The API/GPA Orifice-Plate Data Base
Wayne A. FUng Jr.,· Cities Service Oil & Gas Corp.
Summary. API and the Gas Processors Assoc. (GPA) have completed a four-year, $1.4 million program to develop a new
archival data base for flange tapped orifice coefficients. This paper describes this project and the results to date.
Introduction
The APIIGPA project was designed to develop basic orifice dis-
charge coefficients over a pipe Reynolds-number range of 150 to
16,000,000 and resulted in more than 300 million bytes of data that
will be reduced to about 17,000 data points. The flow media used
in these determinations consisted of a light 5-cSt [5 x 1O- 6 _m 2 /s]
oil, water, pipeline-quality natural gas, and air at three separate
flow facilities. Adequate crossover data were obtained to verify con-
sistency between facilities.
The archival data base was developed with two sets of five
different sizes of meter tubes and two sets of seven orifice-plate
sizes for each tube size. Two additional plate sizes with 0.25-in.
[O.64-cm] orifice diameters for two of the meter tubes were tested.
Data were obtained with modem differential-pressure measuring
equipment and electronic data logging techniques and were reduced
and analyzed with both microcomputers and main-frame computers.
The new standard and equation for determining the discharge
coefficient will be available in the last quarter of 1988.
History
The orifice meter is perhaps the oldest known device for measuring
or regulating the flow of fluids. The Romans have been credited
with using it for regulating the flow of water to houses in early
times. During the past 70 years, 1 the orifice meter has evolved into
a device for the purchase, sale, or process control of fluids.
The original concept that the pressure of a flowing fluid varies
as its velocity changes was discovered in the 18th century through
the efforts of three well-known scientists, Bernoulli, Torricelli, and
Venturi. When a flowing fluid is caused to "speed up" by restricting
the cross-sectional area of the flow stream, a portion of the pressure
energy is converted into velocity energy and the pressure drops.
This relationship, combined with the fact that the quantity of fluid
flowing is equal to the product of the velocity times the cross-
sectional area of the flow stream, provides the means to achieve
flow measurement in the orifice meter. Of course, these theoretical
flow concepts must be related to actual flow concepts. Thus, the
need for basic discharge-coefficient research (the ratio of actual to
theoretical) required for custody transfer is born.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, 2 much has been done
to develop the use of the orifice as a custody transfer device.
Manufacturers conducted experiments and developed orifice coeffi-
cients that were generally proprietary. The proprietary nature of
coefficients caused a great deal of uncertainty between buyers and
sellers when different manufacturers' meters were used. This
prompted the American Gas Assn. (AGA) to establish the Gas Meas-
urement Committee, which undertook a series of orifice research
programs. The following highlights the major events in orifice re-
search to date.
1928-32-Ajoint American Soc. of Mechanical Engineers/AGA
program at Ohio State V. was held to determine the absolute values
of orifice discharge coefficients.
1935-AGA Report 2 was published containing the Ohio State
V. values and the Buckingham equation for their calculation.
1955-AGA Report 3 was published, which was the direct result
of research efforts since Report 2 and incorporated the effect of
• Now a consultant.
Copyright 1988 Society 01 Petroleum Engineers
920
upstream disturbances, the use of straightening vanes and piping
configurations, and supercompressibility.
1967-Intl. Standards Organization (ISO) issued ISO R541 were
published that were essentially in agreement with the principles of
the AGA Report 3.
1971-ISO R541 was revised to include ISO R781 and published
as an ISO standard on orifices, nozzles, and venturis.
1975-Ajoint APIIAGA committee was formed to re-establish
the basic orifice coefficients through restudy of original Ohio State
V. data, to evaluate all published data in the interim, and to correlate
and identify the data base for gaps and extensions.
1978-Ajoint API/AGA committee report was issued that iden-
tified only 303 data points as defendable for coefficient evaluation,
indicating that new data are required.
1978-J. Stolz of France developed a universal equation for orifice
plates.
1978-A joint APIIGPA committee obtained funding for devel-
opment of an enlarged data base for orifice-coefficient determi-
nation.
1978-AGA/API submitted to the American Natl. Standards Inst.
(ANSI) AGA Report 3 for designation as a national standard.
Standard document ANSIIAPI 2530 3 was published and submitted
to ISO for consideration as an international standard.
1980-ISO 5167,4 which was greatly different from ANSIIAPI
2530, was published. The V.S. delegation to ISO could not accept
these differences, rejected the ISO document, and continued to pe-
tition the ISO for adoption of ANSIIAPI 2530 in lieu of ISO 5167.
The stalemate still exists.
1982-A research program for the determination of basic orifice
coefficients began at the flow test facilities of the Natl. Bureau of
Standards in Gaithersburg, MD.
1982-Ajoint APIIGPA research program for determination of
basic orifice coefficients began at the flow test facilities of the Natl.
Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg.
1983-Gas-orifice-meter discharge coefficients as determined by
mass flow measurement data were released by the Natl. Bureau
of Standards, Boulder, CO. GRI was the sponsor.
1984-Facilities of the Natural Gas Pipeline Co. at Joliet, IL,
were contracted for testing with high-pressure natural gas.
1984-Facilities of the Colorado Engineering Experiment Station
at Nunn were contracted for testing with light 5-cSt [5 x 10- 6 _
m 2 /s] oil.
1985-A committee was formed to regress and evaluate the
APIIGPA data base after completion of testing.
19M-Experimental data for the determination of basic 4-in. [100-
mm] orifice-meter discharge coefficients (European program) were
released. The Commission of the European Economic Communities
was the sponsor.
Research Design
The APIIGPA project was designed to investigate the following
parameters of orifice meters: pipe size, beta ratio, Reynolds-number
range, different fluids (viscous oil, water, and natural gas), and
commercially manufactured meter tubes. The overall project was
directed by the Orifice Steering Committee as a subcommittee to
the Committee on Gas Measurement under the auspices of the Com-
mittee on Petroleum Measurement. The Section H Committee, the
technical research group of GPA, was the liaison for GPA.
Journal of Petroleum Technology, July 1988
 TABLE 1-DIMENSIONS OF APIIGPA ORIFICE DATA BASE

