Axial Laminar Flow in a Circular Pipe
Containing a Fixed Eccentric Core'
P . 1. REDRERGER'
Velocity profiles and volumetric rates for the
axial, laminar flow of a Newtonian fluid in a circular
pipe containing a fixed eccentric core w e r e evaluated
numerically using a digital computer. The velocity
profiles agree exceptionally well with those evaluated
from a n analytical expresaion derived b y Ileyda"'.
The effect of displacing the inner surface from a con-
centric position is to increase the volumetric flow
rate for a given pressure gradient, the maximum in-
crease for a diameter ratio of 0.9 being 240% and
for a diameter ratio of 0.1, 60%.
The volumetric flow rates a r e presented graphic-
ally in terms of dimensionless ratios which enable the
flow rate to be evaluated for any fluid, diameter ratio,
relative displacement and pressure gradient.
Thi c Navicr-Stokes equations governing the stcatly statca,
aiiiinar flow of Newtonian fluids, may t)c solved analyti-
cally except in cases involving coiiiplcs conduit boundaries.
T h e basic diffcrcntial cqitation iiiiist I)c intcgratcd twice to
give the velocity distrit)ution in ternis of the pressure gradient,
and a further integration is necc ary to ot)tain the Ao\v r m in
terms of the pressure gradient. ( nduit configurations for which
the integrations may be rcadily perforined analyticallv incliidc the
circular pipe, the annulus t)ctwecn concciitric cylinders, and
infinitely wide parallel plates.
t l o w w c r , i n such cases as single phase flo\v in a triangular
or rectangular conduit and two phase stratified flow in a circular
pipe the analytical solutions arc cxcccdingly co~iiplcxt)ut high
speed digital c o n ~ p u t c rmay
~ be used to obtain the solutions
nunicrically(l).
It is the piirposc of this papcr to describe thc incthod and
results obtained in a numerical stud!, of the axial laminar flow
of an incoriiprcssihlc fluid in a circular pi
eccentric core, I . c . , axial How t)ct\vccn c
inders. l l o w bctwccn eccentric cylinders has bccn discussed
by Ikyda"' who obtained the \fclocity profile analytically in
thc forni o f an infinite series, h i t did not pcrforiii thc fiirthcr
integration necessary to arrive a t the relationship between the
volumetric How rate and the prcstirc gradient.
'l'hc hasic riiathcriiatical transforiii used in the prcscnt papcr
is the same as that used t)y t Ic),tta. Ihvcvcr, ;i nurncrrc~il
procedure, i n which the Jiff.crcntta1 eqiiation I S replaced tq, a
finite difference equation, is used in the prcscnt paper in co11-
junction with a digital coinpurer to obtain the velocity profiles
...............................................................................
Ihlanuscript rcccirrd D t w n i h c r 29, 1961. nccrpted hforch 28, 1962.
'Rcscenrch Cmrncil of Alberta, Ednionton, Alfn.
:'Present ndrlrc,ss Df~piirtlilent nf Chvinirol rind Prtrfdmni Knc.inrerinc..
Uniorrsify of Afhcrtn, Eclnionton. Altri.
RNsril on (I prrpcr prrwntcd f~ thc C.I.C. Annrrol Confercnw, k.'dnmnton,
Altrr., Afoy 28-30,1962.
Cimtributim No. I64 frtnn the Aeserirch Council of Alberta, Ednionton,
Alta.
148
and ill. E . CHARLEY
On a dvalud numdriquement, B I'aicle cl'une calcu-
latrice digitale, les profils de vitesse ct les tuux
d'dcoulement volumktrique pour I'dcoulement lami-
nairc axial d'un fluide Newtonien dans u n tuyau
circulaire contenant u n noyau excentrique fixe. Lea
profils de vitesae roncordent exceptionnellement hien
aver reux que I'on a kvaluks B partir de I'expression
analytique suggkrde par Ileyda"'. En clCplaqant la
aurfuce intdrieure B partir cle la poaition concentrique,
on augmente le taux d'dcoulement volumGtrique pour
un gradient donnd de pression, ]'augmentation ktant
de 240% pour une rapport cle cliamktre cle 0.9, et de
60% pour un rapport de diamhtre cle 0.1.
On prdaente grapliiquement les taux d'Ccoule-
ment volumktrique e n fonetion tle rapports sans
dimensions, re qui permet d'kvaluer le taux d'kcoule-
ment pour tout fluicle, rapport cle diamktre, dCplace-
ment relatif et gradient de pression.
and flow rates as a fittiction of the pressure gradient and conduit
gcoiiictry .
Theory
l'hc Navicr-Stokes cquations (scc for cxaniplc. Psi(:')) dcs-
crlbc the ttircc-diriicnsional flow of a fluid. \\'hen the f l ( ~ \ vIS
laminar and unidirectional, and the fluid is both Ne\vtoniali and
inconiprcssit)lc, then under stcady state conditions the Navicr-
Stoker ccluations reduce to the single differential equation.
a = u+ aai. = 1yr . dd~p . . . (I!
as2 ayi
\\here U is the fluid velocity a t the p i n t (s,y ) in a cartchian
system of co-ordinates, R. I S the dimensional conversion tictor,
p is the viscosity of the fluid and ,fp,'d/ is the pressure g r'i c1'lent.
I n the case of flow between eccentric circiilar cylintlcrs,
Is:quation ( I ) tilay bc intcgratcd by using :I t)i-polar co-ortiinarc
system and the confornial transforniation
whcrc
z = s + r y
and
7u = f + i7)
'l'hc geoiiictr\' of the condiilt and the co-ordinate system
arc illustrated in I:igurc I . 'l'hc circle f = f . represents the
outer cylinder having a diatnctcr /I and ccntrc (,',j, while the
circle f = f , represents the inner cylinder having a diaincter d
and ceiitrc (,',. 'I'hc cartcsian s, .y co-ordinate systcm has
origin at 0 while the hi-polar co-ordinate systeni has poles
/ ' ( / I , 0) and I"( - 11, O) and consists of t w o orthogonal systcnis
of circles [ = cotisrant and 7) = constant.
The Cnnndinn Joitrnnl of Chemical Engineering, August, 1962
 ', i l l I"'
Figure 2-The tranaformcd co-ordinate syllteni.

