Venturi Effect - Examples

Examples

The Venturi effect may be observed or used in the following:

• Cargo eductors on oil product and chemical ship tankers
• Inspirators that mix air and flammable gas in grills, gas stoves, Bunsen burners and airbrushes
• Water aspirators that produce a partial vacuum using the kinetic energy from the faucet water pressure
• Steam siphons using the kinetic energy from the steam pressure to create a partial vacuum
• Atomizers that disperse perfume or spray paint (i.e. from a spray gun).
• Foam firefighting nozzles and extinguishers
• Carburetors that use the effect to suck gasoline into an engine's intake air stream
• Wine aerators, used to infuse air into wine as it is poured into a glass
• The capillaries of the human circulatory system, where it indicates aortic regurgitation
• Aortic insufficiency is a chronic heart condition that occurs when the aortic valve's initial large stroke volume is released and the Venturi effect draws the walls together, which obstructs blood flow, which leads to a Pulsus Bisferiens.
• Protein skimmers (filtration devices for saltwater aquaria)
• In automated pool cleaners that use pressure-side water flow to collect sediment and debris
• The barrel of the modern-day clarinet, which uses a reverse taper to speed the air down the tube, enabling better tone, response and intonation
• Compressed air operated industrial vacuum cleaners
• Venturi scrubbers used to clean flue gas emissions
• Injectors (also called ejectors) used to add chlorine gas to water treatment chlorination systems
• Steam injectors use the Venturi effect and the latent heat of evaporation to deliver feed water to a steam locomotive boiler.
• Sand blasters used to draw fine sand in and mix it with air
• Emptying bilge water from a moving boat through a small waste gate in the hull—the air pressure inside the moving boat is greater than the water sliding by beneath
• A scuba diving regulator to assist the flow of air once it starts flowing
• Modern vaporizers to optimize efficiency
• In Venturi masks used in medical oxygen therapy
• In recoilless rifles to decrease the recoil of firing
• Ventilators
• The diffuser on an automobile
• Large cities where wind is forced between buildings
• In windy mountain passes, resulting in erroneous pressure altimeter readings
• The leadpipe of a trombone, affecting the timbre
• Foam proportioners used to induct fire fighting foam concentrate into fire protection systems

The Bernoulli Principle and its corollary, the Venturi effect, are essential to aerodynamic as well as hydrodynamic design concepts. Airfoil and hydrofoil designs to lift and steer air and water vessels (airplanes, ships and submarines) are derived from applications of the Bernouoli Principle and the Venturi effect, as are the instruments that measure rate of movement through the air or water (velocity indicators). Stability indication and control mechanisms such as gyroscopic attitude indicators and fuel metering devices, such as carburetors, function as a result of gas or fluid pressure differentials that create suction as demonstrated and measurable by gas/fluid pressure and velocity equations derived from the Bernoulli Principle and the Venturi Effect.

A simple way to demonstrate the Venturi effect is to squeeze and release a flexible hose in which fluid is flowing: the partial vacuum produced in the constriction is sufficient to keep the hose collapsed.

Venturi tubes are also used to measure the speed of a fluid, by measuring pressure changes at different segments of the device. Placing a liquid in a U-shaped tube and connecting the ends of the tubes to both ends of a Venturi is all that is needed. When the fluid flows though the Venturi the pressure in the two ends of the tube will differ, forcing the liquid to the "low pressure" side. The amount of that move can be calibrated to the speed of the fluid flow.