EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF

COEFFICIENT DISCHARGE USING VENTURI

METER
Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of

Diploma
In

Mechanical Engineering
By
INDRANILPAL, RAHULPASWAN, RAVIKANTYADAV, SOURIN
BORAL,SOURAV KUMAR MODAK

Under the Guidance of

[Link]

Dr. B.C. Roy Polytechnic, Durgapur, West Bengal in INDIA

 Dr. B.C. Roy PoLytechnic, Durgapur, West Bengal in INDIA

Certificate

This is to certify that the project entitled “Experimental Investigation of

Coefficient Discharge Using Venturi meter” submitted by Indranil Pal, Rahul
Paswan, Ravi kant Yadav, Sourin Boral, Sourav kumar Modak has been carried
out under my supervision in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree
of Diploma in Mechanical Engineering during session 2019-2022 in the
department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. B. C. Roy Polytechnic , Durgapur.

Date:

Mr. Souvick Chakraborty

Lecturer of mechanical Engineering Department,
Dr. B.C. Roy Polytechnic

Date:

----------------------------------------
MR. Sourav Dey
HOD Lecturer of mechanical Engineering department,
Dr. B.C. Roy Polytechnic

i
 Dr. B.C. Roy Polytechnic, Durgapur, West Bengal in INDIA

Certificate Approval*
The forgoing project is hereby approved to be creditable of an engineering subject carried out
and presented in a manner satisfactory to warrant its acceptance as a prerequisite to the degree
for which it has submitted, it is understood that by this approval the undersigned do not
necessarily endorse or approve any statement made, opinion expressed or conclusion drawn
from therein but approved the thesis only for the purpose for which it is submitted.

*Committee on final
examination for
evaluation of the project

ii
 Dr. B.C. Roy Polytechnic, Durgapur, West Bengal in INDIA

Acknowledgement
This dissertation would not have been possible without the guidance and the help of several
individual who in one way or another contributed and extended their valuable guidance and
support in the preparation and completion of this study.

Firstly and fore mostly I want to express my sincere gratitude and thank gratefully to my
supervisor Mr. Souvick Chakraborty, Lecturer of the Mechanical Engineering Department,
Dr. B. C. Roy Polytechnic, Durgapur, West Bengal, India for his unreserved help, motivation,
enthusiasm and constant guidance to finish my thesis step by step. Under his supervision I
successfully overcame many adversities and learned a lot. I extend my deep sense of
obligation and honor to him for his inspiring discussions, kind co-operation and constant
encouragement throughout period of my project work which has been influential in thesuccess
of project and thanks of [Link] Dey ,HOD of Mechanical Engineering department for
supporting us to complete our projrct.
Last but not least, I would like to pay high regards to my parents, my friends and the
omnipresent God for giving me strength in all the critical situations and supporting me
spiritually throughout my life.

IndranilPal SourinBoral RavikantYadav SouravKumarModak

D192002595 D202120795 D192002608 D192002630

Rahul Paswan

D192002606

Iii
 Abstract
The conceptualization of this project is inspired by the experiments conducted for the calibration of
Venturimeter and the loss of water head at the downstream of pipe flow in various hydraulic power [Link]
Venturimeter, a typical obstruction type flow meters are widely used in industry for flow measurements.
Asignificant amount of pressure loss occurs in pipelines due to theobstructions present in these types of flow
meters. Permanent pressureloss depends on the shapeof obstruction, the diameterratio and also on properties
of the fluid. But a differential pressure at minimum pressure loss is the most desirable condition for an ideal
Flow Meter. In the present work, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been used to compute the
permanent pressure loss and relative pressure loss for 3D incompressible fluid for various designs of a
classical Venturimeter. Further different parameters are defined to be varied to study effect of each in
combination to minimize pressure drop in future work.

Vii
 Contents
PageNo.

Acknowledgement iii
List of tables v
List of figures vi
Abstract vii
Chapter1 Introduction and Literature review 01-03
1.1 Introduction 01-02
1.2 Literature review 03

Chapter2 Objective 04
Chapter3 Venturi meter construction 05-06
Chapter4 Working principle, Advantages & 07
disadvantages
4.1 Working principle
4.2 Advantages & Disadvantages
Chapter5 Application 08
5.1 Plumbing
5.2 The flow of chemicals in pipe
5.3 Carburetors
Chapter6 Test Bed 09
6.1 Apparatus
6.2 Apparatus Specification
6.3 Experimental Procedure
6.4 Observation
Chapter7 Calculation & Result 10
7.1 Calculation
7.2 Result
Chapter8 Conclusion 11
Reference

IV
 List of Tables
TableNo. Description Page No.
6.1 Observation table 09
7.1 Calculation of Co-efficient of discharge 10

V
 List of Figure

FigureNo. Description PageNo.

