Experimental investigation of critical pressure ratio in orifices

To determine the value of the critical pressure ratio in orifices, critical mass flow rate of air through straight-bore orifices and knife orifices was measured. The straight-bore test orifices with varying orifice diameters of 4, 7, 10 and 12 mm were installed in a 20-mm pipe. The knife or sharp-edged test orifices with orifice diameters of 10, 15 and 18 mm were installed in a 40-mm pipe. The test orifices with diameter ratio from 0.2 to 0.6 exhibited a constancy of discharge at ratios of the downstream to upstream pressures of less than 0.17, which is considerably lower than the theoretical critical pressure ratio for an ideal nozzle. An empirical expression to calculate the value of the critical pressure ratio, which includes the relevant primary parameters and which fits the data well, is suggested for engineering design purposes.     

Experimental study of wall curvature and bypass flow effects on orifice discharge coefficients

This paper presents the results of an experimental study investigating the impact of wall curvature and bypass flow on the discharge coefficients of circular orifices. To extend the range of currently available discharge coefficients, the ratio of the orifice to the pipe diameter is varied from 0.25 to 0.67. Functional relationships are developed that relate a free-discharge orifice coefficient to the ratio of the orifice diameter to the pipe diameter and the total head (velocity and pressure heads) upstream of the orifice. In addition, the use of the projected area versus surface area of the orifice for determining discharge coefficients is investigated and the results show that both approaches yield similar observations. The results of this experimental study are particularly useful for the case of sparger design.     

Flow characteristics in flow networks

A flow network is a system of mutually intersecting holes in a plate or an assembly of plates. The flow at each intersection is characterized by a collision of two flow streams, resulting in complex flow patterns through the downstream holes. In the case of multiple intersections, the flow is periodically disrupted at each succeeding intersection, thus preventing the formation of a fully-developed flow through the holes.An experimental study is presented in this paper to determine flow characteristics in flow networks with various geometry. The intersecting pressure loss coefficient which represents the performance of flow networks is defined and its magnitude empirically determined as functions of geometric and flow conditions. A method is developed to measure the ramming loss in an intersection tube. Flow visualization by means of hydrogen bubble method is applied to observe flow patterns and mixing behavior in the flow network. A physical model is developed to predict the intersection pressure loss in flow networks.List of symbols A total section area of the flow network holes - a section are a of one hole in the flow network - a _t throat area of the orifice - b semi-minor axis of the intersection throat ellipse (Fig. 8) - C _d overall flow discharge coefficient with intersection - C _do overall flow discharge coefficient in the absence of intersection - D _h hydraulic diameter of the flow channel - d hole diameter - f flow friction coefficient - FF compressible flow function - H major axis of the intersection ellipse (Fig. 8) - K _b, K₀ pressure loss coefficients for the miter bend, and quadrant-edged orifice, respectively - K _c, K_e, K_x flow contraction, expansion, and intersection coefficients, respectively - L length of the hole in the flow network, i.e. flow length inside holes - L _e equivalent length of a pipe for the miter bend pressure loss - N _h number of holes in the flow network - N _x number of intersections for each hole - p pitch distance between holes - P _a, P_s, P_t total pressure in the plenum, the ambient pressure, and absolute total pressure in the plenum, respectively - _Pb, p₀ pressure losses in the miter bend and through the quadrant-edged orifice, respectively - p _T, p_H pressure drops in the flow network and its half unit, respectively - Q, Q flow rates passing through the test section equivalent to standard condition and in operating conditions, respectively - R univeral gas constant - s test plate thickness - T, T _t air temperature in the plenum and the absolute temperature of air, respectively - V fluid flow velocity - W mass flow rate of air - diameter ratio in the quadrant-edged orifice - dynamic viscosity of fluid - kinematic viscosity of fluid - intersection angle between holes - fluid density     

Performance of conical entrance orifice plates at low Reynolds numbers

Results are presented of an experimental investigation into the performance of conical entrance orifice plates manufactured according to BS 1042. Three plates, with diameter ratios of 0.247, 0.360 and 0.448, were tested in the region 100 < Re_D ? 1000 and in both the concentric and the fully eccentric position. The discharge coefficient, C_z, of the orifice was found to agree with that specified in BS 1042 for a diameter ratio of 0.247. For other diameter ratios, the discharge coefficient increased with the diameter ratio, as observed by other workers for the Kent plates. The eccentricity has no appreciable effect on the discharge coefficient, probably due to the effect of viscous action on the flow being more or less the same for the concentric and eccentric position of the orifice at low Reynolds numbers     

Experimental investigation into the effect of heat transfer on compressible air stream in a duct

A converging nozzle-constant area parallel passage with an outer duct encasing the constant-area passage has been built for investigating the effect of heat transfer on subsonic flow of an air stream. It is concluded experimentally as can be predicted analytically that large quantities of heat are needed in order to accelerate very slow air stream (incompressible) to sonic conditions. It is observed experimentally as confirmed analytically, that the increase in Mach number with heat addition is associated with a decrease in the local static pressure along the axis of the duct. It could be concluded that any more heat added beyond thermal choking will be accompanied by a decrease in the mass flow rate of the compressible flowing air.Nomenclature A cross-sectional area of the duct - C _{P air} specific heat of air joules/kg. °K - C _d discharge coefficient - D duct diameter - d orifice diameter m - dA _d elemental lateral area of the duct - h overall heat transfer coefficient - h head across orifice, mm. - M Mach number - m _air mass flow rate of air - P local static pressure - P _b back pressure at duct outlet - P ₀₁ stagnation pressure at duct inlet - gas density - _u air density upstream of orifice - _q incremental heat flow - T local static temperature - T ₀₁ stagnation temperature at duct inlet - T _h hot water temperature - q heat added per kg of flowing air - V flow speed     

DDT in methane-air mixtures

Experimental results from a study on the critical condition for deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) in methane-air mixtures are presented. Experiments were carried out at 293 K and 1 atm using methane-air mixtures with methane concentrations ranging from 5.5 to 17% vol. The tests were performed in detonation tubes with inner-diameters of 174 mm and 520 mm. Detonation cell widths l\lambda were determined in the tests for a range of methane concentrations. The results of DDT tests indicate that for a tube cross-sectional area blockage ratio (BR) of 0.3 the critical condition for DDT can be characterized by the d/l = 1d/\lambda = 1 criterion. However, for a BR = 0.6 the critical value d/ld/\lambda was significantly higher. The data also show that the critical condition for DDT can be described by L/l = 7L/\lambda = 7, where L is the characteristic length-scale of the channel volume between orifice plates. This length-scale is defined by a grouping of the orifice plate dimensions (inner and outer-diameter) and plate spacing.     

Finite Element Solution of Laminar Flow through Square-Edged Orifice with a Variable Thickness

A numerical analysis of laminar flow through square-edged orifice has been studied for Reynolds number in the range 0 < Re₀ < 2000 with β values varying from 0.2 to 0.8 and with l* values varying from 1/16 to 1. It is shown thai the flow discharge coefficient gradually decreases when the orifice thickness/diameter ratio increases for a high porosity.     

