Fluids 2 B51EH

Compressibility of a gas

Lecture two The Compressibility of a gas

17th January 2010

Introduction
Suppose a fluid is passing through a pipe
system when a downstream valve is suddenly
partially closed. The fluid immediately next to the
valve suddenly has its velocity reduced.
Consequently the local pressures increases. The
fluid attempts to rebalance and find its equilibrium
that balances the mass flow rate with the new
induced fluid flow resistance
Lecture two The Compressibility of a gas

17th January 2010

Effects
A pressure wave is created by the induced
resistance
Pressure wave = Sound wave
Therefore pressure wave travels at the
speed of sound relative to the fluid

Lecture two The Compressibility of a gas

17th January 2010

Resultant 1
If the fluid velocity is much less than the
wave velocity, the system will reach a new
equilibrium almost instantaneously
If this is the case then the effects are
negligible
Hence the flow is treated as
incompressible

Lecture two The Compressibility of a gas

17th January 2010

Resultant 2
If the fluid speed is close to the wave
speed the situation is more complex
Hence the flow is termed compressible
and must be calculated according to the
resistance induced.
Therefore evaluating the speed of sound
in gas to determine the whether the flow is
compressible is paramount.
Lecture two The Compressibility of a gas

17th January 2010

Gas flow through the wave

The pressure wave can be
considered static if its velocity
(c) is subtracted from the gas
velocity (u). Mass conservation
across the (now) static wave
requires that:

Lecture two The Compressibility of a gas

17th January 2010

Derivation

Lecture two The Compressibility of a gas

17th January 2010

Lecture two The Compressibility of a gas

17th January 2010

Lecture two The Compressibility of a gas

17th January 2010

Isentropic flow path

This is the isentropic flow path, all sources of

irreversibility have been neglected, hence the wave is
infinitesimally small.

Lecture two The Compressibility of a gas

17th January 2010

Relative wave speed

Lecture two The Compressibility of a gas

17th January 2010

Mach number
We have established that compressibility depends on the
proximity of the gas velocity to the speed of sound. Thus a
dimensionless number, the Mach number, is introduced to
define this:

In gas dynamics the Mach number is used to describe the

motion of the gas, thus the gas velocity can always be
found from the Mach number:

Lecture two The Compressibility of a gas

17th January 2010