Alexandria University

Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Engineering Dept.

Dr. ESLAM REDA

2022 - 2023
Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Engineering Department
Principles & Instrumentation of Fluid Flow

Hydrometers

Requirements:
• General description of hydrometers (Construction, underlying physics,
common features, etc…)
• Measuring procedure.
• Applications of Hydrometers (common measuring units for various industrial
applications, alternative density measuring methods…)

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Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Engineering Department
Principles & Instrumentation of Fluid Flow

Falling-Ball Viscometer

Viscometer measurements Data:

Ball used:

Page 3 of 15
Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Engineering Department
Principles & Instrumentation of Fluid Flow

Oil Type: Core 600 base oil (S.G.=0.88)

Equation:

By rearranging:

Requirements:
• General description/overview of the device (use, construction, features,
measuring principle, etc…)
• Viscosity measuring procedure using the falling ball viscometer.
• Calculate the dynamic viscosity of the oil tested in the lab.
• Alternative viscosity measuring devices/methods.

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Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Engineering Department
Principles & Instrumentation of Fluid Flow

CALIBRATION OF PRESSURE GAUGE USING DEAD WEIGHT TESTER

Objective:

It is required to draw the calibration chart of a pressure gage using the dead weight tester.

Equipment Setup:

Experiment Procedure:

1- Fill the interior of the apparatus with oil, and free it from air bubbles.

2- Fit the tested gauge in position.

3- Level the apparatus in a horizontal position.

4- Table the reading of the tested gauge before putting the piston in place. This is the zero
reading of the gauge.

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Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Engineering Department
Principles & Instrumentation of Fluid Flow

5- Close the valve of the tested gauge and put the piston in place. Put a load on the piston and
use the handle to reach the equilibrium position, take reading of gauge at equilibrium
position.

6- Repeat, with increasing the load, use handle to retain equilibrium position.

7- Continue till you reach almost the maximum reading on the gauge then reduce the load
gradually and take readings through the unloading process.

8- Plot the points representing the relation between the actual pressure and the indicated
pressure.

Actual pressure = load / area of piston

Indicated pressure = average reading of the gauge

9- Make a straight line fitting for the plotted points.

Observations:

Indicated Pressure [kgf/cm2]

No. Load [kgf]
During Loading During Unloading
1 Zero
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Engineering Department
Principles & Instrumentation of Fluid Flow

Results:

Indicated Pressure [kgf/cm2]

No. Actual Pressure [kgf/cm2]
Loading Unloading Average
1 Zero
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Report:

1- Calculation steps.

2- Results:

a. Table: indicated pressure (kgf/cm2) vs. actual pressure (kgf/cm2).

b. Graph: indicated pressure (kgf/cm2) on 𝑥-axis vs. actual pressure (kgf/cm2) on 𝑦-

axis.

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Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Engineering Department
Principles & Instrumentation of Fluid Flow

CALIBRATION OF ORIFICE-METER

Objective:

Find experimentally the coefficient of velocity, the coefficient of discharge and the coefficient of
contraction for a small orifice for the flow under constant head tank.

Equipment Setup:

Head Paper
Scale Tank Clamp

Adjustable
Overflow Back
Pipe Board

Needle
Locknut

550
Flexible Hose Screw
to Sump Tank

Inlet
Pipe
Adjustable
Feet Saffle
750
Orifice Thumb Nut
Plate with O-Ring

Summary of Theory:

1 𝑥2
𝑦= 𝑔 2
2 𝑣𝑎𝑐𝑡
𝑣𝑡ℎ = √2𝑔ℎ

𝒗𝒂𝒄𝒕
𝑪𝒗 =
𝒗𝒕𝒉

NOTE: 𝑥 is the horizontal distance measured from the plane of the Vena Contracta, y is the
distance measured from the plane of the orifice.

𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 (𝑉)
𝑄𝑎𝑐𝑡 =
𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑇)
𝑄𝑡ℎ = 𝑎𝑜 √2𝑔ℎ

Page 8 of 15
Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Engineering Department
Principles & Instrumentation of Fluid Flow

𝑸𝒂𝒄𝒕
𝑪𝒅 =
𝑸𝒕𝒉

Where; 𝑎𝑜 is the orifice area (orifice diameter = 6 mm).

𝑪𝒅
𝑪𝒄 =
𝑪𝒗

Experiment Procedure:

1. Connect the apparatus to the bench ensuring that the overflow pipe hose drains into the
sump tank. Level the apparatus by adjusting the feet, ensuring that the path of the jet
coincides with the row of measuring needles. Place a sheet of paper on the backboard and
raise the needles to clear the path of the water jet.

2. Raise the overflow pipe, open the flow control valve and admit water into the head tank.
Adjust the valve until the water is just spilling into the overflow. Record the head h on the
scale. Assess the position of the Vena-Contracta visually and note the distance from the
orifice.

3. Adjust each of the needles in turn to determine the jet path, marking the position of the tops
of the needles on the sheet of paper on the backboard.

