Fanning Friction Factor Research Articles

Effects of ultrasonication time on stability, dynamic viscosity, and pumping power management of MWCNT-water nanofluid: an experimental study

It is known that ultrasonication has a certain effect on thermophysical properties and heat transfer of nanofluids. The present study is the continuation of the authors’ previous research on the effects of ultrasonication on the thermophysical properties of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs)-water nanofluid. Investigating the effects of ultrasonication time on samples’ stability, rheological properties, and pumping power of a water-based nanofluid containing MWCNTs nanoparticle is the main objective of the present study. The two-step method has been employed to prepared the samples. Moreover, a probe-type ultrasonic device has been used, and different ultrasonication times have been applied. The samples’ stability is investigated in different periods. The results revealed that prolonging the ultrasonication time to 60 min leads to improving the samples’ stability while prolonging ultrasonication time to higher than 60 min resulted in deteriorating the stability. As for dynamic viscosity, it is observed that increasing ultrasonication time to 60 min leads to decreasing the dynamic viscosity of the samples. As for pumping power, it is observed that the maximum increase in fanning friction factor ratio is less than 3%, which shows that adding MWCNTs to water does not impose a considerable penalty in the required energy for pumping power.

Experimental study on transitional flow in straight channels of printed circuit heat exchanger

Experimental study on fluid flow in Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger (PCHE) with straight channels was conducted, with supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) and water as working fluid, respectively. The Reynolds number varies from 64.4 to 14160.9. The Fanning friction factors were obtained for laminar flow, transitional flow, hydraulically smooth region of turbulent flow, as well as the critical Reynolds numbers between different flow regions. The experimental result agrees with the theoretical study very well, with a deviation of 4.6%. The critical Reynolds numbers from laminar flow turning to transitional flow and then to hydraulically smooth region of turbulent flow are 2100 and 2700 for the semi-circular channel, respectively. While the values for circular channel are 2300 and 3980. Based on the new developed flow correlations and flow region identification method, modeling of PCHE was made. It is found that the simulated pressure drop with traditional flow correlations has an obvious deviation with the experimental result. It is recommended to use the new developed flow correlations and the identification method for the cases within the corresponding application ranges.

Performance and heat transfer measurements in asymmetrically-heated metal foam cooled by water

Metal foams are attractive for heat transfer applications because of their large surface area to volume ratio, and their complex structure that promotes mixing and convection. Usually metal-foam applications involve symmetric heating. The literature shows that thermal asymmetry imposed on the boundaries substantially affects the heat transfer in porous media, including metal foam. It also shows that most, if not all, the published information in this regard is numerical and/or analytical and for fully-developed flow and heat transfer conditions. Typically, the Darcy flow model is employed. There seems to be lack of experimental data, especially in the more practical non-Darcy flow regimes. In this study, a metal-foam-filled rectangular channel subjected to constant heat flux of 12,787 W/m2 on one side was used to investigate convective heat transfer. The open-cell aluminum foam sample had 20 pores per inch and 91.8% porosity. The experimental work was conducted in the Reynolds number range 2.8–25 using water as a working fluid. Pressure drop measurements showed that the flow was in the Forchheimer regime. The permeability was obtained as 3.88 × 10−8 m2 and the Forchheimer coefficient was 0.085. The Fanning friction factor correlated with the permeability-based Reynolds number to the power − 0.5. The thermal entry length was determined for the lower flow velocities and reached 2.6 hydraulic diameters. Heat transfer results showed that the average Nusselt number correlated well the Reynolds number in a power law with the exponent of Reynolds number being 0.61. The Nusselt number reached a plateau at around Reynolds number equals 10. The Colburn j factor for the metal-foam heat sink correlated with the Reynolds number to the power −0.39, and was 407% higher than that of an empty channel. A way of isolating the effect of the random orientation of the ligaments of the foam was devised by comparing the performance of the foam to staggered pin fins having the same porosity and a diameter equal to the ligament of the foam. The orientation of the ligaments of the foam was responsible for about 33% average increase in heat transfer. The experimental data and correlation of obtained can aid numerical and modeling work concerning asymmetrically-heated metal-foam heat transfer.

