Negative pressure protection with one-way surge tanks in bidirectional water delivery systems

Water hammer protection is one of the key factors for the safe operation of the long-distance water delivery systems, which has lots of useful results. However, the protection experiences for bidirectional water delivery systems using the same pipeline are lacking. In this study, the protection method with one-way surge tanks in the bidirectional water delivery system is investigated. The theoretical formula for one-way surge tank setting is derived based on the theory of water hammer propagation, and the pump head and bidirectional water hammer protection constraints. Subsequently, the pump trip transient processes in an actual system are simulated. Finally, different kinds of one-way surge tank protection schemes are compared. The results show that the pressure along the pipeline after the pump trip can meet the standard when using the one-way surge tank protection scheme calculated by the theoretical formula. The proposed method can provide the effective protection strategy for the bidirectional water delivery systems. HIGHLIGHTS Negative pressure protection for the bidirectional water delivery systems in the same pipeline is studied. The theoretical formula for one-way surge tank setting in bidirectional water delivery system is presented. The proposed one-way surge tank setting strategy can provide effective water hammer protection for the system.