Principles of Food and Bioprocess Engineering (FS 231)

Example Problems on Fluid Flow

1. The consistency coefficient and flow behavior index of a pseudoplastic fluid are 5 Pa sn and
0.8 respectively. What is its apparent viscosity at a shear rate of 20 s-1?

2. A certain fluid conforms to the Herschel-Bulkley model with a consistency coefficient of 3 Pa

sn and an yield stress of 0 Pa. If the fluid experiences a shear stress of 71 Pa at a shear rate of
20 s-1, determine the shear rate at which its apparent viscosity becomes 4 Pa s.

3. The apparent viscosity of a power-law fluid is 2 Pa s at a shear rate of 30 s-1 and 2.5 Pa s at a
shear rate of 60 s-1. Determine its consistency coefficient and flow behavior index.

4. A certain fluid that conforms to the Herschel-Bulkley model has an yield stress of zero. The
fluid experienced a shear stress of 6 Pa when a shear rate of 2 s-1 was imposed on it and a
shear stress of 54 Pa when a shear rate of 6 s-1 was imposed on it. What is the apparent
viscosity of this fluid at a shear rate of 4 s-1?

5. A rotational viscometer is used to measure the viscosity of a Newtonian fluid. The radius of
the beaker used is VERY LARGE in comparison with the diameter of the spindle. Determine
the viscosity of the fluid if a torque of 3000 dyne cm is required to rotate the spindle (radius =
0.5 cm, length = 6 cm) at 30 rpm.

6. A tube of diameter 20 cm and length 30 m is used to measure the viscosity of a Newtonian

fluid that is being pumped at the rate of 20 kg/s. The pressure gauges upstream and
downstream read 130 kPa and 120 kPa respectively. Determine the viscosity of the fluid if its
density is 1000 kg/m3. Approximately how much more viscous than water is this fluid?

7. Determine the average and maximum velocity for the flow of water at 30 /C in a pipe of
diameter 1" at the rate of 1 kg/s.

8. Determine the velocity (local velocity) at a radial distance of 1 cm from the center of a tube
for the flow of a Newtonian fluid (under laminar flow conditions) at the rate of 20 cm3/s in a
pipe of diameter 2". What is the Reynolds number if the fluid is water (at 20 /C)?

9. Does laminar flow condition prevail if a fluid (viscosity = 0.05 Pa s) flows in a tube of
diameter 10 cm at the rate of 25 kg/s?
10. What is the average velocity of flow of a Newtonian fluid under laminar flow conditions in a
pipe of diameter 6 cm if the velocity at a radial distance of 1.5 cm from the center of the tube
is 0.3 m/s?
11. a. Calculate the Reynolds number for a Newtonian fluid of viscosity 0.1 Pa s and density
1000 kg/m3 flowing at the rate of 10 kg/s in a pipe of 4 cm diameter. Is the flow laminar,
turbulent or in transition?
b. Determine the friction factor if the pipe is made of wrought iron.
 c. What is the pressure drop across 10 m length of the tube?
d. What is the rating of a pump (of efficiency 75%) required to perform the task of pumping
the product if the only energies to overcome are the loss in energy due to friction and the
energy loss due to the inefficiency of the pump?
12. A product (density = 1050 kg/m3, viscosity = 0.01 Pa s) flows through a cast iron pipe of
length 10 m and diameter 6 cm at the rate of 2 kg/s. If the pipe also includes two 90/ regular
threaded elbows and one gate valve (fully open), determine the loss in energy due to friction.
13. A Newtonian fluid flows through a copper pipe (smooth pipe) of length 20 m and I.D. 7" at
the rate of 2 kg/s. This pipe then connects to a wrought iron pipe of length 10 m and I.D. 1".
Determine the total loss in energy (consider friction in straight sections and also sudden
contraction). The density and viscosity of the fluid are 1000 kg/m3 and 0.008 Pa s
respectively.
14. Fluid is being pumped from a pressurized vessel (200 kPa) to another tank 10 m above (open
to the atmosphere) at the rate of 1.2 kg/s through a galvanized iron pipeline system. The
pipeline system consists of two gate valves and one 90/ square elbow in a 40 m long pipe
(I.D. = 1") followed by a 30 m long pipe (I.D. = 6") which has 3 globe valves and a 90/
medium sweep elbow. What should be the rating of a pump (of efficiency 70%) that would
be required to perform this task? The density and viscosity of the fluid are 1000 kg/m3 and
0.005 Pa s respectively. The levels of the fluid in the two tanks remain constant. (See Figure)
15. At what radial location in a pipe of circular cross-section (radius = R) is the local velocity of
a Newtonian fluid (under laminar flow conditions) equal to one-fourth its average velocity?

