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Urban Water Journal

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Book Review
Published online: 16 Feb 2007.

To cite this article: (2006): Book Review, Urban Water Journal, 3:1, 51-52 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15730620600578587

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Urban Water Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1, March 2006, 51 52

Book Review

Pressure Wave Analysis of Transient Flow in Pipe Distribution Systems, edited by Don J. Wood, Srinivasa Lingireddy and Paul F. Boulos, MWH Soft, Pasadena, CA, 2004, 213 pp, $140.00, hardback (ISBN 0-9745689-2-9).

1. Relevance of issue

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A hydraulic transient is a pressure variation between two steady state ows, caused by a rapid change of ow conditions. Transient events can be generated by pumps start-up or trip-o, valve maneuvers (opening or closure) or occurrence of sudden bursts. Maximum and minimum transient pressures can be predicted by simplied formulae (Joukowski and Michaud solutions), commercial software packages (classic transient simulators) or in-house software developments (incorporating dierent phenomena and components, or including 2-D modeling) often unavailable commercially. Hydraulic transient analysis is important in the design of pressurized pipe systems in order to guarantee their security, reliability and good performance for various normal operating conditions. Prediction of maximum transient pressures is used for the verication of whether pipe materials, pressure classes and wall-thicknesses are sucient to withstand predicted pressure loads to avoid pipe rupture or system damage. Verication of minimum allowable pressures is important to prevent air release, cavitation and water column separation, and consequently avoid pipe collapse or pathogenic intrusion into a given system. When severe transients cannot be avoided, either the pipe layout and parameters are changed (e.g., operating conditions) or surge protection devices are specied (e.g., pressurized vessels or air-relief valves) so as to sustain maximum and minimum pressures within acceptable limits. Usually, the most economical and reliable solution that yields an acceptable transient pressure response is decided upon. The current book presents the Lagrangian-type approach to carrying out hydraulic transient analysis in water piping systemsthe wave characteristic method (WCM). This method is an attractive and simple alternative to the Eulerian-based method of characteristics (MOC), typically used for solving the partial dierential equations that govern transient ow (continuity and momentum equations) and

extensively described in text books (Fox 1977, Chaudhry 1987, Almeida and Koelle 1992, Wylie and Streeter 1993). The WCM simulates the propagation of transient pressure waves by means of an event-driven approach (in opposition to the time-driven approach of MOC), minimizing the number of state transitions necessary to describe transient events and consequently reducing the computational time, still leading to numerical results identical to analytical solutions and to those obtained by the MOC. The authors emphasize that, in comparison to the MOC, the WCM (i) requires much less computational time and eort for the same level of accuracy; (ii) is based on a simple and easily-understandable physical model (i.e., the pressure wave generation and propagation) that can be quickly learnt and used by engineers; and (iii) allows a straightforward and easy incorporation of dierent components (i.e., pumps, valves, protection devices) typically used in pipe systems. 2. Book content The book has approximately 200 pages and comprises six chapters, references and eight appendices, as follows: Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. The Wave Characteristic Method Chapter 3. Cavitation Analysis Chapter 4. Component Analysis for Specic Devices Chapter 5. Computer Modeling of Transient Flows Chapter 6. Demonstration Examples References Appendix A. Nomenclature Appendix B. Method of Characteristics Appendix C. Wave Method Calculator Appendix D. Wave Action Calculator Appendix E. Examples and Comparisons Appendix F. Calculation Tools Appendix G. Properties of Water Appendix H. C Program Listings The books contents can be organized into four main parts. The rst part corresponds to Chapter 1 and presents an introduction to the importance and causes of hydraulic

Urban Water Journal ISSN 1573-062X print/ISSN 1744-9006 online 2006 Taylor & Francis http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals DOI: 10.1080/15730620600578587

52

Book Review

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transients, basic equations and solution techniques and a comparison between the WCM and the MOC. The second part (including Chapters 2 5) develops in a simple, but complete and detailed manner, the wave characteristic method in terms of conceptual and numerical solution, inclusion of cavitation analysis (as discrete air cavities), incorporation of specic devices (valves, pumps and surge control devices) and implementation of a computer model for complex multi-pipe systems; this part is complemented with computer codes, simple numerical examples and resolved exercises. The third part comprises Chapter 6 where two demonstration examplesa network and a gravity pipelineare presented in order to illustrate a variety of transient pressure problems that occur in real-life networks (e.g., pump trip/start up and re hydrant opening/closure) and the solutions used to avoid severe transient pressures for each particular case (e.g., inclusion of surge protection devices and use of slow or bilinear valve maneuvers). The fourth and nal part includes a complete reference list (of which 13 out of 40 are self-citations to the authors works) and six appendixes with additional material: nomenclature; equations and numerical schemes used in MOC; description of the WCM calculator; examples; additional calculation tools for wave speed, parabolic pump curve, steady state friction, valve maneuver; water properties (specic weight, density, vapor pressure, dynamic viscosity as kinematic viscosity) as a function of temperature (0 1008C); and program codes written in Visual Basic and C language. 3. Book assessment The book is written in simple and readily-digestible language for a wide range of readersstudents, engineers and researcherswith multiple gures and examples, providing a broader understanding of the subject. The book could be included in the bibliography of a postgraduate course dealing with transient ow modeling and analysis in pressurized pipes, as a key reference of the Lagrangian-type approach for solving hydraulic transients (the wave characteristic method). The text could be of some interest for practitioners, who rely on simulation codes as

support tools for design and analysis, and who deal with real-life transient pressure control; however, I have serious reservations that if a commercial transient software is available based on whatever method to solve hydraulic transients, the engineer will specically write his own computer code based on the WCM to carry out transient analysis. From a research point of view, the book is of less interest as it presents dierent classic water hammer solutions including cavitation and column separation, but it does not approach, or even mention, how well the WCM deals with unconventional phenomena like unsteady friction, pipewall viscoelasticity or uid-structure interaction. Another drawback of the book is the use of British units in the examples instead of the International System of Units (SI), which makes it dicult for those readers unfamiliar with these units to follow the examples. In a future edition of the book, I strongly recommend the use of SI units and the incorporation in the WCM of unsteady friction modeling and pipe-wall viscoelasticity. Presenting the complex issue of hydraulic transients in a straightforward and understandable manner, and illustrated with numerous examples and gures focusing on real-life water hammer problems, Pressure Wave Analysis of Transient Flow in Pipe Distribution Systems is an interesting and up-to-date publication that will add to the current literature as a reference of the wave characteristic method. The text is recommended for postgraduate courses in uid mechanics or hydraulics. Assistant Professor D dia Covas Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal

References
Almeida, A.B. and Koelle, E., Fluid Transients in Pipe Networks, Computational Mechanics Publications, Southampton, 1992 (Elsevier Applied Science: London). Chaudhry, M.H., Applied Hydraulic Transients (2nd edition), 1987 (Litton Educational Publishing Inc.: New York). Fox, J.A., Hydraulic Analysis of Unsteady Flow in Pipe Networks, 1977 (MacMillan: New York). Wylie, E.B. and Streeter, V.L., Fluid Transients in Systems, 1993 (Prentice Hall: Englewood Clis).