Structural Optimization of Orifice Rotameter Based on CFD

摘要

The orifice rotameter indicates the flowrate as a displacement of a symmetrical body(float) placed concentrically downstream of an orifice inside a vertical tube. Experiments study had been performed at five positions of the float to evaluate the performance of the most commonly used type of orifice rotameter. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method was employed to optimize the performance of orifice rotameter. A total of 20 numerical models were established corresponding to the five positions, four types of orifice rotameter. At the same position, the floats of four types of numerical models have the same stroke with experimental fiowmeter. Numerical models of 3D turbulence flow field of the orifice rotameter were conducted. The error analysis method of the float forced balance, which controls the computational precision, was adopted to adjust the inlet flowrate. The results of numerical calculation showed that new types of orifice rotameter improved the flow stability and linearity. The paper described the design and results to verify the performance of the new kinds of orifice rotameter.