INTRODUCTION TO FLUID MACHINES: FLOW IN PIPES AND DUCTS

1.1 INTRODUCTION

1.2 Types of volumetric flow

Laminar flow
Flow is said to be laminar when each particle of fluid flows smoothly alongside its
neighbours without interfering with their adjacent paths. Because viscous forces are
dominant in this type of flow, it is also referred to as viscous flow. Laminar flow is
associated with low velocities and viscous, sluggish fluids.

Turbulent flow
When flow is accompanied by indiscriminate eddy currents it is referred to as turbulent.
In this case, the streamlines intersect at random. The individual particles no longer move
in one direction in an orderly fashion, but hinder one another. Using the same analogy
of vehicles on a freeway, a turbulent flow would be one where all the vehicles randomly
weave from lane to lane.

1.3 Viscosity
Viscosity is a quantitative measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow. More specifically, it
determines the fluid strain rate that is generated by a given applied shear stress.
Viscosity represents the internal resistance of a fluid to motion.
The applied shear is proportional to the velocity gradient for the common linear fluids.
The constant of proportionality is the viscosity coefficient μ or dynamic (or absolute)
viscosity of the fluid:

The force a flowing fluid exerts on a body in the flow direction is called the drag force,
and the magnitude of this force depends, in part, on viscosity
1.4 Reynolds’ Number
Professor Osborne Reynolds was an Irish engineer who specialised in fluid mechanics,
investigating the motions of liquids and gases against solid boundaries. His research
eventually provided a dimensionless quantity (the Reynolds number), which accounts
for the relationship between the velocity, length, density and viscosity of a fluid, as well
as the inertia forces involved.

At Reynolds Numbers of less than 2 000 in fluid flow

systems, viscous forces prevail and the flow will be
laminar. The Reynolds Number over which fully developed turbulence exists is less well
defined. The onset of turbulence will occur at Reynolds Numbers of 2500 to 3000
assisted by any vibration, roughness of the walls of the pipe or any momentary
perturbation in the flow.

1.5 Bernoulli’s theorem and the inclusive Bernoulli equation

Bernoulli’s theorem states that the sum total of energy of each particle of a fluid is the
same, provided that energy neither enters nor leaves the system at any point. This
applies to a perfectly efficient system, but in reality, there will be losses and there can be
gains of energy in the system.
Bernoulli’s theorem must therefore be extended to include these energy quantities that
may be added to or subtracted from the system. Hence the term ‘inclusive Bernoulli
equation’. These energy quantities extend to cover losses in pipelines and include the
effect of pumps (which add energy to the system) and turbines (which extract energy
from the system).
 Bernoulli’s equation then becomes:

where:
Hpump = the energy imparted to the fluid by the pump
Hturbine = the energy extracted from the fluid by the turbine
Hloss = the energy lost due to friction, valves and so on.
Example

1.6 Pipeline losses

A quantity of interest in the analysis of pipe flow is the pressure drop since it is directly
related to the power requirements of the fan or pump to maintain flow. Nearly all fittings