This document is presenting the resume of hydraulic calculation; pressure drops in pipelines, taking

account of inline fittings (such as bends, valves) and other equipment items.

3.1 General Theory

A. Determining Pipe Dimensions

Commercial pipes come in standard size, specified in terms of the nominal pipe diameter and the pipe
schedule.
Q
Cross sectional area, Atrial ¿ (1)
v
Where;
Atial = sectional area trial (m2)
Q = Capacity (m3/hr)
v = velocity linier in suction or discharge (m/s)

And diameter, dtrial =

√ 4 x A trial
π
(2)

dtrial = diameter pipe trial (m)

Atial = sectional area trial (m2)
π = ratio of circular to diameter = 22/7

d trial x 1000
And selected diameter in inch dimension di = (3)
25.4
Where:
di = Diameter (inch)

Inner diameter of PVC Pipe :

Using above real internal diameter data, d s (in meters) is used to calculate the cross-sectional flow area
As (in square meters) using equation:
2
π ds
A s= (4)
4
Where:
As = cross sectional area (m2)
 ds = internal selected pipe diameter (m)

B. Determining the Line Velocity Application

The line velocity, v (in m/s) is calculated using:
Q
v=
As (5)
Where:
Q = Volumetric flowrate (m3/s)
As = Cross sectional flow area (m2)

C. Calculation of Reynold Numbers

The Reynolds number is dimensionless group giving a measure of whether the flow is laminar or
turbulent. It is used to estimate the friction factor.
The Reynolds number, Re, is calculated using equation:
ρ. d s . v
ℜ=
μ (6)

Where:
r = liquid density (kg/m3)
ds = internal selected pipe diameter (m)
v = line velocity (m/s)
m = liquid viscosity (kg/m.s)

D. Calculation of the Pipe Relative Roughness

The pressure drop from flow down a pipe - at least in turbulent flow - is affected by the roughness of the
pipe surface. Obviously, the pipe roughness is determined by the pipe materials of construction.
The table material roughness corresponding to the pipe material used in this project is presented in
below table:
 The effect of pipe roughness becomes less important as the pipe diameter increases; thus, it is important
to calculate the pipe roughness relative to the pipe diameter using Equation 7.

ε
Pipe Relative Roughness (7)
ds
Where:
e = Pipe roughness (m)
ds = Pipe internal diameter (m)

E. Calculation of the Fanning Friction Factor

The Fanning Friction Factor is a dimensionless number which, along with the pipe velocity, can be used
to estimate the pressure drop of flow down a pipe. It is a function of the Reynolds number and, for
turbulent flow, the pipe relative roughness.

The Fanning Friction Factor can be determined from Charts (Moody Diagram) or by using an empirical
equation. A number of Friction Factor Correlations are available in the literatures. The one used in this
document is the Churchill Correlation see Equations 5, 6 and 7.

(8)

Where:

and
(9 &
10)

F. Calculation of the Pressure Drop

F.1 Unit Length of Straight Pipe
The pressure loss as a liquid flow down a straight length of pipe is given by the Darcy Equation. This is
expressed in Equation 8 below.
C
fpipe=
4 f fanning X L (11)
ds
Where:
Cf-pipe = loss factor coefficient of pipe
FFanning = Fanning Friction Factor
L = Pipe length (m)
ds = internal selected pipe diameter,m

And pipe pressure drop calculated by:

(12)
Where:
hp = Pipe pressure drop (m)
v = line velocity (m/s)
g = gravity constant (9.81 m/s2)

F.2 Calculation of the Pressure Drop through Pipe Fittings

The Pressure Drop through pipe fittings (e.g. elbow, Valves, Tee, reducer, etc.) can be expressed in
terms of a loss factor coefficient for fittings.

Refer to data collected from “metropumps.com/ResourcesFrictionLossData.pdf”; loss factor of selected

pipe fittings is resumed in below table:

And fittings pressure drop calculated by:

(13)
 Where:
hf = Fittings pressure drop (m)
∑Kf = sum of fitting loss factor
v = line velocity (m/s)
g = gravity constant (9.81 m/s2)

And then, pressure drop within pipe and fittings is calculated by equation:
hl = hp + hf (14)
Where:
hl = Line pressure drop (m)
hp = Pipe pressure drop (m)
hf = Fittings pressure drop (m)

F.3 Other Pressure Drop

F.3.1 Gain Elevation Difference

The pressure in a liquid system is greatly affected by changes in elevation - the system pressure
increases with a drop in height. In this document, the height different is directly measure in meter.

F.3.2 Unit System

in this project some additional pressure drop are affected by several losses like in:
- Flow meter; Paddle wheel and Rotameter : 1 m ; Magnetic : 0.1 m
- Static mixer : 1 m
- Catridge filter : 10 m
- Resin trap : 1 m
- Automatic filtration : 5 m
- DP in UF : 5 m
- DP in SWRO : 522 m
- DP in BWRO : 115 m
- DP in Mixed Bed : 10 m

Then total pressure drop is calculated by :

Total pressure drop = Line pressure drop (hl) + Other (15)
G. Calculation of NPSHa
Available Net Positive Suction Head is calculated using:
 For positive suction

Patm Pv
NPSHa= − + Z−hl
ρ ρ
(16)

 For negative suction

Patm Pv
NPSHa= − −Z−hl (17)
ρ ρ

Where:
NPSHa = Net Positive Suction Head available (m)
Patm = atmospheric pressure (kg/m2)
r = liquid density (kg/m3)
Pv = Saturated vapor pressure (kg/m2)
Z = elevation different (m)
Hl = line loses (m)