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Non-Newtonian Fluids: Frictional pressure loss prediction for fully-


developed flow in straight pipes.

Technical Report · July 1997

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NON-NEWTONIAN FLUIDS: FRICTIONAL PRESSURE LOSS PREDICTION FOR
FULLY DEVELOPED FLOW IN STRAIGHT PIPES

PART I: BACKGROUND, ANALYSES AND SOLUTION OUTLINE

1. NOTATION AND UNITS

Units

SI British

A experimental coefficient used in Bowen's method N sb/m2+b-c lbf sb/ft2+b-c


(see Section 6.2)

b experimental coefficient used in Bowen's method – –


(see Section 6.2), or
regression coefficient in Equation (9.16)

c experimental coefficient used in Bowen's method – –


(see Section 6), or
coefficient in Darby and Melson equation (see
Appendix C4)

D pipe diameter m ft
2
f friction factor (= τ w ⁄ ½ρV ) – –

He B Bingham plastic Hedstrom number given by – –


Equation (4.12)

He HB Herschel-Bulkley Hedstrom number given by – –


Equation (4.16)

K consistency coefficient or power law coefficient N sn/m2 (Pa sn) lbf sn/ft2

K HB Herschel-Bulkley consistency coefficient N sn/m2 (Pa sn) lbf sn/ft2

K′ local consistency coefficient N sn'/m2 (Pa sn') lbf sn'/ft2

L pipe length m ft

m coefficient in Equation (C4.4) – –

n flow behaviour index or power law exponent – –

n′ local flow behaviour index – –

∆p frictional pressure drop through pipe N/m2 (Pa) lbf/ft2

Q volume flowrate m3/s ft3/s

r radial coordinate m ft

Issued December 1991


Reissued at Amendment D - April 1997 - 79 pages
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Re Reynolds number ( = ρVD ⁄ µ ) – –

Re′ generalised Reynolds number (see Equation (4.4)) – –

Re ′P power-law Reynolds number (see Equation (4.7)) – –

Re B Bingham Reynolds number (see Equation (4.9)) – –

ReHB Herschel-Bulkley Reynolds number – –


(see Equation (4.13))

v local instantaneous axial velocity m/s ft/s

V mean axial velocity m/s ft/s

x ratio of yield shear stress to wall shear stress ( τ yB ⁄ τ w – –


or τ yHB ⁄ τ w )

xc critical value of x for Bingham laminar limit (see – –


Section 4.3)

γ· shear rate 1/s 1/s

ε pipe roughness height m ft

µ dynamic viscosity N s/m2 (Pa s) lbf s/ft2

µB Bingham plastic viscosity (see Equation (3.6)) N s/m2 (Pa s) lbf s/ft2

ρ fluid density kg/m3 slug/ft3

τ shear stress N/m2 (Pa) lbf/ft2

τw wall shear stress ( = D ∆ p ⁄ 4L ) N/m2 (Pa) lbf/ft2

τy yield shear stress N/m2 (Pa) lbf/ft2

τ yB Bingham yield shear stress N/m2 (Pa) lbf/ft2

τ yHB Herschel-Bulkley yield shear stress N/m2 (Pa) lbf/ft2

Subscripts

c refer to critical value

lam refers to laminar flow conditions

min refers to turbulent flow conditions

r refers to rough pipe

s refers to smooth pipe

turb refers to turbulent flow conditions

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2. BACKGROUND

2.1 Purpose and Scope

This Data Item is one of a group on the flow properties of non-Newtonian fluids. The first, ESDU 82036 24,
gives the definitions of the various categories of non-Newtonian fluids. The second, ESDU 9501233,
provides guidance on obtaining viscometric data necessary for estimating frictional pressure drop in
pipeflow using the methods of the present Item, which is the third in the group and is applicable to fluids
that can be considered as pseudohomogeneous (non-setting) under conditions of steady shear. Methods are
given in this Item for estimating frictional pressure losses for the case of fully-developed isothermal flow
of these non-Newtonian fluids flowing in straight pipes of uniform circular cross section.

To use this Item it is necessary to (a) know the rheological category of the fluid or (b) conduct some
rheological tests in order to categorise it. The user should refer to ESDU 95012 for further explanation and
practical guidance on flow curve measurement.

In this Item Section 3 deals with the various rheological descriptions in regular use and explains the
mathematical models used to depict the observed behaviour.

Once the type of fluid has been established and an appropriate model chosen the flow regime is found from
Section 4.

Knowing both the category and the flow regime the user may determine frictional losses using the methods
of Section 5 for laminar flow, Section 6 for turbulent flow in smooth pipes or Section 7 for turbulent flow
in rough pipes. Laminar flow in pipes is amenable to an exact mathematical analysis that is well supported
by experiment. Turbulent flow is not fully described by any theoretical analyses and the calculation
procedures are based on the correlation of experimental data.

Although transitional flows are best avoided, Section 8 outlines an approximate method for predicting
frictional losses in the transitional regime.

Section 9 gives worked examples of the estimation of frictional losses for laminar and turbulent flows.
These worked examples illustrate the use of the graphical methods.

Section 10 lists the sources used in the preparation of this Item and indicates further references.

The derivations of the laminar flow equations in Section 5 are given in Appendix A.

Appendix B gives the results of the analysis of the data sets used to establish the choice of turbulent
correlation.

Appendix C provides a summary of some additional frictional pressure drop estimation methods.

Two computer programs are presented in Part II, together with examples of their use.

2.2 Definition of Non-Newtonian Fluids

When the fluid viscosity is independent of the velocity gradient, the fluid is termed Newtonian and the
relationship between applied shear rate and the resulting shear stress, for both laminar and turbulent flow,
is written

τ = µγ· , (2.1)

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where, for laminar pipe flow,

dv
γ· = ----- . (2.2)
dr

Fluids for which this relationship does not apply are, by definition, non-Newtonian. Various models have
been proposed to describe the shear stress/shear rate relationship for non-Newtonian24 flow. Guidance on
the selection of an appropriate model for a particular application is given in Section 3.

2.3 Examples of Non-Newtonian Fluids

Listed in Table 2.1 are fluids that may exhibit non-Newtonian behaviour 14. It is difficult to predict whether
a particular fluid will exhibit non-Newtonian behaviour but suspensions of solids in liquids, high molecular
weight polymer solutions and many multiphase fluids often show non-Newtonian characteristics. In any
event a rheological test is the only sure method of ascertaining the rheological behaviour of a fluid. The
user should refer to ESDU 95012 for guidance on rheological tests.

TABLE 2.1 Some Examples of Fluids Exhibiting Non-Newtonian Behaviour

Adhesives Peat slurries


Biological fluids Plastic melts
Cement slurries Polymer solutions
Chalk slurries Printing inks
Chocolate melts Quicksand
Coal slurries Rock slurries
Detergent slurries Rubber solutions
Food sauces Sand slurries
Greases Sewage sludges
Handcreams Shampoo
Margarine Soap slurries
Mayonnaise Starch solutions
Metal oxide slurries Tomato paste
Oilwell drilling muds Toothpaste
Paints Wet beach sand
Paper pulp

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3. RHEOLOGICAL MODELS

3.1 General

Many models have been proposed to describe the observed relationship between the imposed shear rate
and resultant shear stress for non-Newtonian fluids. The majority of these are of little value for engineering
design purposes and serve more as theoretical analyses. However, there are several well established models
used widely in the prediction of non-Newtonian fluid rheology. Section 3.2 gives a general model applicable
to any fluid type. Three models, each specific to one fluid type, are given in Sections 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5.

The plot of shear stress, τ , against shear rate, γ· , is known as the flow curve. Determining the flow curve
from viscometric data can be a complex matter and is described in ESDU 95012. Choosing a suitable model
to fit a particular flow curve is a matter of some engineering judgement. In addition, the designer should
note that the rheology of many non-Newtonian fluids will be described by more than one model depending
on the shear rate and shear stress ranges. For example, the power-law model outlined in Section 3.3.1 can
characterise adequately the behaviour of many fluids over a certain range of shear rate but may fail as γ·
approaches zero in one extreme and high values at the other. This does not, however, negate the suitability
of the power-law model if it is an adequate representation over the operational shear stress range of the
pipeline, but extrapolation outside this range is invalid. This important point must be borne in mind when
designing the laminar characterisation tests used to determine the rheological constants. It is crucial that
these tests are conducted over a similar wall shear stress range and at the same temperature as would be
expected in the actual pipeline.

Guidance on appropriate shear stress/shear rate windows is given in Section 5.1 of ESDU 95012.

3.2 Metzner-Reed Model

Metzner and Reed3 developed a completely general technique for expressing the rheology of any fluid in
circular section pipe flow by considering wall shear stress, τ w ( = D ∆ p ⁄ 4L ) , as a function of the notional*
wall shear rate 8V ⁄ D . This relationship is

D ∆p 8V n′
----------- = K ′  --------- . (3.1)
4L  D 

In physical terms n′ can be interpreted as that physical property of a fluid which characterises its degree
of non-Newtonian behaviour (analogous to n from the power law model of Section 3.3.1). Similarly K′ is
analogous to K and ultimately to viscosity; the higher the value of K′ the more viscous the fluid. On a
log-log plot of wall shear stress against 8V ⁄ D , n′ is a best fit tangent drawn through the data at 8 V / D ,
and log 10 K ′ is the y-axis intercept of the tangent. Equation (3.1) can be rewritten to define n′ as

D ∆p
d log 10 -----------
4L
n′ = -------------------------------------- . (3.2)
8V
d log 10  ---------
 D

For many fluids K′ and n′ are constants over wide ranges of 8V ⁄ D and wall shear stress (when the fluid
falls into the power-law model category of Section 3.3.1) but some care must be taken to determine whether

*
That is, 8 V ⁄ D would be the wall shear rate if the fluid were Newtonian. For a non-Newtonian fluid flowing in a circular-section pipe,
actual wall shear rate is related to 8 V ⁄ D by Equation (5.3) of ESDU 95012.

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this actually is the situation. In general different values of K′ and n′ would have to be used for each value
of 8V ⁄ D , and Equation (3.2) would be the equation of the tangent to the logarithmic plot of τ w against
8V ⁄ D at that point. In any event the easiest and most rigorous way of applying these relationships to a real
fluid is to measure the pressure drop and flowrate in a tube viscometer under laminar flow conditions and
over the wall shear stress range of interest. This method is outlined in ESDU 95012 and will permit rapid
evaluation of 8V ⁄ D and wall shear stress, τ w . Values of K′ and n′ are then found from a logarithmic plot
of wall shear stress against 8V ⁄ D . If the log-log plot is not a straight line (that is, the fluid is not a power-law
type), care must be taken to ensure that the estimates of K′ and n′ are taken at a value, or over a range of
values, of wall shear stress that would be appropriate to the scaled-up case*.

Further, the relationship between K′ and K and n and n′ for a power-law fluid (see Section 3.3.1) can be
seen to be

n′ = n
1 + 3n n
and K ′ = K  ------------------- . (3.3)
 4n 

For a Newtonian fluid, n′ = 1 and K′ = dynamic viscosity, µ .

3.3 Shear Thinning/Shear Thickening Fluids

These fluids are those for which an infinitesimal shear stress will initiate motion (the flow curve passes
through the origin). Forms of the relationship between shear rate and shear stress (that is, the flow curve)
are shown in Sketch 3.1.

Shear thinning or pseudoplastic fluids exhibit a non-linear shear stress/shear rate relationship in which the
rate of increase of shear stress with shear rate decreases with increasing shear rate.

Sketch 3.1 The flow curve: Flow type and flow models

*
In most cases the pipeline that the engineer is designing is of much larger diameter than the tube used in the characterisation experiments.
Using small bore tube viscometers under laminar-flow conditions allows a higher 8 V ⁄ D value than would be obtainable in a full size
pipe. Hence, in most cases, engineers would be scaling-up their characterisation tests and lower values of 8 V ⁄ D would be involved.

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Shear thickening or dilatant fluids exhibit a similar non-linear shear stress/shear rate relationship except
that the rate of increase of shear stress with shear rate increases with increasing shear rate.

3.3.1 Power-law model

The shear stress/shear rate relationship for both shear thinning and shear thickening fluid types can often
(but not always) be described by a power-law model,

n
τ =Kγ· , (3.4)

where K is the consistency coefficient or power-law coefficient and n is the flow behaviour index or
power-law exponent. For shear thinning (pseudoplastic) behaviour n is less than unity whereas for shear
thickening (dilatant) behaviour n is greater than unity. This relationship may hold over a very wide range
of shear rate*, only failing at very low or very high γ· . Note that the power-law equation reduces to the
Newtonian relationship

τ = µγ· (3.5)

when n = 1 , giving K = dynamic viscosity, µ .

3.4 Bingham Fluid Model

Bingham fluids are those in which a finite shear stress is required to initiate motion (the flow curve does
not pass through the origin) and for which there is a linear relationship between shear stress and shear rate
beyond that point (see Sketch 3.1).

The constitutive relationship can be written

τ = τ yB + µ B γ· , (3.6)

where τ yB is the Bingham yield shear stress, that is the shear stress required to initiate movement, and µB
is termed the Bingham 'plastic' viscosity. Note that this expression also collapses to that for the Newtonian
case when τ y equals zero.

3.5 Herschel-Bulkley Fluid Model

Other time-independent non-Newtonian fluids can sometimes be considered as combinations of the above
types. Yield pseudoplastic and yield dilatant fluids require a finite shear stress to initiate motion but behave
as their non-yield counterparts above that shear stress level. A general constitutive equation, known as the
Herschel-Bulkley model (or sometimes the generalised Bingham model), can be written:

n
τ = τ yHB + K HB γ· . (3.7)

This collapses to Equation (3.4) or (3.6) when suitable values of K HB , n, and τ yHB are chosen.

*
Other relationships such as the Cross or Sisko models (see ESDU Data Item 8203624) may better approximate the behaviour of real fluids
over a wider range but for engineering purposes the power-law model is often sufficient.

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4. DETERMINATION OF FLOW REGIME

4.1 General Case

As in the Newtonian case the flow of non-Newtonian fluids can be laminar, transitional or turbulent. Before
the frictional losses in a pipeline can be established the flow regime must be known. Metzner and Reed3
proposed a generalised Reynolds number definition to cover any rheological model. They took the concept
of friction factor as used in laminar Newtonian flow when

16
f = ------ , (4.1)
Re
τw
where f = --------------- , (4.2)
2
½ρV

and inserted the model of Equation (3.1) to give a non-Newtonian relationship for laminar flow,

16
f = -------- , (4.3)
Re′

where Re′ is a generalised Reynolds number and is defined as

n′ 2 – n′
D V ρ
Re′ = ----------------------------- , (4.4)
n′ – 1
8 K′

where n′ is given by Equation (3.2) as

d [ log 10 τ w ]
n′ = ------------------------------------ , (4.5)
8V
d log 10  -------
 D

in which τ w = D∆p ⁄ 4L , and K′ is given by

τw
K ′ = ----------------- . (4.6)
8V n′
 -------
 D

These values of n′ and K′ must be estimated from the flow curve at the appropriate value of (8V/D).

For Newtonian fluids in fully-developed isothermal pipe flow, the critical Reynolds number denoting the
onset of turbulence occurs at about 2100 for most engineering situations. This corresponds to a critical
friction factor value of approximately 0.008.

The following Newtonian definitions of laminar, transition and turbulent regions are suggested. These serve
only as a guide and are not rigorous:

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laminar Re′ < 2100 ( f > 0.008 )
transition 2100 ≤ Re′ < 3500 ( 0.005 < f ≤ 0.008 )
turbulent Re′ ≥ 3500 ( f ≤ 0.005 ) .

For non-Newtonian fluids both the critical Reynolds number and the range of the transition region vary
from fluid to fluid.

4.2 Reynolds Number for Power-law Model

For a power-law fluid the Reynolds Number can be obtained from Equations (4.4) and (3.3) as

n 2–n
D V ρ  4n  n
Re ′P = -------------------------
- ----------------- . (4.7)
n–1  
8 K 1 + 3n

The power law Reynolds number collapses to the Reynolds number for a Newtonian fluid when n = 1 and
K = µ.

