PRESSURE DROP CALCULATION EQUATIONS FOR PIPING AND PIPELINE

Ajay S. Satpute Sr. Process Engineer M. Tech. (Chemical) I.I.T., Madras, INDIA Ramboll Oil & Gas, QATAR Introduction: This spreadsheet is the compilation of pressure drop calculation equations for piping and pipeline. The purpose of this exercise is to have most reliable equations for pressure drop calculations at one place. YELLOW boxes are for input parameters and BLUE boxes are the calculated values.

PIPE SIZING
Single phase (Liquid) Single phase (Water)

Darcy - Weichbach equation (Ref. Crane handbook, 1986) HazenWilliams equation Where; Laminar Turbulent L Q C d Haaland equation (approximation of Colebrook White equation) Where; L V d Pressure drop in Pa Darcy friction factor Pipe length in meter Liquid velocity in m/s Pipe ID in meter Reynold's number Relative roughness Liquid density in kg/m3 Liquid viscosity in Pa.s 198,851 0.021 100 3.438 5.00E-02 137,520 9.00E-04 800 6.05E-04

From Wikipedia

Pressure drop in meter water column Pipe length in meter Volumetric flow rate in m3/s Roughness coefficient Pipe ID in meter

17 50 0.00589 100 5.00E-02

PIPELINE SIZING
Single phase (Crude oil) Service pipeline company equation (Ref. IPS-E-PR-440, March 1996) (For DN 750) (For DN > 750)

(Laminar, if Nrem 0.135)

(Turbulent)

Where;

Pressure drop in kPa / 100 m Liquid flow rate in m3/hr f Kinematic viscosity, m2/s Friction factor Pipe ID in mm Modified Reynold's number Specific gravity of liquid

267.9 24.3 1.00E-05 0.0068 50 2.2 (NRem = NRe / 7742) 0.8

Note: Darcy-Weichbach equation can also be used for liquids in PIPELINE.

PIPE SIZING
Single phase (Gas) ( 12") Weymouth equation API 14E, 5th edition Where; D P1 P2 L' S Z T1 Gas flow rate in mmscfd Pipe ID in inch Upstream pressure in psia Downstream pressure in psia Pipe length in ft Specific gravity of gas at standard condition Compressibility factor Gas inlet temperature in oR 1.074 2 100 90 150 1 0.9961 550 Where; D P1 P2 S Z T1 E Gas flow rate in mmscfd Pipe ID in inch Upstream pressure in psia Downstream pressure in psia Pipe length in miles Specific gravity of gas at standard condition Compressibility factor Gas inlet temperature in oR Efficiency factor; 1 for brand new pipe 0.95 for good operating conditions 0.92 for average operating conditions 0.85 for unfavorable operating conditions Single phase (Gas) (> 10") Panhandle equation API 14E, 5th edition 173.932 12 100 90 0.028575 1 0.9961 550 1

Note: Weymouth equation can be used for piping and pipeline for ID 12".

Note: Panhandle equation can be used for piping and pipeline for ID > 10".

PIPELINE SIZING
Single phase (Gas) ( 12") Weymouth equation API 14E, 5th edition Where; D P1 P2 L' S Z T1 Gas flow rate in mmscfd Pipe ID in inch Upstream pressure in psia Downstream pressure in psia Pipe length in ft Specific gravity of gas at standard condition Compressibility factor Gas inlet temperature in oR 1.074 2 100 90 150 1 0.9961 550 Where; D P1 P2 S Z T1 E Gas flow rate in mmscfd Pipe ID in inch Upstream pressure in psia Downstream pressure in psia Pipe length in miles Specific gravity of gas at standard condition Compressibility factor Gas inlet temperature in oR Efficiency factor; 1 for brand new pipe 0.95 for good operating conditions 0.92 for average operating conditions 0.85 for unfavorable operating conditions Single phase (Gas) (> 10") Panhandle equation API 14E, 5th edition 173.932 12 100 90 0.028575 1 0.9961 550 1

Note: Weymouth equation can be used for piping and pipeline for ID 12".

Note: Panhandle equation can be used for piping and pipeline for ID > 10".

PIPE SIZING
Single phase (Gas) (Near atmospheric operating pressure lines) Spitzglass equation API 14E, 5th edition Where; Where; D S L' Gas flow rate in mmscfd Pressure drop in inch of water column Pipe ID in inch Specific gravity of gas at standard condition Pipe length in ft 0.0777 10 2 1 150 D W L' ' Pressure drop in psi Pipe ID in inch Steam mass flow rate in lb/hr Pipe length in ft Steam density in lb/ft3 Single phase (Steam) Babcock equation (From internet) 7.3 2 1500 150 0.146 Where; f W D C Two phase Modified Darcy equation API 14E, 5th edition Erosional velocity equation API 14E, 5th edition Pressure drop in psi/100 ft Erosional velocity in ft/s Moody / Darcy friction factor Mass flow rate in lb/hr Pipe ID in inch Average mixture density, lb/ft3 Empirical constant 100 for continuous service 125 for non-continuous service 0.365 137.0 0.02 15000 6 1 100

Note: Spitzglass equation can be used for piping and pipeline for single phase gas at near atmospheric operating pressure.

Note: Babcock equation can be used for piping and pipeline for steam.

Note: Modified Darcy equation can be used for piping and pipeline for two phase fluid.

PIPELINE SIZING
Single phase (Gas) (Near atmospheric operating pressure lines) Spitzglass equation API 14E, 5 edition Where; Where; D S L' Gas flow rate in mmscfd Pressure drop in inch of water column Pipe ID in inch Specific gravity of gas at standard condition Pipe length in ft 0.0777 10 2 1 150 D W L' ' Pressure drop in psi Pipe ID in inch Steam mass flow rate in lb/hr Pipe length in ft Steam density in lb/ft3 7.3 2 1500 150 0.146 Where; f W D C
th

Single phase (Steam) Babcock equation

Two phase Modified Darcy equation API 14E, 5 edition Erosional velocity equation API 14E, 5th edition Pressure drop in psi/100 ft Erosional velocity in ft/s Moody / Darcy friction factor Mass flow rate in lb/hr Pipe ID in inch Average mixture density, lb/ft3 Empirical constant 100 for continuous service 125 for non-continuous service 0.365 137.0 0.02 15000 6 1 100
th

Note: Spitzglass equation can be used for piping and pipeline for single phase gas at near atmospheric operating pressure.

Note: Babcock equation can be used for piping and pipeline for steam.

Note: Modified Darcy equation can be used for piping and pipeline for two phase fluid.