Laminar and Turbulent Flow

Laminar and turbulent flow
Laminar flow or streamline flow in pipes (or tubes) occurs when a fluid flows in parallel
layers, with no disruption between the layers. At low velocities, the fluid tends to flow
without lateral mixing, and adjacent layers slide past one another like playing cards.
There are no cross-currents perpendicular to the direction of flow, nor eddies or swirls of
fluids. In laminar flow, the motion of the particles of the fluid is very orderly with all
particles moving in straight lines parallel to the pipe walls. Any lateral mixing (mixing
at right angles to the flow direction) occurs by the action of diffusion between layers of
the liquid. Diffusion mixing can be slow however if the diameter of the pipe of tube is
small then this diffusive mixing can be very significant.
Turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic property changes. This

includes rapid variation of pressure and flow velocity in space and time. In contrast to
laminar flow the fluid no longer travels in layers and mixing across the tube is highly
efficient. Flows at Reynolds numbers larger than 4000 are typically (but not necessarily)
turbulent, while those at low Reynolds numbers below 2300 usually remain laminar.
Flow in the range of Reynolds numbers 2300 to 4000 and known as transition.
Laminar and turbulent flows can exist in the same tube network when operated at
different flow rates. The Reynolds number for a Vapourtec 1mm bore tubular reactor
flowing water at 10 ml/min is only slightly above 200. We can safely assume that under
normal operational conditions the flow through to tubing reactors of our flow chemistry
systems can be described as Laminar Flow
What is the difference between laminar and turbulent flow?

Asked by: Lisa
Answer
Laminar Flow: the flow of a fluid when each particle of the fluid follows a smooth path,
paths which never interfere with one another. One result of laminar flow is that the
velocity of the fluid is constant at any point in the fluid.
Turbulent Flow: irregular flow that is characterized by tiny whirlpool regions. The
velocity of this fluid is definitely not constant at every point. :)
Typical examples of both Laminar and Turbulent flows can be

observed in the cigarette smoke (see image)
Incompressible And Compressible

Flow
Incompressible flow refers to the fluid flow in which the fluid's density is constant. For a density
to remain constant, the control volume has to remain constant. Even though the
pressure changes, the density will be constant for an incompressible flow. Incompressible flow
means flow with variation of density due to pressure changes is negligible or infinitesimal. All the
liquids at constant temperature are incompressible.
Compressible flow means a flow that undergoes a notable variation in density with trending
pressure. Densi ty r (x, y, z) is considered as a field variable for the flow dynamics. When the
value of Mach number crosses above 0.3, density begins to vary and the amplitude of variation
spikes when Mach number reaches and exceeds unity.
The behavior of control volume (CV) for incompressible and compressible flow is depicted in the
image below.
It can be seen that the CV remains constant for a flow that is incompressible and CV is squeezed
for compressible flow.
Bernoulli's equation is applicable only when flow is assumed to be incompressible. In case of
compressible flow, Bernoulli's equation becomes invalid since the very basic assumption for
Bernoulli's equation is density r is constant
For compressible flow, .
COMPRESSIBLE AND INCOMPRESSIBLE FLUIDS
Compressible fluids: are the fluids with variable density.
Incompressible fluid: are the fluids with constant density. They could be
liquids and gases.
Although there is no such thing in reality as an incompressible fluid, we use this
term where the change in density with pressure is so small as to be negligible.
This is usually the case with liquids. We may also consider gases to be
incompressible when the pressure variation is small compared with the absolute
pressure.
In problems involving water hammer we must consider the compressibility of
the liquid. The flow of air in a ventilating system is a case where we may treat a
gas as incompressible, for the pressure variation is so small that the change in
density is of no importance. But for a gas or steam flowing at high velocity
through a long pipeline, the drop in pressure may be so great that we cannot
ignore the change in density. For an airplane flying at speeds below 250 mph
(100 m/s), we may consider the air to be of constant density. But as an object
moving through the air approaches the velocity of sound, which is of the order
of 760 mph (1200 km/h) depending on temperature, the pressure and density of
the air adjacent to the body become materially different from those of the air at
some distance away, and we must then treat the air as a compressible fluid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz_7r0Uv4gk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTCstQWGUdM
Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear stress
or tensile stress. In
everyday terms (and for fluids only), viscosity is "thickness" or "internal friction". Thus, water is
"thin", having a
lower viscosity, while honey is "thick", having a higher viscosity. Put simply, the less viscous the
fluid is, the greater
its ease of movement (fluidity).[1]

Viscosity describes a fluid's internal resistance to flow and may be thought of as a measure of
fluid friction. For
example, high-viscosity felsic magma will create a tall, steep stratovolcano, because it cannot
flow far before it
cools, while low-viscosity mafic lava will create a wide, shallow-sloped shield volcano. All real
fluids (except
superfluids) have some resistance to stress and therefore are viscous, but a fluid which has no
resistance to shear
stress is known as an ideal fluid or inviscid fluid.
The study of flowing matter is known as rheology, which includes viscosity and related concepts

Laminar and Turbulent Flow

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Laminar and turbulent flow

Turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic property changes. This

What is the difference between laminar and turbulent flow?

Typical examples of both Laminar and Turbulent flows can be

Incompressible And Compressible

For compressible flow, .

COMPRESSIBLE AND INCOMPRESSIBLE FLUIDS

Compressible fluids: are the fluids with variable density.

liquids and gases.

Although there is no such thing in reality as an incompressible fluid, we use this

term where the change in density with pressure is so small as to be negligible.

In problems involving water hammer we must consider the compressibility of

its ease of movement (fluidity).[1]

stress is known as an ideal fluid or inviscid fluid.

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