It is well known from experience that a differential pressure across an orifice and a static pressure at a tap show random pressure fluctuations when using a differential-pressure type gas flow meter for metering steady flow. The characteristics of such pressure fluctuations are experimentally investigated and analyzed by correlation techniques.
The differential and static pressure fluctuations propagate from a pressure source such as a blower or a suction tank to the far pipe end and are independent of the direction of the gas flow. The propagation speed is equal to the sound speed in the pipe line, which is calculated from the space-time correlation. The pressure fluctuations have no correlation to the flow-rate fluctuations measured with a hot-wire anemometer at the same detecting point. These static and differential pressure fluctuations have the characteristics of low-frequency adiabatic pressure waves, and therefore the Bernoulli theorem does not apply to them. From the same point of view, it becomes clear that pulsating pressures have the same characteristics.
To summarize, steady flow pressure fluctuations and unsteady flow pressure pulsations do not have direct relations to the flow-rate fluctuations and pulsations through a constriction such as an orifice plate, a nozzle, or a Venturi tube in a pipe line.
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