1 - Introduction

Abstract

This chapter provides an introduction to the transportation and handling of incompressible fluids, which is important to most process engineers, because large quantities of material are transported in the process engineering industries. Process engineering deals with the processing of large quantities of material. In order to process materials, they must be transported to the processing plant, and they must be transported from one unit operation to another within the processing environment. Materials are usually transported in a fluid phase because this is generally much easier and more cost-effective than transportation of solid. Liquids can be easily moved through pipelines or open channels, and the energy that is required can be conveniently delivered to the fluid-using pump. The incompressible fluids that the chapter deals with include pure liquids, both Newtonian and non-Newtonian, and suspension of solid particles in liquids that form slurries and pastes. Non-Newtonian fluids and suspensions are commonly encountered by chemical, metallurgical, mining, and civil engineers.