Experimental Investigation of an Orifice Meter Pressure Gradient

Abstract

Wall and plate pressure gradients were investigated in a 3.5 in. (89 mm) air flow orifice meter facility for 3 orifice plates covering a pipe Reynolds number range of 21,000 to 160,000. The influence of the orifice plate on the upstream wall pressure gradient extended to 0.62D location. It was also found that the pressure gradient is a weak function of the orifice plate β ratio. The downstream location of the minimum pressure point located at about 3.3 dam heights. The pressure gradient on the face of the orifice plate shows that the deflection calculation based on any differential pressure taps is conservative.