Type Differential Pressures Reynolds-Number

Laboratory of Test Tubes Tested Plates Tested (in. of water) Range
Natl. Bureau of Standards Water flow Plated and unplated Both sets of unplated 6, 10,20, 50, 100, Plated tubes,
2-,3-,4-,6-, and 10-in. tubes run with Plates 2B and 800 1,400 to 2,700,000
sizes, two sets of each and 6B, then both sets
of tubes were plated
3- and 4-in. stainless steel Both sets of plated tubes Stainless-steel tubes,
run with either Set A or 1,400 to 1,280,000
B (seven each set) plus
a few crossovers
Two stainless-steel tubes
run with one set of
seven plates
V.-in. plate tested in one
3- and one 4-in. tube
Natural Gas Pipeline Co. Natural-gas Unplated 6- and 10-in. Either Set A or B run on 8, 10, 20, 50, 100,
flow each of three tubes and 200 25,000 to 20,000,000
Plated 6-in. One additional plate on
each
Colorado Engineering Viscous flow Unplated 2-, 4-, and 6-in. Seven plates 6, 10, 20, 50, 100
Experiment Station and 200 125 to 91,000
Plated 2-in. Three plates
Colorado Engineering Air flow Unplated 6-in. Six plates 535,000 to 10,400,000
Experiment Station/GRI
All tubes had been run in water in a bare metal condition before May 1985.
All data included in the archival data base with disclaimers.

The Orifice Steering Committee was made up of the chairmen
of each of the five subcommittees charged with finance, facilities,
data evaluation, project management, and equation development.
Dimensions of the Data Base
Table 1 summarizes the data base.
Water Flow Tests. These tests were done at the Natl. Bureau of
Standards facilities in Gaithersburg. All five sizes of tubes, both
"plated" and "unplated," were flow tested with both sets of orifice
plates. Two sets of plates with approximately equal beta ratio were
used to determine an interrelationship between manufacturer and
discharge coefficient. Plates A and B were also tested between tubes
for a number of crossover" observations for plate- and/or tube-
dependency observations.
A few additional comments are required here to explain plated
tubes. During the course of any research, unanticipated problems
develop. The problem encountered in this project stemmed from
the time a meter tube was in the test rack. Stabilization of the meter
tube's internal surface against corrosion and erosion from the test
fluid proved difficult. Various means were suggested: using a rust
inhibitor for water-quality and water-density verification, lightly
oiling the tube surface to investigate profile/wall effects, and pulling
tubes from test rack to bru3h and/or sand on timed intervals. These

0.78

0.1'1

0.18

0.15

.7<
0.73
....
0.72
,Jv.
)(
0.11
WUU'
'".

...
0.10
,
II
.00 ~-
" ~ ~. II
."' ~,
x x
P Cttl I!
• ee
I,
."' ....
~

• J..j<,l ~ II
0.64

... '" c:q, II

0.83

O.U
"'I I""" x
I" "''''
... leo !'
0 . .,1
~t.t.
. ~1,
'" I'" 't, ,
aiP/Y
,~ ~.
,,~
:. :
+,-~ ~ -
o.eo

0.58
.~

o~ r JUI
.!--
,
.. ·1
0.51
, , .
LOO,o AEYNOlDEl NUMeE~ OIAMETfR
• e
I ...
7

Fig. 1-0rlflce data-Natural Gas Pipeline Co., Natl. Bureau of Standards, and Colorado En-
gineering Experiment Station Tube E-7ABC. (+ oil/water tests; x water tests; <> 1984 = = =
=
gas tests; 0 1985 gas tests.

