Arab Academy for Science, Technology

and Maritime Transportation

Thermo Fluids – ME 439
Dr. Ahmed Khalifa Mehanna
Assistant Professor
[email protected]
[email protected]
Room No: 223

Course Assistant Lecturer:

Eng. Persis Boushra
Thermo Fluids – ME 439

Lecture 5:
Flow in Pipes
 Flow in Pipes
 Pipe Flow – important application
Pipe: circular cross section
Duct: noncircular cross section
 Piping system may contain
pipes of various diameters
valves & fittings
nozzles (pipe contraction)
diffusers (pipe expansion)
pumps, turbines, compressors, fans
heat exchangers, mixing chambers
reservoirs
Typical pipe system components
 Introduction
 Typical Assumptions:

Pipe is completely filled with a single fluid.

Pipe flow is primarily driven by a pressure difference
rather than gravity.
Steady, incompressible flow.
Uniform (average) flow at all cross sections
Bernoulli Equation is Applicable
 Introduction

Friction force of wall on fluid

 Average velocity in a pipe

 Recall - because of the no-slip condition, the velocity at the
walls of a pipe or duct flow is zero
 We are often interested only in Vavg, which we usually call
just V (drop the subscript for convenience)
 Keep in mind that the no-slip condition causes shear stress
and friction along the pipe walls.
 Introduction

Vavg Vavg

 For pipes of constant diameter and incompressible flow

Vavg stays the same down the pipe, even if the velocity profile changes

Why? Conservation of Mass

m   Vavg A  constant


same same same

 Introduction
• For pipes with variable diameter, m. is still the same due to
conservation of mass, but V1 ≠ V2
D1

D2

V1 m V2 m

1
 Characteristics of Pipe Flow
 Laminar vs. Turbulent

VD VD
Re  
 
Laminar: Re ≤ 2100

Transitional: 2100 > Re < 4000

Turbulent: Re > 4000

 Entrance and Fully Developed Regions
Recall that Reynolds number (Re = ρVD/μ) can be used to classify if a
flow is laminar or turbulent. The type of flow not only depends on its
velocity (V), but also its density (ρ), viscosity (μ) and length scale
(diameter D). For pipe flow, the flow is laminar when Re < 2,100, and it is
turbulent when Re > 4,000. The flow is referred to as transition flow when
Reynolds number is in between 2,100 and 4,000.
When a fluid enters a pipe, viscous effects due to the pipe wall will
develop. The region where viscous effects are important is referred to as the
boundary layer. The velocity profile, as shown in the figure, will also vary
due to the growth of this boundary layer. When the velocity profile reaches
a constant (i.e., velocity profile no longer changes along the pipe), the flow
is said to be fully developed.
The length required for the flow to reach fully developed conditions is
called the entrance length (Le), and it can be determined from the following
empirical relations:
For laminar flow: Le/D = 0.06 Re
For turbulent flow: Le/D = 4.4 (Re)1/6
 The Bernoulli Equation (Real Flow)
In a real pipe line there are energy losses due to
friction Energy loss due to friction written as a
head and given the symbol hL .
This is often know as the head loss due to
friction.
2 2
P1 V P2 V
  z1 
1
  z2  hL12
2
g 2 g g 2 g
2 2
P1 V P2 V
  z1 
1
  z2  hL12
2
 2g  2g
 Entrance Region and Fully Developed Flow

 Entrance region flow - typically between 20-120D ; depends on Re:

e
 0.06 Re .........laminar
D
e
 4.4 Re1/ 6 ........ turbulent
D

 Fully developed flow - occurs beyond entrance region; velocity

profile is independent of x
 Friction Head Loss in Pipe Flow
From another discussion, it is known that Bernoulli's equation can be
applied along a streamline to analyze steady, incompressible and
inviscid flow. Most flows in real practice, however, are viscous, and
hence losses due to viscous dissipation (friction) are unavoidable. To
analyze flow in a viscous pipe, Bernoulli's equation can be modified
and applied to two sections of the pipe flow:
P1 V12 P2 V22
  z1    z2  hL12
g 2 g g 2 g
where p is the static pressure, V is the average velocity, z is the
elevation, and hL accounts for the head loss due to friction between
section (1) and (2). Based on dimensional analysis, the head loss
over the length of the pipe is given by:
 L  V 
2
h f  f  
 D  2 g 
 Friction Head Loss in Pipe Flow

• For a constant-diameter horizontal pipe, the

extended Bernoulli equation yields
p  p1  p2  ghL
• If elevations changes; so the equation is:

p  g z2  z1  hL 

• Head loss due to friction:

L 
  V 2

h f  f   
  
D 2 g 
 The Moody Chart actually has three main regions or
sections. The first region is for laminar flow for when
Re is approximately less than 2100. Then the friction
factor is a direct function of the Re, or

For laminar flow: f = 64/Re

 The region between laminar and completely turbulent.

This is when the chart is required. First determine the
relative roughness number, ε/D, and then determine Re.
Using these two numbers and the Moody Chart to
estimate the friction factor, f.
Where: f is an empirical friction factor.
 The friction factor is a function of the Reynolds number
(Re) and relative roughness of the pipe (ε/D) as shown in
the Moody chart. Typical values of the surface roughness
of pipe (ε) are summarized in the below table.
In general, the friction factor is a function of Re and ε/D for turbulent
flow. However, when Re is very high (completely turbulent flow), the
friction factor becomes independent of Re, and it depends on the
relative roughness only. This is the third region and as an alternative to
determining the friction factor for turbulent flow from the Moody chart,
it can be calculated using the correlation provided by Colebrook
For turbulent flow:

Flow in Non-Circular Conduits

To analyze flow in conduits with non-circular shapes, the hydraulic
diameter (Dh) can be used in place of the diameter. It is defined as
Dh = 4A/P
where A is the cross-sectional area, and P is the wetted perimeter.
 Entrance Loss in Pipe
 In addition to frictional losses, there
are minor losses due to
 Entrances or exits
 Expansions or contractions
 Bends, elbows, tees, and other
fittings
 Valves
 Losses generally determined by Abrupt inlet, K ~ 0.5
experiment and then correlated with
pipe flow characteristics.
 Loss coefficients are generally given
as the ratio of head loss to velocity
head.
 V2  V2
K  hm ( ) or hm K
 2g  2g
 Total Head Losses
• A piping system may have many
minor losses which are all
correlated to V2/2g
• Sum them up to a total system
loss for pipes of the same
diameter
2
 L 
 
V
hL  h f  hm  f  Km 
m 2g  D m 
Where, hL Total head loss m
h f  Frictional head loss m
hm  Minor head loss for fitting m
K m  Minor head loss coefficient for fitting
Minor Head Loss for Fitting
Lists of loss coefficients K for four types of valve,
three angles of elbow fitting, and two tee connections