The power-law Reynolds number for the laminar limit is given as29

 n-------------
+ 2
 n + 1
6464n ( n + 2 )
Re ′P ,c = ---------------------------------------------------- . (4.8)
2
( 1 + 3n )

For a wide range of n (approximately 0.2 to 1.0), Re ′P ,c varies between 1800 and 2400.

4.3 Reynolds Number for Bingham Model

For a Bingham fluid the calculation of n′ and K′ may be of considerable difficulty (depending on the type
of viscometer used in the characterisation test) and for purposes of establishing the flow regime a Bingham
Reynolds number can be defined as

ρVD
Re B = ------------ , (4.9)
µB

where µ B is the Bingham plastic viscosity, defined by Equation (3.6). The Bingham Reynolds number for
the laminar limit is illustrated in Figure 2 and can be estimated from13

H eB 4 1 4
Re B ,c = ----------  1 – --- x c + --- x c , (4.10)
8x c  3 3 

4 7
where xc is the critical value of the ratio τ yB /τ w , given over the range 10 < He < 10 by

xc He B
----------------------- = ------------------- , (4.11)
3 16 800
( 1 – xc )

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and the Bingham Hedstrom number, HeB, is defined as

2
ρD τ yB
H e B = -------------------- . (4.12)
2
µB

An iterative calculation is required for xc .

4.4 Reynolds Number for Herschel-Bulkley Model

A Herschel-Bulkley Reynolds number can be written in a similar form to the power-law Reynolds number
of Equation (4.7) as

n 2–n
D V ρ  4n  n
Re HB = -------------------------
- ----------------- . (4.13)
n–1  
8 K 1 + 3n

The Herschel-Bulkley Reynolds number for the laminar limit is given by13

2 2 2–n
2+n
( 1 – xc ) 2x ( 1 – x c ) xc
------------- ----------------------- + --------------------------- + -------------
6464n 1+n 1 + 3n 1 + 2n 1+n
Re HB ,c = ------------------------n- ( 2 + n ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (4.14)
( 1 + 3n ) n
( 1 – xc )

where xc is the critical value of the ratio τ yHB /τ w , which is estimated by iteration from

2+n 2+n
3232 -------------
1+n
x c -------------
n 1 n
H e HB = ------------ ( 2 + n ) --------------- -----------------------
n (4.15)
n 1 – xc ( 1 – xc )

in which the Herschel-Bulkley Hedstrom number, HeHB, is defined as

ρD  τ yHB
2 2/n
H e HB = ------------  ------------ . (4.16)
τ yHB  K HB 

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5. FRICTIONAL LOSSES IN LAMINAR FLOW IN PIPES

Two methods of predicting laminar flow frictional losses are described in this Section.

Method 1 (Section 5.1) uses one of the rheological models from Sections 3.3 to 3.5 and integrates over the
shear stress range from τ = 0 at the pipe centre to τ = τ w at the pipe wall. This method is easily applied
once the form of the flow curve is known (see ESDU 95012).

Method 2 (Section 5.2) is appropriate when the flow curve (data) is not model-fitted and where the laminar
characterisation experiment is conducted in a tube viscometer.

An additional laminar flow frictional pressure loss prediction method is described in Appendix C2, for the
case where the flow curve obtained through viscometry is complicated and cannot readily be fitted to the
rheological models of Section 3.

It should be noted that pipe wall roughness does not affect the frictional pressure loss in laminar flow.

5.1 Method I

For the special case of laminar flow, the relationship between volume flowrate, pressure drop, pipe length
and pipe diameter is amenable to mathematical analysis. Regardless of the model chosen to represent the
rheological behaviour of the fluid there are two important general equations on which the laminar analysis
is based. Firstly a general equation linking volume flowrate and shear stress is
3 τ
πD w 2
Q = ----------
8τ w3 0

τ fn ( τ ) dτ , (5.1)

where γ· = fn ( τ ) .

The derivation requires the following assumptions.

(i) The flow is steady and constant with time.

(ii) The fluid is incompressible.

(iii) The shear rate is a function of shear stress only.

(iv) The fluid properties are independent of time.

(v) There are no pipeline entrance and exit effects.

(vi) There is no slip between the fluid and the pipe wall.

A second general relationship, obtained by a simple force balance, that is valid for any fully-developed
circular-section pipe flow (laminar, transitional or turbulent) in equilibrium is

D ∆p
τ w = ----------- . (5.2)
4L

By substituting the relevant constitutive equation (Equation (3.4), (3.6) or (3.7)) and the wall shear/pressure
loss relationship, Equation (5.2), into the general volume flowrate relationship, Equation (5.1), and
integrating, the following expressions are obtained. (Appendix A outlines the mathematical procedure used

11
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to derive Equations (5.3), (5.4) and (5.7).)

5.1.1 Power-law model

For the power-law model, the pressure loss can be expressed explicitly as shown in the following equation:

n
4LK 8Q ( 3n + 1 )-
∆ p = ----------- ----------3- --------------------- . (5.3)
D πD n

5.1.2 Bingham model

For the Bingham model, the flowrate is given by

πD 3 τ w 1 1  τ y  1  τy 
4
Q = ----------------- --- – ---  ------ + ------  ------ . (5.4)
8µ B 4 3  τ w 12  τ w

Equation (5.4) is explicit only for flowrate and must be solved iteratively in conjunction with Equation
(5.2) for pressure drop, diameter or pipe length. However, if the yield stress/wall shear stress ratio is less
than 0.5 (that is τ y ⁄ τ w < 0.5 ), the last term can be ignored and Equation (5.4) can be written as

3
πD τ w 1 1  τ y 
Q = ----------------- --- – ---  ------ , (5.5)
8µ B 4 3  τ w

which can be rearranged in conjunction with Equation (5.2) to give pressure loss explicitly, with an error
of less than 7 per cent, as

128µ B LQ 16 Lτ y
∆ p = ------------------------
- + ------ --------- . (5.6)
4 3 D
πD

5.1.3 Herschel-Bulkley model

For the Herschel-Bulkley model, the flowrate is given by

1
--- 1
n  τw  n
3 ---
πD n x 2nx 
( 1 – x )  1 – ----------------- 1 + ------------------- ( 1 + nx )  .
8 1 + 3n  K HB
Q = ---------- ----------------
- ----------
- (5.7)
1 + 2n (1 + n)
 

An iterative approach must be used to find pressure drop, diameter or pipe length.

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5.2 Method II

This is the preferred method when the fluid cannot adequately be described as power-law, Bingham or
Herschel-Bulkley and when the laminar characterisation experiment is conducted in a tube viscometer.

In most cases of scale-up the required flowrate, diameter and length of the full size pipeline are known and
pressure loss is the unknown. Under such conditions the following procedure should be followed.

(i) Conduct a laminar characterisation experiment in a tube viscometer (see Section 6.1 of
ESDU 95012) to give a plot of τ w against 8V ⁄ D .

(ii) Evaluate 8V ⁄ D for the full size pipeline.

(iii) From the plot of step (i) read off the value of τ w corresponding to the 8V ⁄ D value of step (ii).

(iv) Find n′ and K′ at this point (from Section 3.2).

(v) Calculate Re′ (from Equation (4.4)) for the full size pipeline and check that it is less than 2100.
If not then the flow may be in the transitional or turbulent regimes, where this method is invalid.

(vi) Find pressure loss from Equation (5.2) using the τ w value from step (iii).

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6. FRICTIONAL LOSSES IN TURBULENT FLOW IN SMOOTH PIPES

There are several turbulent flow correlations available for predicting f . Most are based on the power-law
model and require some modifications to be used for Bingham or Herschel-Bulkley fluids. All assume flow
in smooth walled pipes. Equations for rough walled pipes are presented in Section 7.

Extensive analysis was conducted on the available data sets4,5,9,17,19 to determine the optimal predictive
correlation for friction factor against Reynolds number. All available correlations were found to have serious
limitations with no single expression adequately predicting all the data. Appendix B gives a full account
of the correlating methods used and presents a table listing the errors. As a consequence of this uncertainty
two methods of predicting f are recommended and presented in this Item: the first uses the Dodge and
Metzner6 semi-theoretical equation and the second is based on the empirical work of Bowen10.

The choice of method is determined by the experimental data available. If only laminar flow data are
available, use Method I of Section 6.1. If laminar and turbulent flow pressure drop and flowrate data are
available for at least two pipe diameters, use Method II of Section 6.2.

Three additional methods for turbulent flow in smooth pipes worthy of note are presented in Appendices C3
to C5. These methods cover the cases where laminar flow viscometric data are, respectively, not fitted to
a flow curve, are fitted to a Bingham plastic model or are fitted to a Herschel-Bulkley model.

6.1 Method of Dodge and Metzner (Method I)

6.1.1 Applicability to power-law fluids

Dodge and Metzner6 developed a Nikuradse-type implicit equation linking f , n and Re′ and fitted it to
experimental data. The resulting correlation is recommended as the most appropriate of those available in
the literature and cannot be significantly improved upon given the spread of the available results (see
Appendix B). The equation is

n
 1 – ---
1 4.0 
4.0
------ = ----------- log 10 2 – --------- (6.1)
f
0.75 Re′f 1.2
n n

and can be considered to give a fair estimate of f over the range 3500 < Re′ < 100 000 and a guide to f
in the transition range 2100 < Re′ < 3500 (see Appendix B for details of errors). Figure 1 shows this
relationship for various values of n .

The method can be summarised as follows.

It is necessary to determine Re′ to use this method and that requires evaluation of n and K . These values
may be determined directly from experiment or from the flow curve (see ESDU 95012).

(i) Preliminary experiment

(a) Decide the approximate 8V ⁄ D range over which the pipeline is to operate.

(b) There are two possibilities depending on the type of viscometer available. If the preferred
tube viscometer is to be used then conduct a laminar tube viscometer experiment and plot
τ w against 8V ⁄ D on log-log paper over the range determined in part (a) above. This
allows determination of n and K for the fluid, if necessary as a function of 8V ⁄ D
(see Section 6.1 of ESDU 95012).

14
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Otherwise obtain the flow curve for the fluid with whatever viscometer is available (see
ESDU 95012). It is possible to convert the τ versus γ· curve into a τ w versus 8V ⁄ D curve by
application of the Rabinoswitsch-Mooney equation (Equation (5.3) of ESDU 95012. If the fluid is
not a power-law type this is a complex procedure and best undertaken by computer. The
accompanying program performs all the necessary calculations. An alternative method that does
not require a computer is to approximate the τ versus γ· curve with a power-law model over the
region of interest. Thus n and K can be found by local application of Equations (3.3).

(ii) To Determine f .

Either use Figure 1 or carry out the following procedure.

(a) Assume a pressure drop, ∆ p , then calculate τ w from Equation (5.2).

(b) Find the values of n and K that correspond to this value of τ w from the log-log plot of
τ w against 8V ⁄ D .

(c) Calculate Re′ from Equation (4.4).

(d) Find f from Equation (6.1).

(e) Find ∆ p corresponding to that f value from Equations (5.2) and (4.2).

(f) If ∆ p from step (e) is different from that assumed in step (a), repeat steps (a) to (e) until
agreement is obtained.

This is a time-consuming process to undertake by hand so the accompanying computer program performs
all the necessary calculations (see Part II).

6.1.2 Applicability to models with a yield stress

Using locally-determined values of n and K (that is, n′ and K′ ) appropriate to the relevant 8V/D values
for turbulent flow, the method of Section 6.1.1 can be applied to models which have a yield stress.

6.2 Method of Bowen (Method II)

6.2.1 Description

Bowen10 proposed that for a particular fluid in the turbulent flow regime a correlation of the form

b
V
τ w = A ------c (6.2)
D

appears possible, with A, b and c being experimentally determined coefficients for a particular fluid and
conditions and system of units. He noted that a plot of wall shear stress against 8V ⁄ D correlates data well
for all pipe diameters in the laminar region but that for turbulent flow the data lie on different lines, each
line corresponding to a particular pipe size. His empirical method capitalises on this fact to provide a
procedure to predict laminar and turbulent conditions and gives guidance on the critical Reynolds number.
Because of the explicit inclusion of a diameter effect, this method is to be preferred for scaling-up small
pipe experiments to predict pressure losses in larger pipe diameters.

15
 91025
Sketch 6.1 shows the log-log plot of wall shear stress against 8V ⁄ D for both laminar and turbulent flow.
The three turbulent branches, which all have the same slope, correspond to three different pipe diameters
whilst a single laminar line suffices for all diameters assuming that there is no slip between the fluid and
the wall. The Reynolds number at transition can be calculated from the value of 8V ⁄ D at which the turbulent
branch departs from the laminar line.

Sketch 6.1 Wall shear stress against 8V ⁄ D for laminar and turbulent pipe flow

In practice the angle of intersection is less well defined than shown in the sketch and a transition region
can be estimated between the laminar straight line and any turbulent straight line (see Section 9.2.2 for an
analysis using experimental data). Strictly speaking, only turbulent flow data from the characterisation
pipes are valid to allow scale-up to turbulent flow in larger pipes. However, measurements in the laminar
and transition regimes are essential in determining fully the rheology of the fluid and help to clarify the
transition region, a region that the designer should preferably avoid*. The method can be summarised as
follows.

(i) Conduct preliminary tube characterisation tests to measure wall shear stress and 8V ⁄ D using at
least two pipe diameters and under both laminar and turbulent flow conditions.

(ii) Plot all data as wall shear stress against 8V ⁄ D on log-log paper. The laminar data should collapse
onto one master curve and there should be one branching turbulent line for each pipe diameter.

(iii) The power of the velocity term, b , is the slope of the turbulent branch. Ideally all branches would
have identical slope but in practice calculate b for each pipe diameter and take a simple arithmetic
average. Take care to note the transition region (if any) and only include points that lie on the
straight turbulent branches.
b
(iv) Calculate LV ⁄ ∆ p for each turbulent data point.
b
(v) Plot LV ⁄ ∆ p against D on log-log paper. Draw a best fit straight line through the log-log data.
The slope of this line is 1 + c . Calculate c .
*
Whilst for economic reasons it may be advantageous to operate at as low R e ′ as possible, there are often good engineering reasons for
avoiding the transition region. Pressure losses in pipelines in transitional flow can fluctuate unpredictably thus placing the pump and
ancillary equipment under undue stress.

16
 91025
(vi) Calculate A for each turbulent data point from a rearrangement of Equations (6.2) and (5.2),

c
D ∆p D
A =  ----------- ------b . (6.3)
 4L 
V

Ideally A should be identical for all points but in practice calculate the simple arithmetic average
c
and use this as the A value. (Alternatively plot D τ w against V on a log-log graph. Log A is the
c
intercept on the D τ w axis of the best fit straight line through the data.)

The turbulent flow of the fluid in question can now be represented by Equation (6.2). A visual guide to the
c
effectiveness of this method can be seen by plotting D τ w against V on log-log paper. All the turbulent
data should collapse onto a single line with slope equal to b .

6.2.2 Pressure loss for other pipe diameters

Equation (6.2) can now be used directly to give pressure drop for any pipe diameter if the flow is turbulent.
Alternatively it can be used to construct a wall shear stress versus 8V ⁄ D turbulent line for any pipe diameter.
The procedure is as follows.

(i) With A , b and c previously obtained and knowing the new pipe size, D , and length, L , plot wall
shear stress, τ w (found from Equation (6.2)), against 8V ⁄ D (using a range of velocities) on the
same log-log graph as the characterisation runs.

(ii) Extrapolate the new pipe diameter line until it intersects the laminar flow line. This intersection
marks the absolute lowest limit of applicability of the turbulent line.

(iii) If the characterisation runs show a clear transition region, determine the locus of the onset of
turbulence and extrapolate this line until it intersects with the new pipe diameter line. This marks
the upper end of the transition region. The new diameter turbulent line is valid for values of 8V ⁄ D
and wall shear stress above this critical point.

