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P U JA U PA D H YAY
F LO R I DA C EN T E R F O R A DVA N C E D A ER O -
PROPULSION
Pipe Flow: Major and Minor Losses
Summary
When a gas or a liquid flows through a pipe, there is a
loss of pressure in the fluid
Energy is required to overcome the viscous or frictional
forces exerted by the walls of the pipe on the moving
fluid
Flow also loses energy (or pressure) as it goes through
fittings, such as valves, elbows, contractions and
expansions
Minor losses are mainly due to the fact that flow
separates locally as it moves through such fittings
The pressure loss in pipe flows is commonly referred to
as head loss.
The frictional losses are referred to as major losses (hl)
while losses through valves, fittings, etc. are called minor
losses (hlm).
Together they make up the total head losses (hlT) for pipe
flows
How do we conveniently estimate pressure drop or head
loss for pipes with various components and various types
Motivation- Why?
1. Piping systems are encountered in everyday lives. For eg.
Heating and cooling applications, fluid distribution networks
(industrial or household).
2. Valves (control valve, needle valves, check valve, ball valves,
etc), pipe fittings (elbows, tees, bends, etc.)
3. What pressure drop is needed to drive the flow?
4. The pressure drop encountered is then used to determine the
pumping requirements (space requirement, budget, flow rate
requirement)
5. To estimate the amount of pressure loss that will occur for x
kind of fluid with a y velocity and a,b,c properties in a pipe of
length (L) and diameter (d). The piping system will have a
combinations of things listed in part 2. - Alternatively,
knowing the pressure drop through various element, how
much pumping power is required to get the desired flow rate.
Why do we need
experimental results?
- Limited analytical solutions available even though the
theory is well understood. (Pipe flow- fully developed
solution for laminar flow)
- Solutions are available for much simpler cases such as
fully developed laminar flow in a circular pipe.
- Limited opportunities for plugging in the numbers to get
the right answer.
- Dependency on experiments/ empirical relations to
estimate the required parameters
Friendship (Druzhba) oil pipeline runs from east Russia to
Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and so on
4000 KM (2500 miles)
External versus Internal
Flow
Internal Flow - Flow is completely confined/bounded on all
sides. Eg: Pipe Flows, blood flow inside arteries, etc.. The
growth of boundary layer is confined!
Entrance length L
2
Darcy ' s Equation hl f
LV V2
D 2g
hlm K
2g
In this experiment you will find K is loss coefficient must be
friction factor for various pipes determined for each situation
For Short pipes with multiple fittings, the minor losses are no longer
minor!!
Laminar vs Turbulent
Flows
Laminar flow smooth/undisturbed flow, occurs when
a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption
between the layers. Occurs at typically low velocities.
No eddies, swirls, or lateral velocity. Highly ordered
motion. Effect of viscosity Significant.
Analytical solutions!
High Re = low viscous forces, less orderly flow. Viscous forces cannot
prevent fluctuations anymore
Pipe Flow-
Critical Reynolds
Reynolds number at which the flow starts to transition to
number
turbulence
Entrance length L
Entrance Region
In general, there are two regions of flow inside the pipe
1) Boundary layer region: Effects of viscosity are high,
significant velocity gradient
2) Free stream/core : Flow can be approximated as
irrotational, inviscid, viscous (frictional) effects are
negligible (Fluid is always viscous Flow can be
approximated to be inviscid- IMPORTANT)
The boundary layer grows in the downstream direction until
it reaches the center of the pipe.
The region from the pipe inlet to the point where the
boundary layers meet is
Boundary calledFully
layer thedeveloped
hydrodynamic
profile
Uo
entrance region and its length is called u
hydrodynamic entrance length. Remember
potential core
Entrance length L in a free jet
Entrance Region
Parabolic profile
Entrance Region
Note: Wall shear stress is related to the slope of the velocity profile
at the wall.
At the pipe entrance, wall shear stress is maximum
value decreases gradually to the fully developed value. In the
fully developed region, wall shear stress is constant. Velocity profile
doesnt change.
This means the pressure drop is the highest at the entrance of the
tubes
Different relations are used to estimate entrance lengths
Entrance effects may be negligible for long pipes. However, for shorter
pipes, entrance losses might constitute a major portion of the total loss
Fully developed pipe
flow
Vavg
No slip condition viscosity
Vwall = 0
Vcenter = Vmax
Vavg
Vmax
V
D Pipe
Notes:
Vavg can simply be
Defining friction factor ,
written as V
Both sides are divided
by g to give represent
hL as column of fluid. In
piping, it is common to
express head loss in
length scale signifying
additional height fluid
f is called needs to be raised by
Darcys the pump
friction factor
This is the generic form of major head loss in pipes due to friction or viscous loss
The loss, as you would expect, is irreversible. The equation above works for both
aminar and turbulent flows.
NEXT STEP: FIND f for LAMINAR AND TURBULENT FLOW
Friction factor
Generic equation for major loss
Laminar
Flow
From analytical solution for laminar flow,
P V
2 P V
2
1 1 gz 2 2 gz h hLT = HL+ Hm
2
1
2
2 lT
f
/D Increases
Laminar
f=64/Re
Sm
Transition
oo
th
ReD
Fully turbulent regime f = function (Re, )
Laminar
1) Flow:
Smooth pipes f = 64/Re
viscous (Re increases
effects decrease with = viscousRe,
increasing effect
decreasing f with
Transitional Regime : Critical, need experimental results
decreases
increasing=Re smaller head loss coefficient
2) Very very rough pipes f remains constant with increasing Re
3) Rough pipes f decreases with increasing Re until the flow reaches some critical
Re. After that, f remains constant / For higher Re, f is a function of only.
Friction factor
correlations
1 / D 2.51
Colebrook Equation 2.0 log
f 3.7 Re f
f is not related explicitly Re and relative roughness in this equation.
1.325
f 2
for 106 10 2 and 5000 Re 108
5.74 D
ln 0 .9
3.7 D Re
Minor Losses
V2
hlm K
2g
These components interrupt the smooth motion of the flow and cause
local separation and recirculation of flow
Flow separation (locally) and associated viscous effects will tend to
decrease the flow energy. This results in losses.
The phenomenon is fairly complicated. Empirical loss coefficient K
will take care of these complexities
Even though the losses are called minor losses, at times they make
up a large portion of the total losses (For instance, a short pipe system
with a lot of bends and valves, partially close control valves
(decreased mass flow), etc.)
Minor Losses
Final Equation
The goal is to study pressure losses due to viscous (frictional) effects in fluid flows
through pipes
Differential Pressure
Gauge- measure P
H Flow meter
Pipe
D
L
Reservoir
Valve
L1
x1
L2
x2
L3
x3
L4