FIS- School of Biosciences 1

Taylor’s University

Practical 5 – Bernoulli’s Principle

Name : Natasha Anne Binti Mohammed Noor Azam

Student ID : 0326416

Group Members : 1. Natasha Anne Binti Mohammed Noor Azam

2. Shoban Raja A/L Sivaji Raja

3. Saniika A/P Renganadan

4. Mong Jia Ai

Date of Experiment:26th April 2016

Report due date: 3th May 2016
Report submission date: 3th May 2016
Checked by:

Item/marks
Foundation of Science Format/10
Abstract and Introduction/10
School of Biociences Figures and Diagrams/15
Materials and Method/10
Taylor’s University Results Discussions/45
References/10
Malaysia Total
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Contents

Abstract...........................................................................................................................................3

1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................3

2.0 Experimental Design............................................................................................................4

2.1 Materials................................................................................................................................5

2.2 Methods............................................................................................................................5

2.3 Procedure...............................................................................................................................5

3.0 Results and Discussion..............................................................................................................6

4.0 Conclusions and Recommendations..........................................................................................7

References.......................................................................................................................................8
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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this lab experiment was to demonstrate the use of a Venturi meter to measure fluid
flow rates. This experiment used the Venturi meter as a method to measure the fluid flow rate
through a pipe. The experiment was conducted five times with different flow rates. There were a
little bit differences on the speed of the flow and the pressure when Bernoulli’s equation and
Continuity equation were used to calculate mass flow rate. Thus, it was concluded that the
Bernoulli’s theorem is accepted. The experiment was a success and the objectives were obtained.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Flow measurement is important in the industry where the need to accurately control the flow of
fluids are crucial. For instance, in a factory that needs an accurate mixture of two chemicals
must be able to tell exactly how much of each chemical is being supplied per minute to be able
to ensure that the final product is useable.

There are many ways to measure the flow rate of a fluid and the flow measurement apparatus
that will be used in this experiment provides a number of these flow measuring methods. For
this experiment however, the Venturi meter was used to measure the flow rate.

Fig. 5.1 shows the schematic of the Flow Measuring Apparatus. The water from the Hydraulic
Bench entered the apparatus and passes through the Venturi meter which starts off as gradually
converging section (pipe that gets smaller and smaller), a throat (small unchanging pipe),
followed finally by a long gradually diverging section (pipe getting bigger and bigger). After
that, the flow passes through an orifice meter and rotameter which will not be covered in this
experiment. Finally, the flow will leave the apparatus and enter the weigh tank in the hydraulic
bench.

An effective way to measure the fluid flow rate through a pipe was to place some type of
restriction within the pipe and the measure the pressure difference from before and after the
restriction. On the operation of airplane wings, lift was generated by a low pressure region
above the airplane wing. This low pressure exists because of faster moving air above the wing.
This phenomenon is called the Bernoulli’s Principle which states that “an increase in velocity
results in a decrease in pressure”.

For steady, incompressible flows in a tube (such as in Fig. 5.2), Bernoulli’s equation can be
written as (1).
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Taylor’s University

(1)

Where, P = Pressure(Pa), V=Velocity (m/s), g = Gravitational Acceleration (m/s 2), z = Potential

Head (m)

2.0 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

Fig. 5.1 Schematic of the flow measuring apparatus

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Fig. 5.2 Incompressible flows

2.1 Materials

1) Flow measuring apparatus

2) Volumetric Hydraulic Bench
3) Stopwatch
4) Water

2.2 Methods

The apparatus valve was closed fully then was opened by 1/3 with the air purge closed. The
hydraulic bench was switched on and its valve was slowly opened until the water started to
flow, the apparatus was filled with water then the bench valve was continued to open until it
was fully open. The apparatus valve closed fully. The hand pump was attached to the purge
valve and pumped down until all the manometers showed a reading approximately 280 mm.
Trapped air was dislodged from the manometers by gently tapped with fingers. The water levels
were checked to remain constant. A steady rise in levels was seen if the purge valve was
leaking.

2.3 Procedure

1. The apparatus valve was closed fully then was opened by 1/3 with the air purge closed.

2. The hydraulic bench was switched on and its valve was slowly opened until the water
started to flow, the apparatus was filled with water then the bench valve was continued
to open until it was fully open.

