Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎

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Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/petrol

Comment on “Gene expression programming analysis of implicit

Colebrook–White equation in turbulent flow friction factor calculation”
Ali R. Vatankhah
Department of Irrigation and Reclamation Engineering, University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, P. O. Box 4111,
Karaj 31587-77871, Iran

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Recently, it is investigated (Samadianfard, 2012) the potential of genetic programming based technique
Received 10 January 2013 in estimating flow friction factor in comparison with the most currently available explicit alternatives to
Accepted 1 December 2013 the Colebrook's equation.
Using iterative solution of the Colebrook's equation which is accurate to six significant digits, this
Keywords: discussion showed that the proposed approximation by the author for friction factor is not very accurate
explicit approximations (the errors increase up to 7.374%), thus it is proposed two new accurate approximations (with maximum
Colebrook friction factor error less than 0.022% and 0.008%) for estimating flow friction factor.
Darcy–Weisbach equation & 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
turbulent flow
fixed point method

1. Introduction using the iterative fixed-point method where the coefficients

The discusser would like to thank the author for proposing an
approximation for estimating flow friction factor using genetic
programming based technique. The discusser, however, would like
to add a few points.
Colebrook (1938–1939) developed the following implicit equa-
tion that combines experimental results of turbulent flow in
smooth and rough pipes:
! relative error of proposed approximation by the author (Eq. (29);
1 2:51 ε=D
pffiffiffi ¼  2 log pffiffiffi þ
f Re f 3:71
in which f is the friction factor, Re is the Reynolds number, and ε/D
is the relative pipe roughness. The Colebrook's equation is valid for
the Re ranging from 4  103 to 108 and for the ε/D ranging from
0 to 0.05.
For developing an accurate explicit expression of the friction
factor and for the analysis of error distribution, Eq. (1) should
accurately be solved for various known values of Reynolds number
and relative roughness. For this purpose, a rectangular space of the
wide range of ε/D and Re values is considered. This area is covered
with 1701 points (21  81 grid of ε/D and Re values) which
uniformly are distributed in the logarithmic space. The practical
range for the Reynolds number is considered between 104 and 108
while range for the relative roughness is between 10  6 and 0.1.
All friction factors and errors shown in this note are calculated
E-mail address: arvatan@ut.ac.ir
in the Colebrook's equation are considered as 2.51 and 3.71. The
accurate friction factors with six significant digits are presented
in Table 1.
Percentage relative error of friction factor is defined as RE(%) ¼
100  |1  festimated/faccurate|, in which faccurate is the accurate friction
factor that is obtained from iterative solution, Table 1, and festimated
is friction factor calculated using the selected explicit approxima-
tion of the Colebrook's equation. Distribution of percentage
Samadianfard, 2012) is computed and presented in Fig. 1. This
ð1Þ
approximation is not very accurate and errors increase up to
7.374%. This may be attributed to inaccurate solution of implicit
Colebrook's equation by the author which is used in gene expres-
sion programming (GEP).
The author also missed very relevant references. As indicated in
the study by Brkic (2011), there are five most accurate approxima-
tions to the Colebrook's equation with the maximum relative error
of no more than 0.15%. The author did not compare his approxima-
tion with all of these approximations. For instance, Vatankhah and
Kouchakzadeh (2008, 2009) improved coefficients from the approx-
imation of Sonnad and Goudar (2006, 2007) in a way that maximum
relative error decreases from 0.800% to 0.147%. Their model, which is
non-linear, was solved using the Solver toolbox of Microsoft Excel
(PRWeb, 2013). This software can solve the full spectrum of
optimization problems from simple linear programming to complex
models. The software includes two approaches (the evolutionary
solver and the generalized reduced gradient solver that uses multi-
start methods) to finding global optimal solutions.

0920-4105/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2013.12.001

Please cite this article as: Vatankhah, A.R., Comment on “Gene expression programming analysis of implicit Colebrook–White equation
in turbulent flow friction factor calculation”. J. Petrol. Sci. Eng. (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2013.12.001i
 2
Table 1
Accurate friction factor, f, computed with six significant digits for various values of log(Re), first column, and –log(ε/D), first row.

