Calibration of Venturimeter

Fluid Mechanics Experminent 1b

Rajeev Verma, Ranjan Das, D. Saiteja, S.S.V.D. Sairam, Sarthak Garg, Sheikh Rawoof
B Tech Aerospace, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology

Abstractmeasuring the flow rate without significant losses
is a big problem in fluid mechanics. Venturi meter is a
device to measure flow rate. The losses caused by flow
through a venturi meter are negligible and the discharge
coefficient is about 0.95. The flow rate can be accurately
accounted for if the Venturi meter is calibrated using a
relation with manometer height difference. This equation
can be conveniently used to find the flow rate. The
calibration equation was found to be
Qa = 293.271*H^(0.5334) (cm^3/sec)
coefficient of discharge at the pressure head of 40g Pa was found
to be 0.9835
Keywords-Venturimeter , Coefficient of dischaege , U tube
manometer , Throat , Pressure head .
INTRODUCTION
A Venturimeter is a device for determining the flow-rate of a
fluid down a pipe. One measures the pressure difference
between the venturi inlet and neck, and from this the flow-rate
can be determined. The instrument ( venturimeter) used in this
experiment consists of a section with both a smooth
contraction and a smooth expansion . Venturimeter consists of
a converging portion, throat and a diverging portion.
The function of the converging portion is to increase the
velocity of the fluid and temporarily lower its static pressure.
The pressure difference between inlet and throat is developed.
This pressure difference is correlated to the rate of flow. The
expression for theoretical flow rate is obtained by applying the
continuity equation and energy equation at inlet and throat
section. The working principle of venturimeter is the
bernaullis equation. While applying this equation we make
swome assumptions. Like the fluid flowing is incompressible.
The flow is steady and irrotational.

Venturimeter is used to measure the rate of flow through a
pipe. Venturimeter consists of a converging portion, throat and
a diverging portion. The function of the converging portion is
to increase the velocity of the fluid and temporarily lower its
static pressure. The pressure difference between inlet and
throat is developed. This pressure difference is correlated to
the rate of flow. The expression for theoretical flow rate is
obtained by applying the continuity equation and energy
equation at inlet and throat section, and assuming the fluid to
be ideal is given by

Q
th
= a
1
a
2
(2gh)/(a
1
2
+a
2
2
)

Where a
1
and a
2
are areas at inlet and throat & h is the static
pressure difference between inlet and throat section in terms of
m of water.


Equations derived above relating flow rate to the differential
pressure cannot be applied directly in practical applications.
All the flowmeters need calibration a priori where a known
quantity of fluid is passed through the flowmeter and the
differential pressure across the flowmeter related to the actual
mass flowrate through a discharge coefficient given as the
ratio of actual to theoretical mass flowrate. Two methods of
knowing the actual mass flowrate are- measurement of time
for collection of a finite volume of fluid and measurement of
mass collected in a certain amount of time.

While the nozzle section has small losses, the same is not true
for diverging section of the Venturimeter. Apply the
mechanical equation between two section.
h
1>2
= h
1
h
2
Express the head loss as a fraction of the kinetic energy v
2
/2g.

Therotical discharge through venturimeter,

Q
th
= a
1
a
2
(2gh)/ (a
1
2
+a
2
2
)
Where:

a1 = cross section of venturimeter at entry section in m2
= 4.908 x 10-4 m
2

a2 = cross section of venturimeter at throat section in m
2
= 1.767 x 10-4 m
2

h = pressure head difference in terms of fluid flowing through
pipeline.

= H(
m
/
w
-1) m of water, where
m
= 13.53x
w


H = mercuric level difference in manometer in m

Actual discharge through Venturimeter,

Qact = V/t = A.h/t m
3
/s

Where

V = (A.h), volume of water collected in collecting tank
in m
3
A = cross section area of collecting tank in m2 = .25 m
2
h = height of water collected in collecting tank = .05 m
T = Time required to collect the water up to height h
In the collecting tank
Hence the coefficient of discharge of the venturimeter,

Cd = Q
a
/Q
th

In order to take realflow effect into account, coefficient of
discharge(Cd) must be introduce in equation of theoretical
discharge. Then,

Q
a
= C
d
.a
1
a
2
(2gh)/(a
1
2
-a
2
2
) m3/s

The above equation can be expressed as,

Q
a
= KH
n
m3/s

Where,

H = mercuric level difference in manometer in m
K = a constant
n = exponent

Calibration of venturimeter is to find out the numerical values
of K and n

the graph of the above equation can make linear by taking
logarithms on both side.

i.e. logQ
a
= logK + nlogH

The graph of the above equation is linear and the values of K
and n can find from the graph. While plotting the grapg by
taking Q
a
on Y axis and logH on X axis, the slope of the line
will give the value of n and Y- intercept will give the value of
logK


EXPERIMENT

(Cd) Specifications of venturimeter:
Diameter of pipe-25mm
Diameter of throat-15mm
Collecting tank size-500*500mm

Procedure:
1.Note the diameter of inlet of pipe (d(1)) and the diameter of
orifice d(0).
2.Note the density of manometer liquid that is mercury and
that of fluid flowing throgh pipe line that is water.
3. Start the pump and adjust the control valve in pipeline for
maximum discharge.
4. Measure the pressure difference across the venturimeter by
using U-tube manometer .
5. Measure the flowrate i.e. actual discharge through
venturimeter by means of collecting tank.
6. Calculate the theoretical discharge through venturimeter by
using formula.
7. Decrease the flowrate by adjusting the control valve and
repeat the process for atleast five times.
8. Determine the coefficient of discharge for each flowrate and
find the mean value of coefficient of discharge.


