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FOUNDATION IN ENGINEERING PROGRAMME

PRACTICAL 5: BERNOULLI’S PRINCIPLE & EQUATION

SAFETY REGULATIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR STUDENTS

Students performing experimental work in the Engineering laboratory must follow and
abide by the following safety regulations and guidelines. Students must complete a safety
declaration form before they are allowed to work in the laboratory.

GENERAL

 Students are not allowed to enter the laboratory without the permission of the lecturer
or laboratory assistant.
 Unauthorized experimental work in the laboratory is strictly
forbidden.
 Prior to the use of laboratory out of timetabled periods, students must apply for usage
from relavant labaratory staff.
 Students are not allowed to work alone in the laboratory.
 Bags and books must not be left on benches or on stools and should be placed
in designated area. Do not block passageways or fire exits.
 All working spaces must always be kept clean.
 Long hair, ties, jewellery and clothing must never be allowed to hang loose, since any
of these items can easily become entangled in the moving parts of machinery, and hence
cause serious injury.
 Suitable clothing must be worn; long trousers or jeans are recommended for boys
and dresses, slacks or jeans for girls. In particular, sleeveless t-shirts and sleeveless
blouses are prohibited.
 Students must wear covered footwear during laboratory and workshop sessions.
Sandals, open-toed shoes, slippers or similar footwear are prohibited. Students may
be refused entry to the laboratory or workshop if not in proper footwear.
 Storage and/or consumption of food and drink, smoking and the application of
cosmetics in the laboratory are not allowed.
 Indiscipline in the laboratory or workshop (e.g. whistling, horseplay etc.) will not
be tolerated.
 No reagent, solution or apparatus is to be removed from the laboratory without
approval from the lecturer.
 Do not pour waste down the sink unless authorized to do so by your
lecturer.
 Defective equipment or broken glassware must be reported to the lecturer or lab
assistant.
 Do not run in the laboratory or along corridors. Exercise care when opening and
closing doors on entering and leaving the laboratory.
 Laboratory doors must be kept closed at all times during practical
classes.

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OBJECTIVES

To demonstrate the use of a Venturi meter to measure fluid flow rates.

APPARATUS

1) Flow measuring apparatus

2) Volumetric Hydraulic Bench
3) Stopwatch
4) Water

INTRODUCTION

Flow measurement is important in the industry where the need to accurately control the flow
of fluids are crucial. For instance, in a factory that needs an accurate mixture of two
chemicals must be able to tell exactly how much of each chemical is being supplied per
minute to be able to ensure that the final product is useable.

There are many ways to measure the flow rate of a fluid and the flow measurement apparatus
that will be used in this experiment provides a number of these flow measuring methods. For
this experiment however, we will only be looking at using the Venturi meter to measure the
flow rate.

Fig. 5.1 Schematic of the flow measuring apparatus

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Fig. 5.1 shows the schematic of the Flow Measuring Apparatus. As you can see, the water
from the Hydraulic Bench enters the apparatus and passes through the Venturi meter which
starts off as gradually converging section (pipe that gets smaller and smaller), a throat (small
unchanging pipe), followed finally by a long gradually diverging section (pipe getting bigger
and bigger). After that, the flow passes through an orifice meter and rotameter which will not
be covered in this experiment.

Finally, the flow will leave the apparatus and enter the weigh tank in the hydraulic bench.

Background

An effective way to measure the fluid flow rate through a pipe is to place some type of
restriction within the pipe and the measure the pressure difference from before and after the
restriction. If you recall on the operation of airplane wings, lift is generated by a low pressure
region above the airplane wing. This low pressure exists because of faster moving air above
the wing. This phenomenon is called the Bernoulli’s Principle which states that “an increase
in velocity results in a decrease in pressure”.

Fig. 5.2 Incompressible flows

For steady, incompressible flows in a tube (such as in Fig. 5.2), Bernoulli’s equation can be
written as (1).

(1)

Where, P = Pressure (Pa)

V = Velocity (m/s)
g = Gravitational Acceleration (m/s2)
z = Potential Head (m)

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EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

1. Close the apparatus valve fully then open it by 1/3 with the air purge closed.

2. Switch on the hydraulic bench and slowly open its valve until the water starts to flow,
allow the apparatus to fill with water then continue to open the bench valve until it is
fully open.

3. Close the apparatus valve fully.

4. Attach the hand pump to the purge valve and pump down until all the manometers
show a reading approximately 280 mm.

5. Dislodge trapped air from the manometers by gently tapping with your fingers.

6. Check that the water levels are constant. A steady rise in levels will be seen if the
purge valve is leaking.

7. Open the apparatus valve until the rotameter shows a reading of about 15 mm. When a
steady flow is maintained measure the flow with the container.

8. During this period, record the readings of the manometers in a table similar to the
table shown in Table 5.1.

9. Repeat this procedure for rotameter values given by your lab coordinator.

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Table 5.1
Manometric
Mass Flow Rate,
Levels Time, t (s)
Rotameter Water Water (kg/s)
Test (mmH2O)
Reading volume mass,
No.
(mm) , V (L) m (kg) Venturi Weigh
A B 1 2 3 Average
Meter Tank

Calculation of results

The Venturi meter operates on the principle of Bernoulli’s equation. As the height between
the ends of the Venturi meter does not change, the z terms in Bernoulli’s equation can
eliminated.

The two manometer tappings that are measured for Venturi Meter flow rates are tapping (A)
and tapping (B).

Hence, from the continuity equation,

(2)

The volumetric flow rate can be defined as,

(3)

And if we take the density of water to be 1000kg/m3, the mass flow rate can be defined as

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(4)

DISCUSSION

Comment on the differences observed between the flow rates measured using the Venturi
meter and using the gravimetric evaluation method. Discuss the possible cause of the
different readings and which method would be more accurate and why.

REFERENCES

1. Massey, B.S., “Mechanics of Fluids”, Chapman & Hall, 6th Ediction, 1989.
2. White F.M., “Fluid Mechanics”, McGraw-Hill. 3rd Edition, 1994.
3. Van Dyke M., “An Album of Fluid Motion”, Parabolic Press, 1982.
4. Coulson, J.M. and Richardson, J.F., “Chemical Engineering”, Butterworth-Heinemann,
Volume 1, 6th Edition.