Calibration of a Custom Orifice Plate Airflow Sensor

Author: Nick Locke

Laboratory Partner: Oscar Lopez

I. ABSTRACT

This paper describes the calibration of a custom orifice-plate airflow sensor. Pressure drop and

reference airflow were recorded at multiple steady-flow conditions over a range of 0 to 7 standard cubic-

feet-per-minute (SCFM). A King Instruments rotameter provided a calibration reference for volumetric

airflow. Two piezoresistive silicon pressure sensors recorded the pressure drop across the flow sensor. For

calibration, the experiment flowrates were regressed to the square root of the pressure drop. This approach

allows a standard linear regression to determine the coefficients of the nonlinear relationship between the

airflow rate and pressure drop across the orifice plate. The results of the calibration verify the nonlinearity

of the theoretical relationship between airflow and pressure drop, and demonstrate the effectiveness of an

orifice plate as a flow sensor.

II. INTRODUCTION

The measurement of the rate of flow of a fluid through a pipe has wide implications in engineering

and business. Devices used to perform such measurements, called flow meters or flow sensors, are used to

both measure and monitor the flow rates of liquids (e.g. water) and gases (e.g. natural gas). These flow rate

measurements determine system performance and/or cost. Therefore, it is important for the measurements

to be accurate and repeatable.

Obstruction flow meters, including the orifice plate, constrict the flow of fluid in a pipe, causing a

repeatable pressure drop across the sensor. In the case of the orifice plate flow meter, the restriction is in

the form of an obstruction (plate) perpendicular to the flow direction with a hole (orifice) of smaller
diameter than the pipe. To measure the pressure drop across the obstruction, pressure taps are placed at

(typically) equal distances both up- and downstream of the orifice plate.

Experiments with orifice plates as flow measurement devices were conducted as early as the Roman

Empire and later by Renaissance scientists that included Torricelli and Newton (Rouse and Ince 1957).

More modern experiments with orifice plates, including application and calibration, were conducted by

various academic researchers, independent companies, and national organizations of standards (Joint

Committee on Orifice Coefficients of the American Gas Association and the American Society of

Mechanical 1936).

This paper describes the calibration of a custom orifice-plate airflow sensor, and is organized as

follows. The Methods section describes the theory of orifice-plate flow sensors and their calibration,

followed by a description of the custom orifice-plate airflow sensor and the supporting experimental

apparatus and data acquisition equipment, and finally, a detailed description of the experimental procedure.

Next, the Results section describes the calibration data and the accuracy regression. The final section,

Discussion and Conclusions, evaluates the custom orifice plate as an airflow meter and describes potential

areas for improvement in the calibration methods.

III. METHODS

THEORETICAL FLOW

Volumetric airflow, Q , through an orifice plate can be calculated according to (Figliola and Beasley

2015)

2p
Q  YK 0 A0 , (1)


where  p is the pressure drop across the plate,  is the density of the fluid (air), A0 is the hole area of

the orifice, K 0 is the flow coefficient, and Y is the adiabatic expansion factor (necessary for airflow).
 CALIBRATION

The theoretical flow equation (1) for airflow through an orifice plate can be reorganized into the

following form:

2
Q  YK 0 A0 p . (2)


This form can be compared directly to the standard equation for linear regression, which has the form

y  a1x  a0 , (3)

where x is the input variable, y is the output variable, and a01 are the regression coefficients. In this

case, the input variable is the square root of the pressure drop, p , and the output is the volumetric

flowrate Q . By inspection of (3) and (2), we see that the slope coefficient of the regression, a1 , is the

combination factor YK0 A0 2  . Also, note that the theoretical flow rate equation predicts the calibration

offset, a0 , to be zero.

EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS

The custom orifice plate consists of a half-inch plate sandwiched between two 3/4” NPT schedule 80

PVC pipe flanges (see Figure 1). The orifice has a 1/8” diameter and a 45 exit taper (downstream side).

Two straight sections of 3/4” pipe allow for flow stabilization up and downstream of the orifice plate. A

ball valve at the inlet controls airflow from a constant source (set to 30 psig for this experiment). At the exit

of the apparatus, a 90 fitting turns the flow to the upward (vertical) where a Kings Instrument rotameter

was used as the airflow rate reference.

 Figure 1. The custom orifice plate apparatus.

The custom orifice plate has up and downstream pressure taps that terminate with 1/4” NPT to 1/8”

flexible tubing adapters. Two Honeywell pressure sensors (SSCDRRN030PDAA5) were connected to the

pressure taps via 1/8” flexible tubing. These differential pressure sensors have a ±30 psi range, require a

5V supply, are temperature compensated, and provide amplified output from 0 to 5 Volts.

