Unit Process Design: Reynolds Experiment

Written by:

Angelia Maharani Putri Lean (CHE 2018)

Maharani Chairunnisa Prabawasari (CHE 2018)

Lecturer:

Runita Rizkiyanti Putri, S.T., B.Eng., M.Sc.

Faculty of Life Sciences

International University Liaison Indonesia
 I. ABSTRACT

In this experiment, a simple equipment was designed to observe and characterize types of
fluid flow in a transparent hose which could be classified into laminar, transient, and
turbulent flow. The volume and time obtained from the experiment were used to calculate
whether the Reynolds’ number were within the range of laminar or turbulent as well as to
prove that Reynolds number was dimensionless.

A fixed volume of 0.0003 m3 of water was set as a reference to measure the time needed to
fill the measuring cup, also to obtain volumetric flow rate. Based on the observation,
laminar flow formed a thinner and straighter line compared to turbulent flow which created
swirls that later dispersed in water. According to the results, the Reynolds number for
laminar flow was 222.843, while turbulent flow was 4547.713 in which both values were
within the theoretical range.

II. OBJECTIVE

1. To prove Reynolds number formula based on the obtained data

2. Design a simple equipment to calculate Reynolds number
3. Observe flow regimes in different fluid flow situations
4. Determine under which conditions each flow regime occurs

III. INTRODUCTION

In fluid dynamics, fluid is a substance that continuously deforms (flows) under applied
shear stress or external force. Fluids are a phase of substance and include liquids and
gasses (Bird et al., 2007). Flow patterns in the fluid depend on three factors: the
characteristics of the fluid, the rate of flow, and the shape of the solid surface. Three
characteristics of the fluid are of particular importance: viscosity, density and
compressibility (Anonymous, 2020).

There are six different forms of fluid flow, two of which are a laminar and turbulent flow,
as was shown in the famous experiment by Osborne Reynolds. The first form called
laminar flow, is a well-ordered flow state in which adjacent fluid layers move smoothly in
respect to each other. The flow occurs in layers or laminates. The laminar flow in the pipe
(Fig. a) has a smooth distribution of parabolic velocity. This type of fluid is often referred
to as a streamline flow or a viscous flow. An example of laminar flow is the flow of thick
syrup.

The second form of flow defined by Reynolds is called turbulent flow, which is a steady
flow characterized by eddies of varying sizes and extreme cross-stream mixing. The
turbulence can be detected in the wake of a ship. A turbulent flow of smoke stack can also
be observed (Fig. b). Note that the mixing of the turbulent flow is apparent since the plume
widens and disperses. Turbulent flow has a plug-shaped distribution of velocity, since the
eddies mix the flow, which helps to keep the distribution uniform (Clayton et al., 2015). In
both laminar and turbulent flow, the no-slip condition applies.

Transitional flow is a combination of laminar and turbulent flow with turbulence in the
middle of the pipe and laminar flow near the edges of the pipe (Fig. c). Each of these flows
behaves in different ways in terms of their frictional energy loss while flowing, and has
different equations that predict their behavior.

Figure (c)

Table: Comparison of Laminar and Turbulent Flow.

(Clayton et al., 2015)

To determine whether the flow is laminar or turbulent, a dimensionless number called
Reynolds Number can be used to measure the flow:

ρū d
Re =
μ
where:
Re is Reynolds Number
ρ is the density of fluid (kg/m )
3

ū is the average velocity (m/s)

d is the diameter of the pipe (m)
μ is viscosity of fluid(kg/m.s)

Turbulent flow is unsteady, so the standard approach is to represent the velocity as a time-
averaged velocity uavg plus a fluctuating component u’. The fluctuating component is
defined as the difference between the local velocity and the time-averaged velocity. A
turbulent flow is designated as “steady” if the time-averaged velocity is unchanging with
time.

