Chapter VI - Flow in Pipes - Part 1 2
Chapter VI - Flow in Pipes - Part 1 2
Faculty of Engineering
Industrial Engineering Department
Lectures Notes on
Flow in Pipes
(Part I & II)
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Chapter 6
Flow in Pipes
Objectives:
When you finish reading this chapter, you should be able to:
Have a deeper understanding of laminar and turbulent flow in pipes
and the analysis of fully developed flow.
Calculate the major and minor losses associated with pipe flow in
piping networks and determine the pumping power requirements.
References:
: 8th ed., 2016.
J. F. Douglas, J. M. Gasoriek, John Swaffield, Lynne Jack - Fluid
Mechanics, 5th Edition -Prentice Hall (2006)
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Chapter 6
Flow in Pipes
Fluid flow in circular and noncircular pipes is commonly encountered in
practice.
The hot and cold water that we use in our homes is pumped through
pipes.
Water in a city is distributed by extensive piping networks.
Oil and natural gas are transported hundreds of miles by large
pipelines.
Blood is carried throughout our bodies by arteries and veins.
The cooling water in an engine is transported by hoses to the pipes in
the radiator where it is cooled as it flows.
Fluid flow is classified as external and internal, depending on whether the
fluid is forced to flow over a surface or in a conduit. Internal and external
flows exhibit very different characteristics.
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We then discuss the characteristics of flow inside pipes and introduce
the pressure drop correlations associated with it for both laminar and
turbulent flows.
Then we present the minor losses and determine the pressure drop and
pumping power requirements for real-world piping systems.
INTRODUCTION:
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Given this uncertainty, we will use more descriptive phrases (such as a
circular pipe or a rectangular duct) whenever necessary to avoid any
misunderstandings.
You have probably noticed that most fluids, especially liquids, are
transported in circular pipes. This is because pipes
with a circular cross section can withstand large
pressure differences between the inside and the
outside without undergoing significant distortion.
Noncircular pipes are usually used in applications
such as the heating and cooling systems of buildings
where the pressure difference is relatively small, the
manufacturing and installation costs are lower.
The fluid velocity in a pipe changes from zero at the surface because of
the no-slip condition to a maximum at the pipe
center.
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The existence of these laminar, transitional, and turbulent flow regimes can
be verified by injecting some dye streaks into the flow in a glass pipe, as the
British engineer Osborne Reynolds (1842–1912) did over a century ago.
Reynolds Number:
The transition from laminar to turbulent flow depends on the geometry,
surface roughness, flow velocity, surface temperature, and type of fluid,
among
other things. After exhaustive experiments in the 1880s, Osborne Reynolds
discovered that the flow regime depends mainly on the ratio of the inertial
forces to viscous forces in the fluid. This ratio is called the Reynolds number
and is expressed for internal flow in a circular pipe as:
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CHAPTER 8
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The transition from laminar to turbulent flow depends on the degree of
disturbance of the flow by surface roughness, pipe vibrations, and
fluctuations in the flow.
Under most practical conditions, the flow in a circular pipe is:
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This is a convenient form for the velocity profile since can be
determined easily from the flow rate information.
The maximum velocity occurs at the centerline, and is determined from
the velocity profile Equation by substituting r = 0,
Therefore, the mean velocity in laminar pipe flow is
one-half of the maximum velocity.
A quantity of interest in the analysis of pipe flow is the pressure drop (ΔP)
since it is directly related to the power requirements of the fan or pump to
maintain flow.
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The friction factor for fully developed laminar flow in a circular pipe,
This equation shows that in laminar flow, the friction factor is a function
of the Reynolds number only and is independent of the roughness of the
pipe surface.
In the analysis of piping systems, pressure losses are commonly expressed
in terms of the equivalent fluid column height, called the head loss hL.
Noting from fluid statics that ΔP = ρgh and thus a pressure difference of
ΔP corresponds to a fluid height of h = ΔP/ρg, the pipe head loss is
obtained by dividing ΔPL by ρg to give
The head loss (hL) represents the additional height that the fluid needs to
be raised by a pump in order to overcome the frictional losses in the pipe.
