MODELING OF WATER HAMMER PHENOMENON-BASED PRESSURE INTENSIFIER

SAMI HAIKIO IHA, Tampere University of Technology P.O.Box 589, 33101 Tampere, Finland Fax int-358-3-3652240 e-mail: sami.haikio@tut.fi ERKKI LEHTO and TAPIO VIRVALO IHA, Tampere University of Technology P.O.Box 589, 33101 Tampere, Finland Fax int-358-3-3652240 e-mail: erkki.lehto@tut.fi and tapio.virvalo@tut.fi p1 pi p p N Q QN Tkr u V V0 V1 V vo Vp p gas pressure [Pa] pressure peak [Pa] pressure difference [Pa] nominal pressure difference [Pa] flow rate [m3/s] nominal flow rate [m3/s] valve critical closure time [s] orifice control [-] initial volume [m3] gas initial volume [m3] gas volume [m3] volume difference [m3] initial velocity of fluid [m/s] pump radial volume [m3/rad] density of fluid [kg/m3] dynamic viscosity [Ns/m2] kinetic viscosity [m2/s] pump shaft speed [1/rad]

ABSTRACT
A water hammer phenomenon generates great pressure peak to a pipe. This effect occurs when the flow rate changes quickly. Sometimes these pressure peaks cause equipment breakdown. For this reason many attempts have been made to predict such pressure peaks and to developed methods to reduce them. Recently methods and systems utilising water hammer phenomena have been studied. One application of utilising the water hammer phenomena is a new pressure intensifier. We are studying this effect with a long pipe and a rapid solenoid valve. When the solenoid valve is opened, the fluid flows through the pipe at high velocity and returns to the tank. When the solenoid valve is closed rapidly, the highpressure fluid discharges through the check valve to the actuator. The water hammer phenomenon includes many non-linear effects. For this reason, it is natural to use nonlinear model and simulation when studying this phenomenon. In this paper, this intensifier is modelled with the Matlabs Simulink tools and model is verified with test set-up. An experimental and the simulated results as well as some ideas of possible applications are presented.

INTRODUCTION
A water hammer phenomenon generates great pressure peak to a pipe. This effect occurs when the flow rate changes quickly. Usually the pressure rises when the control valve is closed or opened rapidly. Usually the pressure peaks are undesirable because these pressure peaks cause equipment breakdown. For this reason many attempts have been made to predict such pressures and to develop methods to reduce them. At present, the authors propose to actively utilise the water hammer phenomena. One application of utilising the water hammer phenomena is a new pressure intensifier. The pressure peak is created opening and closing the solenoid valve in the end of pipe. The highpressure oil is discharged through a check valve to the actuator. The pressure in the actuator can be much more than the supply pressure. Suzuki [1] has researched how to actively utilise the pressure peaks. He has developed the same kind of pressure intensifier that is shown in this paper. 1

KEYWORDS: Water hammer, pressure intensifier NOMENCLATURE

A Be c Cs dk h KE L lk m n PE p p0 inner surface area [m2] effective bulk module [Pa] sound velocity [m/s] leak constant [-] valve spool diameter [m] gap [m] kinetic energy pipe length [m] valve spool length [m] mass of fluid [kg] polytropic constant [-] potential energy [J] pressure [Pa] accumulator pre-charge pressure [Pa]

The hydraulic ram is a device that has been used for over 100 years to pump the water uphill. It works using the water hammer phenomena so that it uses the energy of a column of water moving downhill in a pipe that is suddenly stopped by a waste valve in the ram. When the water column is stopped, a pressure peak is created. After this sudden short peak of pressure, there is then a depression in pressure caused by the shock wave moving from the ram back up the drive pipe. The waste valve is opened up by means of a spring, thus the process to begin again. Rams usually incorporate an air vessel to assist in capturing the impulse or shock energy. The principle of water ram is shown in Figure 1.

In this paper, this intensifier is modelled with the Matlabs Simulink tools. The Simulink model is verified with the test set-up. Using the well-verified simulation model the behaviour of the system can easily be found when different inside and outside parameters are chanced. These kinds of parameters are the pipe length and diameter, temperature and the valve control timing. Experimental and simulated results as well as some ideas of possible applications are presented.

