Small Scale Mass Flow Plug Calibration

Abstract

A simple control volume model has been developed to calculate the discharge coefficient through a mass flow plug (MFP) and validated with a calibration experiment. The maximum error of the model in the operating region of the MFP is 0.54%. The model uses the MFP geometry and operating pressure and temperature to couple continuity, momentum, energy, an equation of state, and wall shear. Effects of boundary layer growth and the reduction in cross-sectional flow area are calculated using an in- integral method. A CFD calibration is shown to be of lower accuracy with a maximum error of 1.35%, and slower by a factor of 100. Effects of total pressure distortion are taken into account in the experiment. Distortion creates a loss in flow rate and can be characterized by two different distortion descriptors.