TimetoEmptyorDraina

Tank,Pond,Reservoir
ContainingWaterorother
Liquid

Computetimetoempty(orlower)
waterorotherliquid.Alsocan
solvefordischargecoefficient,
orificediameter(orarea),tank
diameter(orarea),initialliquid
depth,finalliquiddepth.

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Selectorificegeometry: Circular
Selecttankgeometry: Circular
Selectcomputation: Computetime
ClicktoCalculate

DischargeCoefficient,C: 0.6
OrificeDiameter,d: 0.5
OrificeArea,a: Willbecomputed
TankDiameter,D: 10
TankArea,A: Willbecomputed
InitialDepth,Hi: 4
FinalDepth,Hf: 1
Time,t: Willbecomputed

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inch
inch2
inch
inch2
ft
ft
min

Units:cm=centimeter,ft=foot,hr=hour,m=meter,min=minute,sec=second.
Tank(orpondorreservoir)isopentotheatmosphere.Thetankcanbecylindricalor
othercrosssectionbutmusthavethesamecrosssectionforitsentireheight.The
orificecanbecircularornoncircular.Iftankororificeisnoncircular,entertheirarea
intoourcalculation.Hi,Hf,andharemeasuredverticallyfromthecenterlineofthe
orifice.

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Discharge
fromatank
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Bernoulli
calculator
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Introduction
Water(orotherliquid)drainingoutofatank,reservoir,orpondisacommon
situation.Ourcalculationallowsyoutocomputethetimeneededtolowerthewater
fromonedepthtoalowerdepthortoemptythetank.Alternatively,theusercaninputa
timeandchooseanothervariabletobecomputedorificecoefficient,orificediameter
ororificearea,tankdiameterortankarea,initialliquiddepth,orfinalliquiddepth.
Equations
Ifatankandorificearebothatatmosphericpressureandtheliquidisabovethetopof
theorifice,thedischarge(flowrate)outoftheorificeis(Streeteretal.,1998,p.467
Daughertyetal.,1985,p.413):

Note:Theaboveequationisvalidifboththetankandorificeareatthesamepressure,
evenifthepressureisnotatmospheric
ForatankwithaconstantcrosssectionalgeometryAintheplanview(i.e.asyoulook
downonit),substitute:

IntegratehfromHitoHfandintegratetfrom0tot,thensolvefortimet,whichisthe
timerequiredfortheliquidtofallfromHitoHf:

Ifthetankiscircularinplanview(i.e.lookingdownonit):

Iftheorificeiscircular:

Ourcalculationallowsyoutosolveforanyofthevariables:C,d,a,D,A,Hi,Hf,ort.
Theorificeandtankcanbeeithercircularornoncircular.Ifnoncircular,thenthe
diameterdimensionisnotusedinthecalculation.
Validity
Ifhdropsbelowthetopoftheorifice(forinstanceifHfisbelowthetopoftheorifice),
themethodwillgiveshorteremptyingtimesthaninreality.Theprogramassumesthat
liquidisflowingoutthroughtheentireorificearea.However,whentheliquiddrops
belowthetopoftheorifice,flowisoutofanarealessthanthefullorificearea.
Thetankandorificedischargeareassumedtobeatthesamepressure.
Thetankisassumedtobeofsufficientlylargerareathantheorificesothatfriction
effectsfromthetankwallarenegligiblethatis,A>10aasaruleofthumbsuggestedby
LMNOEngineering.
OrificeDischargeCoefficient
Oursteadystatedischargefromatankpagelistsdischargecoefficientsforsomeorifice
shapes(forwaterandsimilarliquids)fromDallyetal.(1993),andtheyarerepeated
here.SimilarvaluesareshowninDaughertyetal.(1985,p.415).

Type:RoundedSharpedgedShorttubeBorda
C:0.980.610.80.51
TheshorttubevalueisvalidforL~2.5d.Bordaisalsoknownas"reentrant"sinceit
jutsintothetank.
Variables
TheunitsshownforthevariablesareSI(InternationalSystemofUnits)however,the
equationsabovearevalidforanyconsistentsetofunits.Ourcalculationallowsa
varietyofunitsallunitconversionsareaccomplishedinternally.
a=Orificecrosssectionalarea(m2).
A=Tankcrosssectionalarea(m2).
C=Orificedischargecoefficient0<C<1.0.Cdependsontheorificegeometryandin
somecasesthetypeofliquid.
d=Orificediameter(m).

D=Tankdiameter(lookingdownonit),(m).
g=Accelerationduetogravity,9.8066m/s2.
h=Verticaldistancefromcenterlineoforificetoliquidsurface(m).
Hf=Finalverticaldistancefromcenterlineoforificetoliquidsurface(m).
Hi=Initialverticaldistancefromcenterlineoforificetoliquidsurface(m).
Q=Discharge(flowrate)atanydepth,h(m3/s).
t=TimeforliquidintanktochangefromadepthofHitoadepthofHf(seconds).
ErrorMessagesgivenbycalculation
"NeedC>0","Needd>0","Needa>0","NeedD>0","NeedA>0","NeedHi>
0","NeedHf0","NeedTime>0".Theseareinitialchecks.Dischargecoefficient,
orificediameter(ifcircular),orificearea,tankdiameter(ifcircular),initialliquiddepth,
andfinalliquiddepthmustbepositivenumbers.
"NeedHi>Hf".Initialdepthmustbelargerthanfinaldepth.
"BestifA10a".Toensurethattankfrictionisnegligible,shouldhavetankareamuch
largerthanorificearea.
"Need0<C1".Dischargecoefficientmustbegreaterthan0.0andlessthanorequal
to1.0.Typicalvalueis0.6forwaterflowingthroughsquareedgedorifice.
"Infeasibleinput".Thismessagecanoccurifthefinaldepthisbeingcomputedand
Hi0.5<[taC(g/2)0.5]/A
References
Dally,J.W.,W.F.Riley,andK.G.McConnell.1993.InstrumentationforEngineering
Measurements.JohnWileyandSons,Inc.2ed.
Daugherty,R.L.,J.B.Franzini,andE.J.Finnemore.1985.FluidMechanicswith
EngineeringApplications.McGrawHill,Inc.8ed.
Streeter,V.L.,E.B.Wylie,andK.W.Bedford.1998.FluidMechanics.McGrawHill,
Inc.9ed.

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August25,2015:Madetextfieldsnarrowertoshow8significantfiguresratherthan16.
Calculationstillusesdoubleprecisioninternally.