An experimental study of the discharge coefficient of pipe perforations

Experiments were conducted to study the variation of the pressure loss coefficient of pipe perforations with geometrical parameters of the perforations and a Reynolds number based on the hydraulic diameter of an orifice representing the perforations. The experimental data are used to develop an empirical relationship between the head loss across the perforations and the geometrical and hydraulic parameters related to the perforations which was seen to give better predictions when the perforations are not very closely spaced. The experimental results reported herein correspond to the pipes of small perforated length, with downstream end of the pipe closed.List of symbols a area of the orifice - A total area of perforations - A ₁ inner area of pipe - A ₂ outlet area - C _r factor for static pressure regain - D diameter of the orifice - D _h hydraulic diameter - D _p internal diameter of the pipe - f_o friction factor for orifice surface - f_p friction factor for perforated pipe - g acceleration due to gravity - H water head inside the perforated pipe - H ₀ head outside the perforated pipe - H(A) experimental water head difference - H1 water head difference between inside and outside of perforations when A ₂ is outlet area and A ₁ is inside perforated surface area of pipe - H2 water head difference between inside and outside of perforations when A ₂ is outlet area and A ₁ is cross-sectional area of pipe - H3 water head difference between inside and outside of perforations when A ₂ is infinity and A ₁ is inside perforated surface area of pipe - H4 water head difference between inside and outside of perforations when A ₂ is infinity and A ₁ is cross-sectional area of pipe - H _t total head at the inlet of the perforated pipe - H₀ head loss across the orifice - H_f head loss due to surface friction - H_m head loss due to momentum reduction - K _f pressure loss coefficient for frictional losses - L _p perforated length of the pipe - n total number of orifices in a perforated pipe - N number of orifice rows - p pitch of perforations - P _a perimeter of the flow passage - P ₀ porosity of the perforated pipe - q flow rate through orifice - Q flow rate through perforations - Re ₀ Reynolds number based on orifice diameter - Re _p Reynolds number based on pipe diameter - T wall thickness of the pipe - v velocity of flow through the orifice Greek symbols V ₁ velocity of flow upstream of the orifice - V ₂ velocity of flow downstream of the orifice - (tou) coefficient depending on T/D ratio of the orifice - (zeeta) loss coefficient of fluid flow through perforated pipe - coefficient depending on the shape of the inlet edge of the orifice     

Effects of upstream bends and valves on oriffice plate pressure distributions and discharge coefficients

An extensive series of tests has been carried out to determine the effect of upstream fittings (bends, valves, bend-bend and bend-valve combinations) on the discharge coefficients of orifice plates. The pressure data acquired during these tests have been studied in detail and a number of general recommendations for reducing the errors associated with using orifice plates in disturbed flow conditions are presented in this paper. It is noteworthy that other tapping combinations in place of the standard D and D/2, flange and corner combinations were less sensitive to disturbances in the flow so that their use could result in smaller errors. Of more direct practical use, as the internationally standardized tapping arrangements are unlikely to be changed, it was established that the use of a further pressure measurement would allow the change in the discharge coefficient for corner and flange taps to be estimated with reasonable accuracy for most adverse flow conditions     

Numerical and experimental nonlinear dynamics of a proportional pressure-regulating valve

A novel direct proportional pressure-regulating valve is presented in this paper, and its working principle is introduced. The pressure of feedback chamber is controlled by two orifices. The lumped parameter double-mass dynamic model considering both the spool mass and the plunger mass is established. The model consists of the subsystem models with hydraulic fluid dynamic, valve mechanic and electromagnetic. The numerical model is validated through experiments. With the model, the spool and pressure dynamics are analysed by comparing the changes of the simulation parameters. The effects of orifice diameters, lap, spring stiffness, viscous damping coefficient on the stability of spool and pressure are investigated. The results show that a fixed relationship between the orifice diameters of the valve can be achieved. A larger overlap is beneficial to improve the stability of the spool. It is aimed to propose a parametric design method for the valve optimization.

     

Choked flow mechanism of HFC-134a flowing through short-tube orifices

This paper is a continuation of the author’s previous work. New experimental data on the occurrence of choked flow phenomenon and mass flow rate of HFC-134a inside short-tube orifices under choked flow condition are presented. Short-tube orifices diameters ranging from 0.406 mm to 0.686 mm with lengths ranging from 1 mm to 3 mm which can be applied to a miniature vapour-compression refrigeration system are examined. The experimental results indicated that the occurrence of choked flow phenomena inside short-tube orifices is different from that obtained from short-tube orifice diameters of greater than 1 mm, which are typically used in air-conditioner. The beginning of choked flow is dependent on the downstream pressure, degree of subcooling, and length-to-diameter ratio. Under choked flow condition, the mass flow rate is greatly varied with the short-tube orifice dimension, but it is slightly affected by the operating conditions. A correlation of mass flow rate through short-tube orifices is proposed in terms of the dimensionless parameters. The predicted results show good agreement with experimental data with a mean deviation of 4.69%.     