17
 91025
7. FRICTIONAL LOSSES IN TURBULENT FLOW IN ROUGH-WALLED PIPES

No experimental data were available on the turbulent flow of non-Newtonian fluids in rough pipes. The
prediction methods of Section 7.1 and 7.2 are given only as a guide and should be used with caution. Two
additional methods based on the use of laminar flow viscometric data are described in Appendices C6
and C7.

7.1 Intermediate Rough-walled Pipes ( ε ⁄ D ≤ 0.1 )

The friction factor/Reynolds number relationship for the turbulent flow ( Re > 4000 ) of Newtonian fluids
can be represented to within 2% for ε ⁄ D ≤ 0.1 by


 
 6.9 ε 1.1 
f =  3.6 log 10 ------- +  --------------- . (7.1)
 Re  3.70D 
 

A modification of Equation (7.1) can be used to estimate the non-Newtonian frictional losses in non-smooth
walled pipes. This is an approximate method. The procedure is as follows

(i) Determine the smooth pipe friction factor, f s , from Section 6.

(ii) Evaluate the rough-walled friction factor, f r , from

6.9 ε  1.1
log10 -------- +  -------------- 3.70D
-
R e′
f r = f s ------------------------------------------------------------------ . (7.2)
6.9
log10 -------- Re′

7.2 Fully Rough-walled Pipes

Torrance12 proposes the following relationships for fully rough-walled pipes. Neither correlation was
supported by any experimental results.

For power-law fluids

1 4.07 D 2.65
------ = ---------- log10  -------- + 6.0 – ---------- . (7.3)
f n  2ε  n

For Bingham fluids

1 D
------ = 4.07 log10  -------- + 3.36. (7.4)
f  2ε 

18
 91025
8. FRICTIONAL LOSSES IN TRANSITIONAL REGION FLOW IN SMOOTH PIPES

For most design purposes it is recommended that the 2200 < Re′ < 3500 range should be avoided.
Guidance on frictional losses in transitional flows is given in References 29 and 30. The turbulent relation
of Dodge and Metzner6 (Equation (6.1)) can be used to provide an overestimate of the losses.

19
 91025
9. WORKED EXAMPLES

9.1 Example 1: Laminar Flow

Problem: It is required to pump a suspected non-Newtonian fluid over a distance of 52 m through a 0.2 m
diameter pipe under isothermal conditions. It is important to keep the flow in the laminar regime. What is
the maximum flowrate achievable and what is the pressure drop over the pipe length at this flowrate?

Solution: Firstly the rheological category of the fluid needs to be established (Section 3). To this end
rheological characterisation tests* were conducted in a tube viscometer at the same temperature as that at
which the proposed pipeline would operate. Values of 8V ⁄ D and wall shear stress ( D ∆ p ⁄ 4L ) were
measured. The results are given in Table 9.1 and plotted on log-log axes in Sketch 9.1. The density was
found to be 999.5 kg/m3.

TABLE 9.1 Results of Laminar Characterisation Experiment for Example 1

8V ⁄ D τ w = D ∆p ⁄ 4L

336 23.3

896 41.9

2690 79.2

8000 153

23100 291

35.2 4.69

104 9.33

284 17.2

677 29.0

1750 51.4

4300 90.3

10900 160

24800 270

51500 429

88800 594

*
The data used here are from run numbers 7A, 7B and 7C from Derivation 5.

20
 91025

Sketch 9.1 Results of laminar characterisation experiment for Example 1 (flow curve)

The best fit straight line to the log-log data is found by using a least squares method. The equation of this
line is

D∆ p 8V 
log10  -----------  = 0.61 log10  --------
- – 0.24 (9.1)
 4L   D
n′ 2
with a correlation coefficient of 0.997. Thus n′ = 0.61 and log10 K′ = – 0.24 , giving K′ = 0.57 N s ⁄ m .
Because n′ is constant with 8V ⁄ D (that is the log-log plot is fitted well by a straight line) the fluid can be
considered a power-law type. From Equation (3.3),

n = n′ = 0.61 (9.2)
K′
and K = ----------------------------
+ 3n  n
 1-------------------
 4n 
0.57
= -----------------------------------------------
+ 3 ( 0.61 )  0.61
 1-----------------------------
-
 4 ( 0.61 ) 
n 2
= 0.52 N s ⁄ m . (9.3)

(The wall shear rate can then be found from the Rabinoswitsch-Mooney equation (Equation (5.3) of
ESDU 95012). The flow curve can now be plotted, if required.)

An estimate of the laminar/transitional critical Reynolds number is made from Equation (4.8) as

 n-------------
+ 2
 n + 1
′ 6464n ( n + 2 )
Re P ,c = ---------------------------------------------------- = 2331 . (9.4)
2
( 1 + 3n )

In this case the two methods for determining laminar pressure loss are both applicable. Method I
(Section 5.1) requires a model to be fitted to the data and use made of Equation (5.3). Because the laminar

21
 91025
characterisation experiment was conducted in a tube viscometer, Method II (Section 5.2) is also directly
applicable. Both methods are demonstrated here.

9.1.1 Method I from Section 5.1

From a rearranged version of Equation (4.4), the mean velocity is found to be

1
n′ – 1 ---------------
 R e′K′8  2 – n′
V =  --------------------------------
n′
- (9.5)
 D ρ 
1 
 --------------------
-
( 0.61 – 1 )  2 – 0.61
( 2331 ) ( 0.57 )8
= -----------------------------------------------------------
0.61
( 0.2 ) ( 999.5 )
= 1.39 m/s.

The flowrate, Q , is found to be

π 2
Q = --- D V
4
π 2
= --- ( 0.2 ) ( 1.39 )
4
= 0.044 m3/s. (9.6)

The pressure loss for a power-law fluid in laminar flow at this flowrate is found from Equation (5.3) as
follows

n
4LK 8Q 3n + 1-
∆ p = ----------- ----------3  ----------------
n 
D πD
0.61
( 0.044 )  3 ( 0.61 ) + 1
4 ( 52 ) ( 0.52 ) 8--------------------- - ------------------------------
= ------------------------------- 3  0.61 
0.2 π ( 0.2 )

= 6.9 kN/m2. (9.7)

9.1.2 Method II from Section 5.2

Steps (ii) to (v) can be bypassed in this case as it can be seen from Sketch 9.1 that the fluid is of a power-law
type. The critical Reynolds number is already known and application of Equation (4.3) gives

16 16
f = -------- = ------------ = 0.0069 . (9.8)
Re′ 2331

The pressure drop is obtained from rearranging and combining Equations (4.2) and (5.2) (where the mean
velocity was found in Equation (9.4)) which gives

22
 91025
4L 1 2
∆p = ------ --- fρV
D2
4 ( 52 ) 2
= ---------------- (0.0069)(999.5)(1.39) = 6.9 kN/m2 . (9.9)
2 ( 0.2 )

Whichever method is chosen a check needs to be made to ensure that the wall shear stress in the pipeline
falls within the range covered by the characterisation experiment. From Equation (5.2) the wall shear stress
is

D ∆p
τ w = ----------- (5.2)
4L
3
( 0.2 ) ( 6.9 × 10 )
= ------------------------------------------
4 ( 52 )
= 6.6 N/m2. (9.10)

This falls at the lowest extreme of the characterisation test. To be certain of the accuracy of the flowrate
and pressure loss results obtained, more characterisations should be conducted at lower wall shear stresses
(see Table 5.1 of ESDU 95012).

9.2 Example 2: Turbulent Flow of a Power-Law Fluid

Problem: The fluid of Example 1 is to be pumped at a flowrate of 0.340 m 3/s along a pipeline of length
175 m and internal diameter 0.38 m. What pressure drop would be expected with such a system?

Solution: The characterisation run conducted for Example 1 revealed that the fluid could be represented
by the power-law model (Section 3) with n = n′ = 0.61 and K = 0.52 N sn⁄ m 2 ( K′ = 0.57 N sn'⁄ m 2 ).
Using the new pipeline parameters the mean velocity is found from

Q
V = -----------
π 2
--- D
4
0.340
= ----------------------
π
--- ( 0.38 ) 2
4
= 3.0 m/s. (9.11)

The generalised Reynolds number (Equation (4.4)) is

n′ 2 – n′
D V ρ
Re′ = -----------------------------
n′ – 1
K′8
0.61 2 – 0.61
( 0.38 ) ( 3.0 ) ( 999.5 )
= --------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.61 – 1
( 0.57 )8
= 9950 . (9.12)

The flow is thus in the turbulent regime (Section 4). There are two possible methods of finding the turbulent
frictional losses (Section 6). Both will be demonstrated here.

23
 91025
9.2.1 Method I from Section 6.1

(i) The characterisation experiment has already been conducted (see Section 9.1).

(ii) The Dodge-Metzner friction factor chart (Figure 1) is of limited application here because n′ = 0.61
is not one of the lines plotted. However it does serve to give a guide as to the approximate value
of f . Reading from the n′ = 0.6 curve for Re′ = 10000 gives f ≈ 0.0055 . From a rearrangement
of Equations (4.2) and (5.2),

4L 1 2
∆ p = ------ --- ρV f
D2
4 ( 175 ) 2
= ------------------- ( 999.5 ) ( 3.0 ) ( 0.0055 )
2 ( 0.38 )
= 45 600 N/m2. (9.13)

This value can be used as an estimate for ∆ p . A check should be made to ensure that the wall shear stress
of the scaled-up case falls within the range of the laminar characterisation experiment. From Equation (5.2),

D ∆p
τ w = ----------- (5.2)
4L
( 0.38 ) ( 45 600 )
= ---------------------------------------
4 ( 175 )
= 24.7 N/m2, (9.14)

which is within the wall shear stress range of the characterisation experiment (see Table 9.1).

If a more accurate method of determining ∆ p is required use must be made of the accompanying computer
program (see Part II). This gives f = 0.00560 . From a rearrangement of Equations (4.2) and (5.2),

4L 1 2
∆p = ------ --- ρV f
D2
4 ( 175 ) 2
= ------------------- ( 999.5 ) ( 3.0 ) ( 0.00560 )
2 ( 0.38 )
= 46 400 N/m2. (9.15)

Again wall shear stress should be found and checked against the laminar characterisation experiment and
from Equation (5.2),

D ∆p
τ w = ----------- (5.2)
4L
( 0.38 ) ( 46 400 )
= ---------------------------------------
4 ( 175 )
= 25.2 N/m2, (9.16)

which lies within the range of Table 9.1.

24
 91025
9.2.2 Method II from Section 6.2

(i) Experiments were conducted on three pipe diameters in both laminar and turbulent flow. Table 9.2
gives the results of these tests.

(ii) Sketch 9.2 shows the plot of wall shear stress against mean shear rate and also includes the laminar
calibration data.

(iii) The laminar line can be clearly seen as can the three turbulent branches corresponding to the three
pipe diameters. There also appears to be a transition region where each turbulent branch intersects
the laminar line. The slope here is steeper than that of the turbulent branch. Taking care only to
include points above the apparent transition region, the slopes of these branches are found by use
of a linear least squares fit. An equation of the form

D ∆p 8V 
 --------
log10  ------------- = b log10 - + constant (9.17)
 4L   D 

is used. The values for b are:

D = 0.016 m , b = 1.60
D = 0.027 m , b = 1.58
D = 0.053 m , b = 1.54 ,

and hence the value of b is taken as 1.58, the average of the three values.
b
(iv) Table 9.2 shows the results of the calculation of LV ⁄ ∆ p for each turbulent data point.
b
(v) Sketch 9.3 shows the log-log plot of LV ⁄ ∆ p against D . The best fit straight line of the form

 b
log10  LV
---------- = ( 1 + c ) log10 D + constant , (9.18)
 ∆p 

is applied to the data and gives

 LV b
log10  ---------
- = 1.24 log10 D – 1.09 . (9.19)
 ∆p 

Thus c = 0.24 .

(vi) Table 9.2 shows values of A as found from Equation (6.3) for each turbulent data point. The average
A value is 3.07 N sb⁄ m 2 + b – c .
c
Sketch 9.4 is a plot of D τ w against V on log-log axes and serves as a check on the above procedure. All
the data collapse onto a single line as expected. The slope of this line should be identical to b . A least

25
 91025
squares straight line fit to the data gives

c
log10 ( D τ w ) = b log10 V + constant (9.20)
= 1.54 log10 V + 0.51 .

The slope of 1.54 compares well with the average b value of 1.58. Thus the turbulent flow of this fluid can
be represented by a form of Equation (6.2)

1.58
V
τ w = 3.07 ------------
0.24
-. (9.21)
D

Sketch 9.2 can now be extended by the method of Section 6.2.2 to include a turbulent branch for
D = 0.38 m. Sketch 9.5 shows this new line. If 8V⁄ D is known, τ w can be read directly from this graph
and pressure loss found from Equation (5.2)). Note that the scale-up line is drawn to intersect the transition
and laminar region lines but the scale-up line is valid only for values of τ w and 8V⁄ D greater than the
intercept of the scale-up and upper limit transition lines.

Previously V was found from Equation (9.10) to be 3.0 m/s so for the 0.38 m diameter pipeline, from
Equations (5.2) and (9.20),

1.58
( 0.38 ) ∆ p ( 3.0 )
---------------------- = 3.07 ------------------------ , (9.22)
4 ( 175 ) ( 0.38 )
0.24

and ∆ p = 40 500 N/m2.

26
 91025
TABLE 9.2 Results of Further Experiments

Diameter Length ∆p Velocity τ 8V⁄ D b


LV ⁄∆ p A c
w D τ
m m N/m2 m/s N/m2 1/s step (iv) step (vi) w
0.016 4.27 2.00 41.1 1009
0.016 4.27 2.84 50.1 1430
0.016 4.27 3.90 64.9 1970
0.016 4.27 4.61 73.9 2320
0.016 4.27 5.25 90.2 2640
0.016 4.27 5.43 104 2740
0.016 4.27 136000 5.76 126 2900 0.000498 2.94 46.6
0.016 4.27 173000 6.39 161 3220 0.000460 3.18 59.4
0.016 4.27 205000 7.14 191 3600 0.000462 3.17 70.5
0.016 4.27 236000 7.94 220 4000 0.000475 3.09 81.1
0.016 4.27 284000 9.01 264 4540 0.000482 3.04 97.5
0.016 4.27 341000 10.1 317 5080 0.000480 3.05 117
0.016 4.27 395000 11.0 367 5560 0.000477 3.07 136
0.016 4.27 438000 11.8 407 5940 0.000479 3.06 150
0.016 4.27 500000 12.8 465 6470 0.000480 3.05 171
0.016 4.27 575000 14.0 535 7070 0.000479 3.06 197
0.027 4.34 1.67 26.3 498
0.027 4.34 2.42 34.6 722
0.027 4.34 3.02 40.6 900
0.027 4.34 3.36 44.4 1003
0.027 4.34 3.80 51.7 1130
0.027 4.34 4.11 66.8 1230
0.027 4.34 52200 4.60 80.6 1370 0.000924 3.04 33.8
0.027 4.34 64000 5.26 99.0 1570 0.000931 3.02 41.4
0.027 4.34 79600 6.03 123 1700 0.000929 3.03 51.5
0.027 4.34 98700 6.91 153 2060 0.000929 3.02 63.9
0.027 4.34 122000 7.91 188 2360 0.000932 3.02 78.9
0.027 4.34 152000 9.03 235 2690 0.000918 3.06 98.6
0.027 4.34 184000 10.3 284 3060 0.000932 3.02 119
0.027 4.34 235000 11.7 363 3490 0.000897 3.13 152
0.027 4.34 281000 13.1 434 3900 0.000894 3.14 182
0.027 4.34 352000 15.0 544 4470 0.000884 3.18 228
0.053 2.64 1.07 30.4 163
0.053 2.64 1.79 18.3 273
0.053 2.64 2.47 23.6 377
0.053 2.64 1.09 13.3 166
0.053 2.64 1.79 18.3 273
0.053 2.64 2.43 23.1 371
0.053 2.64 2.91 30.0 444
0.053 2.64 3.15 36.9 481
0.053 2.64 8410 3.33 41.7 507 0.002093 3.08 20.5
0.053 2.64 9600 3.61 47.4 551 0.002097 3.06 23.3
0.053 2.64 11400 4.03 56.4 615 0.002098 3.06 27.8
0.053 2.64 13600 4.54 67.5 692 0.002113 3.05 33.2
0.053 2.64 17600 5.37 87.5 819 0.002128 3.03 43.0

27
 91025

Sketch 9.2 Wall shear stress against 8V⁄ D for both laminar and turbulent flow
in three pipes of different diameters (Example 2)

Sketch 9.3 Best fit straight line used to determine c (Example 2)

28
 91025

Sketch 9.4 Plot of Equation (9.19) with best fit straight line (Example 2)

Sketch 9.5 Plot of Sketch 9.2 extended to include prediction for a pipe of
diameter 0.38 m (Example 2)

29
 91025
9.3 Example 3: Turbulent Flow of a Bingham Fluid

This example uses the data of Wilhelm et al.2 on the flow of a 54.3% by weight rock slurry that was
categorised as being Bingham plastic. The data exist in the form of pressure loss, velocity, Reynolds number
and friction factor information on the flow through three different pipe sizes: 0.75 in (0.019 m), 1.5 in
(0.038 m) and 3 in (0.076 m). The data are presented in Table 9.3.

