Analysis of Pump-Pipe Line System Using Elastic Theory of Fluid Transients

Abstract

The conditions like pump trip or power failure to pumps can create the extreme pressure fluctuations in pump-pipeline systems which may be the case of increase in maximum pressure head or decrease in minimum pressure head and even reaching to subatmospheric pressure conditions.Simulation of these extreme events could help the designer to take necessary precautions like increasing the thickness of the pipeline orproviding suitablesurge protection devices for the entire pump-pipeline system. Due to complexity nature of hyperbolic partial differential equations involved to describe these extreme events, various numerical methods were available.One such numerical method is called the method of characteristics (MOC) and is widely used to compute the fluid transients which may occur in pump-pipeline system. The objective of the study in the present paper is to analyze hydraulic transient pressuresfor the case of power trip to pumps byusing Elastic theory based on MOCapproach. A case study of J.C.R.Devadula Lift scheme in Telangana State, India is presented. It is observed that water column separation has occurred on downstream of pump delivery and hence transient control device like air vessels and one-way surge tanks are to be planned for this pipeline system.