Pipe Flow

Engr Mutahar Ali

Pipe Flow
• Fluid flow in circular and noncircular pipes is commonly encountered in practice.
• The hot and cold water that we use in our homes is pumped through pipes.
• Water in a city is distributed by extensive piping networks.
• Oil and natural gas are transported hundreds of miles by large pipelines.
• Blood is carried throughout our bodies by arteries and veins.
• The cooling water in an engine is transported by hoses to the pipes in the radiator where it
is cooled as it flows.
• Thermal energy in a hydronic space heating system is transferred to the circulating water
in the boiler, and then it is transported to the desired locations through pipes.
 • Liquid or gas flow through pipes or ducts is
commonly used in heating and cooling applications
and fluid distribution networks.
• The fluid in such applications is usually forced to
flow by a fan or pump through a flow section.
• We pay particular attention to friction, which is
directly related to the pressure drop and head loss
Pipe Flow during flow through pipes and ducts.
• The pressure drop is then used to determine the
pumping power requirement.
• A typical piping system involves pipes of different
diameters connected to each other by various fittings
or elbows to route the fluid, valves to control the
flow rate, and pumps to pressurize the fluid.
 • Flow sections of circular cross section are
referred to as pipes
• Especially when the fluid is a liquid, and flow
sections of noncircular cross section as ducts
(especially when the fluid is a gas).
• Small diameter pipes are usually referred to as
Pipe Flow tubes.
• Fluids, especially liquids, are transported in
circular pipes.
• This is because pipes with a circular cross
section can withstand large pressure differences
between the inside and the outside without
undergoing significant distortion.
Pipe Flow
• Noncircular pipes are usually used in applications such as the heating
and cooling systems of buildings where the pressure difference is
relatively small, the manufacturing and installation costs are lower,
and the available space is limited for ductwork
Laminar & Turbulent
• The flow regime in the first case is said to be laminar,
characterized by smooth streamlines
• Highly ordered motion, and turbulent in the second case,
where it is characterized by velocity fluctuations and
highly disordered motion.
• The transition from laminar to turbulent flow does not
occur suddenly; rather, it occurs over some region in
which the flow fluctuates between laminar and turbulent
flows before it becomes fully turbulent.
• Most flows encountered in practice are turbulent. Laminar
flow is encountered when highly viscous fluids such as
oils flow in small pipes or narrow passages.
Osborne Reynolds (1842–1912)
• The dye streak forms a straight and smooth line at
low velocities when the flow is laminar
• (we may see some blurring because of molecular
diffusion), has bursts of fluctuations in the
transitional regime, and
• zigzags rapidly and randomly when the flow
becomes fully turbulent.
• These zigzags and the dispersion of the dye are
indicative of the fluctuations in the main flow and
the rapid mixing of fluid particles from adjacent
layers.
Laminar & Turbulent
• The intense mixing of the fluid in turbulent flow as a result of rapid
fluctuations enhances momentum transfer between fluid particles,
which increases the friction force on the surface and thus the required
pumping power.
• The friction factor reaches a maximum when the flow becomes fully
turbulent.
Reynolds Number
• The transition from laminar to turbulent flow depends on the
geometry, surface roughness, flow velocity, surface temperature, and
type of fluid, among other things.
• After exhaustive experiments in the 1880s, Osborne Reynolds
discovered that the flow regime depends mainly on the ratio of inertial
forces to viscous forces in the fluid.
• This ratio is called the Reynolds number and is expressed for internal
flow in a circular pipe as
Entrance Region
Entrance Region
• The region of the flow in which the effects of the viscous shearing
forces caused by fluid viscosity are felt is called the velocity boundary
layer or just the boundary layer.
• The hypothetical boundary surface divides the flow in a pipe into two
regions:
• the boundary layer region, in which the viscous effects and th velocity
changes are significant,
• the irrotational (core) flow region, in which the frictional effects are
negligible, and the velocity remains essentially constant in the radial
direction.
Entrance Region
• The thickness of this boundary layer increases in the flow direction until the
boundary layer reaches the pipe center and thus fills the entire pipe, as
shown in Figure.
• The region from the pipe inlet to the point at which the boundary layer
merges at the centerline is called the hydrodynamic entrance region, and the
length of this region is called the hydrodynamic entry length L h

• Flow in the entrance region is called hydrodynamically developing flow

since this is the region where the velocity profile develops.
• The region beyond the entrance region in which the velocity profile is fully
developed and remains unchanged is called the hydrodynamically fully
developed region.
Entrance Region
• The velocity profile in the fully developed region is parabolic in
laminar flow and somewhat flatter (or fuller) in turbulent flow due to
eddy motion and more vigorous mixing in the radial direction.
• The shear stress at the pipe wall tw is related to the slope of the
velocityprofile at the surface.
• Noting that the velocity profile remains unchanged in the
hydrodynamically fully developed region, the wall shear stress also
remains constant in that region
Entrance Region
• The wall shear stress is the highest at the pipe inlet where the
thickness of the boundary layer is smallest, and decreases gradually to
the fully developed value, as shown in Figure
• Therefore, the pressure drop is higher in the entrance regions of a pipe,
and the effect of the entrance region is always to increase the average
friction factor for the entire pipe.
• This increase may be significant for short pipes but is negligible for
long ones.
Laminar Flow in Pipes
• Flow in pipes is laminar for Re ≤ 2300
• The flow is fully developed if the pipe is sufficiently long (relative to
the entry length) so that the entrance effects are negligible
• In fully developed laminar flow, each fluid particle moves at a
constant axial velocity along a streamline and the velocity profile u(r)
remains unchanged in the flow direction.
• There is no motion in the radial direction, and thus the velocity
component in the direction normal to flow is everywhere zero.
• There is no acceleration since the flow is steady and fully developed.
Laminar Flow in Pipes
Laminar Flow in Pipes
Pressure Drop and Head Loss
• A quantity of interest in the analysis of pipe flow is the pressure
drop P since it is directly related to the power requirements of the
fan or pump to maintain flow.
• We note that dP/dx = constant, and integrating from x = X 1 where
the pressure is P1 to x = x1 + L where the pressure is P2 gives
Pressure Drop and Head Loss
• The Vavg expression in the pressure drop can be expressed as
Pressure Drop and Head Loss
• Pressure drop due to viscous effects represents an irreversible
pressure loss, and it is called pressure loss
• ΔPL to emphasize that it is a loss just like the head loss h L, which is
proportional to it.
• The pressure drop is proportional to the viscosity of the fluid, and
ΔP would be zero if there were no friction.
• The drop of pressure from P1 to P2 in this case is due entirely to
viscous effects,
Pressure Drop and Head Loss
Pressure Drop and Head Loss

The head loss hL represents the additional height that the fluid needs to be
raised by a pump in order to overcome the frictional losses in the pipe
• 1 The flow is steady and incompressible.
• 2 The entrance effects are negligible, and thus the flow is fully developed.
• 3 The pipe involves no components such as bends, valves, and connectors.
• 4 The piping section involves no work devices such as a pump or a turbine