Isothermal, Compressible-Gas Flow in Horizontal Pipes With an Imperfect Gas

Abstract

A method for calculating pressure drop, based on a three parameter “law” of corresponding states, is developed rigorously from thermodynamic and fluid dynamic principles. A pressure correction factor Y = 0.6527 + 0.3473Z is adequate for most practical problems, when the pressure is low and the compressibility factor, Z, is a linear function of the pressure. This result is checked against computations from natural-gas engineering, where the correction is not negligible. However, the method is applicable, by means of machine calculations, to problems where Z is not a linear function of pressure.