With new techniques in the hydraulic design and control of variable volume systems, knowledge of where the pressure drop occurs is as important as knowledge of its magnitude. Thus, if fitting losses cannot be accurately determined, system control instabilities often result. Better information on the impact of multiple fittings would allow engineers to optimize pump and pipe sizing, system cost and system energy use. The objective of this research project is to generate test data on pressure losses from multiple fittings. This will allow: a) design engineers to make appropriate adjustments to single fitting values in real system configurations, and to incorporate alternative fitting arrangements to improve system design, and, b) research engineers to validate a computational fluid dynamics model which in turn could be used to generate pressure loss estimates for a wider range of configurations.

Principal Investigator: William Rahmeyer, Utah State University

Conducted: April 1998 - April 1999

Sponsored by: TC 6.1, Hydronic and Steam Equipment and Systems