EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (Hons)

LAB REPORT
EKB 2081 - CHEMICAL ENGINEERING LAB - I

EXPERIMENT TITLE

Rectangular Notch

NAME OF CANDIDATE
WITH REG No.

Lee Wen Qian

1106152003

SESSION DATE

2nd June 2016, Thursday

DATE OF SUBMISSION

9th June 2016, Thursday

NAMES OF GROUP MEMBERS

No.
1
2
3
4
5

REG No.
1103152011
1103152006
1103152010
1103152005
1103152021

NAME
JagatishRerdy A/L Ulaganathan
Jezzebel Ann Sivanathan
Kogilan A/L Kumaran
Kumuthini A/P Ramani
Lochana A/P Sivakumaran

SIGNATURES

MARKING
DETAILS

TOTAL

Participation
and Attitude

20

Lab Report

40
60

MARKS
AWARDED

TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Mr. ROHIT N SHENOY)
Page 1

(Mr. BAN ZHEN HONG)

EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

PAGE NO.
Abstract

SECTION I: Introduction

47

SECTION II: Materials and Methods

8 - 10

SECTION III: Results and Discussions

11 - 13

SECTION IV: Conclusions

13

References

14

Appendix I: Sample Calculations

15

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EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

ABSTRACT
This report presents the experiment of a rectangular notch to determine the coefficient of
discharge (Cd) of a rectangular notch and achieve great understanding of Bernoullis
equation. The flow rate of the water is set by adjusting the control valve to set different
velocity of fluid flow into channel then into the rectangular notch. After the water level
become steady in both side of barrier, a hook gauge is used to measure the depth of
water by putting in the upstream of the notch at a distance of about 4 times the height of
water level above the notch. The depth of water level is used to calculate the theoretical
discharge (Qt) of the rectangular notch. The magnitude of the depth of water can be
related to the volumetric flow rate. Meanwhile, the actual discharge (Q a) of rectangular
notch is calculated after taking down the time when the volume of water 0.009 m 3 is
collected from scale of 9L to 18L. Thus, the coefficient of discharge of rectangular notch
is then can be calculated.

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EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

SECTION I
INTRODUCTION
In this experiment, the most important apparatus that used is hydraulic bench which
having a rectangular notch. A notch is a flat plate obstruction in an opening in the side of
a measuring tank or reservoir extending above the free surface. A weir is a notch on a
large scale, used, for example, to measure the flow of a river, and may be sharp edged or
has a substantial breadth in the direction of flow. A notch is a device that used to
measure and control flow. Rectangular weirs can be further classified as full width,
partially contracted, or fully contracted, based on the weir width opening. As the fluid
flows through the notch, the fluid will form a pattern of water flow which shown in
figure 1. Water flowing over a weir is forced into critical depth in which there is a
relationship between discharge and the depth above the weir. By measuring the level
above the notch (indicates H in figure 1), the theoretical discharge of the rectangular
notch is then can be calculated by using formula. The figure below helps to explain its
structure in a clearer way.

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EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

Figure 1 Rectangular Notch

A rectangular notch consists of a thin metallic plate placed across a channel so that water
flows over it with a free surface. The rectangular notch is the most commonly used thin
plate weir. The difference of height of the water level (indicates H) is varied because of
the flow rate of water. The width of the rectangular notch affects the theoretical
discharge and actual discharge of the notch. In between the channel filled with water, a
metallic barrier is put to avoid the turbulence of water affects the area of taking the
water level reading by using hook gauge. This shown in the figure 2 and the figure
explains clearer.

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EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

Figure 2 A barrier fitted in the channel of hydraulic bench

In the operation of a rectangular notch, the water flows through the notch and fill up the
measuring tank. The water level in the measuring tank is then shown in the scale and the
reading is being taken down. Rectangular notch measures the flow rate of water and it
always used to measure the flow rate of river.
A rectangular notch has a smaller width than the other notch and this gives a phenomena
called as lateral flow contraction which is suppressed occurred. A standard suppressed
rectangular weir has a horizontal crest that crosses the full channel width. The elevation
of the crest is high enough to assure full bottom crest contraction of the nappe. The
vertical sidewalls of the approach channel continue downstream past the weir plate,
preventing side contraction or lateral expansion of the overflow jet.

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EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

For calculations, the actual discharge should be calculated , thus the coefficient of
discharge can be found in different rate flow of fluid. The actual discharge is calculated
by the formula below :
Q a=

V
t

where

Qa = Actual discharge of rectangular notch (m3/s)

V = Volume of the fluid collected (m3)
t = Time taken to collect the fluid (s)

After getting the actual discharge, the level above the notch is then used to determine the
theoretical discharge by applying a Bernoullis equation.
3

2
3
Q Th= b 2 g [ H ]2 m / s
3

where

QTh = Theoretical discharge of rectangular notch (m3/s)

b = Rectangular notch width (m)
g = Gravitational acceleration (m/s2)
H = Level above the notch (m)

Finally, the coefficient of discharge of the rectangular notch is calculated by :

