Sultan Qaboos University

College of Engineering
Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Department
Chemical Engineering Lab.1 ( CHPE4312 ) - Section # ( 20 )
Exp. 2
(Fluid flow measurement)

By :
Hilal Mohammed Ali Al Ghefeili 88549
Maher Mohammed Hamed Al Busaidi 88654
Ahmed Hamed Mohamed Al Qasmi 88805
Mahamood Nasser Hamed Al Rawahi 88812
To :
Dr. Mohammed Al abri
Due Date :
21
th
November 2012
I

Abstract:

An experimental work was carried out to compare between the theoretical and
experimental differential head for venturi meter, orifice plate meter and pitot-static tube
at different volumetric flow rate. our experimental work show that the differential head
and the volumetric flow rate has directly proportional relationship. Also, it was shown
that the absolute relative error between the theoretical and experimental differential head
was within 10% for all the flow meters that have been used.


















II

Nomenclature:

Symbols description unit
P Pressure mmHg
u Velocity m/s
I
uc

Flow rate Jm
3
s
Density kgm
3

z

Height m

Differential head mmHg













III

Table of Contents:

Abstract: I
Nomenclature: II
Table of Contents: III
List of Figures: IV
List of Tables: V
Introduction: 1
2. Experimental Set Up and Procedure 2
2.1 Apparatus 2
2.2 Procedure 3
Results and Discussion 3
Experiment 2.1 : Venturi Meter 3
Experiment 2.2: Orifice Plate 4
Experiment 2.3: Pitot-static tube 5
Conclusion: 6
References: 8
Appendices: 9
Experiment 2.1: 9
Experiment 2.2: 9
Experiment 2.2: 9








IV

List of Figures:

Figure 1:Experimental apparatus 2
Figure 2: venturi meter 3
Figure 3:pitot meter 3
Figure 4:orifice plate meter 3
Figure 5:differential heed verses flow rate for venturi meter 4
Figure 6: differential heed verses flow rate for orific plate 5
Figure 7:differential heed verses flow rate for pitot - static tube 6

















V

List of Tables:

Table 1: calculation of flow rate and the differential head for venturi meter 4
Table 2: calculation of flow rate and the differential head for orifice plate 5
Table 3: calculation of flow rate and the differential head for pitot -static tube 6
1

Introduction:
Flow measurement is the quantification of bulk fluid movement. Flow can be
measured in a variety of ways. Positive-displacement flow meters accumulate a fixed
volume of fluid and then count the number of times the volume is filled to measure flow.
Other flow measurement methods rely on forces produced by the flowing stream as it
overcomes a known constriction, to indirectly calculate flow. Flow may be measured by
measuring the velocity of fluid over a known area.
Both gas and liquid flow can be measured in volumetric or mass flow rates, such
as liters per second or kilograms per second. These measurements can be converted
between one another if the material's density is known. The density for a liquid is almost
independent of the liquid conditions; however, this is not the case for gas, the density of
which depends greatly upon pressure, temperature and to a lesser extent, the gas
composition.
There are several types of flow meter that rely on Bernoulli's principle, either by
measuring the differential pressure within a constriction, or by measuring static and
stagnation pressures to derive the dynamic pressure. The most common three flow meter
that used to measure the velocity and the volumetric flow rate in a pipe are Venturi meter
, orifice plate meter and pitot-static tube. . This experiment will depend on the Bernoulli's
equation to measure the differential head between two points.

P
1
+
1
2
pu
1
2
+wz
1
= P
2
+
1
2
pu
2
2
+wz
2
(1)
Where
P
1
:the pressure at point 1, P
2
:pressure at point 2, p:density of the fluid , u
1
: velocity at
point 1, u
2
: velocity at point 2, w:weight, z
1
: height at point 1 , z
2
: height at point 2,
This experiment will study the relationship between the differential head and the
volumetric flow rate for water at 24. Also, it will compare the theoretical and
experimental differential head for the most common three flow meters.
2

2. Experimental Set Up and Procedure
2.1 Apparatus

Figure 1:Experimental apparatus


1- control valve
2- Flow meter place
3- hydraulic bench measuring tank
4- pump

3


Figure 2: venturi meter


Figure 3:pitot meter


Figure 4:orifice plate meter


2.2 Procedure

First of all , the Venturi test section was Inserted and the pipe network was primed
with water. After that the pump was switched on and the flow control valve was opened
to allow a nominal flow through the pipe. Then the water temperature was measured and
recorded. Next ,the total volumetric flow rate was measured and recorded using the
hydraulic bench measuring tank and a stopwatch. The differential head between the
tapings on the flow meter measured and recorded using the mercury manometer. The
flow rate was increased by a reasonable amount and the volumetric flow rate and the
differential head were measured and recorded. Finally, the pump was Switched off when
all measurements have been taken.
Next, Pitot tube test section was Inserted instead of venture test section and we
follow the same Procedure of the Venturi test section. After the volumetric flow rate and
the differential head were measured , the orifice plate meter was Inserted . We follow the
same Procedure of the previous two.

