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Venturi Tube Project

Project Proposal for

ENGT 4050

Senior Technology Capstone

Prof. Richard Springman

Project Team A-09

John Shade, Team Leader

Mo Manneh

Faisal Alqutub

Meshal Al-Khalil

Hassan Alqutub

Sept. 19th, 2016

The University of Toledo

College of Engineering

Engineering Technology Department

Introduction

In an era where technology is king, there are many things that could be made more efficient with technological advancement. For example, a venture tube system. A venturi tube is a device for measuring the flow of a fluid, consisting of a tube with a short, narrow center section and widened, tapered ends, so that a fluid flowing through the center section at a higher velocity than through an end section creates a pressure differential that is a measure of the flow of the fluid. The problem being faced is that these tubes require an employee to be present to make a manual adjustment to read the pressure output and correct it if needed. The solution to this problem is to find a way to receive a digital readout from the tube sensors and access the tube via the internet to make appropriate adjustments. This would be more efficient than requiring a worker to monitor the tube in person. To better understand what this project entails, discussed below will be the project background, a brief summary of what this project could achieve, and the specific details related to every aspect of the project.

Background

The venturi tube is a very important apparatus in Physics and engineering, and having one that could be measured via the internet is a step towards convenience and accuracy in science. Standard venturi tubes require a person to keep track of the values being measured, and thus are tiresome, inconvenient, and time consuming. An intervention to make this apparatus more convenient is for it to use the internet to measure its values, and to transmit the recorded values to a spreadsheet where different types of manipulations can be performed on the data. This paper will discuss the background of this project, as well as the details of the project.

The venturi tube is a simple tubular apparatus through which fluid flows under varying diameters along the length of the pipe. An example can be seen in figures 1.1 and figures 1.2.

Figure 1: Venturi Diagram

Figure 2 Venturi Picture

These tubes are applied in industry in industrial processes where head loss can lead to major losses. This results in a need to be countered to increase the accuracy and precision, especially when dealing with liquids of high viscosity. For data to be recorded however, a person has to monitor the data and record it accordingly. This is time consuming, tedious, and inconvenient for the scientists that use this apparatus. A lot of effort has been put to curb the problem that is presented by the use of the standard diameter including its automation and calibration. These interventions have done much to improve the applicability of the device, although measuring through the internet would make the solution more convenient for manipulation, storage of the data, and even the sharing of the data over the web.

This project will ensure that the accuracy, efficiency, and efficacy of the small scientific apparatus is achieved at all times that it is used, while still making the manipulation of the data in different ways easier, more accurate and even more precise. The storage of the data obtained is also going to be simplified as the technicians will not have to manually record any form of data. Finally, sharing the data obtained is also going to be simplified, as the internet and all forms of telecommunications can be applied to share the data conveniently and rapidly.

Project Summary

The main aim of this project is to improve efficiency for venturi tubes by using digital readouts instead of the manual readouts. The improvements would result in better cost efficiency due to not needing an employee to man the tube’s station. A secondary goal of this project is to bring together two distinctly different fields of study, I.T. and MET, and successfully complete a project that is challenging enough for both parties. This project hopes to bring experiences that are valuable for all parties.

Project Details

The project scope is to help the modern student virtually control the physical movement of the experiment by being in the comfort of his home. So the student would be able to start, stop and control the experiment wirelessly through the Internet. The METs of the group are in charge of the physical construction of the venturi tube while the IT members will be dealing with the computer aspects and any programming. The essential parts of the project will be the Venturi tube, submergible pump, a tub that will hold the water and pump, digital sensors to measure the distance and height, a power relay, and the software. Once all the tools and software come together, there will be a prototype able to control the conditions remotely.

The most difficult part of this project will be the integration between the software and mechanical aspects. This is because of the coding factor required in the experiment and to transform something intangible to a working tangible experiment. In order for the user to be able to start and stop the experiment without physically being present, the software and mechanical aspects of the project have to sync. While this sounds easy, it could be tricky because of the lack of experience of the MET majors with computer processes and the IT majors with venturies. Therefore, communication is key to the success of this project.

No special facilities or equipment will be required for the completion of this project. Waiting on orders of parts to arrive will be the step that might slow us down most or cause issues. Since no special facility or equipment is required in this project, the venturi will be assembled at private locations, making this a more cost efficient scenario. Apart from these difficulties, this project is pretty straightforward and it is anticipated that it will go forth without any hitches. 

There are multiple deliverables for this project, and they consist of things that the project will produce. The first being the proposal. This will basically outline what the project is all about. We also have the Engineering report, which is a report that will consist of the overall documentation of the report giving the reader details on how everything is being done. It will also include how well the project went and if there were unexpected issues. Design drawings will just be a visual image of how the end product will look like just to get a clear understanding of how it is supposed to look before the prototype gets implemented. The programming portion is the coding of how the sensors will pick information and display it for the users online and the prototype is the sample product that will be used to test our hypothesis. Lastly, we will have the completed product (Venturi-tube.) The finished product will be a working prototype that demonstrates the goals of the project.

In the Gantt chart in Table 1, it demonstrates the projected timeline for this project.

Table 1: Gantt Chart

It does so by using blue and red bars. The blue bars indicate the wait time estimated before the task will begin. The red bars estimate the proposed time need to complete the task itself. Due to the relatively simple process anticipated, it is thought that the need to stray away from this timeline is minimal, if at all. The Project Timeline can be more clearly seen in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Project Timeline

The University of Toledo Engineering department will be funding this project with a starting budget of $200, as well as whatever the team members themselves can contribute. After an extensive evaluation of the project, the conclusion has been made that the cost of the project in its entirety is estimated at only $125. Funds used in this project will go towards the purchases of a pump, flow meter, tank, table display, glass venturi tube, and a computer. The computer will be needed for other aspects of the project to get everything working accordingly. A visual image of this spending and materials needed can be found below in Table 3.

Table 3: Budget

Conclusion

A venturi tube applies the principle of Bernoulli’s equation to determine the rate of flow of a liquid. The system takes into consideration the velocities of the fluid at the inlet and outlet, areas of the inlet and outlet, and pressure difference between the throat and the diverging sections. In order to reduce cumbersome means of getting readings from the venture system and coming up with the rate of flow of the fluid being considered, digital meters can be introduced which record the velocities at all points, and pressure difference between the diverging section and the throat of the venturi meter. Since the area of the throat and the diverging section are fixed, the variable readings being obtained can be used to come up with a digital system. The system can syndicate all the readings and digitally calculate the rate of flow by use of a computer program, with the current technology; it is possible to come up with a computer, in collaboration with velocity and pressure sensors, to come up with a digital venture system that can be used remotely.

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