Δx
ū=
Δt
where:
ū is the average velocity (m/s)
x is displacement (m)
t is change in time (s)

Reynolds carried out experiments to determine the limit value of the number of Reynolds
to quantitatively determine if the flow is laminar or turbulent. Limits are as shown below:

Osborne Reynolds Apparatus consists of a water resource for the system supply, a water
supply to large and small transparent pipes, a dye input by injection unit, and a water
output unit for the determination of the water flow rate. Laminar, transient, and turbulent
flow can be accomplished by varying the flow rate of the water using the water outlet
control valve. The flow rate of the water and hence the flow velocity is determined by the
volumetric measurement tank. The supply tank consists of glass beads designed to
minimize flow disturbances. Flow patterns are visualized by injection of dye through a
needle valve. The dye injection rate can be controlled and modified to improve the quality
of flow patterns.

Q=u.A

where:
Q is volumetric flow rate (m3/s)
u is velocity of fluid (m/s)
A is cross-sectional Area (m2)

Figure (d)

Density = 997 kg/m3 (Crittenden et al., 2012)

Viscosity at room temperature = 0.00091 kg/ms (Engineers Edge, n.d.)
IV. DESIGN

The design was created to replicate the Osborne Reynolds apparatus by using a 31 cm long
transparent bottle, 5 ml/cc syringe, 56 cm long hose, and hose coupling. The bottle
contained water that was provided from the water supply valve that would flow to the 56
cm long transparent hose. The discharge through the transparent hose was regulated by a
hose coupling. The syringe, acting as a dye reservoir, was mounted on top of the hose and
supported by chopsticks, from which a purple food coloring could be injected into the
water to identify flow regimes.

Figure (e): Sketch

 Figure (f): The equipment
V. METHOD

Materials and equipment:

The materials and equipment that were needed in this experiment consisted of 5/16 in
transparent hose, ⅝ in water hose, transparent bottle, hose coupling, syringe, solder,
silicone sealant, scissor, clear tape, chopstick, measuring cup, stopwatch, ruler, water, and
purple food coloring.

Making the equipment:

To make the equipment, first, the transparent hose was cut into 56 cm long. Second, the
lower part of a transparent bottle was pierced by a solder to make a circular hole. After
that, the hose was plugged into the bottle and hose coupling. Next, the joint part between
the bottle hole and the hose, also the joint part between the hose and the hose coupling
were sealed using silicone sealant to prevent leakage. Then, a clear tape was used to attach
the bottle, hose, and hose coupling to the table (as a foundation) to make the equipment
stay intact in one position. Later, the syringe was injected to the hose vertically and sealed
with silicone sealant. At last, two chopsticks were cut into half and sealed with clear tape
to prop up the syringe to stand vertically.

Reynolds experiment work procedure:

To begin the experiment, the hose coupling switch must be in the “on” position and the
water hose was connected to the water supply valve and the transparent bottle. Next, 5 ml
of food coloring was poured into the syringe. Subsequently, the water supply valve was
turned on slowly to let the water flow to the bottle. The water was let to flow into the hose
and came out of the hose coupling. The flow represented by the food coloring was
observed, whether it indicated laminar or turbulent flow. During the first trial, when the
observed flow regime showed either one of the two types of flow regimes, then the
measuring cup was taken and placed under the hose coupling to fill 300 ml of water within
a certain time. The time needed to fill 300 ml of water was recorded using a stopwatch. For
the second trial and third, the hose coupling was adjusted either to increase or decrease the
flow rate. The same steps were repeated for another type of flow.

After the volume and time were recorded, the average time was calculated to get the
volumetric flow rate. The area of the hose was calculated to get the average velocity by
dividing volumetric flow rate to area. Finally, the Reynolds number could be calculated.

VI. RESULT

● Length of transparent hose = 0.56 m

● Volume of the bottle = 0.002 m3
● Inner diameter of the hose = 0.0079375 m
● Area of the hose = 4.948315 x 10-5 m2
● Density = 997 kg/m3
● Viscosity at 25 °C = 0.00091 kg/ms
Table 1: Calculations for Laminar Flow

Volumetric Average
Observed Volume Time Time flow rate velocity Re Re flow regime
flow regime (m3) (s) average (s) (m3/s) (m/s)
Laminar 0.0003 124.5
Laminar 0.0003 203.15
236.59333 1.27E-06 2.56E-02 222.8429495 Laminar
Laminar 0.0003 382.13

