Effects of Air Entrainment on the Ability of Air Vessels in the Pressure Surge Suppressions

Abstract

This paper describes a new and efficient model for the study of air entrainment effects on the responses of a typical horizontal air vessel. The effects of air entrainment on the pressure surges for unsteady flow in a pipeline system were investigated. Studies showed that entrained, entrapped, or released gases in the transient fluid system tend to amplify the first pressure peak, increase surge damping, and produce asymmetric pressure surges with respect to the static head. The pressure surges showed longer periods of down-surge and shorter periods of upsurge. The upsurge was considerably amplified and down-surge was marginally reduced when compared with the gas-free case. With the horizontal air vessel installed, studies showed that the effects of air entrainment on the maximum transient pressure can be considerably reduced with an appropriately configured air vessel. [S0098-2202(00)00203-0]