Orifice Flow Meter

Additional Details

Orifice flow meter offers an excellent mode to measure flow of major fluids. It uses the bernoulli's principle which states relationship between pressure and velocity of the fluid. When the velocity increases, the pressure decreases and vice versa. An orifice plate is a thin plate with a hole in the middle. It is placed in a pipe in which fluid flows. As fluid flows through the pipe, it has a certain velocity and a certain pressure. When fluid reaches orifice plate having a hole in the middle, the fluid is forced to converge & go through the small hole, the point of maximum convergence actually occurs shortly downstream of the orifice, at the so-called vena contracta point. As it does so, the velocity and the pressure changes. Beyond the vena contracta, the fluid expands and the velocity and pressure change once again. By measuring the difference in fluid pressure between the normal pipe section and at the vena contracta, the volumetric and mass flow rates can be obtained from bernoulli's equation.