10/28/24, 6:03 PM CheCalc ‐ Compressible Fluid Flow

REPORT UNITS CONTACT

FLUID FLOW

Compressible Fluid Flow

This web application calculates flow of a single phase
compressible fluid through a pipe for a given pressure drop.

Pipe Data

Nominal Pipe Size

Pipe Size (inch)

Schedule / Thickness

40

Pipe Length, L

100.0 m

Pipe Roughness, ε

0.00180 mm

Fluid Data

https://checalc.com/fluid_flow_compressible.html 1/4
10/28/24, 6:03 PM CheCalc ‐ Compressible Fluid Flow
Inlet Pressure, P1

7.00 REPORT
bara CONTACT
UNITS

Outlet Pressure, P2

6.70 bara

Flowing Temperature, Tf

25.00 °C

Molecular Weight, MW

29.0

Viscosity, μ

0.01 cP

Specific Heat Ratio, Cp/Cv

1.35

Compressibility Factor, Z

0.95

Result

Pipe Inside Diameter mm 77.93

https://checalc.com/fluid_flow_compressible.html 2/4
10/28/24, 6:03 PM CheCalc ‐ Compressible Fluid Flow

Fluid Density @ (P1, Tf) kg/m³ 8.62

REPORT UNITS CONTACT

Fluid mass flowrate is calculated by iteratively solving following

equation in Imperial units.

⎡ 144gA2 ρ1 ⎤ P2 − P2
Ws = [ 1 2
]
⎣ (f L + 2 ln P1 ) ⎦
​
​ ​

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​
P1 ​

D P2
​ ​

where, f is Darcy's friction factor, L is pipe length (ft), D is pipe

diameter (ft), ρ is fluid density (lb/ft³), A is pipe cross-sectional
area (ft²), g is constant 32.174 ft/sec², P is pressure in psi and Ws
is gas flow (lbm/sec). Subscript 1 denotes conditions at pipe inlet
and 2 denotes at pipe outlet.

Mass flowrate, Ws kg/h 3160

Volumetric flowrate Nm³/h 2320

Reynold's Number - 1434305

Friction factor - 0.0116

Fluid Velocity m/s 21.35

Sonic Velocity m/s 331.2

Mach number at Inlet - 0.0645

Erosional Velocity m/s 41.55

Sonic Velocity
The maximum possible velocity of a compressible fluid in a pipe is
called sonic velocity.

https://checalc.com/fluid_flow_compressible.html 3/4
10/28/24, 6:03 PM CheCalc ‐ Compressible Fluid Flow

( )
Cp P
Vs = 68.1
​ ​ ​ ​

Cv ρ REPORT UNITS CONTACT

where, Cp/Cv is gas specific heat ratio, P is pressure in psi, ρ is

density in lb/ft³ and Vs is sonic velocity in feet/sec.

Mach Number
The Mach number is the velocity of the gas divided by the sonic
velocity in gas.
V
Ma = ​

Vs ​

where V is gas velocity in pipe and Vs is the sonic velocity.

Erosional Velocity
Erosional velocity is maximum allowable gas velocity in a pipeline,
as gas velocity increases, vibration and noise increases. Erosional
velocity can be estimated as following.
100
VM ax = ​ ​

ρ ​

where ρ is gas density in lb/ft³ and Vmax is erosional velocity in

ft/sec.

Reference
1. Compressible fluid flow at cheguide.com

Copyright © 2024 by CheCalc | Follow us Terms | Privacy

Policy

https://checalc.com/fluid_flow_compressible.html 4/4