Introduction The Pipe flow experiment involves predicting the discharge through a pipe system, given the geometry

of the system, and upstream water level. A comparison of the theoretical analysis and the actual results is done to illustrate the effectiveness of the theory. Method There is an energy head loss due to friction between the fluid (water in the case of this lab) and the pipe. The lab aims to aid in demonstrating this concept via measuring the head at twelve points along the pipe. There are two pipes of different diameters of pipes (in series), to illustrate that the diameter greatly affects the head loss. A large water tank with a constant head that supplies water to the single pipe system of a rounded entrance is used. A piezometer board with the twelve connections to the pipe system is used to measure the head. A weighing tank and stop watch are used in the experiment. The weighing tank is used to measure a known amount of water in a certain time, to enable the flow rate to be calculated.

Figure 1 The set-up used in the experiment

Using a roughness constant of 0.003mm which relates to the brass material of the pipes, and calculating the pipe friction factor using the following formula

the friction factors for each pipe are

calculated and displayed in table 1 below. These results can then be used with the Moody diagram to obtain the Reynolds number. Pipe 1 0.003 25.4 0.00012 0.0124 10^7 Pipe 2 0.003 50.8 0.00006 0.0109 10^7 1

ks(mm) D (mm) ks/D Re

The total head loss can be calculated by adding all the individual head losses together, ( )

Where hfa and hfb are the local head losses due to friction in pipes A and B respectively. The entrance, enlargement and exit head losses, are all also calculated using the following formulae,

Frictional loss Head loss at entrance

( )

Head loss at enlargement

The velocity in pipe A, and pipe B can be calculated using the continuity equation. Since the total head is known, the velocity can be calculated in conjunction with the continuity equation

Referring to the calculations, the following velocities were determined, Flow rate was determined using the above continuity equation, .

The actual flow rate is calculated and compared to the theoretical flow rate in the following manner

Results The initial, theoretical (estimated) energy lines are displayed below.

Figure 2: Results obatined from experimentation

Point 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Distance from tank (m) 0 0.15 0.775 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.9 1.925 2.525 3.125 3.175 3.2

Figure 3: Energy Lines obtined from practical results

head(m) 1.515 1.09 0.908 0.737 0.681 0.681 0.681 0.798 0.806 0.8 0.79 0.784 0.791

4.5 4 3.5 Pressure head (m) 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 HGL TEL

Distance from tank (m)

Theoretical flow rate: Actual flow rate: Percentage error = 1.01%. Conclusion The theoretical and actual flow rates differ by s very small amount which shows that the theory applied, even though empirical throughout most of the calculations is fairly accurate. The error comes into play from the experimental data not being read properly, or from the gauges not being calibrated exactly accurately. However all of these were very small, and the lab illustrates how experiment can effectively modelled using the empirical data that was used in the lab. Notation = Pipe friction factor ks = Roughness of pipe L = Pipe length D = Pipe Diameter V = Average velocity flowing in the pipe g = Acceleration due to gravity HGL = Hydraulic Grade Line TEL = Total Energy Line References Chadwick, A and Morfett, J (1998): Hydraulics in Civil and Environmental Engineering, 4th Edition, E&FN Spon. C CIVN3013 Pipe Flow Experiment Laboratory Pack 3 .