Flow of incompressible fluids

in conduits and thin layers

Flow of incompressible fluids in pipes
• Shear stress distribution in a cylindrical tube
• Consider the steady flow of a viscous fluid at constant density in fully
developed flow through a horizontal tube

1. Fluid pressure on the upstream be p

2. Fluid pressure on the downstream is
p+dp
3. Since fluid possess viscosity shear
force opposing flow will exist on the
rim of the element.
Applying momentum equation between two faces of the disk.

Since the flow is fully developed flow b = a and vb = va,

Shear force Fs acting on the rim of the element is the product of the shear stress and the cylindrical area, or
(2πr dL)τ
Since the channel is horizontal Fg = 0;
• In a steady flow, either laminar or turbulent, the pressure at any given
cross section of a stream tube is constant, so that dp/dL is
independent of r.

This equation can be written for the entire cross section of the tube

Variation of shear stress in pipe

Relation between skin friction and wall shear
• The term p is commonly used for pressure drop, that is pa – pb and
the only kind of friction is skin friction between wall and the fluid
stream.
Friction factor
• Friction factor - parameter used to study the turbulent flow
• Defined as ratio of wall shear stress to the product of density and
velocity head
Laminar flow in pipes

• Laminar flow of Newtonian fluids:

• Direct method to obtain velocity distribution for Newtonian fluids is
by using definition of viscosity
•

• Negative sign is due to the fact that u decreases as r increases.

Integrating with the boundary conditions u=0, at r = rw gives

• Maximum local velocity is located at the center of the pipe
Average velocity, kinetic-energy correction factor and momentum correction factor for laminar flow
of Newtonian fluids
Hagen – Poiseuille equation
• For practical calculations τw is eliminated in favour of p and using
pipe diameter in place of pipe radius
Laminar flow of non-Newtonian liquids
• Because of the difference in the relation between shear stress and
velocity gradient, the shape of the velocity profile for non- Newtonian
liquids differ from that of Newtonian liquid
• Case 1 For simple case – power law model
Velocity profiles in the laminar flow of the
Newtonian and non- Newtonian liquids

n = 0.5 pseudo plastic fluid

n =1.0 Newtonian fluid
n = 2.0 dilatant fluid
Case 2 Bingham plastic model

Behavior of the fluids following the bingham-plastic flow is some what more complicated. In the central portion of
the tube there is no velocity variation with the radius, and the velocity gradient is confined to an annular space
between the central portion and tube wall.
The central portion is moving in the plug flow .
K is a constant. The boundary between the plug and the remaining fluid is found by differentiating above equation and
setting the velocity gradient to zero

The Velocity in the central core Uc, the speed at which the plug is moving is found by substituting the value of rc from
above equation in equation and rearranging gives
Turbulent flow in pipes and closed channels
• In flow of fluid through a closed channel turbulence cannot exist
permanently at the boundary between the solid and the flowing fluid
• velocity at the interface is zero as adherence of fluid to the solid
• Viscous sublayer –a thin volume adjacent to the wall, velocity
gradient is constant and flow is viscous most of the time.
• Transition layer – exists adjacent to the viscous sublayer in which both
viscous shear and shear due to eddy diffusion exist (buffer layer).
• Turbulent core – viscous shear is negligible in comparison with that
from eddy viscosity ( bulk of the cross section is occupied).
Velocity distribution of turbulent flow
• In turbulent flow, as in laminar flow, velocity gradient at the
centreline is zero.
• At the centreline the turbulence is isotropic.
• In all other areas of turbulent-flow regime, turbulence is anisotropic
Velocity distribution in turbulent flow is defined in terms of
dimensionless parameters
Universal velocity distribution equations
• For viscous sub-layer : viscous sublayer is very thin r≈rw and with the
substation of –dy for dr

• Substituting u+ and y+

• Integrating, with the lower limits u+ = y+ =0 gives the velocity

distribution in the laminar sublayer
• Laminar sub-layer or viscous sub-layer

• Buffer layer

• Turbulent core

• Limitations exist

Universal velocity distribution; turbulent flow of

Newtonian fluid in smooth pipe
Flow quantities for turbulent flow in smooth round
pipes
• Average velocity :

