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Axial dispersion in turbulent flow through standard 90 degree elbows
Author(s) -
Cassell Robert E.,
Perona Joseph J.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.690150119
Subject(s) - turbulence , degree (music) , dispersion (optics) , mechanics , flow (mathematics) , materials science , physics , optics , acoustics
Abstract Axial dispersion was studied experimentally for turbulent flow through a 1 1/4‐in. piping system containing 90 deg. elbows. The Reynolds number range was 15,400 to 96,555. The imperfect pulse tracer technique was used with the axial dispersion numbers being obtained from the difference in variances of concentration‐time curves observed at two points in the system. Elbows interconnected by short lengths of pipe with each succeeding one reversed so as to cause a change in the direction of flow, increased axial dispersion by 35 to 61% over that expected for straight pipe, while the same elbows turned so as to form a helix decreased the dispersion substantially; however, the amount of axial dispersion was still 8 to 22% greater than that observed for straight pipe. The equivalent lengths of the elbows depend upon both their arrangement and the Reynolds number. Closely placed, helically arranged elbows required equivalent lengths of from 2.9 to 5.1 diam., while a reversed arrangement required 6.9 to 11.6 diam. Elbows separated by a developing length and randomly arranged yielded an equivalent length range of 3.6 to 10.6 diam. The geometical l / d ratio of the elbows used was 2.05.