Experiment 4 :

Major losses in pipe flows

Name: D.Sneha
Roll No: 1906310
Aim
To study frictional losses in pipes experimentally and to determine friction
factor.

Experimental Setup
The experiment is conducted in the fluid friction apparatus (figure 4.1) which
allows students to investigate flow, flow measurement techniques and losses in a
wide variety of pipes and fittings. The apparatus has three colour coded circuits
each fitted with a different control valve and a selection of pipes and pipe fittings.
One of the circuits include interchangeable sections, with further selections of pipe
components.

Numbered pressure tappings are fitted at all the important points, for
measurement of the pressure drop along each pipe section or pipe component.
Each pressure tapping includes a special self sealing connector.

To measure the pressure drop across each pipe section or components, a

free-standing 3- way piezometer unit is used. Also, to measure the higher differential
pressure across the valves and stainer, a differential pressure gauge is included.
Connecting pipes of suitable lengths are also available.

For water supply and flow measurement, a hydraulic bench is used. Also, for
very low flow rate measurement a 1000mL measuring cylinder allows a more
accurate volume/time method.
Specifications

Sl. no. Item Details Tapping Distance

no.s between
tapping

1 Smooth 17mm diameter bore 7,8 912mm

pipe

2 Smooth 13.6mm diameter 13,14 912mm

pipe bore

3 Rough pipe 17mm diameter 30,31 200mm

bore 14mm
effective diameter
Roughness, ε =
0.5mm
Principle
When a fluid flows through a pipe, it is subjected to resistance due to shear
forces be tween the fluid and its adjacent wall and also between the fluid layers. The
major losses are associated with these frictional energy loss per unit length of the
pipe and depend upon vari ous factors such as length of the pipe, its diameter, flow
velocity, wall surface condition and whether the flow is laminar or turbulent (i.e. the
Reynolds number of the flow). The head loss due to friction results in an equivalent
increase in the internal energy (or temperature) of the fluid.

In fluid dynamics, the Darcy–Weisbach equation relates the major head loss, or
pressure loss, due to fluid friction along a given length of pipe to the average
velocity. This equation is valid for fully developed, steady, incompressible,
single-phase flow and can be written as,

hf =fLv2/2gd

where, f is Darcy’s friction factor, L is the length of the pipe, v is the velocity, g is the
acceleration due to gravity and d is the diameter of the pipe.

For smooth as well as rough pipes, the following implicit relation can be used to
find the friction factor. This equation called as the Colebrook’s equation quite
accurately predicts the friction factor in the transition as well as the fully turbulent
flow regimes.

Here, ε represents the roughness parameter and d is the diameter

of the pipe.
Since Colebrook’s equation is an implicit relation, an iterative method

is necessary to solve it. Haaland proposed an explicit equation for

the friction factor as an approximation to the Colebrook equation and

is given by,

Procedure:

1. Connect the inlet pipe (painted white) and the outlet pipe (painted black) of the
apparatus to the supply and return pipes of the hydraulic bench.

2. Close the gate valve and globe valve completely and partially open the ball
valve. This will make sure that water flows only through circuit containing the
smooth pipe of 17mm diameter and the rough pipe.

3. Switch on the bench supply.

4. Fix one end of the connecting pipe to any of the pressure tappings across the
smooth pipe. Allow water to flow out through the other end the connecting tube
and collect it in a bucket. Wait for sometime till the air bubbles inside the
connecting tube is completely purged out. Fix the free end of the connecting
tube to one of the manometer limbs. Repeat this for the other pressure tapping
 across the smooth pipe as well as for the rough pipe.

5. Note the manometer readings as well as the flow rate which is displayed on
the hydraulic bench.

6. Adjust the ball valve to change the flow rate and note down the required values
at different flow rates.

7. Open the gate valve and close the ball wall. This allows water to flow through
the smooth pipe of 13.6mm diameter. Fix the connecting tubes and bleed out
air bubbles as discussed in the above steps.

8. Also, note down the manometer and discharge values for different
flow rates. 9. Switch off the hydraulic bench supply.