1.1 Sketches of different types of pressure flow 03

meters
2.2 Venturi meter 05

Vi
Chapter.1
1. INTRODUCTIONANDLITERATUREREVIEW:-

1.1 Introduction:-

In responseto there beingan increased needforaccurate flowmeasurements of viscousfluids through various types of
differential pressure flow meters,computers simulations were conducted as part of this research to more accurately
define the characteristics of the discharge coefficient, I at smallReynolds [Link] heavy oil industry has found
that with rising oil prices it has become more economical for companies to pursue the extraction of extremely
viscous oils, which results in small Reynolds numbers flowing through the pipe and consequently the meters (GOA,
2009).

Accurateflowmeasurementisoneofthe greatestconcernsamong manyindustries, because uncertaintiesinproduct flows

can cost companies considerable profits. Currently there is little known about the C values at small Reynolds
(Re)numbersforthe meters inthisreport(Miller, 1996), since calibrations forthese metersaregenerallyperformed in a
laboratory using cold water. Differential pressure meters are popular for these applications because they are
relatively inexpensive and produce reliable results. Include: Venturi, standard concentric orifice plate, V-cone, and
wedge flow meters.

Four different types of differential pressure flow meters were studied which shown in Fig.1. 1. The Venturi flow
meter obtains a pressure differential by constricting the flow area and thereforeincreasing the velocity at the
constriction, which creates a lower pressure according to Bernoulli’sTheorem. The concentric orifice plate flow
meter reducesthepressurebyforcingthefluidthroughathinplated circular openingsmallethanthe pipediameter. The V-
cone flow meter has a cone shaped obstruction in the middle the pipe, which forces the flow around the outside of
the cone creating apressure differential. The wedge flow meter has a wedge shaped obstruction located intheupper
portionofthepipe,whichreducespressureonthedownstreamsideof [Link].1showssketches of the different types
of meters investigated. The viscosity of a fluid is inversely proportional to the Reynolds number for a specific flow,
so increasing the viscosity of the fluid results in a smaller Reynolds number for
[Link] modelingover theyears,itisnowplausibletouseit for flow
conditions where experimental procedures may be inadequate.

Findings where the discharge coefficients were we Viscous fluids with very small Reynolds numbers
cannot accurately be tested in the laboratory with water because the pressure differences are too small to
accurately measure. Therefore, computer model simulations can be used to characterize the discharge
coefficients over very small Reynolds numbers. All of the computer model simulations were verified by
comparingthemtolabdataorpreviousllknown. Oncethenumericalmodelswereverifiedtheyweretaken to more
viscous regions where experimental data with water would have a high degree offuncertainly.

01
 [Link]

Reynoldsnumbersdeserveexcessiveobservationwhenit comestoanalyzingthe capabilitiesof [Link] of

Refor aparticular pipeflowcanbedecreasedbyeither decreasingvelocity,or [Link] viscosity of
a fluid increases in a pipeline, the consequent wall shear rate decreases resulting in a more uniform flow profile (Clark,
1993). Therefore, to obtain accurate CFD data for extremely small Re it was necessary to increase the viscosity of the
flowing fluid which for this study was a realistic heavy oil crude viscosity of 200 centipoise (Ashrafizadeh and
Kamran, 2010).

Theprimaryobjectivesoftheseprojectswereas follows:-

1) Evalutethepossibilityofanumericalcomputersolutionbycomparingnumerical
results to actual laboratory data.
2) Performanextensiveamountofsimulationonthedifferentmodelsbeinganalyzed.
3) ProvideguidelinesfortheuseoftheseflowmetersatsmallRenumbers.
4) Provideawiderangeofdischargecoefficientscharacteristicsforthesefourtypesofdifferentialproducing flow
meters.

Subjectandwhatis currentlyavailablewillthenbe presentingliterature knowledge onthe FLUENT andflowmeter

question will then be presented. This will be followed by the process used for setting up the simulations and a
procedure will then be fully described along with the corresponding model results.

