Natural Gas Piping - Sizing vs. Capacity
The tables and diagrams below can be used to size natural gas pipes with pressures above 5 psi (35 kPa) .
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| Pressure (psig) | Capacity of 100 ft Steel Pipe Schedule 40 ( MBH ≈ CFH ) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pipe Dimension (in) | |||||||||||
| Upstream | Downstream | 1/2 | 3/4 | 1 | 1 1/4 | 1 1/2 | 2 | 2 1/2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 10 | 9.5 | 355 | 745 | 1400 | 2880 | 4310 | 8305 | 13240 | 23400 | 47730 | 86350 |
| 9.0 | 515 | 1080 | 2030 | 4160 | 6240 | 12020 | 19150 | 33860 | 69060 | 124940 | |
| 9 | 8.5 | 350 | 730 | 1370 | 2815 | 4210 | 8120 | 12940 | 22880 | 46600 | 84420 |
| 8.1 | 475 | 995 | 1875 | 3850 | 5770 | 11100 | 17700 | 31300 | 63840 | 115500 | |
| 8 | 7.6 | 300 | 630 | 1190 | 2440 | 3650 | 7040 | 11215 | 19830 | 40440 | 76170 |
| 7.2 | 440 | 910 | 1720 | 3530 | 5290 | 10190 | 16240 | 28710 | 58560 | 105940 | |
| 7 | 6.6 | 290 | 615 | 1160 | 2380 | 3565 | 6865 | 10940 | 19345 | 39460 | 71390 |
| 6.3 | 395 | 830 | 1560 | 3210 | 4810 | 9260 | 14760 | 26090 | 53210 | 96260 | |
| 6 | 5.7 | 245 | 515 | 970 | 1990 | 2990 | 5730 | 9140 | 16160 | 32950 | 59620 |
| 5.4 | 355 | 745 | 1400 | 2880 | 4310 | 8310 | 13245 | 23415 | 47760 | 86400 | |
| 5 | 4.7 | 240 | 500 | 940 | 1935 | 2900 | 5580 | 8895 | 15730 | 32080 | 58030 |
| 4.5 | 315 | 660 | 1240 | 2540 | 3810 | 7340 | 11695 | 20680 | 42170 | 76300 | |
- inlet upstream pressure is more than 5 psig (35 kPa)
- fittings factor 1.2 - equivalent pipe length = pipe length + 20%
- steel pipes schedule 40
For natural gas the nominal BTU/cf varies from about 900 to 1100 BTU/cf. In general it is common to set
- 1 Cubic Foot (CF) = Approx 1,000 BTUs
- 1 CFH ≈ 1 MBH (MBH is thousands of BTUs per hour)
- 1 MBH is equivalent to 1000 BTU's per hour (0.29 kW = 0.29 kJ/s)
- 1 Btu/h = 0.293 W
- 1 lb = 0.4536 kg
- 1 ft (foot) = 0.3048 m
- 1 in water = 248.8 N/m 2 (Pa) = 0.0361 lb/in 2 (psi) = 25.4 kg/m 2 = 0.0739 in mercury
- 1 psi (lb/in 2 ) = 6,894.8 Pa (N/m 2 )
Natural Gas Pipe Capacity Diagram - 10% Pressure Drop
Related Topics
• Fluid Flow and Pressure Loss
Pipe lines - fluid flow and pressure loss - water, sewer, steel pipes, pvc pipes, copper tubes and more.
• Gases and Compressed Air
Air, LNG, LPG and other common gas properties, pipeline capacities, sizing of relief valves.
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