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PRESSURE LOSS IN PIPE

SUMMARY
To determine the pressure loss or flow rate through pipe knowledge of the
friction between the fluid and the pipe is required. This article describes how
to incorporate friction into pressure loss or fluid flow calculations. It also
outlines several methods for determining the Darcy friction factor for rough
and smooth pipes in both the turbulent and laminar flow regime. Finally this
article discusses which correlation for pressure loss in pipe is the most
appropriate.

1. DEFINITIONS
ε : Absolute Roughness

Dh : Hydraulic Diameter
Rh : Hydraulic Radius
f : Darcy Friction Factor
fF : Fanning Friction Factor

D : Pipe Diameter

ε/D : Relative Roughness

Re : Reynolds Number
L : Length of Pipe

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hf : Head loss due to friction

V : Average Velocity

g : Gravity
p : Pressure

ρ : Density

2. INTRODUCTION
Pressure loss in piping without any size changes or fittings occurs due to
friction between the fluid and the pipe walls. There have been a number of
methods developed to describe this relationship; generally a friction factor is
used to determine the pressure loss. The most important methods of
determining this friction factor are described in this article.

The key influences on the pressure drop as a fluid moves through a pipe are
Reynolds Number of the fluid and the roughness of the pipe.

2.1 Friction Factors: Fanning and Darcy

There are two common friction factors in use, the Darcy and Fanning friction
factors. The Darcy friction factor is also known as the Darcy–Weisbach
friction factor or the Moody friction factor. It is important to understand
which friction factor is being described in an equation or chart to prevent
error in pressure loss, or fluid flow calculation results.

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The difference between the two friction factors is that the value of the Darcy
friction factor is 4 times that of the Fanning friction factor. In all other aspects
they are identical, and by applying the conversion factor of 4 the friction
factors may be used interchangeably.

f = 4fF

Unless stated otherwise the Darcy friction factor is used in this article.

2.2 Head Loss and Pressure Loss – Darcy Friction Factor

Head Loss:

L V2
hf = f
D 2g

Pressure Drop:

L ρV 2
Δp = f
D 2

3. METHODS OF DETERMINING THE DARCY FRICTION FACTOR

The Darcy friction factor may be determined by either using the appropriate
friction factor correlation, or by reading from a Moody Chart.

The Darcy friction factor is a dimensionless number; the pipe roughness and
the pipe diameter which are used to determine the friction factor should be
dimensionally consistent (e.g. use roughness and diameter both measured in
mm, or both measured in inches)

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3.1 Moody Chart

3.2 Which method should I use to calculate the Darcy Friction Factor?
There are many relationships available to determine the Darcy friction factor.
Here we discuss the practicality and accuracy of applying these methods.
Different methods of determining the friction factor as used depending on the
flow regime of the fluid, as determined by the Reynolds Number .

3.3 Laminar Flow

In the laminar flow regime the Darcy Equation may be used to determine the
friction factor (see 2.2 and 4.1).

3.4 Transitional Flow

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In the transitional flow regime the inconsistency of the flow patterns make the
prediction of friction factor impossible. No relationships are available to
adequately describe this flow regime.

3.5 Turbulent Flow Regime

In the turbulent flow regime the Colebrook equation (See 4.2) is widely
accepted for describing the Darcy friction factor. The only drawback to using
this equation is that it is implicit, and will require iteration to solve. Where
iteration is possible and there are no constraints on computation speed,
calculation via the Colebrook equation is appropriate.

If calculating by hand calculator or by computer where iteration is difficult

Serghide’s equation (See 4.3) is most appropriate as it is explicit and has very
low error (less than 0.003%).

It should be noted that more accurate approximations of the Colebrook

equation have been proposed but generally the increased accuracy is not
required. The error introduced in approximating the Colebrook equation using
Serghide’s equation is likely to be many orders of magnitude less than error
from other sources (such as uncertainty in pipe roughness or the uncertainty
in the original data from which the Colebrook equation was produced).

4. FRICTION FACTOR EQUATIONS

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Here we detail some of the most common relationship for the Darcy friction
factor for reference. For a discussion of the most appropriate relationships to
use see above.

