Hello!
I am trying to figure out if I am going to have a problem with the nitrogen supply line for a 6KW fiber laser.
The required flow rate from the manufacturer is 3,000L/min at 35 bar. Or 500 psi and 105CFM. I am trying to cut mild steel plate up to 1/2" thick, but I am only using about half of the flow/pressure requirements at max, ~45SFM, 20 bar, 3mm orifice.
We had 3/4" copper run for the supply, about 300ft worth. The installer swears this is enough for 8 lasers, but I find it exceptionally hard to believe.
300ft of 3/4 pipe is only 26L of volume, and at 3,000L/min, I figure I'll have velocities higher than 500fps. A "pressure drop" calculator found online, populated with densities and viscosities for N2, has me expecting ~300PSI of drop at 3,000L/min. This run was supposed to be sized for two of these lasers!
I also figure that 1.25" pipe would get me down to ~110FPS flow velocities, and running the pressure drop calculator tells me to expect to loose about 30 psi. This seems much more reasonable, and ought to be able to run two of these machines at my ~45SFM/machine rate, right? I expect 500PSI supply pressure.
I am concerned because I see about 50PSI of drop across about 25ft of 3/4" braded stainless, estimated at 5/8" ID, while cutting at the 20bar/45SFM rate. I am using temporary dewers that don't have the vaporization capacity and the duty cycle I can run sucks! Damn near 15% loss here is killing me!
Finally, 15-25m/sec for gas flow through a pipe is pretty reasonable, right?
Thanks in advance for any and all advise!
I am trying to figure out if I am going to have a problem with the nitrogen supply line for a 6KW fiber laser.
The required flow rate from the manufacturer is 3,000L/min at 35 bar. Or 500 psi and 105CFM. I am trying to cut mild steel plate up to 1/2" thick, but I am only using about half of the flow/pressure requirements at max, ~45SFM, 20 bar, 3mm orifice.
We had 3/4" copper run for the supply, about 300ft worth. The installer swears this is enough for 8 lasers, but I find it exceptionally hard to believe.
300ft of 3/4 pipe is only 26L of volume, and at 3,000L/min, I figure I'll have velocities higher than 500fps. A "pressure drop" calculator found online, populated with densities and viscosities for N2, has me expecting ~300PSI of drop at 3,000L/min. This run was supposed to be sized for two of these lasers!
I also figure that 1.25" pipe would get me down to ~110FPS flow velocities, and running the pressure drop calculator tells me to expect to loose about 30 psi. This seems much more reasonable, and ought to be able to run two of these machines at my ~45SFM/machine rate, right? I expect 500PSI supply pressure.
I am concerned because I see about 50PSI of drop across about 25ft of 3/4" braded stainless, estimated at 5/8" ID, while cutting at the 20bar/45SFM rate. I am using temporary dewers that don't have the vaporization capacity and the duty cycle I can run sucks! Damn near 15% loss here is killing me!
Finally, 15-25m/sec for gas flow through a pipe is pretty reasonable, right?
Thanks in advance for any and all advise!