Simplest Flow in a Pipe

Picture courtesy KUED,

Public Television
from the
University of Utah
 Why are we considering flow in pipes?
General 3-D flow in porous media is complicated, so we
are going to “sneak up on it” and provide a plausibility
argument, rather than a derivation.

Grain Pore

2D picture to aid 3D calculation

Courtesy J. H. Wittke & T. E. Bunch, 2004-2008
Looking “face-on” the aligned pores of a
simple cubic packing model look a little like
a pipe. This model is a gross
oversimplification, but we need to start
somewhere.
 Key Physics of Viscous Flow in a Pipe
•Viscous fluid is assumed to flow fastest in the middle of the
pipe and stationary at pipe walls
•Packets of fluid (just like all matter) move according to
Newton’s Second Law
•Rate of flow is constant, i.e., fluid is not accelerating
Pipe wall where Vfluid = 0

F = ma
Infinitesimally thin
annulus of fluid in the
pipe

•Take advantage of cylindrical symmetry

Derivation of Hagen-Poiseuille’s Law

A Newtonian fluid with constant viscosity µ flows in a cylindrical pipe due to a

constant pressure P at one end of the pipe. What is the rate of flow Q?
µ = viscosity of the fluid
∆P =constant pressure at one end of the pipe
yields this pressure drop across the length of the pipe
∆L =length of pipe
R = radius of cylindrical pipe
r = radial coordinate withing pipe, 0 ≤ r ≤ R
=
v = velocity along the pipe of fluid at distance r from center of pipe
v(r)
vc =
velocity at the center of the pipe v(0)
Calculate Flow from Velocity Profile
Total Flow Q is the sum of the flows of all the annuli
Qdt = total volume of fluid that flows past a fixed point in time dt
Q dt = ∫ volume of each anulus that flows past a fixed point in time dt
all annuli

Q dt = ∫ [cross sectional area of annulus][length of annulus]

all annuli
R
Q dt = ∫ [2π r dr ][v(r)dt ]
0
R
∴ Q = ∫ 2π rv(r)dr
0

We need to know the velocity profile in the pipe as a function of

distance from the center of the pipe to do this calculation.
 Sum of Forces on a Fluid Annulus

Driving pressure

Viscous force of
Viscous force of
faster moving fluid
slower moving fluid
inside the annulus
outside the annulus

No acceleration ⇒ ΣF = 0
All the rest is calculus.
 Individual Forces
Viscous force of faster moving fluid on inside surface of annulus :

= − µ [2πr0 ∆L ]
dv(r) dv(r)
Finner = − µA
dr r0 dr r0
Note : positive because the inner faster fluid " drags" the fluid in the annulus

along the positive direction in the pipe.Note v(r) decreases with increasing r.

= µ [2π (r0 + dr )∆L ]

dv(r) dv(r)
Fouter = µA r0 dr
dr r0 + dr dr r0 + dr
Note : negative because the outer slower fluid " drags" the fluid in the annulus

back in the negative direction in the pipe

Fexternal = − A∆P = - 2πr0 dr∆P

Note : positive because the external pressure pushes the fluid in the annulus The direction of flow is
along the positive direction in the pipe and ∆P < 0.
out of the page and
will be defined as + .
0 = Fexternal + Finner + Fouter

0 = −2πr0 dr∆P − µ [2πr0 ∆L ] + µ [2π (r0 + dr0 )∆L ]

dv(r) dv(r)
dr r0 dr r0 + dr
Express all forces acting at the same
point
Taylor Series Expansion : for x in the neighborho od of a point x 0
dF(x)
F(x) = F(x 0 ) + (x - x 0 ) + terms of higher order in (x - x 0 ) which we will neglect
dx x 0
Substitute :
dv(r)
→ F(x)
dr x
r0 + dr → x
r0 → x 0
dv(r) dv(r) d2 v(r)
∴ = + dr
dr r0 + dr dr r0 dr 2 r
0
Differential Equation for Velocity Profile
 dv(r) d 2 v(r) 
0 = −2πr0 dr∆P − µ [2πr0 ∆L ] + µ [2π (r0 + dr )∆L ]
dv(r)
+ 2
dr 
dr r0  dr dr r 
r0 0 
d 2 v(r)
0 = −r0 ∆P + µ [∆L ] + µ [r0 ∆L ] 2
dv(r)
dr r0 dr r 0

∆P 1 dv(r) d 2 v(r)
= + ∀0 ≤ r0 ≤ R, i.e, inside the pipe
µ∆L r0 dr r 2
dr r0
0

If ∆P, ∆L, and µ are all constants, then this is a

simple second - order differential equation
which needs two physical boundary conditions.

v(R) = 0 ⇒ the fluid sticks to the walls of the pipe

dv(r)
= 0 or otherwise that term in the differential equation will blow up
dr 0
 Solution for Velocity Profile

∆P 1 dv(r) d 2 v(r) 1 d  dv 
= + = r ∀0 ≤ r ≤ R, i.e, inside the pipe
µ∆L r dr dr 2 r dr  dr 
dv(r)
with boundary conditions v(R) = 0 and =0
dr 0
∆P 2 ∆P 2
v(r) = r + C1ln(r) + C 2 with 0 = R + C1ln(R) + C 2 and 0 = C1
4 µ∆L 4 µ∆L
∆P 2
v(r) = (r − R 2 )
4 µ∆L
Finally the Hagen-Poiseuille Equation
R
Q = ∫ 2π rv(r)dr is the total flow.
0
R
 ∆P 2 2  π∆P R 2
Q = ∫ 2π r  (r − R ) dr = ∫ r(r − R 2
)dr
0  4 µ∆L  2 µ∆L 0
π∆P  R 4 R 4 
Q=  − 
2 µ∆L  4 2
πR 4  ∆P 
∴Q = -
8µ  ∆L 
Also often expressed as the flow per unit area q
Q Q R 2  ∆P 
q= = =-
A πR 2
8µ  ∆L 
 Example Application of the Hagen-
Poiseuille Equation
Design a pipe to provide 10 Bbl/day output of
heavy oil (800 cP) to a storage tank 100 ft
from an old well. You have a pump capable of
1 atm pressure available.
Question for clarification: What exactly does
“design a pipe” mean? Calculate inner radius
of pipe in inches.
 Solution to Example Problem (1 of 2)
• Given
– Q ≥ 10 Bbl/day
– μ = 800 cP
– ΔL = 100 ft
– ΔP ≤ 1 atm
• Find
– R: the inner radius of the pipe
• Procedure
– Hagen – Poiseuille Equation if and only if the pipe is
very thin compared to its length and the flow rate is
very low
 Solution to Example Problem(2 of 2)
• Procedure (cont.)
πR 4  ∆P 
Q=-
8µ  ∆L 
8µ∆LQ
R4 =
π∆P
 8 × 800cP × 100 ft × 10 Bbl/day 
R4 =   ×
 π × 1 atm 
 dyne − sec  
 cm 2  9.869 × 10 −7 atm  12in  10 6 cm3  1in  
3
1day 
×        
 100cP  1dyne/cm  ft  6.29Bbl  2.54cm   24(3600)sec 
2

  
∴R ≅ .4in
 Q K  ∆P  R2
= -=   where K
A µ  ∆L  8
Summary of Hagen-Poiseuille Equation
• For a pipe
Q K  ∆P  R2
-=   where K
A µ  ∆L  8

• What do pipes have to do with rocks?

For rocks, we will also find
Q K  ∆P 
= -   where K is a geometric property of the rock
A µ  ∆L 