Assignment 1 – MM 218 – Process Kinetics and Transport – 2024

Conservation, Mechanical Energy balance without considering friction losses and Laminar flow

1) Italians love birds, many homes have these happy songsters in little cages, and to supply them is
a big business. Tunisian Songbirds, Inc., is a major supplier of canaries for Sourthern Italy, and
every Wednesday a large truck carrying these chirpy feathered creatures is loaded aboard the
midweek Tunis to Naples ferry. The truck's bird container is 2.4m wide, 3.0 m high, solid on the
sides and bottom, open at the top except for a restraining screen, and has a total open volume
available for birds of 36 m$^3$. On arrival at Naples tax of 20 litra/bird is to be charged by the
customs agent, but how to determine the amount to be assessed? Since counting these
thousands of birds one by one would be impractical the Italians use the following ingeneious
method.

The customs agent sets up his pressure guages, then loudly bangs the sides of the van with a
hammer. This scares the birds off their perches up into the air. Then he carefully
records the pressure both at the bottom and the top of the inside of the van.

If pressure at the bottom is 103,316 Pa, the pressure at the top is 102,875 Pa and temperature is
25oC, how much tax should the customs agent levy?

Given: Juvenile canaries have a mass of 15gm and a density estimated to be 500 kg m$^{-3}$

2) A venturi meter is a device for measuring the flow rate of fluid in a pipe. It consists of a smooth
contraction and expansion of the flow channel, as shown below. Pressure measurements at the
throat and upstream then give the flow rate of fluid. For fluid flowing through an ideal venturi
(neglecting the friction losses) show that the approach velocity u1 is given by the following
equation
3) Hydraulic Ram
4) As shown in the figure below a helicopter is hovering. As an approximation, based on the
stream lines one can construct a hypothetical conduit as shown in the figure. The total mass of
the helicopter-type craft shown is 1500 kg. The pressure of the air is atmospheric at the outlet.
You can also see from the figure the air is drawn far above the rotor. Assume the flow is steady
and one-dimensional. Treat the air as incompressible at standard conditions and calculate (a)
the speed of the air leaving the craft (Use momentum balance) and (b) the minimum power
that must be delivered to the air by the propeller if the craft is hovering (use energy balance).
Assume that the velocity is uniform across the flow at the outlet. The inner diameter at the
outlet is 3 m and the outer diameter is 3.3 m. (Note: Density, density of air = 1.2 kg/m3)

4) A shaft of outer diameter D meters is rotating at revolutions per minute in a journal with a film
of lubricant of viscosity  and thickness  between the shaft and the journal. Derive an
expression that relates the torque, T, required to overcome the friction in the fluid to D, r, 
and . Calculate the torque and rate of degradation of mechanical energy to thermal energy
when D = 2.5cm, =0.1mm, r = 1000 rpm and  = 0.003 Pa.s. (Assume that the thickness of the
lubricant film is much smaller than the outer diameter D)

5) Viscous fluid is in laminar flow in a slit formed by two parallel walls a distance 2B apart. Make a
differential momentum balance and obtain the expressions for the distribution of momentum
flux and velocity.
( P 0−P L )
τ rz = X
L
( P0−P L )
V z= ( B 2−X 2 )
2 μL
6) (Use the figure above for this problem as well) A dust precipitator consists of a pair of oppositely
charged plates between which dust laden gas flow. It is desired to establish a criterion for the
minimum length of the precipitator in terms of the charge on the particle e, the electric field
strength E, the pressure difference (p0 - pL) and the gas viscosity µ. That is for what length L will
the smallest particle present (mass m) reach the bottom plate just before it has a chance to be
swept out of the channel. Assume that the flow between the plates is laminar. Assume also
that the particle velocity in the z direction is same as the fluid velocity in the z-direction; assume
further that the Stokes drag on the sphere as well as gravity force acting on the particle as it is
accelerated in the -x direction can be neglected.
7) A cylindrical rod of radius kR moves axially with velocity vz = v0 along the axis of cylindrical
cavity of radius R as shown in the figure below. The pressure at both end of the cavity is the
same, so that the fluid moves through the annular region solely because of the rod motion.

a) Find the velocity distribution in the narrow annular region

8) Consider a thin layer of fluid with thickness say δ flowing on an inclined plane as shown in the
figure. Taking appropriate control volume as shown in the figure below, derive an expression to
obtain the velocity distribution across the film and also obtain a expression for the volumetric
flow rate.
9) (use the results from the previous problem to solve this problem) A continuous sheet of metal is
cold-rolled by passing vertically between rolls. Before entering the rolls, the sheet passes
through a tank of lubricating oil equipped with a squeegee device that coats both sides of the
sheet uniformly as it exits. The amount of oil that is carried through can be controlled by
adjusting the squeegee device. Prepare a control chart that can be used to determine the
thickness of oil (in mm) on the plate just before it enters the roll as a function of the mass rate
of oil (in kg per hour). Values of interest for the thickness of the oil film range from 0-0.6 mm.
Data: Oil density = 962 kg/m3, width of sheet = 1.5m, viscosity = 0.0041 Pa.s, velocity of sheet =
0.3 m/s. (Find flow profile for a thin film of laminar flow of fluid on an inclined/vertical plane as
shown below).

10) Derive the equation of continuity in cylindrical coordinate taking appropriate control volume.

11) (You may use Navier Stokes Equation for this problem if you wish so)A cylinder shown in
following figure. The water level is 3 cm. This cylinder is rotated about its centreline. The
dimensions are given in the fig. Calculate
 a. Rotational speed that is necessary for the water to just touch the bottom. What will be the
height of the water column ‘h’?

b. Rotational speed at which water will just touches the top. Also calculate rotational speed at
which the upper thickness of water column will be 95% of bottom water column thickness as
shown in figure by dotted line.

Please note a similar setup is used to produce cast-iron pipes . Cast iron pipes are used to transport
sewage water from your toilets/bathrooms to the BMC sewage treatment units located at various places
in Mumbai.