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Modern Engineering Thermodynamics

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666 CHAPTER 16: Compressible Fluid Flow<br />

EXAMPLE 16.7<br />

Automobile safety equipment now includes air bags, which are essentially large balloons that inflate very quickly on vehicle<br />

impact. To investigate the feasibility of using high-pressure compressed air to inflate bags, we want to determine the<br />

minimum tube diameter necessary to completely fill a spherical air bag to a diameter of 3.00 feet in 30.0 milliseconds to a<br />

pressure of 15.0 psia using air from a compressed air storage tank maintained at p os = 1500. psia and T os = 70.0°F.<br />

Solution<br />

If the air bags are to be inflated from a high-pressure compressed air storage tank, the maximum air flow rate from the tank<br />

corresponds to the minimum required fill-tube diameter operating under choked flow conditions. The average mass flow<br />

rate of air into the bag is<br />

where<br />

_m avg =<br />

V bag = πD3 bag<br />

6<br />

Mass of air in the bag<br />

Required bag fill time = ρ airV bag<br />

t fill<br />

=<br />

πð3:00 ftÞ3<br />

6<br />

= 14:1ft 3<br />

The temperature of the air entering the bag can be computed from Eq. (16.18) as<br />

<br />

<br />

2<br />

2<br />

T air = T os = ð70:0 + 459:67 RÞ<br />

= 441 R<br />

k + 1<br />

1:40 + 1<br />

Consequently, the density of the air entering the bag at 15 psia is<br />

ρ air =<br />

p air<br />

= ð15:0 lbf/ft2 Þð144 in 2 /ft 2 Þ<br />

lbm<br />

= 0:0918<br />

R air T air ð53:34 ft.lbf/lbm.RÞð441 RÞ ft 3<br />

The minimum diameter of the bag fill tube may now be determined from Eq. (16.22b) by setting _m avg = _m max :<br />

or<br />

A tube = πD2 tube<br />

4<br />

= _m pffiffiffiffiffiffi<br />

max T os<br />

0:532πp os<br />

<br />

D tube =<br />

4 _m pffiffiffiffiffiffi<br />

1/2<br />

" pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi<br />

# 1/2<br />

avg T os<br />

4ð43:4 lbm/sÞ 70:0 + 459:67 R<br />

=<br />

p ffiffiffi<br />

= 1:26 in<br />

0:532πp os ð0:532 lbm. R /lbf .sÞðπÞð1500: lbf/in 2 Þ<br />

The graph in Figure 16.16 shows the variation in fill-tube diameter with compressed air pressure. Note that, even with<br />

a storage tank at 4000. psia, a ¾-inch diameter fill tube is required. Also, since our analysis was for an isentropic process,<br />

losses in the system would necessitate using a larger diameter to achieve the required inflation.<br />

Considering the size of the fill tube and the financial cost of this type of inflation system, it is not surprising to find that air<br />

bags are actually inflated by a rapid chemical reaction (explosion) that releases a large amount of gas in a short period.<br />

4<br />

Fill-tube diameter (inches)<br />

3<br />

2<br />

1<br />

0<br />

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000<br />

Fill-tank pressure (psia)<br />

FIGURE 16.16<br />

Example 16.7.

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