CHAPTER-4: WATER CONVEYANCE

STRUCTURES
The Components for HP are :
Dam ,
 Reservoir,
 Intake ,
Conduit or penstock,
Surge tank ,
 Powerhouse ,
Draft tube and
Tailrace
 4.2. Water Hammer Analysis
 Water hammer is a phenomenon of pressure change in closed
pipes caused when flowing water in a pipeline is decelerated
by closing or opening a valve or changing the velocity of water
rapidly in some manner.

 The phenomenon is accompanied by a series of positive and

negative pressure waves which travel back and forth in the
pipe system until they are damped out by friction.
 A sudden change of flow rate in a large pipe line (due to valve
closure) may involve a great mass of water moving within the
pipe walls.

 The force resulting from the change of the speed of water mass
causes a pressure rise in the pipe with a magnitude several times
greater than the normal state pressure in the pipe known as water
Hammer
 Considering a pipe line of uniform cross sectional area 'A',
length 'L', connected to a reservoir (or surge tank).
If the outlet point is closed suddenly, the normal HGL (CE)
swings from CD to CF.

 Since the pressure in the reservoir surface is atmospheric and constant the
positive swing results in back flow from the pipe to the reservoir.
 As the water flows back in to the reservoir it crates partial vacuum condition in the
pipe & the pressure in the pipe swings in the negative direction.
 Water Hammer…
 Water moving at a velocity ‘v’ in the penstock decelerates in case of closure and
force of the decelerating mass is: P = -M *Δv / Δt Where ‘M’ is the water mass
decelerated by Δv during the period Δt.

 Let the length of the water column brought to standstill during a period of Δt be
‘L’ and since ‘Δv = -v’ in case of total closure, the force can be written as:

 *L* A v p v*L
P or ha  
g t  g * t
Length is reduced by ΔL due to the compression of water and
circumferential stretching of the pipe.
The ratio L/ Δt express the rate of deceleration of the water column
(celerity, a) at which the pressure wave induced by deceleration is
propagated in a direction opposite to that of flow.
Denoting the celerity of the pressure wave by ‘a’, the pressure rise
following instantaneous closure is:
av p
ha  
 g
a v  v1 
Obviously, in case of partial closure: ha 
g
 4.3. Surge Tank
 Necessary when the pressure conduit conveyance system is long.
 It is located between the almost horizontal or slightly inclined pressure conduit
and the steeply sloping penstock/pressure shaft.
 It is designed either as a chamber excavated in the mountain or as a tower
raising high above the surrounding terrain.
 Functions of surge tank
 Surge tanks serves to meet the following purposes:

 It provides a free reservoir surface close to the discharge

regulation mechanism. This will short & limit the conduit length
liable to water hammer.

 It supplies the additional water required by the turbine during load

demand (starting up) until the conduit velocity has accelerated to
the final steady state level.

 It stores water during load rejection (closure) until the conduit

velocity has decelerated too the new steady state condition.

 It ensures that the water level oscillation following small and

large load changes are dissipated rapidly.
 Types of surge tanks
 Surge tanks may be classified according to:
1. Material of construction, eg: concrete, steel
2. Location relative to terrain.
» Underground surge tank (Excavated surge tank)
» Over ground surge tank (Free standing surge)
 Types of surge tanks
3. Location of the hydraulic system:
• U/S surge tank (U/S of power house)
• D/S surge tank (D/S of power house) (in pump storage scheme)
 Types of surge tanks
4. Cross-sectional shape
• Simple surge tanks
• Restricted orifice (or throttled) surge tanks
• Differential surge tanks
• Surge tanks with expansion chambers and others
 Design consideration of surge tank
• The hydraulic design of surge tank involves two aspects: Its height and
cross-sectional area.
• These aspects are decided with the view of the following criteria:
 The tank must be stable, i.e. the water hammer oscillation must be
damped,

 The tank must accommodate maximum upsurge and minimum

down surge,

 The surge tank must be located at a place so that the positive and
negative pressures are kept within acceptable limit, and

 The lowest possible downsurge must be sufficiently above the

conduit top level and in no case air should be drawn into the pipe.
 Water surface oscillation in simple surge tank
(un-damped oscillation)
 It is purely theoretical case (i. e. no friction is assumed to occur in the
pressure tunnel).
 The water level in the surge tank is on the same elevation as the
reservoir level.
 Water surface oscillation in simple surge tank…
 Lets say the penstock is supplied through a surge tank of cross-sectional area
‘As’ from the frictionless pressure tunnel of cross sectional area ‘At’ and
length ‘L’ and time of opening or closure is zero.
 With the above fundamental assumptions the expressions for the four basic
cases are given below as:
I. Instantaneous total closure from the maximum discharge of Qo, (total load
rejection):
 The flow velocity in the tunnel pertaining to discharge Q0 is: VO= Qo/At.

