A surge tank (or surge drum) is a standpipe or storage reservoir at the downstream end of a

closed aqueduct or feeder pipe to absorb sudden rises of pressure as well as to quickly provide
extra water during a brief drop in pressure.
A valve is a device that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid by opening, closing, or
partially obstructing various passageways.

Instantaneous Closure Neglecting Friction

Let:

Surge tank area

/ Pipe line area

= the initial velocity of water in the pipe.

= the instantaneous velocity in the pipe line t secs. after the change in load.
= The height of the surge level above the surface of the reservoir t secs. after the change
in load.

= density of water.

be the periodic time of the oscillation in the Surge Tank.

At time the pressure at

above normal flow conditions

By Newtons second Law The pressure force on the water column in the pipe line = Mass
multiplied to Acceleration

(2)
( is called the Acceleration or Inertia head )
By Mass Continuity Flow in the surge tank = Flow in the pipe, i.e.

(3)
Or this can be written as:

Differentiate:

(4)
Substituting equation (4) in equation (3)

(5)

But this is the equation for simple harmonic motion whose solution is:

(6)
When
Hence:

and by inspection

Differentiate the above equation:

(7)
But from equation (3) when

And also:

Substitute in equation (7)

If

is the period of a complete oscillation:

When:
From equation (5)
And since

From equation (6)

The following two graphs show the variation of both and with time.

Notes:

The maximum surge height occurs at time , i.e.

A large value of
time .

Changes in reservoir level and the inertia of the water column in the surge tank have been
neglected.

i.e. a large surge tank area, means a small

but a longer periodic

A Sudden Complete Valve Closure Allowing For Friction

The height of the first maximum surge can then be found by putting
the following equation.

and

in

This equation can only be solved by trial and error but a first approximation neglecting friction
and using

will save work!

And for the first minimum surge

Note that in the theory is measured positively upwards from the reservoir level. is positive or
negative depending upon whether the surge level is rising or falling. is positive or negative
depending whether the flow is towards the surge tank or away from it.
is added when the
flow is towards the surge tanks and is subtracted if the flow is towards the reservoir.
At the initial steady flow state the level in the surge tank will be below the reservoir level by an
amount equal to the friction head lost in the pipe.
From the Darcy equation the friction head lost is:

(8)
This is usually written as
where is a constant for the pipe line.
At a time secs, after closure let the surge level be at a height above the reservoir level and let
the pipe velocity be .
For steady flow at velocity the level in the surge tank would be
below the reservoir level.
Thus the excess pressure head at causing the deceleration of the water column is
from Newton's second Law:
Pressure force = Mass multiplied to Acceleration

(9)
But by continuity:

(10)
Hence:

(11)
Substituting from equations (10) and (11) in (9)

i.e.

(12)
This is insoluble as it stands since we can not deal with the friction term.
To eliminate :

But:

(13)
Substitute in equation (8)

Or:

The solution of this equation is:

It is now necessary to evaluate the constant

When:

and

The height of the first maximum surge can then be found by putting
and
the above equation. The equation can then only be solved by trial and error but a first
approximation neglecting friction and using

will save work!

in

First Minimum Surge.

Head at accelerating the column towards the reservoir is

Equation (8) now becomes:

And by continuity:

Or:

NOTE: the net effect of the flow reversal on the above equations is to change the sign of the
term, so the equations generated, during the consideration for sudden complete closure are
modified as follows.
Eliminating equation (13) becomes:

Eliminating :

Putting

when

The following graphs show the variations of and with time.

In all the above theory is measured positively upwards from the reservoir level. is positive or
negative depending upon whether the surge level is rising or falling.
is positive or negative depending whether the flow is towards the surge tank or away from it.
is added when the flow is towards the surge tanks and is subtracted if the flow is towards the
reservoir.

Gradual Valve Closure

Consider the instantaneous conditions at a time as shown. The head at

column is
.
Thus:

decelerating the

And from the Continuity equation:

Or:

After the valve has closed in a time

before

remains zero and the equation becomes:

as

This can only be dealt with by numerical integration and even then the variation of with time
must be known. It is usual to assume that decreases uniformly from to zero in a time i.e.
at a time .

Sudden Or Gradual Partial Closure.

Equations (12) and (5) still apply but does not now fall to zero.
For a sudden partial closure is assumed to fall instantaneously to the new steady value. For a
gradual partial closure is assumed to fall linearly with time to the new constant value of

Sudden Valve Opening On Increased Load.

Note : Assume that the velocity at the valve increases instantaneously to the final steady velocity

Consider the position shown. Take as positive downwards.

Notes: The interaction of the turbine governing mechanism and the surge tank frequency must be
studied so that surges are damped out by friction and not perpetuated and amplified by the action
of the governor. The following equation gives the critical area ratio for stability.

Where
is the initial steady flow level in the surge tank above the turbine gate.
Example:

$9.57

$27.51

$8.95

$6.55

$1.00

$13.48

$4.31

$13.45

$6.98

$9.57

[imperial]
Example - Example 1

Problem
Describe the operation of a simple Surge Tank communicating with the pipe-line supplying the
turbine in a hydro-electric plant.
Show that if the friction head is proportional to velocity squared , the oscillatory motion of the
level in the Surge tank following a sudden complete shut down of then turbines is given by the
equation taking the form:

in which is the height at any instant of the Surge Tank level with reference to the reservoir
level, and are constants, the former having positive values when the flow along the pipe-line
is towards the Surge Tank and negative when reversed.
Find and if the Surge Tank diameter is 100 ft. pipe line diameter 15 ft. and the length of the
pipe-line from reservoir to Surge Tank 2,400 ft. At the instant when the turbines are completely
shut down, the flow along the pipe-line from reservoir to surge tank is
and the
level in the Surge Tank is stationary, 3 ft. below the level in the reservoir.

Workings
The head producing the deceleration of the water in the pipe is, using equation (7)

(1)
And from the continuity equation for an instant valve closure . Equation (1)

(2)
Differentiating:

(3)
Substituting equations (3) and (2) in equation (1)

Where:
And:
When is towards the reservoir,
and (2) will now by:

And:

will be above

and the equations corresponding to (1)

Which together will make

negative.

The head drop due to friction is 3 ft.

And:

And:

Refinements To Simple Surge Tanks

Here are some refinements to simple surge tanks.

Variable Area Chamber

The object is to limit the extremes of the surges. This arrangement provides a quick initial
response followed by a slower change in levels and almost constant pressure in the larger
chamber. Note that:

Chamber

Gallery
turbine.

caters for sudden valve closure.

assists demand for more water caused by an increased load on the

Throttled Surge Tank

The orifice will limit the total height of the surge by increasing the friction and velocity
head losses at entry to the chamber.

Johnson Differential Surge Tank