The head loss is caused by viscosity, and it is directly related to the wall
shear stress.
Once the pressure loss (or head loss) is available, the required pumping
power to overcome the pressure loss is determined from:
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EXAMPLE 6.1 Laminar Flow in Horizontal and Inclined Pipes
Given: Consider the fully developed flow of 4 cm
glycerin at 40º C through a 70-m-long, 4-cm-
diameter, horizontal, circular pipe.
If the flow velocity at the centerline is
measured to be 6 m/s,
Determine:
a- The velocity profile and the pressure
difference across this 70-m-long section of
the pipe, and the useful pumping power required to maintain this flow.
b- For the same useful pumping power input, determine the percent
increase of the flow rate if the pipe is inclined 15º downward and the
percent decrease if it is inclined 15º upward.
SOLUTION:
Properties: The density and dynamic viscosity of glycerin at 40ºC, are
ρ=1252 kg/m3 and µ= 0.3073 kg/m.s, respectively.
a- The velocity profile and the pressure differenced and and the useful
pumping power required to maintain this flow:
The velocity profile in fully developed laminar flow in a circular pipe is
expressed as:
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The energy balance for steady, incompressible one-dimensional flow is
given by:
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b- The percent increase of the flow rate if the pipe is inclined 15º
downward and the percent decrease if it is inclined 15º upward.
Discussion:
Note that the flow is driven by the combined effect of pumping power
and gravity. As expected, gravity opposes uphill flow, enhances
downhill flow, and has no effect on horizontal flow.
Downhill flow can occur even in the absence of a pressure difference
applied by a pump.
For the case of P1 = P2 (i.e., no applied pressure difference), the pressure
throughout the entire pipe would remain constant, and the fluid would
flow through the pipe under the influence of gravity at a rate that depends
on the angle of inclination, reaching its maximum value when the pipe is
vertical.
When solving pipe flow problems, it is always a good idea to calculate the
Reynolds number to verify the flow regime—laminar or turbulent.
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EXAMPLE 6.2 Pumping Power Requirement for Oil Flow in a Pipe
Given: Consider the flow of oil with 𝜌 = 894 kg/m3 and 𝜇 = 2.33 kg/m·s in a
28-cm diameter pipeline at an average velocity of 0.5 m/s.
A 330-m-long section of the pipeline passes
through the icy waters of a lake.
Determine: the pumping power required to
overcome the pressure losses and to maintain
the flow of oil in the pipe.
Solution:
The volume flow rate and the Reynolds number in this case are:
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TURBULENT FLOW IN PIPES
Most flows encountered in engineering practice are turbulent,
and thus it is important to understand how turbulence affects wall
shear stress.
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Even when the mean flow is steady, the eddy motion in turbulent flow
causes significant fluctuations in the values of velocity, temperature,
pressure, and even density (in compressible
flow). This Figure shows the variation of
the instantaneous velocity component u with
time at a specified location.
We observe that the instantaneous values of
the velocity fluctuate about a mean value,
which suggests that the velocity can be
expressed as the sum of a mean value and a
fluctuating compo nent,
The friction factor ( f ) was calculated from measurements of the flow rate
and the pressure drop.
The experimental results are presented in tabular, graphical, and functional
forms obtained by curve-fitting experimental data.
In 1939, Cyril F. Colebrook (1910–1997) combined the available data for
transition and turbulent flow in smooth as well as rough pipes into the
following implicit relation, known as the Colebrook equation:
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In 1944, L. F. Moody plotted this formula into the now famous Moody
chart. It presents the friction factors for pipe flow as a function of the
Reynolds number and (𝜀 /D), over a wide range.
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The Colebrook equation is implicit in f, and thus the determination of the
friction factor requires iteration.
An approximate explicit relation for f was given by S. E. Haaland in 1983
as:
The results obtained from this relation are within 2 percent of those obtained
from the Colebrook equation. If more accurate results are desired, this
Equation can be used as a good first guess in a Newton iteration.
