Numerical Simulation of a Check Valve Closure Induced by Pump Shutdown

Abstract

High pressure surges induced by the sudden closure of check valves can cause severe damage to mechanical and hydraulic facilities. A three-dimensional unsteady numerical simulation of a dual disc check valve closure induced by upstream pump shutdown was performed and validated experimentally. An overset mesh was applied to achieve a full closure of the check valve discs and capture pressure surges accurately. The velocity field graphs improve the understanding of the flow field evolution during the transient event. The impact of system outlet pressure, initial flow rate, and pump shutdown speed on pressure surges was investigated to explore factors that affect the amplitude of pressure surges. This work improves the understanding of check valve closure behavior, which is beneficial to check valve design, selection, and operation. Additionally, this work proves that overset mesh technology could be applied to other similar flow domain breaking cases.