Compressible flow[edit]

In general, equation (2) is applicable only for incompressible flows. It can be modified by introducing

the expansibility factor, (also called the expansion factor)   to account for the compressibility
of gasses.

 is 1.0 for incompressible fluids and it can be calculated for compressible gases [9] using
empirically determined formulae as shown below in computation.
For smaller values of β (such as restriction plates with β less than 0.25 and discharge from tanks), if
the fluid is compressible, the rate of flow depends on whether the flow has become choked. If it is,
then the flow may be calculated as shown at choked flow (although the flow of real gases through
thin-plate orifices never becomes fully choked[a][13] By using a mechanical energy balance,
compressible fluid flow in un-choked conditions may be calculated as: [10] [11] [14]

or

Under choked flow conditions, the fluid flow rate becomes: [10]

or

where:  

= heat capacity ratio ( ), dimensionless (  

for air)

,  = mass and volumetric flow rate, respectively, kg/s and m³/s

= real gas density under upstream conditions, kg/m³

  and other symbols are defined as above

Computation according to ISO 5167[edit]

Flow rates through an orifice plate can be calculated without specifically calibrating the individual
flowmeter so long as the construction and installation of the device complies with the stipulations of
the relevant standard or handbook. The calculation takes account of the fluid and fluid conditions,
the pipe size, the orifice size and the measured differential pressure; it also takes account of
the coefficient of discharge of the orifice plate, which depends upon the orifice type and the positions
of the pressure tappings. With local pressure tappings (corner, flange and D+D/2), sharp-edged
orifices have coefficients around 0.6 to 0.63,[15] while the coefficients for conical entrance plates are
in the range 0.73 to 0.734 and for quarter-circle plates 0.77 to 0.85. [5] The coefficients of sharp-edged
orifices vary more with fluids and flow rates than the coefficients of conical-entrance and quarter-
circle plates, especially at low flows and high viscosities.
For compressible flows such as flows of gases or steam, an expansibility factor or expansion
factor is also calculated. This factor is primarily a function of the ratio of the measured differential
pressure to the fluid pressure and so can vary significantly as the flow rate varies, especially at high
differential pressures and low static pressures.
The equations provided in American and European national and industry standards and the various
coefficients used to differ from each other even to the extent of using different combinations of
correction factors, but many are now closely aligned and give identical results; in particular, they use
the same Reader-Harris/Gallagher (1998) equation for the coefficient of discharge for sharp-edged
orifice plates. The equations below largely follow the notation of the international standard ISO 5167
and use SI units.[3][16]
Volume flow rate:

Mass flow rate:

 [3]
Coefficient of discharge[edit]
Coefficient of discharge for sharp-edged orifice plates with corner, flange or D and D/2
tappings and no drain or vent hole (Reader-Harris/Gallagher equation):

and if D < 71.2mm in which case this further term is added to C:

 [16][b]
In the equation for C,

and only the three following pairs of values for L1 and L'2 are valid:

corner tappings: 

flange tappings:  [b]

D and D/2 tappings: