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The Orifice plate is a very robust flow measurement device. It is one device
that is very easy to use and can easily be adaptable to many flow
measurement applications. Its cost of operation is minimal and familiarity
with the device is near universal. All these pluses make the Orifice plate the
first choice measurement device in almost every flow application. It does
however have some limitations which makes the sizing process a little
tricky. Two key limitations include:
As can be observed from the above graph, large errors are introduced into
the measurement system by orifice plates at low flow rates. This is because
flow is proportional to the square root of differential pressure as shown by
the graph below:
ISO 5167-2:2003, Measurement of fluid flow by means of pressure
differential devices:Orifice plates
This square root relationship between flow and differential pressure for the
orifice plates makes compromise in either flow or differential pressure
inevitable in the sizing process. Mind you, there are other sources of errors
in orifice flow meter measurements. These include variations in pipe
diameter, orifice plate machining tolerances and errors introduced due to
flange taps. The errors introduced by these sources are however minimal.
Maximum Flow
The maximum flow is the highest flow that the flow measurement system
can handle and still maintain the right accuracy. Selecting an unnecessarily
high maximum flow will definitely introduce errors at low flow rates. The
right maximum flow should be selected based on actual conditions (arrived
at through a flow study of the system that requires the flow measurement).
When done, this will yield the right result in terms of accuracy.
Keep in mind that these days, orifice plate sizing is done by software
provided in most cases by the orifice plate manufacturers themselves. So
when sizing in addition to other factors, ensure you select the right DP
range, maximum flow and an optimum beta ratio for best performance of
the orifice plate. Note that Beta ratio and DP for the orifice plate are
related. Altering one alters the other.
Source: http://www.instrumentationtoolbox.com/2013/10/a-guide-to-sizing-orifice-plate-
flow.html