At very large Reynolds numbers (to the right of the dashed line on the
Moody chart) the friction factor curves corresponding to specified relative
roughness curves are nearly horizontal, and thus the friction factors are
independent of the Reynolds number. The flow in that region is called
fully rough turbulent flow or just fully rough flow. The Colebrook
equation in the fully rough zone (Re → ∞) reduces to the von
Kármán equation expressed as: which is
explicit in f.
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EXAMPLE 6.3 Determining the Head Loss in a Water Pipe
Given: Water at 15°C (ρ = 999 kg/m3 and 𝜇 = 1.138x10-3 kg/m·s ) is flowing
steadily in a 5cm-diameter horizontal pipe made of stainless steel at a rate
of 0.006 m3/s.
Determine: the pressure drop, the head loss, and
the required pumping power input for flow over a
60-m-long section of the pipe.
Solution:
First we calculate the average velocity and the Reynolds number to determine
the flow regime:
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Discussion It is common practice to write our final answers to three
significant digits, even though we know that the results are accurate to at
most two significant digits because of inherent inaccuracies in the Colebrook
equation, as discussed previously.
The friction factor could also be determined easily from the explicit Haaland
relation. It would give f = 0.0170, which is sufficiently close to 0.0172.
Also, the friction factor corresponding to ε = 0 in this case is 0.0169, which
indicates that this stainless-steel pipe can be approximated as smooth with
minimal error.
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MINOR LOSSES:
The fluid in a typical piping system passes through various fittings, valves,
bends, elbows, tees, inlets, exits, expansions, and contractions in addition to
the straight sections of piping.
These components interrupt the smooth flow of the fluid and cause additional
losses because of the flow separation.
In a typical system with long pipes, these losses are minor compared to the
head loss in the straight sections (the major losses) and are called
minor losses.
In some cases, the minor losses may be greater than the major losses. This is
the case, for example, in systems with several turns and valves in a short
distance.
The head loss introduced by a completely open
valve, for example, may be negligible.
A partially closed valve may cause the largest head
loss in the system, as evidenced by the drop in the
flow rate.
Flow through valves and fittings is very complex,
therefore, minor losses are determined
experimentally, usually by the manufacturers of the
components.
Minor losses are usually expressed in terms of the loss coefficient KL
(also called the resistance coefficient), defined as:
When the loss coefficient for a component is available, the head loss for that
component is determined from:
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Minor losses are also expressed in terms of the
equivalent length Lequiv, defined as:
Once all the loss coefficients are available, the total head loss in a piping
system is determined from:
where: i ….. represents each pipe section with constant diameter and
j ….. represents each component that causes a minor loss.
If the entire piping system being analyzed has a constant diameter, the above
equation reduces to:
Where: V is the average flow velocity through the entire system (note that
V = constant since D = constant).
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The head loss at the inlet of a pipe is a strong
function of geometry.
It is almost negligible for well-rounded inlets (KL
= 0.03 for r/D > 0.2), but increases to about 0.50
for sharp-edged inlets. That is, a sharp edged inlet
causes half of the velocity head to be lost as the
fluid enters the pipe. This is because the fluid
cannot make sharp 90° turns easily, especially
at high velocities.
The velocity increases in the vena contracta region (and the pressure
decreases) because of the reduced effective
flow area and then decreases as the flow fills
the entire cross section of the pipe.
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Piping systems often involve sudden or gradual expansion or contraction
sections to accommodate changes in flow rates or properties such as
density and velocity.
The losses are usually much greater in the case of sudden expansion and
contraction (or wide-angle expansion) because of flow separation.
The loss coefficient for the case of sudden
expansion is determined to be:
Where: Asmall and Alarge are the cross-sectional areas of the small and large
pipes, respectively.
Note that KL = 0 when there is no area change (Asmall = Alarge)
and KL = 1 when a pipe discharges into a reservoir.
No such relation exists for a sudden contraction, and the KL
values in that case can be read from the following chart:
Valves are commonly used in piping systems to control flow rates by simply
altering the head loss until the desired flow rate is
achieved. For valves it is desirable to have a very
low loss coefficient when they are fully open, such
as with a ball valve, so that they cause minimal head
loss during full load operation.
