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Water hammer
Water hammer (or, more generally, fluid hammer) is a pressure surge or wave resulting when a fluid (usually a
liquid but sometimes also a gas) in motion is forced to stop or change direction suddenly (momentum change). Water
hammer commonly occurs when a valve is closed suddenly at an end of a pipeline system, and a pressure wave
propagates in the pipe. It may also be known as hydraulic shock.
This pressure wave can cause major problems, from noise and vibration to pipe collapse. It is possible to reduce the
effects of the water hammer pulses with accumulators and other features.
Rough calculations can be made either using the Joukowsky equation,[1] or more accurate ones using the method of
characteristics.
Related phenomena
Steam distribution systems may also be
vulnerable to a situation similar to water
hammer, known as steam hammer. In a
steam system, water hammer most often
occurs when some of the steam condenses
into water in a horizontal section of the
steam piping. Subsequently, steam picks up
the water, forms a "slug" and hurls it at high
velocity into a pipe fitting, creating a loud
hammering noise and greatly stressing the
pipe. This condition is usually caused by a
poor condensate drainage strategy.
Mitigating measures
Water hammer has caused accidents and fatalities, but usually damage is limited to breakage of pipes or appendages.
An engineer should always assess the risk of a pipeline burst. Pipelines transporting hazardous liquids or gases
warrant special care in design, construction, and operation.
The following characteristics may reduce or eliminate water hammer:
Reduce the pressure of the water supply to the building by fitting a regulator.
Lower fluid velocities. To keep water hammer low, pipe-sizing charts for some applications recommend flow
velocity at or below 5 ft/s (1.5 m/s).
Fit slowly-closing valves. Toilet flush valves are available in a quiet flush type that closes quietly.
High pipeline pressure rating (expensive).
Good pipeline control (start-up and shut-down procedures).
Water towers (used in many drinking water systems) help maintain steady flow rates and trap large pressure
fluctuations.
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Air vessels work in much the same way as water towers, but are pressurized. They typically have an air cushion
above the fluid level in the vessel, which may be regulated or separated by a bladder. Sizes of air vessels may be
up to hundreds of cubic meters on large pipelines. They come in many shapes, sizes and configurations. Such
vessels often are called accumulators or expansion tanks.
A hydropneumatic device similar in principle to a shock absorber called a 'Water Hammer Arrestor' can be
installed between the water pipe and the machine which will absorb the shock and stop the banging.
Air valves are often used to remediate low pressures at high points in the pipeline. Though effective, sometimes
large numbers of air valves need be installed. These valves also allow air into the system, which is often
unwanted.
Shorter branch pipe lengths.
Shorter lengths of straight pipe, i.e. add elbows, expansion loops. Water hammer is related to the speed of sound
in the fluid, and elbows reduce the influences of pressure waves.
Arranging the larger piping in loops that supply shorter smaller run-out pipe branches. With looped piping, lower
velocity flows from both sides of a loop can serve a branch.
Flywheel on pump.
Pumping station bypass.
Hydroelectric power plants must be carefully designed and maintained because the water hammer can cause water
pipes to fail catastrophically.
So for a valve closing instantaneously, the maximum magnitude of the water hammer pulse is:
where is the magnitude of the pressure wave (Pa), is the density of the fluid (kgm3), is the speed of
1 1
sound in the fluid (ms ), and is the change in the fluid's velocity (ms ). The pulse comes about due to
Newton's laws of motion and the continuity equation applied to the deceleration of a fluid element.[7]
As the speed of sound in a fluid is the , the peak pressure will depend on the fluid
,
where
a = wave speed
K = bulk modulus of elasticity of the fluid
= density of the fluid
E = elastic modulus of the pipe
D = internal pipe diameter
t = pipe wall thickness
c = dimensionless parameter due to system pipe-constraint condition on wave speed[7]
where is the inlet pressure in psi, is the flow velocity in ft/sec, is the valve closing time in seconds and
[8]
is the upstream pipe length in feet.
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In this expression[9]:
overpressurization P is expressed in Pa;
Q is the volumetric flow in m3/s;
Zh is the hydraulic impedance, expressed in kg/m4/s.
The hydraulic impedance Zh of the pipeline determines the magnitude of the water hammer pulse. It is itself defined
by:
with:
the density of the liquid, expressed in kg/m3;
A cross sectional area of the pipe, m2;
Beff effective modulus of compressibility of the liquid in the pipe, expressed in Pa.
