Surge Protections: Review, Analysis, and Engineering Design

摘要

Pressure surge, also known as water hammer or hydraulic transient, is a time-varying momentary phenomenon. It happens when the equilibrium of a flow system is disturbed by a status change over a relatively short time period. Caused by either immediate startup or shut-down of pumps, or rapid opening or closing of valves, surge events can introduce large pressure forces and rapid fluid accelerations into a water distribution system, which may result in pump and device failures, system fatigue or pipe ruptures, and even dirty water backflow/intrusion. Therefore, surge protections are extremely important for the design of hydraulic system. This paper reviews the commonly used surge control strategies that include re-design of the plan and profile of the pumping station and pipeline system, selection of pipes and fittings to withstand the anticipated pressures, identification of proper start-up, operation, and shut-down procedures for the system, and selection and location of the proper control devices to mitigate the adverse effects of surge events. The pros and cons of the control devices, such as hydropneumatic tanks, air valves, surge valves, and pump control valves, are also discussed. Furthermore, surge analyses of a surge protection system for a Peace River Large Pumping System are performed using the HAMMER and KYPIPE programs. The engineering design proposes a surge protection system including hydro-pneumatic tanks, surge valves, or air valves. The simulation results indicate that the proposed surge control strategies can provide adequate surge protections to the pumping and pipe systems.