Fluid Database
The Pipe Flow Wizard software comes with its own fluids database, which contains fluid properties for a range of common liquids and gases. Selecting a fluid sets the fluid properties that will be used in the flow and pressure loss calculations. In addition to the standard data, users can define their own fluid properties and new fluids can be added to the fluid database.
Fluid Properties Database
The fluid density and fluid viscosity are used in the calculation of Re, which is used in the calculation of the friction factor that in turn is used in the Darcy-Weisbach equation to calculate the fluid pressure drop through a section of pipe.
- Select a fluid from the fluid database for use in the calculation.
- Or define new fluid properties and add the fluid to the database.
- OR enter your own fluid properties without creating a new database entry.
Fluid Properties: Liquids and Gas Data
The 'Liquids' and 'Gases' radio buttons can be used to switch the fluid database to display Liquid or Gas data. Liquids are considered to be incompressible in that the density of the liquid does not changes under pressure, however gases are compressible and pressure will affect the density of the gas. Tempertaure changes will affect the density of both liquids and gases.
The Wizard uses the Darcy-Weisbach method to calculate the friction loss in a pipe, which assumes a constant fluid density and fluid viscosity throughout the pipe.
When working with gases, there is a helper that can calculate the fluid properties for some common gases over a range of different temperatures. This allows the user to define their own gas data for a specific temperature and this data can then be saved back and added in to the fluid database so that it can be used with future calculations.
The fluid database includes the following fluid properties:
Kinematic viscosity in Centistokes
Density in g/cm³ OR (kg/m³) x (1/10³);
Viscosity relationship: Centistokes = (Centipoise / Density)
The density of water in g/cm³ is 1. Relative density is the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a particular fluid to the density of given reference fluid. Specific Gravity normally means the relative density of a fluid compared to the density of water. In modern science the preferred term is now Relative Density.
The fluid data in Pipe Flow Wizard calculations can only be changed once the software has been licensed.
Next: Pipe Flow Wizard FAQs