Problem: A general scale-up procedure is required for predicting the pressure losses in turbulent flow of
a 54.3% rock slurry. What is the relationship between pressure drop, diameter, length and flowrate for such
a fluid?

Solution: The analysis uses Method II from Section 6.2.

(i) See Table 9.3.

(ii) Sketch 9.6 shows the plot of wall shear stress against 8V⁄ D for all the data.

(iii) The data in the laminar region are difficult to correlate visually onto a single line. However, the
turbulent data branches for the 0.019 m and 0.038 m pipes are clearly shown. The 0.076 m pipe
data were clearly laminar (see Sketch 6.3 of ESDU 95012) and were not used in the turbulent
correlation. A best fit line can be drawn through the highest six points for the 0.019 m pipe and the
highest four points for the 0.038 m pipe. The resulting values for b are

D = 0.019 m b = 1.82

D = 0.038 m b = 1.75

average b = 1.79 .

b
(iv) Table 9.3 shows the results of the calculation of LV ⁄ ∆ p for each turbulent data point.
b
(v) Sketch 9.7 shows the log-log plot of LV ⁄ ∆ p against D . The slope of the best-fit straight line is
1.17, thus giving c = 0.17 .

(vi) Table 9.3 shows A as found from Equation (6.3) for each turbulent data point. The average A value
is 2.92 N s b ⁄ m 2 + b – c
c
Sketch 9.8 is a plot of D τ w against V on log-log axes. The slope of the best fit line should be identical to
b . In this case the slope is 1.80 which compares well with the b value of 1.79. Thus the turbulent flow of
this Bingham plastic fluid can be represented by

1.79
V
τ w = 2.92 ------------
0.17
-. (9.23)
D

This equation can be used in any necessary scaling-up procedure.

30
 91025
TABLE 9.3 Results of Laminar and Turbulent Experiments on 54.3% by Weight Rock Slurry
Diameter Length ∆p Velocity τw 8V⁄ D b
LV ⁄ ∆ p A c
D τ
m m N/m2 m/s N/m2 1/s step (iv) step (vi) w
0.019 30.5 338000 3.48 52.7 1460 0.000834 2.88 26.7
0.019 30.5 305000 3.23 47.7 1360 0.000809 2.98 24.2
0.019 30.5 257000 2.97 40.2 1250 0.000828 2.91 20.3
0.019 30.5 165000 2.26 25.7 947 0.000790 3.05 13.0
0.019 30.5 107000 1.81 16.7 762 0.000826 2.92 8.44
0.019 30.5 62200 1.38 9.73 577 0.000864 2.79 4.92
0.019 30.5 43000 0.893 6.72 375
0.019 30.5 48400 1.20 7.56 504
0.019 30.5 33400 0.360 5.22 151
0.019 30.5 38600 0.44 6.04 186
0.038 30.5 106000 2.87 33.2 602 0.001877 2.89 18.9
0.038 30.5 78300 2.41 24.5 507 0.001877 2.89 13.9
0.038 30.5 50300 1.86 15.7 390 0.001829 2.97 8.96
0.038 30.5 34600 1.52 10.8 318 0.001850 2.93 6.16
0.038 30.5 19100 1.09 5.97 230
0.038 30.5 15200 0.698 4.76 147
0.038 30.5 17300 0.512 5.40 108
0.038 30.5 17700 0.375 5.54 78.7
0.038 30.5 15200 0.122 4.76 25.6
0.076 30.5 10400 0.838 6.52 88.0
0.076 30.5 9100 0.704 5.69 73.9
0.076 30.5 10400 0.500 6.52 52.5
0.076 30.5 10400 0.265 6.52 27.8
0.076 30.5 9580 0.143 5.99 15.0
0.076 30.5 6370 0.067 3.98 7.04
0.076 30.5 7710 0.098 4.82 10.2

31
 91025

Sketch 9.6 Wall shear stress against 8V⁄ D for both laminar and turbulent flow
in three pipes of different diameters (Example 3)

Sketch 9.7 Best fit straight line used to determine c (Example 3)

32
 91025

Sketch 9.8 Plot of Equation (9.22) with best fit straight line (Example 3)

33
 91025
10. DERIVATION AND REFERENCES

10.1 Derivation

The Derivation lists sources that have assisted in the preparation of this Item.

1. BLASIUS, H. Das Ahnlichkeitsgesetz bei Reibungsvorgangen in Flussigkeitzen.


Forschg Arb. Ing-Wes., 134, 1913.
2. WILHELM, R.H. Flow of suspensions in pipes. Ind. Engng Chem., Vol.3, No.5, May 1939.
WROUGHTON, D.M.
LOEFFEL, W.F.
3. METZNER, A.B. Flow of non-Newtonian fluids - correlation of the laminar, transition and
REED, J.C. turbulent flow regions. AIChEJ, Vol.1, No.4, pp.434-440, Dec. 1955.
4. SHAVER, R.G. Ph.D. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1957.
5. DODGE, D.W. Turbulent flow of non-Newtonian fluids in smooth round pipes. Ph.D.
Thesis, University of Delaware, June 1958.
6. DODGE, D.W. Turbulent flow of non-Newtonian systems. AIChEJ, Vol.5, No.2,
METZNER, A.B. pp.189-204, 1959.
7. SHAVER, R.G. Turbulent flow of pseudoplastic polymer solution in straight cylindrical
MERRILL, E.W. pipes. AIChEJ, Vol.5, No.2, pp.181-188, 1959.
8. TOMITA, Y. A study of non-Newtonian flow in pipe-lines. Trans. Jap. Soc, Mech.
Engrs, Vol.2, No.5, pp.10-16, 1959.
9. THOMAS, G. The turbulent flow of non-Newtonian fluids in smooth pipes. Ph.D.
Thesis, University College of Swansea, Sept. 1960.
10. BOWEN, R.L. Designing turbulent flow systems. Chem. Engng, Vol.68, pp.143-150,
July 1961.
11. CLAPP, R.M. Turbulent heat transfer in pseudoplastic non-Newtonian fluids.
International Developments in Heat Transfer. Trans Am. Soc. mech.
Engrs, Part III, Sec. A., pp.652-661, 1961.
12. TORRANCE, B.McK. Friction factors for turbulent non-Newtonian fluid flow in circular pipes.
South African Mech. Engr, Vol.13, pp.89-91, 1963.
13. HANKS, R.W. Low Reynolds number turbulent pipeline flow of pseudo-homogeneous
slurries. Proc. Hydrotransport V, 5th Int. Conf. Hydraulic Transp. Solid
in Pipes. Hannover, Germany, Paper C2, pp. 23-24, 8-11th May, 1978.
14. SKELLAND, A.H.P. Non-Newtonian flow and heat transfer. John Wiley & Sons Inc., New
York, 1967.
15. HANKS, R.W. Theoretical analysis of the turbulent flow of non-Newtonian slurries in
DADIA, B.H. pipes. AIChEJ, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 554-557, 1971.
16. GOVIER, G.W. Flow of complex mixtures in pipes. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company,
AZIZ, K. New York, 1972.
17. QUADER, A.K.M. Heat transfer and pressure drop in non-Newtonian turbulent flow. Ph.D.
Thesis, University of Bradford, June 1972.

34
 91025
18. KEMBLOWSKI, Z. Flow resistances of non-Newtonian fluids in transitional and turbulent
KOLODZIEJSKI, J. flow. Int. Chem. Eng., Vol.12, No.2, pp.265-279, 1973.
19. YOO, S.S. Heat transfer and friction factors for non-Newtonian fluids in turbulent
pipe flow. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Illinois, 1974.
20. DENNIS, J.E. Non-linear least squares and equations. State of the Art in Numerical
Analysis, ed. D. Jacobs, pp.269-312, 1976.
21. HEYWOOD, N.I. Pipeline design for non-Newtonian fluids. Proc. Interflow 80, Inst. Chem.
Engrs Symposium Series, No.60, pp.33-52, 1980.
22. SZILAS, A. P. Determination of turbulent pressure loss of non-Newtonian oil flow in
BOBOK, E. rough pipes. Rheol. Acta, Vol.20, pp.487-496, 1981.
NAVRATIL, L.
23. DERBY, R. How to predict the friction factor for the flow of Bingham plastics.
MELTON, J. Chem. Engng., Vol. 88, No. 26, pp.59-61, Dec. 1981.
24. ESDU Non-Newtonian fluids: introduction and guide to classification and
characteristics. Item No. 82036, ESDU International plc, London,
December 1982.
25. HEYWOOD, N.I. Comparison of methods for predicting head loss in turbulent pipe flow of
CHENG, D.C.H. non-Newtonian fluids. Trans. Inst. M. C., Vol.6, No.1, pp.33-45, 1984.
26. BROWN, N.P. Slurry handling: Design of Solid-liquids Systems. Elsevier, London,
HEYWOOD, N.I. 1991.

10.2 References

The references given are recommended sources of information supplementary to that in this Item.

27. HEDSTRÖM, B.O.A. Flow of plastics materials in pipes. Ind. Eng. Chem., Vol.44, No.3,
pp.651-656, 1952.
28. METZNER, A.B. Non-Newtonian technology: fluid mechanics, mixing, and heat transfer.
Advances in Chemical Engineering, Vol. 1, pp.77-153, Academic Press,
New York, 1956.
29. RYAN, N.W. Transition from laminar to turbulent flow in pipes. AIChEJ, Vol. 5, pp.
JOHNSON, M.M. 433-5, 1959.
30. CHENG, D. C-H. A design procedure for pipeline flow of non-Newtonian dispersed
systems. Paper J5, 1st. Int. Conf. on Hydraulic Transport of Solids in
Pipes, U. Warwick, U.K., BHRA, Sept. 1970.
31. QUADER, A.K.M. Correlation of turbulent flow rate-pressure drop data for non-Newtonian
WILKINSON, W.L. solutions and slurries in pipes. Int. J. multiphase Flow, Vol.6,
pp.553-561, 1980.
32. GARCIA, E.L. Comparison of friction factor equations for non-Newtonian fluids in
STEFFE, J.F. pipe flow. J. Food Process Eng., Vol.9, No.2, pp.93-120, 1987.
33. ESDU Non-Newtonian fluids: obtaining viscometric data for frictional pressure
loss estimation for pipeflow. Item No. 95012, ESDU International,
London, September 1996.

35
 91025

0.1
0.09
0.08
0.07

0.06

0.05

0.04

0.03

0.02

laminar

f
0.01
0.009
0.008
0.007

0.006 n'
0.005 1.0
0.004 0.9
0.8
0.7
0.003 0.6
0.5

0.002

0.001 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
103 104 105

Re'

FIGURE 1 DODGE-METZNER FRICTION FACTOR CHART

36
 91025

HeB
4 5
10 10 10 6
107

0.1

Locus of laminar/turbulent
f transition
14

0.01

Laminar flow
(Newtonian)

0.001
102 103 104 105 106 107
ReB

FIGURE 2 FRICTION FACTOR CHART FOR BINGHAM PLASTIC FLUIDS IN SMOOTH PIPES

37

10 -1

8
7
6

5
TURBULENT FLOW
4

ε / DE
3

0.1
2 0.07
CRITICAL
LA
M FLO

0.04
IN

ZONE Hy
dra
AR W

u lic
a ll y 0.02
Ro
f ug h
10 -2
In t 0.01
e rm
8 edi 0.007
a te
Zo
38

7 ne 0.004
6
0.002
5 0.001
0.0007
4 H yd r
au lic 0.0004
a ll y S
m o ot 0.0002
h
3 0.0001

For Equations to curves see Section 11 0.000001


2 Smooth pipes

10 -3

91025
10 3 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 4 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 5 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 6 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 7

Re

FIGURE 3 FRICTION FACTOR FOR STRAIGHT PIPES


 91025
PART II: COMPUTER PROGRAMS

11. INTRODUCTION

The analysis of non-Newtonian rheology is complex enough to merit the use of computers to aid solution.
Presented here are two procedures for predicting pressure losses for the flow of fluids subject to the
idealisations of Section 5.1. If only laminar flow information is available, the method of Section 5.2 is used
for predicting laminar flow pressure losses and the correlation of Dodge and Metzner (Method I of
Section 6.1) is used for turbulent and transitional flow pressure losses. If turbulent information is available
for two or more pipe diameters, the method of Bowen (Section 6.2) is used. Thus there are two programs
associated with this Item, A9125A which uses the turbulent f, Re′ correlation of Dodge and Metzner and
the laminar f = 16 ⁄ Re′ , and A9125B which uses the method of Bowen. Both programs will calculate either
pressure loss, volume flowrate, pipe diameter or pipe length if the other three are known.

11.1 Running the Programs

ESDUpacs A9125A and A9125B are provided on disk in two versions, as described below. Example input
and output files are included with both versions.

The interactive versions are contained within ESDUview, a user-friendly 'windowing' environment for
running ESDUpacs. ESDUview manages all operations such as setting up input files, running the Fortran
codes and viewing the output files. On selecting ESDUpac A9125A or A9125B from the menu of available
programs, the user is prompted for all the input data. Guidance is provided on the features of ESDUview
and all the program variables in the context-sensitive HELP facility. At various points throughout operation
a number of checks are carried out on the entered data. Error messages alert the user to incorrect numerical
values and guide in their correction; other potential problems are highlighted by warning messages.

The features of ESDUview are described fully in the Fluid Mechanics, Internal Flow Software Volume.

The source code is contained in the Fluid Mechanics, Internal Flow Software Volume. Executable
versions of the programs can be obtained by compiling* the code, which is written in ANSI standard Fortran
77. In order to run these versions, the user creates data files, which contain the input data required by the
programs, by following exactly the data input sequence of Sections 12.2 and 13.2. By compiling the source
code the programs can be operated on a range of computers. To run the executable versions of the programs
from the keyboard the name of the data input files must be specified on the command line using the operating
system redirection symbols, e.g. for MS-DOS:

A9125A < IN9125 > RS9125

The ESDUview versions of the programs are recommended for their ease of operation. Instructions for
creating the data input files are given in Sections 12.2 and 13.2 for users who wish to compile the source
code and run the program directly. Although the ESDUview versions can be operated without reference to
this Data Item, the user may find useful the guidance (complementary to that in the ESDUview HELP
facility) on the program variables and model details given in Sections 12 and 13.

*
Guidance on the compilation and running of the program is given in the "Introduction to ESDUpacs" in the Fluid Mechanics, Internal
Flow Software Volume.

39
 91025
12. METHOD OF DODGE AND METZNER: PROGRAM A9125A

12.1 Notes

The program requires a controlling file to operate. If the user wishes to find the rheological parameters of
the fluid, a data file containing information on the laminar flow of the fluid must also be provided. The
formats of these files are given in Section 12.2. The program has been written for “directed” input, that is,
the user specifies the controlling file name when running the program*. For example, to run the program
using a controlling file called “INPUT1” the user would type

A9125A < INPUT1

at the DOS prompt, again noting the spaces and the “direction operator” <.

