Lesson 4 Homework: Poiseuilles Law and Darcys Law

1. A Newtonian, incompressible fluid (think water approximately) is being pumped under a

constant pressure at low speeds through a thin cylindrical pipe. If you consider a
cylindrical annulus of the fluid, what are the three forces acting on the fluid annulus and
in which direction are the forces acting, i.e., with the flow or against the flow. (Hint: I
am asking for a description of the forces, not an equation.)

1. The external pressure acts in the direction of the flow.

2. The viscous force from the faster fluids inside the annulus act in the direction of
the flow.
3. The viscous force from the slow fluids outside the annulus act in the direction
back opposite the flow.

2. Suppose the velocity profile in a cylindrical pipe is V(r) = C(r2-R2) (as we derived in
Poiseuilles Law) where R is the radius of the pipe and C 0 is a constant.
1. Find the radius for which the velocity of flow is a maximum.
v(r) C r 2 R 2 with C 0
dv(r)
Extrema occur where 0 and
dr rm
d 2 v(r)
for that extremum to be a maximum then 0
dr 2 r
m

2
dv(r) d v(r)
2Cr and 2C
dr dr 2
Therefore, the velocity of flow is maximum at r 0.
2. Find the maximum velocity of flow.
v max v(r 0) CR 2 with C 0
3. We defined the positive direction as along the flow. Is your answer to (b) positive
or negative? Why? Does your result make sense?
Since C 0, vmax 0, i.e., along the flow which does make sense.
The meaning of the flow direction is the direction of the velocity of the fluid, by definition.

3. Below are some facts about the Alaskan pipeline

800 miles long (you may use 1500km)
48-inch inside diameter (you may use 1 m)
700,000 Bbls per day or more (you may use 1.5 m3/sec)
I dont know the viscosity (you may use 200 cP)
If the pipeline were a single cylindrical pipe over flat terrain (it is not), how much
pressure would be needed at the Prudhoe Bay input to achieve the flow above at the
Valdez output? Is your answer reasonable? Why or why not?
 Given :
L 1.5 10 8 cm
R 50 cm
Q 1.5 10 6 cm 3 /sec
200 cP
Find :
P in psi
Procedure : Poiseuille' s Equation
R 4 P
Q
8 L

P

8 LQ 8200cP 1.5 10 8 cm 1.5 10 6 cm 3 /sec


R 4 50 cm
4

dyne/cm 2 sec 1psi
2
100cP 68948 dynes/cm
P 2659 psi

Note that this calculation is unreasonable because the pipe is so large in diameter and the
flow rate is so high. The flow is much more complicated than laminar.

4. Derive the velocity profile for a fluid flowing between the two pipes in a pipe within a
pipe.

Velocity profile for cylindrical geometry

from derivation of Poiseuille's Equation
P 2
v(r ) r c1 ln r c2
4 L
At the wall of the outer pipe At the wall of the inner pipe
P P
v( Ro ) 0 Ro 2 c1 ln Ro c2 v( Ri ) 0 Ri 2 c1 ln Ri c2
4 L 4 L
Solve the two equations for the two constants c1 and c 2
P Ro Ri P Ro ln Ri Ri ln Ro
2 2 2 2

c1 = - c2 =
4 L R 4 L R
ln o ln o
Ri Ri
Substitute the constants back into the velocity profile
P 2 Ro r r
v(r ) r ln Ro ln Ri ln
2 2

R Ri Ri Ro
4L ln o
Ri
5. Suppose a pipe of radius 8 cm (think of a fire hose) has a sufficient pressure gradient to
cause of flow per unit area (speed of the water) of 1 meter/sec. If the hose narrows to a
radius of 2 cm (think of the nozzle),
1. what will the speed of the water be?
The total flow must be the same in the hose and the nozzle, since water cannot be
created or destroyed.
qhose 1m / sec
Qhose Qnozzle
qhose Ahose qnozzle Anozzle
Ahose (8cm) 2
qnozzle qhose 1m / sec 2
16m / sec
Anozzle (2cm)
2. What is the ratio of the pressure gradient along the nozzle to the pressure gradient
along the hose?
Q R 2 P
for either the hose or the nozzle
A 8 L
P 8
2 qhose
L hose Rhose
P 8
2 qnozzle
L nozzle Rnozzle
P 8
qnozzle 2
L nozzle Rnozzle
2
Rhose qnozzle

P 8 Rnozzle qhose
q hose
L hose Rhose
2

P

L nozzle 8cm
2

16 256
P 2cm

L hose