Research on the water hammer protection of the air vessel caused by underground pipe burst in long distance water supply system

Abstract

The conventional air vessel installation is usually installed behind the check valve at the upstream end of the pipeline to effectively control the water hammer pressure due to pump trip. However, the water hammer pressure caused by underground pipe burst has been neglected. The water hammer protection of air vessel due to pipe burst in long distance water supply system was discussed in this paper. According to analysis of the process of the pipe burst, the mathematical model of underground pipe burst and air vessel were established. A new air vessel installation that was installed in the middle of the pipeline was proposed. The new air vessel installation was simulated by method of characteristics. Then it was compared with the conventional air vessel when the pump trip and the pipe burst occur respectively. The results show that both the conventional air vessel and the new air vessel can effectively protect the water hammer duo to the pump trip. Moreover, when pipe burst occurs, the conventional air vessel cannot achieve the safe operation of the long distance water supply system. However, under the same air vessel type parameters, the new air vessel installation can effectively protect the water hammer pressure.