 Flows in a pipe are

usually in an unsteady
state.
 Altering the rate of
flow can cause large
pressure fluctuations
which can endanger
the integrity of the
pipe.
 Such pressure
fluctuations are called
pressure transients
and the state of flow
in which they occur is The pressure, P is represented as a
called transient flow. function of time, t resulting from the
operation of a control valve
 Hydraulic transients can cause hydraulic equipments in a pipe
network to fail .
 If the pressures are excessively higher then the pressure
ratings of the pipeline, failure through pipe or joint rupture, or
bend or elbow movement may occur.
 Excessive low pressures (negative pressures) can result in,
crushing implosion and leakage at pipe joints during
subatmospheric phases.
 Column separation (cavitation) could occur in a section of the
pipeline where local pressure goes below saturation vapour
pressure (to be shown in the results).
 Start, stoppage of pumps, power failure, mechanical
failure, etc.
 Load changes in hydropower plants.
 Operations of valves.
 Check valve closure.
 Air and vapour pockets in pipelines.
 Inflow and outflow of air through air vent, valves.
 According to Joukowski, the pressure rise in a rigid pipe is given by,
H = av/g
H=Surge Pressure head, a=Speed of the pressure wave, v=Change in the flow
velocity.
we select the simple pipe flow with the following:
Pipe length = 1000 m
Sonic velocity = 1000 m/s
Velocity of fluid = 1.0 m/s
According to Joukowski’s equation,
 Pressure rise = (1000 x 1.0)/9.81

= 101.9367 MWC

Pressure Surge cannot be ignored!!!!

Two pumps in operation and one on
stand-by mode.
 Air Valves
 Air Vessel
 Surge Tanks used in case of Turbines.
During vacuum condition the mobile block is laid over the aerodynamic diffuser, the
antishock disk comes down pulling the stainless steel spring allowing the entrance of a large
volume of air through the main orifice, to compensate for the vacuum effect.
When negative pressure conditions end, the stainless steel spring pulls back the antishock
disk to close the main orifice. Internal air must therefore flow out through the small disk
orifices creating a back-pressure inside the conduct that will slow down the incoming water
column avoiding upsurges.
 The assumptions made for the air valve model are as
follows:

 Air enters and leaves the pipe through the valve under
isentropic flow conditions.
 The air mass within the pipe follows a polytropic law(of
index “n”).
 The air admitted to the pipe stays near the valve where it
can be expelled.
 The elevation of the liquid surface remains substantially
constant.
 The volume of air is small compared with the liquid volume
of a pipeline reach.
 The subsonic air flow in (p0 > p > 0.528 p0):
dm  1 
1 
 Cin Ain 2 0 p0  p p0    p p0  n  
2/ n
Ref. 7
dt  
 Critical air flow in (p < 0.528 p0):
dm 0.528 n
 Cin Ain p0 Ref. 7
dt RT0
 The subsonic air flow out (p0/0.528 > p > p0):

dm 2   1 
1 
   
2/ n
 Cout Aout  p p0  p p0
n 

Ref. 7
dt RT  
 Critical air flow out (p > p0/0.528):

dm 0.528 n Ref. 7
 Cout Aout p0
dt RT

When the piezometric pressure head (p0) drops below pipe elevation, the air
valve opens for air to enter, and the general gas law is satisfied (pV=mRt).
H 1 Q fQ Q
  0 Newton’s Second Law of Motion
x gA t 2 gDA2

H  a 2 Q
 0 Continuity Equation
t gA x
Where, a 2 
K/
1   K/ E  D/ t 
We need to slove Q and H as a function of time at different location along the
pipeline.
By combining the two equations by a multiplier we can get the x-t grid and the
MOC equations:

C  : H i , j  H i 1, j t  B  Qi , j  Qi 1, j t   RQi 1, j t Qi 1, j t

C  : H i , j  H i 1, j t  B  Qi , j  Qi 1, j t   RQi 1, j t Qi 1, j t

In which, B  a gA
And R  f x 2 gDA2
Diameter: 200 mm

Friction Coefficient: 0.03

Valve head loss (full opening):

0.1 MWC

Sonic Velocity: 1000 m/s

No. Of Pipe Element: 50

Valve closure expression (non-

dimensional): Tau = (1– t/Tc)m

Length of Pipe Line: 1000 m

Reservoir Head: 10 m; 20 m

Valve closing time (Tc): 5 s; 25

s; 50 s; m = 1.5

Discharge: 0.03572 m3/s; 0.0506

m3/s
 0
1

0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.2
0
0.6
1.2
1.8
2.4
3
3.6
4.2
4.8
5.4
6
6.6
7.2
7.8
8.4
9
9.6
10.2
10.8
11.4
12
12.6
13.2
13.8
14.4
15
15.6
16.2
16.8
17.4
18
18.6
19.2
19.8
20.4
21
21.6
22.2
22.8