Turbulent flow and heat transfer of helical coils with twisted section

An innovative heat transfer enhancement method that integrates helical coil and twisted channel to augment swirl intensity is newly proposed. The characteristics of turbulent flow and heat transfer of five twisted helical coils with identical helical geometries but different twist pitches are numerically explored using ANSYS-Fluent code. Acting by the twist forces along the twisted helical coils, the swirl number, Sw, and turbulent kinetic energy of the flows are enhanced from those in the untwisted helical coils. Swirl enhancements in the twisted helical coils are derived as the function of channel twist ratio. The correlative flow and heat transfer analysis confirms the enhanced swirl intensity is the dominant flow physic for heat transfer enhancement due to the channel twist. The ratios of Nusselt number and friction factor between the twisted and untwisted helical coils at different Reynolds numbers and twist ratios are converged into the Sw functions. With all the thermal performance factors above than unity for the present twisted helical coils, the twisted coil with the twist ratio of three channel hydraulic diameters offers the maximum 19% of heat transfer elevation and 69.8% of friction augmentation from the untwisted-coil references. Based on the numerical heat-transfer and pressure-drop results, two sets of correlations that permit the evaluations of averaged Nusselt number at developed flow regime and the Fanning friction factor of the twisted helical coils are developed for relevant applications.

Heat transfer augmentation in retrofitted corrugated plate heat exchanger

Corrugated plate heat exchangers (CPHEs) have been extensively adopted especially for systems that require high thermal efficiencies such as aerospace and gas turbine power plants. According to several factors (i.e. required heat duty), CPHEs can be optimized to meet the application requirements. However, the number of the required thermal plates (Np) could be very large (Np>40) which in turn would cause several disadvantages (i.e. sever flow maldistribution). Therefore, the present study aims to introduce an innovative modification that can boost the thermal performance of the basic CPHE which in turn would reduce the number of required plates for the same heat duty. The thermal performance of the modified CPHE has been numerically investigated by using Computational Fluid dynamics (CFD) software. The numerical data have been validated with experimental measurement from the literature. The impact of the new modification has been studied on Nusselt number (Nu), fanning friction factor (f), Stanton number (St), Turbulence kinetic energy (TKE), flow maldistribution, j factor, and quality index factor (JF). The result has been compared with previously reported data of the basic corrugated and flat PHEs. At the same mass flow rate, Nu, f, and TKE of the modified CPHE are respectively 1.3, 1.7, and 3.5 times greater than those of the basic CPHE. Moreover, JF data of the modified CPHE are 1.4, and 64 times greater than those of the basic corrugated and flat PHEs, respectively. In addition to the superior thermal performance, the present modification offers larger contact area between the plates which could boost the overall mechanical integrity of the heat exchanger. Thus, this modification could pave the way for CPHEs to be incorporated in new applications that require more compact and durable HEs. The heat transfer correlations of the modified CPHE have been developed.

Identification of Gas Flow Regimes in Adiabatic Microtubes by means of Wall Temperature Measurements

There exists the laminar flow, transitional flow, turbulent flow and choked flow regimes in a microtube gas flow. Development of a non-invasive identification method of the flow regimes within a microdevice is expected. This paper demonstrated how the internal gas flow regimes can be identified by measuring the distribution of the external wall temperature of the microchannel along the flow direction. A series of experiments were conducted by using nitrogen as working fluid through a stainless steel micro-tube with an inner diameter of 523 µm and a fused silica micro-tube having a diameter of 320 µm. The experiments were performed by fixing the back pressure at the exit of the microchannel at the atmospheric value and by varying the inlet pressure in order to modify the gas flow regime. In order to measure the external wall temperature along the microtube, two or three bare type-K thermocouples with a diameter of 50 µm were attached to the micro-tube external surface by using a high conductivity epoxy. In the case of the microtube having a diameter of 523 µm, local pressures were measured at three local pressure ports along the microtube. The pressure ports were placed on the opposite side of the tube wall where three thermocouples were attached. The microtube external wall was thermally insulated with foamed polystyrene to prevent heat gain or loss from the surrounding. The experimental results show that the wall temperature decreases in the laminar flow regime, increases in the transitional flow regime, decreases in the turbulent flow regime and it stays nearly constants in the choked flow regime. The behavior of the average Fanning friction factor and the local Mach number can be explained by identifying the flow regime. It is clarified that the microtube external wall temperature is a reliable indicator of the flow regime.

