# Auto-Sizing a Thick Orifice

From v3.31 onwards, FluidFlow includes a powerful Auto-Size feature which allows engineers to automatically size a range of elements including thick orifice plates. This series of examples demonstrates how a thick orifice can be automatically sized using either a design flow rate or design pressure loss. To begin, a standard 10mm thick orifice plate has been modeled in a 10.0 M long 2 inch Schedule 40 steel pipeline. This allows us to establish the flow rate and pressure loss for this size of element in this system. We can then benchmark our automatically sized element against this base model. Figure 1 shows the data entry for the 10mm orifice plate (5 mm plate thickness) and Figure 2 gives an overview of the performance of this device in this system. Figure 1: Data entry for 10mm Thick Orifice (Auto Size function set to Off). Figure 2: 10mm Thick Orifice Model (Auto Size function set to Off). We can see in Figure 2 that the mass flow rate in the system has been calculated as 0.510552 kg/s based on an orifice size of 10mm. Auto-Sizing based on Design Flow Rate. Set the Automatically Size field for the orifice plate to "On", set the Sizing Model to Size for Flow and enter the design flow rate of 0.510552 kg/s for the orifice plate (flow rate calculated in Figure 2). Note, the field titled Orifice Size has now been removed from the Input Editor as FluidFlow will now automatically calculate the size required based on the design flow condition entered by the user. The Input Editor for the thick orifice should now appear as shown in Figure 3. Figure 3: Data entry for Auto-Sizing a Thick Orifice (Sized based on design flow rate established in Figure 2). Figure 4 shows the calculated results for the orifice plate. As we can see, FluidFlow has established a required orifice size of 10mm based on the design flow rate of 0.510552 kg/s, i.e., matching Figure 2. Figure 4: Auto-Sizing a Thick Orifice (Sized based on design flow rate established in Figure 2). Auto-Sizing based on Design Pressure Loss. Set the Automatically Size field for the orifice plate to "On", set the Sizing Model to Size for Pressure Loss and enter the design pressure loss of 50495.69 Pa for the orifice plate (pressure loss calculated in Figure 2). The Input Editor for the thick orifice should now appear as shown in Figure 5. Figure 5: Data entry for Auto-Sizing a Thick Orifice (Sized based on design pressure loss established in Figure 2). Figure 6 shows the calculated results for the orifice plate based on a design pressure loss of 50495.69 Pa across the element. As we can see, FluidFlow has established a required orifice size of 10mm, matching the results as shown in Figure 2. The element has therefore been automatically sized successfully. Figure 6: Auto-Sizing a Thick Orifice (Sized based on design pressure loss established in Figure 2). For further information, a detailed example of automatically sizing components is available at: Design Examples | Auto Equipment Sizing.