Velocity laminar flow

In a steady-state situation when gas flows through a porous material at a low velocity (laminar flow), the following empirical formula, Darcy s model, is valid ... 

This expression for terminal velocity is called Newton s law. Stokes law for the terminal velocity (laminar flow) in a particular medium can be expressed in simplified form as... 

Viscous Transport. Low velocity viscous laminar tiow in gas pipes is commonplace. Practical gas flow can be based on pressure drops of <50% for low velocity laminar flow in pipes whose length-to-diameter ratio may be as high as several thousand. Under laminar flow, bends and fittings add to the frictional loss, as do abrupt transitions. 

Owing to the small channel diameters in MSR, laminar flow can be considered in which the fluid flows in parallel layers without lateral mixing. This situation occurs when the ratio between inertial forces to viscous forces is relatively low. The ratio is characterized by the Reynolds number, which is deflned as follows for circular tubes Re = u-d -pg)ft, where u is the mean fluid velocity. Laminar flow is stable for Re < 2000. At higher Reynolds number, inertia forces become dominant, producing flow instabilities such as eddies and vortices, and the flow becomes turbulent. 

Sealing, wliich is simply the isolation of the transmitter from a clean (no solids, nonplugging) process liquid. Low-velocity laminar flow is usually adequate for sealing, but as we shall see later, may contribute to dynamic measurement errors. For these applications gas purges are usually used. 

When a sample is injected into the carrier stream it has the rectangular flow profile (of width w) shown in Figure 13.17a. As the sample is carried through the mixing and reaction zone, the width of the flow profile increases as the sample disperses into the carrier stream. Dispersion results from two processes convection due to the flow of the carrier stream and diffusion due to a concentration gradient between the sample and the carrier stream. Convection of the sample occurs by laminar flow, in which the linear velocity of the sample at the tube s walls is zero, while the sample at the center of the tube moves with a linear velocity twice that of the carrier stream. The result is the parabolic flow profile shown in Figure 13.7b. Convection is the primary means of dispersion in the first 100 ms following the sample s injection. 

A low Reynolds number indicates laminar flow and a paraboHc velocity profile of the type shown in Figure la. In this case, the velocity of flow in the center of the conduit is much greater than that near the wall. If the operating Reynolds number is increased, a transition point is reached (somewhere over Re = 2000) where the flow becomes turbulent and the velocity profile more evenly distributed over the interior of the conduit as shown in Figure lb. This tendency to a uniform fluid velocity profile continues as the pipe Reynolds number is increased further into the turbulent region. 

Most flow meters are designed and caHbrated for use on turbulent flow, by far the more common fluid condition. Measurements of laminar flow rates may be seriously in error unless the meter selected is insensitive to velocity profile or is specifically caHbrated for the condition of use. 

Enough space must be available to properly service the flow meter and to install any straight lengths of upstream and downstream pipe recommended by the manufacturer for use with the meter. Close-coupled fittings such as elbows or reducers tend to distort the velocity profile and can cause errors in a manner similar to those introduced by laminar flow. The amount of straight pipe required depends on the flow meter type. For the typical case of an orifice plate, piping requirements are normally Hsted in terms of the P or orifice/pipe bore ratio as shown in Table 1 (1) (see Piping systems). 

Entrance flow is also accompanied by the growth of a boundary layer (Fig. 5b). As the boundary layer grows to fill the duct, the initially flat velocity profile is altered to yield the profile characteristic of steady-state flow in the downstream duct. For laminar flow in a tube, the distance required for the velocity at the center line to reach 99% of its asymptotic values is given by... 

In configurations more complex than pipes, eg, flow around bodies or through nozzles, additional shearing stresses and velocity gradients must be accounted for. More general equations for some simple fluids in laminar flow are described in Reference 1. 

The shear stress is hnear with radius. This result is quite general, applying to any axisymmetric fuUy developed flow, laminar or turbulent. If the relationship between the shear stress and the velocity gradient is known, equation 50 can be used to obtain the relationship between velocity and pressure drop. Thus, for laminar flow of a Newtonian fluid, one obtains ... 

Averaging the velocity using equation 50 yields the weU-known Hagen-Poiseuille equation (see eq. 32) for laminar flow of Newtonian fluids in tubes. The momentum balance can also be used to describe the pressure changes at a sudden expansion in turbulent flow (Fig. 21b). The control surface 2 is taken to be sufficiently far downstream that the flow is uniform but sufficiently close to surface 3 that wall shear is negligible. The additional important assumption is made that the pressure is uniform on surface 3. The conservation equations are then applied as follows ... 

