K factor calculator - EnggCyclopedia

This is a sample of the K factor calculator. To access the working calculator, please sign up for free membership trial.

The application presented here can be used to calculate the overall K factor based on the fittings in a piping segment. This K factor should be used along with the pressure drop calculator to account for total frictional losses in a piping system.

Enter the piping details:

Pipe Nominal diameter
Number of 90⁰ elbows
Number of 45⁰ elbows
Reducer upstream diameter (Reducer at the beginning of the line)
Expander downstream diameter (Expander at the end of the line)
Number of tees with 'flow through run'
Number of tees with 'flow through branch'
Number of gate valves
Number of globe valves
Number of ball valves
Number of butterfly valves
Number of check valves
Number of 3-way valves

Overall K factor for the fittings =

This K factor when multiplied by 'ρv²/2' of a stream, gives the effective pressure drop across all the fittings. This pressure drop when added to straight line pressure drop obtained from 'Pressure drop calculator' along with the elevation change gives total pressure drop across a line.

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