Hydrodynamic Characteristics of Single Phase Flowing Through Orifice Plate

Abstract The hydrodynamic characteristics of a single fluid flowing through an orifice plate were experimentally studied. Also, it’s flow behaviors were simulated by using computational fluid dynamics. It was found that the pressure drops of single phase flowing through the orifice is mainly caused by the contraction and expansion of the fluid. With increasing flowrate, the contraction effect of the fluid more obvious is and the larger the pressure drop is. Moreover, the press4ure drop increases exponentially with increasing flowrate. The smaller the orifice diameter, the larger the velocity of the fluid is and the more obvious the contraction effect of the fluid after passing through the orifice is, and thus the larger the pressure drop is. The smaller the orifice relative thickness, the greater the velocity of the fluid along the axis after passing through the orifice is and the stronger the contraction effect of the fluid after passing through the orifice is, thus the greater the pressure drop is. The research on this characteristic of single fluid passing through orifice is expected to provide support for the optimal design of sieve plate packed tower and other large heat and mass transfer equipment.