1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 2.25 2.50 2.75 3.00 3.25 3.50 3.75 4.00 4.25 4.50 4.75 5.00 5.25 5.50 5.75 6.00

4.00 0.103130 0.077651 0.061236 0.050350 0.043099 0.038349 0.035332 0.033481 0.032378 0.031735 0.031366 0.031156 0.031037 0.030970 0.030932 0.030910 0.030898 0.030892 0.030888 0.030886 0.030884
4.05 0.102955 0.077424 0.060937 0.049958 0.042597 0.037735 0.034620 0.032692 0.031537 0.030861 0.030472 0.030250 0.030124 0.030053 0.030013 0.029990 0.029978 0.029971 0.029967 0.029964 0.029963
4.10 0.102799 0.077222 0.060668 0.049603 0.042139 0.037169 0.033954 0.031949 0.030740 0.030029 0.029619 0.029384 0.029251 0.029176 0.029134 0.029110 0.029096 0.029089 0.029084 0.029082 0.029081
4.15 0.102659 0.077040 0.060427 0.049282 0.041721 0.036646 0.033334 0.031250 0.029985 0.029237 0.028804 0.028556 0.028416 0.028336 0.028291 0.028266 0.028252 0.028243 0.028239 0.028236 0.028235
4.20 0.102534 0.076878 0.060210 0.048992 0.041341 0.036165 0.032757 0.030593 0.029270 0.028484 0.028027 0.027765 0.027616 0.027531 0.027484 0.027457 0.027442 0.027433 0.027429 0.027426 0.027424
4.25 0.102423 0.076732 0.060016 0.048731 0.040995 0.035724 0.032221 0.029977 0.028593 0.027767 0.027285 0.027007 0.026850 0.026760 0.026710 0.026681 0.026665 0.026656 0.026651 0.026648 0.026647
4.30 0.102324 0.076603 0.059842 0.048496 0.040681 0.035319 0.031723 0.029398 0.027953 0.027085 0.026576 0.026283 0.026116 0.026021 0.025967 0.025937 0.025920 0.025910 0.025905 0.025902 0.025900
4.35 0.102235 0.076487 0.059686 0.048285 0.040397 0.034948 0.031263 0.028857 0.027349 0.026437 0.025900 0.025590 0.025412 0.025312 0.025255 0.025223 0.025205 0.025194 0.025189 0.025186 0.025184
4.40 0.102156 0.076383 0.059547 0.048094 0.040140 0.034610 0.030837 0.028351 0.026779 0.025821 0.025255 0.024926 0.024738 0.024631 0.024571 0.024537 0.024518 0.024507 0.024501 0.024497 0.024495
4.45 0.102085 0.076291 0.059422 0.047924 0.039907 0.034301 0.030445 0.027880 0.026242 0.025237 0.024639 0.024291 0.024092 0.023978 0.023914 0.023878 0.023857 0.023846 0.023839 0.023836 0.023834
4.50 0.102022 0.076208 0.059310 0.047770 0.039697 0.034020 0.030084 0.027440 0.025736 0.024682 0.024052 0.023684 0.023472 0.023352 0.023283 0.023245 0.023223 0.023211 0.023204 0.023200 0.023198