A new three-dimensional CFD model for efficiency optimisation of fluid-to-air multi-fin heat exchanger

New simulation and experimental results have been obtained and are presented for a multi-tube fin heat exchanger unit, from which semi-analytical correlations for the Fanning friction and Colburn factors were developed. The multi-tube and fin heat exchanger represents the main component of the Fan Coil Unit, an essential component of HVAC systems used for domestic and commercial heating and cooling. Improving the efficiency of the heat exchanger typically comes at the expense of higher pressure drops or costlier materials and production costs. Here, an experimental setup was designed and constructed to evaluate the thermal performance of such a heat exchanger. Geometrical modifications were explored for thermal performance enhancement. Furthermore, full three-dimensional CFD case studies of the heat exchanger were investigated to examine the effect of the geometrical features on the air side of the heat exchanger to study the effect of fin spacing, transverse and longitudinal pitches. The CFD model developed was first globally validated against experimental results. The model results were used to predict the Fanning and Colburn factors and the local fin efficiency based on the carefully selected geometric parameters. The data obtained was utilised to develop two new semi-analytical models for the Fanning and Colburn friction factors which were well within ±10% error bands and showed strong correlation coefficients of more than 98 and 97% respectively.

Experimental investigations of local friction factors of laminar and turbulent gas flows in smooth micro-tubes

Local friction factors of laminar and turbulent gas flows including choked flows through micro-tubes were experimentally investigated under atmospheric back pressure and variable inlet pressure. The experiments were carried out using two glass micro-tubes with D = 265.7 and 399.9 μm and a fused silica micro-tube with D = 531.2 μm. Two to three pressure tap holes were drilled into the micro-tube wall at intervals of 5 ~ 6 mm to measure local pressures. The local Mach numbers, temperatures and friction factors were obtained by using stagnation temperatures and pressures, local pressures and mass flow rates. The results for wide range of Reynolds numbers and Mach numbers were obtained including choked flows. Both the local Fanning and the local Darcy friction factors were obtained under the assumption of both Fanno flow (adiabatic wall) and isothermal flow, respectively. Since the measured values of the inner relative surface roughness of the micro-tubes were less than 0.02 %, only the effect of compressibility on friction factors was assessed. The difference between Fanning and Darcy friction factors was described and compared with the ff and fd correlation as a function of Mach number. The friction factor difference obtained under the assumption of Fanno and isothermal flows was also compared with the available literature and numerical results. In the turbulent flow region including the choked flow, the local Fanning friction factors under the assumption of Fanno flow nearly coincided with Blasius correlation.

Theoretical models for compact printed circuit heat exchangers with straight semicircular channels

This work presents theoretical models to predict the thermo-hydraulic performance of compact printed circuit heat exchanger with semicircular straight channels. A one-dimensional steady-state thermal model was proposed to predict the thermal characteristics of the heat exchanger, where a semicircular fin is approximated as an equivalent rectangular fin. The thermal model and a new Fanning friction factor correlation are compared with literature models. In order to validate the models for the heat exchanger understudy, experimental data from literature was used. Good agreement was observed between the experimental data and the proposed theoretical models for both the heat transfer rate and the Fanning friction factor.

Experimental correlations for oscillatory-flow friction and heat transfer in circular tubes with tri-orifice baffles

Experimental results of isothermal pressure drop and convective heat transfer coefficient are presented for a smooth tube with tri-orifice baffle inserts, under net and oscillatory flow conditions. Using propylene-glycol as working fluid, net Reynolds numbers in the range Ren=10−600 are reproduced, allowing to describe Fanning friction factor in the laminar, transitional and turbulent regimes, with an onset of transition at Ren≈100 in steady-state conditions. Oscillatory Fanning friction factor for 20<Reosc<200 is also reported, based on the maximum oscillatory pressure drop obtained by statistical fitting of the signal. Nusselt number under uniform heat flux conditions is obtained for superimposed net and oscillatory flows in the ranges 10<Ren<600 and 10<Reosc<440, with Prandtl number in the range 190<Pr<470. The existence of buoyancy effects in steady-state conditions and its vanishing with oscillations is analyzed. The oscillatory flow promotes a 4-fold increase of heat transfer for Ren<20. For Ren>100, the effect of the flow oscillation on heat transfer enhancement is negligible.