02
1.2 LiteratureReview:-

Evaluated performance of a Venturimeter in gas–liquid flow in the presence of dissolved gases for pressure drop. A
model of release of the gas dissolved in the liquid phase during two-phase flow through a Venturi tube is proposed.
Using several simplifying assumptions, the analytical solution for a proposed model for the pressure drop is obtained.
Thissolutioncanbeusedforestimatingtheflowconditionsatwhichthecontributionofthepressuredropduetothegas release is
significant compared with that due to the flow acceleration. The dimensionless parameters appearing in the solution can
be used for interpretation of the experimental data on gases flashing during flows through differential pressure devices
and other flow constrictions. [T. Elperin, A. Fominykh, M. Klochko. 2016]

Analyzed the pressure variations across the Venturimeter using CFD analysis and validated results by experimentation.
The authors have made an attempt to study and prepare a computational model of a venturimeter, which can be used as
an efficient and easy means for calibration of the instrument instead of costly experimental methods. The researchcovers
the following aspects: to study the theory of the venturimeter and calculate the data theoretically by using Bernoulli’s
equation, to analyses the experimental data and to plot graphs for it. The focus here is to analyze thepressurevariations
across the venture section by means of Ansys Fluent 13.0, a commercialCFDcode, which explores the use
ofcomputationalmethods to compute the flow parameters in the tube. The study aims atcomparingthe results
calculatedbyboth, thecomputationaland [Link] tocheck the validity of Bernoulli’s
equation when applied to the steady flow of water in a tapered duct and to calibrate the entire as a flow meter by
calculating the coefficient of discharge.[ N. Tamhankar, A. Pandhare, A. Joglekar2014]

Used CFDtechniqueto analyze relationshipamongthe throat length,throatdiameter,slotdiameterandsuction capacity of

xiienture [Link] with keepingthe inlet pressure and the slot positionconstant,the suction
capacityofxiientureinjectorincreases with the decrease of throat diameter and throat length and the increase ofslot
diameter. [Huang X., G. Li, M. 2015]

They have predicted discharge coefficient for different Reynolds numbers using STAR CCM + CFD
[Link] informationfor optimumdimensionsof Venturimeter
[Link] the study was directed towards very small Reynolds numbers commonly
associated with pipeline transportation of viscous fluids. However high Reynolds number were also considered. The
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) program STAR CCM + was used to perform the research. Heavy oil and water
were used separately as the two flowing fluids to obtain a wide range of Reynolds Numbers with high precision.
Multiple models were used with varying characteristics, such as pipe , size and meter geometry , to obtain a better
understanding of the Cd vs. Re relationship
[[Link],V.Seshadri2015.]

03
Chapter.2
2. OBJECTIVE:-

To find the main objectives of this experiment is to obtain the coefficient of discharge fromexperimental
data by utilizing xiventure meter and, also the relationship between Reynolds number and the coefficient of
[Link]’s Law as it applies to flow measurement devices. Explain how frictional losses affect
readings. In this experiment you will be able to analyze the effect of viscosity on pressure loss and also to
understand the measurement of discharge from a pipe. As we will be using the Venturi Meter in order to
measure flow, the Bernoulli equation is an important relation that can help getting velocities from fluid
pressures and vice versa. The purpose of this experiment is also to calculate Q and CD at different head
pressures. Then drawing a relationship between all these properties and head pressure will be discussed in
this report.

04
Chapter.3
3. VenturimetreConstruction:-

A venture meter is a veriable head meter , which is used for measuring the flow rate of a fluid through a pipe. In this
meter, the fluid is gradually retarded in diverging section where the flow channel expands to the pipe size. Venturi
meters have only a small head loss, no moving parts and do not clog easily.

Aventuremeterconsistsoffollowingthreeparts:-

1. Convergingpart:-Itisthatportionofthexvienturewherethefluidgets converges.
2. Throat:-It is the portion that lies in between the converging and diverging part of venture . In the throat
portion the cross section is much less than converging and diverging portion. When the reaches the throat,
its velocity increases and pressure decreases.
3. Diverging part :- It is the part of venturimeter where the fluid gets diverges and the cross section area
increases.
4. Manometer:- Manometer isa device that measures the fluid pressure. Based on various criteria,manometers
are classified into different types. They are: U-tube Manometer. Enlarged Leg Manometer.

[Link]–tubemanometer

05
As stated above it has three parts converging part, throat and diverging part. These three parts are arranged in
systematic order. First oneisinlet section or [Link] is the region wherethe cross section emerges into
conical shape for the connectivity with the throat [Link] this part cross section area decreases from beginning to
ending. This section is connected to inlet pipe on one end and cylindrical throat on the other end. Theangle of
convergence is generally 20-22 degrees . Second one iscylindrical throat .It is the middle part of the venturimeter. It
is the cylindrical pipe in venturimeter through which the fluid passes after converging in the convergent section.
Throat has generally a diameter of throat is half the diameter of pipe.

