×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Manifold Design Guidelines

Manifold Design Guidelines

Manifold Design Guidelines

(OP)
I am looking for all the resources I can gather on how to design a manifold that will evenly distribute flow (air in my case but for any fluid in general) from a header pipe to several branch lines.  Perry's devotes about 2 pages to the design of a perforated distributor.  It's useful information but I need more and web searches are coming up empty for me.  Any suggestions or stories of personal experience?

RE: Manifold Design Guidelines

here are some references that are useful for determining the flow unbalance in manifolds/ headers ( as I listed in a earlier thread):

Bajura, RA "A model for flow distr...: trans ASME 98-A-4,473-479 Oct 76

Acrivos, A Chem Eng Sci V10 p112 1959

Keffer, JF J Fluid Mech 15 p 481 & , 1963

Bajura, RA, Jones, EH J trans ASME V93 ser A no 1 pp 7-12 Jan 71

Ahn, H KSME Int J 12(1):87-95 feb 98

Hager,WH P I Mech Eng C-J Mech 201(6):439-448 1987

Greskovi, EJ , Obara, J T Ind Eng chem proc DD 7(4):593 1968

A science citation search of newer articles that reference these papers may provide more modern techniques, such as using FLUENT etc 3D CFD to simulate the flow in the headers.
 

RE: Manifold Design Guidelines

(OP)
Thanks for these references.  I notice that the term "momentum recovery" pops up in the discussion of the pressure change in the header.  Is this simply the fact that at the end of the header the velocity decreases which increases the static pressure, or is there something more elaborate going on here?

RE: Manifold Design Guidelines

The general piping design rule of thumb is, up to three branches, equalized flow splitting is not required. Four and above, equalized flow splitting is required.
 

RE: Manifold Design Guidelines

(OP)
eadwine:

Equalized flow splitting? Could you please elaborate?

RE: Manifold Design Guidelines

skuntz,

"Equalized flow splitting"-setting up pipe layouts so that flow is equalized in each branch. For example, three branch, one header three seperate branchs that are identical so that pressure drop is the same. Four or more branches, Main hdr, two branches, then two more branches on each of the first two branches-piping arrangements identical in order to equalize pressure drop the branch arrangements and so equalize flow.
                   
three branch:      |   |   |
                   |   |   | all branches require identical
        Flow   >____________ layouts and fittingw to
                             equalize pressure
                             drops

four or more branchs:     |   |   |   |
                          |   |   |   |
                          _____   _____
                            |       |
                            |       |
          Flow >_____________________


I hope this primitive sketch gives you the picture and idea of how to set up 'equalized flow splittting & distribution.   

RE: Manifold Design Guidelines

(OP)
eadwine-

I see now, thank you.  Here is the real problem we a tackling at my company.  We need to pump a gas through 10 separate lines from a single pump.  Each line is 1/8 inch ID and 3/16 inch OD.  The outlet of the pump is 1/4 NPT.  Volume to be pumped through the main line is 5 liters/min.  I need to figure out how to distribute the flow.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources