Experiment 2 :

Major losses in pipe flows

Name : R.Vamshi
Roll No.: 180030021
Aim
To study the frictional losses in pipes, experimentally and to determine the friction factor.
Experimental Setup
Pipes of different diameter, pressure tapping at the inlet and outlet of each test section,
differential U-tube manometer, sump tank, measuring tank, pump, flow control valve, bypass
valve, other necessary piping and valves.
Specifications
Length of the test section : 100 cm
Area of measuring tank : 30 cm × 35 cm

Principle
When a fluid flows through a pipe, it is subjected to resistance due to shear forces be-
tween the fluid and its adjacent wall and also between the fluid layers. The major losses are
associated with these frictional energy loss per unit length of the pipe and depend upon vari-
ous factors such as length of the pipe, its diameter, flow velocity, wall surface condition and
whether the flow is laminar or turbulent (i.e. the Reynolds number of the flow). The head loss
due to friction results in an equivalent increase in the internal energy (or temperature) of the
fluid.

In fluid dynamics, the Darcy–Weisbach equation relates the major head loss, or pressure
loss, due to fluid friction along a given length of pipe to the average velocity. This equation is
valid for fully developed, steady, incompressible, single-phase flow and can be written as,

f Lv 2
hf =
2gd

1
where, f is Darcy’s friction factor, L is the length of the pipe, v is the velocity, g is the
acceleration due to gravity and d is the diameter of the pipe.

For smooth as well as rough pipes, the following implicit relation can be used to find the
friction factor. This equation called as the Colebrook’s equation quite accurately predicts the
friction factor in the transition as well as the fully turbulent flow regimes.
" #
1 /d 2.51
√ = −2.0 log + √
f 3.7 Re f

Here,  represents the roughness parameter and d is the diameter of the pipe.

Since Colebrook’s equation is an implicit relation, an iterative method is necessary to

solve it. Haaland proposed an explicit equation for the friction factor as an approximation to
the Colebrook equation and is given by,
 !1.11 
1 6.9 /d
√ = −1.8 log  + 
f Re 3.7

Procedure
Fill the sump tank with sufficient clean water. Open the bypass valve completely and
then start the pump. Partially close the the bypass valve, so that water flows through the test
section. Note down the manometric deflection across test section. Close the outlet valve of
the measuring tank so that water level start rising in it. Record the time taken for 10cm rise of
water in the measuring tank using a stopwatch. Repeat the experiment for different flow rates
of water.
Theory
When fluid flows through pipes some of potential energy is lost to overcome hydraulic resis-
tance which can be classified as:-
MAJOR LOSSES
The viscous friction effect associated with fluid flow.
MINOR LOSSES
The local resistance or disturbances which may cause eddy formations.They can be neglected
for long pipes without serious errors.

2
The viscous friction loss or major loss in head potential energy due to friction is given by

4f Lv 2
hf = ( Darcy-Weisbach equation)
2gd

The friction factor fD is a variable which depends on the characteristics of the pipe (diameter
d and roughness height ), the characteristics of the fluid (its kinematic viscosity ν), and the
velocity of the fluid flow (v).
The Reynolds number (Re) is the dimensionless parameters that allows identifying the laminar
or turbulent flow regime.

Re < 2000 (Laminar flow)

2000 ≤ Re ≤ 4000 (Transition region)

Re > 4000 (Turbulent flow)

The Moody diagram represents the complete friction factor map for laminar and all turbulent
regions of pipe flows and is used in estimating friction factor in pipe flows.
In case of laminar flows, it is a consequence of Poiseuille’s law given by

64
f=
Re

In case of Turbulent flows, we have two equations,

• Colebrook’s Equation " #
1 /d 2.51
√ = −2.0 log + √
f 3.7 Re f

• Haaland’s Equation  !1.11 

1 6.9 /d
√ = −1.8 log  + 
f Re 3.7

3
Tabulation

Time for 0.1 m rise of water, t (s)

Colebrook friction factor

Diameter of pipe, d (m)

Relative roughness, /d

Manometric head, HHg

Haaland friction factor

Manometric head, Hw

Reynolds number, Re
Discharge, Q (m3 /s)
(mm of mercury)

Velocity, v (m/s)

Friction factor, f
(m of water)
Sl. no.

1 Inch Pipe
1 0.0254 10 0.126 11.42 0.00091 1.8145 51785.71 0.01907 0.0059 0.0335 0.0334

2 0.0254 7 0.0882 13.48 0.000778 1.5372 43871.8723 0.0186 0.00590 0.033801 0.03372

3 0.0254 3 0.0378 21.5 0.00488 0.9633 27493.855 0.02029 0.005905 0.03478 0.03465

3/4 Inch Pipe

1 0.0195 65 0.819 11.62 0.0009036 3.17032 67859.18 0.030455 0.007874 0.036034 0.036027

2 0.0195 54 0.680 13.08 0.0008027 2.1864 60284.69 0.03205 0.007874 0.03615 0.036142

3 0.0195 13 0.1638 25.75 0.0004077 1.4306 30622.28 0.0299 0.007874 0.3718 0.03711
Sample Calculation

5
Results and Discussions
1. The value for Colebrook’s and Haaland’s equation are almost same.
2. Colebrook equation needs special methods like Newton Raphson to solve which could be
done using computer software like MATLAB.
3. The experimental values are close but has errors within experimental range.
4. We observe a decrease in Reynolds number with decrease in flow rate. This is because with
the decrease in flow rate the velocity decreases and Reynold’s number is directly proportional
to velocity.
5. As soon as we started the experiment, we observed some air bubbles forming and getting
trapped at the bottom of the manometer tube. These bubbles introduced few deviations in the
readings.
6. The manometer readings were not steady, the water levels in the manometer were constantly
changing which introduced some errors in the observations as we had to take average values.
7.There must have been some errors introduced due to parallax, which happens when we look
at a reading from an angle.

Sources of errors
1.Parallax error while noting the Hhg Values.
2.There are fluctuations which may result in the error.
4.There may be error in viscocity ν
5.Density of water may be different as it was impure.
6.while noting the time taken to fill the tank there may be a lag which result in an error.
7.The tank dimensions may not be correct and also we did not consider the volume of the
small tube which results in an error.