Chapter 6 Flow in Closed Conduits

6.1 Flow regimes

W a t e r
D y e
V a l v e
W a t e r
D y e
V a l v e
( a ) R e < 2 0 0 0 ( b ) R e > 4 0 0 0
Figure 6.1-1 Reynolds experiment.
Laminar or well-ordered type of flow exists when adjacent fluid layers slide smoothly over
one another. Mixing between layers occurs only on a molecular level. Turbulent flow exists
when packets of fluid particles are transferred between layers, giving the flow a fluctuating
nature. Osborn Reynolds first described the existence of laminar and turbulent flow
quantitatively through his classic experiment in 1883. As shown in Figure 6.1-1, water was
allowed to flow through a transparent pipe at a rate controlled by a valve. Reynolds
introduced a dye having the same specific gravity as water into the flow to observe what was
happening. He found that at low flow rates the dye pattern was regular and formed a single
line of color as show in Figure 6.1-1(a). The pressure drop was also found to directly
proportional to the flow rate. As the flow rate was increased a point was reach where the dye
trace was seen to be unstable and it broke up after a short distance. At still higher flow rates
the dye almost immediately dispersed throughout the pipe cross section. The relationship
between pressure drop and flow rate now became almost quadratic instead of linear.
The stable flow observed initially was called laminar flow. The unstable flow pattern,
characterized by high degree of mixing between the fluid elements, was called turbulent
flow. There is a transition region in between laminar and turbulent where the flow is unstable
but not thoroughly mixed. Laminar flow in a tube persists up to a point where the value of
the Reynolds number is about 2000. Reynolds number is defined as
N
Re
=

DV
=
D V
V
/
2

The Reynolds number is a ratio of the inertial momentum flux (V

2
) in the flow direction to
the viscous shear stress or viscous momentum flux in the transverse (V/D) direction.
Turbulent flow occurs when Reynolds number is greater than about 4000. Viscous forces are
a manifestation of intermolecular attractive forces that stabilize the flow. Therefore stable
laminar flow should occur at low Reynolds numbers where viscous forces dominate.
1
6.2 Generalized Mechanical Energy Balance Equation
For laminar flow of a fluid in a cylindrical tube of radius R and length L, the Hagan-
Poiseuille equation provides a relationship between volumetric flow rate and pressure drop
across the tube as follows.
Q =

4
3
R

w
=

4
3
R ( )
L
R P P
L o
2

=
( )
L
P P R
L o

8
4

z
1
z
2
P
V
1
1
P
V
2
2
Figure 6.2-1 A general piping system.
For a general piping system shown in Figure 6.2-1, we need the generalized relationship,
equation (6.2-1), that can account for the effect of pressure drop on incompressible fluid
flow, changes in elevation, tube cross section, changes in fluid velocity, sudden contractions
or expansions, and friction loss through pipe and fittings such as valves and flow meters.

1
P
+ gz
1
+
2
2
1 1
V
+ w
p
=

2
P
+ gz
2
+
2
2
2 2
V
+ e
f
(6.2-1)
Each term in this equation has units of energy per unit fluid mass flow rate or (length/time)
2
.
P = pressure
= fluid density
g = acceleration of gravity
z = elevation relative to a reference surface
V = average fluid velocity
= kinetic energy correction factor
= 2 for laminar flow
= 1 for turbulent flow
w
p
= work done per unit mass flow rate
= pump efficiency ( < 1)
e
f
= friction loss due to piping and fitting
2
The friction loss is given by the following equation
e
f
= 4

i
i
f
i
i
D
L
2
2
i
V
+

j
j
V
2
2
K
fitting,j
(6.2-2)
where
f
i
=
2
2
1
V
w

= friction factor in tube segment i with length L

i
and diameter D
i
.
V
i
= average velocity within tube segment i.
K
fitting
= friction loss factor or loss coefficient for pipe fittings, some typical values are
given in Table 6.2-1. The velocity V
j
in the summation is for the fluid just
downstream of the contraction, expansion, or fitting.
Table 6.2-1 Friction loss factor for various pipe fittings.
Fitting K
fitting
Globe valve, wide open
Angle valve, wide open
Gate valve, wide open
Gate valve, half open
Standard 90
o
elbow
Standard 45
o
elbow
Tee, through side outlet
Tee, straight through
Sudden contraction
(turbulent flow)
Sudden expansion
(turbulent flow)
7.5
3.8
0.15
4.4
0.7
0.35
1.5
0.4
0.4

,
_

1
2
1
A
A
2
1
2
1

,
_

A
A
A
1
A
2
A
1
A
2
S u d d e n c o n t r a c t i o n
S u d d e n e x p a n s i o n
The friction factor for laminar flow (N
Re
=

VD
< 2000) is given by
f =
Re
16
N
(6.2-3)
The friction factor for turbulent flow (Re > 4000) can be estimated by
f = {1.737 ln[0.269
D

