Pump ED 101

Waterhammer Its All About Conserving Energy

Joe Evans, Ph.D

http://www.pumped101.com

Introduction

Inhis1963book,TheWorldofElementaryParticles,KennethFordintroducedthetopicby
saying:Itiseasytotalkabouttheincrediblyshortlifetimeofanelementaryparticleor
aboutthefantasticallysmallsizeofatomicnucleus.But,itisnotsoeasytovisualize
thesethings.Asimilarstatementcouldbemadeaboutwaterhammer.

Mostofusarefamiliarwiththephenomenonknownaswaterhammerbutfewrealize
howdestructiveitsforcecanbe.Neithercanwevisualizesomeoftheeventsthatlead
toitsinceptionandthosethatoccurafterwards.Oddlyenough,itcanbemoreofa
concerninlowheadapplicationsbutitspotentiallydamagingeffectsshowno
prejudice.Inthistutorialwewillinvestigateboththecauseandeffectofwaterhammer.
Wewillalsolookatseveralmethodsofmitigatingitsdamageandinception.

WhatIsWaterhammer?

WaterhammerisareallifeexampleofoneofthefundamentallawsofPhysicsthe
conservationofenergy.Itisaforcethatcanariseinanypumpingsystemthat
undergoesabruptchangesinitsrateofflow.Theseflowchangescanresultfrompump
startsandstops,theopeningandclosingofvalves,andwatercolumnseparationand
closure.Thepipingdesigndoeshaveaneffectuponwaterhammerbut,thesethree
conditionsaretheprimaryreasonitoccurs.Wewilltakealookateachofthesecauses.

Waterhammeroccurswhenanabruptchangeinflowcreatesashockwavethattravels
backandforthbetweenthebarrierthatcreateditandsomesecondarybarrier.The
creatingbarriercouldbeavalve,locateddownstreamofthepump,andthesecondary
barriercouldbeapipeTee,anelbow,oreventhepumpitself.Perhapsthebestway
tovisualizethisactionistouseahypotheticalexamplebecauseitis,sometimes,
difficulttocomprehenditsinceptioninapipingsystemwhereflowiscontinuous.


Thefigurebelowshowsapumpthatispumpingwaterintoanemptypipeconnectedto

Pump

Valve
Valve

WaterColumn

LeadingEdge

itsdischarge.Thetwovalveslocatedatthepumpdischargeandthefarendofthepipe
arefullyopenandbothhavetheabilitytocloseinstantaneously.Thevalvesandthe
pipeareentirelyinelasticandnovolumechangecanoccurregardlessofthepressure.
Also,thecolumnofwaterflowingthroughthepipehasaleadingedgethatisnearlyflat
andmatchesthatofthecrosssectionalIDofthepipe.Bythis,Imeanthattheareaof
thepipejustafractionofaninchbehindtheleadingedgeofthewatercolumnis
entirelyfulltherearenoairgaps.Justastheleadingedgeofthewatercolumn
reachesthedownstreamvalve,itclosesatnearlythespeedoflightandentrapsnoair
aheadofthewatercolumn.Eventhoughtheleadingedgehasstrucktheclosedvalve,
flowintothepipecontinuesforthenextfewmilliseconds.Justasflowceases,the
upstreamvalvecloses(thistimeatthetruespeedoflight)andthewatercolumnis
completelyisolatedbetweenthetwovalves.Whateventsoccurasthecolumnstrikes
theclosed,downstreamvalveandwhydoeswatercontinuetoenterthepipe?

Well,ifthismovingcolumnwasacolumnofmetalinsteadofwater(didImentionthat
thisisahypotheticalexample?),acoupleofthingscouldoccur.Dependinguponits
coefficientofrestitution(itsabilitytoavoidpermanentdamage)thekineticenergydue
toflow(motion)couldbetransformedintomechanicalenergyastheleadingedgeof
themetalcolumniscrushed.Ifthisoccurred,thecolumnwouldremainmotionlessat
thevalve.Or,ifitsrestitutionisveryhigh,thatsamekineticenergycouldbeusedto
reverseitsdirectionintheformofabounce.Regardlessoftheoutcome,theentire
metalcolumnwouldeithercometorestorbounceintheoppositedirection.Neitherof
thesecasescouldoccurwhenwaterisinvolved.