12.2 Program Input

The data input sequence of this Section must be followed exactly.

The program reads the required information from a controlling file specified by the user. This controlling
file contains the information on the scaled-up case to be solved (if any) and on the rheological parameters
of the fluid, which can either be entered directly by the user or calculated from a laminar data file specified
by the user.

The use of input files allows the information to be checked before each run and edited if necessary. Table
13.1 shows the form of the controlling input file. An attempt has been made to make this file “user friendly”
and to this end each line begins with a 33 character string (including spaces) which gives some information
on the variable required. It is imperative that the exact form of this file is used otherwise the program will
show an error.

TABLE 12.1 General Controlling File

Line
Input parameter SI units Variable Type
number

1 The output results file to which all the program output is


– CHARACTER
written.
2 Ignored by program. – None

3 Ignored by program. – None

4 Line 1 of the title which is a maximum of 75 characters


– CHARACTER
long.
5 Line 2 of the title which is a maximum of 75 characters
– CHARACTER
long.
6 Line 3 of the title which is a maximum of 75 characters
– CHARACTER
long.
7 Ignored by program. – None

*
The supplied source code disk contains two controlling files for the examples in Section 12.4.

40
 91025
TABLE 12.1 General Controlling File

8 System of units. Answer 'SI' or 'BRITISH' – CHARACTER

9 Ignored by program. – None

10 Ignored by program. – None

11 Do you require to solve for a scaled-up case? Answer 'YES'


– CHARACTER
or 'NO'.

The path through the controlling file differs depending on the answer to the scaled-up case question on line
11. If 'YES' is entered, the program requires the following four lines. The program will solve for any of
these four variables providing that the other three are specified. To indicate the unknown variable enter
–999.0. The program searches for this value and solves for that variable.

12 Fluid density, ρ . kg/m3 REAL

13 Pipe diameter for scaled-up case, D . m REAL

14 Pipe length for scaled-up case, L . m REAL

15 Volume flowrate for scaled-up case, Q . m3/s REAL

16 Pressure drop for scaled-up case, ∆ p . N/m2 REAL

The next lines refer to the flow model to be used. The program will find the rheological parameters for
either a power-law or a Herschel-Bulkley model if provided with a data file containing information on the
laminar flow of the fluid. Alternatively if both the flow model and the associated rheological parameters
are known they can be input directly.

The line numbers given below assume that a scaled-up case solution is required. The number in brackets
would be the line number if a scaled-up case solution is not required.

To find the rheological parameters from a laminar data file, the following input is required.

17 (12) Ignored by program. – None

18 (13) Ignored by program. – None

19 (14) Fit type or flow model. Either


'CALCULATE PL' to fit a power law to the data or
– CHARACTER
'CALCULATE HB' to fit a Herschel-Bulkley model to the
data.
20 (15) Laminar flow data file name. – CHARACTER

41
 91025
21 (16) This line is only applicable if you have selected
'CALCULATE HB':
If the program calculates the yield stress as negative, a
– CHARACTER
power-law fit is applied instead of a Herschel-Bulkley
model. Do you wish to override this decision? Answer
'YES' or 'NO'.
21 (16) Next two lines are only applicable if you have selected
'CALCULATE PL' :
– CHARACTER
Do you wish the program to calculate the data to enable an
f - Re' curve to be plotted? Answer 'YES' or 'NO'.
22 (17) If the answer to the previous question is 'YES', input the
– CHARACTER
name of the file to which the f - Re' data are to be written.

To use a user-defined power law model, the following input is required.

17 (12) Ignored by program. – None

18 (13) Ignored by program. – None

19 (14) Fit type or flow model. Enter 'POWER LAW'. – CHARACTER


n' 2
20 (15) K′ N s ⁄m REAL

21 (16) n′ – REAL

22 (17) Do you wish the program to calculate the data to enable an


– CHARACTER
f - Re' curve to be plotted? Answer 'YES' or 'NO'.
23 (18) If the answer to the previous question is 'YES', input the
– CHARACTER
name of the file to which the f - Re' data are to be written.

To use a user-defined Herschel-Bulkley model, the following input is required.

17 (12) Ignored by program. – None

18 (13) Ignored by program. – None

19 (14) Flow model. Enter 'HERSCHEL BULKLEY'. – CHARACTER

20 (15) Yield stress, τ y – REAL


n 2
21 (16) Herschel-Bulkley consistency index, K HB . N s ⁄m REAL

22 (17) Flow behaviour index, n . – REAL

A typical controlling file is given in Table 12.2. This file tells the program that the user wishes to solve for
a scaled-up case in which the unknown is pressure drop. The rheological parameters are to be found from

42
 91025
a laminar data file called 'IN9125A.LAM' to which a Herschel-Bulkley type fit is to be applied. If the
program calculates a negative yield stress, τ y , the user has not overridden the decision of the program to
apply a power law fit instead.

Note that the text within the 33 character string (at the start of all lines except the titles) is ignored by the
program and is merely a method of annotating the file for the user’s information only.

TABLE 12.2 Typical Controlling File


’Output Filename ‘ ‘RS9125A.02’
‘ ‘
‘TITLE ON NEXT 3 LINES ‘
‘Example 2 from Data Item Section 9.2.’
‘Herschel Bulkley fit requested.’
‘ ‘
‘ ‘
‘UNITS SYSTEM ‘ ‘SI’
‘ ‘
‘SCALED UP CASE INFO ‘
‘ Scaled-up case? ‘ ‘YES’
‘ Density ‘ 999.5
‘ Diameter ‘ 0.38
‘ Pipe Length ‘ 175.0
‘ Volume Flowrate ‘ 0.34
‘ Pressure Drop ‘ -999.0
‘ ‘
‘FLOW MODEL INFO ‘
‘ fit type ‘ ‘CALCULATE HB’
‘ laminar filename ‘ ‘IN9125A.LAM’
‘ override program? ‘ ‘NO ‘

The format of the laminar data file is given in Table 12.3 with a typical example in Table 12.4. The maximum
number of data points that the program can accept is 100. Again it is important that the form of this data
file is followed exactly.

TABLE 12.3 General Data File

Line
Input parameter SI units Variable Type
number

1. The 'type' of the laminar characterisation experiment. Enter


– CHARACTER
either 'TUBE' or 'NOT TUBE'
2.-101 The data arranged in pairs. If the data are from a tube
s_1,
(max) viscometer, the entries are 8V ⁄ D and τw . If the data are REAL, REAL
N/m2
not from a tube viscometer, the entries are γ· and τ .

A typical data file is given in Table 12.4 for the case of tube viscometer data.

43
 91025
TABLE 12.4 Typical Data File
'TUBE'
335.7 23.28
896.0 41.92
2693.0 79.19
8000.0 152.73
23110.0 290.63
35.1 4.69
104.2 9.33
283.9 17.20
677.3 28.95
1748.0 51.37
4296.0 90.30
10880.0 160.15
24760.0 270.04
51470.0 429.48
105400.0 636.80
88760.0 593.71

If the user has selected 'CALCULATE PL' or 'POWER LAW' and has requested that the program calculate
the data to enable plotting the f - Re′ curve, a file of the form of Table 12.5 is produced by the program.
The label refers to the value of n′ used in deriving the friction factors.

TABLE 12.5 f - Re' Data for a Power Law Fluid


‘Re-f data ‘
‘label for graphing : ‘ ‘ nprime = .61’
‘ Reprme f ‘
100.0 .160000
200.0 .080000
300.0 .053333
400.0 .040000
500.0 .032000
600.0 .026667
700.0 .022857
800.0 .020000
900.0 .017778
1000.0 .016000
1000.0 .016000
2000.0 .008000
2100.0 .009347
3000.0 .008236
4000.0 .007469
5000.0 .006941
6000.0 .006547
7000.0 .006237
8000.0 .005986
9000.0 .005775
10000.0 .005596
20000.0 .004588
30000.0 .004114
40000.0 .003818
50000.0 .003609
60000.0 .003450
70000.0 .003323
80000.0 .003219
90000.0 .003130
100000.0 .003054

44
 91025
12.3 Program Output

All output is written to the file named on line 1 of the controlling file. The first 27 lines of the output file
contain a standard header to identify the program. The output then lists the titles given in lines 4, 5 and 6
of the controlling file followed by all the user input parameters and the user choices as to the route through
the program.

This is followed by a list of any error or warning messages that were invoked during operation of the
program. These error messages are not intended to be definitive but will provide the user with some
assistance should the program fail to work.

If a scaled-up case was requested, the results are then listed. If the program derived the rheological
parameters from a laminar characterisation experiment, the results of the various model fits are then
presented. Examples of the output files are listed in Section 12.4.

12.4 Examples

Listed below are the controlling data and output files corresponding to the worked examples of Section 9.

Example 1 from Section 9.1. The controlling file is shown in Table 12.6, the data file in Table 12.7 and
the output file in Table 12.8. In this case the program cannot solve directly for volume flowrate as pressure
drop is also unknown (remembering that the program will solve for either pipe diameter, pipe length, volume
flowrate or pressure drop providing that the other three are known). However, the program can find the
power law parameters n′ and K′ . This will be demonstrated here.

TABLE 12.6 Controlling File (IN9125A.01) for Example 1, Section 9.1


’Output Filename ‘ ‘RS9125A.01’
‘ ‘
‘TITLE ON NEXT 3 LINES ‘
‘Example 1 from Data Item Section 9.1.’
‘Power Law fit applied.’
‘’
‘ ‘
‘UNITS SYSTEM ‘ ‘SI’
‘ ‘
‘SCALED UP CASE INFO ‘
‘ Scaled-up case? ‘ ‘NO ‘
‘ ‘
‘FLOW MODEL INFO ‘
‘ fit type ‘ ‘CALCULATE PL’
‘ laminar filename ‘ ‘IN9125A.LAM’
‘ Do you want the f-Re graph? ‘ ‘NO ‘

TABLE 12.7 Data File (IN9125A.LAM) for Example 1, Section 9.1


'TUBE'
335.7 23.28
896.0 41.92
2693.0 79.19
8000.0 152.73
23110.0 290.63
35.1 4.69
104.2 9.33
283.9 17.20
677.3 28.95
1748.0 51.37
4296.0 90.30
10880.0 160.15

45
 91025
24760.0 270.04
51470.0 429.48
105400.0 636.80
88760.0 593.71

TABLE 12.8 Output File (RS9125A.01) for Example 1, Section 9.1


****************************************************************

ESDU International plc.

PROGRAM A9125A

ESDUpac Number : A9125A


ESDUpac Title : Non-Newtonian Fluids :
Frictional pressure loss
prediction for fully developed
flow in straight pipes.
Method of Dodge and Metzner.

Data Item Number : 91025


Data Item Title : Non-Newtonian Fluids :
Frictional pressure loss
prediction for fully developed
flow in straight pipes.

ESDUpac Version : 1.0 December 1991

See Data Item for full input/output specification


and interpretation

****************************************************************

TITLE OF RUN :

Example 1 from Data Item Section 9.1.


Power Law fit applied.

Unit system used : SI

Laminar file used : IN9125A.LAM


which was of type : TUBE
Power law fit applied.

----------------------------------------------------------------

********************************************
* *
* there are no error or warning messages. *
* *
********************************************

****************************************************************

46
 91025
CHARACTERIZATION EXPERIMENT RESULTS.

The fluid characterization experiment was


conducted in a tube viscometer.
A power law type fit was applied to the
tauw, nsr data (see Data Item for method).

This equation is used to calculate nprime and


Kprime. The raw nsr data has also been
converted to gamma values (see below).

----------------------------------------------------------------

POWER-LAW fit.

Application of power law model to laminar


data gives :

Equation of form

tauw = Kprime * (8V/D)^nprime

where

n = nprime = .611862
Kprime = .571797 (Ns^nprime)/(m^2)
K = .522548 (Ns^n)/(m^2)

with an error of .134096

----------------------------------------------------------------

LAMINAR DATA FILE : IN9125A.LAM

Table shows both raw data and the calculated data


from a least squares fit to the raw data. In
the nprime and Kprime columns a value of -1.0
signifies that the program was unable to calculate
a value.

wall shear stress 8V/D wall shear rate nprime Kprime


________________________________________________________________

23.284 335.700 495.388 .611862 .571797


41.929 896.000 1295.518 .611862 .571797
79.194 2693.000 3662.856 .611862 .571797
152.738 8000.000 10715.890 .611862 .571797
290.633 23110.000 30666.470 .611862 .571797
4.692 35.160 36.138 .611862 .571797
9.332 104.200 111.162 .611862 .571797
17.208 283.900 302.212 .611862 .571797
28.958 677.300 707.508 .611862 .571797
51.376 1748.000 1805.785 .611862 .571797
90.302 4296.000 4539.293 .611862 .571797
160.160 10880.000 11579.900 .611862 .571797
270.045 24760.000 27196.450 .611862 .571797
429.486 51470.000 58057.250 .611862 .571797

47
 91025
636.808 105400.000 110516.700 .611862 .571797
593.716 88760.000 98558.620 .611862 .571797

________________________________________________________________

****************************************************************

END OF OUTPUT FILE

****************************************************************

Example 2 from Section 9.2. The controlling file is shown in Table 12.9, the data file is the same as the
previous example (Table 12.7) and the output file is shown in Table 12.10. In this case the program has
been set to find the Herschel-Bulkley parameters τ y , K HB and n . However, a negative τ y was calculated
and the program, with the user’s permission (via the override option on line 21 of the input file), recalculated
the rheological parameters using a power law model instead. The output file lists the Herschel-Bulkley
parameters as calculated and as can be seen the yield stress value is extremely close to zero and well within
any experimental errors. Thus the error message generated by this negative yield stress is probably
misleading. The program could be re-run with the override option set to 'YES', and the program would use
the Herschel-Bulkley parameters throughout.

TABLE 12.9 Controlling File (IN9125A.02) for Example 2, Section 9.2


’Output Filename ‘ ‘RS9125A.02’
‘ ‘
‘TITLE ON NEXT 3 LINES ‘
‘Example 2 from Data Item Section 9.2.’
‘Herschel Bulkley fit requested.’
‘ ‘
‘ ‘
‘UNITS SYSTEM ‘ ‘SI’
‘ ‘
‘SCALED UP CASE INFO ‘
‘ Scaled-up case? ‘ ‘YES’
‘ Density ‘ 999.5
‘ Diameter ‘ 0.38
‘ Pipe Length ‘ 175.0
‘ Volume Flowrate ‘ 0.34
‘ Pressure Drop ‘ -999.0
‘ ‘
‘FLOW MODEL INFO ‘
‘ fit type ‘ ‘CALCULATE HB’
‘ laminar filename ‘ ‘IN9125A.LAM’
‘ override program? ‘ ‘NO ‘

TABLE 12.10 Output File (RS9125A.02) for Example 2, Section 9.2


****************************************************************

ESDU International plc.

PROGRAM A9125

ESDUpac Number : A9125


ESDUpac Title : Non-Newtonian Fluids :
Frictional pressure loss
prediction for fully developed
flow in straight pipes.
Method of Dodge and Metzner.

Data Item Number : 91025


Data Item Title : Non-Newtonian Fluids :

48
 91025
Frictional pressure loss
prediction for fully developed
flow in straight pipes.

ESDUpac Version : 1.0 December 1991

See Data Item for full input/output specification


and interpretation

****************************************************************

TITLE OF RUN :

Example 2 from Data Item Section 9.2.


Herschel Bulkley fit requested.

Unit system used : SI

USER INPUT PARAMETERS :

Fluid density = 999.500000 kg/m^3


Pipe diameter = 3.800000E-01 m
Pipe length = 175.000000 m
Volume flowrate = 3.400000E-01 m^3/s
Pressure drop = unknown

Laminar file used : IN9125A.LAM


which was of type : TUBE
Power law fit applied.

----------------------------------------------------------------

********************************************
* *
* there is one error or warning message. *
* *
********************************************

................................................................

