Natural Gas - Pipe Sizing

Sizing low pressure natural gas pipe lines - imperial units

The tables below can be used for natural gas pipe sizing.

Steel Pipe - Schedule 40

• pressure less than 1 1/2 psig
• common to use fittings factor 1.5 - equivalent pipe length in table above = pipe length + 50%
• pressure drop 0.5 inches water column
• specific gravity of natural gas 0.6
• energy content in natural gas 1000 Btu/ft³ (37.26 MJ/m³)
• steel pipes schedule 40

For natural gas the nominal BTU/ft³ varies from about 900 to 1100 BTU/ft³. In general it is common to set

• 1 Cubic Foot (ft³, CF) = Approx 1,000 BTUs
• 1 CFH = 1 MBH

Copper Tubing - type K

• pressure less than 1 1/2 psig
• common to use fittings factor 1.5 - equivalent pipe length in table above = pipe length + 50%
• pressure drop 0.5 inches water column
• specific gravity of natural gas 0.6
• energy content in natural gas 1000 Btu/ft³ (37.26 MJ/m³)
• One MBH is equivalent to 1000 BTU's per hour
• copper tubing type K

Copper Tubing - type L

• pressure less than 1 1/2 psig
• common to use fittings factor 1.5 - equivalent pipe length in table above = pipe length + 50%
• pressure drop 0.5 inches water column
• specific gravity of natural gas 0.6
• energy content in natural gas 1000 Btu/ft³ (37.26 MJ/m³)
• One MBH is equivalent to 1000 BTU's per hour
• copper tubing type L

• 1 Btu/h = 0.293 W
• 1 lb = 0.4536 kg
• 1 ft (foot) = 0.3048 m
• 1 in water = 248.8 N/m² (Pa) = 0.0361 lb/in² (psi) = 25.4 kg/m² = 0.0739 in mercury
• 1 psi (lb/in²) = 6,894.8 Pa (N/m²)

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