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EXAMPLE 6.4 Head Loss and Pressure Rise during Gradual Expansion
Noting that z1 = z2 and there are no pumps or turbines involved, the energy
equation for the expansion section is expressed in terms of heads as:
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PIPING NETWORKS AND PUMP SELECTION
Piping systems typically involve several pipes connected to each other in
series and/or in parallel, as shown.
When the pipes are connected in series, the flow rate through the entire
system remains constant regardless of the diameters of the individual pipes
in the system. This is a natural consequence of the conservation of mass
principle for steady incompressible flow.
The total head loss in this case is equal to
the sum of the head losses in individual
pipes in the system, including the minor
losses.
The expansion or contraction losses at
connections are considered to belong to
the smaller-diameter pipe since the
expansion and contraction loss
coefficients are defined on the basis of the
average velocity in the smaller-diameter pipe.
Parallel pipes
For a pipe that branches out into two (or more) parallel pipes, the total
flow rate is the sum of the flow rates in the individual pipes.
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The pressure drop (or head loss) in each individual pipe connected in
parallel must be the same since ΔP = PA - PB
and the junction pressures PA and PB are the
same for all the individual pipes.
Then the ratio of the average velocities and the flow rates in the two
parallel pipes become:
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Piping Systems with Pumps and Turbines:
Once the useful pump head is known, the mechanical power that needs to
be delivered by the pump to the fluid and the electric power consumed by
the motor of the pump for a specified flow rate are determined from:
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Where: 𝜂pump–motor is the efficiency of the pump–motor combination, which
is the product of the pump and the motor
efficiencies.
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EXAMPLE 6.5
Given: Water discharges from a reservoir
A through a 100 mm pipe and 15 m
long which rises to its highest point at
B, 1.5 m above the free surface of the
reservoir, and discharges direct to the
atmosphere at C, 4 m below the free
surface at A. The
length of pipe l1 from A to B is 5 m
and the length of pipe l2 from B to C is 10 m.
Both the entrance and exit of the pipe are sharp and the value of f = 0.08.
Calculate:
(a) the mean velocity of the water leaving the pipe at C and
(b) the pressure in the pipe at B.
Solution:
Total energy per unit weight at A = Total energy per unit weight at C + Losses.
Since the entrance to the pipe is sharp, there will be a loss of 0.5V2/2g
and the loss due to friction in the length of pipe AC is given by the Darcy
𝒇 (𝒍𝟏 +𝒍𝟐 ) 𝒗𝟐
formula as:
𝒅 𝟐𝒈
There will be no loss of energy at the exit because, although the pipe exit
is sharp, the water emerges into the atmosphere without any change of
the cross-section of the stream.
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At both A and C the pressure is atmospheric, so that pA = pC = zero gauge
pressure. Also, if the area of the free surface of the reservoir is large, the
velocity at A is negligible. Thus:
Then:
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EXAMPLE 6.6
Given:
Two sharp-ended pipes of diameter
d1 = 50 mm, and d2 = 100 mm, each of
length l = 100 m, are connected in
parallel between two reservoirs which
have a difference of level h = 10 m. If
the Darcy coefficient f = 0.008 for each
pipe,
Calculate:
(a) the rate of flow for each pipe,
(b) If the two pipes are replaced by a single pipe of 125 mm diameter and of
the same length (100 m), calculate the new flow rate and the percentage of
its change compared with the previous case.
Solution:
(a) Since the two pipes are in parallel, we can deal with each pipe independently
and apply the steady flow energy equation between points A and B on the free
surfaces of the upper and lower reservoirs, respectively.
For flow by way of pipe 1,
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𝜋
𝑄1 = ( )(0.05)2 𝑥 3.35 = 6.58𝑥10−3 𝑚3 /𝑠
4
For flow by way of pipe 2,
Then:
0.008𝑥100 𝑣2 𝑚
10 = (1.5 + )𝑥 → 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑣 = 4.98
0.125 2𝑥9.81 𝑠
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𝜋
𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑄 = ( ) 𝑥(0.125)2 𝑥 4.98 = 0.061𝑚3 /𝑠
4
Which is greater than the two pipes flow rate
0.0179
Percentage increase is : ∆𝑄% = 𝑥 100 ≅ 𝟒𝟏. 𝟒%
0.0432
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