Effective Height of a Floor Splitter Anti-Vortex Device under Varying Flow Conditions

Abstract

Abstract:A pump station is a very important flood control facility for mitigating inundation of urban lowland areas. It is not easy to secure a site to increase the capacity of a pump station in an urban area because of various limitations or to maximize the discharge capacity of the pump sump. Adding a facility to improve the pump capacity of a pump station may affect the flow characteristics, such as unexpected increases in the flow velocity and vorticity, and cause severe problems with operating the pump station. To solve those problems, anti-vortex devices (AVDs) have been developed and adopted for appropriate design standards. The Korean design criteria for AVDs are based on experience and foreign standards because not enough data on the AVD are available. In this study, the flow in the sump was numerically simulated at various AVD heights to collect information on improving the design and efficiency of a pump station. Consequently, an appropriate height for the AVD and changes in the flow pattern and vortex in the pump sump were determined and compared with 12 cases of inflow conditions with respect to the vertical location.

Vortex Control Using Plate Type Floor Splitter in Pump Intake

“…Based on the ANSI/HI 9.8-2012 [9], there are a few types of anti-vortex devices (AVD) that have been introduced and one of them is the floor splitter. Employing an AVD is one of the options used to suppress vortex formation because of its effectiveness [10][11][12][13]. However, the design of the floor splitter is in its conceptual stage, and there is no specific dimension proposed in the standard, although studies have proved that the floor splitter dimension impacts the result of vorticity reduction in pump intake sumps.…”