Figure (g): Observed laminar flow

Table 2: Calculation for Turbulent Flow

 Volumetri Average
Observed Volume Time Time c flow rate velocity Re Re flow regime
flow regime (m3) (s) average (s) (m3/s) (m/s)
Turbulent 0.0003 13.54
Turbulent 0.0003 11.01
11.593333 2.59E-05 5.23E-01 4547.713303 Turbulent
Turbulent 0.0003 10.23

Figure (h): Observed turbulent flow

VII. DISCUSSION

There are four states of matter in science: gas, liquid, solid, and plasma. A liquid is a state
of matter in which the molecules are close together on average so that the forces between
molecules or atoms are intense. In addition, the molecules are comparatively free to move
around compared to the solid, and when the liquids are poured into the jar, they remain and
assume the form of the jar. As a consequence, the liquid has a fixed volume at constant
temperature, but not a fixed form (Clayton e. al., 2015). All gasses are compressible, while
liquids are practically incompressible; such that, they cannot be compressed into smaller
volumes. Flow patterns in compressible fluids are more complex and difficult to research
than those in compressible fluids (Anon, 2020).

According to the continuity equation, ideal fluids are incompressible, inviscid and flowing
continuously without friction effects between moving fluid layers or between the fluids and
bounding walls. The flow would be laminar and can be defined by streamlines. All fluid
particles travel with the same velocity in a straight pipe section with a constant cross
sectional area and there are no different streamlines across with each other. Hence, the
volumetric flow rate would be the same everywhere (Anon, 2020).
Real fluid determines if the flow has viscosity, which implies resistance to motion due to
shear stress or friction between fluid particles and between fluids with boundary walls.
Whenever the flow takes place to move against the resistance forces, there will be energy
that transforms to heat that would be mechanical energy loss (Boxer. 1998)

There are several factors that affect fluid to flow such as:
● Viscosity, density, and velocity of fluid.
● Changing on temperature that will affect the viscosity and density of the fluid.
● The diameter, length, and the internal roughness of certain pipes.
● The position of the containers for supply and discharge relative to the position of
the pump.
● The addition of rises & falls within the layout of the pipe.
● The number & types of bends in the layout of the tubing.
● Number & varieties of valves, & other fittings, in the layout of the pipe.
● Conditions of entry & exit of the pipe system.

The flow patterns depend on the characteristics of the fluid, the speed of flow, and the
shape of the solid surface. Hydrodynamics deals with the flow of water in various
situations such as in pipes, around ships, and underground (Encyclopedia, 2020).
Theoretically, when fluids flow over a solid surface, the Reynolds number depends on the
size and shape of the solid since the flow of their velocity in immediate vicinity of the
surface is zero. The velocity of the boundary layer can be increased by specially coating
the surface. This also has the effect of reducing the shear forces within the liquid and
increasing its mean flow velocity (Joshua et al., 2016). Remember that to determine
whether laminar or turbulent flow it has to be in no-slip condition, which means the
velocity of the fluid in contact with a solid surface will equal the velocity of the surface.
Hence if the fluid flows through a large solid, there would be a higher Reynolds number
than a smaller solid with smaller Reynolds number. As long as the shape of the solid
surface remains the same, different fluids with the same Reynolds number will flow in
exactly the same way (Science org., 2020). It is an important fact based on similitude
theory. Similitude permits smaller scale models of planes and cars to be tested in wind
tunnels where Reynolds number is kept the same by increasing the air flow rate or by
changing some other fluid properties, that is why aircraft designs can be tested in wind
tunnels where air flows through stationary test models to simulate the flight of actual
aircraft moving through the air.

This experiment was performed to replicate the Reynolds experiment by using simple
devices such as transparent bottle, transparent hose, hose coupling, syringe, and food
coloring to observe the fluid's action flow by slowly injecting the food coloring into the
transparent hose, whether it was laminar or turbulent as observed with naked eyes and also
prove Reynolds Number formula from calculation based on the obtained data.