A.R. Vatankhah / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎

4.55 0.101966 0.076134 0.059210 0.047633 0.039508 0.033764 0.029752 0.027031 0.025261 0.024157 0.023492 0.023102 0.022878 0.022750 0.022677 0.022636 0.022613 0.022600 0.022592 0.022588 0.022586
4.60 0.101916 0.076069 0.059121 0.047510 0.039338 0.033532 0.029447 0.026652 0.024815 0.023659 0.022959 0.022546 0.022308 0.022171 0.022094 0.022050 0.022026 0.022012 0.022004 0.021999 0.021997
4.65 0.101872 0.076010 0.059041 0.047399 0.039184 0.033322 0.029168 0.026300 0.024397 0.023188 0.022451 0.022014 0.021761 0.021616 0.021533 0.021487 0.021461 0.021446 0.021437 0.021433 0.021430
4.70 0.101832 0.075957 0.058970 0.047300 0.039046 0.033132 0.028914 0.025975 0.024006 0.022743 0.021967 0.021505 0.021236 0.021082 0.020994 0.020945 0.020917 0.020901 0.020892 0.020887 0.020884
4.75 0.101796 0.075911 0.058906 0.047212 0.038922 0.032960 0.028681 0.025676 0.023640 0.022324 0.021507 0.021019 0.020733 0.020569 0.020476 0.020423 0.020393 0.020376 0.020366 0.020361 0.020358
4.80 0.101765 0.075869 0.058849 0.047133 0.038811 0.032804 0.028470 0.025399 0.023300 0.021928 0.021070 0.020554 0.020251 0.020076 0.019976 0.019920 0.019888 0.019870 0.019860 0.019854 0.019851
4.85 0.101737 0.075832 0.058799 0.047062 0.038711 0.032664 0.028277 0.025146 0.022984 0.021556 0.020656 0.020110 0.019788 0.019602 0.019496 0.019435 0.019401 0.019382 0.019371 0.019365 0.019362
4.90 0.101711 0.075799 0.058753 0.046999 0.038622 0.032538 0.028103 0.024913 0.022690 0.021207 0.020263 0.019686 0.019345 0.019147 0.019033 0.018969 0.018932 0.018912 0.018900 0.018894 0.018890
4.95 0.101689 0.075769 0.058713 0.046942 0.038542 0.032425 0.027944 0.024700 0.022417 0.020879 0.019890 0.019282 0.018920 0.018709 0.018588 0.018519 0.018480 0.018458 0.018446 0.018439 0.018435
5.00 0.101669 0.075743 0.058677 0.046891 0.038470 0.032322 0.027801 0.024505 0.022165 0.020572 0.019538 0.018897 0.018512 0.018288 0.018159 0.018085 0.018044 0.018020 0.018007 0.017999 0.017995
5.05 0.101651 0.075719 0.058645 0.046846 0.038406 0.032231 0.027672 0.024327 0.021933 0.020286 0.019206 0.018530 0.018123 0.017884 0.017746 0.017667 0.017623 0.017597 0.017583 0.017575 0.017571
5.10 0.101635 0.075698 0.058616 0.046806 0.038348 0.032148 0.027555 0.024166 0.021719 0.020019 0.018892 0.018181 0.017749 0.017495 0.017348 0.017264 0.017216 0.017189 0.017174 0.017166 0.017161
5.15 0.101621 0.075679 0.058590 0.046770 0.038297 0.032074 0.027449 0.024019 0.021522 0.019770 0.018597 0.017849 0.017392 0.017122 0.016965 0.016875 0.016824 0.016795 0.016779 0.016770 0.016764
5.20 0.101608 0.075663 0.058568 0.046738 0.038251 0.032008 0.027354 0.023885 0.021342 0.019539 0.018320 0.017535 0.017051 0.016764 0.016596 0.016500 0.016445 0.016414 0.016397 0.016387 0.016381
5.25 0.101597 0.075648 0.058547 0.046709 0.038210 0.031949 0.027269 0.023764 0.021177 0.019326 0.018060 0.017236 0.016726 0.016420 0.016241 0.016138 0.016079 0.016046 0.016028 0.016017 0.016011
5.30 0.101587 0.075635 0.058529 0.046684 0.038173 0.031896 0.027192 0.023655 0.021026 0.019128 0.017816 0.016954 0.016415 0.016090 0.015899 0.015789 0.015726 0.015691 0.015670 0.015659 0.015653
5.35 0.101578 0.075623 0.058513 0.046661 0.038140 0.031848 0.027123 0.023556 0.020888 0.018946 0.017589 0.016688 0.016118 0.015773 0.015570 0.015452 0.015385 0.015347 0.015325 0.015313 0.015306
5.40 0.101570 0.075612 0.058498 0.046640 0.038111 0.031806 0.027061 0.023467 0.020763 0.018778 0.017376 0.016436 0.015836 0.015470 0.015253 0.015127 0.015055 0.015014 0.014991 0.014978 0.014970
5.45 0.101563 0.075603 0.058486 0.046622 0.038085 0.031768 0.027005 0.023386 0.020649 0.018623 0.017179 0.016199 0.015568 0.015179 0.014948 0.014814 0.014736 0.014692 0.014667 0.014653 0.014646
5.50 0.101557 0.075595 0.058474 0.046606 0.038062 0.031734 0.026955 0.023314 0.020546 0.018482 0.016996 0.015977 0.015313 0.014902 0.014655 0.014511 0.014428 0.014381 0.014354 0.014339 0.014331
