.TT pocketengineer building services engineering

Water Pipe Sizing software

Rethink, Reinvent . . . getting a job done in a faster and easier way

Classic Water Pipe Sizer

find pipe diameter. . . given velocity or head loss design criteria

find flowrate or static head or pipe diameter under gravity-fed conditions

To take a glance at all pocketEngineer software and OS requirements, click Software List.

Water Pipe Sizing

Determine pipe size by velocity method is common. However, pipe sizing by head loss (friction) method is also commonly adopted to limit the friction loss for energy efficiency issue.

Built-in features:

pipe sizing by velocity or head loss method using Hazen-Williams or Darcy-Weisbach formula.
calculation in imperial or metric system via the selection of flow units (l/s, l/m, m3/s, m3/h, ft3/s, ft3/hr, gpm). You can set default start-up unit.
built-in pipe material and ID (inside diameter) selections for use with the Diameter option to calculate exact head loss for the given pipe diameter.
a separate module to calculate gravity-fed pipe flow with options to find flowrate or static head.

Built-in Pipe Material and ID Selections for use with Diameter Option

Sizing Example:

200 gpm of water flows in a copper pipe. The pipe head loss shall be limited to 3 ftH2O/100 ft. Determine the pipe size.

Solution:

(a) Pipe diameter = 4.0 inch

(b) Pipe velocity = 5.11 ft/s

2.3590 mH2O/100m

23.1344 kPa/100m

0.2313 bar/100m

2.3590 ftH2O/100ft

1.0225 psi/100ft

(d) Actual Friction loss using Darcy-Weisbach equation:

2.1129 mH2O/100m

20.7206 kPa/100m

0.2072 bar/100m

2.1129 ftH2O/100ft

0.9158 psi/100ft

Module to calculate Gravity-fed water flowrate or head or diameter

How to calculate the water flowrate in a gravity-fed pipe ?

You can determine the water flow rate under gravity-fed conditions with the use of this module. Given available static head, Darcy-Weisbach equation is used for the computations of water flowrate. Darcy friction factor f can be automatically determined by using the provided option.

Calculation options available: Find Flowrate or Static head or Pipe diameter.

Darcy equation: head loss due to friction

hL = head loss, m

f = Darcy friction factor

K = Fitting resistance coefficient

L = Pipe length, m

D = Pipe diameter, m

V = Velocity, m/s

g = Gravitational acceleration = 9.81 m/s2

Sizing Problem 1: gravity-fed pipe flowrate sizing

Known:

Static height, Hs = 10m

Pipe material = Stainless steel (roughness, e = 0.0015mm)

Total pipe length, L = 70m

Pipe diameter, D = 50mm

K (entrance) = 0.5, K (elbow 90o std) = 0.75, K (gate valve full open) = 0.17, K (exit) = 1

Total fitting resistance coefficient, ∑K = 3.17

Water density, ρ = 1000 kg/m3, Dynamic viscosity, μ = 1.306 cP

Results:

Flowrate, Q = 0.0051 m3/s (5.15 l/s)

Velocity, V = 2.62 m/s

Darcy friction factor, f = 0.0181

Sizing Problem 2: gravity-fed pipe diameter sizing

Water flow of 0.4 m3/s is to be conveyed from a water tank 50m above the treatment plant. The length of the pipeline is 5 km. Minor losses due to valves and pipe fittings can be accomodated by a loss coefficient K = 80. Estimate the required diameter.

Assumptions:

Pipe material = Ductile iron cement-lined

Water at 20 oC

Answer:

Pipe diameter, D = 0.486 m (486 mm)

Final Thought: Pipe sizing your way, the digital way.

Note:

(1) For Android OS: see aPipeSizer.

(2) For Gravity Flow drainage pipe sizing, see GravityFlow PipeSizer (Windows OS).

Pay & instant Download via PayPal Digital Goods service:

(Note: To click on "Return to Merchant" button after payment at PayPal page for instant download)

Classic Water PipeSizer

Price: US $2.90

OS requirements: Windows 8, 10, 11, ...

Google Sites

Report abuse