Experimental investigation on the hydrothermal attributes of MWCNT/water nanofluid in the shell-side of shell and semi-circular tubes heat exchanger

This study experimentally examines the hydrothermal performance attributes of a horizontal shell and semi-circular tubes (SCTs) heat exchanger of a counter-flow configuration. The tests are done by employing cold pure water or Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube (MWCNT)/water nanofluid in the shell-side. The SCTs spacing ratio (0.157 ≤ δ ≤ 0.472), MWCNT volume concentration (0 ≤ φ ≤ 0.5%), and the operational conditions of the shell-side (3351 ≤ Resh ≤ 13461, 4.85 ≤ Prsh ≤ 7.54) are the key parameters throughout this study. Compared with the case of employing complete circular tubes and pure water in the shell-side, the results state that splitting the internal tubes and/or adding MWCNT increase both the shell-average Nusselt number (Nu¯sh) and Fanning friction factor (fsh), by average increases of 44.4–106.2% and 7.1–29.6%, respectively, when δ increases from 0.157 to 0.472, and with average increases of 8.2–41.8% and 5.9–33.6%, respectively, when φ increases from 0.1% to 0.5%. The hydrothermal performance index (HTPI) is assessed to compare the performance of the heat exchanger with SCTs and with/without MWCNT to that of the case of circular tubes and pure water. The results record that incorporating both SCTs (δ = 0.472) and MWCNT (φ = 0.5%) provides the highest HTPI; 2.46, and it is reduced by their reduction. Finally, correlations for Nu¯sh, fsh, and HTPI are proposed.

Average Friction Factor for Laminar Gas Flow in Microtubes

The average friction factor in micro tubes will help the design engineers to estimate the pressure loss in micro flow devices. The aim of the present study is to obtain numerically average Darcy and Fanning friction factors and Mach numbers between the inlet and outlet of gas flows through adiabatic microtubes. This paper presents the average Poiseuille numbers, (fd.Re)ave & (ff.Re)ave, between the inlet and outlet, those are obtained from numerical results for laminar gas flow in microtubes with diameters of 50, 100 and 150 μm and aspect ratios (i.e. length/diameter) of 100, 200 and 400, respectively. Axis-symmetric compressible momentum and energy equations were solved with the Arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) method. The stagnation pressure was chosen in such a way that the outlet Mach number ranged from 0.1 to 1.0. The outlet pressure was fixed at atmospheric condition. As a result, the average Darcy and Fanning friction factors between the inlet and outlet were obtained and compared with Moody’s chart. The (fd.Re)ave and (ff.Re)ave were also obtained and presented as a function of average Mach number and were compared with the local f.Re correlations proposed in the previous study.

Heavy Oil Laminar Flow in Corrugated Ducts: A Numerical Study Using the Galerkin-Based Integral Method

Fluid flow in pipes plays an important role in different areas of academia and industry. Due to the importance of this kind of flow, several studies have involved circular cylindrical pipes. This paper aims to study fully developed internal laminar flow through a corrugated cylindrical duct, using the Galerkin-based integral method. As an application, we present a study using heavy oil with a relative density of 0.9648 (14.6 °API) and temperature-dependent viscosities ranging from 1715 to 13000 cP. Results for different fluid dynamics parameters, such as the Fanning friction factor, Reynolds number, shear stress, and pressure gradient, are presented and analyzed based on the corrugation number established for each section and aspect ratio of the pipe.

Thermal–Hydraulic Performance in a Microchannel Heat Sink Equipped with Longitudinal Vortex Generators (LVGs) and Nanofluid

In this study, the numerical conjugate heat transfer and hydraulic performance of nanofluids flow in a rectangular microchannel heat sink (RMCHS) with longitudinal vortex generators (LVGs) was investigated at different Reynolds numbers (200–1200). Three-dimensional simulations are performed on a microchannel heated by a constant temperature with five different configurations with different angles of attack for the LVGs under laminar flow conditions. The study uses five different nanofluid combinations of Al2O3 or CuO, containing low volume fractions in the range of 0.5% to 3.0% with various nanoparticle sizes that are dispersed in pure water, PAO (Polyalphaolefin) or ethylene glycol. The results show that for Reynolds number ranging from 100 to 1100, Al2O3–water has the best performance compared with CuO nanofluid with Nusselt number values between 7.67 and 14.7, with an associated increase in Fanning friction factor by values of 0.0219–0.095. For the case of different base fluids, the results show that CuO–PAO has the best performance with Nusselt number values between 9.57 and 15.88, with an associated increase in Fanning friction factor by 0.022–0.096. The overall performance of all configurations of microchannels equipped with LVGs and nanofluid showed higher values than the ones without LVG and water as a working fluid.

