Orifice meter is type of variable head meter.

In this meter the obstruction to the flow

consist of an engineering constriction in the metered fluid which causes a reduction
in the flow pressure. An orifice meter is a conduit and a restriction to create a
pressure drop. It uses the same principle as a Venturi nozzle, namely Bernoulli's
principle which states that there is a relationship between the pressure of the fluid
and the velocity of the fluid. When the velocity increases, the pressure decreases
and vice versa.
An orifice plate is a thin plate with a hole in the center of the plate. It is usually placed
in a pipe in such a way that fluid passed through the hole. When the fluid reaches
the orifice plate, with the hole in the middle, the fluid is forced to converge to go
through the small hole; the point of maximum convergence actually occurs shortly
downstream of the physical orifice, at the so-called vena contracta . Vena contracta
is a point where the velocity and the pressure changes. Beyond the vena contracta,
the fluid expands and the velocity and pressure change once again. By measuring
the difference in fluid pressure between the normal pipe section and at the vena
contracta, the volumetric and mass flow rates can be obtained from Bernoulli's
equation.There are different types of orifice plate that are namely Concentric,
Segmental, Eccentric and

Quadrant Edge and Conic Edge.

In order to use any of these devices for measurement it is necessary to

empirically calibrate them. That is, pass a known volume through the meter and note
the reading in order to provide a standard for measuring other quantities. Due to the
ease of duplicating and the simple construction, the thin sharp edged orifice has
been adopted as a standard and extensive calibration work has been done so that it
is widely accepted as a standard means of measuring fluids. Provided the standard
mechanics of construction are followed no further calibration is required. An orifice in
a pipeline with a manometer for measuring the drop in pressure (differential) as the
fluid passes through the orifice. The minimum cross sectional area of the jet is
known as the vena contracta where the velocity is maximum and static pressure is
minimum. It is observed at some distance from orifice because of inertia effects
persisting in flow direction. Materials used for orifice plate are mild steel, stainless
steel, phosphor bronze and gun metal.
A fluid passing though an orifice constriction will experience a drop in pressure across
the orifice. This change can be used to measure the flowrate of the fluid.
To calculate the flowrate of a fluid passing through an orifice plate, enter the parameters
below. (The default calculation involves air passing through a medium-sized orifice in a
4" pipe, with answers rounded to 3 significant figures.)