 The highest amplitude (maximum surge) in meter is : L At

Z max  V0 *
g As

 The departure of the water level from its initial position (m) at any arbitrary time ‘t’
(considering the downward branch of the axis ‘y’ as positive):

2
Z   Z max * sin t
T
 The varying velocity of water flowing in the tunnel at any time
‘t’ is: 2
Vt  V0 * cos t
T
 The velocity in the surge tank is: dz At 2
Vs   *V0 * cos t
dt As T

 The time of the total cycle (seconds), i.e. the period of the
mass oscillation is: L As
T  2 *
g At

II. Partial instantaneous closure (partial load rejection from the

maximum discharge Q0 to an arbitrary Q1):
The maximum value of surge amplitude in this case is:

Z max  V0  V1 
L At
*
g As
 The position of the water level at any time is given by the
expression: 2
Z   Z max * sin t
T
 The varying velocity of water flowing in the tunnel at any time
‘t’ is:
2
Vt  V1  V0  V1 * cos t
T
 Velocity in the surge tank:Vs  dz   At * V0  V1 * cos 2 t
dt As T

III.Instantaneous partial opening from some discharge Q1 to

the maximum Q0 (partial load demand case):
The maximum surge is given by: Z max  V0  V1  L * At
g As

 While the momentary position of the water level is given by

the function: Z  Z * sin 2 t
max
T
 Water surface oscillation in simple surge tank…
The varying velocity of water flowing in the tunnel at any time ‘t’ is:
2
Vt  V0  V0  V1 * cos t
T

 And velocity in the surge tank:

2
* V0  V1 * cos t
dz At
Vs  
dt As T

IV. The instantaneous total opening from the rest to the

maximum discharging capacity of the turbines Q0 (total
load demand):
The maximum surge is equal to the value obtained
for total closure, i.e: L At
Z max  V0 *
g As
 Multiplying the right side by As/As and substituting V0 by
Qo/At, we obtain:
Q0 L As
Z max  *
As g At
2
 The movement of the water surface is: Z  Z max * sin t
T

 Velocity in the tunnel is obtained by putting V1=0 and is given

by: 2
V  V0  V0 * cos t
T
 And velocity in the surge tank:

dz At 2
Vs   *V0 * cos t
dt As T
 Water surface oscillation in simple surge tank
(Damped Oscillation)
 In actual conditions frictional resistance developing along the
tunnel will subsequently be taken into account, and its damping
effect yielding damped oscillations will be dealt with.

 The only case of damped mass oscillations, for which an exact

mathematical solution can be found, is the one resulting from
instantaneous total closure.

 For other circumstances only appropriate mathematical and

graphical methods are available.
 Since the condition of total closure is Q1=0, then the damping
factor (1/meter) is given by: g * As
m  2
L * At
Where β is the resistance factor of the tunnel.
 The angular velocity of un-damped oscillation is expressed as:
2 g At
 
T L As
 The fundamental differential equation of damped wave motion
2
is given by: d z m  dz 
2
    z  0
2

dt 2
2  dt 

 If the friction factor (the second term) is reduced to zero, then

the equation is reduced to: d 2 z
2
2
 z  0
dt
 Water surface oscillation in simple surge tank
(Damped Oscillation)…
 Simplifying the above equation, Mises wrote an equation for un-damped
oscillation in the following generalized form valid for each surge:
mZ  lnmZ  1  m *z 0  A

Steps to solve the problem graphically:

