CONTINUITY EQUATION

The continuity equation is a mathematical statement of the law of conservation of mass which

states that the mass of a system is constant. if the system is an open one for example a control

volume into and from which fluid flows, then conservation of mass, the rate of mass outflow

from the control volume minus rate of inflow of mass into the control volume must be equal to

the rate of increase of mass within the control volume.

DERIVATION OF THE CONTINUITY EQUATION

(Figure for flow through a stream tube)

Considering the flow through an infinitesimal stream tube, since the cross sectional areas at

inlet and exit are very small, it can be assumed that the flow velocity is uniform over each cross

section. The density and velocity are ρ1 and V1 for the inlet section and ρ2 and V2 for the exit

dm
section. The mass flow rates are ρ1 V1 dA1 and ρ2 V2 dA2 . Let be the rate of decrease of mass
dt

of the system due to the outflow. For conservation of mass, the rate of decrease of mass in the

system must equal the net outflow of mass from the control volume.

dm
= ρ2 V2 dA2 − ρ1 V1 dA1 ………………………… (1)
dt

But a system is one whose mass is always constant with respect to time

dm
Therefore, = 0, ρ1 V1 dA1 = ρ2 V2 dA2 ………………………… (2)
dt

Equation 1 can be extended to large cross sections by integrating the mass flow rate across

each x-section.
∫A ρ1 V1 dA1 = ∫A ρ2 V2 dA2 ……………….……… (3)
1 2

If ρ and V are constant over each section, the equation reduces to

ρ1 V1 A1 = ρ2 V2 A2 ………………….…… (4)

For an incompressible fluid, the density is constant (ρ1 = ρ2 ) and the equation further reduces

to

V1 A1 = V2 A2 ………………………….. (5)

Equation 5 simply states that the volumetric flow rate or discharge is constant from section to

section as long as the same flow goes through all the sections. The discharge is usually

designated by Q. it can be deduced from equation 5 that the flow velocity is inversely

proportional to the flow area. Therefore, when the flow area increases, the velocity decreases

and vice versa.

(Figure 2: Illustration of the variation of velocity with flow area)

For a control volume (or any conduit) with many flow ports, the sum of the flow through the

inlet must be equal to the sum of the flows through the outlet. If there are m inlet ports and n

outlet ports, then

m n

∑ Q𝑖 = ∑ Q𝑗
𝑖=1 𝑗=1

……………………. (6)
DERIVATION FROM CONTROL VOLUME EQUATION

A region of the fluid is imagined to be contained within one envelope with the envelope serving

as a separation or boundary between the particles within it and those outside it. The particles

within the imaginary envelope can only interact with those outside it via the boundary. The

envelope and its content form a control volume while the boundary forms the control surface.

The content of the control volume is called the system. The control volume approach for the

analysis of fluid flow yields a generalized equation from which the continuity, momentum,

moment of momentum and energy equations is deduced. The derivation of the equation

involves the determination of the changes in the properties of the system as a result of inflow

and outflow of fluid.

Fluid properties can be classified into two categories; extensive and intensive properties.

Extensive properties are not based on unit mass of fluid, example are mass, momentum and

energy. Intensive properties are based on unit mass of the fluid. Examples are mass per unit

mass (which is unity), momentum per unit mass (which is velocity) and energy per unit mass.

An extensive property, P can be deduced from the corresponding intensive property, P by

integrating the later over the control volume.

Pcv = ∫ᵾ pdm = ∫ᵾ p𝜌dᵾ ……………………….. (7)

Where dᵾ is an element of the control volume.

The rate of change of property P within the control volume can be obtained by differentiating

equation 7 with respect to time

d d
P = dt ∫ᵾ p𝜌dᵾ ……………………. (8)
dt cv

The general control volume equation is

d d
P = dt ∫cv p𝜌dᵾ + ∫cs p𝜌V ̅
̅dA …………………… (9)
dt 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚

In deriving the continuity equation from the general control volume equations, we have to

replace the extensive property, P with the mass of the system. The intensive property in this

case is mass per unit mass.

