1

Departmentof MechanicalEngineering
ME435 ThermalEnergySystemsDesign
Economic Pipe Diameter I
Cost Optimization of Piping Systems
Economic Diameter
Economic Velocity
Current ME 435 Knowledge Base
Engineering Economics
Time value of money
Frict ion effect s in fluid flow (Head losses)
St raight pipes
Minor losses
Opt imizat ion Met hods
Simple calculus met hods of funct ion minimizat ion
2
Wit h t his knowledge, we would like t o det ermine t he
economic diamet er of pipe in a fluid syst em.
The economic diamet er opt imizes t he t ot al cost of
t he pipe syst em (minimizat ion).
2
Cost s of a Pipe Syst em
St raight pipes
Valves and fit t ings
I nsulat ion (if needed)
I nst allat ion cost
Pump(s)
Hangers and support s
Ot hers?
Maint enance
Energy cost s
Ot hers?
3
I ni t i al Cost s Annual Cost s
Since t hese cost s do not
occur at t he same t ime in
t he life of t he pipe
syst em, int erest fact ors
must be used t o equat e
init ial and annual cost s
Cost Opt imizat ion St rat egy
Develop an obj ect ive funct ion of t he form
Find t he diamet er t hat minimizes t his funct ion
4
( )
T
C f D =
0
T
dC
dD
=
Tot al cost of t he
pipe syst em
Pipe diamet er
Solve for D
Met hod developed by Darby and Melson in 1982. See Reference on Table 4.1.
This met hod is present ed in Sect i on 4.2 of Design of Fluid Thermal Syst ems.
3
Building t he Cost Funct ion
1. Amort ized cost of inst alled pipe per unit
lengt h
2. Amort ized cost of fit t ings, valves, support s,
insulat ion, and pumps per unit lengt h
3. Annual cost of maint enance per unit lengt h
4. Annual cost of moving t he fluid t hrough t he
syst em
5
( ) . . . .
T
AC L = + + + 1 2 3 4 Then
Not e: Amor t i zed = annual i zed
Building t he Cost Funct ion
1. Amort ized cost of inst alled pipe per unit
lengt h
2. Amort ized cost of fit t ings, valves, support s,
insulat ion, and pumps per unit lengt h
3. Annual cost of maint enance per unit lengt h
4. Annual cost of moving t he fluid t hrough t he
syst em
6
( ) . . . .
T
AC L = + + + 1 2 3 4
Then
4
1. Amort ized Cost of I nst alled Pipe
7
, ,
P p p
A
AC C i n aC
P
| |
= =
|
\ .
Define C
p
as t he init ial cost of t he pipe and inst allat ion per unit
lengt h. Then, t he amort ized cost , AC
p
, of t his init ial cost per
unit lengt h is,
amort izat ion rat e
(capit al recovery
fact or)
Not i ce i n Tabl e 4.1
(a) Dat a are based on 1980 $/ ft
(b) There is a new pipe classificat ion
(t he ANSI Designat ion). The
class designat ion est ablishes
t emperat ure and pressure limit s
for different types of pipe.
( )
( )
1
1 1
n
n
i i
a
i
+
=
+
1. Amort ized Cost of I nst alled Pipe
8
y = 1.2457x
1.1587
y = 1.7834x
1.3627
1
10
100
1000
1 10 100
I
n
s
t
a
l
l
e
d

