14 Malekpour Iwlhs 2013
14 Malekpour Iwlhs 2013
14 Malekpour Iwlhs 2013
ABSTRACT: The “double vortex” is a patented device originally invented by Dr. Eugene Natarius in or-
der to efficiently admit and mix air into sewer systems. Examination of the general flow pattern via both a
conceptual and CFD model revealed that this device does indeed possess considerable potential to admit
and mix a large amount of air. This study explores and seeks to understand the flow mechanism through
which air is admitted and mixed. To this end, the program Fluent is utilized to perform a three-
dimensional two-phase flow analysis. Numerical experiments show that the device's elbow shape estab-
lishes a negative pressure at a high point inside the device, and that this mechanism is mainly responsible
for admitting air into the system, while its double vortex rotation by enhancing water and air mixing as-
sists in downstream air movement. The negative pressure is primarily induced by the profile that causes
the hydraulic grade line to fall below the pipe’s centerline. To better understand the original device, the
alternative of a simple elbow with an air vent to admit flow to the top of a drop shaft is also numerically
investigated. The results show that this simple assembly also admits considerable amount of air into the
system through the same mechanism, although the large quantity of air intrusion constraints the flow and
causes air to partly separate from the water flow.
1 INTRODUCTION
In general, vertical drop shafts are commonly used as compact hydraulic structures that safely connect a
higher energy flow upstream to a lower downstream energy level. These structures at least partly function
as energy dissipators where an annular hydraulic jump forming at the bottom of the shaft is a key compo-
nent in this mechanical energy dissipation. Moreover, in wastewater systems they also function as an
aerator to increase the oxygen dissolved in the wastewater, which in turn helps to alleviate pipe corrosion
and odour problems (Natarius 2000).
The most important opportunity and challenge of these structures is the formation of large air pockets
in the vertical water column resulting from chaotic shaft water motion, which is then forced into the
downstream conduit. Air pocket that coalesce in the downstream conduit is often problematic and may
result in intermittent flow or even blowback if the buoyancy force acting on the air pocket exceeds the
flow-induced drag force (Falvey 1980). Moreover high levels of flow agitation in these structures en-
hance the emission of hydrogen sulphide (H2S), which could worsen odour issues locally (Churchill and
Elmer 1999).
To cope with the problems associated with vertical drop shafts, an innovative device like the vortex
drop structure with the Vortex Insert Assembly (VIA) was developed by Dr. Eugene Natarius (Natarius
2000). The VIA is a simple, pre-fabricated insert for existing or new drop structures. It has been shown to
appreciably reduce odour and corrosion issues on all types of sewer drops.
Recently a new type of drop shaft with a Double Vortex Inlet (DVI) assembly was proposed by the
same inventor to improve the performance of the VIA. This assembly works with fully pressurized flow
and is believed to require a lower drop height in order to perform well and to achieve the desired results.
Although this new assembly has not been field tested, the observations made on the performance of a
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small-scale physical model revealed good potential for sewer aeration and that the device could be effec-
tively employed to alleviate the odour and corrosion issues in sewer systems. Unfortunately, little is pres-
ently known about the underlying physics driving the direct air entry into the system, which in turn com-
plicates the setup of the design criteria for real applications and sometimes leaves designers leery to try
something that they do not completely understand. Thus, this study aims to shed light on the mechanism
under which air could be sucked or drawn into the system. A better understanding of the underlying phys-
ics would make it easier to refine and apply design criteria for field applications.
A brief overview of the mechanism governing the traditional vortex inlet drop shaft is a good depar-
ture point toward the physical understanding of DVI drop shaft structure.
A typical schematic of a (single) vortex inlet drop structure is shown in Figure 1. The open channel flow
approaching the structure contracts at the entrance by passing into the region of reduced cross-sectional
area. This section is designed such that a flow control section is established at the entrance. The critical
flow section hydraulically isolates the effluent system from the performance of the drop shaft structure.