• For the centreline of the pipe above equation can be written as

 Average velocity

Substituting u and y
and u+
 Reynolds number – friction factor law for smooth tubes

Von Karman equation

Kinetic energy and momentum correction factors

 Relation between maximum velocity and average velocity
• For laminar flow it is 0.5
• Ratio changes rapidly from 0.5 to 0.7, when laminar flow changes to turbulent and then increases
gradually to 0.87 for NRe = 10 ^6
Effect of roughness
In turbulent flow a rough pipe leads to a
larger friction factor for a given Reynolds
number than a smooth pipe does.
If a rough pipe is smoothed, the friction factor
reduces
Further smoothing brings about no reduction
in friction factor for a given Reynolds number
– tube is said hydraulically smooth
Height of single unit of roughness is k called
rough ness parameter.
f is a function of both Nre and relative
roughness k/D
Friction-factor chart
• Log-log plot of f vs Nre
• For Laminar flow

• For turbulent flow

For Reynolds number

50000 to 10^6

For Reynolds number

3000 to 3 X 10^6
Reynolds numbers and friction factor for non
Newtonian fluids
 Drag reduction in turbulent flow
• Dilute solutions of polymer in water or other solvents gives the peculiar effect of a reduction in drag in
turbulent flow.

• Friction factor can be significantly below the normal value for turbulent flow with only a few parts per million
of polymer in water.

• Drag reduction - found generally with dilute solutions of high-molecular weight linear polymers and is believed
to be related to the extension of these flexible molecules at high turbulent shear stress near the wall.

• Extended molecules increase the local viscosity, which damps the small eddies and increased thickness of
viscous sublayer

• With a thick sublayer at the total flow du/dy and τw are reduced, giving lower pressure drop.

• Application: to increase flow of water in a line of fixed size.

• Eg: Polyethylene oxide in water

 Effect of heat transfer on friction factor

• When the fluid is heated or cooled by a conduit wall

hotter or colder than the fluid, the velocity field is
modified by temperature gradients thus created with
in the fluid.
• This effect is where viscosity is a strong function of
the temperature.
• Effect of heat transfer on velocity distribution of
both liquids and gases is justified by following:

1. Reynolds number is calculated on the assumption

that the fluid temperature equals the mean bulk
temperature.
2. Friction factor corresponding to mean bulk
temperature is divided by a factor  Valid between 0.1 and 10
 Friction factor in flow through channels and non circular cross
section
• Friction in long straight channels of constant non circular cross section can be estimated by using the
equations for circular pipes if the diameter in the Reynolds number and in definition og friction
factor is taken as equivalent diameter.
• Equivalent diameter = 4 X hydraulic radius
• Hydraulic radius : ratio of cross sectional area of the channel to the wetted perimeter of the channel

Case 1: for circular tube Case 2: for annulus between two Case 3: for Square ducts
concentric pipes
𝑏2
4𝑏
Equivalent diameter b
Equivalent diameter D Equivalent diameter Do-Di
• Hydraulic radius used for generalizing fluid flow
phenomena in turbulent flow

