Aerospace Engineering Department, IIST

CALIBRATION OF ORIFICE METER

Aerospace Engineering Department, IIST


Exp no:
Date:
CALIBRATION OF ORIFICE METER

Aim :
To determine the coefficient of discharge and calibration equation for the given Orifice meter.
Specifications :
Diameter of pipe - 25 mm
Diameter of throat - 15 mm
Collecting tank size - 500 x 500 mm

Apparatus :
Orifice meter fitted across a pipeline leading to a collecting tank, Stop Watch, U-Tube manometer
connected across entry and throat sections etc.

Theory :
It works on Bernoullis principle and is used for measuring the flow rate through a pipe. It is a cheaper
device as compared to venturimeter. An Orifice meter in its simplest form consists of a plate having a sharp
Aerospace Engineering Department, IIST

edged circular hole known as an orifice. The plate is fixed inside the pipe, with the hole concentric with pipe. A
mercury U-tube manometer is inserted to know the difference of pressure head between the two tapping.
Orificemeter works on the same principle as that of Venturimeter i.e. by reducing the area of flow
passage a pressure difference is developed between the two sections and the measurement of pressure
difference is used to find the discharge.
Actual discharge through Orifice meter,

t
h A.
t
V
Q
act
= = cm
3
/s
Where,
V = (A. h), volume of water collected in collecting tank in cm
3
.
A = Cross section area of collecting tank in cm
2
.
h = Height of water collected in collecting tank in cm.
t = Time required to collect the water up to a height h in the collecting tank.
Hence,
Coefficient of discharge of the Orificemeter, C
d
=
th
a
Q
Q

Theoretical discharge through Orifice meter

) a (a
2gh .a a
Q
2
0
2
1
0 1
th

= cm
3
/s
Where:
a
1
=

Cross section area of pipe at inlet i.e, entry section.
a
0
=

Cross section area of Orifice.
h = Pressure head difference in terms of fluid flowing through pipeline.
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
1

H
w
m
cm of water
H = Mercuric level difference in manometer in cm.

m
= Density of mercury

w
= Density of water

The actual discharge through an orifice meter is given by,
Aerospace Engineering Department, IIST


) a (a
h g 2 .a a
Q
2
0
2
1
0 1
a

=
d
C cm
3
/s
ie,
) a (a
1

H g 2 .a a
C Q
2
0
2
1
w
m
0 1
d a

|
|
.
|

\
|

= cm
3
/s
The above equation can be expressed as,
H K Q
n
a
= cm
3
/s .............(1)
Where, K - a constant
n - exponent
Calibration of orifice meter is carried out to find out the numerical values of K and n.
The graph of equation (1) can made linear by taking logarithms on both side.
ie, log Q = log K + n log H
The values of K and n could be found from the graph. While plotting the graph by taking log Q
a
on
Y axis and log H on X axis, the slope of the line will give the value of n and Y-intercept will give the value of
log K.
Ref: Fluid mechanics F.M.White, Section. 6.10
Procedure :
- Note the diameter at the inlet of pipe (d
1
) and the diameter of an orifice (d
o
).
- Note the density of manometric liquid i.e. mercury (
m
) and that of fluid flowing through pipeline i.e.
water (
w
).
- Connect the U-tube manometer to the pressure toppings of orifice meter, one end at the inlet section
and the other end at the section where jet of water leaves from orifice forming a vena contracta.
- Start the flow and adjust the control valve in pipeline to get the required discharge.
- Measure the pressure difference (H
m
) between two sections of orifice meter by using U-tube mercury
manometer.
- Measure flow rate i.e. actual discharge (Q
act
) through Orificemeter by collecting the water in collecting
tank for a specified period of time.
- Change the flow rate by adjusting the control valve and repeat the process for at least five times.
Aerospace Engineering Department, IIST

- Tabulate the readings and find the values of log Q
a
and log H.
- Plot the graph log Q
a
Vs log H.
- Determine the value of constant K and n from the graph.

Observations :
l
o
g


H

-

-



l
o
g


Q
a

-

-



C
o
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
t

o
f

d
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e

C
d

-



T
h
e
o
r
e
t
i
c
a
l

D
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e

Q
t
h

c
m
3
/
s



A
c
t
u
a
l

D
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e

Q
a

c
m
3
/
s



T
i
m
e

f
o
r

5

c
m

r
i
s
e

i
n

c
o
l
l
e
c
t
i
n
g

t
a
n
k

(

t

)

m
e
a
n

t

s



2

s



1

s



M
a
n
o
m
e
t
e
r

R
e
a
d
i
n
g

D
i
f
f
e
r
e
n
c
e

H
=
h
2
-
h
1

c
m

o
f

H
g



R
i
g
h
t

l
i
m
b

h
2

c
m



L
e
f
t

l
i
m
b

h
1

c
m



S
l
.

N
o
:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7


Aerospace Engineering Department, IIST

Graph :

Sample Calculations: Set No _____

















Aerospace Engineering Department, IIST






















Result :
Coefficient of discharge of Orifice, C
d
=
The value of K =
The value of n =
The Calibration equation is, Q
a
=

Inference :