ABSTRACT
The purpose of this entry is to provide the practice infor-
mation necessary to predict pressure drop for non-time-
dependent, homogeneous, Newtonian, and non-Newtonian
fluids in fluid handling system. The intended application of
this entry is pipeline design and pump selection. A com-
prehensive discussion of pipeline design calculation can be
found in Steffe[1] and Steffe and Singh.[2]
ENGINEERING BERNOULLI EQUATION
The equation used to describe the mechanical energy bal-
ance for fluids is commonly called the “engineering
Bernoulli equation.”[3,4] Numerous assumptions are made
in developing the equation, including constant fluid den-
sity, absence of thermal energy effects, single phase, uni-
form material properties, and uniform equivalent pressure.
The mechanical energy balance for pumping an incom-
pressible fluid at steady-state conditions through a pipeline
(Fig. 1) can be expressed as[2]
