2Z-Scan2Send - Shareware Version - www.scan2send.de Part 1 AIRFLOW Section1.1 Basic Fluid Flow Definition of a Fluid A fluid is a material which cannot resist a shearing stress without moving. A continuous distortion occurs by the application of very small forces. Therefore all fluids possess the property of flowing freely. Classification Fluids are usually classified as either liquids or gases. Liquids A liquid posses volume but no definite shape and when poured into a container, it will fill it up to the volume of the liquid irrespective of the shape of the container. Liquids are considered to be incompressible and to have negligible thermal expansion. This means that the volume of the liquid would be unaffected by changes in pressure and temperature. This is not strictly true, however the influence on flow is negligible. The main liquid of concern in mine ventilation in general and mine environmental control is water, which is used for dust control and firefighting. Fluid flow information is used in the design of service water and ground or fissure water pumping systems. Gases A gas has no set volume or shape and it will fil any closed container into which it is placed. For a given mass of gas the pressure, temperature and volume are related by the Universal Gas Law. For some flow problems, although the gas is compressible, it can be considered as incompressible. An example is when testing fans where compressibility effects are ignored providing the fan pressure (Static) is less than 2.5 kPa, The main gas of concern with respect to fluid flow in mines is al compressed air. both for ventilation and Pressure Pressure is the force applied to a unit area Static Pressure Static pressure acts with the same magnitude in all directions regardless of the direction of Flow. It is sometimes known as bursting pressure. Absolute static pressure is the total weight of an atmosphere of still air. Static pressure is normally measured at right angles to the direction of flow as illustrated in Figure 1.1