Assume that you are a plant engineer. You are asked to design a piping system (d
ID: 1848289 • Letter: A
Question
Assume that you are a plant engineer. You are asked to design a piping system (diameter of the pipe) to deliver 500 gallons/minute of make-up water to a cooling tower. The pressure drop of the piping system is not to exceed 2 psi water. Without doing detailed calculation, can you classify the following solutions as non-functional, functional (satisfactory), or optimal design.(a)A pipe with a diameter of 2-inch delivering 350 gpm of water at 0.9 psi pressure drop
(b) A pipe with a diameter of 3-inch delivering 500 gpm of water at 0.5 psi pressure drop
(c) A pipe with a diameter of 1.5 inch delivering 500 gpm of water at 1.75 psi pressure drop
Explanation / Answer
(a)A pipe with a diameter of 2-inch delivering 350 gpm of water at 0.9 psi pressure drop - Non functional, since 350 gpm is less than the required 500 gpm
(b) A pipe with a diameter of 3-inch delivering 500 gpm of water at 0.5 psi pressure drop- Optimal, since the requirement is met and also the pressure drop is much less than the maximum specified.
(c) A pipe with a diameter of 1.5 inch delivering 500 gpm of water at 1.75 psi pressure drop - Functional, since the requirement of 500 gpm is met but the pressure drop is quite close to the maximum specified limit.