t,,tilay be evaluated froni the cxprcsston

Figure 1-The bi-polar ro-ordinutc. sylltcmi.

arid

or

T h e Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, AuguIt, 1962 149

 1.0

0 9

0 8 o Val ues from num eri cal anal ysi s

- Theareticol profile ( e q u o t i a n 2 2 )
0
0 7 v,
0 6

0 0 025 0 050
U
D ~ M E N S ~ O N L E SVSE L O C I T Y , v
Figure S-Xomparison of dimensionless velocity profiles
for flow betwren conerntrir cylinders with a diameter ratio
of 0.5.

'I'hus, by using the ncightmring velocity values about the

point ( i , j ) , a new velocity valuc is obtained for that p i n t and
the ultimate value of U,,, is obtained by using an iterative
procedure which requires rcpcatcd passes through rhc grid.
Howevcr, thc rate of convergence to the final value is rather
slow and l ; r a n k ~ l ( ~has
) shown that the incorporation of an
over-relaxation factor, @, ol)raincd froni the forniula
p = 2 - [27r*(l/.P + l/P)]'~~ , (20)
whcrc s = nuinbcr o f rows o f points in mesh,
and t = nuinbcr of coluiiins of points in nicsh,
into equation ( 19) produces niuch faster convergence. I++uatioii 05
(19) thcn bcconics - Present numerrcol solution

where U',,, IS the newly calculatcd vclocity value and U,,, is the
prcvious velocity value at the point (i,,\).
The mesh systcni shown in f;igurc 2 is symmetrical about __----_ - A Z & S P Z E Z l O X j

the 9 = 0 axis and hence in using the finite diffcrcncc Ikpation I 0 L r - I __ I_

(21) to obtain the velocity values only half the mesh systeni 0 .I .2 .3 4 2

was considcred. Ikmiciary conditicms wcrc incorporated exactly D I M E N S I O N L E S S VELOCITY. v

