Expansion Joint K Value

[TheBeginer]

Hi,
I am new to the field so please excuse me if I do not provide enough information or my terminology is incorrect.

I am performing pressure drop calculations on a piping system in which we are replacing pumps. In order to ensure the pumps will produce enough head I have to find the total head loss of the system. I have most of the system calculated but I am missing data on two expansion joints in the piping. Unfortunately I don't have any specs on these joints but my calculations are only an initial estimate so I can get away with a ball-park or rule of thumb estimate on the drops associated with these joints (K value would be best.) The inside diameter of the pipes are 5 feet and 7 feet and as stated earlier I do not have any specs on the joint. The fluid is water pumped from a river.

Thank you for your help.

 

[Latexman]

I think you will need to get the specs on the expansion joints, or get enough information on them so you can describe them in much more detail than you did in the original post. Then, we can help characterize the pressure drop based on good engineering data.

We can't perform magic, i.e. produce good advise on zero information!

Good luck,
Latexman

 

[TheBeginer]

Thank you. I was afraid this was the case. I was hoping there would be an approximation I could use similar to those available for 90 degree elbows like K = 30f.