Fanning friction number

The transition from laminar to turbulent flow occurs at Reynolds numbers varying from ca 2000 for n > 1 to ca 5000 for n = 0.2. In the laminar region the Fanning friction factor (Fig. 2) is identical to that for Newtonian fluids. In the turbulent region the friction factor drops significantly with decreasing values of producing a family of curves. 

For laminar flow (Re < 2000), generally found only in circuits handling heavy oils or other viscous fluids, / = 16/Re. For turbulent flow, the friction factor is dependent on the relative roughness of the pipe and on the Reynolds number. An approximation of the Fanning friction factor for turbulent flow in smooth pipes, reasonably good up to Re = 150,000, is given by / = (0.079)/(4i e ). 

The dimensionless relations are usually indicated in either of two forms, each yielding identical resiilts. The preferred form is that suggested by Colburn ran.s. Am. In.st. Chem. Eng., 29, 174—210 (1933)]. It relates, primarily, three dimensionless groups the Stanton number h/cQ, the Prandtl number c Jk, and the Reynolds number DG/[L. For more accurate correlation of data (at Reynolds number <10,000), two additional dimensionless groups are used ratio of length to diameter L/D and ratio of viscosity at wall (or surface) temperature to viscosity at bulk temperature. Colburn showed that the product of the Stanton number and the two-thirds power of the Prandtl number (and, in addition, power functions of L/D and for Reynolds number <10,000) is approximately equal to half of the Fanning friction fac tor//2. This produc t is called the Colburn j factor. Since the Colburn type of equation relates heat transfer and fluid friction, it has greater utility than other expressions for the heat-transfer coefficient. 

Friction Factor and Reynolds Number For a Newtonian fluid in a smooth pipe, dimensional analysis relates the frictional pressure drop per unit length AP/L to the pipe diameter D, density p, and average velocity V through two dimensionless groups, the Fanning friction factor/and the Reynolds number Re. 

For smooth pipe, the friction factor is a function only of the Reynolds number. In rough pipe, the relative roughness /D also affects the friction factor. Figure 6-9 plots/as a function of Re and /D. Values of for various materials are given in Table 6-1. The Fanning friction factor should not be confused with the Darcy friction fac tor used by Moody Trans. ASME, 66, 671 [1944]), which is four times greater. Using the momentum equation, the stress at the wall of the pipe may be expressed in terms of the friction factor ... 

The Fanning friction factor (/ in the above equation) varies with Reynolds number and relative roughness of... 

The correlation studies of heat and mass transfer in pellet beds have been investigated by many, usually in terms of the. /-factors (113-115). According to Chilton and Colburn the two. /-factors are equal in value to one half of the Fannings friction factor / used in the calculation of pressure drop. The. /-factors depend on the Reynolds number raised to a factor varying from —0.36 to —0.68, so that the Nusselt number depends on the Reynolds number raised to a factor varying from 0.64 to 0.32. In the range of the Reynolds number from 10 to 170 in the pellet bed, jd should vary from 0.5 to 0.1, which yields a Nusselt number from 4.4 to 16.1. The heat and mass transfer to wire meshes has received much less attention (110,116). The correlation available shows that the /-factor varies as (Re)-0-41, so that the Nusselt number varies as (Re)0-69. In the range of the Reynolds number from 20 to 420, the j-factor varies from 0.2 to 0.05, so that the Nusselt number varies from 3.6 to 18.6. The Sherwood number for CO is equal to 1.05 Nu, but the Sherwood number for benzene is 1.31 Nu. 

Group N6 (or some multiple thereof) is also known as a friction factor (/), because the driving force (AP) is required to overcome friction (i.e., the energy dissipated) in the pipeline (assuming it to be horizontal), and N3 is known as the Reynolds number (N e). There are various definitions of the pipe friction factor, each of which is some multiple of N6 e.g., the Fanning friction factor is N6/2, and the Darcy friction factor is 2N6. The group N4 is also known as the Euler number. 

