The Flow of Gases in Pipes at Low Pressures

Abstract

Data are presented on the flow of air at low pressures in copper pipes of radius 0.795 and 1.30 cm; iron pipes of radius 2.64, 5.12, and 10.1 cm; and for hydrogen in a copper pipe of radius 1.30 cm. Data are also given for the resistance to flow of air in 1½- and 3-inch nominal pipe size elbows, for 1½-inch Kinney bellows valves, and for short sections of 1-inch nominal pipe size iron pipe connecting large gas chambers. The data on straight iron and copper pipes, together with the data from the literature on glass capillaries, are correlated by the introduction of a correction factor F in Poiseuille's equation. F is correlated graphically in terms of a dimensionless group representing the ratio of mean free path to pipe radius, with separate curves for iron pipe and for copper and glass pipes or capillaries.