The Challenge of Air Valve Selection in Pumping Systems
Publication: Pipelines 2021
ABSTRACT
Combination air vacuum valves (CAVs) are installed at water and wastewater system pump stations or at high points along pipelines to reduce or prevent vacuum pressures upon power failure. They prevent vacuum conditions by admitting air into the pipeline when the hydraulic grade line (HGL) drops below their elevation. Once pressures rise, the admitted air is discharged out of the pipeline (atmospheric pressure). Engineers select proper CAV sizes among miscellaneous models in industry and simulate their function during transient event using computer models. Air inflow and outflow mechanism, different for each CAV model, influences the transient pressures. This paper investigates the impact of commercially available CAV models on transient response of wastewater pumping systems. A case study is presented and the influence of two commercially available CAV models on the effective number and location of CAVs in the system is investigated by a transient simulation using HAMMER software.
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REFERENCES
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Published online: Jul 29, 2021
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