A Third Form of Transporting Water-the Siphon Flow

Abstract: There are only two forms of transporting water within a tube: Pressure Flow & Gravitation Flow. The fluid takes a spiral flow. Because of uneven gas within the tube, which fails to be filled to its utmost. Thus, creating impediment & minimizing the quantity of flow, resulting in the lowering of effective flow-rate as the pipeline extends. The "Siphon Flow" is exempted from such a defect. With no gas mixing in water, the tube is filled to the utmost & without any spiral form of flow. Thus promoting the rate of effecting flow, augmenting the quantity of flow within the tube, lessening the bursting of tube due to pressure. Applying this from of transporting water in any water expelling project, be it of large, medium or small scale, it would surely manifest its advantage over the "Pressure flow "or "Gravitation flow". In transporting water within a tube, Gravitation flow is adopted when the water head is voluminous. But when the water head is rather limited, we have to bring pressure pump into play or use both forms of water transportation. The writer considers that in long-distant transportation of water for the consumption of the urban regions, besides the above-mentioned pressure & gravitation flow , there objectively exists the third form of water transportation, which is Siphon flow. Since the discovery of siphon and her utilization by mankind, a long time has elapsed. But human study of this Siphon phenomenon continues to remain shallow & superficial. In practical. project, the diameter of the siphonic tube does not exceed 600mm.. and classified within the scope of "Gravitation flow" Further study & practice had encountered almost insurmountable difficulties. All these are due to the difficulty to be surmounted in augmenting the diameter of the siphon and raising the level of her vacuum. In such a case, it is really hard to expect a regular flow within the tube. Further , we are unable to observe the water flow within the tube which has an enormous diameter exceeding the ordinary one, and consequently, unable to make any correct conclusion. When fluid flows down from a water tower or from a high-level water, it is known as "Gravitation flow". Which would surely form an eddy at the site of entrance, where the eddy would surely bring in some gases. The greater the tube, the flow of water would be quicker, and the eddy would surely be greater, consequently more gases would be brought in to become stagnant gases at any concave places along the pipeline. To become a gaseous impediment along the whole course of the flow. Any exhaustion valve along the pipeline can only expel a portion of the gas at the expense of energy. "Gravitation flow" is often seen in reservoir, in electric generator using hydro power, and water distribution project. Try as the devisors may, they fail to deepen the immersion depth of the pump head or to prevent the formation of eddying, or to install exhaustion valve along the pipeline. They have failed in attempt to obliterate the formation of eddy or the accumulation of the gas within the tube. As for those high-level reservoir which send water down by Gravitation

flow, the formation of eddy within the pipe yields up gases, forming vacuoles that hinder the speed of flow along the whole course of the pipeline. Thus slowing down the flowing speed & lessening the quantity of water flow. This is not all, as the accumulation of the gases that attach to the tube would eventually cause erosion of the pipe, which will finally crack or burst up and showing material fatigue. In the project where the running water is distributed through gravity flow, the gas is taken by the eddy & remains within the concave surface of the pipe. Consequently, the pipeline, which is certainly much below the water level of the reservoir, but when the tap at a rather high level is open, fails to yield water at the rush hour because of the stagnant gases within the tube that hinder the flow of water. But when at the lowest point of water consumption by the users, some of the gases way escape in the form of bubbles into the open air, thus improve condition of water supply. Using water pump to propelling water is the conversion of mechanical energy into pressure energy and is know as "Pressure flow". As the energy of the water pump comes flow the centrifugal force which is generated by the high propelling speed of the machine, therefore, water within the pipeline is subject to one-directional force only, which is highest at the point nearest the pump & lowest at the end off the pump since the water flow within the tube has to overcome the friction within the tube. As for the project of long-distant transportation of water within long-caliber pipe, it requires several water pumps to work at the same time. Since the respective water pump way not possess similar potential & energy. And, as they may work from diverse angles, the centrifugal forces thus generated may come into conflict, thus nullifying a portion of the energy. In the case when the water has to cross over undulating or hilly region, The loss energy among the whole course may be much greater, thus the output quantity of water may considerably decrease with the extension of the pipeline. The urban water work project based upon pressure flow has to encounter high resistance due to uneven distribution of its pipeline network at uneven levels with diverse curves which present resistance to water flow. Since the water flow yields by water pump is constant, it fails to keep pace with the consumption of its users, resulting in either the waste of energy, or water supply cannot meet the demand of its users. In addition, the accumulation of gases within the pipe has become an impediment to water flow. Which becomes greater as the pipeline extends. Not a few users had privately installed their own water pump & pipeline. This not only endangers the water pumps of the Water Works, but allot creates stoppage at a certain section of the pipe, and affecting the normal water flow & supply within that interval of time. In ordinary daily life, we have often used plastic tube to let water flow out into a vessel, the phenomenon of the flowing water inside the tube is known as siphon, which when applied in a project, have to employ a vacuum pump to suck out all the air so as to create a subnormal pressure thus relying upon the atmospheric pressure & potential power, the water is raised to the very top of the siphon then fall down on the other end or the exit, expelling out water. This is the complete siphon process.