Two approaches to this equation have been employed. (/) The scalar product is formed between the differential vector equation of motion and the vector velocity and the resulting equation is integrated (1). This is the most rigorous approach and for laminar flow yields an expHcit equation for AF in terms of the velocity gradients within the system. (2) The overall energy balance is manipulated by asserting that the local irreversible dissipation of energy is measured by the difference ... 

In the forced convection heat transfer, the heat-transfer coefficient, mainly depends on the fluid velocity because the contribution from natural convection is negligibly small. The dependence of the heat-transfer coefficient, on fluid velocity, which has been observed empirically (1—3), for laminar flow inside tubes, is h for turbulent flow inside tubes, h and for flow outside tubes, h. Flow may be classified as laminar or... 

Fig. 1. Laminar flow in simple shear. FjA — rjdV/dX, where F is the force acting on areaM, H the velocity and X the thickness of the layer, and Tj the...

In the simple Bunsen flame on a tube of circular cross-section, the stabilization depends on the velocity variation in the flow emerging from the tube. For laminar flow (paraboHc velocity profile) in a tube, the velocity at a radius r is given by equation 20 ... 

Equation (5-62) predicts the point of maximiim velocity for laminar flow in annuli and is only an approximate equation for turbulent flow. Brighton and Jones [Am. Soc. Mech. Eng. Basic Eng., 86, 835 (1964)] and Macagno and McDoiigall [Am. Inst. Chem. Eng. J., 12, 437 (1966)] give more accurate equations for predicting the point of maximum velocity for turbulent flow. 

Laminar and Turbulent Flow, Reynolds Number These terms refer to two distinct types of flow. In laminar flow, there are smooth streamlines and the fuiid velocity components vary smoothly with position, and with time if the flow is unsteady. The flow described in reference to Fig. 6-1 is laminar. In turbulent flow, there are no smooth streamlines, and the velocity shows chaotic fluctuations in time and space. Velocities in turbulent flow may be reported as the sum of a time-averaged velocity and a velocity fluctuation from the average. For any given flow geometry, a dimensionless Reynolds number may be defined for a Newtonian fluid as Re = LU p/ I where L is a characteristic length. Below a critical value of Re the flow is laminar, while above the critical value a transition to turbulent flow occurs. The geometry-dependent critical Reynolds number is determined experimentally. 

Here, h is the enthalpy per unit mass, h = u + p/. The shaft work per unit of mass flowing through the control volume is 6W5 = W, /m. Similarly, is the heat input rate per unit of mass. The fac tor Ot is the ratio of the cross-sectional area average of the cube of the velocity to the cube of the average velocity. For a uniform velocity profile, Ot = 1. In turbulent flow, Ot is usually assumed to equal unity in turbulent pipe flow, it is typically about 1.07. For laminar flow in a circiilar pipe with a parabohc velocity profile, Ot = 2. 

Velocity Profiles In laminar flow, the solution of the Navier-Stokes equation, corresponding to the Hagen-PoiseuiUe equation, gives the velocity i as a Innction of radial position / in a circular pipe of radius R in terms of the average velocity V = Q/A. The parabolic profile, with centerline velocity t ce the average velocity, is shown in Fig. 6-10. 

FIG. 6-10 Parabolic velocity profile for laminar flow in a pipe, with average velocity V. 

Entrance and Exit Effects In the entrance region of a pipe, some distance is required for the flow to adjust from upstream conditions to the fuUy developed flow pattern. This distance depends on the Reynolds number and on the flow conditions upstream. For a uniform velocity profile at the pipe entrance, the computed length in laminar flow required for the centerline velocity to reach 99 percent of its fully developed value is (Dombrowski, Foumeny, Ookawara and Riza, Can. J. Chem. Engr, 71, 472 76 [1993])... 

Non-Newtonian Flow For isothermal laminar flow of time-independent non-Newtonian hquids, integration of the Cauchy momentum equations yields the fully developed velocity profile and flow rate-pressure drop relations. For the Bingham plastic flmd described by Eq. (6-3), in a pipe of diameter D and a pressure drop per unit length AP/L, the flow rate is given by... 

For steady-state laminar flow of any time-independent viscous fluid, at average velocity V in a pipe of diameter D, the Rabinowitsch-Mooney relations give a general relationship for the shear rate at the pipe wall. 

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