7/5/2020 Theory Gas Orifice Meter

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Theory Gas Orifice Meter

The most common method of measuring gas is through an orifice meter. Gas flows through a piece of straight pipe with an orifice plate inserted in the middle.
The orifice plate is a steel circular plate with a hole in the middle; the hole is smaller than the internal diameter of the pipe. The plate is placed perpendicular to the
gas flow, and is sealed so that all the gas flows through the hole. The hole is "tapered", meaning that the edge of the orifice hole is sharp. The plate must be
inserted in such a way as to have the direction of flow of gas from the smaller to larger diameter, i.e. if the gas is flowing from left to right, the sharp edge of the
orifice (the smaller diameter) must be at the left. Reversing the orifice plate will give an incorrect measurement.

The orifice plate is actually a highly machined component. Its dimensions must adhere to certain specifications. If the plate is damaged in any way in or around the
"hole", it can no longer measure gas rates with any accuracy, and it must be replaced.
The plates come in different sizes for measuring different rates. Each time an orifice plate is changed, the size of the new plate must be recorded because the
orifice size is needed for calculating flow rates.
In addition to knowing the size of the orifice plate, there are other parameters, which also must be known and reported. The relationship for calculating flow rate,
using an orifice meter, is described by the orifice equation.

Reference
Orifice Metering of Natural Gas, Gas Measurement Committee Report #3, American Gas Association, 1992,2003

Orifice Meter Equations

The Orifice meter calculation changes slightly depending on its physical configuration. FieldNotes™ supports the following configurations

Flanged Taps Upstream

Flanged Taps Downstream
Piped Taps Upstream
Piped Taps Downstream

Flange Tapped Orifice Calculation:

Upstream

Downstream

The above equations are referred to as the "Factors Approach" as defined by appendix 3-B in AGA 3 Part 3
Reference
Symbol Description

Input
D Meter tube internal diameter, calculated at Tf (FieldNotes™ assumes that the meter tube is constructed from carbon steel)

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d Orifice plate bore diameter, calculated at Tf (FieldNotes™ assumes that the orifice plate is constructed from stainless steel) Input
Input
Tf Absolute flowing temperature
Input
Pfl Absolute flowing pressure
Input
hw Orifice differential pressure
Input
Ts Standard Temperature
Input
Ps Standard Pressure
3-B-2
Qv Volume flow rate at standard conditions
3-B-4
C Composite orifice flow factor
3-B-5
Fn Numeric conversion factor
3-B-7
Fc Orifice calculation factor (Displayed as the Fb column in FieldNotes™)
3-B-9
Fst Orifice slope factor (Displayed as the Fr column in FieldNotes™)
3-32
Y1 Expansion Factor (upstream tap)
3-37
Y2 Expansion Factor (downstream tap)
3-B-10
Fpb Base pressure factor
3-B-11
Ftb Base temperature factor
Flowing temperature factor 3-B-12
Ftf
3-B-13
Fgr Specific gravity factor
3-B-14
Ftpv Supercompressibility factor

Flow Calculation Example

This example is taken from AGA 3 Part 3 Appendix 3-C

Symbol Input Published Ver 4.1 Ver 3.xx

D 8.071 inches

d 4.000 inches

Tf 65 F

Pfl 370 psi(a)

hw 50 inches

Ts 50 F

Ps 14.65 psi(a)

Gr 0.570

N2 1.10 %

CO2 0%

608,394
Qv 608,405 SCF/min 608,623 SCF/min
SCF/min

C 4561.453 n/a

Fn 5581.82 5581.82 n/a

Fc 0.601767 0.601767 n/a

0.001189 0.001177 n/a

Fst

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Y1 0.998383 0.998383 n/a

Y2 n/a n/a n/a

Fpb 1.000000 0.980757 n/a

Ftb 1.000000 1.000000 n/a

Ftf 0.995224 0.995226 n/a

Fgr 1.32453 1.324532 n/a

Ftpv 1.02423 1.024249 n/a

Before the days of computers, engineers and operators used a complex system of tables to create an orifice coefficient for each size of orifice and various flowing
conditions. FieldNotes™ does these calculations automatically, and the correct value of C is always applied to current calculation of gas flow rates. Some field
operators use a "Sony Circular Slide Rule" or handed down spreadsheets to calculate gas flow rates. The answers obtained from this means are only approximate,
and may differ from those calculated in the FieldNotes™ program.

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