16. a. Assuming laminar flow in a pipe of diameter 10 cm and length 20 cm, determine the
velocity at a radial distance of 1 cm from the center if the pressure drop across the tube is 16
Pa when a Newtonian fluid of viscosity 5 Pa s flows through it.
b. Is the laminar flow assumption valid?
c. What is the critical mass flow rate above which the flow becomes turbulent? The density
of the fluid is 1000 kg/m3.

17. a. Determine the viscosity (in SI units) of a fluid for which a Torque of 0.015 N cm is
required to rotate the spindle at 30 rpm. The spindle is 6 cm long and has a diameter of 0.4
cm. The radius of the beaker used is 10 cm.

b. Determine the shear stress at the surface of the spindle.

18. The following equation describes the effect of temperature on the viscosity of several fluids.

a. What are the units of BA and Ea?

b. Given the viscosity of a fluid at different temperatures, explain the procedure involved in
determining the Arrhenius parameters Ea and BA. Rg = 8314 J/kg mol K. Use a graph (if
necessary) and equations to explain your answer.

19. a. Determine the rheological parameters (K, n, F0) of a fluid that conforms to the Herschel-
Bulkley model for which a shear stress of 2 N/m2 produces a shear rate of 5 s-1 and a shear
stress of 0.7 N/m2 produces a shear rate of 2 s-1. It was also seen that even a very small shear
stress resulted in non-zero values of shear rate.
b. What kind of a fluid is it?

20. a. What is the pressure drop in a straight pipe (made of cast iron) of length 10 m and diameter
2", if a fluid flows in it at the rate of 50 m3/hr?
b. What is the additional pressure drop if a globe valve (Cff = 10) is introduced in the above
pipe?
c. What is the additional pressure drop if a gate valve (Cff = 0.15) is introduced in the above
pipe?
The density of the fluid is 1000 kg/m3, and its viscosity is 0.05 Pa s.

21. A 10 m long pipe of diameter 5 cm has an open globe valve (Le/D = 300) in it. What is the
length of a straight pipe (made of the same material as the above pipe) of the same diameter
(but without the globe valve) that will have the same pressure drop across it as the pressure
drop across the 10 m long pipe with the globe valve in it?
22. What happens to the apparent viscosity of a pseudoplastic fluid (with a flow behavior index
of n = 0.5) when the shear rate is doubled?

23. What happens to the apparent viscosity of a dilatant fluid (with a flow behavior index of n =
3) when the shear rate is doubled?

24. The expression for the velocity profile for flow of any fluid that conforms to: is
given by:

Explain how the velocity profile of a pseudoplastic fluid would look like in comparison to the
parabolic velocity profile for a Newtonian fluid for which the above equation reduces to:
 Answers to Example Problems on Fluid Flow
1. 2.75 Pa s
2. 120.9 s-1
3. K = 0.67 Pa sn, n = 1.32
4. 6 Pa s
5. 5.1 Pa s
6. 0.65 Pa s; The fluid is approximately 650 times as viscous as water.
7. Average velocity = 1.98 m/s, Maximum velocity = 2.38 m/s
8. ã = 0.167 m/s, NRe = 510
9. No
10. 0.2 m/s
11. a. 3184 (Transitional) b. 0.011 c. 348.5 kPa d. 4647 W
12. 2.4 J/kg
13. 102.1 J/kg
14. 267 W
15. r=R
16. a. 0.005 m/s b. Yes c. 824.7 kg/s
17. a. 15.8 Pa s b. 99.5 N/m2
18. a. BA: Pa s; Ea: J/kg mol b. --
19. a. K = 0.31 Pa sn, n = 1.15, F0 = 0 b. Dilatant
20. a. 190.5 kPa b. 250.6 kPa c. 3.8 kPa
21. 25 m
22. Becomes 0.71 times the original value
23. Becomes four times the original value
24. It becomes flatter