Publication

Optimal estimation of the roughness coefficient and friction factor of a pipeline

Journal Article (2021)

Journal

Journal of Fluids Engineering

Volume

143

Number

5

Doc link

https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4049674

File

Download the digital copy of the doc pdf document

Authors

  • Santos-Ruiz, Ildeberto

  • Lopez Estrada, Francisco Ronay

  • Puig Cayuela, Vicenç

  • Torres, Lizeth A

  • Valencia-Palomo, Guillermo

  • Gomez Penate, Samuel

Abstract

This work addresses the estimation of two interrelated parameters of the fluid flow in pipes. First, a numerical and experimental evaluation of some proposed methods to com-pute the friction factor in turbulent regime is presented. Special attention is given to an explicit solution obtained through the Lambert W-function. Subsequently, a method to estimate the roughness coefficient using nonlinear optimization techniques is proposed, which then allows determining the friction factor from it. Numerical tests were performed for a wide range of operating points of a pipeline. In order to validate the proposed approach, experimental analysis was carried out on a pipeline pilot-plant. The results show the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Categories

control theory.

Scientific reference

I. Santos-Ruiz, F.R. Lopez, V. Puig, L.A. Torres, G. Valencia-Palomo and S. Gomez. Optimal estimation of the roughness coefficient and friction factor of a pipeline. Journal of Fluids Engineering, 143(5), 2021.