1.

OBJECTIVE
To measure the water flow rate and head loss from Venturi meter.

2. LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this experiment, students should be able to:
a. Understand the concept and theory of flow rate and head loss in Venturi meter.
b. Fabricate the Venturi meter design and conduct the experiment.
c. Calculate the water flow and head loss by using the Bernoullis equation and Continuity
equation.

3. INTRODUCTION
When a pipe is constricted at a point because of a change in pipe diameter, it creates a drop in
pressure due to the increase of velocity. This pressure change, measured by a manometer, can
be used to estimate the flow rate in a pipe (Cengel & Cimbala, 2013). Venturi meter is one
type of obstruction flowmeter. Venturi flowmeter is created from converging and diverging
cones or in other word from large diameter to small diameter of the pipe. In daily engineering
application, this flowmeter can be used to determine flow rate for many fluid transport systems
such as irrigation and plumbing. This is very important in order to regulate or adjust an accurate
flow rate so the pump size can be determining to deliver the fluid.

4. THEORY
Consider the flow is incompressible, inviscid flow through venture meter. The cross section
area at the upstream section 1 is A1, the throat section 2 is A2. Piezometer tubes at these sections
state as h1, h2 above the datum line. If the tube is in inclination position, the datum is necessity
to be horizontal. Assuming the flow to be one-dimensional, so that the velocity and the piezo
metric head vary only in the direction of the tube length. There are some losses due to pipe
frictional loss and loss through pipe fittings such as elbows, tees, reducers and valves [1]. These
losses known as head loss, . The Bernoulli equation is an approximate relation between
pressure, velocity, and elevation, and is valid in regions of steady, incompressible flow [2].
Bernoulli's principle indicates that the pressure in the constriction should be lower and higher
velocity [3]. We may then treat the convergent-divergent pipe as a stream tube, along which
Bernoullis theorem states,

1 1 2 2 2 2
+ + 1 = + + 2 +
2 2

The flow rate Q,

= 1 1 = 2 2 (2)
which Q denotes the rate of volume flow. Head loss equation form by substitute equation
(2) into (1),
1 1 2 2 2 2
+ + 1 = + + 2 +
2 2
12 22
1 2 + =
2
1 1
2 ( 2 )
1 2 2
= (1 2 ) +
2
where 1 and 2 are in horizontal (same datum).
 To find out the flow rate in term of Bernoulli equation,

2 2
1 ( )
2 ( )
+ 1 = + 2 +
2 2
1 1
2 ( 2 2)
2 1 (1 2 )
=
2

2[(1 2 ) ]
=
1 2 1 2
( ) ( )
2 1

2[(1 2 ) (1 2 )]
=
1 2 1 2
( ) ( )
2 1

5. LIST OF MATERIAL & EQUIPMENT

5.1 LIST OF MATERIAL

No. Material Dimension
1. PVC pipe 18mm in diameter,
20cm in length
2. PVC pipe 30mm in diameter,
30cm in length
3. PVC pipe adapter connector 18mm to 30mm in
diameter
4. PVC pipe end cap 30mm in diameter
5. Transparent tube 4mm in diameter

5.2 LIST OF EQUIPMENT

No. Equipment
1. Stopwatch
2. Ruler
3. Measuring jug
4. Marker
6. EXPERIMENT PROCEDURE

Schematic Diagram of Venturi Meter Design

6.1 The apparatus is set up on a stable and balanced working table.

6.2 The control valve of inlet pipe, Venturi meter pipe (convergent zone) and
Manometer U-tube are closed.
6.3 Water as working fluid is allowed to flow in and the water flow is regulated to
achieve steady flow through Venturi meter.
6.4 Certain volume of water discharged from outlet valve is collected in tank and the
time taken is noted.
6.5 The reading (height of water) in the left limb and right limb of Manometer U-tube
is jotted down.
6.6 The steps above are repeated for three times by controlling the inlet valve.
7. RESULT
No. Volume, Time, Flow Height, Height, Height Head Flow Rate,
V (m3) t (s) Rate, Q h1 (m) h2 (m) Difference Loss, hL Q (m3/s)
(m3/s) of (m) x10-4
x10-4 Manometer, x10-3 (Formula)
h1- h2 (m)
1 0.01 26.30 3.8023 0.28 0.018 0.262 6.1624 4.2437
2 0.01 25.14 3.9777 0.33 0.028 0.302 7.1090 4.5561
3 0.01 24.01 4.1649 0.38 0.059 0.321 7.5609 4.6972
4 0.01 22.30 4.4843 0.43 0.080 0.350 8.2428 4.9048
5 0.01 21.23 4.7010 0.48 0.089 0.391 9.1977 5.1842

Graph of Head Loss vs Flow Rate

10
y = 3.2298x - 7.5811
9 R = 0.9992
8
Head Loss, hL (m)

