PIPE SURGE & WATER HAMMER APPARATUS

Product Description

Pipe surge and water hammer aretwo related but independent phenomena which arise when fluid flowing in a pipeis accelerated or decelerated. The associated pressure transients can bedamaging to pipe work or components and systems must be designed to avoid orwith stand them.

The equipment designed by clearlydemonstrates the different effects resulting from gradual or instantaneouschanges in fluid velocity. Effect of initial fluid velocity can also beinvestigated. Pipe surge resulting from a gradual change in fluid velocity isclearly seen as fluctuating changes in head in a surge shaft.

Water hammer resulting from arapid change in fluid velocity is clearly seen as large changes in pressuremonitored using a pair of transducers and indicated using an oscilloscope. Theequipment comprises two stainless steel pipes connected to a constant headtank. A service module provides the water supply to the head tank and alsoincorporates a volumetric tank for flow rate measurement, sump tank,circulating pump and flow control valve.

Water enters the two test pipesvia the constant head tank and discharges into the volumetric tank. A dumpvalve in the volumetric tank returns the water to the sump tank.

The pipe surge test sectionincorporates a clear acrylic surge shaft to enable visualization of itsoscillatory characteristics to be demonstrated. A metric scale on the shaftpermits the height of the oscillations to be measured. The test pipe terminateswith a lever operated gate valve and separate flow control valve.