Table I Observation Table
Sl
No.
Left
limb
Left
limb
Diffrenc
e

Time for 5cm rise in
collecting tank in s (t)
in m
(x10
-2
)
in m
(x10
-2
)
H=h1-h2
In m
1

2 mean
t
1 48.6 42.4 6.4 15.9 15.3 15.6
2 48.1 42.8 5.5 17.3 17.1 17.2
3 47.4 43.4 4 20.9 20.3 20.6
4 46.3 44.6 1.7 31.9 32.1 32
5 45.8 45.1 0.7 51 52 51.5










Table I (Part 2)
Actual
Discharge
Theoretical
Discharge
Coefficie
nt of
Discharge
logQ
a
logH
Q
a
in
m
3
/sec
(x10
-4
)
Q
th
in
m
3
/sec
(x10
-4
)
C
d

798.722 753.4201 0.943282 6.683 1.85629
726.533 698.4392 0.961332 6.588 1.70474
605.6202 595.6309 0.983506 6.406 1.38629
390.625 388.3038 0.994058 5.967 0.53062
242.7184 249.1703 1.026582 5.491 -0.3566



RESULT





The
LogK value from the graph is = 5.6811
n value from the graph = 0.5334



Cd Cd/Cd
0.943282 0.128747
0.961332 0.117659
0.983506 0.100072
0.994058 0.085828
1.026582 0.148042
Expected value of Cd = 0.65
All deviations are within range and have positive deviation
from expected value.
The Value of K = 5.3263
The value of n = 0.5247
The Calibration Equation is
Qa = 293.271*H^(0.5334) (cm^3/sec)

The calibration equation is within the limits of the predicted
value.
The slope is close to 0.5 as predicted by the flow rate
equation.



.The discharge coefficient vary significantly with Reynolds
number of the flow



CONCLUSION

1. The setup performed moderately well at
generating expected value of discharge coefficient.
2. All deviations were concentrated to one side,
which might be due to some standard error in
measurement or the instrument.
3. Changing manometer reading slightly leads to
drastic change in other variables. Extra keen eyes
are required to take observations.
4. The water was being poured in a tank with some
velocity, which caused disturbance and oscillation
in the pipe.
5. The discharge coefficient varies with Reynolds
number of the flow.
6. The calibration eqn does not behave exactly as
square root of manometer hieght difference. This
behavior may be due to inherent turbulence and
unsteadiness.





y = 0.5334x + 5.6811
0
2
4
6
8
-0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
l
o
g
Q
a

logH
0.92
0.94
0.96
0.98
1
1.02
1.04
0 200 400 600 800 1000
d
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e

c
o
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
t

Reynolds number



RECOMMENDATIONS

To get better results,
a. The connecting tube from pipe to tank
should be fixed in a position so as not to
affect the reading.
b. More keenness is required from a
person for taking readings.
c. The manometer should be made more
sophisticated and accurate.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
While performing this experiment on calibration of orifice
meter we full support and backing from our lab assistants so
we are greatly thankful to them . We thank specially to
Dr.Aravind Vaidyanathan who described all the details about
venturi meter and made our concepts clearer. We are thankful
to IIST for giving us opportunity to conduct this experiment

REFERENCES
While preparing the report for this experiment we took some
matter from the following sources.


1. www.wikipedia.com
2. http://iitb.vlab.co.in
3. http://iitb.vlab.co.in
4. http://www.slideshare.net
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orifice_plate
6. http://www.thermopedia.com/content/5192/FLOW_
METERING_fig1.gif





APPENDIX I






Error Analysis
Qth/Qth qa/Qa Cd/Cd
0.015625 0.127796 0.128747
0.018182 0.116245 0.117659
0.025 0.096899 0.100072
0.058824 0.0625 0.085828
0.142857 0.038835 0.148042





Sample Calculations
(For reading 5)
H = 45.8-45.1 = 0.7x10
-2
m
From the equation stated above,

h = H (pm/pw -1) = 8.82x10
-2
m

Q
th
= a
1
a
2
(2gh)/ (a
1
2
+a
2
2
) = 2.4917x10
-4
m
3
/s

t = (t
1
+ t
2
)/2 = (51 + 52)/2 = 51.5 s

Q
act
= V/t = A.h/t = 2.427184x10
-4
m
3
/s

C
d
= Q
a
/Q
th
= 1.0265

logQ
a
= -5.491

logH = -0.3566

Normal C
d
value = 0.9- 0.95
Error %( Cd) = ((1.02-0.925)/0.925)X100%
= 10.2%