Youhaveprobablyheardthatwaterisanearlynoncompressibleliquid.But,theflip
sideofthatstatementwouldindicatethatitisslightlycompressible.Atambient
temperatureonepoundofpressurewilldecreaseitsvolumebyafactorofabout
0.0000034.Thatseemsprettysmallbutthelargerthevolume,theeasieritistoseethe
effect.Forexample,ifwaterdidnotcompress,sealevelwouldbemorethanone
hundredfeethigherthanitscurrentlevel!Athigherpressures,say40,000PSI,its


compressibilityisincreasedtoabout0.1.But,mostwaterisnotjustwateritalso
containsairwhichismostlynitrogen,oxygen,andcarbondioxide.Ifthiswerenotthe
casetherewouldbenofish!Dissolvedaircomposesabout2%ofagivenvolumeof
unprocessedwaterandadds,substantially,toitscompressibility.

Itisthewaters(andthatofthedissolvedair)compressibilitythatcausesittoact
differentlythantheslugofmetal.Wereitnotcompressibleitsleadingedgewouldbe
permanentlycrushedortheentirecolumnwouldbouncebackwards.Whentheleading
edgeofawatercolumnstrikestheclosedvalveitcomestoahalt,butthewaterbehind
itisstillinmotionand,sinceithasnowheretogo,itbeginstocompress.This
compressionalongtheentirelengthofthecolumnallowsasmallamountofwaterto
continuetoflowintothepipeeventhoughtheleadingedgehashalted.Whenflow
ceases,itskineticenergyofmotionandthatduetocompressionistransformedinto
pressureandenergyisconserved.

Compressionbeginsattheleadingedgeofthewatercolumnandsincetheadditional
energyitproducescannotcontinueonpasttheclosedvalve,apressureorshockwave
isgeneratedandtravelsbackupstream.Theinceptionofthisshockwaveisvery
similartotheechothatisproducedwhenasoundwave,travelingthroughair,strikes
somebarrier.Whenthewavehitstheupstreamvalveitisreflectedbackdownstream
butwithadiminishedintensity.This,backandforth,motioncontinuesuntilfriction
andreflectionlossescausethewavestodisappear.Thespeedatwhichawavetravels
andtheenergyitlosesduringtraveldependsuponthedensityandcompressibilityof
themediuminwhichitistraveling.Itturnsoutthatthedensityandcompressibilityof
watermakeitaverygoodmediumforshockwavegenerationandtransmission.

Thepressurewavescreatedbyhydraulicshockhavecharacteristicssimilartothoseof
soundwavesandtravelatasimilarvelocity.Thetimerequiredforawaterhammer
pressurewavetonegotiatealengthofpipeissimplythepipelengthdividedbythe
speedofsoundinwater(approximately4860ft/sec).Inwaterhammeranalysis,atime
constantthatisoftenusedisonethatdescribestheprogressionofthewavefromits
inceptiontosecondarybarrierandbackagain(Tc=2L/ whereListhepipelength
andisthespeedofsound).Fora1000footlengthofpipeitwouldrequirelessthan
halfasecondforthewavetomakeacompleteroundtrip.

Althoughtheequationatthetopofthefollowingpagedoesnottakeintoaccountthe
effectofpipesizeandelasticityonwaterhammer,itwillprovidesomeinsightastothe
additionalpressurethatiscreatedbyawaterhammerpressurewave.


P(additional)=V/2.31g

WherePistheadditionalpressurecreatedbytheshockwave,iswavevelocity(in
thiscasethespeedofsound),Visthevelocityoftheflowingwaterinthepipeinfeet
persecond(fps),andgisgravitationalconstant@32ft/sec2.Atapipelinevelocityof5
fpstheadditionalpressurecreatedbytheshockwaveisabout329PSI.Increasethat
velocityto10fps,andthatpressureincreasestoabout658PSI.Obviously,systemsthat
arenotdesignedtoaccommodatesuchanincreasedpressureareoftendamagedor
evendestroyed.
WaterhammerCauses

Intheprevioussection,weusedahypotheticalexampletoillustratetheonsetand
effectsofwaterhammer.Letstakealookatapracticalexample.

