Fluid Flow Modelling 332 Assignment Important Instructions The assignment may be typed (using a computer and word

word processor) or handwritten neatly. Use Microsoft Excel or Matlab to prepare your graphs. Hand-drawn graphs will not be marked. Material property values not provided in the questions may be obtained from any reference book on thermodynamics, or fluid mechanics. Any valid assumptions that you make for each question, should be stated clearly. Air at 20 C and 1 atmosphere pressure flows at an average velocity of 5 m/s between long, smooth parallel heat exchanger plates 10 cm apart as shown in the figure given below. It is proposed to add a number of widely spaced 1 cm long interrupter plates to increase the heat transfer. These plates are also shown in the figure. The boundary layers over the interrupter plates are laminar, even though the flow through the channel is turbulent. Assume that all added plates are 1 m wide (into the plane of the diagram). Find the following quantities: (i) the pressure drop in Pa/m without the interrupter plates in the channel. (ii) the number of small plates per meter of channel length such that the pressure drop increases to a maximum of 10 Pa/m within the channel.

Interrupter plates 1 cm long

U = 5 m/s

10 cm

(10 Marks)

A diffuser for an incompressible, inviscid fluid of density = 1000 kg/m3 consists of a diverging section of pipe. At the inlet, the diameter of the pipe is Di = 0.25 m, and at the outlet the diameter is Do = 0.75 m. The diffuser is 1 m long, and the diameter increases linearly with the distance x along the length of the diffuser. The velocity at the inlet of the diffuser is given by Vi = 5 m/s. (i) Derive and plot the acceleration of a fluid particle through the diffuser, assuming uniform flow at each section. Plot the pressure gradient through the diffuser, and find its maximum value. If the pressure gradient must not be greater than 25 kPa/m, what must be the length of the diffuser ? (10 Marks)

(ii) (iii)

End of Assignment