Choked Flow in valve
I would like to know if choked flow can occur in a valve even if the
velocity of air passing through the valve has not reached Mach 1.
Also how will I determine is the flow is choked or not, given I know the upstream and downstream pressures.
Take a look to the Venturi's effect: it could be useful.
If downstream pressure is less than
P(crit)=P(upstream)*(2/(k+1))^(k/(k-1)
Then
the flow is critical and velocity is 1.0 M. For air this works out to
0.528 times upstream pressure (in absolute units). For typical natural
gas (i.e., k=1.28) it is 0.549 times upstream pressure.
If the air is at 200 psig (NEVER say "200 psi" on eng-tips.com, it means
nothing and makes it harder for people to help you) and you are at sea
level then P(up) = 214.7 psia and P(crit)=113.36 psia=98.66 psig. As
long as the exhaust pressure is less than 98.666 psig then you will have
critical flow and velocity will be 1.0 M.
Now if the values you gave were psia then P(crit)=105.6 psia=90.9 psig so with 100 psia downstream you are choked and velocity =1.0M
Choked does not mean that the flow stops.
Choked does not mean that
you can't get any additional flow through the valve. Just open the
valve(Balance valves) more and you'll have more flow.
It really only means that the
actual capacity is less than that predicted by the noncritical Cv
equation. Once the deviation of the measured flow less than the
predicted flow exceeds 2% the flow is said to have choked.
Another
thing that happens is if the flow is choked and tnothing else changes,
it is possible to lower the downstream pressure additionally wouthout
affecting the flowrate.
Once the flow is choked: the math changes and you use a different equation. Any manufacturer's sizing software
is going to address this and automatically shift to the compressible
flow routine. The compressible flow routine has 15 variables. It is not
fun. If you are sizing valves by pencil, paper, and calculator you
have too much free time.
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