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Pipe Flow: Research and Applications

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A special issue of Fluids (ISSN 2311-5521).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2024 | Viewed by 14849

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Leonardo Di G. Sigalotti

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Guest Editor

Department of Basic Sciences, Metropolitan Autonomous University-Azcapotzalco (UAM-A), Av. San Pablo 420, Colonia Nueva el Rosario, Azcapotzalco City Hall, Mexico City 02128, Mexico
Interests: computational fluid dynamics; numerical astrophysics; numerical analysis; error analysis and consistency of particle methods; heat and mass transfer; multiphase and multicomponent flows

Dr. Carlos Enrique Alvarado-Rodríguez

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Guest Editor

1. National Council of Science and Technology, Av. Insurgentes Sur 1582, Builder Credit, Mexico City 03940, Mexico 2. Department of Chemical Engineering, DCNE, University of Guanajuato, Noria Alta S/N, Guanajuato 3605, Mexico
Interests: computational fluid dynamics; smoothed particle hydrodynamics; software development; multicomponent and multiphase flows; heat and mass transfer; flow in porous media; microbial kinetics simulation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The flow of fluids through pipes is an engineering problem of long-standing practical importance, with applications ranging from household water and gas supply to sewage flows to the transportation of chemicals and petroleum in the chemical and oil industries. It is also currently used in numerous heating and cooling applications.

The first scientific studies on pipe flow began to appear in 1839, when Hagen and then Poiseuille performed the first experiments on water flow through straight pipes of various sizes to determine pressure losses. Later on, Reynolds, in 1883, observed that the transition from Hagen–Poiseuille (i.e., laminar) to turbulent flow in pipes occurs above a certain critical value, known today as the critical Reynolds number. Since then, pipe flow has deserved particular interest as a gateway to turbulence, not only at high Reynolds numbers in straight pipes but also at relatively slower flows through pipe elbows, bends, and restrictors.

While experimental work on pipe flow has continued until the present day, from the beginning of this century there has been renewed interest in the investigation of pipe flow due to the emergence of ever more sophisticated numerical techniques and increased computational facilities. Many numerical flow models exist in the literature that have improved our knowledge of what happens inside a pipe for both single and multiphase flows. Numerical work has become of great importance not only to interpret experimental data but also to predict, under certain conditions, the resulting flow pattern. This aspect has been particularly important for complex multiphase flows where transitions to one or more flow patterns may occur. This Special Issue, entitled “Pipe Flow: Research and Applications”, is devoted to recent advances in experiments and numerical simulations of fluid flow in pipes of different cross-sectional shapes as well as geometries.

Dr. Leonardo Di G. Sigalotti
Dr. Carlos Enrique Alvarado-Rodríguez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

pipe flow
pressure drop
curved pipes
pipe bend
laminar flow
turbulent flow
secondary flow
flow separation
particle image velocimetry
flow measurement
helically coiled pipes
pulsatile flow
computational fluid dynamics
particle methods

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

16 pages, 1370 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Flow Modeling of a Non-Newtonian Viscous Fluid in Elastic-Wall Microchannels

by A. Rubio Martínez, A. E. Chávez Castellanos, N. A. Noguez Méndez, F. Aragón Rivera, M. Pliego Díaz, L. Di G. Sigalotti and C. A. Vargas

Fluids 2024, 9(3), 77; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fluids9030077 - 19 Mar 2024

Viewed by 749

Abstract

The use of polymer microspheres is becoming increasingly widespread. Along with their most common applications, they are beginning to be used in the synthesis of photonic crystals, microstructure analysis and multiplexed diagnostics for disease control purposes. This paper presents a simple mathematical model that allows us to study the transport mechanisms involved in the deformation of an elastic microchannel under the flow stream of a power-law fluid. In particular, we analyze the momentum transfer to a non-Newtonian fluid (Polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS) due to the deformation of the elastic ceiling of a rectangular microchannel. Hooke’s law is used to represent the stress–deformation relationship of the PDMS channel ceiling. Stop-flow lithography is modeled, and the pressure exerted by the deformed PDMS ceiling on the fluid when the microchannel returns to its original form is taken into account. It is found that the response time of the elastic ceiling deformation increases with the channel width and length and decreases with the channel height independently of the power-law exponent of the injected fluid. However, an increase in the power-law exponent beyond unity causes an increase in the wall-deformation response time and the maximum deformation of the channel height compared to a Newtonian fluid. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pipe Flow: Research and Applications)

