The Sugar Engineers

Pipe Sizing

Use these pages to calculate pipe sizes and pressure drops due to friction in the pipes, for the following products:

• Water
• Steam
• Factory Sugar Solution

The pressure drop is calculated from the following formula

h_f = 4·f·l_e / d · v²/ 2·g

where

• h_f = head loss due to friction
• f = friction factor calculated from the formula below
• l_e = equivalent pipe lenth taking into account valves and fittings
• d = bore of pipe
• v = average flow flow velocity
• g = acceleration due to gravity 9.81m/s²

f = 0.001375 · (1 + (20000· k / d + 10⁶ / Re)^1/3)

where

• k = relative roughnessof the bore of the pipe
• Re = Reynolds Number = ρ·v·d / μ
• ρ = density
• μ = dynamic viscosity