23.4
24
24.6
τ
 350 Reservor Head: 20 m; Valve closing time: 5 s
(Pressure Head at the valve end)
300 (without air valve and vapour cavitation model)

250

200
Pressure Head (MWC)

150

100

50

-50

-100

-150

-200

-250

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Time (sec)

Result without Vapour Cavitation Model. The

negative pressure that we get is practically too
low, as the effect of cavitation has not been
considered.
 120 Reservoir Head: 10 m; Valve closing time: 5 s
(without Air-Valve)
110

100 Pressure head at the valve-end

90

80
Pressure Head (MWC)

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

-10

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (sec)

•Peak Pressure:115MWC
•Local pressure becomes equal to the vapour pressure-formation of
vapour cavity.
 0.0350 140 Reservoir Head: 10 m; Valve closing time: 5 s
(with air-valve)
130 Pressure haed & air-volume at the mid length (x = 500 m)

0.0300 120

110

100 Air-volume
0.0250
Air-cavity volume (cum)

Pressure Head (MWC)

90

80
0.0200
70

60
0.0150
50

40
0.0100
30 Pressure head

20
0.0050 10

0.0000 -10

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (sec)
•In this case cavitation does not occur due to the incorporation of air
valve.
•As the admitted air in the pipeline is expelled out and the water
coloumn rejoin, pressure surge is created, which in this case is due to
the air valve.
 50 Reservoir Head: 10 m; Valve closing time: 25 s
(without air-valve)

Pressure head at the valve-end

40
Pressure Head (MWC)

30

20

10

-10

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (sec)

•Peak Pressure:45MWC
•Local pressure becomes equal to the vapour pressure-formation of
vapour cavity
 0.0100 45 Reservoir Head: 10 m; Valve closing time: 25 s
(with air-valve)
Pressure head & air-volume at the mid length (x = 500 m)
40

0.0080 35

30
Air-cavity volume (cum)

Pressure Head (MWC) Pressure Head

0.0060 25

20

0.0040 15

10

0.0020 5

0
Air-volume

0.0000 -5

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (sec)

•Here, we can see that not much reduction in the peak

pressure is obtained.
•Hence, the incorporation of the air valve serves a major
purpose of preventing cavitation.
 0.060 90 Reservoir Head: 20 m; Valve closing time: 25 s
(without air-valve)

80
0.050
Flow rate(x = 0 m)

70
Pressure head (x = 1000 m)
0.040
60

Pressure Head (MWC)

Flow rate (cum/s)

0.030
50

0.020 40

30
0.010

20
0.000
10

-0.010
0

-0.020 -10

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Time (sec)

•As the pressure increases at the downstream end, the flow rate at x=0
gradually reduces and becomes negative (which implies that water is
flowing into the reservoir) due to adverse pressure gradient.
•As the pressure reduces at the valve end, the flow rate gradually increases
and this procedure continues.
 Transients can introduce large pressure forces and rapid
fluid acceleration into a piping systems
 Hydraulic transient analysis is an effective and reliable tool
to determine the needs for surge protection systems against
transient surges
 Due to incorporation of the vapour cavitation model the
pressure does not go excessively below and minimum value
it attains is 10.3MWC.
 The main function of the air valve is to prevent cavitation to
occur and hence prevent pipe from crushing failure.
 Not much reduction in the peak pressure can be obtained by
using air valve.
 1) Fluid transient E BENJAMIN WYLIE and VICTOR L STREETER

 2) Paramkian, J. (1963). Water-hammer analysis, Dover Publications, New York.

 3) “Mechanics of Fluids” by Bernard Massey.

 4) Chaudhry, M.H. (1987). Applied Hydraulic Transients, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New
York.

 5) De, P.K. et. al. (2008) “The severity of unconventional pressure surges in a real water
pumping system”, BRR Group 2008, Water and Waste Water Pumping System, pp. 81- 95.

 6) De, P.K. et. al. (2008) “Operational and Safety Analysis in Water Supply System”, IWA
World Water Congress, Vienna 2008, pp. 1-8.

 7) Lee, T.S. and Chow, L.C. (1999). “Numerical study on the effects of air valve
characteristics on pressure surges during pump trip in pumping systems with air
entrainment.” Int. J. Numer. Meth. Fluids, Vol. 29, pp. 645-655.