Part A: The effect of pressure head on maximum flow of gas for different size orifices
For the orifices having different sizes but located at same level, the orifice 1, 2, 3 and 4 are having sizes of 0.5, 0.38, 0.28 and 0.1cm respectively. Based on the result obtained, the graph of Pressure Head vs. maximum flow rate for Orifice having different size but at the same level at a pressure for 1, 2 and 3 bar was plotted.
Based on the graph obtained for all three different pressures, it is clear that different sized orifices have different effect of pressure head on maximum flow rate when they are at the same levels. We can see that the largest orifice in diameter size has the largest maximum flow rate,. It can also be seen that when the orifice size decreases, the discharge time taken are longer.
From the equation:
It is clear that size of the orifice is directly proportional to the maximum flow rate. As the diameter of the orifice increases, the rate of gas flow increases due to the increase in space for the gas to the exit from the system. Hence, the time taken to discharge reduces significantly.
As the size increasing, the pressure head will remains constant because pressure head varies only with different pressure level. As the pressure head increases, the maximum flow rate will increase. Hence it can be concluded that the maximum gas flow out of orifice is directly proportional to area of the orifice. When the pressure is changed, and maintained at the same level, it results in change in the pressure head, where it is directly related to the maximum flow rate. When the pressure is increased from 1 bar to 3 bar, the readings of the discharge time increases and the maximum flow rate increased significantly.
Part C: The importance of this experiment in context of handling different gaseous materials at the workplace This experiment is very important in the context of handling dangerous materials and gases at the workplace