
ditioned obstruction flow meter with a horizontal or
sloped downward orientation is born.
There have been two categories of results obtained
for standard orifice flow meters which have had liquid
introduced into a gas stream. Studies by Schuster [2],
Murdoch [3], Chisholm [4,5], Mattar et al. [6], Nangea
et al. [7], and McBrien [8] all indicate a positive increase
in the pressure drop across an orifice plate for any
amount of liquid added. These studies have tended to be
for significant liquid loadings and/or at low line press-
ures. McBrien [8] performed his study in a low pressure
line in an effort to determine why the other studies [2–
7] all showed this result in light of three other studies,
Shen and Ting [9], Ting [10], and Shen et al. [11], which
all showed an initial decrease in the pressure drop across
the orifice plate followed by a steady increase from a
negative to positive change in the pressure drop as the

0955-5986/01/$ - see front matter  2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 5 5 - 5 9 8 6 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 1 8 - 8
176 G.L. Morrison et al. / Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 12 (2001) 175–180
liquid loading was increased. However, his results were
the same as the first set of studies leaving the discrep-
ancy unresolved. To resolve the differences in the pub-
lished results, McBride [12] completed a second study
at much higher line pressures which determined that at
larger b ratios, at low liquid loadings, and at high pipe
line pressures, the results by Shen and Ting [9], Ting
[10], and Shen et al. [11] can be replicated. McBride
[12] observed an initial decrease in the pressure drop for
b ratios of 0.60 and 0.69 for very light liquid loadings
followed by a continuous increase in pressure drop to
values exceeding the dry gas pressure drop as the liquid
loading was increased. However, for a 0.31 b ratio, the
pressure drop initially remained unchanged then began
to increase as the liquid loading was increased. These
studies indicate that the behavior of a standard orifice
plate to liquid loadings is a complicated relationship with
a multiplicity of variables.
2. Background
The slotted orifice flow meter is essentially a standard
orifice flow meter in which the orifice plate has been
replaced by a slotted orifice plate. Fig. 1 is a photograph
of the slotted orifice plate used in this study. This plate
has been designed differently from a standard orifice
plate in that the outside diameter is as large as the flange
into which it is inserted. The four large holes around the
perimeter are for the flange bolts and the smaller holes
at that radius are alignment pins. The pattern of radial
slots is designed to minimize the effects of upstream
flow disturbances upon the pressure drop generated
across the plate. The pipe diameter is just slightly larger
Fig. 1. Sample slotted plate (photo).
than the circle described by the ends of the slots. In a
normal orifice plate, the b ratio is defined by the diam-
eter of the single orifice hole divided by the pipe diam-
eter. To produce a b ratio for the slotted orifice plate
that contains the same equivalent diameter ratio, the fol-
lowing equation applies:
冪A
Aslots
b⫽
pipe
For the present study, the effective b ratio of the slotted
orifice flow meter is 0.50. Morrison et al. [1] have com-
pared this flow meter with a standard orifice flow meter.
Interestingly enough, this slotted orifice plate generates
a smaller permanent headloss than a standard orifice
plate with the same amount of open area. Fig. 2 presents
data from Morrison et al. [1] which shows how the wall
pressure distribution upstream and downstream of the
slotted orifice plate varies with upstream velocity profile
in a 50.8 mm diameter orifice run. These data have been
generated using two concentric pipes of diameter 25.4
and 50.8 mm located upstream of the orifice plate. By
splitting the flow between an inner pipe and the annular
region, velocity profiles whose variation from a fully
developed profile far exceeds what is normally seen in
an orifice run are produced. These profiles for low values
of annular flow are very peaked on the centerline
approaching a parabolic profile. The high values of
annular flow produce saddleback profiles with a velocity
deficit along the pipe centerline. These data show that
essentially no variation exists in the wall pressure distri-
bution with upstream velocity profile and that the press-
Fig. 2. Wall pressure distribution around a slotted orifice plate with
varying upstream velocity profiles.
 G.L. Morrison et al. / Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 12 (2001) 175–180
ure recovery is much quicker than that for a standard
orifice plate. For a standard orifice flow meter, Morrison
