Project #1

Flow Past Submerged Objects

Chemical engineers are concerned with flow past submerged objects. Applications include flow
in packed beds (pipes containing solid particles, often catalysts) and sedimentation of particles.
A general representation of flow past a sphere is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Flow Past a Submerged Object

where v is the approach velocity to the object in m/s and d is the diameter of the sphere in m.
The pressure drop for a fluid flowing past a submerged object is given by
P C D

v 2
2

(1)

where is the fluid density in kg/m3, v is the approach velocity to the object in m/s, and CD is a
factor called the drag coefficient. As the drag coefficient increases, there is more friction and an
increased pressure drop. The drag coefficient is a parameter that has been studied extensively,
and we are able to predict the drag coefficient based on correlations of experimental results.
The drag coefficient is given by [1]

73.69 Re p e 5.0748 w
24
4.0655 w

0.0964 0.5565 w
CD
1 8.171e
Re p

Re p
Re p 5.378e6.2122 w

(2)

where w is the sphericity of the particle, and the Reynolds number, Rep is defined as
Re p

D p v

(3)

where is the fluid viscosity in kg/m s and Dp is the diameter of a sphere (in m) with the same
volume as the particle.

2
The sphericity is defined as

surface area of sphere with same volume as particle

surface area of actual particle

(4)

For a sphere, w = 1, and for other shapes, w < 1, because a sphere has the lowest area to
volume ratio of any solid object. For example, the sphericity of a cylinder with length equal to
the diameter is 0.8736, and the sphericity of a cube is 0.806.
Assignment Questions and Deliverables
The assignment is to prepare a general plot that enables one to calculate the drag coefficient for
flow past any submerged object as long as the sphericity can be calculated. This is needed to
calculate the pressure drop from Eq. (1). The y-axis of the plot should contain the drag
coefficient on a logarithmic scale from 0.01 to 1000. The x-axis should be the Reynolds number
(Rep) on a logarithmic scale between 10-1 and 106. There should be curves on the graph for
values of w between 1.0 and 0.5 (in increments of 0.1).
Explain the relationship between the parameters. How does the drag coefficient change with
sphericity? Does this make sense?
Reference
1. Haider, A. and O. Levenspiel, Drag Coefficient and Terminal Velocity of Spherical and nonSpherical Particles, Powder Technology, 58, 63 (1969).