ValveClosure&Opening

ThefigurebelowshowsamainpipelinewithabranchcircuitthatisfedbyaTee.
Furtherdownthebranchisavalve.Theblackarrowsshowtheflowdirectioninthe
primaryandbranchlinesandthebluearrowisthelengthofthebranchline.Asinthe
earlierexample,thevalveactsastheprimarybarrierbutthistimethesecondarybarrier

Flow Direction

Branch Length

istheTeeitself.Ifthevalveisclosedquickly,waterhammercouldoccurinthe
branchlineanditsinceptionwouldfollowthesamesequenceofeventsseeninour
hypotheticalexample.Onesmalldifferenceisthatsomeoftheintensityoftheshock
waveswillbelostintheTeeasitisopentothemainpipelineoneitherside.Still,a
significantportionwillbereflectedbacktowardsthevalve.

Amajordifference,inthisexample,isthatwehavesomecontroloverthevalveclosure
time(inourpreviousexamplethevalvesclosedatthespeedoflight).And,closure
timehasasignificanteffectontheinceptionandintensityofwaterhammer.Inaddition


twoothervariables,flowvelocityandpipelinelength,arealsomajorfactors.The
equationbelowshowstherelationshipofthesethreevariablesandtheireffect.

P(additional)=0.07(VL/t)

WherePistheadditionalpressuregenerated,Vistheflowvelocityinfps,Listhepipe
lengthbeforevalveinfeet,andtisthevalveclosingtimeinseconds.Theadditional
pressurecreatedbytheshockwaveisdirectlyproportionaltoflowvelocityand
pipelinelengthandinverselyproportionaltoclosuretime.Inotherwordshigher
valuesofVand/orLwillincreasepressurewhilehighervaluesoftwillresultina
decreasedpressure.Thetablebelowshowstheresultsweobtainfromthisequation
whenusingdifferingvelocities,pipelengths,andclosuretimes.ForVwewilluse5&
10fps,forLwewilluse100&1000ft,andfortwewilluse1&2seconds.Ineach
examplewewillkeeptwoofthevariablesconstant.

P=0.07(5x100)/1=35

P=0.07(5x100)/2=17.5
P=0.07(10x100)/1=70

P=0.07(10x100)/2=35
P=0.07(5x1000)/1=350

P=0.07(5x1000)/2=175
P=0.07(10x1000)/1=700

P=0.07(10x1000)/2=350

Bothcolumnsofthetableillustratetheproportionalinfluenceofvelocityandlength
pressureincreasesastheyincrease.Thelowervaluesseenintherighthandcolumn
illustratetheinverserelationshipoftimethesepressuresarehalfthoseseenintheleft
handcolumnbecausetheclosuretimehasdoubled.AsImentionedearlier,pipe
diameterandtheelasticityofitsmaterialalsoinfluencethepressuregenerated.Larger
diametersandmoreelasticmaterialsabsorbsomeoftheintensityoftheshockwaves
andthereforereducethepressuregenerated.Youwillfindthatmostpipe
manufacturerspublishcurvesortablesthatshowthepotentialpressureincrease,that
canbegeneratedbywaterhammer,forvariouspipediametersandmaterialsof
composition.

Wehaveverylittlecontroloverthelengthofapipelineregardlessoftheapplication.
Therefore,ourabilitytodecreasethevalueofLinourequationisextremelylimited.
Wecan,however,controltheothertwovariablesand,indoingso,eliminateorgreatly
reducetheeffectofwaterhammer.

