Measurements of Acoustic Admittance of Piping Systems at Different Flow Velocities

Abstract

Acoustic pressure pulsations are often encountered in piping systems due to the operation of reciprocating machinery. Such pressure pulsations can excite severely resonating pressure waves, which can lead to potential damage of critical components in the piping system. The objective of this work is to experimentally investigate the propagation of acoustic pressure pulsations in a piping system. Also, the effect of flow velocity and pipeline parameters, such as length and diameter, on the procreation of the acoustic pressure pulsations is investigated. A pipeline model that assures the occurrence of acoustic resonance due to pressure pulsations is specifically constructed for this purpose. The acoustic characterization of the pipeline model is performed at no-flow condition and at different flow velocities. The experimental setup allows a wide range of pulsations frequency to be investigated. However, the results presented in this paper are limited to the pressure pulsations that occur at 150 Hz and 210 Hz. These frequencies are targeted as they are similar to those caused by the operation of the primary system pumps in Darlington and Bruce power plants, respectively. A brief summary of the results is presented in the paper.