C d=

QA
QT

where

Cd = Coefficient of discharge of rectangular notch

QA = Actual discharge of rectangular notch (m3/s)
QT = Theoretical discharge of rectangular notch (m3/s)

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EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

A rectangular notch is mainly used for measurements of flow of river, water supply,
wastewater and sewage systems or dams. It is a precision instruments that measure flow
in these controlled environments. These situations involve steady, uniform flow, and
idealized conditions. In real world situations, there is the added complication that flows
can be non-uniform and unsteady. For example, the rectangular notch is normally
mounted in the middle of the river to take the flow rate of water at the point. The
rectangular notch always used in real-life to help on flood control and general water
management policies and practices. It is used to be a speedometer of an aircraft. The
major advantage of using rectangular notch is it can handle more flow of water than
triangular notch.

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EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

SECTION II
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The materials used in this experiment are as follows:

Hydraulic Bench used for storage and supply of water. It consists of upper and
lower volumetric tank with capacity of 46 litres which stores water from coming
channel which is a passage for water from experiment to flow. A dump valve is
located at the bottom for emptying the water in the volumetric tank by opening it.
There is a stilling baffle in the volumetric tank to reduce the turbulence of water
coming from the channel. The scale and tappings is there to show us the volume
of volumetric tank has stored. Other than that, parts of it included centrifugal
pump and sump tank. Centrifugal pump is helping to draw water from sump tank
to supply for experiment. Sump tank is located at the below of hydraulic bench to
store water for hydraulic bench with a capacity of 160 litres.

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EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

Rectangular notch used to measure the velocity of a fluid moving through the
notch by measuring the water level above the notch and the calculation made.
Stopwatch used for measuring the time taken in seconds for collecting a certain
volume of water

Figure 2 The flow meter test rig with rectangular notch

The method of conducting the experiment is simplified and explained in the below:
1. Fit a rectangular notch on the open channel of the hydraulic bench.
2. Fit a barrier in the channel to smooth the flow.
3. Switch on the power supply and the starter to start up the hydraulic bench.
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EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

4. Adjust the control valve to regulate the flow rate of water to flow into rectangular
notch.
5. Under steady flow condition, adjust the pointer gauge to touch the water level,
measure and note down the reading.
6. Shut the dump valve to store the water in upper volumetric tank.
7. Take down the time taken for collecting 0.009 m3. Start the stopwatch from 9L to
18L which will be indicated in the upper scale of scale and tapping.
8. Open dump valve to drain the water.
9. The experiment is repeated several times from steps 4 to 8 to set different flow
rate of water.
After Experiment
10.Turn off the control valve to stop the flow of water into rectangular notch.
11.Drain all the water in the volumetric tank by opening the dump valve.
12. Switch off the starter and the power supply.

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EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

SECTION III
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1: Data Sheet for a Rectangular Notch
Actual Discharge
Collecte
d
Volume

Collecte
d
Volume

V
(L)

V
(m3)

0.009

34.6

0.009

30.2

0.009

27.3

0.009

24.8

0.009

19.8

0.009

11.1

SI
No.

Theoretical Discharge

Cd

Time
taken

Qa =
V/t

Level
above the
notch

Level
above the
notch

QTh

x10-4

x10-4

(sec)

(m3/s)
2.601
2
2.980
1
3.296
7
3.629
0
4.545
5
8.108
1

(mm)

(m)

(m3/s)

25.3

0.0253

3.5650

0.73

27.9

0.0279

4.1284

0.72

31.3

0.0313

4.9056

0.67

33.2

0.0332

5.3590

0.68

35.5

0.0355

5.9255

0.77

53.5

0.0535

10.963
0

0.74

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EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

Average Cd = _0.72

The table 1 above is the results that obtained throughout the whole experiment. The flow
rate of water is manipulated by adjusting control valve in the experiment and the volume
of water collected has been set to constant at 0.009 m3. The actual discharge, theoretical
discharge and coefficient of discharge has been calculated and tabulated in the table
above too. In the table above, it can clearly shows that the longer the time taken to
collect 0.009 m3 of water and the higher the water level above the notch, the lower
actual discharge of the rectangular notch. As an example, with the time taken of 34.6
sec, the value of actual discharge is 2.6012 x10-4 m3/s. However, with the time taken of
11.1 sec, the value of actual discharge is 8.1081 x10-4 m3/s. This is because the velocity
of the fluid enters the rectangular notch faster when the time taken to collect the water in
measuring tank is shorter. When the level above the notch (H) is higher which meant to
say the flow rate is higher when entering the notch, and thus enter the measuring tank is
also faster. The theoretical discharge of the rectangular notch is calculated by the
formula that mentioned in introduction above. Thus, the water level above the notch
increases, the theoretical discharge of rectangular notch increases. For instance, the
water level above the notch is 0.0253m, the theoretical discharge is 3.5650 m3/s. This
clearly shows that the water level above the notch is greatly affecting the theoretical
discharge of the rectangular notch. Furthermore, the difference of the actual and
theoretical discharge can be clearly shown in the table. This is because in practical, the
coefficient of discharge of the rectangular notch is at the range of 0.6 0.7 due to the
turbulence loss and friction with the notch. The metallic plate of the rectangular notch
has altered the flow of water and decrease the actual flow rate of water. In the table
above, there are 4 readings that run out from the range value but they are exceeding not
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EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