Plot mZ  lnmZ  1  A for a new

‘mZ’ values selected as whole
numbers. The +ve branch of the
II curve tends to infinity, whereas
the –ve branch asymptotically
approaches the value ‘mz=-1’.
Since m  2 g * As and Z0= β*V02
L * At g As
, then A0  m * Z 0  2  2 v02
L At

Z0 = is head loss

Fig. Graphical solution of R-Von Mises equation

 Draw horizontal line at the height A0 intersects the mirror
curve (Curve-II) at the point (Z1). The abscissa m*Z1 with
negative sign represents the first surge, i.e. the highest position
of the water surface. Considering m*Z1 as a +ve root, i.e.
transferring by projection the point of intersection Z1 on to the
+ve branch of the curve, the horizontal drawn will locate A1
pertaining to the second half cycle and on the reflected curve,
the point Z2 i.e. the root mZ2 which defines the second surge
(first downsurge). Subsequent surges can be obtained by a step
by step projection.
 Water surface oscillation in simple surge tank
(Damped Oscillation)…
 Other analytical formulas for the computation of the surges are:
1. Jaeger the up and down surge in case where friction is taken in to account.
Z up  Z max 1  2 / 3Po  1 / 9 P02  and Z down  Z max  1  2 Po 
p0  h f / Z max where hf is the friction loss (m)
2. J. Calame and D Gaden’s equation
 For downward surge due to sudden opening: Z1  Z max  Z 0 / 8
 For first down surge following upsurge due to sudden closure: Z 2  Z max  2 * Z 0
3. Ph. Forchheimer: the maximum drop in water level from the initial steady-
state position:
Z  0.178v02  0.178v  2
0
2

L * At 2
g * As
v0

Or it can be written as: Z  0.178* Z0  0.178* Z0 2  Z max

2

Where Zmax is the surge of the un-damped system given by:

L At
Z max  V0 *
g As
 Water surface oscillation in simple surge tank
(Damped Oscillation)…
4. Logarithmic equation: sudden complete closure of the valve and considering
friction as constant, the maximum (first upsurge) is given by R.S. Cole and E.
 
Mosonyi as Z1  Z 0 m  ln 1
 , where m is the damping factor. The
 1  m * Z 1

subsequent surges may be obtained by using the equation J.A. Pickford:

 1  m * z n 1 
Z n  Z n1 m  ln 
 1  m * zn 

The sign of z changes for each half cycle and the equation is solved by trial and
error.
 Stability Consideration of simple surge tank
 Stability conditions of the surge system were first established by D. Thoma and
F. Vogt stated that in order to prevent the development of unstable oscillations
the cross-section of the surge should exceed a certain critical magnitude.
 According to Thoma, the limiting x-sectional for oscillation is given by:
Asc  n
At * L
2g *  * Ho
 
m2

n = factor of safety,
v0 =the tunnel velocity pertaining to the new dynamic equilibrium level, i.e. to
the power output to be attained after opening, in m/sec
L
β = the resistance factor of the tunnel, in sec2/m   2 4/3
k R
L= the length of the tunnel, in m
At= area of the tunnel, in m2
where K is the coefficient of roughness for concrete linings with sand-cement
mortar rendering of the tunnel.
H 0  H  v02
= the net head (by neglecting the head loss in the penstock), in m
Example-1: - A surge chamber 10m in diameter is situated at the
u/s end of a high pressure tunnel 10km long and 3m in diameter.
At a steady discharge of 36m3/s, the flow of turbine is suddenly
stopped by closure of the turbine inlet valve. Determine the
maximum rise in surge chamber and its time of occurrence?
• Example-2:- owing to the instantaneous total opening (total load
demand from rest) a power flow of 12.5m3/s is started at a power
development in the 1000m long pressure tunnel having a circular
cross sectional area of 5m2. The cross-sectional area of the surge
tank is 50m2. Entrance, bend and other losses in the sinuous
tunnel may be assumed at 10 percent. The roughness coefficient,
k= 75 will be assumed for the concrete lined tunnel. Determine
the first, i.e. the maximum down-surge according to Ph.
Forchheimer
• Solution:
The diameter of the pressure tunnel is:
 Water surface oscillation in simple surge tank…
Example-1: a 100m long tunnel having a circular cross-section of 2m
diameter discharges in to a surge tank which has a circular cross-
section of 10m diameter. Compute the period of mass oscillation.