Experiment and Simulation on Pressure Pulsation Accompanied by Acoustic Resonance and Piping Vibration

To improve condition-based maintenance (CBM) techniques for operating plants, it is necessary to investigate, by experiments and numerical simulations, on the behavior of fluid inside piping system in detail. This study was conducted using the full-scale piping system under conditions that could seriously threaten the plant operation, by matching pressure pulsation, acoustic resonance and piping natural frequency. Although piping vibration is reported to influence fluid pressure pulsation, there were few examples of such influence in the conditions of this experiment. Knowing that the opening ratio of the pressure control valve affects the boundary condition for acoustic resonance, the experiment and numerical simulation at different opening ratios were conducted. It was suggested that there are cases in which a valve partially open at 25% or less shouldn’t be taken as a closed end. This finding conflicts with widespread design assumption.