Experimental Study of Turbulence Across the Fractal Orifice Plate

Abstract

An experimental study of turbulence behind a fractal orifice plate, a variant of classical circular orifice plate, was conducted in a circular wind tunnel. Four fractal orifice plates with iteration levels from zero to three in combination with a classical circular orifice plate, each with equal flow area, were used in the study. Of the two main objectives, the first one was to test the superiority of the proposed fractal orifice plate against the classical one and the second one was to investigate the fractal orifice effect on the flow properties. Across the fractal orifice plate, a decrease in the pressure drop and an increase in the flow mixing is observed making it much more efficient than the classical orifice plate. It was suggested that at each fractal iteration, the added edge sharpness generated finer flow structures and these flow structures were eventually responsible for the improved efficiency.