Balancing flow across a distribution manifold

One header, several parallel branches, and the last branch takes far more than its share. Uneven distribution is one of the most common reasons process equipment underperforms, and one of the easiest to see in simulation.

The question

A manifold feeds a bank of identical channels. Performance depends on each channel receiving the same flow, but measurements suggest some are starved. The study has to quantify the split, explain it and identify a modification that fixes it without adding more pressure drop than the pump can supply.

The approach

The full manifold is modelled from inlet pipe to outlet, because the maldistribution is set by how momentum carries the flow along the header rather than by anything inside an individual branch. The baseline is solved first and the mass flow through every branch extracted.

Candidate fixes are then run as geometry variants under identical conditions: a tapered header, a perforated baffle at the inlet and resized branch entries. Each is judged on two numbers: the spread of branch flow rates and the total pressure drop.

What the study delivers

• The flow through each branch as a percentage of the ideal equal share
• A breakdown of where pressure is lost: inlet expansion, header, branch entries, outlet
• Velocity fields that show the mechanism behind the maldistribution
• A ranked comparison of the modifications, with the trade against pressure drop

Why it matters

A manifold that distributes evenly lets every downstream channel do its job, whether that is exchanging heat, filtering or reacting. Seeing the mechanism means the fix is chosen with understanding instead of trial and error on the plant.