AFT Fathom 8 has a new and improved method for predicting system pressures that involve laminar flow or non-Newtonian fluids. The Adjusted Turbulent K Factor (ATKF) method is used to apply corrections to pipes and components involving these special flows. The ATKF method can be enabled on the System Data tab in the System Properties window.
Clicking on the question mark next to the ATKF method will access the AFT Fathom 8 Help Content that discusses the ATKF method in detail.
In September 2012, Applied Flow Technology and DuPont published a technical article for the International Pump Users Symposium that discusses how significant operational problems involving non-settling slurries and laminar flows were solved using the ATKF method that is used in AFT Fathom 8. This technical article can be found on our website and provides further insight to various methods used to correct for non-Newtonian and Laminar flows: Resolving Operational Problems in Pumping Non-Settling Slurries.
Always check the Reynold’s numbers when modeling a piping system. If the Reynold’s numbers in your model are in the laminar flow regime, or you are modeling a non-Newtonian fluid, then the ATKF method is for you! If you are curious about how significant an impact this method has on your system, then choose “None” for Laminar and Non-Newtonian Corrections, as seen in the figure above, and re-run your model. It may be shocking to see how much of an impact the ATKF method has.