Head Loss & Flowrate

[The Shaman]

Hi all,

Reading the "Flow Rate" thread got me thinking about some of the things I had learned from keeping salt water reef tanks in the past. As I mentioned in that thread, there is quite a bit of info. that can be applied from reef tanks to water cooling our systems.

One of the biggest complaints (for lack of a better word) I see getting posted is that many of you have been disappointed by the actual flow rate you are getting in your H2O cooling rig, even w/ that brand new 500GPH pump you just bought. While this has been touched on in earlier threads, it seems that alot of folks really don't understand just how important head loss comes into play. Most people do realize that overall tube/pipe length plays a role. But how many folks really understand that your choice of fittings, as well as the type of tubing/piping and how they are routed plays a significant role in determining what kind of flow rate you can realistically expect?

I'm definately no expert when it comes to this, but I have learned a thing or two. For example, whenever possible, avoid using 90's(elbows). In most instances, every elbow that you add will also add about 1' of head. It really doesn't take too many elbows to reduce your flow rate to a trickle.

Here are a few links pertaining to head loss and how to help overcome them:

http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/index.php
(Fix a pot of coffee, and do a search for 'head loss'. Alot of the threads won't apply, but many will.)

http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/hlc.htm
(A head loss calculator.)

http://www.valler.com/fish/tips.html
(Head loss values for pipe & fittings, as well as a few good tips)

With just using the few resources above, you should be able to see how your flow rate has diminished significantly due to these frictional losses.

HTH

 

[Kosmic]

Thanks Shaman, these are great resources. I'm glad I flipped down to page two to find this post! I think you should post this to the "flow rate" thread if you haven't already done so.

K1

 

[The Shaman]

Glad you were able to find some useful info., Kosmic 1.

There is quite a bit more involved to designing/building a good performing H2O rig than buying a bunch 'o parts and slapping 'em together, so the more info. we can get, the better for everyone. Thanks to the great threads & articles from folks like Bill Adams, Hoot, RhoXS, and many others whose names escape me ATM (sorry guys), there is a veritable gold mine of information to be found here. I just hope I can contribute a little back to the many who have helped me. Besides, putting all of this info. to good use is really gonna be the fun part!