Air-water flow in a pipe

Summer Course 2012-13 LAB Demo

Urban Water System (UWS)

Water supply, drainage, flood defense, seawater system Lifeline of 3 billion people; facilitator of economy; pillar of civilization

..but, aging and fraught with inefficiencies and inadequacies: water and energy wasted (> 30%); Huge direct & indirect costs Heightened vulnerability to floods; cascading type failures Lack of Resiliency and adaptability
threatened by: urbanization + climate change >200 million in China in 15 years; ~120million in HK+SZ+GZ & 6 billion in cities by 2040) (150 mm/hr in HK; >100mm/hr in PRD; Cost 10 billion in RMB; 1.5 m of rain in one day and 2.5 m in two days in Taiwan in 2009)

Sketch of a typical Urban Water System

Precipitation

Village

Storm Water Systems (SWS)

A storm water system is a complex network of manholes or junctions (nodes) connected by pipes (links) Sketch of a separate storm water sewer

Storm Water Systems (SWS)

Objectives: Operate under normal conditions in an open-channel, free-surface flow regime Rapidly evacuate storm water Prevent the flooding of streets

The transition from free-surface flow to pressurized flow can produce significant variations in: Depth. Velocity. Pressure. Entry or expulsion of large amount of air.
In particular, pressure peaks (+ and-) which may cause Structural damages to the system. Geysering through manholes or other vertical shafts.

Surcharge of SWS
Surcharge is defined as the condition that the sewer is flowing full and gravity-flow no longer prevails (pressurized-conduit flow). For sufficiently rapid filling (as during intense rainfalls, pump failure or sudden change in the boundary conditions), this transition from free surface to pressurized flow occurs through a moving interface (bore) that advances into the free-surface portions of the system. In particular, if the system geometry restricts the escape of air ahead of the advancing front, the air pressurized induces a motion in the underlying water. Because the closed sewers are initially partially filled with air, the flow regime transition is actually a two-phase transient flow (mixed flow condition). During the transition from gravity to pressurized flow, severe pressure transients may occur and cause damage to the sewers and other related problems such as basement flooding and removal of manhole covers.

Transient flows
Taking the -axis in the direction of average flow, the velocity at a point will in general be a function of x, y, z, t. In a steady flow, the velocity is independent of t. Otherwise, the flow is considered an unsteady flow. In a uniform flows, the velocity is also independent of x. A turbulent flow is unsteady by definition. Unsteady flows can be referred to as transient flow. All transient flows are transitions, of long or short duration, from one steady flow state to another. Either of these end states may be the rest state. Each transient flow is a response of the fluid to some change in the hydraulic facilities that control and convey the fluid, or in the surrounding environment, that influences the flow

Entrapped air in pipelines

Air is frequently present in pipelines in the form of pockets. Due to its low density, this entrapped air is usually located at the top of the pipe cross section at high points along the pipe profile

Entrapped air in pipelines

The mixture air-water can be treated as: A nearly homogenous mixture, if the water velocity assumes moderate values. Otherwise, the air will either be in isolated pockets when the liquid is at rest or moving slowly, or be in the form of intermittent slugs of gas and liquid when the liquid is flowing at higher speed. Negative effects: decrease of the available cross-section for the water problem to the fluid motion higher transient pressures

Column separation
It is common knowledge that excessively-high pressures resulting from transients in pipes can cause damage. It is also generally recognized that low pressures could cause the collapse of pipes with thin walls or high external loads. When transients in a pipe system cause the pressure to approach the vapor pressure of the liquid, gases in solution begin to come out of solution and dramatically affect the flow behaviour. If the drop in pressure is severe enough to cause the local pressure to reach the vapor pressure of the liquid, then the liquid boils (cavitates, vaporizes), forming large pockets of undissolved gases and vapor. When the vapor cavities coalesce and form one local bubble occupying a large part of the pipe cross-section, it is referred to as column separation. Column separation generally occurs near specific points in a pipe system such as valves, pumps, beds and high points.

The collapse of the column separations is usually attended with almost instantaneous pressure rises. Therefore, whenever possible, the pipelining system should be designed to avoid this occurrence.

Geysering
Consider a junction where a manhole where a manhole or drop shaft is connected to the sewer. The pressure and flow variation at the junction acts as a forcing function to the water level in the manhole. Involves: Large amplitude oscillations of water level. It is manifest as an explosive release of water through vertical ventilation shafts or manholes. Two different explanations The first mechanism is based on the development of inertial oscillations of the water mass within the storm-water tunnels. Such pressure surges could cause the water in drop shafts to rise fairly quickly and reach grade, an event that could be considered to be a geyser The other mechanism that has been linked with the occurrence of geysers is the combined release of air and water through vertical shafts (release of large air-pockets)

Geysering
Large-air pockets escape through partially water-filled ventilation towers. This occurs when entrapped air pockets migrate along the tunnel crown where pressurized flow conditions exist. As the large air pockets arrive at a water-filled ventilation tower, air rises because of its buoyancy and pushes the water within the tower upward ahead of it, creating the geyser.

Geysering
The rise of large air pockets in vertical towers can be viewed as a transient, two-phase flow problem comprising the upward motion of an air pocket in the core of the tower and the downward flow of a thin layer of water (called film flow) attached to the perimeter of the tower around the air pocket

When the air pocket reached the ventilation tower and started the upward motion, the momentum of the air flow due to buoyancy causes the water level to rise ahead of the air pocket with a downward leakage of water around the perimeter of the vertical pipe. The rising air bubble was accompanied by a drop in pressure within the pipeline; the pressure drops to about atmospheric pressure when the air is released out the top of the shaft.