5.55 0.101551 0.075587 0.058464 0.046592 0.038041 0.031703 0.026911 0.023248 0.020453 0.018353 0.016826 0.015768 0.015072 0.014636 0.014373 0.014220 0.014131 0.014080 0.014051 0.014035 0.014026
5.60 0.101546 0.075580 0.058455 0.046579 0.038022 0.031676 0.026871 0.023190 0.020368 0.018234 0.016669 0.015572 0.014843 0.014382 0.014103 0.013938 0.013843 0.013789 0.013758 0.013741 0.013731
5.65 0.101542 0.075575 0.058447 0.046567 0.038006 0.031652 0.026835 0.023137 0.020291 0.018127 0.016525 0.015390 0.014627 0.014140 0.013843 0.013667 0.013565 0.013507 0.013474 0.013455 0.013444
5.70 0.101538 0.075569 0.058439 0.046557 0.037991 0.031630 0.026803 0.023090 0.020222 0.018029 0.016392 0.015220 0.014423 0.013910 0.013594 0.013406 0.013297 0.013234 0.013199 0.013178 0.013167
5.75 0.101534 0.075565 0.058433 0.046548 0.037978 0.031611 0.026774 0.023047 0.020160 0.017939 0.016269 0.015061 0.014231 0.013691 0.013355 0.013155 0.013038 0.012970 0.012932 0.012910 0.012898
5.80 0.101531 0.075560 0.058427 0.046540 0.037966 0.031594 0.026749 0.023009 0.020104 0.017859 0.016157 0.014914 0.014051 0.013482 0.013127 0.012913 0.012787 0.012715 0.012673 0.012650 0.012637
5.85 0.101528 0.075557 0.058422 0.046532 0.037955 0.031578 0.026726 0.022975 0.020054 0.017785 0.016055 0.014778 0.013881 0.013285 0.012908 0.012680 0.012545 0.012467 0.012423 0.012398 0.012384
5.90 0.101526 0.075553 0.058417 0.046526 0.037946 0.031564 0.026706 0.022945 0.020008 0.017719 0.015961 0.014653 0.013723 0.013098 0.012699 0.012456 0.012312 0.012228 0.012180 0.012153 0.012138
5.95 0.101523 0.075550 0.058413 0.046520 0.037938 0.031552 0.026687 0.022917 0.019968 0.017659 0.015876 0.014537 0.013575 0.012921 0.012500 0.012240 0.012086 0.011997 0.011945 0.011916 0.011900
6.00 0.101521 0.075548 0.058410 0.046515 0.037930 0.031541 0.026671 0.022893 0.019931 0.017606 0.015799 0.014431 0.013438 0.012754 0.012310 0.012034 0.011869 0.011773 0.011717 0.011686 0.011668
6.05 0.101520 0.075545 0.058406 0.046510 0.037924 0.031531 0.026656 0.022871 0.019898 0.017557 0.015728 0.014333 0.013310 0.012597 0.012129 0.011836 0.011659 0.011556 0.011497 0.011463 0.011443
6.10 0.101518 0.075543 0.058403 0.046506 0.037918 0.031523 0.026643 0.022852 0.019869 0.017513 0.015664 0.014243 0.013191 0.012450 0.011957 0.011646 0.011457 0.011347 0.011283 0.011246 0.011225
6.15 0.101517 0.075541 0.058401 0.046503 0.037912 0.031515 0.026632 0.022834 0.019843 0.017474 0.015607 0.014162 0.013081 0.012312 0.011794 0.011464 0.011263 0.011144 0.011075 0.011036 0.011013
6.20 0.101515 0.075540 0.058399 0.046499 0.037908 0.031508 0.026622 0.022819 0.019819 0.017438 0.015554 0.014087 0.012979 0.012182 0.011640 0.011290 0.011076 0.010948 0.010874 0.010832 0.010808
6.25 0.101514 0.075538 0.058397 0.046497 0.037904 0.031502 0.026612 0.022805 0.019798 0.017407 0.015507 0.014019 0.012886 0.012062 0.011494 0.011125 0.010896 0.010759 0.010680 0.010634 0.010608
6.30 0.101513 0.075537 0.058395 0.046494 0.037900 0.031496 0.026604 0.022792 0.019779 0.017378 0.015465 0.013957 0.012800 0.011949 0.011356 0.010967 0.010723 0.010577 0.010491 0.010442 0.010413
6.35 0.101512 0.075536 0.058393 0.046492 0.037896 0.031491 0.026597 0.022781 0.019763 0.017353 0.015426 0.013901 0.012721 0.011845 0.011227 0.010816 0.010557 0.010401 0.010308 0.010255 0.010225
6.40 0.101511 0.075535 0.058392 0.046490 0.037894 0.031487 0.026590 0.022771 0.019748 0.017330 0.015392 0.013850 0.012649 0.011748 0.011106 0.010674 0.010398 0.010231 0.010132 0.010074 0.010042
6.45 0.101511 0.075534 0.058390 0.046488 0.037891 0.031483 0.026584 0.022762 0.019734 0.017309 0.015361 0.013804 0.012584 0.011659 0.010992 0.010538 0.010246 0.010067 0.009961 0.009899 0.009863
6.50 0.101510 0.075533 0.058389 0.046486 0.037888 0.031480 0.026579 0.022755 0.019722 0.017291 0.015333 0.013763 0.012524 0.011576 0.010885 0.010410 0.010101 0.009910 0.009795 0.009729 0.009691
6.55 0.101510 0.075532 0.058388 0.046485 0.037886 0.031476 0.026574 0.022748 0.019711 0.017275 0.015308 0.013725 0.012469 0.011500 0.010786 0.010289 0.009962 0.009758 0.009635 0.009564 0.009522