Above equation can be generalized by substituting 4rH for D

• Hydraulic radius rule does not apply for laminar flow

through non circular cross sections.
• For laminar flow through annulus

a = 1 for circular cross section

a = 1.5 for parallel planes
Friction from changes in velocity or direction
• Whenever the velocity of a fluid is changed, either in direction or magnitude, by a change in the
direction or size of the conduit, friction is generated in addition to the skin friction from flow
through straight pipe.
• Friction includes : form friction resulting from vortices
Case 1 : Friction loss from sudden expansion of cross section
Flow at sudden enlargement of cross section
Friction loss from sudden expansion is proportional to
the velocity head of fluid in small conduit
Case 2 : Friction loss from sudden contraction of cross section
• When cross section of the conduit is suddenly reduced, fluid stream cannot follow around the
sharp corner and the stream breaks contact with the wall of the conduit.
• Jet first contracts and then expands to fill the smaller cross section
• Downstream from the point of contraction the normal velocity distribution is reestablished.
• Cross section of minimum area at which the jet changes from a contraction to expansion is called
vena contracta
Friction loss from sudden contraction is proportional to the
velocity head in the smaller conduit
Case 3 : Friction loss from fittings and valves
• Fittings and valves – disturb the normal flow
lines and cause friction
Friction loss from fittings and valves
• Form friction losses are incorporated in
the hf term.
• They are combined with the skin-
friction losses of the losses of the
straight pipe to give the total friction
loss
 Separation from velocity decrease
• Boundary layer separation can
occur even if the cross section is
continuously enlarged
• Because of increase in cross
section the direction of flow, the
velocity of the fluid decreases.
• A point is reached, at a definite
distance along the conduit,
where the velocity of filament aa
becomes zero.
• Filaments of bb and other
filaments father from the wall are
still positive
• Beyond s velocity at wall changes
sign, boundary layer separates
• S is separation point
• sA is line of zero tangential
velocity
Minimizing expansion and contraction losses
• A contraction loss can be nearly eliminated by reducing the cross
section gradually rather than suddenly
• Expansion loss can also be minimized by using conical expander
Flow of compressible Fluids
• For incompressible flow the basic parameter is the Reynolds number
• Also important in some applications of compressible flow.
• In compressible flow at ordinary densities and high velocities a more basic parameter is Mach
number
• Mach number is defined as ratio of speed of the fluid to speed of sound in the fluid under
conditions of flow

• Speed of fluid means the relative velocity between fluid and a solid bounding the fluid immersed
in it.
1. Solid is considered to be stationary and fluid flowing past it
2. Fluid is assumed to be stationary and the solid moving through it
Mach number <1 Subsonic
Mach number =1 Sonic
Mach number > 1 Supersonic
• Following assumptions are to be considered for flow of compressible fluids
1. Flow is steady
2. Flow is one dimensional
3. Velocity gradients within a cross section are neglected
4. Friction is restricted to wall shear
5. Shaft work is zero
6. Gravitational effects are negligible and mechanical –potential energy is neglected
7. Fluid is an ideal gas of constant specific heat
Basic relations used :
a) Continuity equation
b) Steady flow energy total- energy balance
c) Mechanical-energy balance with wall friction
d) Equation for the velocity of sound
e) Equation of state of ideal gas
Continuity Equation
• For differentiation, continuity equation can be written in logarithmic form:

• Differentiating this equation gives

Total Energy balance

• A steady flow through a system is considered entering at station a with velocity ua and enthalpy
Ha and leaving station b with velocity ub and enthalpy Hb .
• For flow of m Kilograms of pounds of material, heat in the amount og Q joules or Btu must be
added through the boundaries of the system to the material flowing through it.
• No significant change in elevations between stations a and b
• No work is done by the system
• Heat added to the fluid
Mechanical – Energy balance
• Bernoulli equation written for a short conduit and the differential form of the same is

• By applying the assumptions that were made

• And restricting the friction to wall shear, therefore above differential equation becomes

• Eliminating wall shear and gives the form of mechanical-energy equation suitable for treatment
of compressible flow
Velocity of sound
• Acoustical velocity : Velocity if sound through a continuous material medium.
• Thermodynamically, motion of a sound wave is a isentropic process

Ideal gas equations

• Above equations may be used for incompressible flow by assuming that density is constant
• To apply for compressible flow density be related to temperature and pressure
 • Since the specific heat Cp is assumed to be independent of temperature,

• Differential form of above equation is

Acoustical velocity and Mach number of ideal gas

• For an ideal gas, an isentropic path follows the equations

• Where  is the ratio of Cp to Cv

Asterisk condition
• Condition where u = a and Mach number = 1 is called asterisk condition.
• Pressure, temperature, density and enthalpy are denoted by

