HARARE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Chemical & Process Systems Engineering

Fluid Mechanics
ECP 2104 Lecture Notes
BY F.M. Saziya
 Lecture 4

DYNAMICS BASIC CONCEPTS

 BASIC CONCEPTS
• The fundamental principles that apply to the analysis of fluid
flows are few and can be described by the ‘‘conservation
laws’’:
1. Conservation of mass
2. Conservation of energy (first law of thermodynamics)
3. Conservation of momentum (Newton’s second law)
• To these may also be added:
4. The second law of thermodynamics
5. Conservation of dimensions (‘‘fruit salad’’ law)
6. Conservation of dollars (economics)
• Although the second law of thermodynamics is not a
‘‘conservation law,’’ it states that a process can occur
spontaneously only if it goes from a state of higher energy to
one of lower energy.
• In practical terms, this means that energy is dissipated (i.e.,
transformed from useful mechanical energy to low-level
thermal energy) by any system that is in a dynamic (non-
equilibrium)state.
• In other words, useful (mechanical) energy associated with
resistance to motion, or ‘‘friction,’’ is always ‘‘lost’’ or
transformed to a less useful form of (thermal) energy.
• In more mundane terms, this law tells us that, for example,
water will run downhill spontaneously but cannot run uphill
unless it is ‘‘pushed’’ (i.e., unless mechanical energy is supplied
to the fluid from an exterior source).
 Experience

• Engineering is much more than just applied science and math. Although
science and math are important tools of the trade, it is the engineer’s ability
to use these tools (and others) along with considerable judgment and
experiment to ‘‘make things work’’—i.e., make it possible to get reasonable
answers to real problems with (sometimes) limited or incomplete information.
• A key aspect of ‘‘judgment and experience’’ is the ability to organize and
utilize information obtained from one system and apply it to analyze or design
similar systems on a different scale.
• The conservation of dimensions (or ‘‘fruit salad’’) law enables us to design
experiments and to acquire and organize data (i.e., experience) obtained in a
lab test or model sytem in the most efficient and general form and apply it to
the solution of problems in similar systems that may involve different
properties on a different scale.
• Because the vast majority of problems in fluid mechanics cannot be solved
without resort to experience (i.e., empirical knowledge), this is a very
important principle, and it will be used extensively.
 PHENOMENOLOGICAL RATE OR TRANSPORT LAWS
•  
• This expression applies to the transport of any conserved
quantity Q, e.g., mass, energy, momentum, or charge.
• The rate of transport of Q per unit area normal to the
direction of transport is called the flux of Q. This transport
equation can be applied on a microscopic or molecular scale
to a stationary medium or a fluid in laminar flow, in which the
mechanism for the transport of Q is the intermolecular forces
of attraction between molecules or groups of molecules.
• It also applies to fluids in turbulent flow, on a ‘‘turbulent
convective’’ scale, in which the mechanism for transport is the
result of the motion of turbulent eddies in the fluid that move
in three directions and carry Q with them.
•  
• For microscopic (molecular) transport, KT is a property only of the
medium (i.e., the material). It is assumed that the medium is a
continuum, i.e., all relevant physical properties can be defined at
any point within the medium.
• This means that the smallest region of practical interest is very large
relative to the size of the molecules ( such as suspended particles,
drops, or bubbles).
• It is further assumed that these properties are homogeneous and
isotropic.
• For macroscopic systems involving turbulent convective transport,
the driving force is a representative difference in the concentration
of Q.
• In this case, the transport coefficient includes the effective distance
over which this difference occurs and consequently is a function of
flow conditions as well as the properties of the medium
 Example 1-1

•  
 Fig 1-1
•

• FIGURE 1-1 Transport of energy, mass, charge, and momentum from

upper to lower surface.
 A. Fourier’s Law of Heat Conduction

•  
 B. Fick’s Law of Diffusion

•  
 Newton’s Law of Viscosity

•  
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 Momentum Flux and Shear Stress

•  
 Momentum Flux and Shear Stress cont’d

•  
TURBULENT MACROSCOPIC (CONVECTIVE) TRANSPORT MODELS
• The preceding transport laws describe the rate of transfer of
heat, mass, or momentum from one region of a continuum to
another by virtue of molecular interactions only.
• That is, there is no actual bulk motion of material in the
transport direction (y), which means that the medium must
be stationary or moving only in the direction (x) normal to the
transport direction.
• This means that the flow (if any) must be ‘‘laminar’’; i.e., all
fluid elements move in straight, smooth streamlines in the x
direction. This occurs if the velocity is sufficiently low and is
dominated by stabilizing viscous forces.
• However, as the velocity increases, destabilizing inertial forces
eventually overcome the viscous forces and the flow becomes
turbulent.
• Under turbulent conditions, a three-dimensional fluctuating flow
field develops that results in a high degree of mixing or ‘‘convection’’
due to the bulk motion of the turbulent eddies.
• As a result, the flow is highly mixed, except for a region near solid
boundaries that is called the boundary layer (𝛿). The fluid velocity
approaches zero at a stationary boundary, and thus there is a region
in the immediate vicinity of the wall that is laminar.
• Consequently, the major resistance to transport in turbulent
(convective) flow is within this boundary layer, the size of which
depends upon the dynamic state of the flow field as well as fluid
properties but in turbulent flows is typically quite small relative to
the dimensions of the total flow area
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