Use of Helmholtz Resonators to Suppress Acoustic Pressure Pulsations in Pipelines

Abstract

Acoustic pressure pulsations generated in the piping system of the CANDU^® reactor may lead to potential fuel bundle damage if left untreated. The main objective of this work is to develop compact damping devices to attenuate acoustic pressure pulsations in piping systems and evaluate their performance. It is shown that the locations as well as multiple volumes of the damping devices used along the pipeline have a significant effect on the achieved attenuation. Additionally, the flow velocity may have an adverse impact on the efficiency of the damping devices. Therefore, the transmission loss achieved by several combinations of damping devices is evaluated at different frequencies and different flow velocities. The transmission loss of a typical reactive muffler is evaluated to benchmark the pipeline model as well as the measurement and analysis techniques. Acoustic pressure pulsations at both 150 Hz and 210 Hz similar to those detected in Darlington and Bruce Power Plants, respectively, are the main focus of this investigation.