Numerical study on the effects of air valve characteristics on pressure surges during pump trip in pumping systems with air entrainment

Abstract

An improved numerical model and computational method are proposed here for the study of the effects of air valve characteristics on pressure surges during pump trip in fluid systems with air entrainment. Numerical experiments have shown that air valves with higher inflow characteristics installed at peak locations of a fluid system may reduce the magnitude of the extreme negative pressure surges. However, for near zero air entrainment levels in the fluid system, air valves with higher outflow characteristics tend to result in higher positive pressure surges