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Flow regimes in a vertical drop shaft with a

sharp-edged intake
ARTICLE APRIL 2015
DOI: 10.1080/23249676.2015.1026417

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3 AUTHORS:
Roberta Padulano

Giuseppe Del Giudice

University of Naples Federico II

University of Naples Federico II

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Armando Carravetta
University of Naples Federico II
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Retrieved on: 19 March 2016

Journal of Applied Water Engineering and Research, 2015

Vol. 3, No. 1, 2934, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23249676.2015.1026417

Flow regimes in a vertical drop shaft with a sharp-edged intake

R. Padulano , G. Del Giudice and A. Carravetta
Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Universit degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy

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(Received 31 December 2014; accepted 2 March 2015 )

The results of an experimental analysis are provided concerning the hydraulic behaviour of a vertical drop shaft with a sharpedged circular intake, also taking into account a peculiar venting system consisting of a coaxial vertical pipe, projecting
within the drop shaft with dierent plunging lengths. Three dierent ow regimes are experienced: a weir ow for low
head values, where an airwater mixture at the atmospheric pressure can be observed; a pressurized ow for high head
values, where water ows in a pressurized regime along the shaft; a transitional ow for intermediate water head values,
consisting of a continuous, spontaneous switch between weir ow and pressurized ow with consequent water head variation
for a xed discharge. Pressurized ow regime is analytically explained, so that a headdischarge relation can be provided
both for the non-vented and for the vented congurations, with specic assumptions about intake losses.
Keywords: drop shaft; pressurized ow; weir ow; transitional ow

1. Introduction
The City of Naples (Italy) has recently commissioned a
huge maintenance and updating plan concerning its urban
drainage system. Specically, relevant funds have been
allocated to renovate the Via Tasso drainage basin, one of
the most involved by urban growth and by a deep increase
in the impervious area percentage in the city; this will
hopefully avoid malfunctioning events, such as basement
or street ooding, manhole cover blow-o, structural problems. For this type of intervention, it is usually convenient
to rely on the already existing infrastructures, in order to
contain construction costs and time; in the examined basin,
a large number of sewer branches, unused at present, can
be adopted and connected to the main sewer. However,
a careful attention must be given to the analysis of lowcapacity devices in the sewer network, which can limit the
discharge and represent vulnerable points in the drainage
system. For instance, in the Via Tasso basin these devices
consist of diversion channels and drop shafts (Del Giudice
et al. 2013; Padulano et al. 2013); for the latter, technical
literature does not provide a full satisfactory background in
order to understand the possible functioning regimes.
Vertical drop shafts are usually adopted within sewer
systems located in hilly regions to transfer storm water
or sewage across large elevation dierences. A drop shaft
basically consists of three components: an inlet structure, a
vertical pipe and an air venting device. The inlet structure
enables a smooth transition from horizontal to vertical ow

*Corresponding author. Email: roberta.padulano@unina.it

2015 IAHR and WCCE

into the drop shaft; various inlet congurations have been

conceived in technical applications and laboratory model
studies, such as vortex, morning glory and square-edged
drop shaft (Williams 1997). The vertical pipe leads the
water to the bottom of the drop shaft.
Since the jet drop is always characterized by a mixture of air and water, air entraining in the vertical shaft
should be kept under control, especially in the presence
of extremely long vertical pipes. If the air supply is poor,
the pressure in the drop shaft could fall, so that cavitation may occur at high-velocity spots, like the shaft intake.
Furthermore, even when the shaft is suciently supplied
with air, there are chances that this air might get compressed and blow back through any available opening
in the system, possibly leading to geysering phenomena
(Rajaratnam et al. 1997). The above-mentioned problems
can be avoided by ensuring an adequate air vent system
along the drop shaft (Guo & Song 1988) or immediately
before the receiving tunnel (Williams 1997).
With reference to sewer systems, where the ow rates
are highly variable, the drop shaft functioning will also
vary, depending on whether it works with a free ow (water
surface in the receiving channel lies below the shaft base)
or with a submerged ow (water surface in the receiving channel lies above the shaft base) (Viparelli 1961),
and whether the inlet works with a weir ow or with a
pipe ow. Generally, a free weir ow prevails for small
discharges and water heads, because air entrainment is

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30

R. Padulano et al.

ensured as the ow prole undergoes atmospheric pressure

over the shaft crest; in this case, the literature suggests that
the discharge is a function of h3/2 . As the discharge over
the crest increases, submergence of the crest begins, and
the control section moves from the crest to the inside of
the shaft; discharge is then supposedly a function of h1/2
(orice ow). For a still higher discharge, the condition
of pressurized ow (or pipe ow) is reached, and the
discharge becomes a linear function of the hydraulic gradient between the pipe inlet and outlet. The above-mentioned
description is provided by several authors, but with a few
experimental data supporting speculations (Anwar 1965;
USBR 1987; Fattor & Bacchiega 2001; Khatsuria 2005;
Robinson et al. 2010; Padulano et al. 2013).
In the present paper, an experimental analysis is presented concerning a vertical drop shaft with a sharp-edged
horizontal intake; the experimental set-up simulates a similar structure, which is located in the Tasso basin, with
no specic similitude criteria. An experimental campaign
was necessary, given the limited attention provided by the
technical literature for this particular intake design.

