Flow in a rotating non-aligned straight pipe

Abstract

A third-order regular perturbation solution is developed for laminar flow through a straight pipe that is rotating about an axis not aligned with the pipe axis. Coriolis accelerations produce transverse secondary velocities (similar to those in flow through coiled tubes) and modify the axial-velocity profile. The effects of rotation on the velocity fields are shown to depend on two parameters: (i) the product of axial and rotational Reynolds numbers, and (ii) the square of the rotational Reynolds number itself. Even though their strength increases with increases in parameter magnitudes, transverse circulations are qualitatively insensitive to parametric values. The axial profile, on the other hand, can be significantly modified by the rotation; the zeroth-order parabolic axial profile can be skewed toward the outside, dimpled in the centre with maximums on either side of the centreline, or both, depending on the values of the two parameters. The modification of the axial-velocity profile has important ramifications in the design of heat/mass-transfer devices.