THEORY
When the flowing of the fluid is changed suddenly, it generates a great pressure peak to the pipe. For example the pressure rises when the control valve is closed rapidly. The fluid near the valve is stopped at short. The flow in the upstream of the pipe continues to flow and it generates the shock wave in the end of pipe. The shock wave begins to travel back from the valve to beginning of the pipe and it is dissolved to pressure unit. The shock wave is bounces back and it occurs between the valve and the pressure unit. The friction of the fluid and the imperfect elasticity of the fluid and the pipe wall damp out the vibration and eventually causes the fluid to come permanently to rest at a stable pressure level. A pulse wave of the high pressure is visualised as travel in the pipe at sound velocity. The sound velocity c in the pipe is calculated with Eg.(1)

c=
Figure 1. Principle of water ram [5].

Be ,

(1)

where Be is the effective bulk module and is the density of the fluid. Typical range of the wave velocity in the steel pipes is 1000 m/s to 1400 m/s. Using the hose or some else elastic materials in the pipes, the wave velocity is less than 1000 m/s. The simplest way to account the pressure rise is calculate the potential and the kinetic energy and assume that those are equal. At the instant closure of valve the kinetic energy of moving fluid is calculated with Eg. (2), 1 1 KE = m v0 2 = L A v0 2 , (2) 2 2 where m is mass of the fluid, v0 is the initial velocity of the fluid, L is length of the pipe and A is the area of the pipe.

The new pressure intensifier construction is very simple and cheap. The intensifier is composed only a pipe, a solenoid operated valve and a check valve. When the solenoid valve is opened, the fluid flows through the pipe at high velocity and returns to the tank. When the solenoid valve is closed rapidly, the high-pressure fluid discharges through the check valve to the actuator. The solenoid valve can be control by a standard microcomputer or a programmable logic controller. The water hammer phenomenon needs a favourable state in order to occur. Such a favourable state takes place when the pipe is long, the kinetic energy of fluid is sufficiently high (the density and the flow rate) and the change of the flow rate must be sufficiently rapid too. This means that the water hammer phenomenon includes many non-linear effects. For this reason, it is natural to use the non-linear model and the simulation when studying this phenomenon. 2

The potential energy stored in the compressed fluid is calculated with Eg. (3),
V pi 1 L A pi 2 1 1 (3) p i V = p i = 2 2 Be 2 Be where pi is the pressure rise due to the instant closure of the valve, V is the volume difference and V is the initial volume. PE =

Denoting that the potential and the kinetic energy are equal and define the pressure rise with Eg (4), p i = c v0 . (4) Previous equations are valid if the closing time is small enough. The valve closing time Ts must be less than required for one round trip of the pressure wave, that is Eg. (5), 2L Tkr = . (5) c Tkr is commonly called as the critical closure time. In reality the pressure rise depends on the length of pipe, steady state pressure and the valve closure time, former equations work only in theoretical state.

Figure 2. The hydraulic sketch of the pressure intensifier.

The control system was the dSPACE, which is the realtime control and the measure system and is used together with the MathWorks development software Matlab and Simulink. [6]. The solenoid valves were the Mannesman Rexroth ZSV 2/2 poppet valve that type is normally closed. The flow rate of the valve at p 100 bar is 3.3 l/min with the fluid kinetic viscosity being 16 mm2/s. The switching time of the valve is 1.62.3 milliseconds. In the test set-up three types of a steel pipes were used. One of the pipes was 6 meter length and it was tuning to helical. The others pipes were 3 meter length. The first of the 3 meter pipe was straight and the second was turned to helical. The inner diameters of the pipes were 4 mm and the wall thickness was 1 mm. Each of the pipes was tested and was compared to the simulation model. Piezoresistive Kistler 4065A500 type pressure sensors are used in the system. The sensor and the amplifier are individually matched to a single pressure sensor. The output of the amplifier is voltage ranging from 0 to 10 V when the pressure varies from 0 to 500 bar. The Sensor natural frequency is more than 50 kHz and the rise time is less than 40 microsecond.