Stagnation temperature
• The temperature of a high speed fluid that is brought to rest adiabatically without the
development of shaft work.
• Terminal a and reference state 0 are identified with stagnation condition
• Terminal b is chosen as state of flowing gas
Flow Past immersed bodies
• Effect of the solid in the fluid is of interest.
• Fluid may be at rest and solid moving through it
• Solid may be at rest and fluid flowing past it
In this situation, solid is immersed in, and surrounded by fluid is the subject.
Drag:
• Force in the direction of flow exerted by the fluid on the solid is called drag.
• By newton’s Third law of motion, an equal and opposite net force is exerted by the body on the fluid.
1) When the wall of the body is parallel with the direction of flow, as in the case of thin plate, the only drag
force is the wall shear τw
2) Generally, wall of an immersed body makes an angle with the direction of flow. Then the component of
the wall shear in the direction of flow contributes to the drag.
3) An extreme example is the drag of the flat plate perpendicular to the flow.
The fluid pressure which acts in a direction normal to the wall, possesses a component in the direction of
flow, and this component also contributes to the drag
Total drag is sum of two components (wall shear and Pressure force)
Pressure and shear forces acting on the element of
area dA inclined at an angle of 90 - α to the
direction of flow
The drag from wall shear is τw sin α dA
And that from pressure is p cos α dA

Total drag on the body is the sum of the integrals of

these quantities, each evaluated over the entire
surface of the body in contact with the fluid.

Total integrated drag from wall shear is wall drag

Total integrated drag from pressure is called form
drag .

In potential, τw = 0, and there is no wall drag,

Pressure drag in the direction pf flow is balanced by
an equal force in the opposite direction and integral
of the form drag is zero.
Wall drag and form drag on immersed body
No net drag in the potential flow
• Phenomena causing both wall and form drag in actual fluids are complicated
• For spheres and other regular shapes at low fluid velocities, the flow patterns and drag forces can
be estimated by numerical methods
• For irregular shapes and high velocities they are most easily determined by experiment.
Drag coefficients:
In treating fluid flow through conduits friction factor was defined.
An analogous factor, called a drag coefficient, is used for immersed solids.

• A smooth sphere immersed in flowing fluid

• Define the projected area of solid body
• Denote Projected area Ap
• Projected area of great circle
• If FD is the total drag
Average drag is

Flow past immersed sphere

• For particles having shapes other than spherical, it is necessary to specify the size and
geometrical form of the body and its orientation with respect to the direction of the flow of the
fluid
• Major dimension is chosen as the characteristic length, and other important dimensions are given
as ratio to chosen one . Such ratios are called shape factors
For short cylinder:
Diameter is usually chosen as defining dimension.
Ratio of length to the diameter is a shape factor . Orientation also specified.
For a cylinder:
The angle formed by the axis of the cylinder and the direction of flow is sufficient
For cylinder with its axis perpendicular to the flow Ap is LDp
For cylinder with its axis parallel to the flow Ap is π/4Dp2
From dimensional analysis, the drag coefficient of a smooth solid in an compressible fluid depends
upon Reynolds number and the necessary shape factors
Drag coefficients of typical shapes For Low Reynolds number the
drag force of a sphere is given
by stokes law
From drag and Stream lining
• Form drag can be minimized by forcing separation toward the rear of the body
• This is accomplished by stream lining.
• Method of stream lining : is to proportion the rear of the body that the increase in pressure in the
boundary layer, is sufficiently gradual
(A) Laminar flow in boundary layer
(b) Turbulent flow in boundary layer
Stagnation point
• Streamline AB divides the two parts and terminates at a definite point B
• This point is called stagnation point ( velocity is zero).

• Stagnation pressure
• Above equation is used for low mach numbers but becomes increasingly inaccurate when Mach
number >0.4
Friction in flow through bed of solids
• Liquid or gases flow through beds of solid particles.
• Eg: filtration, two –phase counter current flow of liquid and gas through packed towers.
• Flow of single fluid phase through a column of stationary solid particles
• Resistance to the flow of a fluid through the voids in a bed of solids is the resultant of the total
drag of all the particles in the bed.
• Depending on Reynolds number laminar flow, turbulent flow, form drag, separation and wake
formation occur
• Actual channels are irregular in shape, have a variable cross section and orientation, and are
highly interconnected.
• To calculate equivalent channel diameter,
• Assumption: bed has a set of uniform circular channels whose total surface area and void volume
match that of bed.
• Total surface area = surface are per particle times no. of particles.
• More convenient way is to base the calculation on the volume fraction particles in the bed and
surface –volume ratio for particles
• Ratio is 6/ Dp for sphere
• For other shapes or irregular particles, equation for surface- volume ratio includes sphericity

• ε is the porosity or void fraction

• Then 1 – ε is the volume fraction particles in the bed
• Equivalent channel diameter Deq, surface area of n parallel channels of Length L is set equal to the
surface – volume ratio times the particle volume , So L (1 – ε )
• Where So is cross sectional area of the bed.

