CE 308 | Water Resource Engineering

Course Instructor: Pranab Mohapatra

Lab Experiment 6
VENTURIMETER

Group - 1

Harsh Shah | 17110057

Krishan Kumar | 1​6110081
Utkarsh Gangwal | 17110163
Utsav Racca | 17110164
Objective
To find the co-efficient of discharge using Venturimeter.

Theory
A Venturi Meter is a device used for measuring the rate of a flow of a fluid flowing through a
pipe. It consists of three parts:
● A short converging part
● Throat
● Diverging part

A Venturi Meter apparatus is based on the Principle of Bernoulli’s equations.

P v2
⋎ + 2g + h ​= constant

The principle of apparatus is that, by reducing the cross-section area of flow passes, a pressure
difference is created and the measurement of pressure difference enables the determination of the
discharge through the pipe.

By knowing the pressure difference across the inlet section and the throat, discharge can be
calculated by the formula:

a1 a2 √2gh
Q​a ​= C​d​ × 2 2
√a −a
1 2

Consider a venturi meter fitted in a horizontal pipe through which water is flowing and,
d​1​ = diameter at inlet
p​1 =​ pressure at inlet
v​1 = ​ velocity of fluid at inlet
2​
a​1 =
​ area at inlet section= π×d​1​ /4
And d​2​, p​2​, v​2​, a​2​ are corresponding values at section-2.
Applying Bernoulli’s equation at both the inlet and throat section, and considering the pipe to be
horizontal,
The theoretical discharge Q is,
a1 a2 √2gh
Q​t =
​ 2 2
√a −a
1 2

Q​act =
​ C​d​×Q​t

Where C​d​ = Co-efficient of venturimeter and its value is less than 1.

Description
The apparatus consists of both orifice meter & venturimeter made up of Clear Acrylic. A control
valve is fitted at the discharge of the pipeline to vary the flow through the Venturimeter. Out of
the two i.e Venturimeter or Orifice meter only one can be operated at once. The setup is
connected to Hydraulic Bench with a flexible pipeline.

Observation & calculations

Data
g = Acceleration due to gravity = 9.81 m/s​2
d​1 = upstream section diameter = 0.028 m
d​2 = downstream section diameter = 0.014 m
a​1 = area of upstream orifice section= 0.000616 m​2
a​2 = area of downstream section = 0.000154 m​2
= Density of manometer fluid = 13600 kg / m​3

= Density of water = 1000 kg / m​3

Observation Table

F​ORMULAE
Rise of water level (in meters), R = (R​1​ - R​2​)/100

Actual discharge (in m​3​/s), Q​a​ = A *t R

Pressure differences (H),

h= (h​1​-h​2​)/100 m
ρ −ρ
H = h( mρw w ) ​m

Theoretical discharge, (Q​t​)

 a1 a2 √2gh
Q​t ​= ​ m​3​/sec
a21 −a22
√
a1 a2 √2gh
Q​a =
​ C​d​ x ​ m​3​/sec
a21 −a22
√
Co-efficient of discharge (C​d​)
Q
C​d​ = Qa
b

Calculation Table

Initial Final Time P1 P2

9.5 20.4 30 9 12.9
10.35 19.8 30 9.6 12.4
10.5 22.5 30 9.1 13.4
10 23.6 30 8.2 13.9
10.4 24.4 30 7.8 14.2
10.5 24.8 30 7.8 14.3
9.8 23.7 30 8 14.1
9.3 23 30 8 14
10.9 24.4 30 8 14.1
12.3 26.2 30 8.1 14

R Volume h H Q​t Q​a C​d

0.109000000 0.013080000 0.039000000 0.491400000 0.000493606 0.000436000 0.883295046
0.094500000 0.011340000 0.028000000 0.352800000 0.000418242 0.000378000 0.903783469
0.120000000 0.014400000 0.043000000 0.541800000 0.000518302 0.000480000 0.926101566
0.136000000 0.016320000 0.057000000 0.718200000 0.000596741 0.000544000 0.911618397
0.140000000 0.016800000 0.064000000 0.806400000 0.000632322 0.000560000 0.885624555
0.143000000 0.017160000 0.065000000 0.819000000 0.000637243 0.000572000 0.897616774
0.139000000 0.016680000 0.061000000 0.768600000 0.000617324 0.000556000 0.900661261
0.137000000 0.016440000 0.060000000 0.756000000 0.000612243 0.000548000 0.895069055
0.135000000 0.016200000 0.061000000 0.768600000 0.000617324 0.000540000 0.874742951
0.139000000 0.016680000 0.059000000 0.743400000 0.000607120 0.000556000 0.915799485
Results:

In this graph, the slope is equal to the (C​d​) value.The average ​ value
Comments

Harsh Shah (17110057)

The Venturimeter is used to measure the actual flow rate of a fluid flowing through a pipe, here
it has been used to calculate the C​d​ using the Bernoulli’s principle

The venturi meter consists of a tube with a converging, diverging, and throat and the values of
the heads are measured before the converging part and the throat the flow rate is a function of the
a1 a2 √2gh
pressure heads developed and the cross-sectional areas of the venturi meter Q​t ​= 2 2
. ​Thus
√a −a
1 2

the theoretical flow rate is calculated but the above-mentioned formula and the actual flow rate is
calculated by calculating the volume of the water flowing in 30s. The ratio of the flow rates gives
the C​d ​ for the pipe
Sources of Errors and Precautions:

● The tube to measure the head should be clear and straight, The minor errors developed in
the readings will lead to large errors as it is multiplied by the relative density of mercury
● The ideal setup is for the nonturbulent flows but a little turbulence is developed at the
mouth of the convergence area which might cause errors
● Ideally, the setup should run in a steady state but due to the nonrotating control valve, the
setup had to be disturbed again and again.

