CFD-Based Investigation of Flow Through an Orifice Plate Meter  under Different Conditions

Esam Hamza; Ahmed Khalifa; Anas Geri; Nasreddin Al-Zalitani; Abdulgader Alsharif; Hamza Aagela

المؤلفون

Esam Hamza Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya
Ahmed Khalifa Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya
Anas Geri Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya
Nasreddin Al-Zalitani Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya
Abdulgader Alsharif Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, College of Technical Sciences, Sebha, Libya
Hamza Aagela Department of Engineering, School of Computing and Engineering, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United Kingdom

الكلمات المفتاحية:

Orifice Meter، Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)، Discharge Coefficient، Reynolds Number، Beta Value

الملخص

Orifice plate meters are widely used for flow rate measurement in pipelines but their accuracy can be significantly affected under turbulent flow conditions. This study investigates the performance of orifice plate meters under turbulent flow conditions using a two-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model. The influence of orifice beta ratio (the ratio of orifice diameter to pipe diameter), surface roughness, and fluid type (water, air, and oil) on the discharge coefficient (C_d) and pressure drop was analyzed through 45 simulations. Results show that increasing the beta ratio (0.42~0.58) increases the discharge coefficient (C_d) and reduces pressure drop for all fluids, improving flow efficiency. Surface roughness had negligible impact on (C_d) at Reynolds number = 50,000, while velocity profiles remained consistent across fluids, with maximum velocity decreasing at higher beta ratios. Vortex formation at the outlet diminished with increasing beta ratios and disappeared entirely at the highest beta ratio value. Velocity and pressure contours show the effects of these parameters on (C_d), illustrating the performance of orifice plate meters in turbulent flow scenarios.