Experimental study of the pressure drop after fractal-shaped orifices in turbulent pipe flows

Fractal-shaped orifices are thought to have a significant effect on the flow mixing properties downstream a pipe owing to their edge self-similarity shape. Here, we investigate the pressure drop after such fractal orifices and measure the pressure recovery at different stations downstream the orifice. A direct comparison is made with the pressure drop measured after regular circular orifices with the same flow area. Our results show that the fractal-shaped orifices have a significant effect on the pressure drop. Furthermore, the pressure drop measured across the fractal-shaped orifices is found to be lower than that from regular circular orifices of the same flow areas. This result could be important in designing piping systems from the point of view of losses. It looks promising to use the fractal-shaped orifices as flowmeters as they can sense the pressure drop across them accurately with lower losses than the regular circular-shaped ones.     

Temperature separation and friction losses in vortex tube

The process of energy separation and friction losses in a vortex tube is studied in detail. The hot and cold exit air temperatures were measured. Experiments have been conducted at inlet pressure of 3.5, 5, 7.5 and 9 bar, at inlet temperature of 292.15 and 298.15 K and at cold air mass ratio from 0 to1. The results demonstrate that the hot air temperature reaches its maximum value at a cold air mass ratio of nearly 0.82, while the minimum value of cold air temperature is found at a cold air mass ratio of 0.3. Based on energy and mass balances as well as on the definition of internal energy and on experimental results a new model for the determination of hot and cold exit gas temperature has been developed. The model includes the relevant primary parameters and predicts the experimental results as well as the data published in the literature sufficiently accurate for engineering purposes.A cross-section area m³ - D diameter of the pipe m - F model parameter - f friction factor - L length of the tube m - m mass flow rate kg/s - y cold air mass ratio - P static pressure Pa - T temperature K - t thickness of the orifice m - R gas constant J/kg K - v velocity of fluid m/s - density of the fluid kg/m³ - friction factor for pipe - friction factor for orifice and tee junction - 1 inlet of compressed gas - 2 exit of hot gas - 3 exit of cold gas - atm atmospheric pressure - c cold exit gas - f friction - h hot exit gas - o orifice plate - T tee junction     

Experiments on elongational flow of dilute polymer solutions Part I: Jet reaction and excess pressure drop for the flow through small apertures

Experiments have been made with dilute polymer solutions on the reaction of jets issuing from small orifices and the excess pressure drop for orifice and capillary flows.Under the flow conditions with vortices occurring upstream of the aperture, the jet reaction is nearly zero below some mean velocity for PEO solutions and similarly zero below some generalized Reynolds number for Separan solutions. The normalized jet reactions, when they possess positive values, are correlated with the generalized Reynolds number irrespective of the aperture diameters for both kinds of solution.In most cases, the pressure is higher than in the corresponding water flow, but for some flows with no vortex it is lower. For the vortex flow of PEO solutions the normalized excess pressure drop is inversely proportional to the Reynolds number for both orifices and capillaries, while for Separan solutions this quantity is not correlated with the generalized Reynolds number for orifice flow but is correlated with it for capillary flow.     

Flow and breakup characteristics of elliptical liquid jets

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on liquid jets discharging from elliptical orifices into still ambient air. The experiments were conducted with a set of elliptical orifices of approximately same area of cross section but varying orifice aspect ratio using water and water–glycerol mixture as experimental fluids. The flow behavior of liquid jets was analyzed using their photographs captured by an imaging system. The measurements obtained for the elliptical liquid jets were compared with the circular liquid jets discharging from a circular orifice of the same area of cross section. Elliptical geometry of the orifice results in a flow process by which the emanating liquid jet periodically switches its major and minor axes as it flows downstream of the orifice. In this paper, we attempt to characterize the axis-switching process through its wavelength and amplitude. For a given elliptical orifice, the axis-switching process is dominantly seen in a particular range of flow conditions. The effects of the orifice aspect ratio and liquid viscosity on the axis-switching process are revealed through this study. The experimental results on jet breakup show that axis-switching process has a destabilizing effect on elliptical liquid jets within a particular range of flow conditions and it results in shorter breakup lengths compared to the circular jet. The extent to which axis-switching destabilizes the jet is dictated by the viscosity of liquid. An increase in orifice aspect ratio destabilizes elliptical liquid jets with low viscosity like water; however, this behavior seems to get obscured in water–glycerol mixture elliptical jets due to high viscosity.     