Source : ​https://www.mechanicalbooster.com/2016/06/venturimeter-principle-construction-working-diagram.html
Utkarsh Gangwal (17110163)

A venturimeter is a device that is used to measure the rate of flow of a fluid flowing through a
pipe. It can also be used to increase or decrease the velocity of any fluid in a pipe.

Image source: ​https://learnmechanical.com/venturi-meter/

The venturimeter consists of an inlet section followed by a convergent cone, a cylindrical throat,
and a gradually divergent cone. The divergent cone of the venturimeter gradually diverges with
its cross-sectional area increasing from that of the throat to the original size of the pipe. The
pressure difference between the upstream and the downstream flow can be found as a function of
the flow rate by applying Bernoulli’s equation at the two points of the venturimeter and relating
the pressure difference to the flow rate.

Sources of Errors and Precautions:

● The readings of the manometer are not accurate as the scale which was used was a 30 cm
scale and the least division was 1 mm.
● The minor losses that are developed during near the venturi meter are neglected while
calculating the theoretical flow rate.
● The readings should not be taken as soon as the pump is turned on. Water should be
allowed to reach a steady flow to get accurate readings.
● Allow some water to be in the sump tank. It is can be dangerous if there is no water in it.
● The human error while keeping a note of the time taken and measuring the height to
which the water is filled in the tank leads to inaccuracy.
Utsav Racca(17110164)

Venturimeter is a device used to measure the flow rate of a fluid through a pipe by calculating
the discharge coefficient.
The venturi meter consists of a converging cone, a cylinder, and a diverging cone. Using
Bernoulli’s equation, we can calculate the pressure difference between the two points, one in the
pipe and the other in the cylindrical part. As we change the discharge it is seen that the pressure
difference also changes. Thus, we can conclude that the pressure difference is a function of the
discharge.

Image Source: ​https://www.mecholic.com/2016/11/venturi- Image Source: ​https://www.test-and-measurement-world.com/Terminology/

Meter-construction-working-equation-application-advantages.html Advantages-and-Disadvantages-of-Venturimeter.html

Precautions and Sources of error:

1. The minor losses which take place when the water falls from the venturi meter into the
tank.
2. The manometer readings are not accurate as the scale of the manometer was too big in
comparison to the change in the pressure.
3. To calculate discharge, we were recording the amount of water falling the tank at a
particular time(30 sec). Human error while measuring the height of water. Also, let the
water reach a steady-state and then take the readings.
4. Allow some water in the sump tank if the pump is on.
Krishan Kumar (16110081)
A venturimeter is a device used to measure the fluid flow through pipes. This flow measurement
device is based on the principle of Bernoulli’s equation. Inside the pipe , pressure difference is
created by reducing the cross-sectional area of the flow.The difference in pressure is measured
with the help of manometer and helps in determining the rate of fluid flow. As the main inlet
area is more as compared to throat , velocity of fluid at throat increases therefore pressure
decreases . By this, a pressure difference is created between the inlet and the throat of the
venturimeter. Hence, by reducing the cross-sectional area of the flow, a pressure difference is
created and we measure that difference in pressure by using Bernoulli equation and discharge
formula.Coefficient of discharge of venturimeter can measured using the actual discharge and
theoretical discharge.

Fig- Venturi meter

Sources of error and precautions:
1. Major and minor losses in pipe flow (at the edges, expansions and contractions of area,
and valves).
2. Presence of bubble at the joining location of piezometer tubes and pipeline. Due to it, the
piezometer will measure air pressure head instead of water pressure.
3. For head measuring piezometer,we had a big scale for the reading as compared to the
minor changes in the pressure so it was hard to measure the exact head.
4. Measuring head tube must be straight and easily visible.
 5. While calculating the discharge we were unable to take the exact reading because valve
was not rotating.
6. After turning on the mortar we should wait till flow reaches close to steady state.
7. A little turbulence was observed at the entrance of converge area.

Learning and Discussion:

1. Integration of Euler’s equation of motion along a streamline under steady incompressible
condition gives the Bernoulli’s Equation.
2. The constant in Bernoulli equation is same along a streamline, but if the flow is
irrotational, then the value of constant is the same along all the streamlines. Thus, the
Bernoulli’ equation is applicable between all points of flow.
3. Bernoulli Equation can not be applied in these cases
a. Near the Solid Boundary
Viscosity predominates near the solid boundary, therefore, we can’t neglect the
frictional losses.
b. Temperature Changes
The flow sections at which temperature is changing, because the temperature
changes the density of water.
c. Diverging Flow Section
Flow section at which flow separation is occuring, that results in wake formation.
d. Long Narrow Flow Passage
In this case, friction become significant.