The latter follows from a series of hydraulic concepts:
compressibility of the liquid, defined by its adiabatic compressibility modulus Bl, resulting from the equation of
state of the liquid generally available from thermodynamic tables;
the elasticity of the walls of the pipe, which defines a modulus of equivalent compressibility Beq. In the case of a
pipe of circular cross section whose thickness e is small compared to the diameter D, the equivalent modulus of
compressibility is given by the following formula: ; in which E is the Young's modulus (in Pa) of
Dynamic equations
The water hammer effect can be simulated by solving the following partial differential equations.
where V is the fluid velocity inside pipe, is the fluid density and is the equivalent bulk modulus, f is the
friction factor.
Column separation
Column separation is a phenomenon that can occur during a water-hammer event. If the pressure in a pipeline drops
rapidly to the vapor pressure of the liquid, the liquid will vaporise and a "bubble" of vapor will form in the pipeline.
This is most likely to occur at specific locations such as closed ends, high points or knees (changes in pipe slope).
When the pressure later increases above the vapor pressure of the liquid, the vapor in the bubble returns to a liquid
state, which leaves a vacuum in the space formerly occupied by the vapor. The liquid either side of the vacuum is
then accelerated into this space by the pressure difference. The collision of the two columns of liquid, (or of one
liquid column if at a closed end,) results in Cavitation and cause a large and nearly instantaneous rise in pressure.
This pressure rise can damage hydraulic machinery, individual pipes and supporting structures. Many repetitions of
cavity formation and collapse may occur in a single water-hammer event.[10]
Simulation software
Most water hammer software packages use the method of characteristics [7] to solve the differential equations
involved. This method works well if the wave speed does not vary in time due to either air or gas entrainment in a
pipeline. The Wave Method (WM) is also used in various software packages. WM allows large networks to be
analyzed efficiently. Many commercial and non commercial packages exist today.
Software packages vary in complexity, dependent on the processes modeled. The more sophisticated packages may
have any of the following features:
Multiphase flow capabilities
An algorithm for cavitation growth and collapse
Unsteady friction - the pressure waves will dampen as turbulence is generated and due to variations in the flow
velocity distribution
Varying bulk modulus for higher pressures (water will become less compressible)
Fluid structure interaction - the pipeline will react on the varying pressures and will cause pressure waves itself
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Applications
The water hammer principle can be used to create a simple water pump called a hydraulic ram.
Leaks can sometimes be detected using water hammer.
Enclosed air pockets can be detected in pipelines.
References
[1] Kay, Melvyn (2008). Practical Hydraulics (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?isbn=0415351154& pg=PA120) (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis.
ISBN0-415-35115-4. .
[2] http:/ / communities. bentley. com/ products/ hydraulics___hydrology/ f/ 5925/ p/ 60896/ 147250. aspx#147250
[3] http:/ / cr4. globalspec. com/ thread/ 73646
[4] IDO-19313: ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE SL-1 EXCURSION; (http:/ / www. id. doe. gov/ foia/ PDF/ IDO-19313. pdf) Final Report of
Progress July through October 1962, November 21, 1962, Flight Propulsion Laboratory Department, General Electric Company, Idaho Falls,
Idaho, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Technical Information.
[5] Bruce, S, Larock, E., Jeppson, R W., Watters, G.Z., Hydraulics of Pipeline Systems, CRC Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8493-1806-8, ISBN
978-0-8493-1806-1
[6] Thorley, ADR, Fluid Transients in Pipelines, 2nd ed. Professional Engineering Publishing, 2004
[7] Streeter, VL and Wylie, EB, Fluid mechanics, McGraw-Hill Higher Education; International 9th Revised Edition, 1998
[8] "Water Hammer & Pulsation" (http:/ / www. plastomatic. com/ water-hammer. html)
[9] Faisandier, J., Hydraulic and Pneumatic Mechanisms, 8th edition, Dunod, Paris, 1999 (ISBN 2100499483)
[10] Bergeron, L., 1950. Du Coup de Blier en Hydraulique - Au Coup de Foudre en Electricit. (Waterhammer in hydraulics and wave surges in
electricity.) Paris: Dunod (in French). (English translation by ASME Committee, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1961.)
External links
What is Water Hammer/Steam Hammer? (http://www.tlv.com/global/TI/steam-theory/what-is-waterhammer.
html)
Article Sources and Contributors 8
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