Effect of a commercial air valve on the rapid filling of a single pipeline: A numerical and experimental analysis

The filling process in water pipelines produces pressure surges caused by the compression of air pockets. In this sense, air valves should be appropriately designed to expel sufficient air to avoid pipeline failure. Recent studies concerning filling maneuvers have been addressed without considering...

Full description

Autores:
Tipo de recurso:
Fecha de publicación:
2019
Institución:
Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar
Repositorio:
Repositorio Institucional UTB
Idioma:
eng
OAI Identifier:
oai:repositorio.utb.edu.co:20.500.12585/9249
Acceso en línea:
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12585/9249
Palabra clave:
Air valve
Air-water interface
Filling
Flow
Pipelines
Transient
Air
Equations of state
Filling
Pipelines
Transients
Air valves
Air water interfaces
Filling process
Flow
Numerical and experimental analysis
Pipeline failures
Pressure surges
Thermodynamic variables
Phase interfaces
Accuracy assessment
Air-water interaction
Equipment
Experimental study
Model validation
Numerical method
Numerical model
Operations technology
Oscillation
Pipeline
Simulation
Thermodynamics
Transient flow
Rights
openAccess
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Description
Summary:The filling process in water pipelines produces pressure surges caused by the compression of air pockets. In this sense, air valves should be appropriately designed to expel sufficient air to avoid pipeline failure. Recent studies concerning filling maneuvers have been addressed without considering the behavior of air valves. This work shows a mathematical model developed by the authors which is capable of simulating the main hydraulic and thermodynamic variables during filling operations under the effect of the air valve in a single pipeline, which is based on the mass oscillation equation, the air-water interface, the polytropic equation of the air phase, the air mass equation, and the air valve characterization. The mathematical model is validated in a 7.3-m-long pipeline with a 63-mm nominal diameter. A commercial air valve is positioned in the highest point of the hydraulic installation. Measurements indicate that the mathematical model can be used to simulate this phenomenon by providing good accuracy. © 2019 by the authors.