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Introduction to Restriction Orifice

What is a Restriction Orifice?

Restriction orifice or RO, in short, is a flow control instrument device whose primary function to
provide a restriction to the flow so that a controlled or restricted flow is achieved. Due to this
restriction by the orifice plate, a pressure head drop from the upstream of the orifice to the
downstream is observed. For a specific temperature and pressure condition, the orifice area at
the outlet determines the volumetric flow rate of the fluid inside the pipe. Due to the high-
pressure drop at the restriction orifices, it can create acoustic-induced vibration. Hence, studies
must be performed by specialists.
Orifice plate is basically a thin plate with an orifice in the middle. The plate is inserted between
two flanges of a pipe for providing restriction or flow measurement.

Purpose of Restriction Orifice

Restriction Orifice is used primarily for two main reasons:
1. If there is a requirement of Reduced flow or
2. If there is a requirement of high pressure-drops.

The device is sized depending on the required pressure drop. They are designed to slip
between the piping flanges. Restriction orifice comes with single restriction orifices or
multiple restriction orifices in Series

Applications of Restriction Orifice

Engineers and designers are familiar with a restriction orifice in the following
applications for impeding flow or reduce pressure.
• They are installed downstream of blowdown valves to ensure a controlled flow rate
in the blowdown piping or blowdown header.
• They are installed in the minimum flow bypass lines around centrifugal pumps.
• They are installed in Wellhead applications
• Restriction Orifice is sometimes used to restrict excess flow in case ruptures.
• Minimum bypassing
• Injection, cooling, and flushing of fluid.
• Sampling.
• The steam let down.
• Use as a simple static mixer
• N2 purge or constant gas seal
• Controllability improvement
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Restriction Orifice Standard

There is no direct standard addressing the design of restriction orifice, but some
associated references are available as listed below
• SO 5167 Part 1 and Part 2
• ISA RP 3.2
• API -RP 550/551
• API 2531
• IEC 60534-8-3
• API Manual of Petroleum Measurement – Chapter 4
• AGA Report No.3
• API MPMS 14.3.2
• ISO 5024
• ISO 5168

Working Principle of Restriction Orifice/Orifice Plate

Both Restriction Orifice and Orifice plate work following the Bernoulli’s principle that states that
pressure drop across the restriction orifice is directly proportional to the volumetric flow rate
passing through the orifice plate.
While fluid flows through the plate, fluid velocity changes that in turn, as per Bernoulli’s
equation change the pressure. This change in pressures upstream and downstream is measured
to calculate the volumetric flow rate
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Restriction Orifice Types

Restriction Orifice Plates are of three types

Single Stage Restriction Orifice:

A plate with the orifice bore of required size for intended pressure loss is known as
single stage restriction orifice.

Multi-hole Single Stage Restriction Orifice:

To reduce the noise generated, single stage multi-hole restriction orifice plates are
used. As the high velocity flow at the RO inlet is distributed through several holes, the
noise is reduced. To avoid the cavitation problem, multi-hole restriction orifices are
used. The flow distribution through multiple holes improves the cavitation factor which
in turn reduces the overall noise.

Multistage Restriction Orifice Assembly:

Multistage restriction orifices are widely used for very high pressure reduction when a
single stage RO is not capable. It consists of a number of single stage RO devices. The
design can be single-hole or multi-hole. The restriction orifices in a multistage RO are
usually arranged in an eccentric manner. The minimum distance between each stage is
usually the internal diameter of pipe.
Types of Orifice Plates:

The plates used in restriction orifice design can be of the following types:
• Square edge bore or standard bore orifice plate.
• Quadrant edge bore
• Eccentric bore orifice plate
• Segmental bore orifice plate
• RTJ type orifice plate with an integral gasket
• Paddle type orifice plates

Inputs for Restriction Orifice Design

The following inputs are required for the design of restriction orifice:
• PFD and P&ID
• Hydraulic Calculation Sheet
• PMS
• Line operating conditions like upstream-downstream pressure, temperature, flow
rate, line size, Density, Viscosity, molecular weight, Cp/Cv, vapor pressure, etc.
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Restriction Orifice Design Steps

