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Flowthroughanorifice

Approximateflowthroughanorifice1312
Thereareseveralreasonsyoumightwanttoinstallarestrictivedevice,ororificeinapipingsystem.
Tocreateafalseheadforacentrifugalpump,allowingyoutorunthepumpclosetoitsBEP.
Toincreasethelinepressure.
Todecreasetheflowthroughaline.
Toincreasethefluidvelocityinaline.
Theequationforflowthroughanorificeisasimpleonetounderstand.Onlytheunitsaresomewhat
awkward.
Q=AV
Q=Theflowincubicfeetpersecond(ft3/sec).
A=Theareaoftheorificeinsquarefeet(ft2).
V=Thevelocityoftheliquidinfeetpersecond(ft/sec).
Experienceshowsthattheactualflowisquitedifferentthancalculatedbecauseofthedifferentshapes
ofthevariousorifices.Lookatthefollowingdiagramsandyouwillseesomeofthesepopularshapes.
Eachhasbeenassigneda"K"value.
Wewillenterthat"K"valueintoourequationandthenewequationbecomes:
Q=AVK
Tomaketheequationeasiertohandlewecanexpressthevelocity"V"as:

g=32.2ft/sec2
h=Headacrosstheorifice.Ifthedownstreamsideoftheorificeispressurizedusethe
differentialheadacrosstheorifice.
Ifyoudonotknowhowtoconvertpressuretohead,usethisformula:

Itwouldalsomakesensetoconvertsomeofthetermsinourequationtotermsthataremore
convenienttouse.Asanexample:
"Q"canbeconvertedfromcubicfeetpersecondtogallonsperminute:
1ft3/sec=448.8gpm.
"A"Theareainsquarefeetcanbeconvertedtosquareinches:
1ft2=144squareinches
Puttingallofthistogethergivesusanewformulathatlookslikethis:
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Flowthroughanorifice

Let'spluginsomenumbersandcalculateaflowthroughatypicalorifice.
Given:
h=20feet
A=0.049squareinches
K=0.62
Q=25x0.049x0.62x4.47or
Q=3.40gallonsperminute
Ifwewanttosolvefortheorificearea:

Ifyouareuncomfortableworkingwiththeorificeareainsquareinchesyoucanusethediameter
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13/05/2015

Flowthroughanorifice

instead.Usethefollowingequation:

Insertingthe0.049squareincheswecalculatedfromthepriorformulaweget

or1/4inch
Wemadeourformulamoreuserfriendlybysubstitutingsomeconversionsandnowwecanmakeour
calculationsingallonsperminuteandsquareinches,buttheformulaswouldbebetterifwecould
measuretheorificediameterratherthantheorificearea
Itookyouthroughthisexercisetoshowyouhowtheformulasweuseinthesepapersarederived.We
willrewritetheflowandorificediameterformulasagainandmaybethistimetheywillbesimple
enoughforanybodytouse.Wewillstartwiththeflowformulaandthenfixtheorificeformula:

Theformulaforcalculatingtheorificediameterbecomes:

Let'sseeiftheformulasstillwork.Herearethenumbers:
d=.250or1/4inch
K=0.620
Q=3.4gallonsperminute
h=20feet
Wewillbeginbysolvingforflow(Q)

Wellthatworked,nowlet'stryfororificesize:

Alloftheseabovenumbersweregeneratedassumingthatyouweremovingwaterthroughtheorifice.
Ifyouaremakingcalculationsforaliquidotherthanwateryouwillhavetofactorintheviscosityof
thatliquidcomparedtowater.
Wealsomadeanassumptionthattheorificediameterisnotgreaterthan30%ofthepipediameter.
Thereisanotherformulaweuseforalessrestrictiveorifice.
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Flowthroughanorifice

Anytimetheratiooftheorificediametertothepipediameterisgreaterthan30%
(0.30)youshouldmodifytheformula.Themodifier(M)lookslikethis:

d1=orificediameter
d2=pipediameter
Whenyouareusingthemodifier,theformulaslooklikethis:

Nowwewillseewhathappenswhena0.250inch(1/4)orificeisputintoasmallercrosssection
0.500inch(1/2)pipe,assumingtheothernumbersstaythesame:

Thismeansthatyouwouldhavetomultiplyby1.03sothe3.46gpmwegotinthelastcalculation
wouldbecome3.56gpm.
Howaccuratearethesepredictednumbers?Anytimeyoumakeacalculationusingflowasapartof
theequation,youwillrunintosomevariablesthatwillaffectyourresults:
Theroughnessofthepipinginsidewallsaffectsthefrictionloses.
Thepipingmaterialandallowablewallthicknesstolerances.
Solidsbuildupinsidethepiping.Calciuminwaterapplicationsandcokeinhotoilapplications
aretypical.Highertemperatureusuallyhastensthesolidsbuildup.

ForinformationaboutmyCDwithover600Seal&PumpSubjectsexplained,click
here
LinktoMcNallyhomepagewww.mcnallyinstitute.com

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