Fluid Mechanics

Problem: The system shown below is used to transport ethyl alcohol from one tank to the other. The
temperature is 77F.The length of pipe for each of the horizontal sections is 36 ft. The manometric fluid is
mercury. Pressurized air controls the pressure in the tanks.

Problem 1:
GIVEN:
𝑄 = 250 𝑔𝑎𝑙/𝑚𝑖𝑛
Density of ethyl alcohol at 77F is 49.01 𝑙𝑏𝑚/𝑓𝑡 3 𝑷𝟐
𝜇 = 1.5017 × 10−5 𝑷𝟏

REQUIRED:
Air Pressure, P = ?

SOLUTION:
- Using the Bernoulli’s Equation:
𝑉1 2 𝑃1 𝑉2 2 𝑃2
+ + 𝑧1 − ℎ𝐿 = + + 𝑧2
2𝑔 𝛾 2𝑔 𝛾
- Solve for the velocity:
𝑄 = 𝑉𝐴
𝑔𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑡 3
𝑄 250 × 0.1337
𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑔𝑎𝑙
𝑉= = 2
𝐴 2 𝑖𝑛
𝜋( )
12 𝑓𝑡
4
𝑓𝑡
𝑉 = 1532.09
𝑚𝑖𝑛
 𝑓𝑡
𝑉 = 25.53
𝑠𝑒𝑐

- Solve for the head loss (using Darcy-Weisbach formula):

𝑓𝐿 𝑣 2
ℎ𝐿 = ∙
𝐷 2𝑔
64
f is the friction factor which can be solved using 𝑓 = 𝑅𝑒
𝑣𝐷
Re is the Reynold’s number. Formula is given by 𝑅𝑒 = 𝜇
2 𝑖𝑛
𝑣𝐷 25.53 ( )
12 𝑓𝑡
𝑅𝑒 = =
𝜇 1.5017 × 10−5
𝑅𝑒 = 283345.54
64 64
𝑓= =
𝑅𝑒 283345.54
𝑓 = 0.00022588

0.00022588(154 𝑓𝑡) (25.53)2

ℎ𝐿 = ∙
0.1667 𝑓𝑡 2(32.2)
ℎ𝐿 = 2.112 𝑓𝑡

- Substitute now the value to the Bernoulli’s Equation:

𝑉1 2 𝑃1 𝑉2 2 𝑃2
+ + 𝑧1 − ℎ𝐿 = + + 𝑧2
2𝑔 𝛾 2𝑔 𝛾
2
𝑉1
= 0; negligible
2𝑔
𝑉2 = 25.53 𝑓𝑡/𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝑔 = 32.2 𝑓𝑡/𝑠 2
𝛾 = 49.01 𝑙𝑏𝑓/𝑓𝑡 3
𝑧1 = 18 𝑓𝑡
𝑧2 = 38 𝑓𝑡
𝑃1 =?
𝑙𝑏
𝑃2 = 40 2 = 5760 𝑙𝑏/𝑓𝑡 2
𝑖𝑛
ℎ𝐿 = 2.112 𝑓𝑡

𝑃1 (25.53)2 5760
0+ + 18 − 2.112 = + + 38
49.01 2(32.2) 49.01
𝑃1 = 7339.73 𝑙𝑏/𝑓𝑡 2
𝑃1 = 50.97 𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑔
 𝑃1 = 𝑃2 + 𝜌𝑔ℎ
𝑃1 = 50.972 𝑝𝑠𝑖
𝑃2 = 40 𝑝𝑠𝑖
𝜌𝑔 = 848.02 𝑙𝑏𝑚/𝑓𝑡
50.972(144) = 40(144) + 848.02(ℎ)
ℎ = 1.863 𝑓𝑡

ANSWERS:
Air Pressure, 𝑃1 = 50.97 𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑔
Manometer reading, ℎ = 1.863 𝑓𝑡