Void volume in the bed is same as total volume of the n channels

ε= 0.4
• Pressure drop depends on the average velocity in the channels V, which is proportional to the
superficial velocity or empty - tower velocity and inversely proportional to the velocity

• For flow at very low Reynolds number

Kozeny – carman equation

• Darcy’s law :
Flow is proportional to the pressure drop and inversely proportional to the fluid viscosity

For Re> 1000 is the Burke-Plummer Equation

Ergun equation: obtained by covering the range of flow rates

Motion of particles through fluids
• Elimination of dust and fumes from air or flue gas
• Removal of solids from liquid wastes to allow discharge into public drainage systems, and the
recovery of acid mists from waste gas
• Mechanics of particle motion:
• Movement of a particle through a fluid requires an external force acting on the particle
• This force may come from a density difference between the particle and the fluid.
• Gravitational and centrifugal force, (arising from density difference will be considered)
1) External force gravitational or centrifugal
2) The buoyant force, which acts parallel with the external force but in the opposite direction
3) Drag force which appears whenever there is a relative motion between the particle and the
fluid
Drag force acts opposite to the motion and acts parallel with the direction of movement but in
opposite direction
Equations for one –dimensional motion of particle through fluid
• Consider a particle of mass m moving through a fluid under the action of an external fluid Fe .
• Let the velocity of the particle relative to the fluid be u.
• Let the buoyant force on the particle be Fb, Let the drag be FD
• Resultant force on the particle is Fe-Fb –FD
• du/dt is acceleration of the particle
•
Motion from gravitational force: If the external force is gravity, ae = g

Motion in a centrifugal field: centrifugal force appears whenever the direction of movement of a particle
is changed. Acceleration from a centrifugal force from circular motion is
Terminal velocity
• In gravitational settling g is constant.
• Also, the drag always increases with velocity.
• Acceleration decreases with time and approaches zero
• Particle quickly reaches a constant velocity, which is called terminal velocity.
• Equation for terminal velocity is found for gravitational settling, by taking du/dt = 0

• For the motion from a centrifugal force,

Drag coefficient
• When the particle is at sufficient distance from the boundaries of the container and from other
particles, so that its fall is not affected by them, the process is called free settling
• If the motion of the particle is impeded by other particles , which happens when the particles are
near each other even though they may not actually be colliding, the process is called hindered
settling.
• CD in hindered settling > CD in free settling
• If the particles are very small, Brownian movement appears
• Motion of spherical particles:
If the particles are spheres of diameter Dp
• At low Reynolds numbers Re<1

Stokes law
• For 1000<Re<200000

Newton’s law
Criterion for settling regime
• To identify the range in which the motion of the particle lies, velocity term is eliminated from
Reynolds number by substituting terminal velocity
 Fluidization
• When a liquid or gas is passed at a very low velocity up through a bed of solid particles, the particles
do not move.
• Pressure drop is given by Ergun equation.
• If the fluid velocity is steadily increased, pressure drop and drag on individual particles increase, and
eventually particles start to move and become suspended in the fluid.
• Fluidization or Fluidized bed : Condition of fully suspended particles
• Fluidized solids can be drained from the bed through pipes and valves just like a liquid, and this fluidity
is one of the main advantages in the use of fluidization for handling solids
 Conditions for fluidization
• Consider a vertical tube partly filled with a fine granular material such as catalytic
cracking catalyst.
• Tube is open at the top and has a porous plate at the bottom to support the bed of
catalyst and to distribute the flow uniformly over the entire cross section.
• Air is admitted below the distributor plate at a low flow rate and passed upwards
through the bed without causing any particle motion.
• If the particles are quite small, flow in the channels between the particles will be
laminar and the pressure drop across the bed will be proportional to the
superficial velocity.
• As the velocity is gradually increased, the pressure drop increases, but the
particles do not move
• At a certain velocity, pressure drop across the bed counter balances force of
gravity on the particles and further increase in velocity causes particles to move
• With a further increase in velocity, particles becomes separated enough to move
about it in bed and true fluidization begins
• Once the bed is fluidized, pressure drop across the bed
stays constant, but the bed height continues to
increase with increasing flow.
• If the flow rate to the fluidized bed is gradually
reduced, the pressure drop remains constant and the
bed height decreases, following line BC which was
observed for increasing velocities
• Pressure drop at low velocities is then less than in
original fixed bed.
• On starting up again, pressure drop offsets the weight
of the bed at point B and this point rather than point A,
should be considered minimum fluidization velocity

