Seeking help with water hammer problems
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Dear technicians, our reaction vessels use steam at a pressure of up to 20 bar, which causes severe water hammer; therefore, we have to replace the section of pipe that serves both as a steam conduit and a cooling water conduit every two months. I’m planning to install a new set of boilers soon, and I would like to ask, from a design perspective, how can water hammer phenomena be minimized or avoided as much as possible?
Please state the question clearly: does the reactor have a heating jacket or heating coil? From the text it seems that heating and cooling share the same jacket or coil. Where does water hammer occur? When? Only by clarifying these can we make a proper judgment
1. For pipes shared by steam and cooling water, the water inside the pipes must be drained before steam is introduced; otherwise, water hammer will definitely occur； After the cooling water is stopped, first open the low-point drain valve to drain the water. Then slightly increase the pressure in the steam pipeline and continue draining. Once all the water from the low-point drain has been removed and a large amount of steam is visible, close the drain valve. Gradually increase the steam supply until the required heating level is achieved. If the pipes for steam and cooling water share a common pipeline without a low-point drain valve, one must be added at an appropriate location; ideally, both a drain valve and an emptying valve should be installed. 2. Check for internal leakage in the cooling water valves and steam valves.
Water hammer in steam pipes is generally caused by inadequate warming of the pipes, resulting in steam containing water. This type of issue is relatively easy to resolve by warming the pipes again, or by installing additional drain valves and desiccant packs along the steam pipes； Another type is water hammer in the condensate pipeline. The causes of water hammer in the condensate pipeline include: 1) the presence of steam within the condensate pipeline, usually due to a leak in the drain valve; 2) the mixing of cold and hot water, which causes the hot water to flash and produce some steam. In such cases, it is recommended to inject nitrogen into the condensate pipeline to reduce the flow rate and prevent the hot water from flashing.
What you're referring to is not water hammer; it's the sound produced by the bubbling of soda. The condensate in the pipeline must be drained before sending steam.
I don’t understand where the water hammer occurs in this situation, nor what causes it