Pressure Surge Suppression Using a Metallic-Plastic-Metallic Pipe Configuration
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 144, Issue 6
Abstract
Plastic pipes [e.g., polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or high density polyethylene (HDPE)] are commonly used to replace aging metallic pipe sections (e.g., cast iron) in water-distribution networks. However, our understanding of how a combined metallic-plastic-metallic system responds to hydraulic transients is limited. This research studies such a system and focuses on answering whether the use of a plastic section to replace a metallic section can contribute to pressure surge suppression. The response of a metallic-plastic-metallic system to step and pulse pressure waves generated in the plastic section is investigated through theoretical and numerical analyses. It is found that the low impedance of plastic pipes (relative to metal pipes) plays a key role in determining the shape and amplitude of the pressure response. The metallic-plastic-metallic configuration can be used for surge suppression, especially for pulse waves that are commonly experienced in real networks attributable to customer activities. A generalized analysis finds that larger diameters and longer lengths of the plastic section contribute to better surge suppression, and the normalized results provide the selection criteria for system design. The findings are verified and demonstrated by numerical simulations using the method of characteristics, and some are also supported by the results of field trials. Some practical issues related to field applications are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The research presented in this paper has been supported by the Australian Research Council through the Discovery Project (DP140100994) and by the South Australian Water Corporation through the project Transient Impact Analysis and Mitigation in the SA Water Adelaide CBD Water Network (UA160822).
References
Al-Khomairi, A. M. (2010). “Plastic water hammer damper.” Aust. J. Civ. Eng., 8(1), 73–81.
Bergant, A., Tijsseling, A. S., Vítkovský, J. P., Covas, D. I. C., Simpson, A. R., and Lambert, M. F. (2008). “Parameters affecting water-hammer wave attenuation, shape and timing. 2: Case studies.” J. Hydraul. Res., 46(3), 382–391.
Besharat, M., Tarinejad, R., Aalami, M. T., and Ramos, H. M. (2016). “Study of a compressed air vessel for controlling the pressure surge in water networks: CFD and experimental analysis.” Water Resour. Manage., 30(8), 2687–2702.
Brunone, B., and Ferrante, M. (2001). “Detecting leaks in pressurised pipes by means of transients.” J. Hydraul. Res., 39(5), 539–547.
Brunone, B., Ferrante, M., and Cacciamani, M. (2004). “Decay of pressure and energy dissipation in laminar transient flow.” J. Fluids Eng., 126(6), 928–934.
Capponi, C., Ferrante, M., Zecchin, A. C., and Gong, J. (2017). “Leak detection in a branched system by inverse transient analysis with the admittance matrix method.” Water Resour. Manage., 31(13), 4075–4089.
Chaudhry, M. H. (2014). Applied hydraulic transients, 3rd Ed., Springer, New York.
Covas, D., and Ramos, H. (2010). “Case studies of leak detection and location in water pipe systems by inverse transient analysis.” J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage., 248–257.
Covas, D., Stoianov, I., Mano, J., Ramos, H., Graham, N., and Maksimovic, C. (2005). “The dynamic effect of pipe-wall viscoelasticity in hydraulic transients. II: Model development, calibration and verification.” J. Hydraul. Res., 43(1), 56–70.
Duan, H.-F., Ghidaoui, M. S., Lee, P. J., and Tung, Y. K. (2011). “Relevance of unsteady friction to pipe size and length in pipe fluid transients.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 154–166.
Duan, H.-F., Lee, P. J., Ghidaoui, M. S., and Tung, Y.-K. (2012). “System response function-based leak detection in viscoelastic pipelines.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 143–153.
Ferrante, M., Brunone, B., Meniconi, S., Karney, B. W., and Massari, C. (2014). “Leak size, detectability, and test conditions in pressurized pipe systems.” Water Resour. Manage., 28(13), 4583–4598.
Ferrante, M., Massari, C., Brunone, B., and Meniconi, S. (2013). “Leak behaviour in pressurized PVC pipes.” Water Sci. Technol. Water Supply, 13(4), 987–992.
Fox, S., Collins, R., and Boxall, J. (2017). “Experimental study exploring the interaction of structural and leakage dynamics.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 04016080.
Gally, M., Güney, M., and Rieutord, E. (1979). “An investigation of pressure transients in viscoelastic pipes.” J. Fluids Eng., 101(4), 495–499.
Ghilardi, P., and Paoletti, A. (1986). “Additional viscoelastic pipes as pressure surges suppressors.” Proc., 5th Int. Conf. on Pressure Surges, BHR Groups, Cranfield, U.K.
Gong, J., Lambert, M. F., Zecchin, A. C., Simpson, A. R., Arbon, N. S., and Kim, Y.-I. (2016a). “Field study on non-invasive and non-destructive condition assessment for asbestos cement pipelines by time-domain fluid transient analysis.” Struct. Health Monit., 15(1), 113–124.
Gong, J., Simpson, A. R., Lambert, M. F., Zecchin, A. C., Kim, Y.-I., and Tijsseling, A. S. (2013). “Detection of distributed deterioration in single pipes using transient reflections.” J. Pipeline Syst. Eng. Pract., 32–40.