To measure minimum fluidization velocity

1. Bed should be fluidized
2. Allowed to settle with gas turned off
3. Flow rate increased gradually until the bed starts to
expand .
Minimum fluidization velocity
• Minimum fluidization velocity can be obtained by setting the pressure drop across the bed equal
to the weight of the bed per unit area cross section, allowing for the buoyant force of the
displaced fluid

• At incipient fluidization, ε is the minimum porosity εM

• Ergun equation for pressure drop in packed beds can be rearranged to

• Applying Ergun equation to the point of incipient fluidization gives a quadratic equation for the
minimum fluidization velocity

• For very small particle, only laminar flow term of Ergun equation is significant Nre, P < 1

• Minimum fluidization for Nre, P > 1000

For low Reynolds number

For Reynolds number greater than 1000

Types of fluidization
Particulate fluidization Eg: Sand with water
• Characterized by a large but uniform expansion of the bed at high velocities
Aggregative or bubbling fluidization Eg: Bed of solids fluidized with air
• Non- uniform nature of the bed was at first attributed to aggregation of particles, and term
aggregative fluidization was applied
• No evidence that particles stick together hence term bubbling fluidization is used
• Bubbles that form behave much like a air bubble and -- called boiling bed
• Rate of heat transfer and mass transfer studied- two phase theory of fluidization.
• Generalization that liquids give particulate fluidization of solids while gases give bubbling
fluidization is not completely valid.
• Density difference is important parameter and very heavy solids may exhibit bubbling fluidization
with water.
• Gases at high pressure may give particulate fluidization of fine solids.
Expansion of fluidized beds
• With both types of fluidization the bed expands as the superficial velocity increases, and since the
total pressure drop remains constant, pressure drop per unit length increases as ε increases

• Particulate fluidization :
• For particulate fluidization the expansion is uniform, and the Ergun equation, which applies to
fixed bed, might be expected to hold approximately for slightly expanded bed.
• Assuming flow between the particles is laminar
Bubbling Fluidization
• For bubbling fluidization, the expansion of the bed comes mainly form the space occupied by gas
bubbles, since the dense phase does not expand significantly with increasing total flow.

• Since all of the solid is in the dense phase, the height of the expanded bed times the fraction
dense phase must equal the bed height at incipient fluidization

Combining two equations

 Applications of
fluidization
• Catalyst regeneration
• Synthesis of acrylonitrile
• Carrying out solid-gas
reactions
• Roasting ores
• Drying fine solids
• Adsorption of gases
• Combustion of coal
Advantages
• Solid is vigorously agitated
by the fluid passing through
the bed
• Uniform mixing
• No temperature gradients
• Fluidity of the solids allow
easy to pass solids from one
vessel to another
Disadvantages
• Uneven contacting of gas and
solid
• Erosion of vessel intervals
• Attrition of solids
• Most of fluid beds have internal
or external cyclones but filters
or scrubbers are a los need
Continuous fluidization; slurry and pneumatic transport
• When the fluid velocity through a bed of solids become large enough, all the particles are
entrained in the fluid and are carried along with it, to give continuous fluidization.
• Its principal application in in transporting solids
• Hydraulic or slurry transport
Particles smaller than about 50 m in diameter settle very slowly and are readily suspended in a
moving liquid.
Larger particles are harder to suspend, large liquid velocity is needed to keep the particles from
moving at all
Velocity of fluid > critical velocity
For hydraulic transport Vc = 1-4 m/s
Pneumatic conveying
• Suspending fluid in a pneumatic conveyor is a gas usually air,
• Two principal types of systems:
• Negative pressure systems : useful for transferring solids from multiple intake points (rail road
cars, ships holds) to single delivery point
• Positive pressure systems: best with a single input station and one or more points of delivery