In organic or inorganic environments, the behavior of flow depends on forces which

dominate in inertia, surface tension, viscous, and gravity. In laminar flows, viscous forces
are dominant and the behavior of fluid as though the layers slip over each other. In
turbulent flows, the inertia forces have more impact than the viscous force, thus, it makes
the behavior of flow has changed dramatically and chaotically.
Based on the experiment, there are several factors that influence fluid flow regimes. The
water supply valve determined the water volumetric flow rate from the valve to the bottle
that would also influence the fluid flow rate exiting the hose coupling. When the valve was
slightly opened, laminar flow could be created and when it was almost ¼ opened, turbulent
flow could be created. It was also important to maintain sufficient amount of water in the
bottle to ensure that the water gave a “push” to make itself flow. Otherwise, the water
would not flow. Similar to the valve, the opening of the hose coupling determined the flow
regime. Bigger openings could create turbulent flow, while smaller openings created
laminar flow. As a result, the bigger opening had a shorter average time and smaller
opening had a longer average time to fill 300 ml of water into the measuring cup.

When conducting the experiment, the food coloring was inserted to the syringe before
opening the water supply valve because if the water went out first then it would enter
through the needle and fill the syringe. This happened due to pressure. Theoretically, low
pressure would reduce water flow and it would take a longer time to fill the measuring cup
and affect the flow rate. High volumetric flow rate would result in high velocity that would
create turbulent flow, whereas low volumetric flow rate would result in low velocity that
would create laminar flow.

Several important characteristics including density, viscosity, and compressibility will

determine the fluid flow. Indirectly, temperature of water affects density and viscosity. In
high temperature, water molecules expand and take up volume which will lower the
density. In low temperature, water molecules lose their energy and become closer, hence
the volume decreases and becomes more dense. Therefore, in low density, water will flow
faster because the molecules are less dense.

The viscosity of water (as a liquid) decreases in high temperature and increases in low
temperature. Heating makes the kinetic energy increase and makes the molecules move
freely, therefore the viscosity decreases. Hence, in low viscosity, the water will move
faster due to low resistance.

The lack of compressibility of water appears to push water out of the water hoses as an
incompressible fluid which is the characteristic of fluid itself. The compressibility of the
water was shown by the quantity of volume at a fixed temperature and the pressure due to
the characteristic of the fluid is incompressible, and the pressure from the flow of the water
from the valve and the hose coupling openings had to be modified in the experiment to
achieved turbulent regime. The pressure of flowing liquid from the valve had an effect on
the surface tension. That is because the incompressibility makes the liquids suitable from
the energy potential because the change in the pressure at one point in the liquid is
transferred undiminished to all other areas of the liquid and very little energy is lost in the
form of compression. Regarding the diameter of the hose and hose coupling, the greater the
cross sectional area then the flow rate will be greater, based on the formula: volumetric
flow rate equals to average velocity multiplied by area.

Based on the result, the laminar flow is obtained when the dye is injected into the
transparent hose, which has become apparent in a thin line from the beginning along the
length of transparent hose. On the other hand, the turbulent flow was shown to be very
different with laminar flow, as it can be seen from the Fig. h, the beginning of the flow
motion was highly disordered and the dye has become thicker throughout the length of
transparent hose. It happened because the turbulent flow depends on the velocity of fluid,
since the velocity can change in magnitude and direction.

When turbulent flow has occurred, the flow eddies of many sizes are superimposed onto
the mean flow (streamlines) and the eddies. Larger eddies carry the dye laterally across
streamlines. Smaller eddies create smaller scale stirring that causes the dye filament to
spread (diffuse). Turbulent eddies create fluctuations in velocity. If the flow were steady
and laminar then velocity equals to average velocity for all time. For turbulent flow,
however the velocity record includes both a mean and a turbulent component (Anon,
2020).

