Design of orifices for throttled surge tanks

Orifices can be used for throttling surge tanks, which allows for increased design discharge at existing powerplants without significant geometrical modifications. To improve knowledge about the behaviour of orifices and their cavitation risk, a systematic research study was carried out for a large variety of geometries. Based on developed empirical relationships, an expert sheet was established for finding the best orifice geometry rapidly, which safely produces the required target head losses.