6
x10-3

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Flow Rate, Q (m3/s) x10-4

8. CALCULATION

3.8023104
1000 0.015
0.00752
Reynold number, = =
1.12103
= 28816

Use Explicit Haaland equation to solve f, roughness for plastic, =0

1 6.9 0/ 1.11
= 1.8 [ +( ) ]
28816 3.7

f= 0.02354

2[(1 2 ) (1 2 )]
=
1 2 1 2
( ) ( )
2 1
 2 9.81[(0.262) 0.02354(0.262)]
= 2 2
1 1
[( ) ( ) ]
0.00752 0.01252

= 4.2437x10-4 m3/s
1 1
2 ( 2 )
1 2 2
= (1 2 ) +
2

1 1
(4.2437 104 )2 ( )
( 0.01252 )2 ( 0.00752 )2
= (0.262) +
2 9.81
= 6.1624 x10-3 m
Repeat the calculation for experiment 2 to 5 by applying the formula.

9. OBSERVATION
This experiment has been conducted in Fluid Mechanics Laboratory as the requirement for this
experiment is the flow in pipe must be fully developed, so the usage of water pump and
collecting tank during this experiment is very crucial. This experiment was conducted as our
group member were divided to each task such as take reading from the collecting tank, measure
the time taken for water to fill the collecting tank, measure the height difference for the
manometer, record the video, set up the discharge valve to adjust the flow rate of the water
pump and record the data on the result and data form. During this experiment, our group have
encountered several problems such as connecting the Venturi meter to the inlet pipe of the
pump. This problem occurred because the hose of the inlet pump is not matching with the
Venturi meter pipe. So, in order to deal with this problem is using another pipe adapter and
cable tie to connect the hose to the pipe. Besides that, leakage was occurred during the
experiment that can affect the result of the experiment as the fluid flow is not stable if there is
leakage. So, this problem was solved by sealing the leakage between the connector by using
the white tape. Next, the presence of air bubble in manometer also affect the result for this
experiment especially when the reading of manometer is taken. This problem maybe occurred
because the inlet pipe is not full with water as the region is not fully develop yet and to solve
this problem is squeezing the manometer to remove the air bubble and maximize the fluid flow
and then regulate it at some point that known as starting point to conduct the experiment.

10. DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Based on the result, hypothesis can be concluded which is the relationship between the flow
rate and head loss is directly proportional. This is because the higher the flow rate, the higher
the head loss take place. From the graph of flow rate against head loss and graph of height
difference against flow rate, it shows that flow rate was rise steadily with respect to the
differential head. As the Bernoullis equation state that when a fluid in flow undergoes a rise
in pressure then its velocity must be decrease. This is because when the pressure in pipe is high
but the velocity is not decreasing, it will take damage as it cannot withstand as a high pressure
in that high velocity of fluid. The relation between Bernoullis equation, Continuity equation
and energy balance have been showed through the entire experiment especially at calculation
part. As there are several error and problem that occurs during this experiment, so some
recommendation was suggested to improve the experiment efficiency. The recommendations
are: -

To avoid parallax error during the measurement of data, use the white paper behind the
manometer when the data is taken to make eyes easier to see the measurement as scale
is sometimes is not clear because of the color of the plywood or board.
To avoid instrument error during the experiment, always make sure the equipment that
wanted to use is in good condition such as the stop watch that take the time reading can
be functioning properly.
To avoid environment error, the suitable place to conduct the experiment is very
important to choose as the experiment need to be conducting in controlled space where
there is no environment factor such as weather that can affect the stability of the
experiment.

11. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this experiment has been successfully achieved its objective and learning
outcomes at the end of this experiment. This experiment of flow through Venturi meter shows
that as the flow rate increases, the head loss taken also increases. It is because the energy losses
for the Venturi flowmeter was found to stay relative constant as velocity increased. It also can
have concluded that the large change in pressure or pressure drop will damage the pipe as it
cannot withstand the pressure inside the pipe. Errors have been discussed which are several
errors can take place such as parallax error, human error that caused from repetitive error,
environment error and instrument error. So in order to fix it, the several recommendation has
been listed out to improve the effectiveness for this experiment. Lastly, this open ended
laboratory experiment has help student to manage and handle the group project together as a
team to solve the task that have been given.
12. REFERENCES
a. Sodiki J. I., Statistical Modeling of Head Loss Components in Water Distribution
within Buildings, Journal of Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Feb 2014), p. 101.
b. Yunus A. C. and John M. C. (2013). Fluid Mechanics: Fundamentals and
Applications., 3th Edition. New York : McGraw-Hill
c. Replogle, J.A., Wahlin B (1994). Venturi Meter Construction for Plastic Irrigation
Pipelines. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 10(1), 21-26.
d. Sciphile. Bernoulli's Principle and the Venturi Tube,
http://sciphile.org/lessons/bernoullis-principle-and-venturi-tube (Oct. 2013)

APPENDIX