ICH3800

Class 8
1st Semester 2022
MOMENT OF INERTIA - FLYWHEELS

- A flywheel is a disc made of steel which is mounted together with the pump’s impeller
(or turbine) and the electrical motor (or generator), using the same axis which
transmit the torque of the whole system.
- The moment of inertia of a flywheel can be computed manually for simple
geometries. For complex geometries, special software can be used.
- It is a very robust measure to lower the HGL’s falling rate under a black-out scenario
- Adding flywheels will consume more footprint in the pumping station.
- WARNING! - The use of flywheels with direct-start pumps can demand up to 6 times
the electrical current consumed when turning the pumps on. This is a huge impact on
the electrical design.
- See assorted photographs of flywheels.
- CE099 example of how the moment of inertia (MOI) in the form of a flywheel can
impact a black-out scenario (MOI = 50, 100, 300 and 900 kg-m2).
CHECK VALVES

- Check valves are used to avoid reverse flow and its negative consequences. Its use
is very common. They are not a hydraulic transient mitigation measure per se
(except for a few specific cases), but its proper selection is very important.
- Selecting the correct check valve involves cost, space, head losses and check valve
slam. The latter aspect is related with hydraulic transients.
- Check valve slam is a violent phenomenon which occurs when one or more pumps
running in parallel are shutted down, or during a black-out event. Under these
circumstances, the check valve automatically closes avoiding permanent reverse
flow. However, depending on the type of check valve, the slam can present different
degrees of severity.
- Think about a door slamming, it’s basically the same.
- See assorted sketches of check valves.
- See Val-Matic’s document
“Design and Selection of Check
Valves”, where a very simple
and practical method is offered
for selecting an adequate
check valve type, including the
severity of the check valve
slam.
AIR VESSELS / AIR CHAMBERS / SURGE VESSELS / SURGE TANKS

- Air vessels are pressurized chambers containing a fraction of water & fraction of gas.
- They have 2 principal objectives: 1) supply water to the pipeline under a black-out
scenario of a pumping system (during the negative pressure wave), which results in
lowering the HGL’s falling rate, and 2) mitigate high transient pressures (positive
pressure wave) by using the compressed gas as a cushion.
- Its use is not as common as other measures such as air valves and PRVs, but they
are still a very effective solution for several specific cases.
- They are located immediately downstream of the pumping station.
- The corresponding capital and operational costs are relatively high, therefore its
need must be very well supported in front of a customer.
- Good arguments for using air vessels are: 1) the internal coating / lining of pipes or
pipes themselves don’t allow subatmospheric pressures, including transient
cavitation; 2) there are components in the system that cannot allow air coming
through (if air valves are used), for example very fine filters and membranes.
AIR VESSELS / AIR CHAMBERS / SURGE VESSELS / SURGE TANKS

- Section 3.3 in Thorley’s book can be consulted for having a preliminary sizing
procedure and corresponding charts. However, current software are very reliable and
the sizing can also be approached by a trial and error procedure.
- Main variables to be taken in account are: 1) diameter and length of the pipeline; 2)
maximum flow rate in the system; 3) wave speed along the pipeline; 4) space
available for locating the vessels; 4) percentage of liquid versus gas; 5) diameter and
length of the connecting pipes; 6) operability (e.g. gas supply?) and maintainability
(number of vessels, internal coating, type of gas, among others).
- They can be arranged in vertical or horizontal position, depending on the specific
system, space available, accessibility and preferred layout.
- They can have a bladder to isolate the liquid from the gas.
- See assorted sketches of air vessels.
PIPE WALL THICKNESS AND PIPING SUPPORTS

- Sometimes this is the only solution available, when everything else is not feasible or
not allowed by the owner. It can be the case of “brownfield” (= existing) projects, in
opposition to “greenfield” (= new) projects.
- Thicker pipe walls will result in higher MAOP.
- BUT CHECK that everything else is consistent: instruments, valves, equipment in
general. It happens sometimes that just 1 existing component defines the actual
maximum operating pressure.
- Real example about an in-line filter for seawater pipe limiting everything else.
- Piping supports must be prepared to face the roughest transient conditions, including
transient cavitation conditions, if they are likely to occur.
- If well designed, this method will work, but it can produce a bad feeling for operators,
owners, contractors working there, etc. Perception is always important...
OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES / CONTROL SYSTEM / LOCKS

- It is not enough just recommending “hard” mitigation devices such as those

mentioned along this course. Operational procedures, general input for the control
system and general safety constraints are also necessary to ensure an adequate
and safe operation of the system.
- HAZID (Hazard Identification) and HAZOP (Hazard and Operability) assessments
are conducted at different stages of the project, to capture and resolve outstanding
issues concerning safe design, operation and maintenance.
- “What if ‘X’ happens ?” … leads to “ If ‘X’ happens, then do ‘Y’ ” or “ Implement ‘Z’ to
avoid the occurrence of ‘X’ ”.
- The above leads to the implementation of dozens of “interlocks”, “alarms” and
“permissives” in the control system, which aims to minimize human errors, increase
safety and facilitate operation and maintenance procedures.
OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES / CONTROL SYSTEM / LOCKS

- The control system can then take actions under certain circumstances.
- Valves fail open, fail close, fail last (see example of P&ID)
- Pumps are turned off
- Automatic rules and conditions used during operation
- Valves lock open, lock close.
- Valves with position switch / indicator.
- Redundancy and maintainability of transient mitigation devices.
- Pumps cannot start up all at the same time.
- Communication between facilities many times is a significant issue, especially over
long distances.