Flow of fluids through piping systems , valves and pumps

Learn how fluids flow through piping systems with valves and pumps, including physical properties, flow meters, and practical sizing methods illustrated by 25 examples.

Explore how the Flow of Fluids Excel Workbook, a VBA-based engineering tool, simulates small piping systems to calculate pressure drops, pipe sizes, and valve and flow meter settings.

Begin by exploring the flow of fluids through piping systems, valves, and pumps, starting with theory on fluid properties and pipe flow, then tackle practice problems with downloadable resources.

Explore how fluids flow through piping systems, highlighting circular pipes, cross-sectional area, and the Darcy formula, with emphasis on viscosity and the experimentally determined friction factor.

This lecture defines viscosity as a fluid’s resistance to flow, contrasts water and molasses, notes thixotropic viscosity, and explains viscosity units, favoring centipoise.

Define kinematic viscosity as the ratio of absolute viscosity to mass density, with stoke and centistoke units, measured by timing flow through a viscometer, noting temperature effects.

Apply graphical and numerical methods to determine viscosity with the Flow of Fluids Excel Workbook, a practical Excel VBA tool for fluid properties and pipe flow problems.

Define weight density as weight per unit volume, expressed in pounds per cubic foot in English units, with a Greek symbol, and grams per cubic centimeter in metric units.

Learn to determine the weight density of liquids with the Flow of Fluids Excel Workbook, employing graphical and numerical methods for water at 50°C and benzene.

Explain specific volume as reciprocal of weight density in English units, cubic feet per pound, noting water density variation with temperature and that pressure has no importance in flow problems.

Learn how pressure affects the weight density of gases and vapors using the ideal gas equation, with steam density variations illustrated via a reference chart.

Determine the weight density of gases using the Flow of Fluids Excel Workbook with graphical and numerical methods. Compare ideal and real gas calculations for air.

Practice session demonstrates determining specific gravity with the Flow of Fluids Excel workbook, using graphical and numerical methods, temperature inputs, and examples like methane and carbon disulfide.

Observe how vapor pressure, the saturation pressure, is the equilibrium where evaporation equals condensation, driven by temperature, illustrated by a 3D animation and methane, ethane, and propane examples.

Determine the vapor pressure of pure chemicals and mixtures using the flow of fluids Excel workbook, via graphical curves and Antoine's equation, to assess cavitation risk in pumps and piping.

Discover the chemical engineers reference folder, a comprehensive collection of 90 tables, 120 charts, and 70 diagrams for oil and gas, covering liquid–vapor equilibrium, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and distillation.

Learn how laminar and turbulent pipe flows differ, identify the critical velocity, and understand boundary layer effects through a simple dye in water experiment.

Compute mean velocity via the continuity equation for steady flow, dividing volumetric flow by cross-sectional area or mass rate by area times weight density; reference tables for water and steam.

Determine velocity of flow using the flow of fluids Excel workbook's graphical method for a 200 m3/h flow in a five inch schedule 40 pipe, yielding about 4.5 m/s.

Learn Reynolds number, a dimensionless ratio of dynamic forces to viscosity, and how diameter, density, viscosity, and velocity govern laminar and turbulent pipe flow, with thresholds around 2000 and 4000.

Calculate Reynolds number using the Flow of Fluids Excel workbook, applying the formula based on pipe internal diameter, velocity, weight density, and dynamic viscosity to determine turbulent flow.

Bernoulli's theorem expresses energy conservation in fluid flow by equating elevation, pressure, and velocity heads to a constant total head, accounting for friction losses.

Illustrate gauge and absolute pressures with a barometric reference, and define vacuum as the depression below atmospheric level, noting sea level pressure is 14.7 psi or 760mm of mercury.

Apply Darcy's formula to quantify pressure drop in straight pipes with constant diameter for laminar or turbulent flow, note cavitation, and apply Bernoulli's theorem for velocity and weight density changes.

Apply Darcy equation to predict pressure drop in piping using friction factor. Distinguish laminar flow via Poiseuille's law and turbulent flow with Reynolds number and roughness via Moody's chart.

