Analysis of new forms of orifice plates using computational fluid dynamics

In many technologies, such as process industry or water supply, there is a need to measure fluid flowrates. Orifice plates are the most common instruments for measuring the fluid flowrate through pipelines due to their many advantages. On the other side, their use increases operating costs of indust...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hemijska industrija Vol. 73; no. 5; pp. 311 - 323
Main Authors: Halas, Dragan, Bera, Oskar, Omorjan, Radovan, Rajic, Aleksandar, Jasin, Danijela
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Belgrade Hemijska Industrija 2019
Association of Chemical Engineers of Serbia
Subjects:
3-D printers
3d printing
Algorithms
Computational fluid dynamics
Computer simulation
Continuity equation
Design
Energy conservation
Energy costs
energy saving
Finite difference method
Flow control
flow measurement
Fluid flow
Fluids
Fused deposition modeling
Incompressible flow
Incompressible fluids
Industrial plants
Laboratories
Laboratory tests
Mathematical models
Measuring instruments
Navier-Stokes equations
Operating costs
Orifice meters
Orifices
Pipelines
Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes method
Simulation
Software
Software packages
Three dimensional printing
Water supply
ISSN:0367-598X, 2217-7426
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Summary:In many technologies, such as process industry or water supply, there is a need to measure fluid flowrates. Orifice plates are the most common instruments for measuring the fluid flowrate through pipelines due to their many advantages. On the other side, their use increases operating costs of industrial plants and pipelines. In this work, three new forms of orifice plates were designed and tested. These new forms and one standard, which served as a reference, were designed by using the SolidWorks software package. The aim of the new designs was energy savings, and consequently reduction of operating costs. Energy savings can be achieved by such a design, which decreases the orifice plate resistance an element of the pipeline. This was achieved by increasing the open part of the orifice plate permitting the fluid flow. CAD models of orifice plates were transferred to STL files that were further used for CFD simulation as well as 3D printing of experimental replicas. According to the proposed algorithm, the new designs were tested by CFD simulation performed in the COMSOL Multiphysics software package, by using a finite-difference method. Equations used were based on the Reynolds form of Navier-Stokes equations (RANS, Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes), and the continuity equation for incompressible fluids. Next, as we have proposed in our algorithm of development of new orifice plate designs, experimental orifice plates were made by using 3D printing technology and FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) procedure and tested at laboratory conditions. The results of laboratory tests were compared with the results of CFD simulation. A considerable amount of energy saving was indicated, which was achieved already by the first of the three new orifice plate forms (V1) as compared to the reference (V0). For the other two proposed forms, the effect of energy savings was considerably lower. By using CFD simulation, data can be obtained based on which a decision can be made whether the new shape of the measuring device should be corrected or is appropriate for further laboratory tests. Based on the presented results it can be concluded that the proposed testing algorithm proved useful in designing new forms of orifice plates. nema
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ISSN:0367-598X
2217-7426
DOI:10.2298/HEMIND190722030H