6.60 0.101509 0.075531 0.058387 0.046483 0.037885 0.031474 0.026570 0.022741 0.019702 0.017260 0.015286 0.013692 0.012419 0.011431 0.010694 0.010175 0.009830 0.009612 0.009481 0.009404 0.009359
6.65 0.101509 0.075531 0.058386 0.046482 0.037883 0.031471 0.026567 0.022736 0.019693 0.017247 0.015266 0.013661 0.012374 0.011367 0.010608 0.010067 0.009704 0.009473 0.009332 0.009249 0.009201
6.70 0.101508 0.075530 0.058386 0.046481 0.037881 0.031469 0.026563 0.022731 0.019686 0.017235 0.015248 0.013634 0.012334 0.011308 0.010529 0.009967 0.009584 0.009339 0.009188 0.009098 0.009047
6.75 0.101508 0.075530 0.058385 0.046480 0.037880 0.031467 0.026560 0.022726 0.019679 0.017225 0.015232 0.013609 0.012297 0.011255 0.010456 0.009872 0.009471 0.009210 0.009049 0.008953 0.008897
6.80 0.101508 0.075529 0.058384 0.046479 0.037879 0.031465 0.026558 0.022722 0.019673 0.017215 0.015217 0.013587 0.012264 0.011206 0.010388 0.009784 0.009364 0.009088 0.008915 0.008812 0.008752
6.85 0.101507 0.075529 0.058384 0.046479 0.037878 0.031464 0.026555 0.022719 0.019667 0.017207 0.015204 0.013567 0.012234 0.011162 0.010326 0.009702 0.009263 0.008971 0.008787 0.008676 0.008611
6.90 0.101507 0.075529 0.058383 0.046478 0.037877 0.031462 0.026553 0.022716 0.019662 0.017199 0.015193 0.013549 0.012207 0.011122 0.010269 0.009626 0.009167 0.008859 0.008663 0.008544 0.008474
6.95 0.101507 0.075528 0.058383 0.046478 0.037876 0.031461 0.026552 0.022713 0.019658 0.017193 0.015182 0.013534 0.012182 0.011086 0.010217 0.009556 0.009078 0.008753 0.008545 0.008417 0.008341
7.00 0.101507 0.075528 0.058383 0.046477 0.037875 0.031460 0.026550 0.022710 0.019654 0.017187 0.015173 0.013519 0.012160 0.011053 0.010170 0.009490 0.008994 0.008652 0.008431 0.008294 0.008213
7.05 0.101506 0.075528 0.058382 0.046477 0.037875 0.031459 0.026548 0.022708 0.019651 0.017182 0.015165 0.013507 0.012141 0.011023 0.010126 0.009430 0.008915 0.008557 0.008322 0.008176 0.008088
7.10 0.101506 0.075528 0.058382 0.046476 0.037874 0.031458 0.026547 0.022706 0.019648 0.017177 0.015158 0.013495 0.012123 0.010997 0.010087 0.009374 0.008842 0.008467 0.008218 0.008062 0.007968
7.15 0.101506 0.075527 0.058382 0.046476 0.037873 0.031457 0.026546 0.022704 0.019645 0.017173 0.015151 0.013485 0.012107 0.010972 0.010051 0.009323 0.008774 0.008382 0.008119 0.007952 0.007851
7.20 0.101506 0.075527 0.058382 0.046475 0.037873 0.031457 0.026545 0.022703 0.019643 0.017169 0.015145 0.013476 0.012093 0.010951 0.010018 0.009277 0.008711 0.008302 0.008024 0.007847 0.007738
7.25 0.101506 0.075527 0.058381 0.046475 0.037873 0.031456 0.026544 0.022701 0.019640 0.017165 0.015140 0.013468 0.012080 0.010931 0.009989 0.009234 0.008652 0.008227 0.007935 0.007745 0.007629
7.30 0.101506 0.075527 0.058381 0.046475 0.037872 0.031456 0.026543 0.022700 0.019638 0.017162 0.015135 0.013460 0.012069 0.010913 0.009962 0.009195 0.008598 0.008156 0.007849 0.007648 0.007523
7.35 0.101506 0.075527 0.058381 0.046475 0.037872 0.031455 0.026542 0.022699 0.019637 0.017160 0.015131 0.013454 0.012059 0.010898 0.009938 0.009159 0.008548 0.008091 0.007769 0.007556 0.007422
7.40 0.101506 0.075527 0.058381 0.046474 0.037872 0.031455 0.026542 0.022698 0.019635 0.017157 0.015127 0.013448 0.012050 0.010883 0.009916 0.009127 0.008502 0.008029 0.007693 0.007467 0.007324
7.45 0.101506 0.075527 0.058381 0.046474 0.037871 0.031454 0.026541 0.022697 0.019634 0.017155 0.015124 0.013443 0.012041 0.010871 0.009897 0.009098 0.008460 0.007973 0.007621 0.007382 0.007230
7.50 0.101505 0.075527 0.058381 0.046474 0.037871 0.031454 0.026541 0.022696 0.019633 0.017153 0.015121 0.013438 0.012034 0.010859 0.009879 0.009071 0.008421 0.007920 0.007553 0.007302 0.007139
7.55 0.101505 0.075527 0.058381 0.046474 0.037871 0.031454 0.026540 0.022695 0.019632 0.017152 0.015118 0.013434 0.012028 0.010849 0.009863 0.009047 0.008386 0.007871 0.007490 0.007225 0.007052