2. Experimental design
The experimental set-up consists of a Plexiglas rectangular tank with a width of 0.7 m, a length of 2.07 m and a
height of 1.25 m; the tank is divided by a ltering wall
into a detention tank and a lling tank with equal volumes,
upstream and downstream of the lter, respectively. The
vertical drop shaft, modelled by a Plexiglas vertical pipe,
with a length of 1.5 m and an internal diameter of 0.07 m,
is attached to the bottom centre of the lling tank with a
sharp-edged circular inlet. This implies that the approach
ow is asymmetrical; however, thanks to the ltering wall,
the inow velocity is negligible. In order to ensure air
venting, a second vertical pipe, with a length of 2 m and
an external diameter of 0.03 m, can be coaxially housed
in the shaft by means of an iron bracket at the tank top
and three screws at the plunging end of the venting pipe
(Figures 12).

Figure 2. Plan view of the experimental set-up with D = 0.1 m

and d = 0.07 m (dimension in (mm)).

Experiments were performed by varying the discharge

owing through the system and measuring the corresponding water head in the tank; point gauges were adopted for
ow depth measurement with a 0.5 mm accuracy. Both an
emptying and a lling path were followed in order to verify
whether any hysteretic behaviour occurred, with no signicant results. Dierent plunging rates n for the venting
pipe were also considered, equal to 3, 6 and 9, so that the
venting pipe was inserted within the drop shaft for a length
equal to 0.21, 0.42 and 0.63 m, respectively (they will be
referred to as the 3D, 6D and 9D conditions).
In order to provide an explanation for the peculiar functioning of the drop shaft, experimental data were divided
into three dierent classes, namely pressurized ow data,
weir ow data and transitional ow data. The rst
gathers headdischarge data relating to a pressurized ow
condition, where the drop shaft volume was found to be
entirely occupied by pressurized water; the second gathers
data referring to a free surface condition over the intake,
where both water and air can be seen in the vertical pipe,
with a central air core at atmospheric pressure. Both types
are characterized by an overall stability in the water level
and pressure values, thus resulting in experimental steady
states. Data of the third group relate to a peculiar condition
where hydraulic regime alternately switches from pressurized ow to weir ow; this condition is very unstable
with respect to the water level in the tank, which oscillates

Figure 1. Experimental set-up lateral and front view with coaxial pipe absent (a, b); front view with coaxial pipe present (c) (not in
scale).

Journal of Applied Water Engineering and Research

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Table 1.

31

Experimental data.

Conguration
label

id

h
(m)

UV
UV
UV
UV
UV
UV
UV
UV
UV
3D
3D
3D
3D
3D
3D
3D
3D
6D
6D
6D
6D
6D
6D
6D
6D
6D
9D
9D
9D
9D
9D
9D
9D
9D
9D

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35

0.094
0.139
0.149
0.124
0.134
0.239
0.574
0.644
0.944
0.059
0.107
0.114
0.179
0.360
0.524
0.594
0.724
0.055
0.079
0.114
0.119
0.159
0.166
0.417
0.602
0.782
0.064
0.104
0.119
0.119
0.179
0.254
0.424
0.562
0.658

D D
(m) (m)

L
(m)

Q
(m3 /s)

0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07

1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5

0.002386
0.005741
0.010377
0.014528
0.016492
0.018733
0.020157
0.020515
0.021948
0.001448
0.003357
0.004989
0.006809
0.008075
0.009136
0.009533
0.010255
0.001448
0.002589
0.003910
0.004973
0.006972
0.007899
0.009283
0.010305
0.011150
0.001581
0.003554
0.005577
0.006817
0.008510
0.009557
0.010127
0.010758
0.011150

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03

Figure 3. Experimental data for unvented (UV) and vented (3D,

6D, 9D) congurations (pf, pressurized ow; tf, transitional ow
and wf, weir ow).

Figure 4. Pressure distributions with linear interpolation for different discharge values (id in Table 1) of unvented conguration.

Note: For transitional ow, h represents the mean value

between maximum and minimum.

between a maximum (corresponding to the transition from

weir ow to pressurized ow) and a minimum (corresponding to the transition from pressurized ow to weir ow).
Table 1 shows a synthesis of the experiments.