Theory
When fluid flows through pipes some of potential energy is lost to overcome hydraulic
resistance which can be classified as:-
MAJOR LOSSES
The viscous friction effect associated with fluid flow.
MINOR LOSSES
The local resistance or disturbances which may cause eddy formations.They can be
neglected for long pipes without serious errors.
The viscous friction loss or major loss in head potential energy due to friction is given by
hf = 4fLv2/ 2gd ( Darcy-Weisbach equation)
The friction factor fD is a variable which depends on the characteristics of the pipe
(diameter d and roughness height ), the characteristics of the fluid (its kinematic viscosity
ν), and the velocity of the fluid flow (v).
The Reynolds number (Re) is the dimensionless parameters that allows identifying the
laminar or turbulent flow regime.
Re < 2000 (Laminar flow)
2000 ≤ Re ≤ 4000 (Transition region)
Re > 4000 (Turbulent flow)
The Moody diagram represents the complete friction factor map for laminar and all turbulent
regions of pipe flows and is used in estimating friction factor in pipe flows. In case of
laminar flows, it is a consequence of Poiseuille’s law given by
f = 64 /Re
In the case of Turbulent flows, we have two equations. Those are colebrooke and
haaland’s equation.

Tabulation
sl.no Man Man Mano
Dischar Vel Reyn Relati Frictio Haala Colebr
ome omet metri
ge, ocit olds ve n nd ooke
ter er c
Q(L/S) y, numb rough Facto frictio friction
(ups (dow head,
v(m er, Re ness r, f n factor
trea nstre hf (m
/s) factor
m), am), of
(m (mm water
m of of )
wat wate
er) r)

Smooth pipe with 17mm diameter bore and 912mm length

1 0.249 264 349 0.085 1.097 20891.0 0 0.0258 0.0254 0.0256

7

2 0.226 230 300 0.07 0.995 18948.6 0 0.0258 0.0261 0.0262

3 0.184 162 220 0.058 0.81 15425.4 0 0.0322 0.0275 0.0276

9

4 0.131 115 145 0.03 0.577 10988.2 0 0.0329 0.0301 0.0301

8

Smooth pipe with 13.6mm diameter bore and 912mm length

1 0.248 666 938 0.272 1.707 26006.2 0 0.0272 0.0241 0.0242

4

2 0.222 655 883 0.2258 1.528 23279.1 0 0.0285 0.0247 0.0249

6

3 0.181 635 788 0.153 1.245 18967.6 0 0.0288 0.026 0.0262

4

4 0.135 595 683 0.088 0.929 14153.3 0 0.0298 0.0281 0.0282

6

Rough pipe with 14mm effective diameter and 200mm length

1 0.25 830 968 0.138 1.624 25469.4 0.035 0.0717 0.0622 0.0626
2

2 0.224 820 932 0.112 1.455 22818.9 0.035 0.0725 0.0623 0.0627
7

3 0.184 812 888 0.076 1.195 18741.3 0.035 0.073 0.0626 0.063
5

4 0.135 804 845 0.041 0.876 13738.4 0.035 0.0733 0.0631 0.0635
3
Sample Calculation:

Formulas used:
Discharge = v/t
V= discharge/ area of cross section
Reynolds number, Re = ρud/μ
Relative roughness = ε /d

Graph plots
Friction factor Vs Reynolds number
Results and Discussion

● We observe a decrease in Reynolds number with decrease in flow rate. This

is because with the decrease in flow rate the velocity decreases and
Reynold’s number is directly proportional to velocity

Questions
1. What causes the major losses in pipes.
Ans:
Major losses occur due to friction within a pipe
2. Imagine that you are asked to design a water supply system in a small village.
This system consists of a common overhead tank from where water is taken to
different houses through pipelines. What are the factors that you should
consider to determine the height of the overhead tank?

Ans:

Factors that should be considered are as follows:

Tank height at which the water is present upto and the number of pipelines
present, velocity, diameters of pipelines and its discharge and minor losses like
bends, tees, internal pipe friction.