Orifice Plate Calculator Pressure drop Calculations

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Orifice plate calculator pressure drop calculation

Orifice plate pressure drop calculator is used for flow rate measuring in pipe systems. With orifice plate, pressure drop is
created. Based on the magnitude of pressure drop, flow rate can be calculated. The pressure drop calculation formula for the
pipe is explained in more detail below .Practical for larger tube diameters and for dirty fluid where other methods are impractical.
Measure pressure drop from position 1 to position 2 and calculate flow rate and more with this easy to use flow calculator
.Pressure drop formula calculation is published. It can be used as liquid, gas or air flow meter and the results can be checked
against the textbook formula to gain confidence in using this easy to use orifice plate pressure drop /flow rate calculation . Flow
rate can be expressed in metric or imperial units.

Types of Flowmeters
Air Flow Meter
Ultrasonic
Smart Meters
Thermal Mass
Mass Flow Controller
(MFC)
Coriolis Mass
Rotameter
Positive Displacement PD
Meter
Vortex shedding
Multiparameter Mass Vortex
Multiphase
Turbine
Gas Flowmeter
Compressed Air Meter
Calorimetric
Compound Meter
Electromagnetic
Flumes & Weirs
Insertion Flow Meter
Open Channel
Orifice plate
Paddle Meter
Variable Area
Venturi
Doppler
Transit-Time
Portable Flow meter
Low Flow Measurement
Laminar Mass
Medical
OEM
Differential Pressure
Flow Meter

Flow Indication &

Control
Straighteners / Conditioners
Static Mixers
Vaporizer Systems
Sight Glass Indicators
Flow Switch
Indicator Panels
Watercut meters
Sensors
Nozzles
Crude Oil Mixing
Leak Detection
Air Eliminators
Automatic Meter Reading
Net Oil Computer
Water Meters
Wind Meters
Test and Calibration
Centers
Flow Bench
Hydraulic Flow Switch
Flowmeters

(requires Java Runtime Environment http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp )

Explanation of used values

D1
D2
p1
p2
p1 - p2
ni
mi
T
rho
R
kappa

diameter of tube
throat diameter
upstream pressure
downstream pressure
pressure drop through orifice
kinematic viscosity
dynamic viscosity
upstream temperature
upstream density
gas constant
isentropic coefficient

Resulting values

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Orifice Plate Calculator Pressure drop Calculations

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Q
G
V1
V2
ReD
e
C

http://www.flowmeterdirectory.com/flowmeter_orifice_calc.html

volumetric flow rate

mass flow rate
upstream velocity
throat velocity
upstream Reynolds number
expansion coefficient
coefficient of discharge

Theory
Calculation of flow rate using orifice plate calculator is for incompressible flow, based on the Bernoulli principle:

where is:
p - pressure
rho - density
V - velocity
g - gravitational constant (9.81 m/s2)
z - geodetic height
Assumption that pressure lost is negligible (pressure drop is obvious and included with coefficient of discharge which is
introduced bellow):

and:

and if velocities substituted with flow rate:

where is: Q - volumetric flow rate

D - diametar
Pressure drop through the orifice because of velocity increase can be calculated as follows:

or:

Expressing flow rate from the previous equation leads to:

Substituting:

flow rate can be determined as:

where is:
C - coefficient of discharge
e - expansion coefficient

Coefficient of discharge can be calculated using following equation (ISO):

where is:
beta - diameter relation D2/D1
ReD - Reynolds number which can be calculated as follows:

where is:
ni - kinematic viscosity
mi - dynamic viscosity

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L1 and L2 are functions on tap type and it is:

L1=L2=0 for corner taps
L1=1 L2=0.47 for D & D/2 taps
L1=L2=0.0254/D D[m] for 1" taps

Expansion coefficient e can be calculated (for gases only):

where is:
kappa - isentropic coefficient; kappa = 1.4 for air and other two atom gas molecules
Other values are calculated using following equations:
mass flow:

velocities:

If flowing fluid is gas, then it is considered as incompressible and ideal. Equation for ideal gas:

can be used for calculation of temperature T:

as well as density rho:

where R is gas constant (R=287 J/kgK for air).

Appliance
Orifice plate calculator can be used for both liquids and gases. Fluid is considered as incompressible, so density (rho) and
temperature (T) are constant through tube. Also, gas is considered as ideal.
Units of measure are both in SI and English system.
Orifice plate calculator can be used for calculation of:
volumetric flow - Q
mass flow - G
velocity on inlet, bigger diameter - V1
velocity on smaller diameter - V2
Reynolds number on bigger diameter - ReD
For calculation of those values, necessary values for input are:
inlet, bigger diameter - D1
smaller diameter - D2
inlet pressure - p1
either pressure on smaller diameter - p2, or pressure drop p1-p2
either kinematic viscosity - ni, or dynamic viscosity - mi
for gases only:
either temperature - T, or density - rho
gas constant - R
for liquids:
density - rho
Beside four values (Q, G, V1, V2), which calculation is main purpose of calculator, values that are not defined by user are
determined in process of calculation (for example: if pressure p1 and temperature T are specified for gas flow - value for rho is
calculated together with four main values (Q, G, V1, V2)). Also necessery coeffients: expansion - e and discharge - C are
calculated and results are shown.
Orifice plates and metering runs are popular because of low cost
. Orifice plates combined with differential pressure transmitters
are now commonly supplied as complete flow measurement
packages.
Multiport pressure transmitter manifold valves gives options to
operators for e.g to isolate , equalize and vent the differential
pressure transmitter. Orifice plates and differential pressure
measurement devices are used to measure the flow of fluids
such as steam, air, gas and water. In natural gas transmission a
familiar type of orifice plate is the senior orifice plate. This special
design allows operators to remove and inspect the orifice plate
during normal pipeline operation. A metering run, flow
straightener may have to be installed to correct the flow profile in
custody transfer applications or orifice plate applications that
require higher accuracy.

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