Incompressible Flow
When the temperature variations in the flow are small, a single-phase fluid can often be assumed incompressible; that is, ρ is constant or nearly constant. This is the case for all liquids under normal conditions and also for gases at low velocities. For constant ρ, Equation 3-14 reduces to
(3-16)
and Equation 3-15 becomes
(3-17)
Provided that the densities dependency on temperature and pressure is specified through model inputs, the density is evaluated at the reference pressure level and at the reference temperature. However, if the density is a function of other quantities such as a concentration field, or if the density is specified by a user defined expression, the user has to make sure that the density is defined as constant when the incompressible flow formulation is used.