Suppose,foramoment,thatthebranchlinevalveisclosed.Ifitisopenedquickly,we
cangetaneffectsimilartothatofquickclosing.Whenthevalveisopenedquickly,the


branchlineseesanimmediatedropinpressureandthestaticwatercolumn(andits
dissolvedair)expandsslightlyfromitscompressedstate.Incomingwaterfromthe
mainlineaddsvelocitytocolumnandalsoincreasesitpressure.Ifthepressure
increasesquickly,theforwardwatercolumnwillactastheprimarybarrierand
waterhammercanoccur.Usuallyitseffectismuchsmallerthanthatofvalveclosure
andisoftenreferredtoasasurge.Still,undercertainconditions,thissurgecanbe
damaging.

PumpStartsandStops

Inmostpressureboosterapplications,aspringloadedcheckvalveisinstalledator
nearthepumpdischargeandremainsclosedwhenthepumpisidle.Whenthepumpis
started,flowdoesnotbeginuntilthepressureitgeneratesexceedsthepressureonthe
downstreamsideoftheclosedvalve.Ifthedownstreampressureisnotallowedto
decreasebelowacertainminimum,flowincreasesslowlyandwaterhammerinception
isavoidedorreducedsignificantly.Whenthepumpstops,anunexpectedeventoccurs
aquickclosingvalveactuallyprohibits,ratherthaninitiates,waterhammer!Inthis
particularinstance,thespringprovidesquickclosureofthevalveandthuspreventsthe
watercolumnfromchangingdirectionduetothehigherdownstreampressure.Even
thoughthereisanabruptchangeinflow,pressureremainsrelativelyconstant
throughoutthedownstreamcolumn.Ifastandardcheckvalvewasinstalledthewater
columnwouldhaveenoughspacetochangedirection,acceleratebackwards,andslam
thecheckclosedthusinitiatingwaterhammer.

Inmanylargepumpingplantsitisnormalproceduretostartapumpagainstaclosed
dischargevalve.Oncethepumpisuptofullspeedthevalveisopenedslowly,flowis
initiated,andthenincreasestoitsmaximumasthevalvecontinuestoopen.This
procedureisreversedwhenapumpisstopped.Startingandstoppingagainstavalve
thatisopenedorclosedslowlywillprohibittheinitiationofwaterhammerorreduceits
effecttoa,virtually,immeasurablequantity.Dependingupontheinstallationthe
dischargevalvemaybeoperatedmanuallyorbysomeautomaticmechanism.

Oneoftheshortcomingsofmanuallyoperatedvalvesoccurswhenduringapower
outage.Whenapumpmotorlosespower,thereductioninpumpspeedandflowfrom
itsdischargeoccurrapidly.Theresultingchangeofkineticenergytothatofpressure
willproducewaterhammerwavesinthedischargeline.Additionally,asthewater
columnreversesdirection,theimpellerwillbegintoacceleratebackwards.Whenit
reachesitmaximumreversespeed,backwardsflowisreducedandanadditional
pressuresurgeiscreated.


Intheintroduction,Imentionedthattheeffectsofwaterhammercanbemore
significantinlowpressuresystems.Thepressureoftheshockwaveisproportionalto
thelengthofthepipeandvelocityofthewaterflowinginitandisindependentofits
operatingpressure.Thereforetheshockwavecreatedinaonemilepipeflowingat10
fpswillbethesamewhethertheoperatingpressureis20PSIor200PSI.Thereisa
differencethough.Theratioofshockpressuretooperating(design)pressureisquitea
bithigherinthelowpressuresystemthusthepotentialfordamagecanbegreaterin
thelowerpressuresystem.

WaterColumnSeparation&Closure

Sofarourdiscussionofwaterhammerhasdealtwithsomethingwecallsinglephase
systems.Inthesesystems,waterremainsinasinglestate(liquidinthiscase)regardless
ofthechangesinthehydraulicconditions.Theshockwavesgeneratedbysinglephase
systemsareduetoanabruptchangeinflowandtheresultingtransformationofkinetic
energy.

