Compressible Flow

This book focuses on the foundations of compressible flow, illustrating the use of principles of thermodynamics and fluid dynamics in the development of compressible flow equations. It presents the topics in an organized manner facilitating natural, logical flow of the subject matter. All the relevant equations are derived rigorously using basic mathematics and mass, momentum, and energy conservation principles; that is, continuity, momentum and energy equations. The applications of compressible flow equations are illustrated using numerous example and practice problems. The topics covered include Mach number, isentropic flow, stagnation-static relationships, compressible flow tables for air, compressible flow measurements, Pitot Tube, Pitot Static Tube, Rayleigh-Pitot Equation, compressible flow with area changes, sonic flow, sonic area, sonic relationships, shock waves, shock wave relationships, normal shock waves in nozzles, moving shock waves with applications to sudden opening and closing of valves, oblique shock waves and Prandtl-Meyer expansion waves, compressible flow through ducts and pipes, adiabatic compressible flow with friction loss, Fanno Flow, compressible flow with heat transfer, Rayleigh Flow, and isothermal compressible flow through pipelines. A unique feature of this book is that it presents novel methods to solve compressible flow problems through extensive use of spreadsheets. The spreadsheet-based solution methods presented in this book eliminates the need for cumbersome trial and error procedures and they can be used in solving a great variety of problems just by suitably changing the required inputs. This book also presents a ground-breaking, rigorous approach to solving gas flow problems in pipelines through the use of appropriate generalized compressibility factors and friction factors, dispelling the wide range of results that one can possibly obtain from approaches such as Weymouth and Panhandle equations.