• Vacuum pressure system: combination of positive and negative

• Pre-fluidized system: particles are fluidized and then transported
Transportation and Metering of fluids
 Pipe and tubing
• No clear distinction between pipe and tubing

Pipe
• Pipe is heavy walled
• Large in diameter
• Comes in moderate lengths od 20 to
40 ft
• Metallic pipe can be threaded
• Pipe walls are usually rough
• Length of pipe are joined by screwed,
flanged or welded fittings
• Pipe is made by welding, casting
Tube
• Tube is thin walled
• Not Large in diameter
• Comes in coils several hundred feet long
• Tubing cannot be threaded
• Tubing has very smooth walls
• Pieces of tubings are connected by
compression fittings, flare fittings or
soldered fittings
• Tubing is usually extruded or cold drawn

• Pipe and tubing are made from many materials , including metals and alloys, wood, ceramics,
glass and various plastics .
• PVC pipe is extensively used for water lines
• In process plants the most common material is low- carbon steel, fabricated into black-iron
pipe
Sizes
• Pipe and tubing are specified in terms of their diameter and their wall thickness
• The nominal value is close to the actual inside diameter for 3 to 12 in. pipe
• Wall thickness of the pipe is indicated by schedule number which increases with thickness.
• Size of the tubing is indicated by the outside diameter.
• Normal value is actual outer diameter, to within very close tolerances
• BWG : Birmingham wire gauge number is used to give tube wall thickness. (Ranges from 24 (light)
to 7 (heavy walled))
Joints and fittings
• Methods used to join pieces of pipe or tubing depend in part on the properties of the material
but primarily on the thickness of the wall.
• Thick walled tubular products are usually connected by screwed fittings, by flanges, or by welding.
• Pieces of thin walled tubing are joined by soldering or by compression or flare fittings.
• Pipes made of brittle materials like glass or carbon or cast iron is joined by flanges or bell and
spigot joints
• Polytetrafluoroethylene is wrapped around the threaded end to ensure a good seal.
• Screwed fittings are standardized for pipe sizes up to 12 in., but difficulty in handling
• Lengths of pipe larger than about 2 in. are usually connected by flanges or by welding.
• Flanges are matching disks or rings of metal bolted together and compressing a gasket between
their faces.
• Flanges themselves are attached to the pipe by screwing them on welding or brazing
• A flange with no opening, used to close a pipe is called blind flange or blank flange
Allowances for expansion
• Prevention of leakage around moving parts:
• In many kinds of processing equipment it is necessary to have
one part move in relation to another part withoutexcessive
leakage of a fluid around the moving member.
• This is true in packed expansion joints and in valves where the
stem must enter the valve body and be free to turn without
allowing the fluid in the valve to escape
• Common devices for minimizing leakage while permitting
relative motion are stuffing boxes and mechanical seals.
 Valves
• Purpose: to slow down/stop the flow of a fluid.
• Other functions include:
– can work on fully-open or fully-closed
– reduce pressure and flow rate of a fluid
– can allow only one directional flow
– can allow only water and gas to pass while holding back the steam
– can control temperature/pressure/liquid level
Gate valves and globe valves:
– most common type of valves –
for gate valve:
∗ diameter of opening where a fluid passes is nearly the same as the pipe.
∗ direction of flow is the same.
∗ large opening of valve leads to small pressure drop.
∗it is not recommended for controlling flow.
∗ can only be used in fully-open or fully-closed position.
Globe valve
• normally used for controlling flow.
• opening increases almost linearly with stem position.
• wear is evenly distributed around the disk.
• there is a change in direction whenever the fluid passes the disk.
• this contributes to high pressure drop.
Ball valve
• sealing element is spherical in shape
• reduce the problems of alignment & freezing of element are less.
• area of contact between moving element and seat is large
• can be used as throttling service. – normally used to control flow
Check valve
• only permits one directional flow..
• valve only opens when there is pressure form fluid in the direction of
the flow.
• It automatically stops when the flow stops or it tends to reverse its
direction
• this is done either by spring/gravity that pushes the disk.