̅
dm ̅
d
= ⃗ ⃗A
∫ 𝜌dᵾ + ∑𝑐𝑠 𝜌V ………………….. (10)
dt dt cv

By definition, the mass of a system is constant with respect to time, equation 10 reduces to

̅
d
⃗ ⃗A = −
∑𝑐𝑠 𝜌V ∫ 𝜌dᵾ ……………….. (11)
dt cv

This is the continuity equation. If the flow is steady, we have

⃗ ⃗A = 0
∑𝑐𝑠 𝜌V ................... (12)

Equation 12 implies that for steady flow, the rate of outflow of mass from the control volume is

zero. This means that

Total mass inflow = Total mass outflow

If we extend equation 12 for a control volume that has n ports, we have

 ⃗ 1 ⃗⃗A1 + 𝜌2 V
𝜌1 V ⃗ 2 ⃗⃗A2 + ⋯ + 𝜌𝑛 V
⃗ 𝑛 ⃗⃗A𝑛 = 0 …………….. (13)

For incompressible flow, we have

⃗V1 ⃗⃗A1 + ⃗V2 ⃗⃗A2 + ⋯ + ⃗V𝑛 ⃗⃗A𝑛 = 0 …..…………….. (14)

And for two ports conduit

⃗ 1 ⃗⃗A1 + V
V ⃗ 2 ⃗⃗A2 = 0 ………………... (15)

(Figure: A two port control volume)

The dot product of V1 and A1 is negligible since they are pointing in opposite direction

-V1A1 + V2A2 = 0

V1A1 = V2A2 = Q …………………. (16)

To obtain the mass flow rate through the control volume, we multiply by the fluid density ρ

ṁ = 𝜌1 V1 A1 = 𝜌2 V2 A2

For three port control volume

(Figure: A two port control volume)

-V1A1 - V2A2 + V3A3 = 0

If Q1 = V1 A1 , Q2 = V2 A2 , Q3 = V3 A3 , then

−Q1 − Q2 + Q3 = 0
Or

Q 3 = Q1 + Q 2

This shows that the sum of inflows is equal to the sum of outflows.

Examples

1. Water flows through a divergent conduit at the rate of 100 L/min. Determine the

velocities at the ports if their diameters are 100mm and 150mm respectively.

Solution

−3
1 𝑚3 −3
𝑚3
Q = 1000 x 10 x = 16.67 x 10
60 𝑠 𝑠

𝜋
A1 = x 0.12 𝑚2 = 0.0079𝑚2
4

Q Q
Q = VA, V1 = 𝑎𝑛𝑑 V2 =
A1 A2

16.67 x 10−3 𝑚
V1 = = 2.11𝑚/𝑠
0.0079 𝑠

𝜋
A2 = x 0.152 𝑚2 = 0.0177𝑚2
4

16.67 x 10−3 𝑚
V2 = = 0.94𝑚/𝑠
0.0177 𝑠

Questions
 1. A constant level tank is fed at the rate of 6,000 litres per minute from the top. There are

three pipes situated 6m from the top of the tank. If the diameters of the pipes are in the

ratio of 1:2:3 determine the flow rate in each pipe. The velocity of water through an

opening at depth h from the top of a reservoir is given by V = √2𝑔h .

2. A pipe A divides into two branches B and C and B in turn divides into two sub branches D

and E. If B and C are equal in diameter and D and E are also equal in diameter, calculate

the velocities in the pipes when QA = 15,000 L/min, DA = 0.5m, DC = DB =

0.25m and DD = DE = 0.125m

Example 2

A cylindrical tank 1.5m in diameter contains water to a depth of 2m. It is to be emptied through

a 100m diameter pipe at its bottom. Calculate how long it will take to empty the tank if the

velocity in the pipe is given by V = √2𝑔h where h is the height of water in the tank at any

time t.

Solution

Since the water in the tank decreases continuously with time, we have unsteady state equation

ᵾ = A𝑡 h ………………… (1)

ᵾ = volume of the water in the tank

A𝑡 = Area

h = height of water.
(Diagram for example 2)

H – Initial height

V1 and V2 = velocities at port 1 and 2 respectively. A1 andA2 = flow areas at port 1 and 2

respectively.

d
−V1 A1 + V2 A2 = − ∫ dᵾ ………… (2)
dt cv

There is no water flow through port 1 hence equation 2 becomes

d
V2 A2 = ∫ dᵾ
dt cv

Substituting for V2, A1 and ᵾ

dh
√2𝑔h AP = At
dt

AP = pipe cross sectinal area

1 At dh
dt = −
√2𝑔 AP √h

2 A
t = −√ t h0.5 + K
𝑔A P

Assuming that the emptying operation is started at time t = 0 when h = H, we have

 2 At 0.5
K=√ H
𝑔 AP