Pressure Drop Along Pipe Length - Fluid Flow Hydraulic and Pneumatic, Engineers Edge

Fluid Pressure Drop Along Pipe Length of Uniform Diameter

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Pressure drop in pipes is caused by:

Friction
Vertical pipe difference or elevation
Changes of kinetic energy
Calculation of pressure drop caused by friction in circular pipes
To determine the fluid (liquid or gas) pressure drop along a pipe or pipe
component, the following calculations, in the following order.
Equation Reynolds Number:

Where:

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Re = Reynolds Number

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= Velocity of Flow
D = Diameter of Pipe
v = Kinematic Viscosity
Kinematic Viscosity Table Chart of
Liquids
If the Reynolds number < 2320, than you have laminar flow.
Laminar flow is characterized by the gliding of concentric cylindrical layers
past one another in orderly fashion. The velocity of the fluid is at its
maximum at the pipe axis and decreases sharply to zero at the wall. The
pressure drop caused by friction of laminar flow does not depend of the
roughness of pipe.
If the Reynolds number > 2320, you have turbulent flow.
There is an irregular motion of fluid particles in directions transverse to the
direction of the main flow. The velocity distribution of turbulent flow is more
uniform across the pipe diameter than in laminar flow. The pressure drop
caused by friction of turbulent flow depends on the roughness of pipe.
Select pipe friction Coefficient:
The pipe friction coefficient is a dimensionless number. The friction factor for
laminar flow condition is a function of Reynolds number only, for turbulent
flow it is also a function of the characteristics of the pipe wall.
Determine Pipe friction coefficient at laminar flow:

Where:
= Pipe Friction Coefficient

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Pressure Drop Along Pipe Length - Fluid Flow Hydraulic and Pneumatic, Engineers Edge

Re = Reynolds number
Note: Perfectly smooth pipes will have a roughness of zero.
Determine Pipe friction coefficient at turbulent flow (in the most cases):

Where:
= Pipe Friction Coefficient
g = Acceleration of Gravity
Re = Reynolds Number
k = Absolute Roughness
D = Diameter of Pipe
lg = Log
The solutions to this calculation is plotted vs. the Reynolds number to create a
Moody Chart.
Determine Pressure drop in circular pipes:

Where:
= Pressure Drop
= Pipe Friction Coefficient
L = Length of Pipe
D = Pipe Diameter
p = Density
= Flow Velocity
If you have valves, elbows and other elements along your pipe then you
calculate the pressure drop with resistance coefficients specifically for the
element. The resistance coefficients are in most cases found through practical
tests and through vendor specification documents. If the resistance coefficient
is known, than we can calculate the pressure drop for the element.

Where:
= Pressure Drop

= Resistance Coefficient (determined by test or vendor specification)

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Pressure Drop Along Pipe Length - Fluid Flow Hydraulic and Pneumatic, Engineers Edge

p = Density
= Flow Velocity
Pressure drop by gravity or vertical elevation

Where:
= Pressure Drop
p = Density
g = Acceleration of Gravity
= Vertical Elevation or Drop
Pressure drop of gasses and vapor
Compressible fluids expands caused by pressure drops (friction) and the
velocity will increase. Therefore is the pressure drop along the pipe not
constant.

Where:
p1 = Pressure incoming
T1 = Temperature incoming
p2 = Pressure leaving
T2 = Temperature leaving

We set the pipe friction number as a constant and calculate it with the inputdata. The temperature, which is used in the equation, is the average of entrance
and exit of pipe.
Note: You can calculate gases as liquids, if the relative change of density is
low (change of density/density = 0.02).

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Pressure Drop Along Pipe Length - Fluid Flow Hydraulic and Pneumatic, Engineers Edge

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