Experimental Study of Geysering in an Upstream Vertical Shaft

Abstract

Transient flows in stormwater systems can lead to damaging and dangerous operational conditions, as exemplified by geysering events created by the uncontrolled release of entrapped air pockets. Extreme rain and associated rapid inflows may result in air pocket entrapment, which causes significant changes in flow conditions and potentially geysering. Stormwater geysers have been studied in different experimental and numerical modeling studies, as well as from limited data gathered within real systems. However, there is still no complete understanding of geysering events, as stormwater system geometries vary considerably. Most past studies involved releasing air from an intermediate shaft, in which a significant fraction of the entrapped air may bypass the release. This work advances the understanding of geysering by considering uncontrolled air release through an upstream shaft or manhole. In such cases, the entire air pocket is released upon reaching the shaft, worsening the occurrence of geysering. Pressure and water level measurements were performed for various combinations of initial water pressure, trapped air pocket volume, and vertical shaft geometries, indicating the higher severity of these geysering events. The results obtained also corroborate previous studies in that the measured pressure heads were lower than the grade elevation. Future studies should include larger-scale testing and the representation of this geometry using CFD.