Thewaterhammergeneratedbywatercolumnseparationandclosureisatwophase
process.Inatwophasesystem,waterchangesstateandcanexistbothasaliquidanda
vaporwithinthesameconfinedvolume.Thisphasechangecantakeplacewhenever
thepressureinapipelineisreducedtothatofthevaporpressureofthewater.When
thispressuredropoccurs,thewatercolumncanbecomeseparated,inoneormore
locations,byapocketofvapor.Whenthepressurerisesabovethevaporpressurethe
columnrejoinsorclosesandcancreateahighpressurewave(notunlikethatofan
implodingcavitationbubblebutonamuchlargerscale).Watercolumnseparation,by
itself,cancauseproblemsinverylargediameterorthinwallpipes(theycancollapse),
butthewaterhammerthatarisesduringclosureisthemorecommonproblem.

Watercolumnseparationcanoccurwhenapumpisstoppedandthewatercolumn
reversesdirectionorincondensatelineswherehightemperaturescanmitigatetheneed
foralargepressuredrop.Althoughbothformscanbeextremelydamaging,condensate
linestendtobefarmoredangerous.Theshockwavesgeneratedbycolumnclosurecan
travelinoppositedirectionsandiftheyhitsecondarybarrierstheycanberedirected
backtowardsoneanother.AlthoughIhavefoundnothingintheliteraturetosupport
this,Iwouldsuspectthatthesereflectedwavesmayincreaseinintensitywhenthey
collide.Thisiscertainlythecasewithwaterandvoltagewavesanditmayaccountfor
theoftengreaterdamageresultingfromclosureinitiatedwaterhammer.


EliminatingorReducingWaterhammer

Youwillfindnumerousarticlesonthewebandintheliteraturethatcovertheavailable
methodsforreducingoreveneliminatingwaterhammerinvariouspumping
applications.Iwillmentionjustacouple.(Bytheway,ifyouuseawebsearchengine
besuretosearchforbothwaterhammerandwaterhammer.)

Twoofthesimplestmethodsofcontrollingwaterhammerincludethetwovariables
seeninourbranchlinepumpingexample.AsImentioned,weusuallyhavelittle
controloverpipelinelengthbut,wehavetotalcontroloverflowvelocityandvalve
closingtime.

Althoughaconservative(readcorrectlysized)pipelinedesignwillincreaseitsfirstcost,
thelowerflowvelocitywillreducetheeffectofwaterhammer.Butthis,firstcost,issue
couldbeamootpointbecausewaterhammercontroldevices,andtheirassociatedcosts,
maynotberequiredifthepipelineissizedcorrectlyinthebeginning.Properpipeline
sizingmakesgoodsensefrombothawaterhammerandafrictionlossperspective.

Manualvalvesposefewproblemsaslongasthehumanswhocontrolthemarein
controloftheiractions.Youhaveprobablynoticedthatthemanualclosureoropening
ofagatevalveseldom,ifever,givesrisetowaterhammer.Thereasonisthatitis
almostimpossibletocloseoropenagatevalvetooquickly.Ballvalves,ontheother
hand,seemtowanttoopenandclosequicklyandextremecaremustbeusedintheir
operation.Butterflyvalvesfallsomewhereinbetween.Automaticvalvescanposea
differentproblem.Sincetheyarenothumancontrolled(sometimesagoodthing),they
mustbeselectedcorrectly.Oftensmall,fastclosing,solenoidvalveswillnotcause
waterhammerbecauseoftheirlowflowrate.Largerones,however,cancause
significantproblems.Almostallvalvedesignscanbeautomatedandmostautomation
systemsallowselectionofopeningandclosingtimes.Manyoftheautomaticvalves
usedinirrigationsystemsnowofferthisfeatureandpiperuptureduetowaterhammer
isbecomingathingofthepast.

Thevariablefrequencydrivehasbeenamajorplayerincontrollingwaterhammer
duringpumpstartsandstops.Theabilitytorampthefrequency,andthusthemotor
speed,overaperiodoftimesignificantlyreducesthedifferentialforcethatisnormally
encountered.Asecondarybenefitofthissocalledsoftstartisasimilarreductionin
bothelectricalandmechanicalstressonthemotorandpump.

JoeEvans,December2005