“Venturimeter, Orificemeter,

Notches & weirs, Pilot tubes”

 Venturi Meter

Venturimeter is a device used for measuring

the rate of flow of fluid flowing through the pipelines.
 Working
 It consist of a short converging conical tube which
has a total included angle of 21 ± 1° leading to a
cylindrical portion of short length, known as throat.
 It s followed by diverging section known as diffuser
having total included angel 5°to 7°.
 The pressure difference measure between the entry
section 1 and the throat section 2, usually by means
of a U-tube manometer.
 The axis of venturimeter may be horizontal or
inclined or vertical.
 Area of flow in divergent section is increased
gradually to avoid separation of flow and reduce
friction losses.
 The value of coefficient of discharge varies from 0.95
to 0.99.

Disadvantages of Venturi meter:

 Highly expensive

 Occupies considerable space

 Cannot be altered for measuring pressure

beyond a maximum velocity.
 Orifice meter
• It may be installed in pipeline with a
minimum of trouble and expense
 Working
 Orifice meter is device used to determine the rate of
flow through pipe.
 It consist of flat circular plate which has a
sharp edged circular hole called orifice.
 It is fixed concentric to pipe.
 The orifice diameter is generally kept half of
the diameter of the pipe.
 It is based on the same principle as explained
in venturimeter.
 The value of Cd varies between 0.60 to 0.65.
 It is a economical and less space is requred
for fitting.
 Difference between an Orifice
meter and Venturimeter
• For venturi tube, there is no contraction-
– Area of the jet is always equal to the area of the throat
and is fixed

While for the orifice the area of the jet is a variable

(less than Ao, the area of the orifice)
• For venturitube
Cd = Cv (Cc=1.0)

While for the orifice, it is much more affected

by variations in Cc than it is by variations
in Cv
 Notches
 A notches is defined as an opening in the side of a
vessel or tank in such a manner that the liquid
surface in the tank.
 A notch is generally made of metallic plate.
 It is used for measuring the discharge rate of a liquid
from a small channel or tank.
 Weir

 A weir is basically an obstruction in the flow path in an open

channel.
 The weir will cause an increase in the water depth as the
water flows over the weir.
 In general, the greater the flow rate, the greater will be the
increase in depth of flow, The height of water above the top
of the weir is the measurement usually used to correlate with
flow rate.
 Pitot tube

A pitot tube is a simple device used for meausuring

the velocity of a flow at the required point in a pipe
or steam.
 It is also called as impact tube or stagnation tube.