VISVESVARAYA NATIONAL INSTITUTE

OF TECHNOLOGY, NAGPUR
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING
FLUID MECHANICS LABORATORY

SUBMITTED BY:

1)PRAVIN J.
DANGE(BT15CME061)

2)RAGHVENDRA
DALMIA(BT15CME062)

3)NIKHIL
RAIGONDE(BT15CME063
)

4)VIKASH
KUMAR(BT15CME089)

SUBMITTED TO:

DR. SACHIN A.MANDAVGANE SIR

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING

VNIT,NAGPUR
 EXPERIMENT NO: 6

Aim:

To study velocity profile in pitot tube.

Apparatus:

Pitot tube apparatus, measuring tape

Theory:

A pitot tube is a pressure measurements device used to measure fluid flow velocity. The pitot tube is used
to measure local velocity at a given point in the flow stream not the average velocity. It measures fluid
flow velocity by converting kinetic energy into potential energy. The principle of pitot tube is based on
the Bernoullis where each term can be interpreted as a form of pressure.

1
P+ ( V 2)+ h=constant alongthe streamline
2

Where

P= static pressure

= density of the fluid

=specific weight

V=flow velocity

1 2
The term
( V ) in the equation is dynamic pressure term
2

h is the hydrostatic pressure. It represents pressure due to change in elevation. The stagnation

pressure in the fluid system is the static pressure at a stagnation point in the fluid flow. At a stagnant point
velocity is zero and all kinetic energy has been converted to potential energy. It is the sum of the force
steam dynamic pressure and free stream static pressure. Stagnation pressure is sometimes referred to as
1
pitot tube pressure, stagnation pressure= P+ 2
( V 2)

The pitot tube consists of two concentric tubes which are attached to a differential pressure gauge or two
pressure gauges so that the value of P3 and P4 can be determined the centre measures stagnation pressure
it its open tip. If elevation changes are negligible then
 1
P3= P+ 2
( V 2) 1

Where P<V are the pressure and velocity at point 2 the outer tube is made with several small holes at
approximate distance from the tip so that they static pressure. If the effect of elevation between the tip so
that they measure static pressure if is negligible between 1 and 4.

P4-P1=P..2

By comparing 1 and 2

1
P3-P4= 2
( V 2)

Which can be arranged to give

V= (2(P3-P4)/ )1/2

V= (2P/ 1/2

P is measured using manometer reading h

P= h mg

m=density of manometer fluid

g= acceleration due to gravity

if the manometer fluid is the same as the fluid where velocity is to be measured we
get

V= (2g h 1/2

Diagram:
 Procedure:

We first measured manometer readings when the tip of pitot tube was at centre of pipe.
We calculated the velocity at that point using above formula which we got maximum.
We then moved down the tip of pitot tube stepwise towards the wall of pipe.
We calculated the velocity at every points and we got the minimum velocity at the wall.
We plotted graph of Velocity vs distance from centre(x) which we got parabolic in shape.

Observations:
Sr. no. Distance from h1(m) h2(m) h(m) V= (2g h
center(x)(m) 1/2

(m/s)
1. -0.01 0.4892 0.49 0.0008 0.12
2. -0.008 0.489 0.49 0.0010 0.14
3. -0.005 0.488 0.49 0.0020 0.197
4. -0.002 0.486 0.49 0.0040 0.28
5. 0 0.485 0.49 0.0050 0.313
6. 0.002 0.486 0.49 0.0040 0.28
8. 0.005 0.488 0.49 0.0020 0.197
9. 0.008 0.489 0.49 0.0010 0.14
10. 0.01 0.4892 0.49 0.0008 0.12

Graphs:
V vs x
Result:
The velocity profile in pitot tube is studied and we found that it is parabolic curve. The velocity at centre
of the pipe is maximum and that of the wall it is minimum.
Video Link : https://youtu.be/ofiQPZkGPJM