Computational/experimental study of a variable critical nozzle flow

Abstract Recently, critical nozzles have been extensively utilized to measure the mass flow rate in a variety of industrial applications. For the measurement of the mass flow rates in a wide range of operation conditions, the critical nozzle is required to be designed with different diameters. The objective of the present study is to investigate the effectiveness of a variable critical nozzle. A rod with a small diameter is inserted into the critical nozzle to change the effective cross-sectional area of the critical nozzle. Experimental work is performed to measure the mass flow rate of the critical nozzle with rod. Computational work is carried out using the two-dimensional, axisymmetric, compressible Navier–Stokes equations which are discretized using a fully implicit finite volume method. The diameter of the rod is varied to obtain different mass flow rates through the variable critical nozzle. Computational results predict well the measured mass flow rates. The boundary layer displacement and momentum thickness at the throat of the critical nozzle are given as a function of Reynolds number. The discharge coefficient of the critical nozzle is given as an empirical equation.