The Reynolds Number

The Reynolds number is the ratio of a fluid's inertial force to its viscous force. Inertial
force involves force due to the momentum of the mass of flowing fluid. Think of it as a measure
of how difficult it would be to change the velocity of a flowing fluid. Viscous forces deal with the
friction of a flowing fluid. Think of pouring a cup of tea versus pouring cooking oil. The cooking
oil has a higher viscosity because it's more resistant to flow.
If you are thinking inertial force and viscous force are very similar, you are correct. In fact, they
are so similar that they have the same units! This means the Reynolds number is unitless. We
can determine whether fluid flow is laminar or turbulent based on the Reynolds number.

where
Re = Reynolds Number (non-dimensional)
ρ = density (kg/m3, lbm/ft3 )
V = velocity based on the actual cross section area of the duct or pipe (m/s, ft/s)
μ = dynamic viscosity (Ns/m2, lbm/s ft)
L = characteristic length (m, ft)
ν = μ / ρ = kinematic viscosity (m2/s, ft2/s)

Laminar flow. For practical purposes, if the Reynolds number is less than 2000, the flow is
laminar. The accepted transition Reynolds number for flow in a circular pipe is Red,crit = 2300.
Transitional flow. At Reynolds numbers between about 2000 and 4000 the flow is unstable as
a result of the onset of turbulence. These flows are sometimes referred to as transitional flows.
Turbulent flow. If the Reynolds number is greater than 3500, the flow is turbulent. Most fluid
systems in nuclear facilities operate with turbulent flow.

Hydraulic Diameter
Since the characteristic dimension of a circular pipe is an ordinary diameter D and especially
reactors contains non-circular channels, the characteristic dimension must be generalized.
For these purposes the Reynolds number is defined as:

where Dh is the hydraulic diameter:

The hydraulic diameter, Dh, is a commonly used

term when handling flow in non-circular tubes and channels. The hydraulic diameter
transforms non-circular ducts into pipes of equivalent diameter. Using this term, one can
calculate many things in the same way as for a round tube. In this equation A is the cross-
sectional area, and P is the wetted perimeter of the cross-section. The wetted perimeter for a
channel is the total perimeter of all channel walls that are in contact with the flow.

Reynolds Number and External Flow

The Reynolds number describes naturally the external flow as well. In general, when a fluid
flows over a stationary surface, e.g. the flat plate, the bed of a river, or the wall of a pipe, the
fluid touching the surface is brought to rest by the shear stress to at the wall. The region in
which flow adjusts from zero velocity at the wall to a maximum in the main stream of the flow is
termed the boundary layer.

Basic characteristics of all laminar and turbulent boundary layers are shown in the
developing flow over a flat plate. The stages of the formation of the boundary layer are shown in
the figure below:

Boundary layers may be either laminar, or turbulent depending on the value of the Reynolds
number.
Also here the Reynolds number represents the ratio of inertia forces to viscous forces and is a
convenient parameter for predicting if a flow condition will be laminar or turbulent. It is defined
as:
in which V is the mean flow velocity, D a characteristic linear dimension, ρ fluid density, μ
dynamic viscosity, and ν kinematic viscosity.

For lower Reynolds numbers, the boundary layer is laminar and the streamwise velocity
changes uniformly as one moves away from the wall, as shown on the left side of the figure.

As the Reynolds number increases (with x) the flow becomes unstable and finally for
higher Reynolds numbers, the boundary layer is turbulent and the streamwise velocity is
characterized by unsteady (changing with time) swirling flows inside the boundary layer.

Transition from laminar to turbulent boundary layer occurs when Reynolds number at x
exceeds Rex ~ 500,000. Transition may occur earlier, but it is dependent especially on
the surface roughness.

The turbulent boundary layer thickens more rapidly than the laminar boundary layer as a result
of increased shear stress at the body surface.

The external flow reacts to the edge of the boundary layer just as it would to the physical
surface of an object. So the boundary layer gives any object an “effective” shape which is
usually slightly different from the physical shape. We define the thickness of the boundary layer
as the distance from the wall to the point where the velocity is 99% of the “free stream” velocity.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/reynolds-number-definition-equation.html

https://www.nuclear-power.net/nuclear-engineering/fluid-dynamics/reynolds-number/