Results and Discussion
Experiment 2.1 : Venturi Meter

The values of flow rate and differential head for the venturi meter were shown in
table (1).The upstream pipe diameter 39 mm and throat diameter is 18 mm. The discharge
coefficient is 0.98 as given by the manufacturer. A proportional relation was obtained
between the differential head and the flow rate as shown in figure (5). At flow rates of
1.027 um
3
s and 1.613 um
3
s, the differential head was 60.635 mmEg and 149.491
mmEg respectively. A small difference between the theoretical head 235.952 mmEg
4

and the measured differential head 250 mmEg with an error of 5.619%. An inaccurate
values reading of the manometer and the stopwatch was the main cause of the errors.
Table 1: calculation of flow rate and the differential head for venturi meter
Test No. Flow rate
|um
3
s]
theoretical
differential
head
|mmEg]
Measured
differential
head
|mmEg]
Error %
1 1.027 60.635 53 14.406
2 1.613 149.491 133 12.399
3 2.026 235.952 250 5.619


Figure 5:differential heed verses flow rate for venturi meter

Experiment 2.2: Orifice Plate

The measurement of differential head and flow rate for the orifice plate was
tabulated in table (2). The upstream pipe diameter and throat diameter are 39 mm and 22
mm respectively. The discharge coefficient is 0.6 as given by the manufacturer. From
figure (6), it is clear that the differential head is directly proportional to the flow rate. The
theoretical differential head at 1.043um
3
s was 70.399 mmEg with some differences
with measured value 65 mmEg. A maximum error of 11.195% appears at a flow rate of
2.134 um
3
s which the theoretical differential head 294.666 mmEg was slightly higher
than the measured differential head 265 mmEg. The difference between the theoretical
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
d
i
f
f
e
r
e
n
t
i
a
l

h
e
a
d

h

[
m
m
H
g
]
Flow rate [ L/s]
differential head
h Vs Flow rate
Measured
theoretical
5

and measured values may be caused by the human error at taken the readings and
controlling the stopwatch.
Table 2: calculation of flow rate and the differential head for orifice plate
Test No. Flow rate
|um
3
s]
theoretical
differential
head
|mmEg]
Measured
differential
head
|mmEg]
Error %
1 1.043 70.399 65 8.306
2
1.527 150.753 145 3.968
3 2.134 294.666 265 11.195


Figure 6: differential heed verses flow rate for orific plate


Experiment 2.3: Pitot-static tube

Table (3) shows the calculation of the differential head, velocity and the flow rate
of the pitot-static tube. At a flow rate of 1.541um
3
s, the theoretical differential head was
6.228 mmEgand the measured value was 8 mmEgwhich indicates an error of 22.147%.
the smallest error which was 8.039% was found at the highest flow rate of 2.176 um
3
s.
From the figure (7), it can be seen that the differential head was proportional to the flow
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
d
i
f
f
e
r
e
n
t
i
a
l

h
e
a
d

h

[
m
m
H
g
]
Flow rate [ L/s]
differential head
h Vs Flow rate
Measured
theoretical
6

rate. Taking the manometer readings before the stability moment may probably caused
inaccurate results. Water leakage at the joined parts also caused a big errors.
Table 3: calculation of flow rate and the differential head for pitot -static tube
Test No. Flow rate
|um
3
s]
Average
velocity
[m/s]
theoretical
differential head
|mmEg]
Measured
differential head
|mmEg]
Error %
1 1.043 0.873 2.855 4 28.615
2 1.541 1.289 6.228 8 22.147
3 2.176 1.822 12.424 11.5 8.039


Figure 7:differential heed verses flow rate for pitot - static tube


Conclusion:

The flow rates and the differential heads for orifice plate, venturi meter and pitot -
static tube were measured. A proportional relation was found between the differential
head and the flow rate in the three devices. For the orifice plate, the theoretical
differential head was 150.753 mmEg and 294.666 mmEgat flow rates of 1.527 um
3
s
and 2.134 um
3
s. For the venturi meter, a small error was observed at a flow rate of
2.026 um
3
s. The theoretical differential head was 235.952 mmEg and the measured
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
d
i
f
f
e
r
e
n
t
i
a
l

h
e
a
d

h

[
m
m
H
g
]
Flow rate [ L/s]
differential head
h Vs Flow rate
Measured
theoretical
7

differential head was 250 mmEg. At a flow rate of 1.043um
3
s for pitot - static tube, the
theoretical differential head was 2.855mmEgand the measured value was 4 mmEg.
Comparing the theoretical differential head with the measured differential head,
high errors can be observed. The highest error for the orifice plate was 11.195% at a flow
rate of 2.134 um
3
s. For the venturi meter, at a flow rate of 1.027 um
3
s a largest error
was obtained which was 14.406%. The high errors appear may be due to the inaccurate
reading of the manometer and the controlling of the stopwatch. Water leakage may
caused the largest problem with the experiments outcomes.


8

References:

* Fluid Mechanics for Chemical Engineers 3rd edition, Noel de Nevers, McGraw-Hill
* Fluid Mechanics Fundamentals and Applications, Yunus A. Cengel and John M.
Cimbala, Second Edition
* Fundamentals of Thermal-Fluid Sciences, Yunus A. Cengel, McGraw-Hill
* Steady Flow Analysis of Pipe Networks, Roland W. Jeppson, Published in 1/1/1974


9


Appendices:

Experiment 2.1:
Starting with Bernoullis equation:

Solving for the differential head :

Where the velocity u :



Experiment 2.2:
The calculation of this experiment is mostly same as the calculation of the venturi meter
with different input data.

Experiment 2.2:
Starting from the Bernoullis equation:

Solving for the differential head:
10

P =
u
2
p
2

Where the velocity can be calculated from:
u =
v
cc
A

I
uc
, is the flow rate.