A9125 : warning message 1

Problem in calculating Herschel Bulkley fit.

Experimental data may be suspect because a least


squares HB fit gives a negative yield shear stress.
Fluid type has been set as power law for all calculations.

****************************************************************

RESULTS :

FOR THE SCALED UP CASE :

Flow regime is turbulent

49
 91025
Calculated parameters are

pressure loss = 46366.2600 N/m^2


mass flowrate = 339.8300 kg/s
mean axial velocity = 2.9979 m/s
local nprime = .611862
local Kprime = .571797 (Ns^nprime)/(m^2)
Reprime = 9950.49
f = .005604

Wall shear stress under these conditions is

tauw = 25.1703 N/m^2

which lies within range of laminar


characterization test.

****************************************************************

CHARACTERIZATION EXPERIMENT RESULTS.

The fluid characterization experiment was


conducted in a tube viscometer.
A power law type fit was applied to the
tauw, nsr data (see Data Item for method).

This equation is used to calculate nprime and


Kprime. The raw nsr data has also been
converted to gamma values (see below).

----------------------------------------------------------------

HERSCHEL-BULKLEY fit.

The Herschel Bulkley fit returned a


non-positive value of tauy, KHB or n.
Consequently a power-law fit was used in all
calculations. However the HB parameters are
listed below for completeness.

Application of Herschel-Bulkley model to


laminar data gives :

Equation of form

tau = tauy + KHB*gamma^n

where

tauy = -.9145 N/m^2


KHB = .814993 (Ns^n)/(m^2)
n = .568700

The rms error was not calculated

----------------------------------------------------------------

50
 91025
POWER-LAW fit.

Application of power law model to laminar


data gives :

Equation of form

tauw = Kprime * (8V/D)^nprime

where

n = nprime = .611862
Kprime = .571797 (Ns^nprime)/(m^2)
K = .522548 (Ns^n)/(m^2)

with an error of .134096

----------------------------------------------------------------

LAMINAR DATA FILE : IN9125A.LAM

Table shows both raw data and the calculated data


from a least squares fit to the raw data. In
the nprime and Kprime columns a value of -1.0
signifies that the program was unable to calculate
a value.

wall shear stress 8V/D wall shear rate nprime Kprime


________________________________________________________________

23.284 335.700 495.388 .611862 .571797


41.929 896.000 1295.518 .611862 .571797
79.194 2693.000 3662.856 .611862 .571797
152.738 8000.000 10715.890 .611862 .571797
290.633 23110.000 30666.470 .611862 .571797
4.692 35.160 36.138 .611862 .571797
9.332 104.200 111.162 .611862 .571797
17.208 283.900 302.212 .611862 .571797
28.958 677.300 707.508 .611862 .571797
51.376 1748.000 1805.785 .611862 .571797
90.302 4296.000 4539.293 .611862 .571797
160.160 10880.000 11579.900 .611862 .571797
270.045 24760.000 27196.450 .611862 .571797
429.486 51470.000 58057.250 .611862 .571797
636.808 105400.000 110516.700 .611862 .571797
593.716 88760.000 98558.620 .611862 .571797

________________________________________________________________

****************************************************************

END OF OUTPUT FILE

****************************************************************

51
 91025
12.5 Fitting the Herschel-Bulkley Model to Experimental Data

12.5.1 Applying the Herschel-Bulkley model to ( γ· , τ w ) data pairs

The Herschel-Bulkley model of Section 3.5 is relatively simple to apply to experimental data from non-tube
viscometers where the experiment produces values of τ and γ· directly. An iterative procedure is included
in A9125A which 'guesses' the yield stress, τ y , subtracts this value from all the shear stress values and
performs a simple power law fit on the resulting modified data pairs. This procedure is repeated until the
best τy 'guess' is found.

12.5.2 Applying the Herschel-Bulkley model to ( 8V⁄ D, τ w ) data pairs

Application of the Herschel-Bulkley model to tube viscometric data where the data are of the form of
( 8V⁄ D, τ w ) pairs is of considerable complexity. However, a method has been developed to permit
application of the Herschel-Bulkley model to tube viscometric data. This method is used within program
A9125A and is outlined below.

Proceeding from the Rabinoswitsch-Mooney relationship,

1 + 3n′ 8V
γ· w =  ------------------- ------- , (5.3) of ESDU 95012
 4n′  D

and the definition of n′ ,

D∆ p
d log10 -----------
4L
n′ = ------------------------------------ , (3.2)
8V
d log10 -------
D

it is possible to write

d 8V
------  τ 3 --------- = 4γ· τ 2 , (12.1)
dτ  D

which, in turn, if 8V⁄ D is expressed as a function of τ , can be written

8V 4 τ
D 3
τ τy

------- ( τ ) = ----- γ· ( τ d ) τ 2 dτ d ,
d (12.2)

where τd is a dummy variable. Insertion of the Herschel-Bulkley model (Equation (3.7)) gives

1
---
8V 4 τ  τ d – τ y n 2
D 3 ∫
------- ( τ ) = -----  ------------------ τ d dτ d ,
τ τ y  K HB 
(12.3)

52
 91025
which can be solved to give

n+1 2n + 1 3n + 1
----------- -------------- --------------
8V 4KHB n τ y  τ – τ y n 2K HB τ y  τ – τ y n  τ – τ y n
2 2
KHB
------ = ----------------- -----------  ------------ + -------------------  ------------
2n + 1  K HB  3n + 1  KHB 
+ -------------- ------------ . (12.4)
D τ
3 n + 1  K HB 

Thus a link can be made between nominal shear rate, 8V⁄ D , and shear rate γ· , in terms of shear stress, τ ,
and the Herschel-Bulkley parameters τ y , K HB and n . At the tube wall 8V⁄ D and τw ( ≡ τ ) are known
from experiment so that Equation (12.4) has three unknowns, τ y , K HB and n . The method for establishing
the Herschel-Bulkley parameters is as follows.

(i) Fit an equation of the form

8V C
τ w = A + B  --------- (12.5)
 D

to the tube viscometer data. By comparison with the Herschel-Bulkley model (Equation (3.7)) it
can be seen that A ≡ τ y , C ≡ n and

1 + 3n′ n
B = K HB  --------------------- . (12.6)
 4n′ 

This adds n′ to the list of unknowns.

(ii) The values of τ y and n from Equation (12.5) can be used in Equation (12.4) which can then be
solved for KHB . Note that a different K HB value will arise from each ( 8V⁄ D, τ w ) data pair. These
K HB values can be averaged to give some mean value.

(iii) An estimate of the range of the Herschel-Bulkley parameters has now been made. However, these
values were all achieved by fitting ( 8V⁄ D, τ w ) data pairs rather than ( γ· , τ ) data pairs. It is possible
to solve for the Herschel-Bulkley parameters directly using the Levenberg-Marquardt20 method.
The drawback to this method is that it requires a fairly good estimate to be made of each of the
unknown parameters. In this case such estimates have been obtained already from the analysis of
parts (i) and (ii) above and by applying Levenberg-Marquardt method better estimates can be made
of the Herschel-Bulkley parameters. The complexities of the Levenberg-Marquardt method are
considerable and the user is referred to the Derivation for further information.

(iv) Having obtained final estimates of τ y , K HB and n , it is possible to find γ· for each of the ( 8V⁄ D, τ w )
data pairs.

12.5.3 Finding n′, K′, Re′ and f

It is possible to write the Rabinoswitsch-Mooney relationship given by Equation (5.3) of ESDU 95012 in
the form

( 8V ⁄ D ) dτ w
n′ = -------------------- ----------------------- , (12.7)
τ w d ( 8V ⁄ D )

where the reciprocal of the derivative can be found by differentiating Equation (12.4) with respect to wall

53
 91025
shear stress to give

1 n+1
2 --- -------------
d ( 8V ⁄ D ) 4K HB nτ y 1 n + 1  τ w – τ y n 3  τ w – τ y n
----------------------- = ------------------------ ------------------  -------------  ------------------ – ------  ------------------
3 n 
dτ w n+1 K HB τ w  K HB  τ w  K HB 
4

n+1 2n + 1
2 ------------- -----------------
8KHB nτ y 1 2n + 1  τ w – τ y n 3  τ w – τ y n
+ ------------------------ ------------------  -----------------  ------------------ – ------  ------------------
2n + 1 K τ 3 n   K HB  τ w  K HB 
4
HB w
2n + 1 3n + 1
3 ----------------- -----------------
4KHB n 1 3n + 1  τ w – τ y n 3  τ w – τ y n
+ ------------------ ------------------  -----------------  ------------------ – ------  ------------------ . (12.8)
3n + 1 K τ 3 n   K HB  τ w  K HB 
4
HB w

Thus, knowing the Herschel-Bulkley parameters for the fluid, n′ can be found from Equations (12.7) and
(12.8) K′ can then be found from Equation (3.1).

Now n′ (and hence K′ ) can be expressed as a function of 8V⁄ D and the method of Section 6.1.1 part (ii)
can be applied to find Re′ and f . Program A9125A performs all these calculations.

54
 91025
13. METHOD OF BOWEN: PROGRAM A9125B

13.1 Notes

The program requires the following to operate.

(i) A controlling file.

(ii) At least two data files containing turbulent flow data only.

The format of these files is given in Section 13.2. The program has been written for "directed" input, that
is, the user specifies the controlling file name when running the program. For example, to run the program
using an controlling file called "INPUT1" the user would type

A9125B < INPUT1

at the DOS prompt, noting the spaces and the "direction operator" <.

13.2 Program Input

The data input sequence of this Section must be followed exactly. The program reads the required
information from a controlling file specified by the user. This controlling file contains the information on
the scaled up pipeline and names at least two data files that contain turbulent flow information. It is
imperative that these data files contain only turbulent data. The presence of laminar or transitional region
data points will cause the program to produce an erroneous b value. Thus the data selection method of
Section 6.2 must be implemented before attempting to use this program.

The use of input files allows the information to be checked before each run and edited if necessary. Table
13.1 shows the form of the controlling input files. An attempt has been made to make the input file "user
friendly" and to this end each line begins with a 33 character string (including spaces) that gives information
on the variable required. Note that the program can deal with up to five turbulent data files. If you do not
have that many, simply leave the line empty. It is imperative that the exact form of this file is used otherwise
the program will show an error. It is suggested that the user copy one of the Example files* on the supplied
disk and edit this to suit. An example controlling file is shown in Table 13.2.

The value of the unknown variable is entered as –999.0. The program searches for this value and solves for it.

TABLE 13.1 General Controlling File

Line
Input parameter SI units Variable Type
number

1. The output results file to which all the program output is


– CHARACTER
written.
2. Ignored by program. – None

3. Ignored by program. – None

*
The supplied source code disk contains two controlling files that contain the information for the examples in Sections 9.2.2 and 9.3.
The example from source code Section 9.2.2 controlling file is called 'IN9125B.01' and the resulting output file is 'RS9125B.01'. Similarly,
the controlling and output files for Example 3 from Section 9.3 are called 'IN9125B.11' and 'RS9125B.11' respectively.

55
 91025
TABLE 13.1 General Controlling File

4. Line 1 of the title which is a maximum of 75 characters


– CHARACTER
long.
5. Line 2 of the title which is a maximum of 75 characters
– CHARACTER
long.
6. Line 3 of the title which is a maximum of 75 characters
– CHARACTER
long.
7. Ignored by program. – None

8. System of units. Answer 'SI' or 'BRITISH' – CHARACTER

9. Ignored by program. – None

10. Ignored by program. – None

11. Do you require to solve for a scaled-up case? Answer 'YES'


– CHARACTER
or 'NO'.

The path through the controlling file differs depending on the answer to the scaled-up case question on line
11. If 'YES' is entered, the program requires the four lines following that relate to the scaled-up case. The
program will solve for any of these four variables providing that the other three are specified. To indicate
the unknown variable enter –999.0. The program searches for this value and solves for that variable.

12. Fluid density, ρ . kg/m3 REAL

13. Pipe diameter for scaled-up case, D . m REAL

14. Pipe length for scaled-up case, L . m REAL

15. Volume flowrate for scaled-up case, Q . m3/s REAL

16. Pressure drop for scaled-up case, ∆ p . N/m2 REAL

The program will find the Bowen parameters for a fluid if provided with at least two data files containing
information on the turbulent flow of the fluid. Alternatively, if the Bowen parameters are known they can
be input directly.

The line numbers given below assume that a scaled-up case solution is required. The number in brackets
would be the line number if a scaled-up case solution is not required.

56
 91025
17. Ignored by program. – None

18. Ignored by program. – None

19. Either 'CALCULATE' to instruct the program to find the


Bowen parameters from data files or 'USER SET' to – CHARACTER
specify the Bowen parameters manually.

If 'CALCULATE' has been selected, enter the following data. (Note: if there are less than five turbulent
files simply leave the relevant lines blank).

20. Number of turbulent data files. – INTEGER

21. First turbulent data file name. – CHARACTER

22. Second turbulent data file name. – CHARACTER

23. Third turbulent data file name (if it exists). – CHARACTER

24. Fourth turbulent data file name (if it exists). – CHARACTER

25. Fifth turbulent data file name (if it exists). – CHARACTER

If 'USER SET' has been selected then enter the following data.

26. Bowen parameter A – REAL

27. Bowen parameter b – REAL

28. Bowen parameter c – REAL

A typical controlling file is given in Table 13.2.

TABLE 13.2 Typical Controlling File


’Output Filename ‘ ‘RS9125B.01’
‘ ‘
‘TITLE ON NEXT 3 LINES ‘
‘Example 2 from Data Item Section 9.2.2.’
‘Three turbulent data files used.’
‘ ‘
‘ ‘
‘UNITS SYSTEM ‘ ‘SI’
‘ ‘
‘SCALED UP CASE INFO ‘
‘ Scaled-up case? ‘ ‘YES’
‘ Density ‘ 999.5
‘ Diameter ‘ 0.38
‘ Pipe Length ‘ 175.0
‘ Volume Flowrate ‘ 0.34
‘ Pressure Drop ‘ -999.0

57
 91025
‘ ‘
‘FLOW MODEL INFO ‘
‘ fit type ‘ ‘CALCULATE’
‘ no of files ‘ 3
‘ turb file ‘ ‘IN9125B.D01’
‘ turb file ‘ ‘IN9125B.D02’
‘ turb file ‘ ‘IN9125B.D03’

The format of the turbulent data files is given in Table 13.3 with a typical example in Table 13.4. The
program will accept data in the form of (pressure drop, velocity) pairs or in the form of (wall shear stress,
nominal shear rate 8V⁄ D ) pairs. Again it is important that the form of the data file is followed exactly
otherwise an error will occur.

TABLE 13.3 General Data File

Line
Input parameter SI units Variable Type
number

1. Ignored by the program but can contain a general


– None
description of the file contents.
2. Ignored by program. – None

3. Pipe diameter for experiment. m REAL

4. Pipe length for experiment. m REAL

5. Ignored by program. – None

6. Number of data columns listed. – INTEGER

7. Type of first column. Must be one of the following (and


compatible with entry 8):
'pressure drop'
– CHARACTER
'velocity'
'wall shear stress'
'nominal shear rate'
8. Type of second column. Must be one of the following
(and compatible with entry 7):
'pressure drop'
– CHARACTER
'velocity'
'wall shear stress'
'nominal shear rate'
9. Data arranged in pairs. A maximum of 100 data pairs
– REAL, REAL
can be accommodated.

A typical data file is given in Table 13.4.

58
 91025
TABLE 13.4 Typical Data File

’turbulent pipe flow data ‘


‘ ‘
‘pipe diameter :’ 0.016
‘pipe length :’ 4.27
‘ ‘
‘No of columns listed :’ 2
‘column 1 is :’ ‘pressure drop’
‘column 2 is :’ ‘velocity ‘
136000 5.76
173000 6.39
205000 7.14
236000 7.94
284000 9.01
341000 10.1
395000 11.0
438000 11.8
500000 12.8
575000 14.0

13.3 Program Output

All output is written to the file named on line 1 of the controlling file. The first 27 lines of the output file
contain a standard header to identify the program. The output then lists the title given at lines 4, 5 and 6 of
the controlling file followed by all the user input parameters.