The flow passing through the control section switches from subcritical in the effluent conduit to super-
critical in the steep-sloped vortex channel where the flow is accelerated to achieve the required vortical
strength. The vortex flow causes the water to cling to the drop shaft’s walls and produces a well-defined
and stable air cone at the middle of the shaft. In such a design, the air column is not blocked anywhere
between the upstream and downstream ends of the vertical shaft, and thus large scale air intrusion to the
downstream conduit is avoided. Moreover, the vertical velocity of the water column motivates slight
negative pressures that in turn induce a weak air flow below the shaft. This flow can effectively limit the
development of unfavourable odours. The vortex nature of the flow also causes an inner pressure gradient
to be established just below the downstream water surface, and this is directly due to the annular hydrau-
lic jump. The inward pressure gradient causes the air bubbles to move to the center of the shaft and thus
leaves the water to the air cone (Zhao et al. 2006). Another important superiority of the vortex drop shaft
over plunge-flow models is the enhancement and predictability of energy dissipation in the vortex drop as
the flow clings to the wall and gives rise to skin friction loss (Jain 1988). Although the energy loss is less
than that produced by the annular hydraulic jump, it can still reduce the force imposed by the fluid on the
bottom face of the drop shaft. In summary, vortex inlet drop structures can appreciably reduce odour and
corrosion problems in sewer systems through increasing the oxygen dissolved in the sewer flow, and by
reducing the turbulence-based agitation in the drop structure (Moeller and Natarius 2000).
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3 DOUBLE VORTEX INLET DROP SHAFT
The double vortex inlet drop shaft (hereafter often referred to as DVI), is naturally related to the device
just described in the previous section, but it also differs from it in several key ways as well. First, the new
device is designed to work under fully pressurized flow and it is believed to require a lower drop height
in order to perform as designed. Unfortunately, little information is presently available regarding the per-
formance of the DVI structure, with the exception of a video showing a small-scale model of the device.
The track/path of the flow in the structure/system can be explained by considering geometrical drawings
of the double vortex inlet device (Figure 2).
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To answer this crucial question, one should first consider the operational circumstances under which the
negative pressures could be induced in such a pipe system.
Negative or sub-atmospheric pressures can be induced in closed conduit systems under two fundamen-
tally different conditions. First, it can occur if the system velocity locally increases due to a decrease in
the cross-sectional area. The velocity at which the negative pressure is created depends on the system
pressure and flow conditions; the higher the original pressure, the higher the required velocity. An exam-
ple of this phenomenon is the pressure drop at the throat of a venturi tube in which the velocity increase
gives rise to a pressure reduction.
The negative pressure at the throat section can more easily be achieved when the upstream pressure
decreases due to a velocity increase in the throat section. The simple mechanism of a venturi has made it
an ideal device for the injection of Chlorine or other gases into closed conduit pipe systems. This mecha-
nism is also useful for water pipe system aeration. Baylar et al. (2009) experimentally measured the
amount of air that intrudes into a venturi tube through the orifices installed at the throat. These authors
found that the device can perfectly admit air to the system provided that a negative pressure is established
in the throat section. However, this device can really only be implemented low pressure pipe systems be-
cause in the case of high pressure systems, the velocity required to bring the hydraulic grade line (HGL)
below the throat’s elevation is typically impractically high.
The second condition that could potentially induce a negative pressure in a pipe system occurs when
the HGL falls below the pipeline elevation profile. As an example, in a sufficiently long gravity system
where the pressure at the outlet section is equal to the atmospheric pressure, the HGL in the pipe system
can be obtained with fairly good accuracy by connecting the end of the pipe to the water surface of an up-
stream reservoir. The HGL in such a typical pipe system that discharges water to the atmosphere through
a short-vertical elbow is shown in Figure 4. As shown, the negative pressure can be expected across a
wide range of the system, with the maximum negative pressure value occurring at the end of the pipe and
this value is essentially equal to the height of the elbow, denoted by "h".
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Figure 5. Schematic velocity distributions inside the double vortex chambers
The free vortex flow assumption insists that the production of tangential velocity and curvature radius of
flow is constant, such that:
VR C (1)
In the current case, the constant on the right hand side of the above equation can be easily calculated by
applying the mass conservation law. The flow through the section P1-P2 can be calculated by the follow-
ing equation:
R2 R2
HCdr R
QP1 P 2 VHdr HC ln 2 (2)
R1 R1
r R1
where H = the height of chamber, R1, R2 = the radius of inner and outer chamber walls, C = vortex con-
stant value, V = tangential velocity, R = streamline curvature radius.
