LearnChemE

Calculating the Pressure Drop and Power in Pipe Flow: Screencasts

Demonstrates how to calculate the pressure drop in a pipe containing major and minor losses.

We suggest you list the important points in this screencast as a way to increase retention.

Shows how to calculate power needed to run an example piping system. 

We suggest you list the important points in this screencast as a way to increase retention.

Important Equations:

\[Re = \frac{\rho UD}{\mu} = \frac{UD}{\nu} \]

where \(Re\) is the Reynolds number
\(U\) is the freestream velocity
\(D\) is the pipe diameter
\(\rho\) is the fluid density
\(\mu\) is the fluid dynamic viscosity
\(\nu\) is the fluid kinematic viscosity

\[\frac{P_1}{\gamma} + \alpha_1 \frac{V^2_1}{2g} + z_1 +h_P = \frac{P_2}{\gamma} +\alpha_2 \frac{V^2_2}{2g} + z_2 + h_L \]

where \(\gamma\) is the specific weight of the fluid
\(\alpha\) is the kinematic parameter
\(h_P\) is the pump head
\(h_L\) is the head loss

\[h_L = f\frac{L}{D}\frac{V^2}{2g} \]

where \(f\) is the friction factor
\(L\) and \(D\) are the length and diameter of the pipe respectively
\(V\) is velocity
\(g\) is gravity

\[Power = h_P \gamma Q \]

where \(Q\) is the volumetric flow rate