Two-dimensional simulation of emptying manoeuvres in water pipelines with admitted air

This study examines the impact of sub-atmospheric pressures in water pipelines during emptying manoeuvres with air admitted. Previous research has looked at this issue but has not studied it in detail. This research presents a two-dimensional model using the OpenFOAM software to analyse different emptying manoeuvres in a single pipeline with entrapped air. The results show the sensitivity of the ball valve opening percentage, which show that absolute pressure drop can reduce to 23% for each 5% of ball valve opening percentage. The influence of the size of the entrapped air pocket and different air-admission orifices was also analysed. The numerical model showed that the selection of the percentage and times of opening drainage valves in pipelines with air-admission orifices is crucial in controlling sub-atmospheric pressure conditions. Finally, this study demonstrates the ability of the two-dimensional model to show the sensitivity of hydraulic drainage parameters in pipelines with entrapped air.

• Autores: Paternina-Verona, Duban; Coronado-Hernandez, Oscar; Flórez-Acero, Luis; Espinoza-Román, Hector; Ramos M., Helena; Fuertes-Miquel, Vicente
• Fecha de publicación: 2022
• Institución: Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar
• Repositorio: Repositorio Institucional UTB
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:repositorio.utb.edu.co:20.500.12585/11957
• Acceso en línea: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12585/11957
• Palabra clave: Air inflow; Computational fluid dynamics; Sub-atmospheric pressures; Emptying process; Inlet nozzle height; LEMB
• Rights: restrictedAccess
• License: http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec