Theory

General Energy Balance:

The energy balance for steady, incompressible flow, called Bernoullis equation, is probably the
most useful single equation in fluid mechanics and it is used in this experiment. We begin with
the following equation.

Equation 1 [Steady flow, open system]

Where:

(PE)

E)

The energy balance expressed in Equation (1) applies to the changes from one point to the next,
along the direction of flow in any steady flow of homogeneous fluid. According to the First Law
of Thermodynamics, energy cannot be created or destroyed; the terms of creation and destruction
are zero, therefore:

Equation 2

If the material that constitutes the system is uniformed, has the same internal (U), potential (PE)
and kinetic energy (KE) though all the system:

Equation 3

The Forms of Energy

The following forms of energy are the ones being used for the general energy balance:

Internal Energy (U) = its increases depending on temperature.

Kinetic Energy (KE) = its the energy of a moving body.
Potential Energy (PE) = it depends on the position of a body relative to the bottom
in a gravitational field.

Restrictions
The following restrictions were taken under consideration for the general energy balance
(eq.1):
The magnetic, electrostatic and surface energy are neglected.
The content in the system is uniform.
The inlet and exit currents are uniform.
The gravities acceleration is constant.
The system has to have one exit and one inlet therefore it must be in steady state.
From these restrictions we can say that:

Equation 4

Equation 5

Therefore dividing by (dm) we have:

Equation 6

Regrouping the equation above (Equation 6):

Equation 7

It is important to remember that:

; therefore:

Equation 8

The pressure difference, P, in Equation (9) stands for Pout Pin , etc. This equation is the
preliminary from Bernoullis equation. The term P/ stands for the injection-work, representing
the work required to inject a unit mass of fluid into or out of the system, or both. The potential
energy, gz, represents the potential energy of a unit mass of fluid above some arbitrary datum
plane. The V2/2 term shows the kinetic energy per unit mass of fluid. The dWn.f./dm term
represents the amount of work done on the fluid per unit mass of fluid passing through the
system.

Heating due to friction will increase the internal energy of the system and the

temperature so it must be taken into account. The friction heating is caused by the interaction of
the moving fluid with the surroundings and does not depend on the quantity of heat transfer in or
out of the system. It is defined as:

Equation 9

Substituting the value for friction, expressed in Equation (9), in Equation (8) results in the
following:

Equation 10

Bernoullis Equation:
Bernoulli's equation is one of the most important/useful equations in fluid mechanics. Grouping
common terms in Equation (10) changes to the final working form of Bernoullis Equation:

Equation 11

If friction heating is negative the flow is in opposite direction, for all real flows it is positive and
if F = 0 the flow is reversible. The classic-drop experiment to determine F is performed in an
apparatus like that shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Apparatus for the pressure drop experiment.

In this experiment volumetric flow rate is set with the flow regulating valve. Flow rate is
measured with a tank and a stop watch. At steady state pressure gauges P1 and P2 can be read
and record their difference from point one to point 2.

Regardless of what Newtonian liquid is flowing or what kind of pipe we use, a graph of -P/ x
against Q is plotted and the result is always of the form shown in Figure 2. In this figure, if the
volumetric flow rate, Q , is constant, then in the unstable region the flow will oscillate vertically
between the two curves of dP/dx. If, instead, dP/dx is fixed, then in the unstable region will
oscillate horizontally between two values of Q.

In addition, at low flow rate P/ x is

proportional to volumetric flow rate, Q , to the 1.0 power where as high flow rate P/x is
proportional to volumetric flow rate, Q , to a power that varies from 1.8 (for very smooth pipes)
to 2.0 ( for very rough pipes).

Figure 2: Typical pressure-drop curve for a specific fluid in a specific pipe.

Osborne Reynolds explained the strange shape of Figure 2 in an apparatus similar to that of
Figure 1 but made of glass, he arranged to introduce a liquid dye into the flowing stream at
various points. He found that, in the low flow rate region the dye he introduced formed a
smooth, thin, straight streak down the pipe as shown in Figure 3. This type of flow is called
laminar flow. He also found that in the high flow rate region, no matter where he introduced the

dye it rapidly dispersed throughout the entire pipe as shown in figure 4. This type of flow is now
called turbulent flow.

(a)

(b)

Figure 3: Schematic flow representations. (a) Laminar Flow, (b) Turbulent flow

Reynolds showed further than the region of irreproducible results between the regions of laminar
and of turbulent flow is the region of transition from the one type of flow to other, called
transition region. In the transition the flow can be laminar or turbulent. Reynolds also showed
that the transition from laminar to turbulent flow occurs when the dimensionless group called the
Reynolds number(R) has a value of about 2000 according to the following equation:

Equation 12 [Reynolds number for flow in a circular pipe]

D is the pipe diameter, is the molecular viscosity (1.15x10 -3 Ns/m2 @ 150C of H2O), is the
density = 999 kg/m3 @150C for H2O, and v is the flow velocity.

Laminar Flow:
Laminar flow, sometimes known as streamline flow, occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers,
with no disruption between the layers (Figure 5). Consider a steady laminar flow of an
incompressible Newtonian fluid in a horizontal circular tube or pipe as in Figure 6.

Figure 4: Laminar Flow Diagram

Turbulent flow:
Turbulent flow is a fluid regime characterized by chaotic, stochastic property changes. At some
critical velocity, the flow will become turbulent with the formation of eddies and chaotic motion
which do not contribute to the volume flow rate. This turbulence increases the resistance
dramatically so that large increases in pressure will be required to further increase the volume
flow rate.

Figure 5: Comparison diagram between laminar and turbulent flow. (a)Laminar flow, (b)Turbulent flow.

Since the velocity goes from zero at the pipe wall to the average velocity near the center, the
velocity gradient should be some function of Vavg/D. If we now assume that this is a linear
proportion and that the magnitude of the flow of mass back and forth across the surface of
constant y is proportional to the average velocity. The friction heating should be proportional to
the length of the pipe
Aims

Determine the relationship between the head loss due to fluid friction and velocity
for flow of water through a smooth bore pipe

Determine the head loss associated with flow of water through standard fittings
used in plumbing installations

Determine the relationship between fluid friction coefficient and Reynolds

number for flow of water through a roughened pipe

Apparatus