Nonideal Gas Effects for the Venturi Meter

A method for treating nonideal gas flows through a venturi meter is described. The method is an extension of a previous study reported in an earlier paper. The method involves the determination of the expansion factor which may then be used to determine the mass flow rate through the venturi meter. The method also provides the means for determining the critical pressure ratio as well as the maximum flow rate per unit throat area. The Redlich-Kwong equation of state is used, which allows for closed form expressions for the specific heat at constant volume and the change in entropy. The Newton-Raphson method is used to determine the temperature and specific volume at the throat. It is assumed that the following items are known: the upstream temperature and pressure and the ratio of the throat pressure to the upstream pressure. Results were obtained for methane gas. These results indicate that for the cases considered, the use of the ideal gas expression for the expansion factor would lead to an error in the determination of the mass flow rate; the error increases as the throat to inlet pressure ratio decreases. For the example reported in this study, the maximum percent difference in the critical pressure ratio between the ideal and nonideal gases was 5.81 percent, while the maximum percent difference in the maximum flow rate per unit throat area was 7.62 percent.