Experimental investigation of effect of different tube row-numbers, fin pitches and operating conditions on thermal and hydraulic performances of louvered and wavy finned heat exchangers

Heat exchangers are used in air conditioners, heat pumps, marine, land and air vehicles, refrigeration systems, thermal and nuclear power plants, etc. Increasing heat transfer capacity of a heat exchanger means that the volume of the heat exchanger and the material used will be reduced. Besides, effects of some geometric parameters on heat transfer and pressure drop are more complex depending on the fin structure in fin and tube heat exchangers. In this study, three of the most dominant parameters affecting the thermal-hydraulic performance of a finned and tube heat exchanger were experimentally investigated. These are fin-type (louvered and wavy fins), fin pitch and number of tube-rows. The intermittent geometric structures of louvered fins break growing of the boundary layer and reduce its thickness yielding heat transfer enhancement. On the other hand, wavy fins cause an increase in the heat transfer area due to its large flow length and create instabilities in the flow due to flow separations increasing the heat transfer coefficient. In the present study, specifically five louvered finned and three wavy finned and round tube heat exchanger prototypes were manufactured. Heat transfer and pressure drop experiments of these heat exchangers were performed at a wind tunnel in a conditioned room. Heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics were presented as heat transfer coefficient ho, Stanton number St, Nusselt number Nu, dimensionless pressure drop coefficient Cp, Colburn-j factor, Fanning friction factor f, jlouver/jwavy, flouver/fwavy, j/f1/3 ratios and JF factor. The results were examined from the point of heat transfer and pressure drop mechanisms of louvered and wavy fins for the different number of tube-rows, fin pitches and air inlet velocities. It is found that Colburn-j factors and Fanning friction f factors of the LFRTHXs are higher than those of the WFRTHXs for all the studied cases. Colburn-j factors of the LFRTHXs are higher by 16.4–6.9%, 28.5–18.3% and 25–11.7% than those of the WFRTHXs for the cases of two tube-rows, three tube-rows and four tube-rows, respectively. On the other hand, pressure drops of the LFRTHXs are significantly higher than those of WFRTHXs. However, the thermal-hydraulic performances of the LFRTHXs are still higher than that of WFRTHXs. The thermal-hydraulic performance criteria j/f1/3 ratios of the LFRTHXs are higher by 9.6–4.1%, 22.1–16% and 16.8–7.4% than those of the WFRTHXs for the cases of two tube-rows, three tube-rows and four tube-rows, respectively.

Experimental Characterization of a Compact Milli-Channel Heat Exchanger for Liquid–Liquid Heat Transfer

The use of Milli-Channel Heat Exchangers (MCHE) presents numerous assets: efficient heat transfer, huge compactness, and limited pressure drop. For an engineer, the Fanning friction factor and the convective heat transfer coefficient are two main parameters to describe the performance of a heat exchanger. A brazed MCHE with rectangular channels in stainless steel made by the Institut für Mikrotechnik Mainz (IMM, Mainz, Germany) has been characterized experimentally and theoretically in a counter-current configuration. The selected working fluids are deionized water and oil without any phase change during experiments. The pilot unit ensures measurements of pressure drops, temperatures, and volumetric flow rate of each fluid flowing in laminar regime. A one-dimensional model has been developed. The temperature and pressure profiles of each fluid are represented by differential equations associated with boundary conditions. The system of coupled equations consists in a two-point boundary value problem solved numerically by the Matlab software. The parameters of a Nusselt number correlation are identified together with those of a Fanning friction factor one by minimizing a sum of squared differences between experimental and predicted data. The calculated temperature and pressure profiles present a good agreement with measurements. A statistical analysis shows that each optimized parameter is significant.

