Air Vessel Sizing for Water Hammer Prevention in Pipelines

Reference: Simple Guide for Design of Air Vessels for Water Hammer Protection of Pumping L
http://www2.ce.metu.edu.tr/~ce534/links/docs/CE534-WebFiles/air-chamber.pdf

Figure 1: Pipeline Profile

Figure 2: Maximum and minimum head envelopes based on incompressible flow theory

Figure 3: Air and Vessel Volumes

Terms In above charts:

S'
where:
S' =
S0 =
g=
Ho =
A=
L=
v0 =
Hmin =
Hmax =

S0 g H 0
A L v0

------------------- (1)

Dimensionless parameter

Initial gas volume in vessel, m3

gravitational acceleration, 9.8 m/s2
Static head above pump discharge nozzle plus destination pressure (in head terms), m
Cross-sectional area of pipeline, m2
Length of pipeline, m
Initial Pipeline Velocity, m/s
minimum static head above pump discharge nozzle plus destination pressure (in head
maximum static head above pump discharge nozzle plus destination pressure (in head

For majority air vessel volume calculations consider the following values

H min
0. 4
H0
and

H max
H0

1 .4

From "Figurre 2" , S' = 1

Rearranging equation (1) considering S' = 1

S0

A L v0
g H0

----------(2)

----------------(3)

S S0 S w
where:
S=
Sw =

Sw

Air vessel volume, m3

Initial water volume in vessel, m3
A L v0
g hmin

------------(4)

where:

hmin H 0 H min

----------(5)

Calculations
Inputs

Safety factor
on Vessel
Volume
(L/D)vessel =
Outputs
A=
S0 =
hmin =
Sw =
S=
S with SF =
Dvessel =
Lvessel =

(Hmin / H0 = 0.4)

Compressed Air or Nitrogen

0.4
410 m
900 mm
18000 m
1.4 m/s
1

2.38
Liquid

Air Vessel
0.636 m2
5.6 m3
246 m
9.3 m3
14.9 m3
14.9 m3
2.00 m
4.75 m

d0

L=
v0 =

Outlet

S' =
Hmin / H0 =
H0 =
dp =

Inlet

Pipeline

Outlet Connection (do)

1. do is generally 0.25 to 0.5 times the pipe diameter d p

2. Size needs to be verified based on point number 1 to ensure that velocity is kept at or below 10 m/
Inlet Connection

di
v0

d p g hmax

1/ 4

where:
di =
dp =

-----------(6)

Inlet connection size, mm

pipeline size, mm

------------(7)

hmax H max H 0
Since Hmax = 1.4*H0,

hmax 0.4 H 0
Re-arranging equation (6), we get
2

di
v0

dp
g 0.4 H 0

1/ 4

1
2

Calculations (Inlet / Outlet Size)

Inputs
dp =
v0 =
H0 =
Outputs
do =
di =
Selected Size
do =
di =
Prepared by:

900 mm
1.4 m/s
410 m

225 mm
8.9 inch
118.9 mm
4.7 inch
10 inch
6 inch
Ankur Srivastava
Chemical Engineer
ankur_2061@hotmail.com

ction of Pumping Lines

le flow theory

e (in head terms), m

on pressure (in head terms), m

on pressure (in head terms), m

di

Inlet

dp

pt at or below 10 m/s in the outlet piping