Pressure drop chapter

Straight tube loss See Chapter 1, Fluid Flow, Piping Pressure Drop ... 

All losses except for straight tube Straight tube loss 2- Ah = 2.9-4-N 2g See Chapter 1, Fluid Flow, Piping Pressure Drop ... 

Cyclone Separators Cyclone separators are described in Chapter 7. Typically used to remove particulate from a gas stream, the gas enters tangentially at the top of a cylinder and is forced downward into a spiral motion. The particles exit the bottom while the gas turns upward into the vortex and leaves through the top of the unit. Pressure drops through cyclones are usually from 13 to 17 mm water gauge. Although seldom adequate by themselves, cyclone separators are often an effective first step in pollution control. 

Overall sizing and pressure drop in flare systems are covered in a later chapter,... 

It will be shown in Chapter 5 that the pressure drop, AP, for isothermal flow in a circular section channel is given by... 

The calculation of the pressure drop for a chosen exhaust depends on the calculation method (Chapter 9). Pressure drop is usually calculated as the product of a hood entry loss factor, and the dynamic pressure in the connecting duct, p,/. The is expressed a.s p v-/l, where p is the air density and 1/ IS the air velocity in the duct. Some common hood entry loss factors are given in Table 10.4. 

In this chapter the pressure drop for pneumatic conveying pipe flow is studied. The conventional calculation method is based on the use of an additional pressure loss coefficient of the solid particles. The advantage of this classical method is that in principle it can be applied to any type of pneumatic flow. On the other hand, its great disadvantage is that the additional pressure loss coefficient is a complicated function of the density and the velocity of the conveying gas. z lso, it is difficult to illustrate the additional pressure loss coefficient and this makes the theoretical study of it troublesome. 

For filter design and performance prediction it is necessary to predict the rate of filtration (velocity or volumetric flowrate) as a function of pressure drop, and the properties of the fluid and particulate bed. This can be achieved using the modified Darcy equation developed in Chapter 3. 

Volume 1, Chapter 9 explains the criteria for choosing a diameter and wall thickness of pipe. This procedure can be applied to choosing a coil diameter in an indirect fired heater. Erosional flow criteria will almost always govern in choosing the diameter. Sometimes it is necessary to check for pressure drop in the coil. Typically, pressure drop will not be important since the whole purpose of the line heater is to allow a large pressure drop that must be taken. The allowable erosional velocity is ffiven bv ... 

Continnons monitoring of pressure drop and temperature should be carried out. Pressure drop should be monitored if fouling and subsequent plugging is suspected or has previously occurred. Temperature monitoring should be provided if it is possible for a standing flame to occur on the flame arrester face and subsequently destroy the element (see Chapter 7). 

Total shell side Ap (refer to the pressure drop section of this chapter) can be neglected for pressure units unless an unusual condition or design exists. To check, follow procedure for unbaffled shell pressure drop. 

Pressure drops from Dowtherm A heat transfer media flowing in pipes may be calculated from Figure 10-137. The effective lengths of fittings, etc., are shown in Chapter 2 of Volume 1. The vapor flow can be determined from the latent heat data and the condensate flow. With a liquid system, the liquid flow can be determined using the specific heat data. 

Refer to the earlier section in this chapter, because tubeside pressure drop and heat transfer are subject to the same conditions as other tubular exchangers. 

As the air or gas flows through the blower system (piping/ ducts, filters, etc.), the movement causes friction between the flowing air/gas. This friction translates into resistance to flow, whether on the inlet (suction side) or outlet (discharge side) of the system in which the blower is a part and that creates the pressure drop (see Chapter 2, V. 1, 3 Ed., of this series) which the blower must overcome in order for the air/gas to move or flow. This resistance to flow becomes greater as the velocity of flow increases, and more energy or power is required to perform the required flow movement at the required pressures. 

Because concentrated flocculated suspensions generally have high apparent viscosities at the shear rates existing in pipelines, they are frequently transported under laminar flow conditions. Pressure drops are then readily calculated from their rheology, as described in Chapter 3. When the flow is turbulent, the pressure drop is difficult to predict accurately and will generally be somewhat less than that calculated assuming Newtonian behaviour. As the Reynolds number becomes greater, the effects of non-Newtonian behaviour become... 

Pressure drop and heat transfer in a single-phase incompressible flow. According to conventional theory, continuum-based models for channels should apply as long as the Knudsen number is lower than 0.01. For air at atmospheric pressure, Kn is typically lower than 0.01 for channels with hydraulic diameters greater than 7 pm. From descriptions of much research, it is clear that there is a great amount of variation in the results that have been obtained. It was not clear whether the differences between measured and predicted values were due to determined phenomenon or due to errors and uncertainties in the reported data. The reasons why some experimental investigations of micro-channel flow and heat transfer have discrepancies between standard models and measurements will be discussed in the next chapters. 

The data presented in the previous chapters, as well as the data from investigations of single-phase forced convection heat transfer in micro-channels (e.g., Bailey et al. 1995 Guo and Li 2002, 2003 Celata et al. 2004) show that there exist a number of principal problems related to micro-channel flows. Among them there are (1) the dependence of pressure drop on Reynolds number, (2) value of the Poiseuille number and its consistency with prediction of conventional theory, and (3) the value of the critical Reynolds number and its dependence on roughness, fluid properties, etc. 