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31 pages, 6718 KiB

Open AccessArticle

CFD Turbulence Models Assessment for the Cavitation Phenomenon in a Rectangular Profile Venturi Tube

by Mauricio De la Cruz-Ávila, Jorge E. De León-Ruiz, Ignacio Carvajal-Mariscal and Jaime Klapp

Fluids 2024, 9(3), 71; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fluids9030071 - 07 Mar 2024

Viewed by 1107

Abstract

This study investigates cavitation in a rectangular-profile Venturi tube using numerical simulations and four turbulence models. The unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes technique is employed to simulate vapor cloud formation and compared against experimental data. κ-ε realizable, κ-ε RNG, κ-ω SST, and κ-ω GEKO models are evaluated. The simulation results are analyzed for pressure, turbulence, and vapor cloud formation. Discrepancies in cavitation cloud formation among turbulence models are attributed to turbulence and vapor cloud interactions. RNG and SST models exhibit closer alignment with the experimental data, with RNG showing a superior performance. Key findings include significant vapor cloud shape differences across turbulence models. The RNG model best predicts velocity at the throat exit with an error of 4.145%. Static pressure predictions include an error of 4.47%. The vapor cloud length predictions show variation among models, with the RNG model having a 0.386% error for the minimum length and 4.9845% for the maximum length. The SST model exhibits 4.907% and 13.33% errors for minimum and maximum lengths, respectively. Analysis of the cavitation number reveals agreement with the experimental data and sensitivity to cavitation onset. Different turbulence models yield diverse cloud shapes and detachment points. Weber number contours illustrate the variation in the cavitation cloud behavior under different turbulence models. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pipe Flow: Research and Applications)

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23 pages, 1761 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Study of Air–Water and Air–Oil Frictional Pressure Drops in Horizontal Pipe Flow

by Enrique Guzmán, Valente Hernández Pérez, Fernando Aragón Rivera, Jaime Klapp and Leonardo Sigalotti

Fluids 2024, 9(3), 67; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fluids9030067 - 07 Mar 2024

Viewed by 913

Abstract

Experimental data for frictional pressure drop using both air–water and air–oil mixtures are reported, compared and used to evaluate predictive methods. The data were gathered using the 2-inch (54.8 mm) flow loop of the multiphase flow facility at the National University of Singapore. Experiments were carried out over a wide range of flow conditions of superficial liquid and gas velocities that were varied from 0.05 to 1.5 m/s and 2 to 23 m/s, respectively. Pressure drops were measured using pressure transducers and a differential pressure (DP) cell. A hitherto unreported finding was achieved, as the pressure drop in air–oil flow can be lower than that in air–water flow for the higher range of flow conditions. Using flow visualization to explain this phenomenon, it was found that it is related to the higher liquid holdup that occurs in the case of air–oil around the annular flow transition and the resulting interfacial friction. This additional key finding can have applications in flow assurance to improve the efficiency of oil and gas transportation in pipelines. Models and correlations from the open literature were tested against the present data. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pipe Flow: Research and Applications)

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15 pages, 8943 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Pipe Formation by Fluid Focalization in Bilayered Sediments

by Aurélien Gay, Ganesh Tangavelou and Valérie Vidal

Fluids 2024, 9(3), 66; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fluids9030066 - 06 Mar 2024

Viewed by 840

Abstract

Pipe structures are commonly encountered in the geophysical context, and in particular in sedimentary basins, where they are associated with fluid migration structures. We investigate pipe formation through laboratory experiments by injecting water locally at a constant flow rate at the base of water-saturated sands in a Hele–Shaw cell (30 cm high, 35 cm wide, gap 2.3 mm). The originality of this work is to quantify the effect of a discontinuity. More precisely, bilayered structures are considered, where a layer of fine grains overlaps a layer of coarser grains. Different invasion structures are reported, with fluidization of the bilayered sediment over its whole height or over the finer grains only. The height and area of the region affected by the fluidization display a non-monotonous evolution, which can be interpreted in terms of fluid focusing vs. scattering. Theoretical considerations can predict the critical coarse grains height for the invasion pattern transition, as well as the maximum topography at the sediment free surface in the regime in which only the overlapping finer grains fluidize. These results have crucial geophysical implications, as they demonstrate that invasion patterns and pipe formation dynamics may control the fluid expulsion extent and localization at the seafloor. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pipe Flow: Research and Applications)