The output from the pressure sensors were connected to an Analog Devices USB device (NI USB-

6008) for data acquisition. A custom program was written to acquire and log data using Simulink (software

from MathWorks©) and the Instrumentation© and Data Acquisition© toolboxes. The input data range was

set to ±5V and the sampling rate was 200 Hz.

EXPERIMENTAL PROTOCOL

Calibration data was acquired at 8 flow rates ranging from zero (no flow) to 7 SCFM (inlet valve fully

open). Time was allowed for the flow to stabilize before data was recorded. At each experimental inlet

valve setting; upstream pressure sensor voltage, downstream pressure sensor voltage, and outlet volumetric
flow rate were recorded. Preliminary plots of flow vs the square root of pressure drops were created to

identify areas of the calibration range that may need additional data points.

CALIBRATION VERIFICATION

Once the calibration was completed, the resulting equation was added to the Simulink data acquisition

program in order to output the current flow rate through the custom orifice plate sensor. At five distinct

flowrates the output from the calibration equation was compared to the flow rate indicated by the rotameter

as a validation of the calibration. In addition, a step input was applied and the transient response of the flow

rate measurement system was recorded.

IV. RESULTS

The primary focus of this report is the calibration of a custom orifice-plate pressure sensor. Figure 2

(left side) shows the calibration data, with flow rate, Q , plotted vs. the square-root of the pressure drop

across the orifice plate, p . As can be seen, the relationship between Q and p is highly linear, and

the linear regression provides a good fit to the data. The resulting calibration equation is

Q=5.8√∆p+0.022 (4)

Figure 2 (right side) shows the calibration data plotted as Q vs.  p along with the calibration curve

described in (4). As can be seen, the calibration equation accurately captures the nonlinear relationship

between flow rate and pressure drop across the orifice plate.
 Figure 2. Calibration data for the custom orifice plate. Left side: Calibration data points and linear fit line found
by regressing the volumetric airflow rate to the square-root of pressure. Right Side: Calibration equation plotted
for flow rate vs pressure drop.

Once the calibration was completed, the resulting equation was programmed into the data acquisition

system and the accuracy of the flow rate measurement system was compared to the rotameter reference

source at multiple values. On average, the calibrated orifice plate airflow measurement system was within

0.0512 SCFM of the reference rotameter reading (see Table I).

Table I. Comparison of custom orifice-plate measurement system to reference source.

Custom Orifice Plate Kings Rotameter Measurement System

Measurement System Reference Flow Rate Error
Output (SCFM) (SCFM) (SCFM)
1.539 1.5 .039
2.426 2.5 -.074
3.421 3.5 -.079
4.531 4.5 .031
5.533 5.5 .033
 As a final validation of the custom orifice-plate measurement system, a step-response experiment was

conducted. At approximately 1 second into a 5 second data logging, the inlet valve was opened as quickly

as possible from a closed position. As can be seen in Figure 3, the step response of the pressure measurement

system is characterized by a sharp overshoot at the start of the step input, followed by an approximately

exponential decay to a steady-state measurement value of approximately 1.7 seconds.

Figure 3. Step input response plot for the custom orifice plate. Orange line is the calibrated flow rate calculated
using the data from the calibration plot. Blue is the pressure drop measured in volts.

V. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

This paper described the calibration of a custom orifice plate sensor. The results from this experiment

conclude that calibrating Q vs sqrt(p) can yield good results for applications that require only a certain

degree of accuracy. The resulting system was accurate within roughly ±0.1 SCFM. This accuracy was

repeatable with the amount of data that was collected, but more extensive testing would be necessary for

conclusive results. An overshoot in the step response was noted when collecting data. This was mostly due

to the compressibility of air, which becomes turbulent when rapidly accelerated. After a short period, this
overshoot reached an equilibrium. Cost, ease of use, and the ability to use with most computers all play into

the advantages of the orifice plate sensor. It could be easily monitored remotely, and easily recalibrated

provided an alternate measuring device. A large disadvantage of the orifice plate flow measurement system

is the inaccuracy of measurement when turbulent air is present i.e, when there are dramatic pressure

changes. The relatively low accuracy of this system could also be seen as a disadvantage. Overall, with a

specific application, the custom orifice plate flow measurement system could be a very practical and useful

system.

VI. REFERENCES

Figliola, R. S. and D. Beasley (2015). Theory and design for mechanical measurements, John Wiley

& Sons.

Joint Committee on Orifice Coefficients of the American Gas Association and the American Society

of Mechanical, E. (1936). History of orifice meters and the calibration, construction, and operation of

orifices for metering. New York, Reprinted by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Rouse, H. and S. Ince (1957). History of hydraulics, Dover Publications.

Make sure to add any reference as needed.