Effect of Geometrical Parameters of Venturimeter on Pressure Drop

Abstract

A Venturimeter is basically a differential pressure type flow meter which is used to measure the volumetric flow rate of fluids.  Certain amount of pressure drop occurs in pipeline due to the reduction in flow passage in these types of flow meters. For designing flow meters, minimum pressure drop is a required condition. This pressure drop depends on various geometrical parameters of flow meters and properties of the fluid. In the present work, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been used to investigate the effect of different geometrical parameters like convergent cone angle, divergent cone angle, diameter ratio (β) and throat length on pressure drop in Venturimeter.  Effect of each parameter has been checked by varying one parameter and keeping three parameters constant at a time. From simulation results, it was found that pressure drop fluctuates with increase in convergent cone angle, divergent cone angle and throat length while reduces with increase in diameter ratio (β).