Dr. Nikos J.

Mourtos AE 160 / ME 111

CONTINUITY (Conservation of Mass)

Case 5: Water Reservoir - Rising / Falling Level
Imagine the same water reservoir as before with two entry points (1 and 3) and one exit
point (point 2). Now the water level in the reservoir may rise or fall, depending on
whether there is more water going in than coming out or vice versa.

The following assumptions are based on the description of the problem:

Incompressible flow
1-D flow at all inlet / outlet pipes
Since the water level is changing, it is easier to consider as our control volume the entire
tank plus the water in the short cylindrical pipe sections at points 1, 2, and 3. Now the
mass inside the control volume ( mcv ) is changing, hence:

m in m out
If m in m out , the water level will rise. If m in m out , the water level will fall. The
difference m in m out will be equal to the time rate of change of the mass of the water in
the reservoir. Hence, we can write Continuity as:
1

Dr. Nikos J. Mourtos AE 160 / ME 111

m in m out =

d ( mcv )
dt

We can eliminate the density because the flow is incompressible:

Qin Qout =

d( H 2 O,cv )
dt

where H 2 O,cv is the volume of the water in the reservoir (control volume).
Writing the left-hand side of Continuity as in Case 4:
V1 A1 V2 A2 + V3 A3 =

V A =
C.S.

d( H 2 O,cv )

d H 2 O,cv

dt

dt

This is Continuity for unsteady, incompressible, one-dimensional flow for a control

volume with multiple entry / exit points.
The minus sign on the right-hand-side is necessary because of the convention discussed
in Case 4. The summation on the left-hand-side gives a positive result if the outflow is
greater than the inflow, in which case the mass inside the control volume is decreasing,
so the derivative on the right-hand side is negative.
We can capitalize on the simple geometry of our problem to gain further insights about
Continuity by simplifying the unsteady term.

H 2 O,cv = Ares h

Note that

where Ares is the cross-sectional area of the reservoir and h is the depth of the water in the
reservoir (see figure below). The cross sectional area of the tank does not change with
time, so the unsteady term in Continuity becomes:

d( H 2 O,cv )
dt

d
dh
( Ares h ) = Ares = AresVsurface
dt
dt

As shown in the figure below, Vsurface is the velocity with which the surface is rising or
falling.

Dr. Nikos J. Mourtos AE 160 / ME 111

It is interesting to note that in this case the unsteady term can be made to look like the
inflow or outflow terms. If we move this term to the left-hand-side we have:
V1 A1 + V2 A2 V3 A3 + AresVsurface = 0

This equation represents a mass balance (or more precisely a volume balance since the
flow is incompressible) for the new control volume indicated with the dotted line in the
figure above. This control volume includes a fixed depth of water hcv , as shown. The
mass of the water inside this control volume does not change with time, even though the
water level may be rising or falling, as long as the free surface of the water stays above
the top control surface or as long as:

h hcv
Hence, the flow for this control volume is steady (compare with Continuity in Case 4).
Assume for a moment that the water level is rising, as shown in the figure above. The
mass outflux through the top control surface is given by:

m 4 = AresVsurface

Dr. Nikos J. Mourtos AE 160 / ME 111

This mass outflux together with the mass outflux from exit 2, exactly balances the influx
at points 1 and 3, so for our new control volume we have:

m in = m out
The last equation shows that our problem has now been transformed into a steady flow
problem.
We see that the choice of the control volume is critical because it can make a problem
appear steady or unsteady. Usually, it is easier to solve a steady flow problem than an
unsteady one, so if a control volume exists that allows such a formulation, it may be
preferable.
Example
Consider the water reservoir shown below with four inlets on the sides, two outlets on the
bottom, and a cross-sectional area of Ares = 100 m 2 .

The cross-sectional area and the corresponding velocity for each inlet / outlet are given
below:

Dr. Nikos J. Mourtos AE 160 / ME 111

A1 = 0.1 m 2

V1 = 1.5 m / s

A2 = 0.4 m

V2 = 2.5 m / s

A3 = 0.2 m

V3 = 0.5 m / s

A4 = 0.3 m 2

V4 = 2.75 m / s

A5 = 0.6 m 2

V5 = 1.5 m / s

A6 = 1.375 m 2 V6 = 0.75 m / s

Is the reservoir filling or emptying? At what rate is the water level rising or falling?
Solution
The problem implies that the reservoir may be filling or emptying, hence we must use the
unsteady, incompressible form of Continuity for a control volume with multiple entry /
exit points:

V A =
C.S.

d H 2 O,cv
dt

A1V1 A2V2 A3V3 A4V4 + A5V5 + A6V6 = 0

0.1(1.5 ) 0.4 ( 2.5 ) 0.2 ( 0.5 ) 0.3( 2.75 ) + 0.6 (1.5 ) + 1.375 ( 0.75 ) =

d H 2 O,cv
dt

) = +0.14375 m

d H 2 O,cv
dt

/s

The water volume in the reservoir is increasing. As shown earlier, this rate of increase
can be written as:

d H 2 O,cv
dt
Vsurface =

) = +0.14375 m

/ s = AresVsurface

0.14375
Vsurface = 0.00144 m / s
100