Dimensional Analysis

Abstract

Even in the absence of chemical reactions, transport phenomena treat very complex physical processes. When chemical reactions are present, the complexity increases in an extraordinary manner. As seen in previous chapters, the calculation of the fluid field requires solving a set of coupled nonlinear partial differential equations. Even though the arrival of the computer allows us to obtain numerical solutions previously considered impossible, however, many industrial problems still cannot be solved in detail or with exactitude. For this to be possible, we must await an increase in the size and power of computers in various orders of magnitude. Until this happens, to uncover in detail and reliability the fluid dynamics of many industrial processes, one must resort to experiments. And the essential tool for laboratory tests is dimensional analysis.