Last one isdiverging [Link] is the end of the venturimeter. On one side it is attached to throat of venturimeter and
on the other side it is attached to the pipe. The divergent section has an angle 5 to 15 degrees. The diverging angle is
less than the converging angle because the length of the diverging cone is larger than converging cone. The main
reason of the small diverging angle is to avoid flow enture on from the walls.

06
Chapter.4
4. WorkingsPrinciple,Advantages&Disadvantages:-

4.1 Workingsprinciple:-

Venturi meter works on the principle of Bernoulli’s equation i.e when velocity increases pressure decreases. Cross
section of throat is less than cross section of inlet pipe. Since the cross –section decreases from inlet pipe to throat,
thevelocityof [Link],apressuredifference is created
between the inlet pipe and throat of the venture [Link] pressure difference can be measured by placing a
differential manometer between the inlet section and throat section or by using two gauges at inlet section and throat.
After getting the pressure difference flow rate through pipe is calculated.

4.2 Advantages:-

1. Thepowerlossisconsideredlowcomparedtoothertypesoffluidmeasuringinstruments.
2. Theseareemployedwhereasmallheadis available.
3. Accuracywillachievehigheroverwideflowrange.
4. Inventurimeter,theco-efficienctofdisachrgeisveryhigh.
5. Thesedevicesareeasytohandleandarealsousedforcompressiveandincompressible fluids.
6. TheVenturimetersarecommonlyusedforhighflowrateordischarge.

4.2 Disadvantages:-

1. Venturimetersarequiteexpensivetoinstall.
2. Thesedevicesrequiremaintenance.
3. Thissystemrequiresmorespacethantheorifice meter.
4. Venturimeterarecostlierandabitbulky.
5. Thesearenotusedwherethepipediameteris76.2mm.

07
Chapter.5
5. Application:-
[Link]
[Link]
backtoit’[Link] measuring
thepressureheadatbothpointsbeforeandafterthenarrowedthroat.

5.1 Plumbing

Venturi meters are used in pipelines at wastewater collection systems and treatment plants. They are used in
wastewater pipes because their overall design structure allows for solids to pass through it instead of collecting
[Link] its velocity.

5.2 TheFlowofChemicalsinPipelines

The temperatures and pressures of chemicals in a pipeline do not affect the accuracy of a Venturi flowmeter and
because of this they are used in crude oil pipelines. Crude oil pipelines, such as the ones in Alaska, are exposed to
extreme temperatures during the long arctic winter months. Another advantage of using the Venturi meter in such
volatile and frigid environments is that it has no moving parts; there is no risk of them freezing and breaking due to
thermal expansion.

5.3 Carburetors

The xxienture in carburetors is used to measure airflow in a car engine and to ensure that a correct amount of fuel is
[Link]
[Link] shift in
temperatures that occur in an engine during idling, acceleration, high speeds, and low speeds.
Theventurimeterallowsthe carburetor toadjust and calibrate the distributionof fuel and air to the engine as needed.

The following basic applications of Venturimeter are below:

1. Byusingtheventurimeteryoucaneasilyfindouttheflowrateoffluid.
2. Itisusedintheindustrialsectortodeterminethepressureof avolumeofgasandliquidinsideapipe.
3. Theseareveryhelpfultomeasureanairflowinenginecarburetors.
4. Itisusedtomeasureandcontrolprocessflowinprocessindustries.
5. Inaddition,theyarealsousedforarterialbloodflow,whichismeasuredbyaventurimeterinthemedical industries.
6. Thesedevicesareusedinthewastewatertreatmentprocess.
7. Itisalsoquiteusefulwherehigh-pressurerecoveryisneeded.

08
Chapter.6
6 Test Bed:-

6.1 Apparatus:-Theapparatusconsistof
1. Venturuimeter
2. U-tube manometer
3. Sumptank
4. MeasuringTank

6.2 ApparatusSpecification:-

1. Supplypipeof diameter25mmconnectedtoinlet manifold.

2. Venturimeter:Inletdiameter25mmandthroatdiameter12.5mm.
3. DifferentialmercurymanometertapingsprovidedatinletandthroatofVenturimeter.
4. Measuringtanksize-400×300×300

6.3 ExperimentalProcedure:-
1. Checkalltheclampsfor tightness.
2. Fillsumptank1/3thwithcleanwater.
3. Openbypassvalve.
4. Openflowcontrolvalveoftestsection.
5. Switch“ON”themainpowersupplyandthenswitchonthe pump.
6. Openaircooksofthemercurymanometer,closeairrelease valve.
7. Whentherearenoairinmanometer,closeairrelease valve.
8. Adjustwaterflowratewiththehelpofflowcontrolvalveorby-pass valve.
9. Recordthereadingofmanometerofmanometerdifferences.
10. Closethegatevalveofmeasuringtankandmeasurethetimefor 10cmriseofwaterinthemeasuringtank.