This is followed by a list of any error or warning messages that were invoked during the operation of the
program. These error messages are not intended to be definitive but will provide the user with some
assistance should the program fail to work.

If a scaled-up case was requested, the results are then listed. If the program derived the Bowen parameters
from experimental data, the turbulent data file information is then listed in a form similar to Table 9.2. This
is followed by all the calculated b values and the A and c values. The slope calculated as a result of the
check procedure is presented. This should be approximately equal to the average b value.

Examples of the output file are listed in Section 13.4.

13.4 Examples

Listed are the controlling and data files and the output files corresponding to the worked examples of Section
9.

Example 2 from Section 9.2.2. The controlling file is shown in Table 13.5, the data files in Table 13.6 and
the output file in Table 13.7.

TABLE 13.5 Controlling File (IN9125B.01) for Example 2, Section 9.2.2

’Output Filename ‘ ‘RS9125B.01’


‘ ‘
‘TITLE ON NEXT 3 LINES ‘
‘Example 2 from Data Item Section 9.2.2.’
‘Three turbulent data files used.’
‘ ‘
‘ ‘
‘UNITS SYSTEM ‘ ‘SI’
‘ ‘

59
 91025
‘SCALED UP CASE INFO ‘
‘ Scaled-up case? ‘ ‘YES’
‘ Density ‘ 999.5
‘ Diameter ‘ 0.38
‘ Pipe Length ‘ 175.0
‘ Volume Flowrate ‘ 0.34
‘ Pressure Drop ‘ -999.0
‘ ‘
‘FLOW MODEL INFO ‘
‘ fit type ‘ ‘CALCULATE’
‘ no of files ‘ 3
‘ turb file ‘ ‘IN9125B.D01’
‘ turb file ‘ ‘IN9125B.D02’
‘ turb file ‘ ‘IN9125B.D03’

TABLE 13.6 Data Files for Example 2, Section 9.2.2

File “IN9125B.D01”.

’turbulent pipe flow data ‘


‘ ‘
‘pipe diameter :’ 0.016
‘pipe length :’ 4.27
‘ ‘
‘No of columns listed :’ 2
‘column 1 is :’ ‘pressure drop’
‘column 2 is :’ ‘velocity ‘
136000 5.76
173000 6.39
205000 7.14
236000 7.94
284000 9.01
341000 10.1
395000 11.0
438000 11.8
500000 12.8
575000 14.0

File “IN9125B.D02”

’turbulent pipe flow data ‘


‘ ‘
‘pipe diameter :’ 0.027
‘pipe length :’ 4.34
‘ ‘
‘No of columns listed :’ 2
‘column 1 is :’ ‘pressure drop’
‘column 2 is :’ ‘velocity ‘
52200 4.60
64000 5.26
79600 6.03
98700 6.91
122000 7.91
152000 9.03
184000 10.3
235000 11.7
281000 13.1
352000 15.0

60
 91025
File “IN9125B.D03”

’turbulent pipe flow data ‘


‘ ‘
‘pipe diameter :’ 0.053
‘pipe length :’ 2.64
‘ ‘
‘No of columns listed :’ 2
‘column 1 is :’ ‘pressure drop’
‘column 2 is :’ ‘velocity ‘
8410 3.33
9600 3.61
11400 4.03
13600 4.54
17600 5.37

TABLE 13.7 Output File (RS9125B.01) for Example 2, Section 9.2.2

****************************************************************

ESDU International plc.

PROGRAM B9125

ESDUpac Number : B9125


ESDUpac Title : Non-Newtonian Fluids :
Frictional pressure loss
prediction for fully developed
flow in straight pipes.
Method of Bowen.

Data Item Number : 91025


Data Item Title : Non-Newtonian Fluids :
Frictional pressure loss
prediction for fully developed
flow in straight pipes.

ESDUpac Version : 1.1 November 1992

See Data Item for full input/output specification


and interpretation

****************************************************************

TITLE OF RUN -

Example 2 from Data Item Section 9.2.2.


Three turbulent data files used.

Unit system used : SI

USER INPUT PARAMETERS :

Fluid density = 999.500000 kg/m^3


Pipe diameter = 3.800000E-01 m
Pipe length = 175.000000 m

61
 91025
Volume flowrate = 3.400000E-01 m^3/s
Pressure drop = unknown

Program to calculate Bowen parameters from data

Turbulent data files used :

File IN9125B.D01
File IN9125B.D02
File IN9125B.D03

----------------------------------------------------------------

********************************************
* *
* there are no error or warning messages. *
* *
********************************************

----------------------------------------------------------------

****************************************************************

RESULTS :

FOR THE SCALED-UP CASE :

Calculated parameters are

pressure loss = 40829.6500 N/m^2


mass flowrate = 339.8300 kg/s
mean axial velocity = 2.9979 m/s

Wall shear stress under these conditions is

tauw = 22.1647 N/m^2

****************************************************************

DETERMINATION OF BOWEN TYPE EQUATION.

Listed below are the data used.

Data file : IN9125B.D01


expt pipe diameter : .016 m
expt pipe length : 4.270 m

dP Vel tauw 8V/D LV^b/dP A D^ctauw


N/m^2 m/s N/m^2 1/s
______________________________________________________
136000. 5.76 127.4 2880. .0004960 2.99 47.2
173000. 6.39 162.1 3195. .0004593 3.23 60.0
205000. 7.14 192.0 3570. .0004617 3.21 71.1
236000. 7.94 221.1 3970. .0004741 3.12 81.9
284000. 9.01 266.0 4505. .0004808 3.08 98.5
341000. 10.10 319.4 5050. .0004795 3.09 118.3
395000. 11.00 370.0 5500. .0004735 3.13 137.0

62
 91025
438000. 11.80 410.3 5900. .0004770 3.11 152.0
500000. 12.80 468.4 6400. .0004750 3.12 173.5
575000. 14.00 538.6 7000. .0004757 3.11 199.5

................................................................

Data file : IN9125B.D02


expt pipe diameter : .027 m
expt pipe length : 4.340 m

dP Vel tauw 8V/D LV^b/dP A D^ctauw


N/m^2 m/s N/m^2 1/s
______________________________________________________
52200. 4.60 81.2 1363. .0009215 3.08 34.1
64000. 5.26 99.5 1559. .0009285 3.05 41.8
79600. 6.03 123.8 1787. .0009259 3.06 52.0
98700. 6.91 153.5 2047. .0009256 3.06 64.5
122000. 7.91 189.7 2344. .0009266 3.06 79.7
152000. 9.03 236.4 2676. .0009163 3.09 99.3
184000. 10.30 286.2 3052. .0009315 3.04 120.2
235000. 11.70 365.5 3467. .0008916 3.18 153.5
281000. 13.10 437.0 3881. .0008910 3.18 183.5
352000. 15.00 547.5 4444. .0008806 3.22 229.9

................................................................

Data file : IN9125B.D03


expt pipe diameter : .053 m
expt pipe length : 2.640 m

dP Vel tauw 8V/D LV^b/dP A D^ctauw


N/m^2 m/s N/m^2 1/s
______________________________________________________
8410. 3.33 42.2 503. .0020908 3.13 20.8
9600. 3.61 48.2 545. .0020802 3.15 23.8
11400. 4.03 57.2 608. .0020836 3.14 28.3
13600. 4.54 68.3 685. .0021074 3.10 33.7
17600. 5.37 88.3 811. .0021219 3.08 43.6

................................................................

Listed below are the turbulent data files used


and the slopes, b.

File IN9125B.D01 : b = 1.574


File IN9125B.D02 : b = 1.616
File IN9125B.D03 : b = 1.538

average b = 1.576

The turbulent flow of this fluid can be


represented by

tauw = A (V^b)/(D^c)

where

63
 91025
A = 3.113 with units of (Ns^b)/(m^(2+b-c))
b = 1.576
c = .240

Check : slope = 1.585

****************************************************************

Example 3 from Section 9.3. The controlling file is shown in Table 13.8, the data files in Table 13.9 and
the output file in Table 13.10.

TABLE 13.8 Controlling File (IN9125B.02) for Example 3, Section 9.3


'Output Filename ' 'RS9125B.02'
' '
'TITLE ON NEXT 3 LINES '
'Example 3 from Data Item Section 9.3.'
'Two turbulent data files used.'
' '
' '
'UNITS SYSTEM ' 'SI'
' '
'SCALED UP CASE INFO '
' Scaled-up case? ' 'NO '
' '
'FLOW MODEL INFO '
' fit type ' 'CALCULATE'
' no of files ' 2
' turb file ' 'in9125b.d11'
' turb file ' 'in9125b.d12'

TABLE 13.9 Data Files for Example 3, Section 9.3

File “IN9125B.D11”

'turbulent pipe flow data '


' '
'pipe diameter :' 0.019
'pipe length :' 30.5
' '
'No of columns listed :' 2
'column 1 is :' 'wall shear stress'
'column 2 is :' 'nominal shear rate'
52.7 1460
47.7 1360
40.2 1250
25.7 947
16.7 762
9.73 577

File “IN9125B.D12”

'turbulent pipe flow data '


' '
'pipe diameter :' 0.038
'pipe length :' 30.5
' '
'No of columns listed :' 2
'column 1 is :' 'wall shear stress'
'column 2 is :' 'nominal shear rate'
33.2 602

64
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24.5 507
15.7 390
10.8 318

TABLE 13.10 Output File (RS9125B.02) for Example 3, Section 9.3

****************************************************************

ESDU International plc.

PROGRAM B9125

ESDUpac Number : B9125


ESDUpac Title : Non-Newtonian Fluids :
Frictional pressure loss
prediction for fully developed
flow in straight pipes.
Method of Bowen.

Data Item Number : 91025


Data Item Title : Non-Newtonian Fluids :
Frictional pressure loss
prediction for fully developed
flow in straight pipes.

ESDUpac Version : 1.1 November 1992

See Data Item for full input/output specification


and interpretation

****************************************************************

TITLE OF RUN -

Example 3 from Data Item Section 9.3.


Two turbulent data files used.

Unit system used : SI

Program to calculate Bowen parameters from data

Turbulent data files used :

File in9125b.d11
File in9125b.d12

----------------------------------------------------------------

********************************************
* *
* there are no error or warning messages. *
* *
********************************************

----------------------------------------------------------------

65
 91025
DETERMINATION OF BOWEN TYPE EQUATION.

Listed below are the data used.

Data file : in9125b.d11


expt pipe diameter : .019 m
expt pipe length : 30.500 m

dP Vel tauw 8V/D LV^b/dP A D^ctauw


N/m^2 m/s N/m^2 1/s
______________________________________________________
338390. 3.47 52.7 1460. .0008282 2.92 26.8
306284. 3.23 47.7 1360. .0008062 3.00 24.3
258126. 2.97 40.2 1250. .0008230 2.94 20.5
165021. 2.25 25.7 947. .0007846 3.08 13.1
107232. 1.81 16.7 762. .0008194 2.95 8.5
62477. 1.37 9.7 577. .0008564 2.82 5.0

................................................................

Data file : in9125b.d12


expt pipe diameter : .038 m
expt pipe length : 30.500 m

dP Vel tauw 8V/D LV^b/dP A D^ctauw


N/m^2 m/s N/m^2 1/s
______________________________________________________
106589. 2.86 33.2 602. .0018642 2.92 19.0
78658. 2.41 24.5 507. .0018596 2.93 14.0
50405. 1.85 15.7 390. .0018173 2.99 9.0
34674. 1.51 10.8 318. .0018357 2.96 6.2

................................................................

Listed below are the turbulent data files used


and the slopes, b.

File in9125b.d11 : b = 1.817


File in9125b.d12 : b = 1.751

average b = 1.784

The turbulent flow of this fluid can be


represented by

tauw = A (V^b)/(D^c)

where

A = 2.952 with units of (Ns^b)/(m^(2+b-c))


b = 1.784
c = .170

Check : slope = 1.799


****************************************************************

66
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APPENDIX A DERIVATION OF LAMINAR FLOW EQUATIONS

A1. POWER-LAW MODEL

Rearranging Equation (3.4) yields

1
---
τ n
γ· =  ----  , (A1.1)
K 

which substituted in Equation (5.1) gives

1
3 τ ---
πD w 2 τ n
8τ w 0
K ∫
Q = ----------3 τ  ----  dτ . (A1.2)

Integrating Equation (A1.2) gives

1
3 ---
πD n D∆ p n
Q = ---------- -----------------  ------------- , (A1.3)
8 3n + 1  4LK 

which can be rearranged to give ∆ p explicitly

n
4LK 8Q ( 3n + 1 )-
∆ p = ----------- ----------3 ---------------------
n . (5.3)
D πD

A2. BINGHAM MODEL

In this case it must be noted that in the central region of the pipe where τ ≤ τ y the fluid does not shear and
moves rather as a solid plug. Hence two shear rate/shear stress relations are necessary, that is:

τ ≤ τ y for γ· = 0 and (A2.1)


1
τ > τ y for γ· = ------- ( τ – τ y ) . (A2.2)
KB

Equation (3.6) must be applied over the two shear stress ranges; hence

3 τ 3 τ
πD w 2 1 πD y
Q = ----------
8τ w3 τ y K B

τ ------- ( τ – τ y )dτ + ---------- 0 dτ ,
8τ w3 0
∫ (A2.3)

67
 91025
which integrates to give

3
πD τ w 1 1  τ y  1  τy 
4
Q = ----------------
- --
- – --
-  
-----
- +
12  τ w
- ------
----- . (5.4)
8K B 4 3  τ w

A3. HERSCHEL-BULKLEY MODEL

As with the Bingham model, two shear rate/shear stress relations are used. Equation (A2.1) still applies but
Equation (A2.2) is replaced by

1
---
 τ + τ y n
τ > τ y for γ· =  --------------- . (A3.1)
 K HB 

The derivation of Equation (5.7) is similar to that used for Equations (5.3) and (5.4). Further guidance is
given by Heywood21.

68
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APPENDIX B DETERMINATION OF THE OPTIMUM TURBULENT FLOW CORRELATION

Most of the experimental data available were for shear thinning fluids. The data set was selected from five
sources (Dodge5, Quader17, Shaver4, Thomas9 and Yoo19). Seven turbulent flow correlations were taken
from the literature and applied to all the data. A simple from of error is calculated for each equation. The
results are given in Table B2.1.

B1. EQUATIONS USED

Unless stated otherwise the Reynolds number used in these correlations is the generalised Reynolds number
of Equation (4.4).

(1) Dodge and Metzner6

n
4 1 – ---
1 2 0.4
------ = ----------------- log10 Re′f – -------------- . (B1.1)
0.75 1.2
f (n) (n)

(2) Shaver and Merrill7

0.0791
f = ------------------------------------- , (B1.2)
5 p
n ( Re Shaver )

where

2.63
p = -------------
n
10.5
n 2–n
D V ρ n n
and Re Shaver = -------------------------- 8  ----------------- . (B1.3)
K  6n + 2

(3) Tomita8

1
---------------------- = 4 log10 Re – 0.4 , (B1.4)
f Tomita Tomita f Tomita

where

1 + 2n 4
f Tomita = -----------------  --- f
1 + 3n  3
n 2–n
D V ρ n n
and Re Tomita = -------------------------- 8  ----------------- . (B1.5)
K  6n + 2

69
 91025
(4) Thomas9

n
1 – ---
1 4 2 0.4
------ = --- log10 Re′f – ------- . (B1.6)
f n n

(5) Clapp11

n
1 2.69 4.53 1 – --- 0.68
2
------ = ---------- – 2.95 + ---------- log10 Re f – ---------- ( 5n – 8 ) , (B1.7)
f n n Clapp n

where

n 2–n n 2–n
D V ρ D V ρ  3n + 1 n
Re Clapp = -------------------------- = -------------------------
- ----------------- .
n – 1  4n 
(B1.8)
n–1
K8 K '8

(6) Kemblowski and Kolodziejski18

0.0791
f = ----------------------
0.25
-. (B1.9)
( Re′ )

(7) Szilas et al. 22

1 n
1 4 1 – --- --- 1.414 8.03
2 n
------ = --- log10 Re
n Szilas ( 4f ) + 1.51 ------------- + 4.24 – ---------- – 2.114 , (B1.10)
f n n

where

n 2–n
D V ρ n
Re Szilas = -------------------------- 8  ----------------- . (B1.11)
K  6n + 2

B2. DATA ANALYSIS

The analysis was divided into three Re′ ranges corresponding to the laminar, transition and turbulent flow
regimes from Section 4. Table B2.1 shows the number of points in each regime for each source and the rms
errors as defined by

number of data points


 experimental value – predicted value 2
sum of squares of set = ∑ 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ,
experimental value 
1

70
 91025
½
number of data sets

∑ sum of squares of set


1
error = --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- . (B2.1)
total number of data points

The laminar correlation f = 16 ⁄ Re′ (Equation (4.3)) was applied to all laminar and transitional data sets;
that is, all data points with Re′ < 3500 . The turbulent correlations applied to all transitional and turbulent
data sets; that is, all data points with Re′ > 2100 .

