Effect of valve closure time on transient cavitating flow through piping systems

ABSTRACT

Hydraulic transient is an unavoidable phenomenon which occurs in any piping system during a sudden change in operating conditions, and it sometimes leads to cavitation; subsequently generates very high pressure in the system. The intensity of pressure developed from sudden or gradual closure of the valves at the downstream side primarily depends on the closure time of the valve. This paper is an experimental investigation into the effect of valve closure time on transient flow characteristics in a piping system. The experiments with different flow rates of fluid and valve closure times in the piping system proved that the occurrence of cavitation in a pipe links very much with the closure time of valve and the characteristics of water hammer pressure wave.

KEYWORDS:

• Water hammer
• sudden closure
• cavitation pressure

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment under Engineering and Technology Programme (Project No.ETP/8/2015/KSCSTE Dated Thiruvananthapuram 21.11.2016) Kerala, India. The authors also acknowledge the Fluid Control Research Institute, India, for providing all necessary facilities to conduct the experiment in their Water Flow Laboratory.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment [Project No.ETP/8/2015/ KSCSTE Dated Thiruvananthapuram 21.11.2016].