CONSTRUCTION
The pressure intensifier is presented in Figure 2. When the current is supplied to the solenoid valves (4), those are in the open state, the fluid path is free and the fluid flows at the high-speed trough the pipe (2) to the tank. When the valves (4) are closed rapidly, by cutting off the solenoid current, an oil hammer is generated in the pipe. Now the oil pressure rises in the end of pipe, the check valve (3) opens and high-pressure fluid is discharges through the check valve to the actuator. The check valve prevent a reserve flow from an actuator. In this case the actuator is a bladder-type accumulator (6) which volume is 0.75 litre.

SIMULATION MODEL
Simulation model contains the non-linear part model of the pump, the valves, the pipe and the accumulators. The main model is composed of the part model. In Figure 3 is shown the main level of Simulink realisation of the pressure intensifier. Supply inputs are the tank pressure, the outflow and the valve control. Parameter to each component are taken from the manufacture catalogues and measured from the components.

d k h 3 p , (9) 12l k where dk is spool diameter, h is eccentricity of spool, is fluid viscosity and lk is spool length.
Qv =
Oil compression model change pressure difference to volume difference and vice versa. Eg. (10)

V =

V p , Be

(10)

where V is volume difference, V is initial volume and Be is effective bulk module. In the next is presented the model of pipe. There are many numerical solution of the equations that govern unsteady fluid flow in pipe. One of them is modal approximation method. The method of Ellman and Pich [4] is used in this study. The model is based on the two-dimensional viscous flow model. The modal approximation method describes the pipe dynamics as a series of second order dynamical systems as Figure 4 indicates.

Figure 3. The Simulink realisation of the pressure intensifier.

All submodels in the model are formed with the general equations. Hydraulic pump model is calculated with Eg. (6), Cs V p Qp =Vp p p ,

(6)

where Vp is the pump displacement, p is pump shaft speed and Cs is external leakage coefficient. Orifice is used in valves, accumulators and check valve. If we know the pressure difference over the orifice, so we can calculate the flow rate with Eg. (7).
Figure 4. Simulink realisation of a Q-model consisting of four modes [4].

p , (7) p N where u is orifice opening, QN is the nominal flow rate, pN is the nominal pressure difference and p is the real pressure difference.
Q = u QN
A simple model for accumulator is calculated with an adiabatic process in a perfect gas Eg. (8)

In using the modal approximation method, the choice of simulation model is based on the boundary condition of the pipe. If the flow rates are given inputs the Q-model can be used. The inputs are flow rates at the one end QA and flow rate QB at the other end of the pipe and the outputs are the pressures at the one end pA and pB the other end of the pipe.

p0V0 n = p1V1 n , (8) where p0 is accumulator pre-charge pressure, V0 is gas initial volume, p1 is working pressure, V1 is gas volume and n is polytropic constant.
Leakage in valve is calculated with Eg. (9) 4

RESULTS
Pressure intensifier model was verified using the test setup. The simulated results were compared to the experimental results. Measurement parameters were pressures at the both ends of pipe and the oil pressure in actuator (accumulator). In addition, measurable parameter was oil temperature, from which was calculated the oil viscosity in the working temperature. The effective bulk module of the oil effects to compressibility and so on the pressure peak amplitude. The effective bulk module depends on the oil pressure, the temperature, and the mechanical compliance. The oils effective bulk module is defied of test set-up by measuring the speed of wave in the fluid. The bulk module is calculated with Eg. (11) Be = c 2 , (11) where c is the speed of wave in the pipe and is the density of the oil. In the next is presented the one measuring and simulating result. In Figure 5 is shown the oscillation of the oil pressure at the end of the pipe. The length of the pipe is 6 meter and its turn around a metal core which diameter is 95 mm.

The velocity of the wave is measured with using a cycle time of the pressure oscillation. We discover that the speed of wave is about 1100 m/s and the effective bulk module is 1040 MPa which is solved from equation (1). In the Figure 6 is presented the rise of pressure in the accumulator. The pipe is same as in Figure 5, but the control period of solenoid valve is 40 Hz.

Figure 6. Pressure rising in the accumulator using the spiral 6 meter length pipe which inner diameter is 4 mm.