Mass conservation requires that the flow passing through section P1-P2 is exactly equal to flow enter-
ing the system via the inlet pipe. Therefore, the constant coefficient, C, can be calculated as follows:
QI D 2VI
C (3)
R R
H ln 2 4 H ln 2
R1 R1
where QI = inlet pipe discharge, VI = inlet pipe velocity, and D = inlet pipe diameter.
The above equation can be applied on the given example in order to investigate how the velocities
change inside the chambers. To this end, a DVI is considered with: D = 7.5 cm, upper chamber R1 and
R2 = 5, and 15 cm respectively, lower chamber R1 and R2 = 7.5, and 17.5 cm respectively, upper and
lower chamber H = 7.5 cm. With this information the maximum velocities inside the upper and lower
chambers for different inlet velocity are calculated by using Equations 1 to 3, and the results are summa-
rized in Table 1.
As shown, the velocities in the upper chamber are just slightly greater than the inlet velocity, whereas
the velocities in the lower chamber are lower than the inlet velocity. It is evident that such velocity
changes cannot be responsible for the negative pressure and air intrusion to the system, particularly when
the extra turbulence induced by the interaction of the opposite rotating flow in the chambers that is not
considered in this simplified approach, acts to make the velocity field more uniform. While this is par-
tially evident in the simple model, a more precise determination of the cross-sectional flow area is more
readily obtained through the use of a three-dimensional numerical analysis via computational fluid dy-
namics (CFD).
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Based on hydraulic laws, the provisional conclusion at this point is that the significant air intrusion
into the DVI is likely primarily due to the device's elbow shape profile rather than the direct action of the
swirling flow formed in the chambers. A CFD analysis is an excellent tool for confirming this concept
because it can act to provide a precise velocity field within the DVI; information from which it is subse-
quently possible to justify the conclusions obtained from the simplified analysis. Furthermore, if the el-
bow shape of the DVI is the dominant cause of air intrusion, a CFD analysis of both a DVI and a simple
elbow with an air vent at the top, should ultimately yield similar results.
5 CFD ANALYSIS
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motion is dominant within the chambers. Overall, the numerical results confirm that the velocity change
is in itself not high enough to induce negative pressure and the air intrusion into the DVI device.
Figure 6. Velocity fields (in m/s) in the lower chamber (left) and upper chamber (right) of the DVI device
An inspection of the pressure distribution along both the DVI and the simple elbow devices reveals that
the shape of the profile is likely the key cause of the negative pressures. Figure 7 depicts the predicted
pressure distribution along the simple elbow and DVI devices. As shown, negative pressures having the
same distribution are evident in both devices. As expected, the negative pressures increase as one moves
vertically upwards towards the crown of each device. Since the velocities and the resulting head losses
are low in both cases, the negative pressure heads at each point are almost equal to the elevation of the
point relative to the elevation of the outlet section, or in other words to the height of the vertical section.
Figure 7. Pressure (in Pascals) distribution along the DVI devices, and simple elbow without aeration
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Figure 8. Pressure distributions in the DVI and simple elbow devices with aeration
As shown, the top and bottom faces of the lower chamber of the DVI experience different pressures in the
range of 1510 to 714 Pa in the top face, and 741 to -22.9 Pa in the bottom face. The difference is primar-
ily due to the head loss that occurs when the flow in the upper chamber and lower chamber are united. It
is also evident that the backup pressure required to push the flow through the sink hole affects the pres-
sure at the air vent surface. The results show that the average pressure at the air vent surface of the DVI
device is -212 Pa (-0.022 m), whereas it is approximately -492 Pa (-0.05 m) at the air vent surface of the
simple elbow. This small pressure difference has a significant impact on the air flow, and thus makes the
simple elbow device more capable of inducing a larger air flow rate. This result is physically quite mean-
ingful since a small vacuum pressure can yield large air flow in the air vents.
