CH2801

Pipe Connections

Location: N1.2 B1-04

Name: Thilagan Thirunavukarasu

Matric Number: U2120889K

Group: LPM25

Date of experiment: 11/10/22

 OBJECTIVE

In this experiment you will be designing and connecting pipe/tube in conjunction with fittings to take
in feeds from two different sources and supply the mixture to an outlet.

INTRODUCTION

Pipe/tube serves to direct the flow of fluids. Fittings are the connectors between
segments of pipe/tube that serve to change the direction of flow, control the rate of
flow, join multiple inlet to a single outlet, split a single inlet to multiple outlet or
combinations of these purposes

Labelled Photographs

Feed Ball
Valve (A and
B)

Tee Fitting
Feed
Needle
Valve
Check Valve

Feed
Needle
Valve Elbow
bend (pipe)

Figure 1: The proposed setup as per our arrangement

Rationale of the Setup

Figure 2: Proposed pathway with appropriate pipe fitting symbols

The set-up proposed by the diagram above serves as a pathway of linking both feeds A and B into a
common feed, which can be viewed as an outlet. The connection utilises metal pipes with elbow and
tee-fitting as well as 3 various types of valves – ball, check and needle valves. These components
perform 4 functions, namely:

1) Controlling the flow rates of feeds, A and B respectively, and thus their respective mixing ratios
and compositions

2) Preventing the occurrence of a backflows of either feed A or B/or both

3) Controlling the flowrate of the mixture composite of A and B

4) Allowing for a way for shutting the connection line for potential maintenance or repair

In this setup, the ball valve was used to start or stop the flow from either inlet. This is then follows
by the mitre pipe bend, which directs the flow to the needle valve. The needle valve regulates the
flow rate for each feed, which ensures the correct flow, which prevents the backflow of feed from
occurring. Finally, the feeds are mixed at the tee-valve, after which the mixed feed flows through a
needle valve for regulation before it reaches the outlet
Hence, the functional requirements of the desired system are met with the above set-up.

Removal of any components from this system, prevents the optimal operation of the system. For
example, if the needle valve is to be removed, the outlet flow rate is affected, and the inlet and
outlet flow rates and flow ratios will be unregulated. Similarly, if the ball valve were to be removed,
the flow rates may not be stopped when the pipe requires repair or maintenance. Lastly, if the check
valves are removed, there is a significant chance that the either feed flow experiences backflow,
which may cause contamination to occur/wrong mixing ratio to occur.

Questions
1. What valve should be used to control the flow rates of the two feeds and the mixture?
How many of such valve will you need for the setup intended?
The needle valve is used to control and regulate the flow rates of the respective feeds, and as well
as the overall mixture. To ensure that the proposed set-up works optimally, a minimum of 3 needle
valves are to be used:

Needle valve 1 – Feed A (Pure)

Needle valve 2 – Feed B (Pure)

Needle valve 3 – Mixture of A and B

Where two of the needle valves are used for the input pure feeds of A and B respectively, and third
needle valve is used for the A and B mixture.

2. What valve should be used to prevent backflow?

The check valves employed to prevent backflow, at the location of wither side of the tee-fitting
present at point of mixing of A and B

3. How many elbows, tees, valves from questions 1 and 2 will be needed in the setup?
3. For the proposed setup,3 elbows pipes are utilised at the directing pipe, where each elbow pipe
bends with 90-degree bends. One tee-valve is places at the mixing point where the incoming flows
combine into a single flow.

4. If you are to allowed to add ONE more fitting to the setup, what would it be and why
A type of fixture recommended for the proposed setup would be the local flow indicator to be
placed at the point after mixing occurs, to measure the flow rate of the overall mixture. This would
allow for the optimal modification of source feeds to obtain the desired mixture flow rates. Without
the local flow indicator fixture, the proposed setup gives no indication of the mixture of the flow
rate, which does not allow for the tweaking of the source feed to obtain optimal output flow rates.
 Figure 3: Figure illustrating the local flow indicator (Source: Alibaba)

References
Local Display Flow Indicator Helium Gas Metal Tube Flow Meter - Buy Helium Gas Flow Meter,Gas
Metal Tube Flow Meter,Helium Gas Flow Indicator Product on Alibaba.com