Experimental Characterization of a Flow-through Pulsation Damper Regarding Pressure Pulsations and Vibrations

摘要

Pressure attenuators, especially side branch bladder-type accumulators, for suppression of pressure pulsations in industrial fluid applications are not suitable for higher-pressure pulsation frequencies, e.g., with centrifugal pumps. Accumulators of the flow-through-type promise a faster response time and thus a wider application range. The damping performance of a flow-through pressure accumulator with respect to fluid pressure pulsations and the resulting structure-borne noise was investigated. The influence of varying pulsation frequencies, damper precharge pressure, and damping effect throughout the piping system was evaluated. Experiments were performed in an industrial-scale closed-loop test facility, with both pressure pulsations and piping vibrations in the focus. The damper, characterized by means of high-speed video analysis, proved to be capable of damping effectively the pressure pulsations and piping vibrations induced by a centrifugal pump.