Journal of Petroleum Technology, July 1988 921

suggested means of stabilizing the internal surfaces of the meter
tubes were tried, but none were successful.
The best solution was to coat the internal surface of the tube.
The bare tube was internally coated with nickel by use of an elec-
trolysis nickel-plating process. This is a chemical rather than an
electrochemical plating process. The nickel coating is highly
corrosion-resistant in the thickness of 0.001 in. [0.025 mm] as it
was applied. It also has a negligible effect on the surface roughness
of the tubes. Roughness measurements were taken before and after
the plating with a variance of less than 20x 10- 6 in. [508 nm].
Coating of meter tubes is permissible in accordance with
ANSI/API 2530 (Sec. 14.3.4.3.2).3 To validate that plating had
no effect on the discharge coefficient, tubes were tested before and
after plating. The before and after testing used the 0.2 and 0.75
beta plates over the same Reynolds-number range for comparison.
Differences in the performance of the plated and unplated tubes
were negligible.
Natural-Gas Flow Tests. These tests were done at the Natural Gas
Pipeline Co. of AmericalJoliet Test Loop. The meter tubes inves-
tigated were the unplated 6- and IO-in. [15- and 25-cm] tubes with
the full set of Orifice Plates A and B. A plated 6-in. [15-cm] tube
was also tested with a set of B plates.
Accurate knowledge of the gas composition for these tests dic-
tated the use of on-line gas chromatographs and spot samples. Spot
samples of the gas stream were taken at the start and finish of each
test cycle. Other samples were taken at random intervals during
the test cycle. Some of these samples were submitted to the U. of
Oklahoma for analysis with GRI's supercompressibility z-factor cor-
relation.
The discharge coefficients obtained in natural-gas flow tests have
been calculated with the U. of Okiahoma/GRI5 correlation. This
allowed the calculation of density and the z factor at flowing con-
ditions with the composition of gas at the time of test.
These tests also permitted the final link to all laboratories. The
6-in. [15-cm] tube was tested in all three laboratories with four
different fluids to provide a total picture of all beta-ratio plates
through the maximum Reynolds-number range.
Viscous Flow Tests. These tests were done at the Colorado Engi-
neering Experimental Station test facility in Nunn. The flow medium
used here was a 5-cSt [5 x 10 -6_m 2 Is] oil. The meter tubes inves-
tigated were unplated 2, 4, and 6 in. [5, 10, and 15 cm] with the
full set of Orifice Plates A and B. A plated 2-in. [5-cm] tube was
also tested with three plates of Set A.
922
Air Flow Tests. These tests were done as a joint undertak:.lg of
GRI at the Colorado Engineering Experimental Station test facility.
This joint effort included the calibration of the sonic nozzles and
data-acquisition system used in the Joliet test loop. An unplated
6-in. [15-cm] tube in series with the sonic nozzles was tested with
the set of Orifice Plates A. It provided an additional link to the other
laboratories with another test fluid, air, through the common 6-in.
[15-cm] tube and the total beta plate series.
Fig. 1 shows data generated from the four programs for the 6-
in. [15-cm] plated and unplated tubes. The results for this tube are
typical of all the tubes and orifice plates tested. As can be seen,
the continuity between laboratories and the repeatability on repetitive
daily flow rates are excellent. K factor in Fig. I is the discharge
coefficient divided by the velocity of approach (l - (34) 'h, where
(3 is the orifice diameter divided by pipe diameter.
Conclusions
A comprehensive orifice plate data base has been generated, with
release scheduled for the second quarter of 1988. A new equation
will be developed from these data to represent the data base ac-
curately. The equation will subsequently be made available in the
form of a standard to provide the user with the benefits of this re-
search.
References
I. Swinney, G.W.: "Development Of Orifice Meter Standards," Proc.,
60th Annual Meeting of the IntI. School of Hydrocarbon Measurement,
Norman, OK (April 1985).
2. Fling, W.A. Jr.: "Development Of Basic Orifice Discharge Coeffi-
cients, " paper presented at the Annual GPA Meeting, Houston, March,
1985.
3. "Orifice Metering Of Natural Gas And Other Related Hydrocarbons,"
ANSI/API 2530, API, Washington, DC (1985).
4. "Measurement Of Fluid Flow By Means Of Orifice Plates, Flow Nozzles
And Venturis," ISO 5167, Geneva (1980).
5. Starling, K.E. et al.: "Development of an Equation of State for Com-
putation of Supercompressibility Factors, Critical Flow Factors, and
Other Properties for Wet, Sour Natural Gases, Synthetic Gases, and
Admixtures," final report, GRJ 84/0224, NTIS TB85-188316 (1985).
SI Metric Conversion Factor
in. x 2.54* E+OO = cm
·Conversion factor is exact. JPT
Original SPE manuscript received for review Oct. 5. 1986. Paper accepted for publication
Feb. 5, 1988. Revised manuscript received March 16, 1988. Paper (SPE 15393) first
presented at the 1986 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in New
Orleans, Oct. 5-8.
Journal of Petroleum Technology, July 1988