Based on the service and requirements, RO needs to be sized for critical or pre-critical
condition. During sizing, the pressure control RO plates consider the maximum pressure drop
lesser than the critical pressure and flow control RO plates consider the critical pressure drop.
ISO 5167 is generally followed for sizing restriction orifices.
The design of Restriction orifice or RO is carried out as per the steps similar to as mentioned
below
• Determination of Application
• Data Preparation for the orifice
• Restriction orifice sizing (by design engineer or vendor)
• Checking of critical design elements like cavitation index (Kc=0.93), pressure drop,
minimum orifice diameter, allowable space in piping routing, etc.
• Filling out the necessary information in P&ID and RO datasheets

Installation of Restriction Orifice

The restriction orifice is physically a thin plate with one or more holes in it. In piping
application, They are normally inserted in between two flanges. It is possible to inadvertently
leave out the plate when the piping is assembled, or, more likely, to forget to replace it when
the piping is reassembled, following maintenance or cleaning. So leaving out the orifice is
difficult.
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Safe solution
To prevent this, one should make it impossible to assemble or reassemble the piping without
including the orifice. A simple, practical, and foolproof method are: the restriction orifice has its
own spool piece. So in such a situation, there will not be scope for forgetting the RO element
during installation or Construction.

Orifice upstream and downstream requirements

It is a standard engineering practice to keep 10 pipe diameters (10D) upstream (before the
orifice) and 5 pipe diameters (5D) downstream of the restriction orifice.

Restriction Orifice Symbol

The following symbols are used in P&ID to describe restriction orifice and orifice plates.
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Restriction Orifice vs Orifice Plate

The major differences between Restriction orifice and orifice are tabulated below:

Restriction Orifice Orifice

Restriction Orifice is used for killing

An orifice is used for flow
Purpose the high pressure or reducing
measurement.
pressure; a pressure reducing device.

The hole profile of the orifice is

The hole of the restriction orifice has
Hole Profile straight at first but then bevelled
a straight profile
(notched) with a 45° slope

Restriction Orifice causes High

Pressure Drop The pressure drop is low.
Pressure drop

Fluid Velocity Sonic Velocity to ensure choked flow. Subsonic flow.

Acoustic Restriction Orifice is highly

Induced Susceptible to AIV and high noise Not Susceptible to AIV.
Vibration can generate

Factors for Sizing RO device

There are various factors that must be considered while sizing restriction orifice

Pressure Drop:
For sizing and selecting the restriction orifice, pressure drop is a critical parameter. The
required minimum thickness of a RO device is dependent on the pressure drop across
the device.

Flow Rate:
As the pressure drop is dependent on the flow rate changes, the restriction orifice
needs to be sized for normal flow rate. For critical RO, the downstream flow rate should
be considered.

Sonic Flow:
Choked or sonic flow condition may arise due to decrease in density and increase in
velocity when a gas accelerates through a restriction. A Sonic flow in the pipeline
generates high noise and vibration in the pipeline that may cause mechanical failure. To
avoid this, the maximum pressure drop across a single-stage restriction orifice plate
must be limited to critical pressure drop.
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Cavitation:
In liquid flow restrictions with very large pressure drop, cavitation may occur. While
passing through the restriction orifice, the velocity of liquid drops and pressure
increases. Due to these, vapor bubbles can collapse and flashing can occur. this
phenomenon is known as cavitation. To avoid cavitation, the restriction orifice should
be sized to maintain the cavitation index less than the incipient cavitation index of the
RO plate. Inlet pressure, outlet pressure, and vapor pressure are the parameters for
cavitation index, and the incipient cavitation factor will be dependent on the beta ratio
of the plate.

Noise Level:
Noise levels in RO can be predicted by calculating sound power generated due to
pressure reduction. Next, the transmission losses can be subtracted to find the sound
level at any pre-decided location. To reduce the noise in restriction orifice, the following
options can be selected when sizing.
• Reduction of the pressure drop.
• Increase of the number of the stages of reduction.
• Using multi-hole RO plates.
• Optimizing the pressure drop across each stage.
• Increasing the margin between the cavitation index and incipient cavitation
index