The details of the specific features of the heat transfer coefficient, and pressure drop estimation have been covered throughout the previous chapters. The objective of this chapter is to summarize important theoretical solutions, results of numerical calculations and experimental correlations that are common in micro-channel devices. These results are assessed from the practical point of view so that they provide a sound basis and guidelines for the evaluation of heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of single-phase gas-liquid and steam-liquid flows. 

Chapter 2 developed a methodology for treating multiple and complex reactions in batch reactors. The methodology is now applied to piston flow reactors. Chapter 3 also generalizes the design equations for piston flow beyond the simple case of constant density and constant velocity. The key assumption of piston flow remains intact there must be complete mixing in the direction perpendicular to flow and no mixing in the direction of flow. The fluid density and reactor cross section are allowed to vary. The pressure drop in the reactor is calculated. Transpiration is briefly considered. Scaleup and scaledown techniques for tubular reactors are developed in some detail. 

The emphasis in this chapter is on the generalization of piston flow to situations other than constant velocity down the tube. Real reactors can closely approximate piston flow reactors, yet they show many complications compared with the constant-density and constant-cross-section case considered in Chapter 1. Gas-phase tubular reactors may have appreciable density differences between the inlet and outlet. The mass density and thus the velocity down the tube can vary at constant pressure if there is a change in the number of moles upon reaction, but the pressure drop due to skin friction usually causes a larger change in the density and velocity of the gas. Reactors are sometimes designed to have variable cross sections, and this too will change the density and velocity. Despite these complications, piston flow reactors remain closely akin to batch reactors. There is a one-to-one correspondence between time in a batch and position in a tube, but the relationship is no longer as simple as z = ut. 

If the reactor operates isothermally and if the pressure drop is sufficiently low, we have achieved closure. Equations (3.11) and (3.13) together allow a marching-ahead solution. The more common case requires additional equations to calculate pressure and temperature. An ODE is added to calculate pressure P z), and Chapter 5 adds an ODE to calculate temperature T z). 

This chapter assumes isothermal operation. The scaleup methods presented here treat relatively simple issues such as pressure drop and in-process inventory. The methods of this chapter are usually adequate if the heat of reaction is negligible or if the pilot unit operates adiabatically. Although included in the examples that follow, laminar flow, even isothermal laminar flow, presents special scaleup problems that are treated in more detail in Chapter 8. The problem of controlling a reaction exotherm upon scaleup is discussed in Chapter 5... 

Will the feed distribute itself evenly between the tubes This is a concern when there is a large change in viscosity due to reaction. The resulting stability problem is discussed in Chapter 13. Feed distribution can also be a concern with very large tube bundles when the pressure drop down the tube is small. 

A factor of 2 scaleup at constant t increases both u and L by a factor of 2, but the pressure drop increases by a factor of 2 - = 6.73. A factor of 100 scaleup increases the pressure drop by a factor of 316,000 The external area of the reactor, IttRL, increases as S, apace with the heat generated by the reaction. The Reynolds number also increases as S and the inside heat transfer coefficient increases by 5 (see Chapter 5). There should be no problem with heat transfer if you can tolerate the pressure drop. 

This section has based scaleups on pressure drops and temperature driving forces. Any consideration of mixing, and particularly the closeness of approach to piston flow, has been ignored. Scaleup factors for the extent of mixing in a tubular reactor are discussed in Chapters 8 and 9. If the flow is turbulent and if the Reynolds number increases upon scaleup (as is normal), and if the length-to-diameter ratio does not decrease upon scaleup, then the reactor will approach piston flow more closely upon scaleup. Substantiation for this statement can be found by applying the axial dispersion model discussed in Section 9.3. All the scaleups discussed in Examples 5.10-5.13 should be reasonable from a mixing viewpoint since the scaled-up reactors will approach piston flow more closely. 

Recently, many papers have been published on fiber catalysts and foam structures (Figure 9.2). Although, strictly speaking, fibers and foams might not be considered as structured systems, beds of such catalysts exhibit typical features of structured catalysts, namely, low pressure drop, uniform fiow, a good and uniform access to the catalytic surface, and they are definitely nonrandom. Therefore, we have included them in this chapter. 

Methods for the calculation of pressure drop through pipes and fittings are given in Section 5.4.2 and Volume 1, Chapter 3. It is important that a proper analysis is made of the system and the use of a calculation form (work sheet) to standardize pump-head calculations is recommended. A standard calculation form ensures that a systematic method of calculation is used, and provides a check list to ensure that all the usual factors have been considered. It is also a permanent record of the calculation. Example 5.8 has been set out to illustrate the use of a typical calculation form. The calculation should include a check on the net positive suction head (NPSH) available see section 5.4.3. 

More complex methods are needed to determine the pressure drop of non-Newtonian fluids in pipelines. Suitable methods are given in Volume 2, Chapter 4, and in Chabbra and Richardson (1999) see also Darby (2001). 

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