Re
185 . 2
N
ln (0.269
D

+
Re
14
N
)]}
-2
(6.2-4)
3
In this equation is the surface pipe roughness and D is the inside pipe diameter.
Representative values for surface roughness are given in Table 6.2-2.
Table 6.2-2 Surface roughness
Surface
(ft) (mm)
Concrete
Cast iron
Wrought iron
Galvanized iron
Commercial steel
Drawn tubing
0.001-0.01
0.00085
0.00015
0.0005
0.00015
0.000005
0.3-3.0
0.25
0.045
0.15
0.046
0.0015
Equation (6.2-5) developed by Churchill
1
adequately predicts the Fanning fiction factor over
the entire range of Reynolds number including a reasonable estimate for the transition region
between laminar and turbulent flow.
f = 2
12 / 1
2 / 3
12
Re
) (
1 8
1
1
]
1

+
+

,
_

B A N
(6.2-5)
In this equation A =
16
9 . 0
Re
/ 27 . 0 ) / 7 (
1
ln 457 . 2
1
]
1

,
_

+ D N
and B =
16
Re
530 , 37

,
_

N
If the fluid flows through a noncircular duct, then the equivalent diameter, D
eq
, can be used in
equations (6.2-2, 3, 4, 5). The equivalent diameter is defined as
D
eq
= 4r
H
= 4
wet
cross
P
A
where r
H
= hydraulic radius
A
cross
= cross sectional area of the flow
P
wet
= wetted perimeter of the duct
D
o
D
i
Figure 6.2-2 Flow through an annular tube.
For the flow through an annular tube, the equivalent diameter is given as
1
Churchill SW, Chem. Eng., Nov. 7, 1977, p. 91
4
D
eq
= 4
) (
4 / ) (
2 2
i o
i o
D D
D D
+

= D
o
D
i
5
Example 6.2-1. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Water is pumped from the upper reservoir to the lower reservoir through the piping system
shown. Determine the power required for the pump if the water flow rate is 60 kg/s. The
fittings from pipe D
1
to pipe D
2
and from pipe D
2
to pipe D
3
can be considered to be standard
90
o
elbows. Data:
h
1
= 10 m, h
2
= 3 m, L
1
= 50 m, L
2
= 300 m, L
3
= 2 m, D
1
= 0.2 m, D
2
= 0.5 m, D
3
= 0.03 m,
water viscosity = 1 cP = 10
-3
kg/m s, = 1000 kg/m
3
. The pipe roughness is 0.05 mm. The
pump efficiency is 75%.
( 1 )
( 2 )
h
1
D , L
1 1
D , L
2 2
D , L
3 3
h
2
G l o b e v a l v e
Solution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Applying the mechanical energy balance between (1) and (2) we have

1
P
+ gz
1
+
2
2
1 1
V
+ w
p
=

2
P
+ gz
2
+
2
2
2 2
V
+ e
f

Let the reference level be at (2), the end of pipe 3, the energy equation becomes

atm
P
+ g(h
1
+ L
1
L
3
) + 0 + w
p
=

2
gh P
atm
+
+ 0 +
2
2
3 3
V
+ e
f

g(h
1
+ L
1
L
3
) + w
p
= gh
2
+
2
2
3 3
V
+ e
f
D(m) A(m
2
) V(m/s) N
Re /D
f
.2
.5
.03
3.14 10
-2
1.96 10
-1
7.07 10
-4
1.91
0.306
84.9
3.82 10
5
1.53 10
5
2.55 10
6
2.50 10
-4
1.00 10
-4
0.0017
0.00406
0.00431
0.00600
6
e
f
= 4

i
i
f
i
i
D
L
2
2
i
V
+

j
j
V
2
2
K
fitting,j
4

i
i
f
i
i i
D
V L
2
2
= 2 10
-3
[4.06
2 . 0
91 . 1 50
2

+ 4.31
2 . 0
306 . 0 300
2

+ 6
2 . 0
9 . 84 2
2

]
= 5.77 10
3
m
2
/s
2

j
j
V
2
2
K
fitting,j
= 0.5 1.91
2
0.4 sudden contraction, K
fitting
= 0.4
+ 0.5 0.306
2
0.7 standard 90
o
elbow, K
fitting
= 0.7
+ 0.5 0.306
2
7.5 open globe valve, K
fitting
= 7.5
+ 0.5 84.9
2
0.7 standard 90
o
elbow, K
fitting
= 0.7

j
j
V
2
2
K
fitting,j
= 2.52 10
3
m
2
/s
2
Therefore e
f
= 5.77 10
3
+ 2.52 10
3
= 8.29 10
3
m
2
/s
2
g(h
1
+ L
1
L
3
) + w
p
= gh
2
+
2
2
3 3
V
+ e
f
9.81(10 + 50 2) + 0.75w
p
= 9.81 3 +
2
9 . 84
2
+ 8.29 10
3
w
p
= 1.51 10
4
m
2
/s
2
The power required for the pump is
p
W

= m w
p
= 60 1.51 10
4
= 9.08 10
5
W = 1220 hp
Note: 1 hp = 746 W
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