Experimental and numerical investigation of thermal-hydraulic performance of supercritical nitrogen in airfoil fin printed circuit heat exchanger

Printed circuit heat exchangers (PCHE) are a new kind of high efficiency and compact plate heat exchangers, which can be used in extreme conditions, such as high pressure, high heat flux and volumetric limitation. Supercritical fluids have various favorable characteristics when used as working fluids in heat exchangers. In this paper, the thermal-hydraulic performance of supercritical nitrogen was studied both experimentally and numerically in an airfoil fin PCHE. The mass flow rate varied from 203 kg·m−2·s−1 to 228 kg·m−2·s−1 while the operating pressure ranged from 5 MPa to 8 MPa. The cold-side outlet temperature and pressure drop in the PCHE were investigated experimentally. The outlet temperature increased as pressure increased and the average outlet temperature at 8MPa was 7.81 K higher than that at 5 MPa for the same mass flow rate. The gradient of pressure drop increased as the mass flow rate increased. Moreover, a numerical analysis of nitrogen in the channel of airfoil fins PCHE was conducted. Nusselt number and Fanning friction factor correlations were developed for Reynolds number values from 10000 to 14500. The accuracy of the proposed correlations was validated using the experimental and numerical data obtained, and results showed that they have a good accuracy for predicting the thermal hydraulic performance of supercritical nitrogen in the channel of airfoil fin PCHE.

Lattice Boltzmann study of flow pulsation on heat transfer augmentation in a louvered microchannel heat sink

The present study reports the effects of flow pulsation on laminar forced convective heat transfer in an innovative louvered microchannel heat sink (MCHS) with lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). Two to eight louver-like microstructures are arranged in tandem within a microchannel, corresponding to a pitch ratio (PR) of 0.25 to 1.75. The Reynolds number (Re) based on channel hydraulic diameter and periodically averaged bulk mean velocity ranges from 100 to 300. The pulsating inlet velocity is in triangular waveform with Strouhal number (St) varying from 0 to 2.8. In terms of numerical models, a double distribution function LBM approach is employed for modeling both fluid flow and heat transfer. Simulation results show that the profiles of Nusselt number (Nu) and Fanning friction factor (f) with St are all multi-peak for the present louvered MCHS. This finding is different from the previous single-peak trend. The correlations of overall Nu and f ratios (Nu¯/Nu0 and f¯/f0) versus Re, PR, and St for the present MCHS are established for the first time. Furthermore, the present design attains a maximum Nu¯/Nu0 of 6.16 at St = 1.8, PR = 0.58, and Re = 300, which is the highest for f¯/f0<50 among previously reported ribbed and baffled MCHSs.

System Analytical Model to Estimate and Optimize Oil Well Performance

The use of separated flow models to specify the vertical lift performance of an oil well is usually somewhat complex- due to the many equations and correlations involved in the determination of the required variables. Consequently, coding these models in the computer presents an extent of difficulty. In this study however, with the view of developing a computer model (DOBB) to perform nodal analysis for oil wells, an efficient algorithm was established to facilitate the determination of the operating pressure and liquid flow rate of oil wells (which is the point of intersection between the VLP and IPR curve). More so, Hagedorn Brown model was incorporated into the computer model to account for liquid hold ups and various flow regimes (excluding bubble flow regime) in the tubing string. The computer model developed in this study is equipped with the ability to determine fanning friction factor of the tubing string provided that the roughness of the pipe is known. Also, when the developed computer model was tested with some ranges of data points, nodal analysis plots were obtained from the different data points. Nonetheless, DOBB (a production engineering toolkit developed in this study) was proven to be efficient on the part of performing nodal analysis for oil wells.

System Analytical Model to Estimate and Optimize Oil Well Performance

The use of separated flow models to specify the vertical lift performance of an oil well is usually somewhat complex- due to the many equations and correlations involved in the determination of the required variables. Consequently, coding these models in the computer presents an extent of difficulty. In this study however, with the view of developing a computer model (DOBB) to perform nodal analysis for oil wells, an efficient algorithm was established to facilitate the determination of the operating pressure and liquid flow rate of oil wells (which is the point of intersection between the VLP and IPR curve). More so, Hagedorn Brown model was incorporated into the computer model to account for liquid hold ups and various flow regimes (excluding bubble flow regime) in the tubing string. The computer model developed in this study is equipped with the ability to determine fanning friction factor of the tubing string provided that the roughness of the pipe is known. Also, when the developed computer model was tested with some ranges of data points, nodal analysis plots were obtained from the different data points. Nonetheless, DOBB (a production engineering toolkit developed in this study) was proven to be efficient on the part of performing nodal analysis for oil wells.