Controlling Pipe Line Surges by Means of Air Vessels

Abstract

Tests have been carried out on the surge pressures in a suction and pumping main whose total length is some two and a half miles, there being air vessels on both sides of the centrifugal pump house. Surging in the delivery main was being aggravated by the presence of a non-return valve and after this had been removed and the surge reduced, it was possible to establish a relationship between the volume of air in the air vessel and the frequency and amplitude of the surge. It was then found that the surge could be considerably diminished and more rapidly damped out by what is believed to be a novel method, namely, the introduction of damping, which is effected by constricting the opening between the air vessel and the main.