et al. [1] showed that as the axial momentum distribution
shifted from the pipe centerline to the pipe wall, the
effective discharge coefficient varied. They defined the
second order moment of momentum
冉 冕冕 冊
R2[u]= r2ru2dA to quantify this change in axial
area
momentum distribution. The value of R2[u] is small for
parabolic profiles and large for saddleback profiles.
Using this parameter as the independent variable and cal-
culating the change in discharge coefficient, Fig. 3 illus-
trates how the slotted orifice plate discharge coefficient
remains essentially constant for these flow conditions
while a standard orifice plate varies from +6% to ⫺1%.
The difference in the response of the two types of
orifice plates (standard and slotted) can be explained in
light of the velocity profile information obtained in the
study by Morrison et al [1]. The orifice flow equation
can be derived from the conservation of momentum equ-
ation. Usually, one dimensional flow is assumed and any
change in the radial momentum component and its effect
upon the pressure distribution inside the pipe is neg-
lected. The experimental data have shown that when the
flow is concentrated on the pipe centerline compared to
fully developed pipe flow, the pressure drop across the
standard orifice plate is reduced. The opposite is true
when the flow is redistributed to the outer radius of the
pipe. The physical explanation is that when the flow is
concentrated on the pipe centerline, less of the fluid must
accelerate radially inward to pass through the orifice.
This results in a smaller pressure gradient from the pipe
centerline to the pipe wall where the pressure taps are
Fig. 3. Comparison of discharge coefficient variation for standard and
slotted orifice plates for the flow conditions in Fig. 2.
177
located. However, when the flow is concentrated out-
ward near the pipe wall, a significant increase in radial
pressure gradient is required to push the fluid to the
center of the pipe so it can pass through the standard
orifice plate. The slotted orifice plate eliminates this
effect by uniformly distributing the holes across the
entire pipe cross-section. The need for radial migration
of the fluid to pass through the obstruction is reduced
which results in lower radial pressure gradients. In other
words, the uniform porosity of the slotted orifice plate
allows the fluid to pass through the obstruction with less
resistance, especially for maldistributed velocity profiles.
The lower overall headloss of the slotted orifice com-
pared to a standard orifice with the same amount of open
area is further evidence of this effect. This upstream flow
condition independence makes the slotted orifice plate
desirable compared to standard orifice plates because
restrictions on installation geometry can be relaxed while
still achieving more accurate flow measurements. This
behavior will result in more compact flow meter instal-
lations including significantly smaller header designs.
The specification on pipe wall roughness can be elimin-
ated since its effect upon velocity profile does not alter
the calibration of a slotted orifice flow meter. To further
study this device, the effects of liquid in a gas stream
have been performed.
3. Experimental facility
A slotted orifice flowmeter with an equivalent b ratio
of 0.50 was subjected to a two phase flow consisting of
air and water. The orifice run was installed horizontally
and constructed of clear acrylic. This enabled obser-
vation of the flow regime upstream and downstream of
the slotted orifice plate. The piping consisted of 50.8 mm
(2 inch) inside diameter pipe with pressure taps located
25.4 mm (standard flange tap locations) and 2.5 pipe
diameters upstream and downstream of the slotted orifice
plate surface. Air Reynolds numbers ranging from
18,000 to over 200,000 at pipeline pressures of 101 kPa
(15 psig) were investigated with water flow rates ranging
from zero to the onset of the slug flow regime. The flow
upstream of the slotted orifice plate was normally strati-
fied flow.
The experimental facility used in the present study is
the same as used by Morrison et al. [1] with the addition
of water injection upstream of the orifice run. Briefly,
the flow loop contains two sections. The compressed air
is supplied by a screw compressor via a ⫺40°C dew
point desiccant dryer, a large storage tank, an electro-
pneumatic pressure regulator, an electrical heating sys-
tem, and an array of sonic nozzles. The purpose of this
system is to supply constant pressure, temperature, and
humidity air to a set of sonic nozzles so that the mass
flow rate through each nozzle is the same each time they
178 G.L. Morrison et al. / Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 12 (2001) 175–180

