Most design engineers are aware of the danger of having air in Liquid pipelines. Problems associated with air in pipes are as follows:
- Reduced capacity of pipeline as air pockets cause flow restrictions.
- Accelerated corrosion – oxygen/air vapour pockets !
- Pipe breakages from waterhammer. Where air pockets are present they create the ideal spot for waterhammer events to break the pipe.
Air valve designs have evolved over the years where initial concerns revolved around better capacity to gain commercial advantages. In the last ten years or so some novel designs have ensured that air valves are not able to “slam” shut during filling operations and which used to cause severe waterhammer events. See www.arivalves.com – they are one of the leading manufacturers of air valves in the world with some very novel design ideas and which have been proven to solve general air valve problems