since whcn t = to,L' = 0 , whcn { = [,, U = 0 and symmetry
conditions wcrr used at 9 = K and 9 = 0. T h c flow domain
was dividcd into 3 1 intervals in the 9 direction and 15 intcrvals
in the t dircction, giving a total of 5 12 mcsh points. This dcgrcc
of subdivision had bccn found in a previous study") to give the
optiinum results in terms of accuracy and coniputation time.
lipation (21) was programmed for an IGP-30 digital
computer and the velocity values calculated for each point in
the domain. T h e velocity distribution was then numcrically
intc vatcd to givc the total fluid flow ratr bctwccn the cylindrical
P
siir aces as follows. I;or a particular scgincnt of thc mesh the
four corner velocity values were avcragcd to givc a nican velocity
for that segment. Similarly an avcragc Jacohian value was
obtaincd and used to cvaluatc the scgiiicnt area. T h c product
of the mean velocity and the scgincrit area gave thc volumetric
flow rate through thc segment and thc total flow rate was
obtained by summing the individual segment flow rates.
Figure &Dimensionless velocity profilrs for various rela-
tive displacements at a constant core to pipe diameter ratio
of 0.25.
Velocity profiles and volumctric flow rates were cvaluatcd
for several rclativc displaccmcnts for each of several dianictcr
ratios. 1)iamctcr ratios varied from 0 . 1 to 0.9 and relative
displaccinents varied from very nearly zero (the concentric case)
to the niaxiiniiiii possible for the given diameter ratio.
T h e velocity profile nbtaincd by thc nunicrical procedure
for thc concentric case whcn the tliainctcr ratio = 0 . 5 is plottcd
in Figure 3 as the dimensionless velocity U/l' whcrc I' is the
average velocity for laminar flow in thc outer p i p with n o
core present and with thc same pressure gradient. (:oriipari:r!n
with the profilc obtained by solving the analytical ICqiiatioii ( 2 2 )
which applies only to the concentric case

Resultr and Discussion

l'he results arc prcscntcd on a cneralizcd basis in terms of
P
the diamctcr ratio, k. thc ratio o thc diameter of thc insidc
surface, d, to the diametcr of thc outside surfacc, I), - and rhc
in which U is the velocity at radius r ( d < 2r < I)) indicatrs
excellent agreement. T h e small discrcpancy is accounted for to
relative displaccment, m,defined as 2 9 / D where q is thc vcrtical some extent by the fact that thc exceedingly small relative
distancc bctwccn Ci and C,. displacemcnt of O.ooOo2 was uscd in the numerical calculations.

150 The Canadian Journal of Chemical Enginrering, Augurt, 1962

 sensitive to sniall displaccnients from the concentric position.
[.'or example, for a iliaiiictcr ratio o f 0.9, a 5%. tlispl.iccment
would produce a W X increase i n the H o \ v rate.
'l'he error i n the c.ilciilatcd volurnctric Hou, r.itcs is soiiicwhat
greater th;in the error involvctl i n the vL+)ctt!, val~rcsbccarisc
of sniall errors involved i n cva1ii:iting the ~ c ; of i each segment
of the tncsh. 'l'hc error ti1 the tlow rate protd)ly varies froiii
alxoiit 2(&. for large diaiiictcr ratios a i i t l s i i d l relative displacc-
iiicnts, t o (1;' , for ~ 1 1 i . 1 1 1 1li;iiiicter ratios .ind hrgc relative
1Ilspl:lcclllcllts.
I'igurc 5 iiia?- be used in the fi)llo\\,ing i~ )anncrto olotain the
fl(i\v rate Ioct\\~cciieccentric circiiI;ir cylinders.
( 1 ) (:alciilatc the v:ilucs of the dianictcr ratio, k and the
rclatlve dlaplacclllcllt, 111.
( 2 ) I;hluatc the flow rate through a concentric annulus,
Q<(,,,,, troni the cq"~t""n,
U 4 I) t, 8 "
9 RELA~~D
Y ~I s P r r r r u r N r m