Spreadsheet calculations of jets in crossflow: opposed rows of inline and staggered round holes

The objective of this study was to demonstrate and analyze empirical model results for jet-in-crossflow configurations which are typical in gas turbine combustors. Calculations in this paper, for opposed rows of round holes in both inline and staggered arrangements, were made with an Excel^® spreadsheet implementation of a NASA-developed empirical model for the mean conserved scalar field. Results for cases of opposed rows of jets with the orifices on one side shifted by half the orifice spacing shows that staggering can improve the mixing, particularly for cases that would overpenetrate if the orifices were in an aligned configuration. For all cases investigated, the dimensionless variance of the mixture fraction decreased significantly with increasing downstream distance. The variation between cases at a given downstream location was smaller, but the “best” mixers for opposed rows of jets were found to be inline and staggered arrangements at an orifice spacing that is optimum for inline jets.     

Effect of obstacle size and spacing on the initial stage of flame acceleration in a rough tube

Experiments were conducted to study flame acceleration in an orifice plate laden detonation tube. Orifice plate area blockage and spacing were varied to determine their affect on flame acceleration. The tube used in the study was 3.05 m long with an inner diameter of 14.0 cm. Experiments were primarily carried out with stoichiometric propane-air, however the affect of mixture reactivity was also investigated by varying the mixture equivalence ratio. The distance required for the flame to achieve a velocity equal to the speed of sound in the unburned gas mixture was measured. This run-up distance is used to characterize the early stage of the flame acceleration process. It was found that in all cases, the flame run-up distance decreased with increased blockage ratio and with increased mixture reactivity. It was found that for higher blockage ratios plates flame acceleration was greatest for a plate spacing of one tube diameter, but for lower blockage ratio plates the results obtained for one-half, one, and one and one-half tube diameter plate spacing were very similar. The most rapid flame acceleration was observed when the ratio of the orifice plate spacing and the orifice plate height (half of the difference between the tube and orifice plate diameter) is on the order of 5. It is proposed that this optimum acceleration corresponds to the condition where the plate spacing is roughly equal to the length of the unburned gas re-circulation zone downstream from the orifice plate. PACS 47.40.-x; 47.70.Fw This paper was based on work that was presented at the 19th Interna-tional Colloquium on the Dynamics of Explosions and Reactive Sys-tems, Hakone, Japan, July 27 - August 1, 2003     

Collision and merging of two equal droplets of propanol

Equally spaced and uniform droplets are produced by a vibrating orifice and move away in a straight line. They intersect with an exactly equal string of droplets and collide one by one. With stroboscopic lighting and multiple exposures, they are photographed. Thus successive stages of the collision process are shown on a single photo. The droplets can be made to collide with or without angular momentum by adjusting the aim of the emitting orifices. The impacting speeds can be varied from 2.8 to 11.7 m/s. Droplet sizes from 70 to 200 m are employed. Motions of the coalesced drop after the merging are bizarre and well-displayed. The results are important for spray modeling. When the streams of droplets merge at higher speeds, they may distort to the extent that the two streams of droplets merge to a single continuous sinuous stream.List of symbols b collision parameter - d diameter - p pressure difference - f frequency - u impact velocity - v droplet velocity - V liquid feed rate - x, y, z rectangular coordinates - angle between droplet stream and symmetry line - G generator - i initial, before the collision - P particle - T droplet - 1, 2 first and second droplet generator