Compressible Fluid Flow

MMB 417
University of Botswana
compressible flows-

flows that involve significant changes in density. Such

flows are called compressible flows, and they are
frequently encountered in devices that involve the
flow of gases at very high velocities. Compressible
flow combines fluid dynamics and thermodynamics in
that both are necessary to the development of the
required theoretical background.

Stagnation state
speed of sound
and Mach number

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stagnation process- thermodynamic analysis of high-speed flows

Whenever the kinetic and potential energies of the fluid are negligible, as is often
the case, the enthalpy represents the total energy of a fluid. For high-speed flows,
such as those encountered in jet engines, the potential energy of the fluid is still
negligible, but the kinetic energy is not. In such cases, it is convenient
to combine the enthalpy and the kinetic energy of the fluid into a single term called
stagnation (or total) enthalpy h0,

During a stagnation process, the kinetic energy of a fluid is converted to

enthalpy (internal energy flow energy), which results in an increase in
the fluid temperature and pressure. The properties of a fluid at the
stagnation state are called stagnation properties

The stagnation state and the stagnation properties are indicated by the subscript 0.

The stagnation state is called the isentropic stagnation state when the stagnation
process is reversible as well as adiabatic (i.e., isentropic). The entropy of a fluid
remains constant during an isentropic stagnation process. 3
Compressibility:
The fractional change in volume of the fluid element
per unit change in pressure

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Sound Rapid changes in the boundary conditions will generate small-amplitude
compression waves, called sound, in all fluids.

Significant changes in velocity and pressure result in density variations

throughout a flow field
Large Temperature variations result in density variations.
As a result we now have two new variables we must solve for: T &

Velocity of Sound and Mach Number

V
Mach number M of the flow- M
C

speed of sound (or the sonic speed)- which is the speed at which an
infinitesimally small pressure wave travels through a medium.

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NOZZLES

A nozzle (from nose, meaning 'small spout') is a passage of varying cross-sectional area
(usually axisymmetric) aiming at increasing the speed of an outflow, and controlling its
direction and shape.

Nozzle flow always generates forces associated to the change in flow momentum, as we can
feel by handholding a hose and opening the tap.

In the simplest case of a rocket nozzle, relative motion is created by ejecting mass from a
chamber backwards through the nozzle, with the reaction forces acting mainly on the
opposite chamber wall, with a small contribution from nozzle walls. As important as the
propeller is to shaft-engine propulsions, so it is the nozzle to jet propulsion, since it is in the
nozzle that thermal energy (or any other kind of high-pressure energy source) transforms into
kinetic energy of the exhaust, and its associated linear momentum producing thrust.

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Stagnation Properties

Consider a fluid flowing into a diffuser at avelocity ,
V temperature T, pressure P, and
enthalpy h, etc. Here the ordinary properties T, P, h, etc. are called the static
properties; that is, they are measured relative to the flow at the flow velocity. The
diffuser is sufficiently long and the exit area is sufficiently large that the fluid is
brought to rest (zero velocity) at the diffuser exit while no work or heat transfer is
done. The resulting state is called the stagnation state.

We apply the first law per unit mass for one entrance, one exit, and neglect the
potential energies. Let the inlet state be unsubscripted and the exit or stagnation
state have the subscript o.
2 2
V Vo
qnet h wnet ho
2 2
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Since the exit velocity, work, and heat transfer are zero,
2
V
ho h
2
The term ho is called the stagnation enthalpy (some authors call this the total
enthalpy). It is the enthalpy the fluid attains when brought to rest adiabatically while
no work is done.

If, in addition, the process is also reversible, the process is isentropic, and the inlet
and exit entropies are equal.
so s

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Consider the steady flow of a fluid through a duct such as a nozzle, where the flow
takes place adiabatically and with no shaft or electrical work, as shown.
Assuming the fluid experiences little or no change in its elevation and its potential
energy, the energy balance relation (Ein = Eout) for this single-stream steady-flow
system reduces to-

So, in the absence of any heat and work

interactions and any changes in potential
energy, the stagnation enthalpy of a fluid
remains constant during a steady-flow
process.

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 If the fluid were brought to a complete stop, then the velocity at state 2 would be
zero.

stagnation enthalpy represents the enthalpy of a fluid when it is brought to

rest adiabatically. During a stagnation process, the kinetic energy of a fluid
is converted to enthalpy (internal energy flow energy), which results in an
increase in the fluid temperature and pressure.
When the fluid is approximated as an ideal gas with constant specific
heats, its enthalpy can be replaced by cpT
Here T0 is called the stagnation (or total)
temperature, and it represents the temperature
an ideal gas attains when it is brought to rest
adiabatically.
The term V2/2cp corresponds to the
temperature rise during such a process
and is called the dynamic temperature.

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The pressure a fluid attains when brought to rest isentropically is called the
stagnation pressure P0.

When stagnation enthalpies are used, there is no need to refer explicitly to

kinetic energy. Then the energy balance for a single-stream, steady-flow device
can be expressed as

where h01 and h02 are the stagnation enthalpies at states 1 and 2, respectively.
When the fluid is an ideal gas with constant specific heats

where T01 and T02 are the stagnation temperatures 17