4. Measure the flow rate 𝑄 using the volumetric tank and stopwatch.

5. Repeat for different water levels h.

6. Calculate 𝐶𝑑 , 𝐶𝑣 and 𝐶𝑐 at different tank heads

7. Plot 𝐶𝑑 , 𝐶𝑣 and 𝐶𝑐 against tank heads then find a specified values for each one of them from
the graph.

Page 9 of 15
Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Engineering Department
Principles & Instrumentation of Fluid Flow

Results:

Volume of
Reading Time (𝑻) Head (𝒉) Distance (𝒙) Height (𝒚)
Water (𝑽)
No. [sec] [mm] [mm] [mm]
[lit]
1
2
3
4
5
6

Reading 𝑸𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝑸𝒕𝒉 𝒗𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒗𝒕𝒉

𝑪𝒅 𝑪𝒗 𝑪𝒄
No. [lit/sec] [lit/sec] [m/sec] [m/sec]
1
2
3
4
5
6

Report:

1. Calculation steps.
2. Results:
a. Table: 𝑄, ℎ, 𝐶𝑣 , 𝐶𝑑 and 𝐶𝑐 .
b. Graphs: orifice calibration curves.
i. ℎ on the 𝑥-axis and 𝐶𝑣 the 𝑦-axis.
ii. ℎ on the 𝑥-axis and 𝐶𝑑 the 𝑦-axis.
iii. ℎ on the 𝑥-axis and 𝐶𝑐 the 𝑦-axis.
c. From the graphs find the values of 𝐶𝑣 , 𝐶𝑑 and 𝐶𝑐 .

Page 10 of 15
Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Engineering Department
Principles & Instrumentation of Fluid Flow

Secondary Losses in Bends and Fittings

Objectives
It is required to demonstrate the secondary losses through different types of bends and fittings.

Experimental Procedure
1. Close the regulation valve and start the centrifugal pump.
2. Open the valve partially.
3. Wait for steady flow (Piezometers readings = constant).
4. Read the differential readings of the Piezometers connected to the mitre, the elbow, the short
bend, the enlargement and the contraction.
5. Read the initial volume in the collection tank V1.
6. Observe the time (t) to increase the collected volume to V2.
7. Increase the valve opening.
8. Repeat the experiment two times.
9. After recording all the required readings, close the valve gradually then stop the centrifugal
pump.
Notes:
Pipe area : 301.7 mm2
Enlargement pipe diameter : 26.2 mm
Contraction pipe diameter: 19.48 mm

Page 11 of 15
Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Engineering Department
Principles & Instrumentation of Fluid Flow

Observations

Experiment No. 1 Experiment No. 2

h V1 V2 t h V1 V2 t
Type of fitting
(mm) (lit.) (lit.) (Sec.) (mm) (lit.) (lit.) (Sec.)
Mitre
Elbow
Short bend
Enlargement
Contraction

Calculations
V − V1
Q act = 2
t
2
h = K (Mitre,Elbow &Short bend)
2g
 22  22 − 12
h = K + (Contraction)
2g 2g
( 1 -  2 ) 2  22 −  12
h = K + (Enlargement)
2g 2g
Where,
v1 = upstream velocity
v2 = downstream velocity

Results and Discussions

▪ List down the value of the coefficient of loss (K) for each type of fitting.
▪ Comment on the results.

K (Exp. No. 1) K (Exp. No. 2) Kav

Mitre
Elbow
Short bend
Enlargement
Contraction

Page 12 of 15
Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Engineering Department
Principles & Instrumentation of Fluid Flow

Centrifugal Pump Characteristics

Objectives

It is required to study the performance of a centrifugal pump at different speeds.

Experimental procedure

1. The pump is operated at a certain speed (N).

2. The discharge of the pump is changed using a gate valve installed on the delivery side.
3. Adjust the speed (N) for each case.
4. For different discharges, the following readings are taken.
▪ Manometric suction head (Hms) by using a pressure gauge, ft.
▪ Manometric delivery head (Hmd) by using a pressure gauge, ft.

▪ U-tube manometer reading (y), cm.

▪ Force (F) by using weights, kgf.

Calculations
1. Pump manometric Head:
Hm = Hmd - Hms

2. Discharge:
Apipe  Athroat
Q = Cd 2 gh
2
Apipe − Athroat
2

 
h = y  u − 1
 
 f 
where
Where,
C d = 0C.94
d = 0.94
d pipe =d10 cm
pipe = 10 cm

d throat =dthroat
6.86=cm
6.86 cm
y ="U − tube" reading
 u = 13.6 Page 13 of 15
 f =1
Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Engineering Department
Principles & Instrumentation of Fluid Flow

y = U-tube manometer reading

u = 13.6
f = 1

3. Efficiency:
η = (O/P) / (I/P)
Where,
O/P = water x Hm x Q
I/P = T x ω
T=FxR
ω = 2π N / 60

Hint: R (brake radius) = 0.3048 m.

Results and Discussion

1) Draw a schematic diagram for the system.

2) Plot the relation between:
▪ The pump discharge (Q) and the pump manometric head (Hm).
▪ The pump discharge (Q) and the pump efficiency (η).
▪ The pump discharge (Q) and the pump input power (I/P).

Page 14 of 15
Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Engineering Department
Principles & Instrumentation of Fluid Flow

Observations

N1 = rpm
y (cm) Hms (ft) Hmd (ft) F (Kgf) T = F * R (N.m) I/P (Watt)

h (m) Q (lit/s) Hm (m) = Hmd - Hms O/P (Watt) η

N2 = rpm
y (cm) Hms (ft) Hmd (ft) F (Kgf) T = F * R (N.m) I/P (Watt)

h (m) Q (lit/s) Hm (m) = Hmd - Hms O/P (Watt) η

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