p
i
p
e

c
o
s
t
s

i
n

1
9
8
0

$
/
f
t
Nomi nal Di amet er ( i n)
300#
400#
600#
900#
1500#
Power (300# )
Power (1500# )
Convert ing Table
4.1 t o an equat ion
1
n
p
C C D =
Fr om Fi gur e 4.2
1500# n = 1.35
900# n = 1.32
600# n = 1.29
400# n = 1.20
300# n = 1.14
Cost of an arbit rary reference pipe
($/ ft
n+ 1
). The nominal 12 pipe is
select ed as t his reference. Values
vary bet ween 22 and 53 $/ ft
n+ 1
1980 dollars!
5
1. Amort ized Cost of I nst alled Pipe
9
1
n
P p
AC aC aC D = =
Then, t he result ing equat ion for t he amort ized cost of
inst alled pipe per unit lengt h is,
Unit s
( )
1 1
$ $
ft
ft ft
n n
P n
AC a C D
+
| | ( (
( =
|
( (
\ .
Building t he Cost Funct ion
1. Amort ized cost of inst alled pipe per unit
lengt h
2. Amort ized cost of fit t ings, valves, support s,
insulat ion, and pumps per unit lengt h
3. Annual cost of maint enance per unit lengt h
4. Annual cost of moving t he fluid t hrough t he
syst em
10
( ) . . . .
T
AC L = + + + 1 2 3 4
Then
6
2. Amort ized Cost of Fitt ings, et c.
11
This cost represent s t he amort ized cost of fitt ings, valves,
support s, insulat ion, and pumps per unit lengt h.
Rat her t han t reat t hese individually, in t his met hod t hey are
lumped t oget her in a mult iplicat ion fact or, F. Using t his
fact or, t he init ial cost of t hese it ems is det ermined by,
1
n
F p
C FC FC D = =
I nit ial cost of fit t ings,
valves, support s,
insulat ion, and pumps
per unit lengt h of pipe.
Mult iplier t hat represent s
t he best est imat e of t he
addit ional cost of t hese
it ems. This value is usually
around 6 or 7.
2. Amort ized Cost of Fitt ings, et c.
12
To amort ize t his cost , mult iply by t he amort izat ion rat e (i.e.,
capit al recovery fact or),
1
n
F F
AC aC aFC D = =
( )
1 1
$ $
ft
ft ft
n n
F n
AC aF C D
+
| | ( (
( =
|
( (
\ .
Unit s
7
Building t he Cost Funct ion
1. Amort ized cost of inst alled pipe per unit
lengt h
2. Amort ized cost of fit t ings, valves, support s,
insulat ion, and pumps per unit lengt h
3. Annual cost of maint enance per unit lengt h
4. Annual cost of moving t he fluid t hrough t he
syst em
13
( ) . . . .
T
AC L = + + + 1 2 3 4
Then
3. Annual Cost of Maint enance
14
The annual cost of maint enance per unit lengt h is est imat ed
t o be a fract ion, b, of t he init ial cost per unit lengt h of t he
syst em,
( ) ( ) ( )
1 1 1
1
n n n
M P F
AC b C C b C D FC D bC D F = + = + = +
Est imat ed fract ion of init ial cost s per unit
lengt h spent on annual maint enance.
Typical value is about 1% (0.01).
Unit s
( )
( )
1 1
$ $
ft 1
ft ft
n n
M n
AC b C D F
+
| | ( (
( = +
|
( (
\ .
8
Building t he Cost Funct ion
1. Amort ized cost of inst alled pipe per unit
lengt h
2. Amort ized cost of fit t ings, valves, support s,
insulat ion, and pumps per unit lengt h
3. Annual cost of maint enance per unit lengt h
4. Annual cost of moving t he fluid t hrough t he
syst em
15
( ) . . . .
T
AC L = + + + 1 2 3 4
Then
4. Annual Cost of Moving t he Fluid
16
Unlike t he first t hree cat egories, t his cost represent s a t ot al
annual cost t o move t he fluid (not per unit lengt h).
I f t he fluid is being moved by a pump, t his annual cost can
be det ermined by,
2
OP
C tW
AC
q
=

This is t he same as
C
OP
in Equat ion (4.9)
C
2
= cost of energy
t = annual operat ing t ime of t he pump
= power t ransferred t o t he fluid
q = efficiency of t he pump
W

9
4. Annual Cost of Moving t he Fluid
17
The power input t o t he fluid can be found by applying t he
energy equat ion t o a general pump/ pipe syst em as shown
below,
W

2 2
1 2 1 2
1 2
2 2 2 2
1 2 1 2
1 2
minor losses in all head loss due to friction
fittings in the in all straight pip
control volume
2 2
2 2 2 2
c c c
m f
c c c k k k
k k
k k k
Wg Pg P g V V
z z l l
mg g g g g
Wg Pg P g V L V V V
z z K f
mg g g g g g D g


+ + + = + + + +
+ + + = + + + +

es in
the control volume
4. Annual Cost of Moving t he Fluid
18
Now, for a few assumpt ions,
(1) The pipe diamet er is const ant t hroughout
(2) The minor losses are t ruly minor and can be neglect ed
I ncorporat ing t hese assumpt ions, t he energy equat ion
becomes,
2 2
1 1
2
2
2
2 2
1
1 2
2 2 2
2
c c c
c
Wg L V
f
mg D g
Wg
P g Pg
L V
f
V
mg D g
V
z
g
H
g
z
g
H
g
+ + = +
+ = +
+ + +

