Improved Air Valve Selection through Better Device Characterization and Modeling
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 7
Abstract
Employing a set of well-chosen and maintained air valves is a widely recommended strategy for air management in pressurized pipelines. However, precisely characterizing, modeling, and sizing air valves for the various functions they serve can be a demanding task. This paper considers the key challenges of air valve characterization in light of several potential complications. The paper summarizes and gives context to location criteria for air valves and discusses some of the common pitfalls in selecting such devices. Moreover, the effectiveness of four air flow models in representing data from characterization tests is evaluated. Not surprisingly, the most complex model with an adjustable polytropic exponent is found to have the best curve fitting capability, although the simpler isentropic model fits experimental data reasonably well. However, employing a fixed polytropic exponent of 1.20 tends to underestimate air flows for relatively intense differential pressures, while the incompressible model poorly represents air inflow. The paper also shows how representative air flow curves may be constructed even if only scant characterization data are available.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. The authors wish to acknowledge the valuable support from Professor Edevar Luvizotto Junior from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) during the doctoral studies of the first author.
References
ANSI/AWWA. 2015. Air-release, air/vacuum, and combination air valves for water and wastewater service. ANSI/AWWA C512-15. Denver: AWWA.
AWWA (American Water Works Association). 2001. Manual of water supply practices M51–Air-release, air/vacuum, and combination air valves. Denver: AWWA.
AWWA (American Water Works Association). 2016. Manual of water supply practices M51—Air valves: Air-release, air/vacuum and combination. Denver: AWWA.
Bianchi, A., S. Mambretti, and P. Pianta. 2007. “Practical formulas for the dimensioning of air valves.” J. Hydraul. Eng. 133 (10): 1177–1180. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(2007)133:10(1177).
Chaudhry, M. 2014. Applied hydraulic transients. New York: Springer.
Christians, J. 2012. “Approach for teaching polytropic processes based on the energy transfer ratio.” Int. J. Mech. Eng. Educ. 40 (1): 53–65. https://doi.org/10.7227/IJMEE.40.1.9.
Coronado, O. E., M. Besharat, V. S. Fuertes, and H. M. Ramos. 2019. “Effect of a commercial air valve on the rapid filling of a single pipeline: A numerical and experimental analysis.” Water 11 (9): 1814. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11091814.
Coronado, O. E., V. S. Fuertes, M. Besharat, and H. M. Ramos. 2017. “Experimental and numerical analysis of a water emptying pipeline using different air valves.” Water 9 (2): 98. https://doi.org/10.3390/w9020098.
Escarameia, M. 2007. “Investigating hydraulic removal of air from water pipelines.” Water Manage. 160 (1): 25–34. https://doi.org/10.1680/wama.2007.160.1.25.
Fuertes, V. S., P. L. Iglesias, J. Izquierdo, and G. López. 2006. “Algunos problemas generados por ventosas mal seleccionadas a causa de una caracterización hidráulica errónea.” In Proc., 22nd Congreso Latinoamericano de Hidráulica. Madrid, Spain: IAHR.
Fuertes, V. S., P. A. López, F. J. Martínez, and G. López. 2016. “Numerical modelling of pipelines with air pockets and air valves.” Can. J. Civ. Eng. 43 (12): 1052–1061. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjce-2016-0209.
García, S., P. L. Iglesias, D. Mora, F. J. Martínez, and V. S. Fuertes. 2018. “Computational determination of air valves capacity using CFD techniques.” Water 10 (10): 1433. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10101433.
Iglesias, P. L., V. S. Fuertes, F. J. García, and J. J. Martínez. 2014. “Comparative study of intake and exhaust air flows of different commercial air valves.” Procedia Eng. 89 (Dec): 1412–1419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2014.11.467.
Iglesias, P. L., F. J. García, V. S. Fuertes, and F. J. Martínez. 2017. “Air valves characterization using hydrodynamic similarity.” In Proc., World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2017. Reston, VA: ASCE. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784480625.052.
Lauchlan, C. S., M. Escarameia, R. W. P. May, R. Burrows, and C. Gahan. 2005. Air in pipelines: A literature review. Oxfordshire, UK: HR Wallingford.
Lingireddy, S., D. J. Wood, and N. Zloczower. 2004. “Pressure surges in pipeline systems resulting from air releases.” J. AWWA 96 (7): 88–94. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1551-8833.2004.tb10652.x.
Ramezani, L., and J. Daviau. 2021. “The challenge of air valve selection in pumping systems.” In Proc., Pipelines 2021: Design. Reston, VA: ASCE. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483619.047.
Ramezani, L., B. Karney, and A. Malekpour. 2015. “The challenge of air valves: A selective critical literature review.” J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage. 141 (10): 04015017. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000530.
Ramezani, L., B. Karney, and A. Malekpour. 2016. “Encouraging effective air management in water pipelines: A critical review.” J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage. 142 (12): 04016055. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000695.
Ramos, H. M., V. S. Fuertes, E. Tasca, O. E. Coronado, M. Besharat, L. Zhou, and B. Karney. 2022. “Concerning dynamic effects in pipe systems with two-phase flows: Pressure surges, cavitation, and ventilation.” Water 14 (15): 2376. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14152376.
Tasca, E., B. Karney, V. S. Fuertes, J. G. Dalfré Filho, and E. Luvizotto Jr. 2022. “The crucial importance of air valve characterization to the transient response of pipeline systems.” Water 14 (17): 2590. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14172590.
Tasca, E., B. Karney, and E. Luvizotto Jr. 2021. “Performance similarity between different-sized air exchange valves.” J. Hydraul. Eng. 147 (10): 04021036. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0001914.
Tasca, E., E. Luvizotto Jr., and J. G. Dalfré Filho. 2019. “The perils of air valves in water mains and two effective solutions tested computationally.” Rev. DAE 67 (215): 5–16. https://doi.org/10.4322/dae.2019.001.
Tran, P. D. 2017. “Pressure transients caused by air-valve closure while filling pipelines.” J. Hydraul. Eng. 143 (2): 04016082. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0001245.
Tullis, J. P. 1989. Hydraulics of pipelines: Pumps, valves, cavitation, transients. New York: Wiley.
Wylie, E. B., and V. L. Streeter. 1983. Fluid transients. Ann Arbor, MI: FEB Press.
Zhang, X., C. Fan, X. Yu, J. Zhang, J. Lv, and T. Xu. 2019. “Study on the mathematical model of vacuum breaker valve for large air mass conditions.” Water 11 (7): 1358. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11071358.
Zhou, F., F. E. Hicks, and P. M. Steffler. 2002. “Transient flow in a rapidly filling horizontal pipe containing trapped air.” J. Hydraul. Eng. 128 (6): 625–634. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(2002)128:6(625).
Zhou, L., D. Liu, and B. Karney. 2013. “Investigation of hydraulic transients of two entrapped air pockets in a water pipeline.” J. Hydraul. Eng. 139 (9): 949–959. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0000750.
Zhou, L., H. Wang, B. Karney, D. Liu, P. Wang, and S. Guo. 2018. “Dynamic behavior of entrapped air pocket in a water filling pipeline.” J. Hydraul. Eng. 144 (8): 04018045. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0001491.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 7 • July 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 15, 2022
Accepted: Feb 21, 2023
Published online: Apr 25, 2023
Published in print: Jul 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Sep 25, 2023
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.