What You Can Do with InfoSurge
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Transient Flow Analysis
Pressure surges (water hammer) and cavitation can develop during startup and shutdown, as well as in unexpected loss of power to pumps or inadvertent valve closure. If the pressure exceeds design values, it can damage pipes or components. Surge control devices will help – and transient flow analysis enables you to pick the right ones. Surge analysis is vital to ensure safety and reliability under emergency conditions.
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Check Out your Devices
InfoSurge can simulate surge suppression/protection devices such as:
- Open surge tanks
- Closed surge tanks
- Discharge tanks
- Pressure relief valves
- Surge anticipation valves
- Air release/vacuum valves
- Flywheels
- Pump bypass lines
It models vapor cavitation and liquid column separation, so you can check the effect of pressure surges due to vapor cavity collapse.
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Compute Pump Rundown Speeds
InfoSurge uses the full four quadrant pump characteristics, and the moment of inertia of the moving pump parts, to compute pump rundown speeds. This approach is essential for modeling situations where abnormal pump operation occurs such as turbining and flow and speed reversal.
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Identify Critical Operational Time
With InfoSurge, engineers can step through an extended period dynamic simulation (EPS); select desired critical time (eg peak hour); and launch a precise surge analysis (that mimics SCADA measurements) with automatic calculation of all active boundary conditions at the selected time instant, such as tank levels, pump and value settings and status, and demands.
This means you can rapidly discover when transients will be worst, and formulate sound protective measures.
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Address Contaminant Intrusion
Low-pressure transients, caused by power failure or intermittent/interrupted supply, can cause infiltration or backflow – especially in pipes below the water table – with the risk of contamination by pathogens or chemicals. InfoSurge automatically calculates intrusion volumes so you can respond appropriately.
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Results You Can Work With
Reporting options include tables and graphs, to show pressure head and flow variations for all positions in the water distribution system, plus gas volumes for closed surge tanks and air vacuum valves and pump speed variations for pump trips.
This lets you evaluate the system's response to pump station power failures, valve closures, and pump speed changes, as well as assess the relative merits of surge protection measures to reduce leaks, avoid breaks, investigate control actions and strategies, and improve water quality in the distribution system.
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Automatic Import and Export
With InfoSurge, you can automatically import and export any EPANET file, and can model the complete library of hydraulic components and surge protection/anticipation devices.