3.

Experimental evidence

Figure 3 shows the results of experiments for the unvented

(UV) and for the vented (3D, 6D and 9D) congurations;
the three dierent data groups locate in dierent parts of the
graph, with dierent characteristics. For high discharge and
water head values, pressurized ow occurs, with the corresponding data placed in the upper right part of Figure 3: a
sudden increase in water head as discharge increases can
be noticed. For low discharge and water head values, weir
ow occurs, and the corresponding experimental points
locate near the origin. It was quite dicult to reproduce
this particular regime, since the supply discharge had to be

very low, but despite the scarcity of experimental points

a very low increase in water head with discharge is visible. For intermediate discharge and water head values, the
transitional ow regime can be seen, and, for each discharge, two dierent water heads were highlighted, namely
the maximum and the minimum; the reciprocal variation
of discharge and water head is roughly similar to the weir
ow case.
A comparison among the investigated congurations
under pressurized ow regime shows that, for a given water
head, discharge is greater when the coaxial pipe is absent,
since the eective cross-section is obviously the largest.
When the venting pipe is present, a dependence on the
plunging rate can be observed, namely discharge increases
with increasing n for a xed head.
Pressure measurements were also taken along the drop
shaft within the pressurized ow region; Figure 4 shows
a linear distribution for dierent experimental discharges
belonging to the unvented conguration.

32

R. Padulano et al.

4. Theoretical analysis
An analytical approach was applied to the pressurized ow
regime, both because of the larger amount of data compared to the other ow regimes, both mostly because of its
steadiness in water head and in pressure values. A unique
relationship was found possible for the unvented and the
vented congurations, once the following variables are
introduced:

(1)
Deq = D2 d2 ,

L
if d = 0,
Lp =
(2)
nD if d = 0,

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R=

Dd
,
4

(3)

where Deq is the equivalent diameter, namely the diameter of a circular cross-section of equal area of the annulus
given by the insertion of the coaxial pipe (for d = 0 it is
the exact diameter of the cross-section); Lp is the length
of the pressurized ow region, which coincides with the
total length of the vertical drop shaft when the venting
pipe is absent, and it is equal to the plunging length of
the venting pipe when this is present; R is the hydraulic
radius of the annulus section (if d = 0 it coincides with
the hydraulic radius of a circular cross-section). All variables in Equations (1)(3) are in (m) but n, which is
dimensionless.
The Bernoulli theorem was applied between a point
A belonging to the free surface of the lling tank and a
point B belonging to the last section of the pressurized ow
region, so that the distance between A and B is h + Lp :
zA +

V2
pA
pB
V2
+ A = zB +
+ B + j (Lp 8 R)

2g

2g
+

Correlation between observed and estimated dis-

of the Blasius formula (Hager 2010), as depending on

the Reynolds number alone. This is consistent with the
plastic pipe material, with typical roughness values of
0.00150.0070 mm (Hager 2010) and with the experimental Reynolds numbers Re = 4VR, ranging between
3.6 104 and 6 105 .
Equation (4) species in the following:

Q = Deq
4


1
2g (h + Lp ),
1+ +

(6)

which is the headdischarge equation of the vertical drop

shaft under pressurized ow regime. Calibration of ,
which must be known to practically apply Equation (6),
was made by minimizing the square sum of errors (SSE):
SSE =

N


(Qest Qobs )2 ,

(7)

i=1

V2B
,
2g

(4)

where z is the elevation above a xed datum in (m), p/

is the relative pressure head in (m), V2 /(2g) is the velocity
head in (m), j is the friction loss coecient in (m/m), and
is the local head loss due to the entrance of ow into the
drop shaft. The relative pressure in both A and B is null, and
the velocity head in A is negligible if compared to the other
terms in the equation. Also, it was assumed that local losses
take place within a distance of 8R from the intake section,
whereas friction losses take place from that section on. It
was convenient to express friction losses as proportional to
the velocity head in B by means of a coecient , which
is dened as follows:
=

Figure 5.
charges.

f
(Lp 8 R),
4R

(5)

where f is the friction factor. Experimental evidence

showed that Plexiglas pipes can be considered hydraulically smooth, so that f can be estimated by means

where Qobs is the discharge value observed during the

experimental phase in (m3 /s), and Qest is the discharge
estimated by means of Equation (6) in (m3 /s). The operation was made separately for unvented data, providing
= 0.20, and for vented data, providing = 0.70. These
values are consistent with the ones provided by Padulano
et al. (2013), which were computed by means of a dierent
experimental eld. Figure 5 shows the perfect accordance
between observed and estimated discharge.
It must be noted that scale eects were seen for smaller
dimensions of the drop shaft, implying a totally dierent
behaviour of the structure, for instance a very anomalous
value of the local head loss coecient. These results were
of course dropped and not provided in the present paper.
In accordance with Hager and Del Giudice (1998), a
dimensionless expression of results is provided for pressurized ow, once the following dimensionless 
parameters
5 , the
are dened: the pipe Froude number, FD = Q/ gDeq
dimensionless water head, Y = h/Deq , the dimensionless