10
4. Annual Cost of Moving t he Fluid
19
Solving for t he power t erm,
( )
2
2 1
2
c c
g L V
W m H H f
g D g
(
= +
(

Subst it ut ion of t his expression int o t he annual cost equat ion
gives,
( )
2
2 2
2 1
2
OP
c
C tW mC t L V
AC H H g f
g D q q
(
= = +
(

| |
| | ( )
( )| |
| |
| |
2
2
2 2
2 1 2
2
ft lbm $
s
s ft s ft-lbf ft
$ ft
s ft 2 lbm-ft
lbf-s
OP
c
V
m C t
L
AC H H g f
D
g q
( | | (
| || | ( (
( | (
| | ( (
| | ( \ .\ . \ . (
= +
| (
(
| | ( \ .
(
| (
\ . (

Unit s
4. Annual Cost of Moving t he Fluid
20
( )
2
2
2 1 2
1 4
2
OP
c
mC t L m
AC H H g f
g D D q t
(
| |
= + (
|
\ . (


The velocity in can be expressed in t erms of t he mass flow rat e,
2 2
1 4 4 V m m m
V
A A D D t t
| | | |
| | | |
= = = =
| | | |
\ . \ .
\ . \ .

Subst it ut ion int o t he annual cost equat ion gives,
11
Building t he Cost Funct ion
1. Amort ized cost of inst alled pipe per unit
lengt h
2. Amort ized cost of fit t ings, valves, support s,
insulat ion, and pumps per unit lengt h
3. Annual cost of maint enance per unit lengt h
4. Annual cost of moving t he fluid t hrough t he
syst em
21
( ) . . . .
T
AC L = + + + 1 2 3 4
Then
Putt ing it all Toget her
22
The t ot al annual cost of t he pipe syst em can be det ermined by,
( )
T P F M OP
AC AC AC AC L AC = + + +
Subst it ut ing t he previously derived expressions,
( ) ( )
2
2
1 1 1 2 1 2
1 4
1
2
n n n
T
c
mC t L m
AC aC D aFC D bC D F L H H g f
g D D q t
(
| |
( = + + + + + (
|

\ . (


Aft er some algebra, t his can be writt en as,
( )( ) ( )
3
2 2
1 2 1 2 2 5
8
1
n
T
c c
mC t C t g f Lm
AC a b F C D L H H
g D g q q t
= + + + +

12
The Economic Pipe Diamet er
23
( )( ) ( )
( )
( )( )
3
2 2
1 2 1 2 2 5
3
1 2
1 2 2 6
8
1
8
1 5
n
T
c c
T n
c
mC t C t g f Lm
AC a b F C D L H H
g D g
d AC C t f Lm
n a b F C D L
dD D g
q q t
q t

= + + + +
| |
= + +
|
\ .

Sett ing t his derivat ive equal t o zero and solving for D gives
t he pipe diamet er t hat minimizes t he t ot al annual cost of t he
syst em
( )( )
1
3 5
2
2 2
1
40
1
n
opt
c
f m C t
D
n a b F C g qt
+
(
=
(
+ +

This is known as t he Economi c Pi pe Di amet er

Observat ions
The pipe lengt h is not in t he economic diamet er
Viscosity does not appear direct ly, but it is part of t he problem
because it det ermines t he frict ion fact or t hrough t he Reynolds
number
The head loss does not appear in t he economic diamet er
The det erminat ion of t he economic diamet er requires an
it erat ive solut ion
Very det ailed and complicat ed deskt op solut ion
Easy for an equat ion solver t o solve!
24
( )( ) ( )
( )( )
3
2 2
1 2 1 2 2 5
1
3 5
2
2 2
1
8
1
40
1
n
T
c c
n
opt
c
mC t C t g f Lm
AC a b F C D L H H
g D g
f m C t
D
n a b F C g
q q t
qt
+
= + + + +
(
=
(
+ +

13
The Economic Velocity
25
The mass flow rat e of t he fluid in t he syst em operat ing a
pipe diamet er near t he economic diamet er is,
Solving for t he velocity,
Si gni f i cance: Table 6.4 Reasonable velocit ies for various
fluids calculat ed by using opt imum economic diamet er
equat ions.
2
4
opt
opt opt
D
m AV V
t
= =
2 2
4 4
opt
opt opt
m V
V
D D t t
= =