TABLE B2.1 Errors of the Correlating Equations

Data Set

Dodge Quader Shaver Thomas Yoo All Data


Flow
regime
Number of points

laminar 48 1 43 223 0 315


transition 48 17 32 109 1 207
turbulent 154 389 156 497 47 1243

Flow
Correlation errors
regime

Laminar laminar 0.071 0.090 0.137 0.248 – 0.217


f = 16 ⁄ Re′ transition 0.206 0.174 0.293 0.228 – 0.230

Dodge and transition 0.149 0.527 0.739 0.047 – 0.337


Metzner turbulent 0.027 0.464 0.475 0.255 0.0911 0.349

Shaver and transition 0.498 0.486 0.709 0.104 – 0.400


Merrill turbulent 0.517 0.513 0.423 0.265 0.455 0.417

Tomita transition 0.591 0.859 0.945 1.085 – 0.949


turbulent 0.411 0.681 0.628 0.612 0.437 0.610

Thomas transition 0.225 0.358 0.596 0.187 – 0.309


turbulent 0.218 0.390 0.392 0.111 0.181 0.281

Clapp transition 0.156 0.528 0.788 0.252 – 0.398


turbulent 0.107 0.447 0.481 0.182 0.119 0.327

Kemblowski
transition 0.640 0.873 0.937 0.919 – 0.859
and
turbulent 0.4862 0.743 0.662 0.685 0.514 0.664
Kolodziejski
Szilas transition 0.405 0.391 0.615 0.096 – 0.329
et al. turbulent 0.309 0.410 0.407 0.105 0.282 0.304

71
 91025
The choice of best correlating equation is open to debate. On the basis of the “all data” errors (using all the
experimental data), the equation of Thomas appears to be the optimum. However, two problems arise here.
Firstly the data set of Thomas, from which he derived his correlation, was the largest available and will
skew the overall error in his favour. This, in itself, is not a problem if the data could be implicitly taken as
'correct'. However, the laminar flow points from Thomas' data do not lie on the f = 16 ⁄ Re′ line as they
should. In fact Dodge and Metzner suggest this as a criterion for determining the validity of a data set. They
state that if the laminar data do not fall on the f = 16 ⁄ Re′ line the experiment is faulty and the data should
be ignored. If this criterion were to be applied to these data sets then the data from Shaver and Thomas
should be discounted. If this action is taken the new revised ‘all’ data errors are:

Dodge and Metzner 0.378


Shaver and Merrill 0.510
Tomita 0.604
Thomas 0.340
Clapp 0.368
Kemblowski and Kolodziejski 0.668
Szilas et al. 0.377.

Again Thomas' correlation appears to be the optimum, though its improvement over the Dodge-Metzner,
Clapp or Szilas et al. correlations is reduced.

B3. REASONS FOR USING THE DODGE-METZNER CORRELATION

This Data Item recommends the Dodge-Metzner equation as the preferred correlation for turbulent flow.
The reasoning behind this was that the Dodge-Metzner equation is a good best-fit to two separate data sets,
those of Dodge and Yoo (3% and 9% respectively). It is a poor fit to the sets of Quader, Shaver and Thomas
(46%, 47% and 26%). The Thomas equation is a marginally better fit to the data from Quader and Shaver
(if rms errors of 40% can be considered a worthwhile fit at all) but a poor fit to Dodge and Yoo (22% and
18%).

Given the spread of the data it appears that no single correlation can describe adequately the friction
factor/Reynolds number relationship. The Dodge-Metzner equation was chosen because it has the virtue
of fitting the data from more than one experimenter well.

A further reason is that of the four best fitting correlations (Dodge-Metzner, Thomas, Szilas and Clapp) the
Dodge-Metzner gave the highest friction factor for any Re′ . Sketch B3.1 shows these four correlations
over the Re′ range 1000 to 100000 for a fluid with n′ = 0.75 . If errors are inevitable, it is preferred that
the user overpredict rather than underpredict the pressure losses.

72
 91025

Sketch B3.1 Comparison of friction factor - generalised Reynolds number correlations for n′ = 0.75

73
 91025
APPENDIX C ADDITIONAL FRICTIONAL PRESSURE DROP ESTIMATION METHODS

C1. NOTES

When the flow curve obtained through viscometry for the test fluid has a complicated form which cannot
be readily fitted to any of the rheological models given in Section 3, the following procedure26 (based on
Section 5.1) is used for the estimation of the laminar flow limit and the frictional pressure loss.

The laminar flow limit for a fluid with an unfitted flow curve flowing in a pipe is estimated from the
generalised Reynolds number is given by Equation (4.4).

The critical Re′ for laminar flow breakdown is dependent on the type of rheological behaviour exhibited
by the test fluid (see Section 4.1 for further details). It is suggested for practical purposes to use the following
definitions for determining the flow regime:

If Re′ < 2100, the flow is laminar and the frictional pressure loss can be estimated from laminar flow data
using Section C2.

If Re′ ≥ 3500 , the flow is turbulent and the frictional pressure loss can be estimated from laminar flow
data for smooth pipes using Sections C3, C4 or C5 and for rough pipes using Sections C6 and C7.

C2. FRICTIONAL PRESSURE LOSS FROM LAMINAR FLOW VISCOMETRIC DATA NOT
FITTED TO A FLOW CURVE

For laminar flow of fluids with an unfitted flow curve, the frictional pressure loss can be obtained by

estimating the area under the curve of the τ γ versus τ plot over the shear stress range of interest.
Estimation of the area under the curve is an evaluation of the integral in the general equation linking volume
flow rate and shear stress, given by Equation (5.1),

τw
3
πD


Q = ----------
3
τ γ dτ (C2.1)
8τ w
0

where τ w is given by Equation (5.2) as,

D∆p
τ w = ------------ . (C2.2)
4L

With the lower and upper limit of shear stress being 0 and τ w respectively, the estimated area is shown
hatched in Sketch C2.1.

74
 91025
Area equivalent
to volume
flow rate

Uncertainty in
flow rate
estimation
Note:
τw,min is lower limit
of shear stress
range using a
.
τ2γ viscometer

0 τw,min τw
0
Shear stress, τ
Sketch C2.1 Estimation of volume flow rate in laminar pipe flow
by replotting flow curve data

In practice, it is possible only to measure the flow curve down to a minimum shear stress, τ w ,min , so there
will always be some uncertainty in evaluating the area under the curve below that value. This area is shown
by double hatching in Sketch C2.1 and can only be approximated. For accurate estimates, τ w ,min must be
as low as possible.

The method is dependent on the type of pipeline design problem to be solved. For the case where ∆p is
unknown with Q , D , L and fluid properties specified, the method can be summarised as follows.

(i) Replot the flow curve data obtained from viscometry in the form of a τ γ versus τ plot.

(ii) Guess τ w .

(iii) Calculate area under the curve between τ w ,min (which is specified by the viscometer) and τ w .

(iv) Calculate Q from Equation (C2.1).

(v) Do calculated and known Q values agree within acceptable error limits?

• If no, repeat steps (iii) to (v) with different values of τ w .

• If yes, go to step (vi).

(vi) Calculate ∆p from Equation (C2.2).

75
 91025
C3. FRICTIONAL LOSSES IN TURBULENT FLOW IN SMOOTH PIPES FROM LAMINAR FLOW
VISCOMETRIC DATA NOT FITTED TO A FLOW CURVE

For turbulent flow of fluids with an unfitted flow curve in smooth pipes, the following procedure is used
to predict ∆p .

(i) Assume a typical value of τ w for turbulent flow.

(ii) Estimate n′ for the flow curve from Equation (4.5).

(iii) Estimate K′ from Equation (4.6).

(iv) Use Re′ , n′ and K ′ in the Dodge and Metzner correlation of Equation (B1.1). An assessment of
the uncertainty in this value may be made by recalculating f using other correlations in Appendix B.

(v) Using the predicted f, calculate the wall shear stress from

1 2
τ w = --- ρV f . (C3.1)
2

(vi) Have successive τ w values converged to within acceptable limits?

• If no, repeat steps (ii) to (vi) to recalculate τ w .

• If yes, go to step (vii).

(vii) Calculate ∆p from Equation (C2.2).

C4. FRICTIONAL LOSSES IN TURBULENT FLOW IN SMOOTH PIPE FROM LAMINAR FLOW
VISCOMETRIC DATA FITTED TO A BINGHAM PLASTIC MODEL

For turbulent flow of Bingham plastic fluids in smooth pipes, the following procedure is used to predict ∆p .

(i) Calculate the Bingham Hedstrom number for the fluid using Equation (4.12); that is

2
ρD τ yB
He B = -------------------- . (C4.1)
2
µB

6
(ii) If He B < 10 , calculate f using the Blasius equation1 given by

– 0.25
f = 0.0791Re (C4.2)

with the Newtonian Reynolds number, Re , replaced by the Bingham Reynolds number, Re B ,
defined by Equation (4.9) as

ρVD
Re B = ------------ . (C4.3)
µB

76
 91025
6
If He B > 10 , f can be determined either directly from Figure 2, which is the numerical solution
of the analysis of Hanks and Dadia15, or by the use of the Darby and Melson equation23

m m 1⁄ m
f = [ f lam + f turb ] , (C4.4)

4
16 1 He 1 He
where ---------- + --- --------------------
f lam = ---------- 1 + --6- Re 3 f 3 Re 2 (C4.5)
Re B B
lam B
c – 0.193
f turb = 10 Re B (C4.6)
5
– 2.9 × 10 Re B
c = – 1.378  1 + 0.146e  , (C4.7)
 
40000
and m = 1.7 + --------------- . (C4.8)
Re B

(iii) Calculate ∆p from equations (C2.2) and (C3.1).

C5. FRICTIONAL LOSSES IN TURBULENT FLOW IN SMOOTH PIPE FROM LAMINAR FLOW
VISCOMETRIC DATA FITTED TO A HERSCHEL-BULKLEY MODEL

For turbulent flow of Herschel-Bulkley fluids in smooth pipes, the following three alternative approaches
should be used and their predictions for ∆p compared.

(a) Assume τ yHB in the flow model is unimportant in turbulent flow and use the K HB and n values
in the model directly in any or all of the expressions listed for power law fluids in Appendix B.
This is reasonable provided Re′ is large24. The definition of "large" depends upon the yield stress
value: the larger the yield stress value, the larger Re′ must be before τ yHB has little effect.

(b) Calculate local values of n′ and K′ using equations (C5.1) and (C5.2) respectively and use any
or all of the expressions given in Appendix B.

The local n′ is given by


2 2
 ----------------
1
- +
4nx
------------------------------------------ 6n x 
 1 + 2n ( 1 + n ) ( 1 + 2n ) + -
-----------------------------------------
1 1  ( 1 + n ) ( 1 + 2n )
----- = --------------------- + x -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (C5.1)
n′ n(1 – x) 2 2 3
 x 2nx 2n x 
 1 – ---------------------- – ------------------------------------------ – ------------------------------------------
 ( 1 + 2n ) ( 1 + n ) ( 1 + 2n ) ( 1 + n ) ( 1 + 2n )

in which x = τ yHB / τ w and the local K′ value is given by

τw
K ′ = -------------------------------------------- . (C5.2)
n′
-----
τw – τy n
---------------------------------
1 + 3n′ n
K -------------------
4n′

77
 91025
(c) Use the Torrance12 expression to calculate the friction factor as

1 2.75 1.97 1.97 1 + 3n n ( 1 – n/2 )


------ = 0.45 – ---------- + ---------- ln ( 1 – x ) + ---------- ln  Re ′P  ----------------- f (C5.3)
f n n n   4n  

where Re′P is given by Equation (4.7).

For each of the three methods, ∆p is calculated from Equation (C2.2) and (C3.1).

C6. FRICTIONAL LOSSES IN TURBULENT FLOW IN ROUGH PIPES FROM LAMINAR FLOW
VISCOMETRIC DATA NOT FITTED TO A FLOW CURVE

For turbulent flow of fluids of an undefined flow curve in rough pipes, the following approach is suggested.

(i) Estimate n′ from Equation (4.5) for the flow curve at a wall shear stress level likely to occur in
turbulent flow.

(ii) Estimate K′ from Equation (4.6).

(iii) Calculate Re′ from Equation (4.4).

(iv) Determine the friction factor for a smooth pipe at this Re′ value, f s , using the friction factor chart
given in Figure 3.

(v) Determine the friction factor for a rough pipe of known ε / D at the same Re′ value, f r , using the
friction factor chart given in Figure 3.

(vi) Increase the predicted pressure loss for smooth pipe, ∆p , by multiplying by the ratio of f s to f r .
That is,

fr
∆ p r = ∆p s --- . (C6.1)
fs

C7. FRICTIONAL LOSSES IN TURBULENT FLOW IN ROUGH PIPES FROM LAMINAR FLOW
VISCOMETRIC DATA FITTED TO A HERSCHEL-BULKLEY MODEL

For turbulent flow of Herschel-Bulkley fluids in pipes where f is a function of ε / D only and no longer a
function of R e , the use of the expression of Torrance12 is suggested. That is,

1 4.07 D 2.65
------ = ---------- log 10  ------ + 6.0 – ---------- (C7.1)
f n  2ε n

and ∆p is calculated from Equations (C2.2) and (C3.1).

78
 91025
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS DATA ITEM

The work on this particular Data Item was monitored and guided by the Non-Newtonian Flow Working
Party, on behalf of the Internal Flow Panel, and now has the following membership:

Prof. P.F.G. Banfill – Herriot Watt University


Prof. H.A. Barnes – Unilever Research
Dr D.C-H. Cheng – Independent Consultant
Dr N.I. Heywood – AEA Technology plc
Dr. P.J.G. Long – Cambridge University
Dr A. Tatsis – ETSU, AEA Technology.

The Internal Flow Panel first met in 1979 and now has the following membership:

Chairman
Dr J.A. Eaton – University College Galway, Ireland

Members
Mr D.A. Campbell – Rolls-Royce plc, Derby
Mr J. Campbell – Independent
Dr C.J. Clark – BP International Ltd
Prof. D.H. Freeston* – Auckland University, New Zealand
Dr W.R. Geddes – BNFL Engineering
Dr M.E. Gill – W.S. Atkins Science and Technology
Mr A.J. Green – BHR Group Ltd
Prof. J.L. Livesey – University of Salford
Dr. P.J.G. Long – Cambridge University
Dr M. Moore – Independent.

The technical work involved in the assessment of the available information and the construction and
subsequent development of the Data Item and computer programs was undertaken by

Dr S.A.Logan – Group Head, Software Development.

The Data Item was subsequently reassessed and updated, and additional material was incorporated. This
work was undertaken under contract to ESDU by

Dr N.J. Alderman – AEA tecnhology plc,

under the guidance of the Committees and with the particular assistance of Dr D.C-H. Cheng.

The person with overall responsibility for the work in this subject area is Mr S.J. Pugh, Head of Thermofluids
Group.

*
Corresponding Member

79

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