A.R. Vatankhah / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎

7.60 0.101505 0.075526 0.058380 0.046474 0.037871 0.031453 0.026540 0.022695 0.019631 0.017150 0.015116 0.013430 0.012022 0.010840 0.009849 0.009025 0.008354 0.007826 0.007431 0.007153 0.006969
7.65 0.101505 0.075526 0.058380 0.046474 0.037871 0.031453 0.026539 0.022694 0.019630 0.017149 0.015114 0.013427 0.012017 0.010832 0.009836 0.009006 0.008325 0.007784 0.007376 0.007084 0.006890
7.70 0.101505 0.075526 0.058380 0.046474 0.037870 0.031453 0.026539 0.022694 0.019629 0.017148 0.015112 0.013424 0.012012 0.010825 0.009825 0.008988 0.008298 0.007746 0.007324 0.007020 0.006814
7.75 0.101505 0.075526 0.058380 0.046474 0.037870 0.031453 0.026539 0.022693 0.019628 0.017147 0.015111 0.013421 0.012008 0.010818 0.009815 0.008972 0.008274 0.007711 0.007276 0.006959 0.006741
7.80 0.101505 0.075526 0.058380 0.046473 0.037870 0.031452 0.026538 0.022693 0.019628 0.017146 0.015109 0.013419 0.012004 0.010812 0.009805 0.008958 0.008252 0.007680 0.007232 0.006902 0.006672
7.85 0.101505 0.075526 0.058380 0.046473 0.037870 0.031452 0.026538 0.022693 0.019627 0.017145 0.015108 0.013417 0.012001 0.010807 0.009797 0.008945 0.008233 0.007650 0.007191 0.006848 0.006607
7.90 0.101505 0.075526 0.058380 0.046473 0.037870 0.031452 0.026538 0.022692 0.019627 0.017144 0.015107 0.013415 0.011998 0.010802 0.009790 0.008933 0.008215 0.007624 0.007154 0.006798 0.006545
7.95 0.101505 0.075526 0.058380 0.046473 0.037870 0.031452 0.026538 0.022692 0.019626 0.017143 0.015105 0.013413 0.011995 0.010798 0.009783 0.008923 0.008199 0.007600 0.007119 0.006752 0.006487
8.00 0.101505 0.075526 0.058380 0.046473 0.037870 0.031452 0.026538 0.022692 0.019626 0.017143 0.015105 0.013412 0.011993 0.010794 0.009777 0.008914 0.008184 0.007578 0.007088 0.006708 0.006431