are used. A total of four differently sized sonic nozzles

used in various combinations produce Reynolds numbers
ranging from 18,000 to 218,000 in 50.8 mm (2 inch)
diameter pipe. Water is injected approximately 30 pipe
diameters upstream of the slotted orifice meter and is
supplied from a 19 m3 (5000 gallon) storage tank by way
of a centrifugal pump, filters, water flow meters, and a
control valve.
At each of the air flow rates, the quality of the
air/water mixture (based upon mass flow rate) is varied
from 100% air to values near 20% air by adding water
to the air flow. The lowest quality used was set by the
onset of slug flow. The water flow rate was measured
using a Rosemount electromagnetic flow meter for the
lowest flow rates and a Daniel 3/4⬙ turbine flow meter
for the higher flow rates. The Daniel turbine flow meter
was calibrated by Dieterich Standard. The Rosemount Fig. 4. Pressure drop across a slotted orifice plate for 2.5D press-
ure taps.
flow meter was new and calibrated at the factory. The
two meters did not agree upon the measured water flow
rate in the overlap of the two meters at the low end of
the turbine meter and the high end of the electromagnetic
flow meter. Since we do not have certified calibration
facilities to evaluate these meters, both results are
presented.
The slotted orifice flow meter run was equipped with
two sets of pressure taps. One set was located 2.5D
upstream and downstream of the slotted orifice plate sur-
faces (tap location 1). The second set was standard
flange tap locations, 25.4 mm (1 inch) upstream and
downstream of the slotted orifice plate surfaces (tap
location 2). A Rosemount 3051 differential pressure
transducer set for a full scale reading of 64 kPa (250
inches of water) directly measured the pressure differen-
tial for each set of pressure taps. The pressure trans-
ducers were calibrated using a Ametek pneumatic dead
weight calibration system with a range from 1 to 2060
Fig. 5. Pressure drop across a slotted orifice plate for flange taps.
kPa (4 inches of water to 300 psi). A computerized data
acquisition system recorded the water flow rate and the
differential pressures. the mass flow rate of the water. The pressure drop vari-
ation at each air Reynolds number is continuous and
steadily increasing with decreasing quality. At the lower
4. Results Reynolds numbers, the pressure generated across the
slotted orifice plate is very small and the measurements
The pressure differentials measured across the slotted are not very accurate because these pressures are less
orifice plate for the two sets of pressure taps are than 2% of the pressure transducer full scale. This prob-
presented as a function of quality for individual air lem can be avoided by installing multiple pressure trans-
Reynolds numbers in Figs. 4 and 5 for pipe line pressure ducers with various ranges of operation as is done on
of 101 kPa (15 psig). The pressure drop across the slot- standard orifice flow meters. Comparison of the pressure
ted orifice plate increases with increasing air Reynolds drops measured using the two different pressure tap
number (mass flow rate) and decreasing quality locations show little effect upon the values of the press-
(increasing mixture density and water flow rate). The ures measured. Some scatter exists in the data for Reyn-
quality is defined as olds numbers from 72,200 to 109,000 at qualities below
ṁair 0.2. This is where a transition from the electromagnetic
X⫽ flow meter to the turbine flow meter occurs when meas-
ṁair+ṁwater
uring the water flow rate. The calibration of the two met-
where ṁair is the mass flow rate of the air and ṁwater is ers do not coincide at the extreme limits of both meters.
 G.L. Morrison et al. / Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 12 (2001) 175–180 179

The effects of the water flow rate upon the calibration

factor of the slotted orifice flow meter has been investi-
gated to determine how the slotted orifice plate responds
to two phase flows. This investigation uses the standard
orifice flow meter flow equation to evaluate the perform-
ance of the slotted orifice flow meter. This equation is

