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Orifice Flow Meter Calculator

Design orifice plate flow meters per ISO 5167 standard

Pipe & Flow

Typical range: 0.2 – 0.75

Fluid Properties

Water: 1000, Air (STP): 1.2

Water: 0.001, Air: 0.000018

ISO 5167 Formula

Q = Cd × Y × E × A × √(2ΔP/ρ)

  • Cd = Discharge coefficient
  • Y = Expansion factor
  • E = Velocity approach factor
  • A = Orifice area

Orifice Diameter

50.0mm

Differential ΔP

64.6192kPa

Permanent ΔP Loss

36.6383kPa

Loss Ratio

56.7%

Flow Characteristics

Discharge Coefficient Cd

0.6025

Reynolds Number

176839

Expansion Factor Y

1.000

Beta Ratio β

0.500

Velocities & Pressure Loss

Pipe Velocity

1.7684m/s

Orifice Velocity

7.0736m/s

Differential ΔP

64.6192kPa

Permanent Loss

36.6383kPa

Design Recommendations

Re = 176839 — fully turbulent, good accuracy
β = 0.50 — optimal range (0.3–0.7)
Permanent loss = 36.6 kPa — acceptable
Beta Ratio Guidelines
β = 0.2–0.4: High ΔP, high accuracy, high loss
β = 0.4–0.6: Balanced ΔP and loss
β = 0.6–0.75: Low ΔP, lower accuracy, low loss

About Orifice Flow Meters

Orifice plates measure flow rate by creating a differential pressure across a constrained bore. The ISO 5167 standard specifies the discharge coefficient correlation (Reader-Harris/Gallagher) used here. Permanent pressure loss ranges from 40–80% of the differential depending on the beta ratio.