Explore how the Colebrook equation provides an implicit, iterative method to calculate the turbulent friction factor, correlating with the Moody diagram. Learn to implement it in programs or spreadsheets.

Explore explicit approximations of the Colebrook equation, including the Sir Guide Equation and Swamy Jain equation, offering direct friction factor solutions for turbulent flow in the Fluid Excel workbook.

Explore friction factor in pipes using laminar and turbulent flow calculations, applying Colebrook and Swamee Jain equations in an Excel workbook.

Apply the hazen-williams formula to estimate water flow in fully turbulent flow, similar to 60°F water, using the C factor for piping materials and the Flow of Fluid Excel workbook.

apply the hazen-williams formula in the flow of fluids Excel workbook to calculate pressure drop for turbulent water flow, by entering flow, diameter, weight density, viscosity, length, and material.

Aging of pipes alters roughness and inside diameter, increasing head loss; diameter reductions have a larger impact than roughness, and design margins compensate for aging in piping and pump sizing.

Determine the pressure drop of a compressible fluid in a pipe using the polytropic relation p v^n = constant, with adiabatic and isothermal cases and related assumptions.

The perfect gas assumption simplifies compressible flow and underpins the ideal gas equation of state. It uses a constant K (cp/cv), roughly 1.4 for many diatomic gases.

Explore the speed of sound in a fluid and how pressure waves propagate, and use the Mach number—the ratio of velocity to sound speed—to classify sonic, subsonic, and supersonic flow.

Identify when to treat gas flows as compressible or incompressible, and compare isothermal and adiabatic assumptions in piping systems, noting long pipelines favor isothermal conditions while insulated pipes favor adiabatic.

Apply the Darcy equation to compressible fluids by treating flow as incompressible for delta p under 10% of inlet pressure and Mach numbers, using upstream, downstream, or average specific volume.

Examine the complete isothermal equation built from the generalized compressible flow equation for gas flow in long pipelines under isothermal, steady, and no-work assumptions, using a constant friction factor.

Explore the simplified isothermal gas pipeline equation for discharge in a horizontal pipe, using long-pipeline assumptions, standard cubic feet per hour, and temperature averaging for small temperature changes.

Explore Weymouth, Panhandle, and Panhandle B equations for compressible flow in long gas pipelines under fully or partially turbulent conditions, and apply the efficiency factor E to account for resistances.

Compare compressible flow equations for pipelines by evaluating friction factors from Moody, Colebrook, Weymouth, Panhandle A and B, and AGA, noting their impact on flow rates.

Modify the isothermal flow equation by incorporating the compressibility factor and a potential energy term to capture real gas behavior and elevation changes in piping systems.

Choked flow limits mass flow of compressible fluids, reaching sonic velocity at outlet, while the Darcy equation with the net expansion factor Y and K handles delta P and P1.

Compute the net expansion factor Y and delta P for compressible flow using the Flow of Fluids Excel Workbook, covering subsonic and sonic cases with the Darcy formula.

Learn how valves and fittings resist flow, calculate pressure drops with resistance and flow coefficients and equivalent length, using charts, diagrams, and the Flow of Fluids Excel workbook.

Explore how valve designs in piping systems differ by resistance, from low-resistance straight-through types—gate, ball, plug, butterfly—to high-resistance globe and angle valves, with valve schematics and cut sections.

Identify fittings by function: branching, reducing, expanding, and deflecting types, including tees, crosses, elbows, reducers, and bushings, noting couplings and unions are not covered.

Valves and fittings disturb flow patterns in piping, causing turbulence and extra downstream pressure drop beyond straight pipe losses. Learn to use resistance coefficients K to quantify delta P.

Relates pressure drop to velocity in turbulent flow through valves and fittings, showing head loss scales with the square of velocity; check valves require sufficient velocity to lift the disc.

Analyze how pressure drop across valves and fittings reflects hydraulic resistance, using equivalent length, resistance coefficient, and flow coefficient, and explore three common methods to characterize this performance.

Explain how head loss arises from flow direction changes, obstructions, cross-section changes, and friction from surface roughness and fluid properties, with hydraulic resistance treated as constant for non-laminar flow.

