Lecture # 3

Pipe Networks
Pipe Flow Analysis
 Water Hammer
• Water hammer is a wave caused when a fluid
(usually a liquid but sometimes also a gas) in
motion is forced to stop or change direction
suddenly (momentum change). A water
hammer commonly occurs when a valve
closes suddenly at an end of a pipeline system,
and a pressure wave propagates in the pipe. It
is also called hydraulic shock.
Water Hammer
 Pipes in Series
 When two or more pipes of different diameters or roughness are
connected in such a way that the fluid follows a single flow path
throughout the system, the system represents a series pipeline.
 In a series pipeline the total energy loss is the sum of the individual
minor losses and all pipe friction losses.

 Discharge = Q = Q1 = Q2 = Q3 = ---
 Head losses = hL = hL1 +hL2 +hL3 + ---
 Pipes in Parallel
• A combination of two or more pipes connected between two
points so that the discharge divides at the first junction and re-
joins at the next is known as pipes in parallel.
• Here the head loss between the two junctions is the same for all
pipes.

 Discharge = Q = Q1 + Q2 + Q3 + ---
 Head losses = hL = hL1 =hL2 =hL3 = ---
 Pipe Networks
• In municipal distribution systems, pipes are frequently
interconnected so that the flow to a given outlet may come
by several different paths, as in Fig.
 Pipe Networks
• As a result, we often cannot tell by inspection which way the
flow travels, as in pipe BE. Nevertheless, the flow in any
network, however complicated, must satisfy the basic
relations of continuity and energy as follows:

1. The flow into any junction must equal the flow out of it.
2. The flow in each pipe must satisfy the pipe-friction laws for
flow in a single pipe.
3. The algebraic sum of the head losses around any closed loop
must be zero.
 Pipe Network Analysis
Pipe network analysis involves the determination of the pipe flow
rates and pressure heads at the outflows points of the network. The
flow rate and pressure heads must satisfy the continuity and energy
equations.
The earliest systematic method of network analysis (Hardy-Cross
Method) is known as the head balance or closed loop method. This
method is applicable to system in which pipes form closed loops. The
outflows from the system are generally assumed to occur at the
nodes junction.
For a given pipe system with known outflows, the Hardy-Cross
method is an iterative procedure based on initially iterated flows in
the pipes. At each junction these flows must satisfy the continuity
criterion, i.e. the algebraic sum of the flow rates in the pipe meeting
at a junction, together with any external flows is zero.
 Procedure:
Step-1:
• By careful inspection assume the most reasonable distribution of
flows that satisfies condition 1.
Step-2:
• Write condition 2 for each pipe in the form:
hL  KQ n (8.95)
where K and n are constants for each pipe (Detail provided in Sec.
8.19).
If minor losses are important include them as in Eq. (8.93), which
yields K = 1/C2 and n = 2 for constant f We may include minor losses
within any pipe or loop, but must neglect them at the junction
points.
 Procedure:
Step-3:
• To investigate condition 3, compute the algebraic sum of the
head losses around each elementary loop, ∑ hL = ∑.KQn. Consider
losses from clockwise flows as positive, counterclockwise
negative. Only by good luck will these add up to zero on the first
trial.
Step-4:
• Adjust the flow in each loop by a correction ∆Q to balance the
head in that loop and give ∑KQn = 0. The heart of this method lies
in the following determination of ∆Q. For any pipe, we may write
Q = Q0 + ∆Q
 Procedure:
• where Q is the correct discharge and Qo is the assumed
discharge. Then, for each pipe,
hL  KQ n  K (Q0  Q) n  K (Q0n 1 Q  ....)

• If ∆Q is small compared with Qo, we may neglect the terms of

the binomial series after the second one, so that

hL  KQ0n  QKnQ0n 1
• For a loop, ∑hL = ∑KQn = 0, so because ∆Q is the same for all
pipes in that loop,

 0
KQ n
 Q  0 0
KnQ n 1
 Procedure:
• As we must sum the corrections of head loss in all pipes
arithmetically (treating all terms as positive), we may solve this
equation for ∆Q,

  KQ0 | Q0n 1 |   hL
Q   (8.96)
n | KQ n 1
0 n | hL / Q0 |

• since, from Eq. (8.95), hL/Q = KQn-l. We emphasize again that

we must sum the numerator of Eq. (8.96) algebraically, with
due account of each sign, while we must sumQthe| Qdenominator
n 1
|
0 0
arithmetically. Note that the in the numerator gives
this quantity the same sign as the head loss.
 Procedure:
• The negative sign in Eq. (8.96) indicates that when there is an
excess of head loss around a loop in the clockwise direction, we
must subtract the ∆Q from clockwise Qo values and add it to
counterclockwise ones. The reverse is true if there is a
deficiency of head loss around a loop in the clockwise direction.
Step-5:
• After we have given each loop a first correction, the losses will
still not balance, because of the interaction of one loop upon
another (pipes which are common to two loops receive two
independent corrections, one for each loop). So we repeat the
procedure, arriving at a second correction, and so on, until the
corrections become negligible.
 Procedure:
• We may use either form of Eq. (8.96) to find ∆Q. As values of
K appear in both the numerator and denominator of the first
form, we can use values proportional to the actual K to find
the distribution. The second form is more convenient for use
with pipe-friction diagrams for water pipes.
• An attractive feature of this approximation method is, that
errors in computation have the same effect as errors in
judgment and the process eventually corrects them.
 Problem-1
• If the flow into and out of a two-loop pipe system are as
shown in Fig., determine the flow in each pipe. The K values
for each pipe were calculated from the pipe and minor loss
characteristics and from an assumed value of f, and n = 2.
 Solution:
• As a first step, assume a flow in each pipe such that
continuity holds at all junctions.
• Take clockwise flows as positive. Calculate Q for each
loop, make corrections to the assumed Qs, and
repeat several times until the Qs are quite small.