FM OPEN ENDED LAB:

​ OBJECTIVE:
To investigate the operation and characteristics of three different basic types of flowmeter,
including accuracy and energy losses.

​ APPARATUS:
1)Hydraulic Bench
2)F1-21 Flow Meter Test
3)Stopwatch

​ RELATED THEORY:
​ Rate of Flow or Discharge (Q):
Discharge or rate of flow (Q) is defined as the fluid flowing per second
through a channel or section of a pipe. This rate of flow is expressed in
terms of “volume” when the fluid flow is incompressible. The rate of flow
of discharge is measured as volume of fluid collected per unit time. Its
units are m3/s. Its formula is

Q=V/t
​ FLOW METER TEST RIG F1-21:

This apparatus consists of an orifice plate, venture meter, and a variable area flow meter. These
are all installed in a series combination so that we can compare them with each other directly
or we can compare their properties simultaneously.​
 1.​VENTURIMETER:
It is a small piece of pipe in which converging and diverging zones are connected by a throat at
the junction point. Its purpose is to measure the discharge.
 2.​Orifice Flow Meter:
It works on the Differential Pressure Measurement principle. The liquid or gas whose flow
rate is to be determined is passed through the orifice plate. This creates a pressure drop across
the orifice plate which varies with the flow rate, resulting in a differential pressure between the
outlet and inlet segments.

This equation which is made from Bernoulli’s equation is used for both venturi meter and orifice
flow meter.

And delta h is the head difference determined from the manometer readings.
The difference in this formula lies in the use of the value of coefficient of discharge.
For orifice plate , the value of Cd is 0.63 while for venturimeter , Cd = 0.98
 3.​Variable Area Flow Meter:
The variable area flow meter's operation is based on the variable area principle: fluid flow
raises a float in a tapered tube, increasing the area for passage of the fluid. The greater
the flow, the higher the float is raised. The height of the float is directly proportional to the flow
rate. This is also known as Rotameter.

​ Technical Data:
Following dimensions are used in further calculations in this experiments.

For Venturi
Upstream pipe Diameter = 0.03175m
Cross-sectional Area of Upstream Pipe A1 = 7.92 x 10-4 m2
Throat Diameter = 0.015m
Cross-sectional Area of Throat A2 = 1.77 x 10-4 m2
Upstream Taper = 21
Downstream Taper = 14
For Orifice Plate

Upstream pipe Diameter = 0.03175m

Cross-sectional Area of Upstream Pipe A1 = 7.92 x 10-4 m2
Throat Diameter = 0.02m
Cross-sectional Area of Throat A2 = 3.14 x 10-4 m2

The manometers are connected so that the followings pressure differences can be
obtained.

h1 – h2 Venturi meter reading

h3 – h4 Venturi loss

h5 – h6 Variable area meter loss

h6 – h7 Orifice plate reading

h7 – h8 Orifice plate loss

​ Procedure:
●​ Place the Flowmeter Test Rig on the bench and make sure it is level.
●​ Connect the inlet pipe to the bench supply and the outlet pipe into the
volumetric tank and secure the end.
●​ Start the pump and open the bench valve and the test rig control valve, to flush
the system.
●​ To remove the air from pressure tapping points and manometers, close the both
ends of bench valve and test rig valve, open the air bleed screw and remove
the cap from adjacent air valve.
●​ Connect a length of small air bore tubing from air valve to volumetric tank.
●​ Open the bench valves to allow flow through manometers tubes to purge them
with air.
●​ Tighten the air bleed screw, partly open the test rig flow control valve and the
bench valve.
●​ Now open the air bleed screws slightly.
●​ Re-tighten the screws when manometer levels reach a certain height.
●​ Check all the manometer levels are on the scale at maximum flow rate.
●​ These levels can be adjusted further by using air bleed screw.
 ​ Taking a set of results:
●​ At a fixed flow rate, record all manometer heights, and variable area meter readings.
●​ Carry out a time volume collection using the volumetric tank.
●​ Collect fluid for at least one minute to minimize timing errors.
●​ Repeat the readings twice for consistency and then take average to minimize the error.

Test Orifice Venturi Volume Time Variable H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7

Pipe Area Area Collected to Area
Area Collect Meter
A1 A2 A3 V t Reading
(m2) (m2) (m2) (m3) (s) (l/min) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)

1 7.92 x 10-4 3.14 x 10-4 1.77 x 10-4 0.005 56 5.35 244 255 236 231 180 180 168

2 7.92 x 10-4 3.14 x 10-4 1.77 x 10-4 0.005 30.26 9.91 220 164 205 195 136 135 180

3 7.92 x 10-4 3.14 x 10-4 1.77 x 10-4 0.005 21.78 13.77 265 170 245 212 145 147 77

4 7.92 x 10-4 3.14 x 10-4 1.77 x 10-4 0.002 56.64 2.11 180 176 178 177 126 126 125

5 7.92 x 10-4 3.14 x 10-4 1.77 x 10-4 0.002 6.8 17.6 286 164 250 220 148 151 59
-4 -4 -4
6 7.92 x 10 3.14 x 10 1.77 x 10 0.002 6.25 19.2 330 151 285 242 160 168 30

7 7.92 x 10-4 3.14 x 10-4 1.77 x 10-4 0.002 9.4 12.8 270 196 246 229 164 167 108

8 7.92 x 10-4 3.14 x 10-4 1.77 x 10-4 0.002 6.97 17.9 353 175 310 266 185 190 55
 H8 Timed Variable Orifice Venturi Variable Orifice Venturi Variable Orifice Venturi Tim
Flow Flow Flow Meter Area % Plate Meter % Area Plate Meter Flo
Rate Rate Rate Flow Flow % Flow Head Head Head Rat
Rate Rate Flow Rate Loss Loss Loss Squ
Qt Qa Qo Qv Error Rate Error
(mm) (m3/s) (m3/s) (m3/s) (m3/s) (%) Error (%) (Ha) (Ho) (Hv) (Qt
(%)

1 172 8.93x10-5 1.57 x10-4 1.05 x10-4 8.27 x10-5 11.98 17.58 7.40 0.051 0.012 0.008 7.97

2 115 1.65 x10-4 1.67 x10-4 1.85 x10-4 1.86 x10-4 1.20 11.5 12.7 0.059 0.037 0.015 2.72

3 100 2.3 x10-4 2.5 x10-4 2.53 x10-4 2.43 x10-4 8.70 10.0 5.65 0.067 0.07 0.030 5.29

4 125 3.5 x10-5 3.3 x10-5 3.02 x10-5 4.98 x10-4 4.85 13.7 42.3 0.052 0.001 0.002 1.22

5 89 2.9 x10-4 2.8 x10-4 2.89 x10-4 2.75 x10-4 3.70 1.70 6.50 0.072 0.092 0.036 8.64

6 74 3.2 x10-4 3.3 x10-4 3.54 x10-4 3.34 x10-4 3.13 10.6 4.38 0.082 0.138 0.045 1.02

7 124 2.2 x10-4 2.17 x10-4 2.32 x10-4 2.14 x10-4 0.91 5.94 2.10 0.065 0.059 0.024 4.80

8 97 2.8 x10-4 3.3 x10-4 3.5 x10-4 3.33 x10-4 14.98 22.3 16.0 0.075 0.135 0.043 8.21

​ Comments:
The average % error was 6.18% in Variable Area flow meter, 11.65% in Orifice Plate, and 12.13% in
Venturimeter. The results clearly show that Variable Area Flowmeter is much accurate than other two.
While Orifice Plate and Venturimeter has approximately same error. Though Orifice Plate is more
accurate than Venturimeter according to the results.