Equation (6-41) adequately represents the Fanning friction factor over the entire range of Reynolds numbers within the accuracy of the data used to construct the Moody diagram, including a reasonable estimate for the intermediate or transition region between laminar and turbulent flow. Note that it is explicit in /. 

The model for turbulent drag reduction developed by Darby and Chang (1984) and later modified by Darby and Pivsa-Art (1991) shows that for smooth tubes the friction factor versus Reynolds number relationship for Newtonian fluids (e.g., the Colebrook or Churchill equation) may also be used for drag-reducing flows, provided (1) the Reynolds number is defined with respect to the properties (e.g., viscosity) of the Newtonian solvent and (3) the Fanning friction factor is modified as follows ... 

The Fanning friction factor/is a function of the Reynolds number Re and the roughness of the pipe e. Table 4-1 provides values of e for various types of clean pipe. Figure 4-7 is a plot of the Fanning friction factor versus Reynolds number with the pipe roughness, eld, as a parameter. For laminar flow the Fanning friction factor is given by... 

Figure 4-7 Plot of Fanning friction factor f versus Reynolds number. Source Octave Leven-spiel, Engineering Flow and Heat Exchange (New York Plenum Press, 1984), p. 20. Reprinted by permission.

An important part of the frictional loss term is the assumption of a constant Fanning friction factor/across the length of the pipe. This assumption is valid only at high Reynolds numbers. 

Determine the Fanning friction factor / from Equation 4-34. This assumes fully developed turbulent flow at high Reynolds numbers. This assumption can be checked later but is normally valid. 

The Fanning friction factor may be determined either from a chart for both rough and smooth tubes or from a variety of correlations (Knudsen and Katz, 1958, pp. 173,176). The following correlation applies for turbulent flow in smooth tubes and for Reynolds numbers between 3,000 and 3,000,000 ... 

A number of equations have been proposed for use in the calculation of pressure drop in coils of constant curvature [Srinivasan et al (1968)]. The latter are known as helices. For laminar flow, Kubair and Kuloor (1965) gave an equation for the Reynolds number range 170 to the critical value. In terms of the Fanning friction factor, their equation can be written as... 

For turbulent flow, White (1932) gave an equation for the Reynolds number range 15000 to 100000. In terms of the Fanning friction factor, White s equation can be written as... 

Turbulent flow of Newtonian fluids is described in terms of the Fanning friction factor, which is correlated against the Reynolds number with the relative roughness of the pipe wall as a parameter. The same approach is adopted for non-Newtonian flow but the generalized Reynolds number is used. 

The total number of openings N affects the flow rate, velocity, and Ret) in the region of the last opening, which is determined to (1/AO of the opening at the entrance of the distributor. So, ReD at die first and the last opening of the distributor can be calculated, and in turn, the corresponding values of the fanning friction factors can be estimated. The mean value of these two factors should be used in the calculations in diis procedure. 

FIG. 6-9 Fanning Friction Factors. Reynolds number Re = I) pyu where D = pipe diameter, V = velocity, p = fluid density, and p = fluid viscosity. (Based on Moody, Trans. ASME, 66, 671 [1944].)... 

For Newtonian fluids flowing in smooth pipes, the friction losses can be estimated for laminar flow (Re < 2100) using the Fanning friction factor, f. The Reynolds number, Re, is given by ... 

FIGURE 6 Fanning friction factor-Bingham plastic Reynolds number curves for Bingham plastic fluids. [Reproduced from Hanks, R. W. (1981). Hydraulic Design from Flow of Complex Mixtures, Richard W. Hanks Associates, Inc., Orem, UTJ... 

Li et al. [36] performed an extensive study on AP in a Sulzer SMX static mixer with both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids. They showed that AP increased by a factor of 23 in a SMX static mixer in the laminar flow regime. Figure 7-24 shows their correlation between the Fanning friction factor and the Reynolds number for experimental points under various operating conditions. 

Fanning friction factor f gcpD(Apf) Prandtl number Apr C/i v ... 

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