Further consideration of the pressure fields in the two devices shows that in both cases the air intrusion
acts to maintain most of the pressures at almost atmospheric, although residual negative pressures still ex-
ist in both cases and are slightly greater in the DVI device because of the higher air flow in the simple el-
bow.
Figure 9. Air void fraction in the different cross sections of the vertical pipes of the DVI and simple elbow devices
In order to investigate the air mixing capability of the two devices, the distribution of the air void fraction
across the vertical pipes was reviewed. Figure 9 compares the air void fraction across different cross sec-
tions of the vertical pipe of both devices. As can be seen at the top of the vertical pipes, the mixing is
generally poor and in both cases water and air are moving in distinct layers. Air in the DVI pipe tends to
flow in the middle and is also slightly deflected to the outer wall of the vertical pipe due to the action of
the swirling flow. In the simple elbow case, the air flows in a distinct layer near the outer wall. Improved
mixing is observed in both devices as the flow descends the vertical pipe, although in the simple elbow a
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distinct air flow layer tends to moves in the outer wall of the pipe. It is also worth noting that in the DVI,
the highest air void fraction zone in the cross section rotates counter-clockwise as the flow descends the
vertical pipe. This is due to the swirl flow that originates at the chambers and that subsequently propa-
gates into the vertical pipe. Furthermore, in the cross sections where the flow leaves the device (i.e., Z = -
1.5 m), the air void fraction varies between 1 and 0.5 in both devices. However, in the simple elbow case,
a good portion of the pure (i.e., non-mixed) air leaves the system in a single distinct layer.
Overall, the mixing appears to be better in the DVI device than in the simple elbow. Nonetheless, this
fact still cannot prove the superiority of the DVI over the simple elbow, because first the amount of air
flow in the simple elbow is much greater than that in the DVI and this can potentially compensate for the
difference in the air form that leaves the device. Second, in both cases the air flow that enters the devices
(i.e., up to 2-3 times the total system flow) significantly exceeds the amount by which air can be dis-
solved into water (i.e., 3-4% of the total system flow). Lastly, the overall simplicity may recommend the
simple device like an elbow in some applications.
The performance of the double vortex insert (DVI) device is analytically and numerically explored. Using
the basic hydraulic principles, it is analytically shown that the device's ability to entrain a large amount of
air is due to the elbow like profile of the device, and not due to the action of swirling (vortex) flow in the
chambers, as originally assumed. A 3-D CFD analysis further confirms this result. The analysis also con-
firms that the vortices in the upper and lower chambers are not in themselves strong enough to increase
the velocities in the chambers to a level that would yield negative pressures and lead to air intrusion. Fur-
thermore, the results confirm that the elbow shape of the device is the key component in the establish-
ment of workable negative pressures.
In order to evaluate the air intrusion and mixing capabilities of the device, and in order to make sure
that the elbow profile shape of the device is the main cause of the air intrusion, a three dimensional two
phase flow analysis is performed for both the DVI device and a simple elbow with an air vent having
similar geometrical and hydraulic parameters. The analysis results clearly show that both devices allow a
large amount of air to intrude into the system, thereby reconfirming the crucial role of elbow shape to the
DVI air intrusion behaviour. Furthermore, the results also surprisingly demonstrate that the potential air
flow in the simple elbow is significant. This can be explained by considering the resulting backup pres-
sure in the upper chamber that is established in order to compensate for the head loss that occurs when the
upper chamber flow is united with the lower chamber flow within the sink hole. This backup pressure
partially increases the pressure at the air vent surface which in turn causes the reduction in the air flow.
Inspection of the air void fraction in the vertical pipes of both the DVI and the simple elbow device
shows that the DVI produces better mixing than the simple elbow. This is because the swirling flow that
propagates from the lower chamber to the vertical pipe and more efficiently mixes the air and water,
while a significant portion of air flow in the simple elbow tends to flow and leave the vertical pipe in a
distinct layer and without interacting with water.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The funding for this research is provided by IPEX Inc. and is gratefully acknowledged.
NOTATIONS
Q discharge
V velocity
R1 the radius of the inner wall of the double vortex’s chambers
R2 the radius of the outer wall of the double vortex’s chambers
H the height of the double vortex’s chambers
C free vortex constant
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