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compressed air pipe sizing

compressed air pipe sizing

compressed air pipe sizing

(OP)
Hello

Where can I find guides ond compressed air pipe sizing?
Are you aware of excel spreadsheets perhaps?

thks

RE: compressed air pipe sizing

(OP)
do anyone perhaps know of something?

RE: compressed air pipe sizing

Mechanic:

There are some very knowledgeable and experienced people on this Forum and I’m sure they can be of help to you.  I think the basic simplicity of your question is keeping most of them at bay, waiting for one of them to respond and follow suit.  I’ll break the impasse and give you a litany of references where you can find out how to calculate the pressure drop in a pipe – or determine the proper internal diameter of a pipe for a given pressure drop (otherwise called “sizing a pipe”):

1. Compressed Air Data Handbook of Pneumatic Engineering Practice; Compressed Air Magazine Co.; NY.
2. Compressed Air and Gas Data; Ingersoll-Rand Co.; Charles W. Gibbs, Editor;
3. Crane Technical Paper #410 – Flow of Fluids through valves, fittings, and pipe;
4. GPSA Engineering Data Book; 11th Ed., electronic version
5. Countless engineering text books and handbooks;
6. Countless articles appearing in such engineering magazines as Chemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering Progress, Hydrocarbon Processing, etc., etc.; and,
7. Many internet websites featuring interactive calculations that yield an answer.  These, I’m sure will be mentioned and identified by subsequent responders to this thread.

There are many Excel spreadsheets designed and organized to yield a quick or detailed estimate on the correct pipe size for an application or the expected pressure drop in a given piping configuration.  I have a variety of them – most of them designed and made by me for my personal use as well as distribution to needy engineers.  I’m certain that other engineers on this forum also have done the same, basing themselves (like me) on the above named literature references.

Additionally, there are countless threads on these Eng-Tips Forums that specifically address this issue and other related matters such as the resolution of the Colebrook-White equation and the application of the 2-K and 3-K methods proposed by Hooper and Darby respectively.

I hope the above references help you out and perhaps if you are more specific about what it is exactly that you require and your level of expertise, we can all be more specific.  You are addressing compressible fluid flow – one step up from liquid flow in complexity of solution – so be prepared to fully understand such items as sonic (“choked”) flow and dominate the Darcy-Weisbach equation and its basis as well as limitations.

I hope this helps.

RE: compressed air pipe sizing

Montemayor,

If you are willing, can you post/send an example of one of your "simple" CA piping spreadsheets?  I am looking for some pipe system sizing examples for a basic design.

Thanks in advance!

RE: compressed air pipe sizing

The learning experience of developing your own spreadsheet is priceless.

I will give you a start.  Use the Lee, et al method for calculating viscosity.  The Lee method is normally used when you only know the gas SG.

RE: compressed air pipe sizing

www.engineeringpage.com has a handy calculator for line sizing.
Take the utilities one and choose air.

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