DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Instrumentation Techniques for

Environmental Monitoring
EN303

Practical 3

Submitted to
Prof Anunay Gaur

Submitted by:
Sankalp Purwar (2K20/EN/63)

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OBJECTIVE

Design an orifice plate for a typical application

Aim

To design an orifice plate for a typical application.

Objective

1. Calculate the differential pressure developed across an orifice plate to withstand specific
beta values.
2. Study the effect of process fluid (service) change on the developed differential pressure.
3. Study the effect of change in pressure tapping position.
4. Study the temperature and pressure variations effect on the orifice plate performance.

Theory

An orifice meter is a type of variable head meter. In this meter, the obstruction to the flow
consists of an engineering constriction in the metered fluid, which causes a reduction in the flow
pressure. An orifice meter is a conduit and a restriction to create a pressure drop. It uses the same
principle as a Venturi nozzle, namely Bernoulli's principle, which states a relationship between
the fluid's pressure and velocity. When the velocity increases, the pressure decreases and vice
versa. An orifice plate is a thin plate with a hole in the centre of the plate. It is usually placed in a
pipe so that fluid passes through the hole. When the fluid reaches the orifice plate, with the hole
in the middle, the fluid is forced to converge to go through the small hole; the point of maximum
convergence occurs shortly downstream of the physical orifice, at the so-called vena contracta.
Vena contracta is a point where the velocity and the pressure change. Beyond the vena contracta,
the fluid expands, and the velocity and pressure change again. The volumetric and mass flow
rates can be obtained from Bernoulli's equation by measuring the difference in fluid pressure
between the normal pipe section and the vena contracta. There are different types of orifice
plates: Concentric, Segmental, Eccentric and Quadrant Edge and Conic Edge.

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To use any of these devices for measurement, it is necessary to calibrate them empirically. That
is, pass a known volume through the meter and note the reading in order to provide a standard
for measuring other quantities. Due to the ease of duplicating and the simple construction, the
thin sharp edged orifice has been adopted as a standard, and extensive calibration work has been
done so that it is widely accepted as a standard means of measuring fluids. Provided the standard
construction mechanics are followed, no further calibration is required. An orifice in a pipeline
with a manometer for measuring the drop in pressure (differential) as the fluid passes through the
orifice. The minimum cross-sectional area of the jet is known as the "vena contracta", where the
velocity is maximum and static pressure is minimum. It is observed at some distance from the
orifice because inertia effects persist in the flow direction. Materials used for orifice plates are
mild steel, stainless steel, phosphor bronze and gunmetal.

Procedure

1. Study the diagram completely.

2. Select the value of the beta ratio (β).
3. Select the value of orifice diameter (d) in meters.
4. Click on Done. This will lock the values of β and d.
5. Change the value of the Volumetric Flow Rate in LPM (Q) by a cursor.
6. Click on the Show Cd tab. The coefficient of discharge will be displayed.
7. Enter the calculated user output differential pressure. For calculations of differential
pressure P, click on the Get Formula tab.

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 8. Using the formula calculate the differential pressure value and enter the answer in the box
provided. Submit the answer using submit button.
9. The differential pressure will be displayed on the screen if your calculation is correct.
Change the value of Q and repeat steps 5 to 8.
10. Minimum of six calculations are necessary to plot the graph, and after six calculations,
the plot tab will be activated.
11. Click on Plot to see the graph. Study the graph of differential pressure variation when the
flow rate is changed.
12. Hide the graph and switch to the next experiment.

Observation

References

1. A.K. Sawhney, "Electrical and electronic Measurements and Instrumentation"

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2. Ernest O.Doebelin, "Mesurement systems application and design" Tata McGraw-Hill
Publication
3. B.C.Nakra and K.K.Chaudhari, "Instrumentation Measurement and Analysis"
4. https://www.lmnoeng.com/orifice.htm
5. https://www.lmnoeng.com/Flow/SmallOrificeLiq.htm
6. https://ematem.org/Dokumente/200809/08_lau_calculat.p df
7. https://www2.emersonprocess.com/siteadmincenter/pm%
20daniel%20documents/fundamentals-of-orifice- measurement-techwpaper.pdf