Calculators › LineWorks
LIQUID HYDRAULICS
LineWorks
Calculate line pressure losses, fittings and liquid-flow performance.
Calculates the pressure loss along a line: straight pipe, a reducer or expander to a second bore, fittings, up to two valves by their flow coefficient, an orifice, extra resistance and a change of elevation.
Prices
| Runs | Price |
|---|---|
| Every run | 1 credit |
- A run that fails because of its inputs, doesn't converge or runs out of time is free.
- Cancelling a run is free, before or after it starts.
- A fault on our side is never charged: the run is tried again automatically.
A credit costs 8p to 10p, depending on the pack. Credits don't expire. Packs and prices
Inputs and results
You enter
- The fluid: a ThermoWorks mixture at its temperature and pressure, the workbook's saved properties, or a density and viscosity you enter
- Flow rate, bores, length, roughness and change of elevation
- Fittings from Crane's table of 57, valve flow coefficients (Cv), an orifice bore, extra K and L/D
You get
- Pressure loss, pressure gradient and equivalent length
- Velocity, Reynolds number and friction factor
- What each part of the line adds to the loss
Example: Pressure loss
TWO PHASEThe workbook's line: 600 kg/h of a light-hydrocarbon mixture, mostly methane, at 150 K and 1.013 bar absolute (two-phase), through 128 m of 102.26 mm bore pipe with the workbook's fittings and a Cv 43.5 valve.
The starting case every new LineWorks case opens on, run by the engine on our servers and stored (engine 1.0.0 · data 1.0.0+components-1.0.0). Nothing is calculated in your browser, here or in the calculator. Exports and the other tools of a run need an account.
Pressure balance
Pipeline schematic · not to scale
Live property transfer · 600 kg/h at -123.15 °C, 1.013 bar absolute. Liquid density: PR liquid-root fallback.
Resolved hydraulic properties
| Density · kg/m³ | 1.937993 |
| Viscosity · cP | 0.00624498 |
| Mass flow · kg/h | 600 |
| Actual volume flow · m³/h | 309.59864 |
Mixture & phase properties
| Property | Liquid | Vapour |
|---|---|---|
| Density · kg/m³ | 735.966873503 | 1.406210084 |
| Viscosity · cP | 0.465967152 | 0.006225501 |
| Phase flow · kg/h | 164.954448993 | 435.045551007 |
| Molecular weight · g/mol | 40.409611532 | 17.028480955 |
| Surface tension · mN/m | 24.58875251 | |
| Vapour Z | 0.98358 | |
| Vapour mass fraction | 0.725076 | |
| Bubble / dew temperature | -163.191 °C / -56.149 °C | |
Hydraulic detail
| Quantity | Bore 1 | Bore 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Velocity · m/s | 10.47108432 | 10.47108432 |
| Reynolds number | 332,255.684563985 | 332,255.684563985 |
| Darcy friction factor | 0.018018576 | 0.018018576 |
| Gradient · bar/100 m | 0.018705271 | 0.018705271 |
| Fully turbulent factor | 0.016616 | |
| Inventory fitting K | 4.25357 | |
| Cv equivalent K | 123.707 | |
| Transition angle · degrees | 0 | |
| Transition K · bore 1 basis | 0 | |
| Orifice K | 0 | |
| Total resistance K · bore 1 | 150.51454 | |
| Equivalent length · bore 1 · m | 854.21163 | |
| Friction / velocity / elevation · bar | 0.159783 / 0 / 0 | |
Phase compositions & mass balance
| Component | Feed z | Liquid x | Vapour y |
|---|---|---|---|
| METHANE | 0.82 | 0.091202 | 0.936447 |
| ETHANE | 0.07 | 0.318551 | 0.030287 |
| PROPANE | 0.035 | 0.249685 | 0.000698 |
| n-BUTANE | 0.015 | 0.108822 | 0.000009 |
| ISOBUTANE | 0.008 | 0.057983 | 0.000014 |
| n-PENTANE | 0.005 | 0.036293 | 0 |
| NITROGEN | 0.02 | 0.000375 | 0.023136 |
| CARBON DIOXIDE | 0.027 | 0.137089 | 0.00941 |
Vapour mole fraction β = 0.862233. Maximum mole-balance residual: 1.11e-16.
CARBON DIOXIDE: T is below its pure-component freezing point (216.58 K); no solids model.
Pure liquid density is undefined for at least one dissolved supercritical component. Entire liquid density uses Peng–Robinson (kij = 0), rather than dropping its mass.
12 component/property correlations are outside their temperature ranges. Results include extrapolation; inspect the coverage list.
Two-phase stream: LineWorks uses homogeneous density and viscosity with no phase slip.
Pressure loss exceeds 10% of inlet absolute pressure. Constant-property flow needs a pressure-dependent check.
Extrapolated correlations (source ranges in K)
PROPANE: muL 240–418 K
n-BUTANE: muL 180–425 K
ISOBUTANE: muL 190–408 K
NITROGEN: psat 63.15–123.15 K
NITROGEN: density 63.15–126.1 K
NITROGEN: muL 63–125 K
NITROGEN: sigma 63.15–126.1 K
CARBON DIOXIDE: psat 216.59–296.59 K
CARBON DIOXIDE: density 216.58–304.19 K
CARBON DIOXIDE: muL 219–304 K
CARBON DIOXIDE: sigma 216.58–304.19 K
CARBON DIOXIDE: muG 195–1500 K
Methods
- Crane's Technical Paper 410 throughout
- Darcy friction factor: laminar flow up to a Reynolds number of 2100, Colebrook–White (in Serghides' form) above it; transitional flow is flagged
- Fittings as resistance coefficients from Crane's table; valves from their Cv; reducers, expanders and square-edged orifices from Crane's expressions
- A two-phase stream is treated as homogeneous, without slip
How every calculator is tested: Methods and validation.
Limits
- Properties are constant along the line
- Homogeneous two-phase flow only: no slip or flow regime
- A loss above 10 % of the inlet pressure is flagged
Results are screening estimates from the methods described. A competent engineer must check them before relying on them in design, safety or operating decisions.
How it is checked
- Parity with the original
- The engine is a port of the original standalone calculator, and reproduces it on 617 generated cases: every quantity within 10⁻¹² relative.
- Validation against reference data
- No published reference cases yet.
- The original's own checks
- Gives the saved workbook's velocity, Reynolds number, friction factor and pressure loss for its starting line.