4.1 Darcy Equation

The Darcy equation describes the Darcy friction factor for laminar flow. If this
equation is substituted into the Pressure loss equation above it is also known
as Poiseuille’s law or the Hagen–Poiseuille law.

for Re <∼ 2100

64
f=
Re

4.2 Colebrook’s Equation

Also known as the Colebrook-White Equation. This equation was developed
taking into account experimental results for the flow through both smooth
and rough pipe. It is valid only in the turbulent regime for fluid filled pipes. It
is widely accepted and most of the relationships discussed in this article are
merely explicit approximations for this relationship. Due to the implicit
nature of this equation it must be solved iteratively. A result of suitable
accuracy for almost all industrial applications will be achieved in less than 10
iterations.

The Colebrook equation may be calculated as follows:

for Re <∼ 2300 and Re >∼ 4000

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1 2.51
= −2log10 ( )
ε/Dh
+
√f 3.7 Re√f

4.3 Serghide’s Equation

The Serghides’ equation is an approximation of the Colebrook equation use to
solve for the Darcy friction factor explicitly. It is applied to fluid flowing in a
filled circular pipe. The equation is presented using 3 intermediate values for
simplicity. It provides and explicit approximation for the Colebrook equation
that is highly accurate over a wide range of values for both surface roughness
and Reynolds number. This method will result in errors of less than 0.003% in

the ranges: Reynolds number 4000-1x1010, relative roughness 1x10-7 – 1.

The friction factor from the Serghide's approximation may be calculated from
following set of equations:

for Re <∼ 2300 and Re >∼ 4000

12
A = −2log10 ( )
ε/D
+
3.7 Re

ε/D 2.51A
B = −2log10 ( + )
3.7 Re

ε/D 2.51B
C = −2log10 ( + )
3.7 Re
−2
(B − A)2
f = (A − )
C − 2B + A

4.4 Chen’s Equation

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Chen’s equation is an approximation of the Colebrook equation used to solve

for the Darcy friction factor explicitly. It is applied to fluid flowing in a filled
circular pipe.

The friction factor from Chen's approximation may be calculated as follows:

1 5.0452 (ε/D)1.1098 5.8506

= −2log10 ( log10 ( ))
ε/D
− +
√f 3.7065 Re 2.8257 Re0.8981

4.5 Zigrang & Sylvester’s Equation

Zigrang & Sylvester’s equation is an approximation of the Colebrook equation
use to solve for the Darcy friction factor explicitly. It is applied to fluid
flowing in a filled circular pipe.

1 ε/D 5.02 12
= −2log10 ( log10 ( ))
ε/D
− +
√f 3.7 Re 3.7 Re

4.6 Haaland Equation

The Haaland equation is an approximation of the Colebrook equation use to
solve for the Darcy friction factor explicitly. It is applied to fluid flowing in a
filled circular pipe and may be calculated as follows:

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for Re <∼ 2300 and Re >∼ 4000

1 ε/D 6.9
= −1.8log10 ( + )
√f 3.7 Re

4.7 Swamee-Jain Equation

The Swamee-Jain equation is an approximation of the Colebrook equation
used to solve for the Darcy friction factor explicitly. It is applied to fluid
flowing in a filled circular pipe and may be calculated as follows:

for Re <∼ 2300 and Re >∼ 4000

0.25
f=
5.74 2
log10 ( )
ε/D
+
3.7 Re0.9

4.8 Churchill Equation

The Churchill equation combines both the expressions for friction factor in
both the laminar and turbulent flow regimes. It is accurate to within the error
of the data used to construct the Moody diagram. This model also provides an
estimate for the intermediate (transition) region, however this should be used
with caution.

The Churchill equation shows very good agreement with the Darcy equation
for laminar flow, accuracy through the transitional flow regime is unknown,
in the turbulent regime a difference of around 0.5-2% is observed between the
Churchill equation and the Colebrook equation.

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for Re <∼ 2100 and Re >∼ 4000

1/12
8 12 1
f = 8 [( ) + ]
Re (A + B )1.5
⎡ ⎛ ⎞⎤
16

A=⎢ ⎜ ⎟⎥
1
⎢ 2.457ln ⎜ 7 0.9 ε ⎟⎥
⎣ ⎝ ( ) + 0.27 ⎠⎦
Re D
16
37, 530
B=( )
Re

5. FURTHER READING
1. Piping Calculations Manual (McGraw-Hill Calculations)

2. Piping Systems Manual

3. Flow of Fluids Through Valves, Fittings, and Pipe (TP-410 (US edition))

Article Created: April 29, 2012

   

ARTICLE TAGS

Flow Regime Fluid Flow Friction Factor Laminar Flow Pipe

Pipe Diameter Pressure Drop Pressure Loss Reynolds Number

Roughness Transitional Flow Turbulent Flow

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