Laxminarayan Institute Of Technology,Nagpur

Orifice meter

Prepared by:-Apurva Talharkar

Diksha Godhane


Introduction

An Orifice Meter is basically a type of flow meter used

to measure the rate of flow of Liquid or Gas, especially
Steam, using the Differential Pressure Measurement
principle.

In orifice meter the fluid is accelerated at a sudden

construction by the orifice plate and the difference in
pressure is measured to obtain the flow rate of fluid.
Principle
 It is based on a bernoulli’s equation.
 When a liquid / gas, whose flow-rate is to be
determined, is passed through an Orifice Meter,
there is a drop in the pressure between the Inlet
section and Outlet Section of Orifice Meter. This in
pressure drop can be measured using a differential
pressure measuring instrument.
Construction
 An orifice meter consists of cylindrical tube that contain a
flat circular shape edge thin hole in middle of it called
orifice which is concentric with the pipe.
 The diameter is kept generally 0.5 times the diameter of
the pipe though it may vary from 0.4 to 0.8 the diameter
of pipe.
 A differential manometer is connected at section 1 which
is at distance of about 1-2 times pipe diameter upstream
from the orifice plate and at section 2 which is at distance
of about half the diameter of the pipe on the downstream
side from the orifice plate.
 The point of maximum convergence usually occur slightly
down stream from the actual physical orifice.
Working
The fully developed flow at section 1 is flowing in a
pipe through orifice plate. The velocity of the fluid is
increased at the orifice plate. The velocity of fluid
increases upto vena contraction point at section 2.
The vena contracta is the poin of minimum flow area.
 The kinetic energy of the fluid increases from point
from section 1 to section 2 and pressure energy
decreases from section 1 to section 2.
 The pressure energy is converted into kinetic
energy from section 1 to section 2. The difference
in pressure between section 1 and section 2 is
measured by manometer.
 The fluid is retarded from section 2 to section 3 and
the fast moving fluid mixes with slow moving fluid
resulting eddies and high degree of turbulence is
set up and most of kinetic energy is dissipated to
the surrounding in the form of heat energy.
 The pressure recovery in the orificemeter is low
because most of the kinetic energy is lost to the
surrounding in the form of kinetic energy.
The orifice meter has a low discharge
coefficient of about 0.60 because of the
substantial loss in the pressure across the
meter.
 The pressure drop over the orifice meter is

high. The pressure recovery is 40 to 50

percent in the orifice meter.
Variation of reylonds number versus Cd
Equation for rate of flow through
Orifice meter

Where A1=Area of pipe at section 1

A0= Area of orifice
Cd=Coefficient of discharge
g= acceleration due to gravity
Pressure recovery in orifice meter
Pressure recovery is expressed as
Pressure recovery=(P1-P3)/(P1-P3)
Pressure recovery is 40-50 percent for orifice meter
The location of vena contracta depends upon
1. Flow rate of fluid
2. Physical properties of fluid
3. Ratio of orifice diameter to pipe diameter
 The value of coefficient of discharge depends on the
Reynolds number through orifice and ratio of the orifice
diameter to the pipe diameter.
 The value of coefficient of discharge is 0.60 for orifice meter.
 The pressure recovery is low because the value of coefficient
of discharge is low for the orifice meter.
The pressure recovery tapping are shown as
The orifice meter with upstream and downstream tapping as
shown

 The upstream tapping should be situated at a

distance equal to the pipe diameter measured from
the orifice plate.
 The downstream tapping should be situated at a
distance equal to half the pipe diameter measured
from the orifice plate.
 Advantages
 The orifice meter is recommened for clean
and dirty liquids and some slurry services.
 The pressure loss is medium.
 The velocity effect is high.
 Relative cost is low.
 It easy for maintance.
 Measures a wide range of flows.
 They are the most suitable for most gases

and liquids.
Disadvantages

 It causes a pressure drop in the fluid.

 Its accuracy is affected by the density, pressure

and viscosity of the fluid.

 The range of measurement of viscosity limits of

fluids.
 There will be considerable loss in the efficiency

of the pumping system due to the pressure loss

downstream of the plate.
 Orifice meter will require straight pipe in order

to ensure the precision and accuracy.

Application
 It is used to measure the flow rate of fluids in
their single state (i.e. gaseous state or liquid
state).
 It can also be used to measure the flow rate

of fluids in a mixed state (both gaseous and

liquid states) such as, wet steam, or natural
gas with water.
Orifice Meter
Thank you