6.4 Observation:-

TableNo6.1: Observation table

Sl. ManometerReadingincm Riseofwaterlevelin Time(t)insec for
No. measuring tank I in R cm rise
cm
Final(F) Initial (I) Difference(x)

01 23.5 40.5 0.9 10 26.02

02 27.4 11.2 0.162 10 20.28
03 28.4 10.1 0.185 10 17.03
04 29.7 9.1 0.206 10 13.04
05 30.6 8.9 0.217 10 11.06

09
Chapter.7
7 Calculations & Result:-

7.1 Calculation:-

Areaofmeasuringtank(A)=(400×300)mm2=0.12m2(Givenatapparatusspecification).
Actualdischarge,Qact=[Areaofmeasuringtank(A)×Riseofwaterlevelinmeasuringtank(R)]/Time(t) for R cm rise
= (A × R) / t
Diameter of inlet (d1) = 25 mm = 0.025m
Diameterofthroat(d2)=12.15mm=0.0125m Area
of inlet section (a1) = π/4 × d12
Areaofinletsection(a2)=π/4×d22

Let,hbethepressureheadacrossmanometerinm. h = (
Sm – Sw) × x
h1 =1.134 m

h2 =2.04 m

h3 =2.331 m

h4 =2.596 m

h5 =2.1734m

Where,Sm=SpecificgravityofMercury=13.6 S w =
Specific gravity of Mercury = 1
x=DifferencebetweeninitialandfinalreadingfromManometer.(Referfromobservationtable) Theoretical
Discharge, Q th = (a1 .a2 )/√(a 12 –a 22 )×√2gh

Tableno7.1:CalculationofCo-efficientofdischarge

[Link]. ActualDischarge(Qact) TheoreticalDischarge(Qth) Co-efficientofdischarge(Cd)

01 4.58×10-4 5.941×10-4 0.77
02 5.917×10-4 7.97×10-4 0.741
03 7.046×10-4 8.517×10-4 0.827
04 9.2×10-4 1.69×10-4 0.53
05 10×10-4 1.74×10-4 0.57

7.2 Result:-

Aftersimplificationandcalculation,wegettheaveragevalueofco–efficientofdischarge Cd =
Cd1+ Cd2+ Cd3+ Cd4+ Cd5 / 5
=0.77+0.741+ 0.82+0.53+0.57/5
=0.68Approximately0.7

10
Chapter.8
8 Conclusion:-

ItisexperimentallyprovedthatthecoefficientofdischargebytheinstrumentVenturimeteris alwayslessthan1..In this

research, it is experimentally found the coefficient of discharge for the Venturimeter simultaneously by the five
readings of instrument’s experiment and always find the result is less than one. Results concluded that Cd for
Venturimeter is less than 1. Table No. 7.1 showed the evaluating value of Actual Discharge (Qact) and Theoretical
Discharge (Qth). Finally, the coefficient of discharge is in the range of 0.5 to 0.8 for the Venturimeter and we get the
average value of co –efficient of discharge 0.7 approximately

11
Referance:-

T. Elperin, A. Fominykh, M. Klochko. PerformanceofaVenturimeteringas–liquidflowinthepresenceof

dissolved gases. Flow Measurement and Instrumentation. 13: (2002), 13–16.

[Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link]. CFD Analysis of Flow through Venturi. International
Journal of Research in Mechanical Engineering & Technology. 4(2): 2014, 214-217
.
N. Tamhankar, A. Pandhare, A. Joglekar, V. Bansode. Experimental and CFD analysis of flow through
venturimeter to determine the coefficient of discharge. InternationalJournalofLatestTrendsinEngineeringand
Technology. 3(4): 2014, 194-200.

[Link], [Link]. CFD Study of the Effect of Venturi Convergent and Divergent An gleson Low
Pressure Wet Gas Metering. Journal of Applied Sciences. 14(22): 2014, 3036-3045.

[Link], [Link],[Link]. IFIP International Federation for Information Processing, Volume294, Computerand
Computing Technologies in Agriculture II. 2: 2009, 805–815.

[Link]

[Link]

[Link]

[Link]
on_fluid_flow

[Link]

12