DISCUSSION
The simulation model was made with Matlabs Simulink tool. The Simulink is a very good tool to simulate the non-linear phenomena. The model was verified with test set-up and confirmed that the results of the Simulink model were good. The simulation model is the tool, which can be use to find out the best results between all kind of the valves and the length of pipes. Using the model it is easy to find out what happen when the external parameters like temperature is changed. The problem to build the simulation model was to found out the suitable integral algorithms and the parameters. The model can easily become numerically stiff, if the model has the rapid dynamics. The simulation will become slow and frustrated, because the iteration of the best parameters becomes very slow. Rising the control frequency in the solenoid valve the rise time of pressure decreases in the actuator, but at the one point the pressure begins to drop. This happens because the valve is sluggish and the flow velocity is not high enough before closing the valve. 5

Figure 5. The oscillation of at the pressure the end of pipe when the solenoid valve is closed rapidly. The pipe is turned to spiral, the length of the pipe is 6 meter and inner diameter of the pipe is 4 mm.

In Figure 5 the pressure is measured and simulated at the end of pipe. At the first, the solenoid valve is open and the oil flows to the tank. The resistance of pipe is about 5.5 MPa. Then the solenoid valve is closed rapidly and it generates the pressure peak to the end of pipe. The pressure peak is about 15.5 MPa and the oscillation decays to the supply pressure level, which is 10.0 MPa.

In the 3 meters pipe the speed of wave and the effective bulk module were smaller than in the 6 meters pipe. This occurs because the pipe volume is too small and the volume of the valve and the elasticity of valve are dominatings. The errors to simulation become from the parameters. The oil viscosity is depending from the temperature and it is very difficult to measure the oil temperature accurately. The bend of pipe is also a problem because the model has been done to the straight pipe. The model doesnt notice the bend of pipe and the single resistance. These problems mean that the absolute pressure levels can not be read from the model, but instead the differences between the all kind of valves and pipes. In the next is illustrated the bending of pipe means to the pressure peak. In Figure 7 is shown the oil pressure oscillation on the end of pipe (pressure p1) when the solenoid valve is closed rapidly. The continuous line is measured from the straight pipe and dashed line from the pipe, which have been turned to 95 mm spiral. The lengths of pipes are 3 meter and the pipes inner diameters are 4 mm.

that we can better verified the pressure intensifier operating characteristics. One actuator could be a hydraulic motor. The pressure intensifier can rise the pressure and it can keep the pressure up to compensate the leak. The moment and the shaft rotation can be easy measured from the motor. Using those measures we can calculate the pressure and flow rate in the motor. Second actuator could be a hydraulic cylinder. The cylinder chamber pressure is risen by pressure intensifier. The pressure peak can drive direct to cylinder camber or store to the pressure accumulator where the high pressure oil can be taken out when needed.

REFERENCES
[1] Suzuki, K., Narita, R. & Asahara, K. 1999. Application of a pressure intensifier using oil hammer to hydraulic motor control. Power transmission and motion control, PTMC 99. Bath, UK, University of Bath, s. 337-348. [2] Suzuki, K. 1990. A new hydraulic pressure intensifier using oil hammer. ASME Journal of fluids engineering, Vol. 112, s. 56-60. [3] Haikio, S. 1999. Modeling of water hammer phenomenon-based pressure intensifier. Master of science thesis (Finnish). Tampere University of Technology, Institute of Hydraulics and Automation. 84 p. [4] Mkinen, J., Pich, R. & Ellman, A. 1996. Fluid transmission line modelling using a variational method. Tampere, Tampere University of Technology, Mathematics report 72, 25 s. [5] http://212.250.85.130/cat/information/tipsheets/hydra m.html (9.2.1999).

Figure 7. Pressure oscillation the end of pipe when the solenoid valve is closed rapidly using spiral 3 meter length pipe which inner diameter is 4 mm and same kind of pipe which is straight.

[6] http://www.dspace.de/ (22.2.2000).

In Figure 7 we can see what happens when the pipe is turned to helical. The resistance of pipe increases and the pressure peak decreases. The resistance of turned pipe is about 1 MPa more that the straight pipe and the the pressure peak maximum value is about 1.7 MPa less than the straight line. The simulation model should be developed that it takes account the pipe turn and the single resistance. The model should be tested also with the different valves, pipes and actuators. In test set-up we should add some actuators, 6