Journal of Applied Water Engineering and Research

pipe length, = Lp /Deq , and
 = Deq /(Dd). Dividing the
5 ,
gDeq

terms in Equation (6) for

the following relations
are obtained:

0.5
Y+
FD = 1.11
,
(8)
1.20 + f ( 2)

0.5
Y+
,
(9)
FD = 1.11
1.70 + f ( 2)

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Equation (8) is the headdischarge relation valid for the

unvented conguration, whereas Equation (9) is valid for
the vented ones.
5. Conclusions
An experimental campaign was undertaken in order to
understand the operating conditions of a vertical drop shaft,
with and without a venting system consisting of a coaxial
vertical pipe with variable plunging rates. Results of the
experiments show that the system can experience three different ow regimes. The rst (weir ow) occurs for very
low discharge and water head values, and is characterized
by stable values of water levels; the drop shaft is occupied
by an airwater mixture at the atmospheric pressure. The
second (pressurized ow) regime occurs for high discharge and water head values and, as the weir ow, it is
a steady state with respect to pressure and water head over
the intake; in this case, the shaft is entirely occupied by
water owing in a pressurized regime. The third (transitional ow) regime occurs for intermediate discharge
and water heads; it is a very unstable and pulsating condition with signicant recurring variations in water head
for a given discharge. Specically, for a xed discharge
the water head was found to vary between a maximum and
a minimum, implying a continuous switch between weir
ow and pressurized ow. As regards the headdischarge
relation, pressurized ow shows a rapid increase in the
water heads for minimum ow rate variations, whereas
both weir and transitional ows (the latter with respect to
the average water heads) are characterized by an opposite behaviour, with slow changes in the water heads for
signicant variations of discharge.
Experiments showed that the drop shaft carrying capacity was the greatest when the coaxial pipe was absent;
capacity rapidly drops when the venting pipe is inserted,
because of a huge reduction in the hydraulic section. Furthermore, capacity decreases with decreasing venting pipe
plunging rate; indeed, the lowest capacity was experienced
for the 3D conguration.
The analytical interpretation of results focused on pressurized ow data. A correlation was found between water
head and discharge by applying the Bernoulli theorem,
where friction and minor losses were expressed by means
of parameters and , respectively, where depends on
the specic resistance law adopted. A calibration procedure

33

showed that it was possible to assume as a constant with

respect to the water head h, being a function of the inlet
geometry alone. Experimental data provided = 0.20 for
the unvented case and = 0.70 for the vented congurations.
Disclosure statement
No potential conict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors
R. Padulano is a Ph.D. in Hydraulic, Transportation and Land
System Engineering at the University of Naples Federico II.
She has completed her graduate studies in Environmental Engineering, with honour, at the same university. Her research activity
concerns both urban and natural drainage systems, with special
focus on waterworks design. Her master thesis activity involved
a hydrological study of a large number of watersheds in Southern Italian Peninsula, in order to derive a ood index prediction
model accounting for both surface cover and climate. During
her Ph.D. years she has been, and currently is, involved in an
experimental activity regarding urban drainage structures, namely
diversion and fall systems. She also supervised several master
theses concerning, for instance, a study on sewage seasonality by
means of a time series analysis, an experimental investigation on
a vertical drop shaft (both relevant case studies within the combined drainage system of the city of Naples), and identication
analysis and calibration of hydraulic-hydrological models.
G. Del Giudice is an associate professor in Hydraulic and Coastal
Engineering and Hydrology at the University of Naples Federico II. He completed his graduate studies in Civil Engineering,
with honour, and he achieved a Ph.D. in Hydraulic Engineering
at the same university. He also had a post-doc academic experience at VAW in Zurich, Switzerland, collaborating with Prof.
W. Hager and his team; there he dealt with experimental analyses concerning special sewer structures, which remains as one of
his top research issues. His didactic and research activity mainly
concerns water distribution and drainage engineering, with reference to both urban and natural systems; in this context, he works
in the eld of waterworks design, where he is a recognized expert
in Italy and abroad.
A. Carravetta is an associate professor in Hydraulics at the University of Naples Federico II. He works in the eld of technical
innovation of water distribution systems, and he is the owner of
several patents. He is recognized by the pump industry as one
of the world wide experts in PAT and energy eciency of water
pumps.

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