ṁ⫽KY d 2冑2r⌬P
p
4

ṁ=total mass flow rate; K=flow coefficient; Y=expansion

factor; d=effective orifice diamater=bD; D=pipe diam-
eter; r=density (air or water) and ⌬P=pressure drop
across orifice plate.
In the following analysis of experimental data, the
equation has been rearranged and the product KY, which Fig. 6. Slotted orifice flow meter calibration coefficient based upon
is the experimentally determined calibration of any air density.
obstruction flow meter, is calculated. The expansion fac-
tor is essentially a correction for compressible flow
effects. The ratio of the mixture velocity compared to
the local speed of sound is called the Mach number and
is also a measure of compressibility. In single phase
flows, the speed of sound depends upon the ratio of spe-
cific heats, molecular weight, and temperature of the
fluid. In a two phase flow, the speed of sound varies
from the speed of sound in the liquid to the speed of
sound in the gas. However, the variation is not linear
and between the two extremes the speed of sound is
much lower than that present in either of the single phase
fluids that make up the mixture. It can be less than 20%
of the individual values. For this reason, the expansion
factor was not separated from the flow coefficient. The
data shown below illustrate that it is not necessary to
separate the two. When evaluating a two phase flow, the
Fig. 7. Slotted orifice flow meter calibration coefficient based upon
flow equation can be applied to the flow in various ways. water density.
These include using the mass flow rates of the gas,
liquid, or mixture along with the density of the gas,
liquid or the mixture. All nine combinations were con- data and should be neglected. The fact that it is possible
sidered. Only the two that resulted in collapsing the data to present the KY values in a form that is INDE-
to a common curve for the entire range of the air Reyn- PENDENT of air Reynolds numbers when they are cal-
olds numbers will be presented. These two combinations culated using the air and water densities is quite remark-
consist of using both the air and water densities and the able! This indicates that at this line pressure of 101 kPa
mixture (total) mass flow rate measured in the flow. The gage, the product of the flow coefficient and expansion
mixture mass flow rate is the sum of the air and water factor is only a function of the flow quality over a range
mass flow rates. of air flow rates. The functional dependence of KY upon
Figs. 6 and 7 present the values of KY computed from the quality is monotonic and increases as quality
the equation presented above using the density of air and decreases (water flow rate increases) in a repeatable
water respectively with the 2.5D pressure taps. Similar manner.
results are obtained when the flange taps are used. The Observing the flow inside the acrylic pipe, the two
b=0.50 slotted orifice plate responds very well to the phase flow condition is initially random water droplets
two-phase flow. The values of the KY product collapse until the water flow rate is increased to the point where
to a common curve except for the air Reynolds number the flow upstream of the slotted orifice becomes stratified
of 18,400. This flow condition is the lowest air flow rate with the liquid in a stream along the bottom of the pipe.
and produces pressure differentials close to the uncer- It was tried to obtain a mist flow by using misting heads
tainty of the pressure transducer. Therefore, it is not sur- to inject the water but over the 30D of pipe upstream of
prising that these values do not coincide with the other the slotted orifice, the water coalesced into larger drops.
180 G.L. Morrison et al. / Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 12 (2001) 175–180
The liquid stream passed into the slotted orifice plate at
the bottom of the pipe. Since there are holes near the
bottom of the pipe, the water did not have to radially
traverse the pipe to the hole located on the pipe center-
line as is the case for a standard orifice plate. This also
eliminates the damming effect commonly seen in stan-
dard orifice plates which require field operators to rou-
tinely drain the water/condensate from orifice runs. As
the water flow rate continued to increase in the slotted
orifice run, the size of the liquid stream increased until
the air, which was traveling at a faster speed, generated
waves in the water stream that eventually bridged the
pipe cross-section and slugging occurred in the pipe. The
flow was not allowed to slug so that damage to the press-
ure transducers could be avoided. This set the lower limit
on the quality measured.
Downstream of the slotted orifice plate, the stratified
flow transforms into droplet flow with the slotted plate
breaking up the water stream into droplets and distribut-
ing them across the pipe. This is caused by the multi-
plicity of small jets produced downstream of the slotted
orifice plate, each of which is fully turbulent. The array
of turbulent jets produce a relatively uniform highly tur-
bulent flow just downstream of the plate. The radial
exchange of momentum and mass induced by this turbu-
lence is large which causes the water stream to break up
into drops and be distributed across the pipe. The fast
pressure recovery of the pipe wall pressure downstream
of the slotted orifice plate is also attributed to this large
uniform turbulence generated by the plate and by the fact
that the flow is relatively uniformly distributed across the
pipe for the slotted plate compared to the large single
jet on the centerline of a standard orifice plate. In all, for
a horizontal pipe, the b=0.50 slotted orifice plate exhibits
exceptionally good behavior in two phase flow.
5. Conclusions
The slotted orifice flow meter has been shown to be
insensitive to upstream flow conditioning and responds
to two phase flow in a well behaved manner which can
be easily characterized. This results in a flow meter
which can be used in poorly designed metering runs,
compact metering runs, and compact header configur-
ations using rough pipe whose response to the presence
of two phase flow is predictable. If the quality of the
mixture is known, the product of the flow coefficient and
expansion factor can be easily obtained since the product
is only a function of the mixture quality. Then by using
only the density of either the liquid or gas, the total mass
flow rate through the slotted orifice meter can be deter-
mine. These conclusions are based upon measurements
performed at one line pressure. Additional research is
required to determine any variation in the relationships
with line pressure.
Acknowledgements
This work was initially funded by the Gas Research
Institute with continued funding from the State of Texas
Advanced Technology Program and AMFund, Inc.
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