Vacuum Breaker Valve Properties Window Page 1 of 1

Vacuum Breaker Valve Properties Window

The Vacuum Breaker Valve junction type (also called an air inlet valve) requires either one or two connecting pipes, which can be specified on the bottom of the Valve Model tab.
The Vacuum Breaker Valve Properties window follows the first of the two basic Properties window formats, displaying the connecting pipes in a fixed format. The flow direction
through the junction is determined by the defined directions of the connecting pipes.The Vacuum Breaker Valve offers protection for low pressure conditions. When the internal
pressure drops below the cracking pressure (usually atmospheric), it opens to admit air (or whatever gas you specify). This keeps the pressure from dropping much below the
atmospheric pressure. When the internal pressure rises above the atmospheric pressure, the air is discharged. To prevent large pressure spikes, the discharge flowrate is
frequently kept lower than the incoming flowrate by using a smaller discharge flow area for outflow than inflow.
A vacuum breaker junction can connect with one pipe or two by changing this setting at the bottom of the Valve Model tab. When connected to one pipe, the valve is located at
the end of the pipe. When connected to two pipes, the valve is inline and allows air to flow in and out at that location. During steady-state a vacuum breaker valve with one
connecting pipe acts as a dead end. If connected to two pipes, it acts as a lossless valve allowing liquid to flow between the two pipes.
By default, the vacuum breaker junction is set to act as both a Vaacuum Breaker and Gas Release valve, which allows gas to flow in and out. Alternatively, there are options to
set the junction to allow only inflow or outflow, or to model a 3-stage gas release, as described below. The required information for Full Open Orifice CdA and the intermediate
orifice will vary based on the selected Valve Type.

Three-Stage Valve Modeling

AFT Impulse supports modeling of a special type of vacuum breaker valve called a three-stage valve. Three stage valves work the same as regular valves when gas is flowing in,
but have two orifice sizes when gas flows out. Pressure difference or volumetric flowrate criteria specify which orifice to use. When the actual value is less than the specified
value the normal Outflow CdA is used. When the actual value is higher, the intermediate orifice CdA is used. This intermediate orifice CdA values are typically much smaller than
the normal outflow CdA.

Gas Properties
By default, Impulse chooses air as the default gas entering/exiting the Vacuum Breaker junction, and provides standard information for air including molecular weight and Cp/Cv
for isentropic flow. These values can be adjusted by choosing Other for the gas type.
The gas external pressure, external temperature, and initial gas mass are set to typical values for a vacuum breaker valve. The Initial Gas Mass should generally be zero, unless
the vacuum breaker valve will be open in the steady state. Any changes made to the gas external pressure will cause the cracking pressure to be automatically updated by
default.

Liquid Temperature
Since the temperature of the liquid in the vacuum breaker valve is used for vacuum breaker calculations, the option is given to either use the temperature that was entered in the
System Properties window, or to explicitly define the temperature of the liquid at the valve.

Special Conditions
The Vacuum Breaker Valve offers the special condition to Ignore calculations for the vacuum valve, meaning that it will be treated like a lossless valve. For more information, see
Special Conditions.

Graphing Vacuum Breaker Valve Data

You can track the amount of air in the system and the flowrate by selecting these options in the Junction section of the Transient Control window . These parameters can be
graphed or reviewed in the Output window.

Related Topics
l Parameters Common to All Junction Properties Windows
l Vacuum Breaker Valve Waterhammer Theory
l Inherent Event Logic
l Partially Full Pipes

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