CALIBRATION OF ORIFICE METER

Orifice meter:

Important length scales:

Inner diameter of pipe, D

= ______ cm

Diameter of orifice,

= ______ cm

d0

Area of collecting tank, A

= ______ ______

Characteristic curves of orifice meter:

= ________ cm2

Calibration of Orifice meter

Exp no: ..
Date : .....

CALIBRATION OF ORIFICE METER

Aim:
i)
ii)

Determine the coefficient of discharge (Cd) of the given orifice meter for different
volumetric flow rates.
Draw the following characteristic graphs
a) Cd Vs Hm
b) Log Qa Vs log Hm
c) Qa Vs Hm

Important length scales:

Inner diameter of pipe

25 mm

Diameter of Orifice

15 mm

Collecting water tank

500 x 500 mm

Apparatus:
Orifice meter, collecting tank, Stop Watch, U-Tube manometer

Theory :
Orifice meter works on Bernoullis principle. It is a device used for measuring the fluid flow rate
through a pipe. It is an economical device for the measurement of flow rate of the medium flowing
through it as compared to venturimeter. An Orifice meter in its simplest form consists of a plate
having a sharp edged circular hole known as an orifice. The plate is fixed inside the pipe in such a way
that the axis of orifice and pipe are aligned. A mercury U-tube manometer is used to measure the
pressure difference across the orifice plate.
Orifice meter 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.
The actual discharge through an orifice meter is given by,

Q a Cd

a 1 .a 0 2 g h
2

cm3/s

(1)

(a 1 a 0 )

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Calibration of Orifice meter

Where,

ie,

H m m 1
w

Qa Cd

cm of water

a 1 .a 0 2 g H m m 1
w

cm3/s

(a 1 a 0 )

Hm

difference in levels of mercury in U-tube in cm.

Density of mercury (kg/m3)

Density of water (kg/m3)

Estimation of coefficient of discharge:

Theoretical discharge through Orifice meter is given by,

Q th

a 1 a 0 2gh
2

cm3/s

(2)

(a 1 a 0 )

Where,
a1

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

a0

Cross section area of Orifice.

Pressure head difference in terms of fluid flowing through pipeline.

H m m 1
w

level difference of mercury in manometer in cm

Hm

cm of water

Observation Table:

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Aerospace Engineering Department, IIST

Sl.
No:

Right
limb
h2
cm

Left limb
h1

cm

cm of Hg

Difference
Hm = h2-h1

Manometer Reading

mean
t

Time for 5 cm rise

in collecting tank
(t)

cm3/s

Qa

Actual
Discharge

cm3/s

Qth

Theoretical
Discharge

Cd

Coefficient of
discharge

log Qa

log Hm

Calibration of Orifice meter

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Calibration of Orifice meter

Actual discharge through Orifice meter measured from collecting tank,

Q act

V A h

cm3/s
t
t

(3)

Where,
V =

(A x h), volume of water collected in collecting tank in cm3.

A =

Cross section area of collecting tank in cm2.

h =

Height of water collected in collecting tank in cm for a duration of time t

Time required to collect the water up to a height h in the collecting tank.

Hence,
Coefficient of discharge of the orifice meter, cd

Q act
Q th

(4)

The equation (1) can be expressed as,

Q a K H m
Where,

cm3/s

a constant

exponent

(5)

Calibration of orifice meter is to find out the numerical values of K and n.

The equation (5) can be linearized by taking logarithms on both sides.
Q = log K + n log Hm
The graph of the above equation is linear and the values of K and n can be found out from the
measured values of Q and Hm. While plotting the graph by taking log Qa on Y axis and log Hm on X
axis, the slope of the straight line will give the value of n and Y-intercept will give the value of log K.
Plotting a curve Qa Vs Hm , the calibration curve. This enables to find the Qa values directly
corresponding to the manometer reading.

Procedure :

Note the inner diameter at the inlet of pipe (D) and the diameter of an orifice (do).

Note the density of manometer liquid i.e. mercury (m) and that of fluid flowing through
pipeline i.e. water (w).

Connect the U-tube manometer to the pressure tapings 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 venacontracta.

Start the flow and adjust the control valve in pipeline to get the required discharge.

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Calibration of Orifice meter

Measure the pressure difference (Hm) across the orifice meter by using U-tube mercury
manometer.

Measure flow rate i.e. actual discharge (Qact) through orifice meter 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.

Tabulate the readings and find the values of log Qact and log Hm.

Plot the graph log Qa Vs log Hm.

Determine the value of constant K and n from the graph.

Draw the Calibration Curve by plotting the graph Qa Vs Hm.

Sample Calculations:

Set No _____

Result :
Coefficient of discharge of Orifice,

Cd

The value of

The value of

The Calibration equation is,

Qa

A calibration chart for the given orifice meter is plotted. The curve can be used for determining
discharge corresponding to any manometric head.
Calibration chart :

Sl
No

Hm

Qa

( cm of Hg )

( cm /s )

Inference:
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