An analytical solution for flow in a manifold

An analytical solution is developed for flow in a manifold. The interest is primarily for trickle irrigation laterals, but the solution has broader applications including those for which pressure increases in the direction of flow and for intake manifolds. Both velocity head losses and variable discharge along the manifold are considered in the fundamental analysis. The appropriate second order, nonlinear equation is solved for two flow regimes, laminar and fully turbulent. Results indicate that for most trickle irrigation laterals the velocity head loss is negligible, but for an example from a chemical processing system the effect is important.