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MEC2340-3 - Airflow in Pipes-5
MEC2340-3 - Airflow in Pipes-5
1. OBJECTIVE
2. APPARATUS
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LAB SHEET LAB SHEET TITLE
• The University health and safety policy should be followed. Furthermore, students are
expected to adhere to all health and safety guidelines of the Department of Mechanical
Engineering.
• Students should wear the following Personal Safety Equipment when undertaking this
experiment:
• Lab coat
• Safety shoes
• Safety glasses
• Before starting check that the blower intake is clear from any objects.
• Make sure that the manometer is stable to avoid any spillages.
4. PROCEDURE
With the blower running and the exit valve fully open, traverse a probe across the full
diameter of the pipe, thus measuring the dynamic pressure (𝑝𝑜 − 𝑝) at various pipe radii 𝑟
by means of a pitot static tube connected to a manometer. Before starting the experiment
check the equipment as follows:
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5. ANALYSIS
The density of air in the Fluids Laboratory may be found based on actual ambient
conditions in conjunction with the Energy Equation for gases:
𝑝𝑎
𝜌𝑎𝑖𝑟 = (3)
𝑅 𝑇𝑎
where:
𝜌𝑎𝑖𝑟 is the density of the fluid flowing in the pipe,
𝑝𝑎 is the atmospheric pressure,
𝑇𝑎 is the air temperature, and
𝑅 is the characteristic gas constant for air (287 𝐽/𝑘𝑔 𝐾).
The dynamic pressure (𝑝𝑜 − 𝑝), may be related to the manometer deflection where:
(𝑝𝑜 − 𝑝) = 𝜌𝑙𝑖𝑞 𝑔 ℎ (4)
where:
𝜌𝑙𝑖𝑞 is the density of the fluid in the manometer, in this case water [𝑘𝑔 𝑚−3],
𝑔 is the acceleration due to gravity [𝑚 𝑠 −2];
ℎ is the manometer deflection [𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟].
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Note that the manometer’s deflection must be multiplied by an appropriate scaling factor
depending on its inclination. Scaling factors may be sourced from the monometer’s
calibration information.
From theory we also know that the Reynolds Number 𝑅𝑒 is a critical parameter required
to establish the state of the fluid’s flow.
𝜌𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑣̅ 𝑑
𝑅𝑒 = (7)
𝜇
where:
𝑣̅ is the mean velocity [𝑚 𝑠 −1],
𝑑 is the pipe diameter [𝑚], and
𝜇 is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid; in this case air [𝑃𝑎 𝑠].
2 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑣̅ = (8)
(𝑛 + 1)(𝑛 + 2)
where:
𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 is the maximum velocity experienced in the pipe section [𝑚 𝑠 −1];
1
𝑛 may be taken as 7.
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Using Eq. [7], determine the type of flow being experienced in the pipe section. The
magnitude of the 𝑅𝑒 will help determine whether the flow is laminar or turbulent. For
turbulent flows (i.e. 𝑅𝑒 > 2300), the following equation for a turbulent velocity profile at
different radii 𝑟 may be used:
𝑟 𝑛
𝑣(𝑟) = 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 (1 − ) (9)
𝑅
where:
𝑣(𝑟) is the velocity of the flow at any pipe radius 𝑟,
𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 is the maximum velocity experienced in a pipe section [𝑚 𝑠 −1 ];
𝑟 is the radius [𝑚], and
𝑅 is the half the pipe diameter [𝑚].
On a single graph, plot value of 𝑣 versus 𝑟 (with 𝑟 ranging from −𝑅 to +𝑅) to show the
velocity profile across the full diameter of the pipe using both methods and comment on
your results.
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