Gong, J., Stephens, M. L., Arbon, N. S., Zecchin, A. C., Lambert, M. F., and Simpson, A. R. (2015). “On-site non-invasive condition assessment for cement mortar-lined metallic pipelines by time-domain fluid transient analysis.” Struct. Health Monit., 14(5), 426–438.
Gong, J., Zecchin, A. C., Lambert, M. F., and Simpson, A. R. (2016b). “Determination of the creep function of viscoelastic pipelines using system resonant frequencies with hydraulic transient analysis.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 04016023.
Greyvenstein, B., and van Zyl, J. E. (2007). “An experimental investigation into the pressure—Leakage relationship of some failed water pipes.” J. Water Supply Res. Technol. AQUA, 56(2), 117–124.
Haghighi, A. (2015). “Analysis of transient flow caused by fluctuating consumptions in pipe networks: A many-objective genetic algorithm approach.” Water Resour. Manage., 29(7), 2233–2248.
Huang, Y., Duan, H.-F., Zhao, M., Zhang, Q., Zhao, H., and Zhang, K. (2017). “Transient influence zone based decomposition of water distribution networks for efficient transient analysis.” Water Resour. Manage., 31(6), 1915–1929.
Keramat, A., and Haghighi, A. (2014). “Straightforward transient-based approach for the creep function determination in viscoelastic pipes.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 04014058.
Keramat, A., Tijsseling, A. S., Hou, Q., and Ahmadi, A. (2012). “Fluid-structure interaction with pipe-wall viscoelasticity during water hammer.” J. Fluids Struct., 28, 434–455.
Kreyszig, E., Kreyszig, H., and Norminton, E. J. (2011). Advanced engineering mathematics, 10th Ed., Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.
Meniconi, S., et al. (2015). “Anomaly pre-localization in distribution-transmission mains by pump trip: Preliminary field tests in the Milan pipe system.” J. Hydroinf., 17(3), 377–389.
Meniconi, S., Brunone, B., Ferrante, M., and Massari, C. (2011). “Small amplitude sharp pressure waves to diagnose pipe systems.” Water Resour. Manage., 25(1), 79–96.
Moussou, P., Gibert, R. J., Brasseur, G., Teygeman, C., Ferrari, J., and Rit, J. F. (2010). “Instability of pressure relief valves in water pipes.” J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 132(4), 041308.
Pezzinga, G. (2002). “Unsteady flow in hydraulic networks with polymeric additional pipe.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 238–244.
Pezzinga, G. (2014). “Evaluation of time evolution of mechanical parameters of polymeric pipes by unsteady flow runs.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 04014057.
Pezzinga, G., Brunone, B., and Meniconi, S. (2016). “Relevance of pipe period on Kelvin-Voigt viscoelastic parameters: 1D and 2D inverse transient analysis.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 04016063.
Pezzinga, G., and Scandura, P. (1995). “Unsteady flow in installations with polymeric additional pipe.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 802–811.
Ramezani, L., and Karney, B. (2017). “Water column separation and cavity collapse for pipelines protected with air vacuum valves: Understanding the essential wave processes.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 0401608.
Ramos, H., Covas, D., Borga, A., and Loureiro, D. (2004). “Surge damping analysis in pipe systems: Modelling and experiments.” J. Hydraul. Res., 42(4), 413–425.
Ramos, H., Tamminen, S., and Covas, D. (2009). “Water supply system performance for different pipe materials. II: Sensitivity analysis to pressure variation.” Water Resour. Manage., 23(2), 367–393.
Rathnayaka, S., Shannon, B., Rajeev, P., and Kodikara, J. (2016). “Monitoring of pressure transients in water supply networks.” Water Resour. Manage., 30(2), 471–485.
Rezaei, H., Ryan, B., and Stoianov, I. (2015). “Pipe failure analysis and impact of dynamic hydraulic conditions in water supply networks.” Procedia Eng., 119, 253–262.
Starczewska, D., Collins, R., and Boxall, J. (2015). “Occurrence of transients in water distribution networks.” Procedia Eng., 119, 1473–1482.
Stephens, M., Marchi, A., Gong, J., Lambert, M., Leonard, M., and Simpson, A. (2017a). “Understanding the range of influence of moderate-sized and short-duration transients in water distribution systems.” Proc., 15th Int. Conf. on Computing and Control for the Water Industry (CCWI 2017), Univ. of Sheffield, Sheffield, U.K.
Stephens, M. L., Gong, J., Marchi, A., Lambert, M. F., and Simpson, A. R. (2017b). “Transient pressure data collection and characterisation in identifying options for reducing pipe fatigue.” Proc., 13th Hydraulics in Water Engineering Conf., Engineers Australia, Sydney, Australia.
Stephens, M. L., Lambert, M. F., and Simpson, A. R. (2013). “Determining the internal wall condition of a water pipeline in the field using an inverse transient model.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 310–324.
Suo, L., and Wylie, E. B. (1990). “Complex wavespeed and hydraulic transients in viscoelastic pipes.” J. Fluids Eng., 112(4), 496–500.
Wylie, E. B. (1983). “The microcomputer and pipeline transients.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 1723–1739.
Wylie, E. B., and Streeter, V. L. (1993). Fluid transients in systems, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 144 • Issue 6 • June 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 3, 2017
Accepted: Nov 30, 2017
Published online: Mar 30, 2018
Published in print: Jun 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Aug 30, 2018
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.