EVALUATING THE PERFORMANCE OF A SIMPLE DEVICE FOR REDUCING PRESSURE SURGE EFFECTS USING EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL METHODS

Abstract

This paper presents results from experimental and numerical investigations of a new device to prevent damaging effects of pressure surge phenomenon occurring in a refrigerator water dispenser system. The device, which will be presented in detail, is a low cost, small size, manufacturable, pressure surge damper and flow regulator made out of non-movable single plastic bodies. CFD simulations were used in order to elaborate on the physics behind the feasibility of the new concept, and also to systematically guide the design procedure. One of the two shortlisted design models was also tested physically to have more reliable results and to evaluate accurately the performance. Both numerical simulations and experiment results show that the damper device significantly reduces the pressure surge induced pressure peak (effectively 25% and up to 37%) and protects the refrigerator water dispenser system.Given the specifics of the problem, such as the size, the material (plastic) type and cost limitations of the components to be used in the pipe system; the ranges of flow rate and the pressures in the pipe flow as well as the resulting remedies and the presented product are rather case specific. However, the damper presented here, makes the idea expandable to different scales and conditions of similar pressure surge related problems. This is due to its simple features, manufacturability and effectiveness.Keywords: CFD, Experimental fluid mechanics, Pressure surge, Pressure damper