3. The apparatus valve closed fully.

4. The hand pump was attached to the purge valve and pumped down until all the
manometers showed a reading approximately 280 mm.

5. Trapped air was dislodged from the manometers by gently tapped with fingers.

6. The water levels were checked to remain constant. A steady rise in levels was seen if the
purge valve was leaking.
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3.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

TABLE 5.1 TABULATION OF DATA OF MASS FLOW RATE

Water
Rotameter Manometric Mass Flow Rate,
volume Wate
r Time, t (s)
Test Reading Levels , V (L)
mass, kg/s
No. (mm) (mmH2O) m
(kg) Venturi Weigh
A B 1 2 3 Average
Meter Tank
1 3 300 285 10 10 90 90 90 90 0.12 0.11
2 6 305 280 10 10 60 60 60 60 0.15 0.17
3 9 320 265 10 10 43 43 43 43 0.23 0.23
4 12 335 245 10 10 35 35 35 35 0.29 0.29
5 15 355 225 10 10 28 27 28 27 0.35 0.36

CALCULATION OF RESULTS

The Venturi meter operates on the principle of Bernoulli’s equation. As the height between the
ends of the Venturi meter does not change, the z terms in Bernoulli’s equation can eliminated.

The two manometer tappings that were measured for Venturi Meter flow rates were tapping (A)
and tapping (B).

Hence, from the continuity equation,

(2)
The volumetric flow rate can be defined as,

(3)

Take the density of water to be 1000kg/m3, the mass flow rate can be defined as

(4)
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DISCUSSION

Comment on the differences observed between the flow rates measured using the Venturi meter
and using the gravimetric evaluation method. Discuss the possible cause of the different
readings and which method would be more accurate and why.

The differences were small. The reading for the Venturi meter is slightly lower than the weigh
tank reading which used the gravimetric evaluation method. This could be because Venturi
meter calculation used more variables such as gravitational acceleration, pressure, velocity and
potential head. On the other hand, weigh tank calculation used only mass over time. With this in
mind, the calculation that was used for Venturi meter would be more accurate due to its variety
of variables that was taken accounted for in comparison to calculation used in gravimetric
evaluation method.

4.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The purpose of this lab experiment was to demonstrate the use of a Venturi meter to measure
fluid flow rates. This experiment used the Venturi meter as a method to measure the fluid flow
rate through a pipe. The experiment was conducted five times with different flow rates starting
the first after the level pressure of each manometer A and B was equal and stable. The time
taken was recorded as soon as the water indicator reached at 10 litres of water level. Level
pressure of each manometer was tabulated. From the experiment conducted, it was observed
when fluids move from a region of higher pressure to lower pressure, the velocity of the fluid
increases. There were a little bit differences on the speed of the flow and during the use of
Bernoulli’s equation and Continuity equation to calculate mass flow rate. Thus, it was concluded
that the Bernoulli’s theorem is accepted. The experiment was a success and the objectives were
obtained. It was also proven that Venturi meter is more accurate than the gravimetric evaluation
method.

Possible errors that could have occurred during the experiment was inaccurate reading such as
when there were air bubbles in the manometer, parallax error, human reaction time, leakage and
the fluctuations that occurred when the output pipe was lifted which changed the pressure of the
flow.

Suggestions that could be taken is to ensure that the trapped bubbles were removed first before
running the experiment. Furthermore, repeat the experiment for several times to get the average
values in order to get accurate results. Next, the valve must be controlled carefully to ensure the
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values of the pressure difference were kept constant as it is easy to fluctuate. Besides, the eye
position of the observer must be parallel to the water meniscus when taking the reading at the
manometers to avoid parallax error. Other than that, the time keeper must be alert with the rising
of water volume to avoid error and ensure that the same person was recording the time during
the entire experiment. Lastly, it is very important that the leakage of water in the instrument
must be avoided.

REFERENCES

[1] B. Massey, Mechanics of fluids. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1989.

[2] F. White, Fluid mechanics. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.
[3] Van Dyke., An album of fluid motion. 1982.
[4] J. Coulson, J. Richardson and J. Coulson, Coulson & Richardson's chemical engineering.
Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1999.