Originally Posted by
orebro
Hello zombie,
Thanks very much for your explanation. I wonder if you would be kind enough to elaborate a bit on the issue of frictional losses within the pipe. On an intuitive level it seems to me that a larger diameter pipe, having more surface area, should exert a high amount of friction. Is the normal force exerted against the pipe wall lower in a larger diameter pipe? I assume not since the static pressure ought to be the same. Is the boundary layer thickness relatively taller in the smaller pipe, or is there higher turbulence in the smaller pipe. This is not really clear to me.
The reason I ask is that my tank return hole is 3/4 inch diameter but I intend to install the 1 inch flow meter. I cannot understand why a 3/4 inch sensor isn't available, but in any case I'm forced to use a combination of 3/4 inch and 1 inch diameter piping in order to complete the configuration.
The question is whether to use only a short section of 1 inch pipe to accommodate the sensor and to use 3/4 inch in the rest of the circuit or whether to use 1 inch piping in the majority of the circuit and only use 3/4 inch adapters at the pump spud and tank entry bulkhead.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of guidance in terms of sensor installation, so not only do I worry about flow rate loss due to improper sizing of the tubing, but also loss of accuracy of the sensor due to poor placement of fittings and so forth (I think the documents do mention to keep a certain minimum distance away from elbows).
This also brings up the issue of, without any other frame of reference, how can one be certain that the sensor has an accurate reading based on placement within the geometry of the circuit?
In any case, could you offer any more regarding the selection of pipe sizes?
Greatly appreciate any assistance.
Cheers,
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