Determine resistance of valves and fittings using the equivalent length L over D, add it to pipe length, and compute head loss with the Darcy equation.

Examine how Bernoulli energy components—elevation, static pressure, and velocity head—explain pressure drops across valves and head loss expressed by the dimensionless constant K.

Compute the pressure drop across series and parallel piping components by summing resistance coefficients for series, and summing the square roots of the inverse of each component's resistance for parallel.

Learn Cv and Kv, how to convert between them, and apply Cv to control valves and components, defined as water flow in gpm at 60 °f with 1 psi drop.

Apply the flow coefficient cv to assess hydraulic performance of valves, fittings, and fixed-resistance piping, then compute an equivalent cv for new flow or pressure.

Calculate the equivalent total flow coefficient Cv to represent hydraulic performance of piping components in series or parallel, by applying series calculations and summing the individual flow coefficients.

Explore how flow transitions from laminar to turbulent around Reynolds numbers 2000–4000, using the Moody chart and head loss to compute friction factors for pipes, valves, and fittings.

Examine resistance to flow from sudden enlargements and contractions, expressed by equations, using beta as the diameter ratio, and address gradual contractions or enlargements with angles via an Excel workbook.

Compute contraction and enlargement resistance coefficients using the Flow of Fluids Excel workbook, adjusting D1, D2, and theta to observe effects on flow resistance, including sudden and gradual cases.

Valves with reduced seats use gradual transitions, or venturi designs, and resistance coefficients follow gradual contraction or enlargement; for globe and angle valves, use the Excel workbook to estimate coefficients.

Apply the Flow of Fluids Excel Workbook to determine valve resistance coefficients (K) for swing check valves and other valve types by selecting pipe nominal size.

Explain how bends cause secondary flow and head loss in piping, define the resistance coefficient kb, and show calculation methods for 90-degree bends and coil configurations.

Practice session demonstrates calculating resistance coefficient for a 90-degree pipe bend with Flow of Fluids Excel workbook. Use r/d ratio and pipe size; example: 6 and 8 inches yield 0.23.

Explain how tees and wyes split or merge flows and describe their hydraulic resistance with K1 and K_branch, depending on diameter ratios, flow directions, and converging or diverging conditions.

Calculate branch and run resistance coefficients for diverging flow in tees and wyes, using the equations and constants, and apply the combined-leg velocity to compute head loss with excel tool.

Compute resistance coefficients for ts and ys in a diverging flow using the Flow of Fluids Excel Workbook by entering five parameters—alpha, branch and combined flow rates, and two diameters.

The lecture uses the Darcy formula to determine liquid flow and expresses the flow rate in gallons per minute, accounting for valves, fittings, and pipe losses.

Explore how control valves throttle fluid flow to regulate tank level, pressure, temperature, and other process parameters, and learn valve components, types, and sizing for liquids and gases.

Examine a typical control valve's components—the actuator, valve body, and internal trim (stem, seat, plug)—and see how trim design affects performance and cavitation.

Explore the inherent characteristic curve, linking valve position to flow coefficient, measured with water at 60°F under a typical one-psi differential pressure, including quick opening, linear, and equal percentage curves.

Explore how installed characteristic curve relates valve position to flow in piping system, and differential pressure, pump curve, and static and dynamic head shift it up and to the left.

Explore how pressure, velocity and energy profiles evolve as fluid passes a control valve, with vena contracta, Bernoulli-based pressure drop, and the liquid pressure recovery factor tied to valve data.

Explore cavitation, choked flow, and flashing in piping and control valves as downstream pressure drops form vapor bubbles at the vena contracta, collapse, and damage valve internals.

Size and select a control valve by evaluating flow rate, system pressure, and fluid properties, then use the valve flow coefficient and appropriate incompressible or compressible equations.

Size for non-choked turbulent, incompressible flow in piping with valves, computing KV and CV, incorporating FP and fittings’ resistance coefficients, and iterating to prevent choking.

Learn to size compressible flow valves using expansion factor Y, pressure drop ratio X, and X_T to predict choked flow, with CV, Z, and mass or flow equations.

Convert the flow coefficient Cv to Kv using the specified equation, reflecting how European valve manufacturers use Kv in piping systems.