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Motivation

In traditional compressible flow classes there is very little discussion about the speed of sound outside the ideal gas. The author thinks that this approach has many shortcomings. In a recent consultation an engineer^3.1design a industrial system that contains converting diverging nozzle with filter to remove small particles from air. The engineer was well aware of the calculation of the nozzle. Thus, the engineer was able to predict that was a chocking point. Yet, the engineer was not ware of the effect of particles on the speed of sound. Hence, the actual flow rate was only half of his prediction. As it will shown in this chapter, the particles can, in some situations, reduces the speed of sound by almost as half. With the ``new'' knowledge from the consultation the calculations were within the range of acceptable results.

The above situation is not unique in the industry. It should be expected that engineers know how to manage this situation of non pure substances (like clean air). The fact that the engineer knows about the chocking is great but it is not enough for today's sophisticated industry^3.2. In this chapter an introductory discussion is given about different situations which can appear the industry in regards to speed of sound.

Next: Introduction Up: Speed of Sound Previous: Speed of Sound Index

Created by:Genick Bar-Meir, Ph.D.
On: 2007-11-21