Numerical Simulation of Losses in Four-Way Pipe Junctions

Abstract

To design pipelines, engineers need to know how much energy the fluid in the pipe has at different locations in the pipe network. The energy the fluid has comes in the form of pressure, velocity, and elevation. As fluid travels through a pipe, it loses energy for many different reasons. Some of those reasons include friction between the fluid and the pipe wall, shear forces within the fluid, changes in flow direction, changes in elevation, or various pipe fittings like elbows, tee’s, valves, reducers, and expanders. Many of the causes of energy loss are well researched. One cause of energy loss that is not well documented is the energy loss experienced through four-way junctions in pipe networks or crosses. These junctions make the fluid lose energy differently through each of the junction’s legs due to differences in flow between the legs and different changes in direction between different legs. For this paper, computer simulations were set up to determine the energy loss factor for each leg of a cross junction for various scenarios

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