more than 0.1 which is still acceptable in the experiment. This error happens may due to
parallax error which is because of the vernier scale of the hook gauge is too small and
sometimes it is difficult to read. Although the reading may not accurate as it should be,
the average of discharge coefficient is still at the range of 0.72.
A graph (Figure 3) of the actual discharge, Q a versus theoretical discharge, Qth has been
plotted based on the result in Table 1. In the graph, a linear line was obtained by using
the calculated values. Based on the graph below (Figure 3), the actual discharge, Q a is
increasing with the theoretical discharge, Qt. This is because the less the time taken, the
higher the actual discharge and the higher the water level above the notch, the higher the
theoretical discharge. The third, fourth and fifth plot are slightly run out from the line
and has not been intersected. These three points may have occurred due to some errors.
It can be neglected due to some errors such as parallax error since this experiment was
carried in a group. The parallax error may be due to the difference in the height of the
readings and time take to collect the water which may cause difference in the calculated
value. It could be also due to some failures in the device operations method and also
may cause by the errors that mentioned above.

SECTION IV
CONCLUSIONS
This experiment is to find out the reading of actual discharge and theoretical discharge
to calculate the coefficient of discharge of rectangular notch with the given formula and
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EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

this experiment has successfully found out the readings of actual discharge and
theoretical discharge in this experiment. From the results, it clearly shows that the actual
discharge always differs from the theoretical discharge due to frictional loss and
turbulence loss happened in the rectangular notch. As mentioned above, the discharge
coefficient of the rectangular notch should be range from 0.6 to 0.7. From the
calculations that tabulated in the table 1, the average coefficient of discharge of this
rectangular notch is 0.72 which still near to the range of it. From the figure 3, the slope
of the gradient represents the coefficient of discharge which gives the value of 0.74. It
has a slightly difference in the both value but they are still near to the range of the
rectangular notchs discharge coefficient.
To avoid the fluctuation of water, start the stopwatch when the volumetric tank is at
0.009m3 and stop it at 0.018m3. Furthermore, when taking the reading of the manometer,
ensure that to look at the bottom line of the convex meniscus readings to get the accurate
and precise reading. Last but not least, ensure to drain the water in volumetric tank to
avoid overflow of the water and damage the experimental setup.
REFERENCES
1. McCabe and Smith, Unit Operations in Chemical Engineering, 5 th ed., McGrawHill, NY, 1993.
2. Bansal, R.K. (2010) A textbook of fluid mechanics and hydraulic machines.
Available

at:

https://books.google.com/books?

id=0clZbfwgiyUC&pg=PA384&dq=rectangular+notch&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahU
KEwjurMDD05jNAhVKNI8KHV1SA4QQ6AEIITAA
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EKB 2081 Chemical Engineering Lab - I

3. Bansal,

R.K.

(2005) A

textbook

of

fluid

mechanics.

Available

at:

https://books.google.com/books?
id=FzQz6A6SnyoC&pg=PA281&dq=rectangular+notch&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ah
UKEwjurMDD05jNAhVKNI8KHV1SA4QQ6AEINDAE
4. Gupta, S.C. (2006) Fluid mechanics and hydraulic machines. Available at:
https://books.google.com/books?
id=9JMsyTymCgwC&pg=PA188&dq=rectangular+notch&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0a
hUKEwjurMDD05jNAhVKNI8KHV1SA4QQ6AEIOjAF
5. RAIKAR, R.V. (2012) LABORATORY MANUAL HYDRAULICS AND
HYDRAULICMACHINES. Available at:

https://books.google.com/books?

id=OgNQxgOf65MC&pg=PR7&dq=rectangular+notch+experiment&hl=en&sa=
X&ved=0ahUKEwj325iZ1JjNAhXCPY8KHacHDxcQ6AEIMzAF

APPENDIX I
SAMPLE CALCULATIONS (READING NO. _3__)
1. Actual Discharge, Qa =

Volume collected
, m3/s
Time taken

Where, Volume collected = 0.009 m3

Time taken = 27.3 sec
Qa

0.009
=
27.3

3.2967 x 10-4 m3/s

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2. Theoretical discharge
3

2
QTh= b 2 g [ H ]2 m3 / s
3
3
2
0.03 2 ( 9.81 ) [0.0313 2

3
= 4.9056 104 m3 / s

Where b = Rectangular Notch width (m)

m
g = acceleration due to gravity ( 2/s )

H = Level above the notch (m)

3. Coefficient of discharge of the rectangular notch:
C d=

Q
Actual discharge
= a
Theoretical discharge Qt

3.2967 x 104
4.9056 104

= 0.67

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