Flow in pipelines

Halldór Pálsson

University of Iceland

June 3, 2016
Design concern of pipelines

There are various factors involved in pipeline design. The main

ones involve
I Pressure drop because of flow. Here the pipe diameter plays a
major part as well as bends or other irregularities in the pipe
layout.
I Heat losses to the environment. If the fluid in the pipe is hot,
it may be preferable to keep it that way. Thus, pipes are
frequently insulated, as in the case of district heating (DH)
pipes or geothermal steam pipes.
I Structural strength. This involves the necessary pipe thickness
to withstand pressure as well as other external loads. Loads
may be because of wind, earthquakes or collisions. Also, if the
flow changes suddenly, large forces are generated.
Flow parameters

I Flow velocity, v in m/s.

I Displacement, Q in m3 /s.
I Mass flow, ṁ in kg/s.
I Pressure, p in Pa, bar or kPa.
I Pressure head, H in m.

πvd 2
Q = vA = where d is pipe diameter
4
ṁ = ρQ where ρ is density
p = ρgH where g is gravitational acceleration
The Reynolds number
The Reynolds number describes the fundamental characteristics of
the flow. Specifically it determines if the flow is laminar or
turbulent.
The Reynolds number is defined as
ρdv
Re =
µ
where µ is dynamic viscosity. A rule of thumb for pipe flow is

Re < 2500 The flow is laminar

Re > 5000 The flow is turbulent

An alternative definition for viscosity is the kinematic one,

µ
ν=
ρ
Viscosity of pure water

10-2
Saturated water
Saturated steam
10-3
Dynamic viscosity [kg/(m s)]

10-4

10-5

10-6 0 50 100 150 200

Temperature [C]
Energy balance for fluid in pipes

An energy equation for fluid flow in a pipe segment, from entrance

(1) to exit (2) is written as

p1 v2 p2 v2
+ 1 + z1 + Hpump = + 2 + z2 + Hturbine + hL
ρg 2g ρg 2g
The new parameters are defined as
I Vertical position, z, in m.
I Effective head delivered by pump or extracted by turbine, H.
I Head loss because of friction, hL .
The work required by the pump is Ẇp = ṁgHpump .
Pressure drop in a straight pipe
Pressure drop in straight pipes is calculated by the Darcy-Weisbach
equation, namely
fL v̄ 2
hL =
d 2g
where v̄ is the average fluid velocity and f is a friction factor.
Common relations for the friction factor are
64
f = Laminar flow in smooth pipes
Re
0.316
f = 1 Turbulent flow in smooth pipes
Re 4
Another useful version of the Darcy-Weisbach equation

8fLQ 2
hL =
π2d 5g
General friction factor for turbulent flow

If pipes are not smooth, a Moody diagram can be used to find the
friction factor. Another option is to use the Colebrook-White
equation  
1  2.51
√ = −2 · log10 + √
f 3.7 · d Re f
where  is the absolute pipe roughness, in m. An explicit relation
for f can also be used
0.25
f =  2
 5.74
log10 3.7·d + Re0.9
Losses in bends and inlets/outlets

Head losses because of sudden changes in the flow are defined as

v2
hL = K
2g
where the loss coefficient K is defined differently. The most
common definitions are

K = 1.1 90 ◦ sharp bend

K = 0.3 90 ◦ smooth bend
K = 0.15 45 ◦ smooth bend
K = 0.5 Sharp pipe entrance
K =1 Sharp pipe exit
Heat conduction in general

Heat is conducted through solids via the Fourier law. For a

straight wall the conduction energy flow is
∆T
q = kA
∆x
where k is the heat conduction coefficient in W/(m · K), ∆T is
temperature difference and ∆x is wall thickness in m. The result q
is in W. Conduction through multiple walls is
∆T
q=
R
where
∆x1 ∆x2 ∆xn
R= + + ··· +
k1 A k2 A kn A
Heat conduction through pipe walls

Conduction through several pipe walls is given by

∆T
q=P
iR

where
ln(ri+1 ) − ln(ri )
Ri =
2πki L
In case of convection on the pipe surface (denoted by w ) we have

q = hA(Tw − T∞ )

where T∞ is the surrounding temperature. An additional R value

is added, giving
1
Rc =
πhdL
Heat losses and temperature drop

Total heat loss from pipelines can be found by calculating q and

consequently the temperature drop of water can be found. Let Ti
and Te denote inlet and exit temperatures respectively, T̄ = Ti +T
2
e

denote the average fluid temperature and T∞ the environmental

temperature. Then we have

q = ṁc(Ti − Te )
T̄ − T∞
q= P
i Ri

and thus
T̄ − T∞
Ti − Te = P
ṁc i Ri
The convection coefficient

In general for pipes, h is defined as

Nu k
h=
d
In still air we can use
   1 2
6
Ra
Nu = 0.6 + 0.387 
  
0.559

9 
1+ Pr
16

g β(Tw − T∞ )d 3
Ra = Pr
ν2
where β = T̄1 and T̄ is in Kelvin.
For air it is sufficiently accurate to use Pr = 0.7, but Pr is in
general temperature dependent.
Forced convection

I the fluid (air outside or water inside) is flowing we use

1 1   5 ! 54
0.62 Re 2 Pr 3 Re 8
Nu = 0.3 +  1+

2 1
0.4 3 4
282000
1 + Pr

in external cross flow where 100 < Re < 107 .

Inside the pipe we can use
1
Nu = 0.023 Re0.8 Pr 3

where 2500 < Re < 1.25 · 105 .