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22 pages, 17554 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Analysis of the Influence of the Sliding-Gate Valve on Submerged Entry Nozzle Outlet Jets

by Jesus Gonzalez-Trejo, Raul Miranda-Tello, Ruslan Gabbasov, Cesar A. Real-Ramirez and Francisco Cervantes-de-la-Torre

Fluids 2024, 9(1), 30; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fluids9010030 - 20 Jan 2024

Viewed by 1407

Abstract

This work studies how the sliding-gate valve (SGV) modifies the features and the dynamic behavior of the outlet jets for flat-bottom and well-bottom bifurcated submerged entry nozzles (SENs) used in continuous casting machines. Three conditions for the SGV were studied: no obstruction, moderate obstruction, and severe obstruction. The experimental study used a scaled model, employing cold water as the working fluid. A high-frequency analysis of the flow inside the SEN’s bore arriving at the outlet ports was performed by employing the particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. Low-frequency measurements of the volumetric flow at the exit port were obtained by splitting the exit jet into four quadrants and employing digital flowmeters. It was observed that reducing the SGV clearance increases the turbulence of the flow inside the SEN bore, but the flow displays ordered rather than erratic fluctuations. Flowmeter measurements showed that, regardless of the level of obstruction in the SGV, the outlet jets on flat-bottom and the well-bottom SENs have dynamic behaviors and features with significant differences. This finding is relevant because the flow distribution inside the outlet ports is directly related to the jet’s wideness, affecting the recirculation pattern inside the mold and, therefore, the quality of the finished steel slab. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pipe Flow: Research and Applications)

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15 pages, 7178 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Pipe Flow of Suspensions of Cellulose Nanocrystals

by Saumay Kinra and Rajinder Pal

Fluids 2023, 8(10), 275; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fluids8100275 - 12 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1219

Abstract

The pipeline flow behavior of suspensions of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) was investigated over the CNC concentration range of 0.24 to 3.65 wt% in different diameter pipelines. The CNC suspensions were Newtonian below the CNC concentration of 1 wt%. At higher concentrations, the CNC suspensions were non-Newtonian power-law fluids. For Newtonian CNC suspensions, the experimental friction factor–Reynolds number data were obtained only in the turbulent regime, and the data followed the Blasius equation closely. For power-law CNC suspensions, the experimental data of friction factor–Reynolds number covered both laminar and turbulent regimes. The experimental data followed the friction factor–Reynolds number relationships for power-law fluids reasonably well. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pipe Flow: Research and Applications)

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19 pages, 7406 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Serpentine Flow Field Channel Dimensions and Electrode Intrusion on Flow Hydrodynamics in an All-Iron Redox Flow Battery

by Rakesh Basavegowda Krishnappa, S. Gowreesh Subramanya, Abhijit Deshpande and Bharatesh Chakravarthi

Fluids 2023, 8(8), 237; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fluids8080237 - 21 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1259

Abstract

This paper presents a study on flow hydrodynamics for single-channel serpentine flow field (SCSFF) and cross-split serpentine flow field configurations (CSSFF) for different geometric dimensions of channel and rib width ratios with electrode intrusion over varying compression ratios (CRs) in an all-iron redox [...] Read more.

(Δ p)

measured experimentally across a cell active area of 131 cm² for different electrolyte flow rates were numerically validated. A computational fluid dynamics study was conducted for detailed flow analyses, velocity magnitude contours, flow distribution, and uniformity index for the intrusion effect of a graphite felt electrode bearing a thickness of 6 mm with a channel compressed to varying percentages of 50%, 60%, and 70%. Experimental pressure drops

(Δ p)

over the numerical value resulted in the maximum error approximated to 4%, showing good agreement. It was also reported that the modified version of the cross-split serpentine flow field, model D, had the lowest pressure drop,

Δ p

, of 2223.4 pa, with a maximum uniformity index at the electrode midplane of 0.827 for CR 50%, across the active cell area. The pressure drop

(Δ p)

was predominantly higher for increased compression ratios, wherein intrusion phenomena led to changes in electrochemical activity; it was found that the velocity distribution was quite uniform for a volumetric uniformity index greater than 80% in the felt. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pipe Flow: Research and Applications)

