Procedure to Determine Mass Flow Rate of Liquid Release from a Pipe1

The procedure to determine the mass flow rate of released material from a piping system is as
follows:

1. First, acquire the following values:

• The length, diameter, and type of pipe;

• Pressures and elevation changes across the piping system;
• Work input or output to the fluid resulting from the pumps, turbines, etc.;
• Number and type of fittings in the pipe; and
• Properties of the fluid (including density and viscosity).

2. Specify the initial point (‘Point 1’) and the final point (‘Point 2’). This must be done
carefully because the terms in the mechanical energy balance equation for flow of liquid
through pipes are highly dependent on these points.

3. Determine:

• Pressure and elevation at Point 1;

• Pressure and elevation at Point 2; and
• Initial fluid velocity at Point 1.

4. Guess a value for the velocity at Point 2 (if fully developed turbulent flow is expected,
omit this step).

5. Determine the friction factor for the pipe.

6. Determine the excess head loss terms for the pipe, the fittings, and any entrance and
exit effects. Sum the head loss terms and compute the net frictional loss term; use the
velocity at Point 2.

7. Compute values for all the terms in the mechanical energy balance equation and
substitute them into the equation.

• If the sum of all the terms is zero, then the computation is completed.
• If the sum of all terms is not zero, go back to Step 4, guess a new value for the
velocity at Point 2, and repeat the calculation.

8. Determine the mass flow rate using the equation Qm = ρūA.

1 rd
Source: Chemical Process Safety: Fundamentals with Applications, 3 ed., Crowl, D.A. and Louvar, J.F., 2011.