NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF TURBULENT FLOW THROUGH AN ORIFICE PLATE IN A PIPE

Orifice flow meters are widely used in industries to measure the flow rate in pipelines. The flow rate inside the pipe can be calculated using the relationship between the flow velocity and the pressure drop across the orifice plate. In the present study, numerical simulations have been carried out using three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations combined with the k-. SST turbulence model to thoroughly investigate the turbulent flow through a circular square-edged orifice with various orifice plate thicknesses and orifice diameters inside a pipe at different Reynolds numbers ranging from 2500 to 40000. The orifice thickness to pipe diameter ratio (t) varies between 0.125 and 2 and the orifice diameter to pipe diameter (beta) varies between 0.25 and 0.75. The resulting centerline profiles of the streamwise velocity and pressure of the present study are compared with the previous published numerical results and experimental data as the validation study. The effects of Reynolds numbers and orifice geometries on the pressure, the flow velocity and vorticity distribution in the orifice are discussed in detail.