As it was known that inside the bulk of fluid there are layers called boundary layers.
Basically, the boundary layer is a thin layer of liquid flowing in contact with the inside of a
solid surface in the perpendicular direction or in this experiment the solid surface was the
transparent hose. The boundary layer of the fluid is susceptible to shear forces, since there
is a range of velocity across the boundary layer from zero to maximum, considering that
the fluid is in contact with the surface. The maximum velocity is found in the center of the
boundary layers which is the layer with the most leading streamlines compared to other
streamlines. It occurred due to momentum diffusion, the velocity of the wall is equal to
zero and when the liquid flowing the shear stress will take place because of the contact
between layers of fluid with the surface of solid (no-slip condition). Occurrence of no-slip
condition because of adhesion force, as the fluid continues to flow the fixed surface of
solid was tried to drag the fluid down and inside of the fluid particle there was cohesion
force that binds between each particles together. As the fluid flows, the cohesive force and
adhesion force tends to be viscosity in the macroscopic scale. As the flow continues
downstream of the solid surface, the viscosity could slow down more and more of fluid
layers above the solid surface and the fluid in contact with the horizontal surface is
stationary thus, it makes all other layers slide over each other. At some point, the boundary
layer will fully develop and the velocity will remain constant.

In turbulent boundary layers, the boundary layer was assumed that the flow is turbulent
since the start of the boundary layer and it behaves in a geometrically similar manner with
time averaged and could obtain average velocity and due to fully push from the valve and
in the same time there was collision between each particle inside the liquids, the boundary
layers has become faster to reach fully developed velocity profile. Whereas in laminar
boundary layers, the flow traveled along the surface of solid where the streamline is linear
and took more time to fully developed velocity profile. As can be seen from the table 1, it
took more than 240 s for laminar flow to achieve the volume of 0.0003 m3. On the other
side, turbulent flow only took 12 s to reach the volume of 0.0003 m 3. As the flow has
reached a fully developed profile, this means that the velocity would not change in respect
to the solid surface, so that the maximum velocity was reached and the average velocity
could be determined with respect to time. The faster for the time to reach the desired
volume, the number of velocity would be higher along with the Reynolds number. It can be
seen from the table 2 that turbulent flow was 0.0000259 m/s faster than laminar flow was
only 0.00000127 m/s and has significant effect with the result of Reynolds number for
table 2 was 4547.7133 that defined as turbulent flow compared for table 1 was 222.8429
that defined as laminar flow. The flow time had a direct effect on the volumetric flow rate
that occurred as a result of the opening of the valves, as it mentioned that for the laminar
flow, the valve was slightly opened and the turbulent flow valve was almost ¼ opened so
that the turbulent flow occurred. Also, the opening of the hose coupling determines the
 flow rate, if the opening is small then laminar flow can be created and if the opening is
bigger then turbulent flow can be created.

VIII. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the experiment successfully developed the device to replicate

Osborne Reynolds Apparatus by using simple materials and equipment and the
result showed the difference between laminar and turbulent flow of injected dye.
While the laminar flow showed the straight line of injected dye in 240 seconds with
calculated Reynolds number is below 2300, whereas the turbulent flow showed a
disorderly line of injected dye in only 12 second with calculated Reynolds number
is above 4000. As the volumetric flow rate was increased, the Reynold number was
also increased along with an increase of average velocity and could be concluded
average velocity and flow time had affected the Reynold number. It was proved
that the Reynolds number is dimensionless which means no units left after the
calculation and it could be used to identify types of flow regime.

Several factors that affected fluid flow were the characteristics of the fluid
(viscosity, density and compressibility), pressure, the rate of flow, and the shape of
the solid surface. In low viscosity, the water would flow faster due to small
resistance caused by shear stress between the fluid and its container. In low density,
the water flowed faster because the molecules were less dense. The pressure given
from the water source would help the water to come out of the hose. For laminar
flow it was considered as incompressibility flow because when the liquid was
flowing out of the valve in small openings and there would be no significant change
in relative number of volume as the liquid was given the force or stress from
potential energy. On the other hand, the turbulent flow would lack compressibility
(considered as compressible flow) to help push out the water faster and can be
managed by fully opening the valve and once the flowing liquid hits the surface of
liquid inside the container, the higher pressure would be applied. In the end the
amount of liquid flowing to the coupling (the end of the hose) will be faster.

High volumetric flow rate would result in high velocity that would create turbulent
flow, whereas low volumetric flow rate would result in low velocity that would
create laminar flow. For a largely shaped and coated solid surface, the shear force
would be reduced and therefore increased the average velocity which resulted in
greater Reynolds number. Lastly, the greater the cross sectional area, the greater the
volumetric flow rate and the Reynolds number.

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