Figure LDimensionless representation of the flow rate

between ewentric cylinders in terms of the diumeter rutio ( 3 ) Iq:valuatc the Ilow r;itc tier\\ 11 cccciitric c!,lindcrs by
and the relative diaplucement. using the value of Q,,,,, in conlwiction with the flow
r a w ratio ol)taincd from I'rgiirc 5.
.I'his was necessary bccausc with a relative tlisplaccnicnt of Conclrcsions
zero the mathciiiatical transforiiiatlon is dcgcncratc. (I) 'I'hc iisc o f a t r . i n h ) r i i i i n corijunction uirli a I)i-poI.ir
Thc cffcct on the velocity profile o f increasing the ilisplacc- iiic.;hsystciii cnaI)lc.l tlrc flow ratc i n a c i r c h p i p cimt;iiniiig
iiicnt of the iiisidc surface with respect t o the outer siirhcc IS :I tiuc,l cccciitric core t o lie cv.iliiatccl lor c.)iiiplctc ranges of
shown in I:igurc 4, h)r a diameter ratio of 0 . 2 5 . 'l'hc dinicn- diainctcr ratio arid rcl.itivc displ;icciiicnt tor I,iliiinar, stcacly
sionlcss vclocity profile for the concentric c a I S~she\\ 11 togcdicr state c,~nditll~lls.
with profiles for relative displaccnicnts of 0 . 3 2 slid 0.56. \s ( 2 ) 'l'lic results inheated tli'it dtsplacciiicnt of the inside
the inner silrfacc is displaced the \&city is iiiarkcdly iiicrcascd siirfxc from ;I coiicciitric position incrcawd the How rate for a
for a given pressure gradient whcrc the How area I S iiicrcascd given pressure grdicnt, cyci.ill! s o .it Ikirgc cliauictcr ratios.
and decreased whcrc the How iirca is d C C I U S c d . ( 3 ) 'l'hc graphic;il siiniinar!' o f the rcsiilts iii 1;igure s
Supcriniposcd on the nunicrically calculated vcloclty protilc cn;it)lcs the H o n rarc toctwcc-iicvlititlrical surf.iccs to be cvaliiatcd
for a relative dispIaccnicnt of 0.50 arc soiiic points evaluated itndcr laniinar condition'i tLr ;in!. di.tii)ctcr r m o and any relative
from the analytical equation of I lcyda. Since llcyda's equation lllsplaccnlcnt.
for thc velocity profile is i n the foriii of an infinite series, and
since in sollie cases niany tt'riiis arc rcquircil for con\~crgcncc, Nomenclature
thc velocity values were cvaluatcci with t h e aiJ of the coliiputcr.
Again the &cclilcnt bctwccii the two sets of results is excellent.
The good agrcenicnr bct\\.ccn the nuiiicrical and analytical
results for both the concentric and cntric configurations
reflects the perfect fit of the tiicsh system with the coliduit
boundaries. 'I'his is of considcral)lc significance, bccaihc in
niany Cases in\yol\rilig rittliicrical anal?rsls with sqilarc iiicsli
systcnis it is not possible t o fit the tmindarics perfectly and
errors arise bccausc of this. I lowcvcr, since a coiistant number
of grid p i n t s was tiscd throughout the analysis the vclocitv
values bccaiiie slightly less acetirate for large rcl'itivc hsplacc-
mcnts and small dianictcr ratios. 'l'hus \vhilc 111 general, the
velocity values obtained from the numerical anal>,sisare 1)roId)ty
within one pcr cclit of the triic value, h r the c.\trciiic case of
m = 0.9 and k = 0.1 thc velocity values prolul)lv differ by
about three per cent from the true valircs.
T h e rclationship between the \duiiictric How rate, thc
diameter ratio ant1 the rclati\.cs displacemcnr is presented graph-
ically in Figure 5 where the ratio of the Ho\v rdtc l)ct\i.ecn
eccentric circular cylinders to the How rate between CoIiccntric
cylinders having the saiiic diaiiictcr ratio is plotted against the
rclativc displaccnicnt with diameter ratio as p?ranictcr. Ac k notoledge m n t s
I'hc full lines dr,awii for diaiiictcr ratios of 0 . 1 , O . 2 $ , 0 . 5 , T l i t a na\i\tiliic~e givcii Iiy It. Nvwton niid R . C . Sinrlliir with tlw
I* i i Nr;itt-tully
in;itli~.iiiatic.il d ~ h v i * l q ~ i i i i ~ t ;i~killia.l,.clg,.d.
0.7 5 and 0.9 represent coniputcd results ulicrca.; the &)ttcit lines
for other diaiiicrcr ratios have been ~xisitioiicdty interpolation. References
I t is ininicdiatcly a p p r c n t t1i;it the displacciiiciir of the Inside (I1 Charles, Rl. E.. and Rcdloergrr, P. J., Can. J. Chem. Eng.
surfiacc from the coriccritric position increases the voltiiiictric 40, 70 (1962).
throughput for a given pressure gradient. I'hc niaxiniuni pcr- ( 2 ) Hcyda, J. F..J. Franklin Inst. 267, 2s (1959).
centage incrcase in flow rate varies froin about 6O'X) for a (3) Pai, S. I., "Viscous Flo\v Theory. 1 - Imiinar I:low", C.
diameter ratio of 0.1 to atlout 240% for a iliaiiictcr ratio of 0 . 9 . \'anNo\trand (k.? (1956).
Further, although sinall displaccniciits from the concentric (4) I;rankc.l, S. 1'. Rlath. 1'al)lcs a n d other Aids to Coniputa-
position do not significantly afTcct tlic Ho\v rate at sinall iliamctcr tioii, 5, 65 ( 1050).

ratios ( < o . $ ) , at large dianictcr ratios the How rate is very * * *

Thr Cnnndinn Journnl of Chrnricnl l h g i n w r i i t K . Airpirrt. 1962 1.51