UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

FLUID MECHANICS
ENGR30002 2014
TUTORIAL SHEET 5

Problem A

Three large open tanks are connected by pipes joing at point J as shown. As a first
estimate, assume that the head at point J (hJ ) is 20 m greater than the atmospheric
pressure head. With this assumption, calculate the volumetric flow rates in each
pipe. Neglect all inlet and outlet losses.

The volume flow rate of liquid reaching point J should equal the volume flow rate
leaving point J (mass conservation). Does your choice of hJ satisfy this conservation
condition? If not, will an improved estimate of hJ be higher or lower than the first
estimate?

L1 = 3000m L2 = 600m L2 = 1200m

D1 = 1.0m D2 = 0.5m D3 = 0.67m
z1 = 30m z2 = 18m z3 = 9m
e1 /D1 = 0.0002 e2 /D2 = 0.002 e3 /D3 = 0.001

µ = 0.001 Pa s and ρ = 1000 kg/m3

L1

z1 3 z2
L2
J
z3 L3

Figure 1: Three tanks

Ans: 1.806 m3 /s, 0.275 m3 /s, 0.79 m3 /s

1
Problem B

Water (density 1000 kg/m3 ) is flowing between three tanks, and a turbine is located
in pipe 1, as shown in the figure. The turbine efficiency is 90%.

Calculate the output power of the turbine. Hint: the flow is actually moving up-
wards from the branching point to reservoir A (you should be able to prove this
by considering the total head at the branching point). Neglect all inlet and outlet
losses.

zB = 160 m
B

Pipe 1
zA = 90 m diameter = 45 cm
A length = 130 m
f = 0.0045

Q2 Turbine
Q1
Pipe 2
diameter = 18 cm
length = 650 m
f = 0.006 zc = 30 m C
Q3 = 0.5 m3/s
D
Pipe 3
diameter = 36 cm
length = 1660 m
f = 0.005

Figure 2: Three tanks and turbine

Ans: 67.34 kW (V1 = 3.70 m/s , V2 = -3.48 m/s , V3 = 4.91 m/s)

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Problem C

A centrifugal pump is located close to the base of a large tank which is open to
the atmosphere. Water (ρ = 999 kg/m3 , µ = 1.109 × 10−3 Pa s) is to be pumped
from the tank through 60 m of smooth pipe (internal diameter = 11.40 cm) and
discharged freely into the atmosphere at a point 8.75 m above the liquid surface in
the tank.

(i) Calculate data for, and plot, the system characteristic (system head vs flow rate
Q) over a range of flow rates varying from 0.00 to 0.05 m3 /s. (To find f at each
flow rate, either use the friction factor chart or the approximation f = 0.0792Re−0.25 )

(ii) The pump has an impeller of 9.60 cm radius, carries blades 1.25 cm wide which
slope backwards to make angles of 35◦ between tangents to their outer tips and the
outer circumference of the impeller. The impeller rotates at 1750 rev/min. Calcu-
late the theoretical pump head and plot this vs Q on the same graph, and for the
same range of flow rates as part (i)

(iii) Use the theoretical pump head and the efficiencies tabulated below to graph
the actual pump h-Q curve.

(iv) Determine the flow rate at which fluid will flow in the system

(v) What power will be required by the driving motor?

Data The hydraulic efficiency ηhyd and overall efficiency η (i.e. mechanical efficiency)
versus flow rate for the pump are tabulated below.
Q (m3 s−1 ) ηhyd (%) Overall η(%)
0.00 65.4 0.0
0.01 71.0 36.1
0.02 71.9 56.0
0.03 67.7 61.0
0.04 57.5 54.1
0.05 39.2 37.0

Ans: (i) graph needed, (ii) hp = 31.55 − 339.69Q, graph needed, (iii) graph
needed, (iv) 0.033 m3 /s, 13.10 m, (v) 7.05 kW