author (Eq. (29)) compared with iterative solution of implicit Colebrook's equation.
Fig. 1. Distribution of relative error of proposed explicit approximation by the
less than 0.008% and thus this solution is a near exact one.
Table 1 is presented in Fig. 3. The maximum relative error of Eq. (4) is

δ¼

in which

f¼

the fallowing approximation is proposed

can be developed. In this study, to the cost of increased complexity

2.2. New approximation

36 times.
decreases from 0.800% to 0.022%. Indeed accuracy is improved
relative error of the approximation of Sonnad and Goudar
relative error of Eq. (2) is less than 0.022%. In this way maximum
accurate values of Table 1 is presented in Fig. 2. The maximum

G ¼ 0:124Reðε=DÞ þ lnð0:4599ReÞ
where G is

pffiffiffi ffi 0:8686 ln

tuning of the coefficients as

imation of Sonnad and Goudar (2006, 2007) is improved by fine

and Goudar
2.1. Improved coefficients from the approximation of Sonnad

2. New explicit approximations to the Colebrook formula

technique and robust optimization techniques is not needed.

Solver provided with Microsoft Excel is sufficient for curve fitting
1
f
Distribution of error for Eq. (4) compared to the accurate values of

When more accuracy is required more complex approximation

Distribution of error for this approximation compared to the

Using the relative error as an objective function, the approx-

As will be shown, following a simple procedure using Excel


Reð0:07ðε=DÞ þ Re  0:885 Þ0:109

δ  ðε=DÞ=3:71  2:3026δ log ðδÞ

2:51=Re þ 1:1513δ
6:0173

ðG  0:2753ÞG=G þ 0:9741
0:4599Re
þ
3:71
ε=D

2

!
ð5Þ

ð4Þ

ð3Þ

ð2Þ

3
4 A.R. Vatankhah / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎

this research, accurate friction factor is obtained by fixed-point

method and is tabulated then two new approximations using
Excel Solver are proposed. The first approximation is with the
relative error of no more than 0.022% while the second one is with
the relative error of no more than 0.008% (near exact solution). As
shown, a simple estimation method using Excel Solver is sufficient
for the coefficient estimation of proposed functional approxima-
tion and very high accuracy for the coefficient estimation by
robust optimization techniques is not needed herein.

Acknowledgment

The author gratefully acknowledges the research facilities

provided by the Center of Excellence for Evaluation and Rehabi-
litation of Irrigation and Drainage Networks, University of Tehran.

References
Fig. 2. Distribution of relative error of proposed explicit approximation (Eq. (2))
compared with iterative solution of implicit Colebrook's equation.
Brkic, D., 2011. Review of explicit approximations to the Colebrook relation for flow
friction. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 77 (1), 34–48.
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Vatankhah, A.R., Kouchakzadeh, S., 2008. Discussion of “Turbulent flow friction
factor calculation using a mathematically exact alternative to the Colebrook–
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Fig. 3. Distribution of relative error of proposed explicit approximation (Eq. (4))

compared with iterative solution of implicit Colebrook's equation.

3. Conclusion

Using an accurate and standard solution method is essential to

the parameter estimation by various optimization techniques. In

Please cite this article as: Vatankhah, A.R., Comment on “Gene expression programming analysis of implicit Colebrook–White equation
in turbulent flow friction factor calculation”. J. Petrol. Sci. Eng. (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2013.12.001i