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18 pages, 3854 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sill Role Effect on the Flow Characteristics (Experimental and Regression Model Analytical)

by Hamidreza Abbaszadeh, Reza Norouzi, Veli Sume, Alban Kuriqi, Rasoul Daneshfaraz and John Abraham

Fluids 2023, 8(8), 235; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fluids8080235 - 21 Aug 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1104

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of gate openings and different sill widths on the sluice gate’s energy dissipation and discharge coefficient (C_d). The physical model of the sills includes rectangular sills of different dimensions. The results show that the gate opening size is inversely related to the C_d for a gate without a sill. In addition, increasing the gate opening size for a given discharge decreases the relative energy dissipation, and increasing the Froude number increases the relative energy dissipation. The results also show that the C_d and relative energy dissipation decrease when the width of the sill is decreased, thus increasing the total area of the flux flowing through the sluice gate and vice versa. According to the experimental results, the relative energy dissipation and the C_d of the sluice gate are larger for all sill widths than without the sill. Finally, non-linear polynomial relationships are presented based on dimensionless parameters for predicting the relative energy dissipation and outflow coefficient. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pipe Flow: Research and Applications)

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18 pages, 5239 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Numerical Evaluation of the Flow within a Rhomboid Tessellated Pipe Network with a 3 × 3 Allometric Branch Pattern for the Inlet and Outlet

by René Rodríguez-Rivera, Ignacio Carvajal-Mariscal, Hilario Terres-Peña, Mauricio De la Cruz-Ávila and Jorge E. De León-Ruiz

Fluids 2023, 8(8), 221; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fluids8080221 - 30 Jul 2023

Viewed by 836

Abstract

This study presents a comprehensive assessment of the hydrodynamic performance of a novel pipe network with tessellated geometry and allometric scales. Numerical simulations were used to evaluate flow behaviour and pressure drop. The comparison geometry featured a Parallel Pipe Pattern (PPP), while the proposed design employed a Rhombic Tessellation Pattern (RTP). Steady-state simulations were conducted under identical boundary conditions, examining water mass flows ranging from 0.01 to 0.06 kg/s. The results revealed RTP significant advantages over the PPP. The RTP, integrated with a fractal tree pattern, demonstrated remarkable capabilities in achieving uniform flow distribution and maintaining laminar flow regimes across the mass flow rates. Additionally, exhibited an average reduction in pressure drop of 92% resulting in improved efficiency. The Reynolds number at PPP inlet was 5.4 times higher than in the RTP, explaining the considerably higher pressure drop. At a mass flow rate of 0.06 kg/s, the PPP experienced a pressure drop of up to 3.43 kPa, while the RTP’s pressure drop was only 0.350 kPa, highlighting a remarkable decrease of 91.5%. These findings underscore the RTP superior performance in minimizing pressure drop, making it suitable for accommodating higher mass flow rates, thus highlighting its exceptional engineering potential. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pipe Flow: Research and Applications)

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Review

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48 pages, 6734 KiB

Open AccessReview

Fluid Flow in Helically Coiled Pipes

by Leonardo Di G. Sigalotti, Carlos E. Alvarado-Rodríguez and Otto Rendón

Fluids 2023, 8(12), 308; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fluids8120308 - 27 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2725

Abstract

Helically coiled pipes are widely used in many industrial and engineering applications because of their compactness, larger heat transfer area per unit volume and higher efficiency in heat and mass transfer compared to other pipe geometries. They are commonly encountered in heat exchangers, steam generators in power plants and chemical reactors. The most notable feature of flow in helical pipes is the secondary flow (i.e., the cross-sectional circulatory motion) caused by centrifugal forces due to the curvature. Other important features are the stabilization effects of turbulent flow and the higher Reynolds number at which the transition from a laminar to a turbulent state occurs compared to straight pipes. A survey of the open literature on helical pipe flows shows that a good deal of experimental and theoretical work has been conducted to derive appropriate correlations to predict frictional pressure losses under laminar and turbulent conditions as well as to study the dependence of the flow characteristics and heat transfer capabilities on the Reynolds number, the Nusselt number and the geometrical parameters of the helical pipe. Despite the progress made so far in understanding the flow and heat transfer characteristics of helical pipe flow, there is still much work to be completed to address the more complex problem of multiphase flows and the impact of pipe deformation and corrugation on single- and multiphase flow. The aim of this paper is to provide a review on the state-of-the-art experimental and theoretical research concerning the flow in helically coiled pipes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pipe Flow: Research and Applications)

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