Owing to the restriction of the vacuum pump load & the incompleteness of sealing tube, the atmospheric pressure can only force the water to climb to a height of up to eight meter. When the diameter within the siphon tube exceeds that of 0.6 meter. The siphon height would fall to below 6.5 meters, & the siphon distance would be limited to several hundred meters only, and the water can only fill less than 70% of the tube. Once the escaped air within the shelters of the tube reaches a certain volume. The water flow distributed. In a drainage project, it is often unreliable as the siphon tube is often of small calibre, interruption of flow often occurs. Therefore, such a project of drainage is rarely adopted, and is long left in neglect. The beginning of 1990 witnessed an important breakthrough in the application of siphon in practical life after a long strenuous effort in studying & researching: reaching a depth hitherto unknown to the civilized world. According to the Fujian Siphon Flow Delivery Technique Research Institute , based upon siphon principle, the Institute had successfully turned out an entirely new Siphon Installation. The so-called Immersion Vacuum Siphon Pump, accommodated with a pipeline of a calibre from 300mm to 6,000mm.. which diameter can be augmented when necessary. It can attain a siphon height of 8 meters. In a project when the altitude total head exceeds the pipeline loss. The distance of Siphon Flow is unlimited. The whole process of water transportation requires no evacuation of air to create a vacuum within the siphon head, the way of creating a vacuum is rather simple and practical and reliable. Which would enable the fill to 99% of water within the pipeline. Regardless of the distance. water can be easily released by opening the tap at any point of the pipeline. and the water sucked in by the vacuum siphon can be adjusted at will by remote control. The construction of an immersible vacuum Siphon pump differs from any pump in that it composes of well arranged hydraulic jugs which in turn forms the flow rectifier. The number of hydraulic jugs & their arrangement are determined by the volume & quality of the water. The function of this immersible vacuum Siphon pump requires no external force. for the Siphon pump can easily transport water as long as the extension of its pipeline. The flow of water is smooth without any eddy formation and free from aeration. The water inside the tube reach a maximum of 99% & over. and the flow is smooth & uniform. All these are the exertion of atmospheric pressure which converts potential force into energy to keep the water flowing. As the device of the vacuum Siphon pump is far beyond ordinary rule. The friction caused by water in its flow against the inner surface of the tube is negligible therefore in the process of transporting water, the flow is swift, and with no aeration the loss of water head along the course is minimal. Under similar condition, the velocity of flowing water created by the Siphon pump is 10% to 20% over that created by "Gravity Flow" or "Pressure Flow", its water output is over 15% of both. Without taking other factors into consideration, it creates a pressure which is contrary to that of the pressure flow, viz. the pressure at the starting point is small. The farther its course, the greater is its pressure, thus maintaining a continuous flow of the water. By experiment & practical work, such a water flow is in-between laminar flow & turbulent flow, pertaining to gradually varied flow. This is quite different from "Gravitation Flow"

& "Pressure Flow", and is, therefore the third form of water flow which is the "Siphon Flow". In the application of immersible vacuum siphon pump in actual project manifests, as there is no restriction of distance & caliber of the pipe, the propagation of siphon pump have been pushed up the stage of drainage project, suitable for the water works which supply running water to the urban region. The original purpose in the study of siphonic function is to solve the problem of drainage and irrigation in the season when there is inundation & flood at the reservoir, and at the time of low water to suck out the stagnant water, and to solve the problem of economizing energy & the inverted capacity of the underground water as well. In order to maintain the siphon height at the same level even when the caliber of the pipe has been increased, we have improved the filling capacity of the water within the tube, which will in turn enhance the energy of the flowing water and accelerate the flowing speed. With the atmospheric pressure exerted uniformly on the fluid, the coefficient of expansion of the fluids at the lowest, while the water flow is in a comparatively ideal state. We can clearly see the three factors deciding the flowing state of the water ate: whether there is any formation of eddy at the entrance of the water head, the filling capacity of the water within the tube and the condition of pressure exerted on the water. Under the above mentioned conditions, the "Siphon Flow" is definitely different from that of "Gravity flow" & "Pressure flow". Hence, the application of "Siphon Flow" in the large-scale or medium-scale drainage project, especially in the long-distance drainage project has apparent advantages in that it raise the volume of flowing water, and prolong the life of the pipe. In the case of hydroelectric station, the Siphon pump can be installed at the entrance. of the water, it will in a way lessen the amount of gas contained in water which may erode the turbine blade while at dry season when the water level is low, the Siphon pump may suck up the stagnant water which is eight meter below the entrance of the water so as to keep the generator going on. In the long-distance drainage project of low water head, we can transport the water to high level reservoir then employ Siphon flow to transport water to elsewhere, to shorten the distance of "Pressure flow". In this way, we change the mechanical energy of the pump into potential energy. This enables the function of the pump to remain at the highest efficiency within a definite distance, thus to obtain the maximal profit. Whereas the "Siphon flow" would take care of the rest of the distance of transporting water. This is particularly plausible for water transportation project of super-calibre pipe, not only they ensure the fullness of the pipeline, but it convert eddying current into a current without any eddy, lowering the loss of energy along the whole pipeline, converting the potential energy into a motion force, thus accelerating the flowing speed, expanding the output volume of the water, promoting the total profit of the project. Further, in the process of construction, the number of exhaustion valves is significantly cut down to a minimum, lessening the number of pressurized pumps along the while course and other accessory installations, thus lowering the total investment of the project. In high water head project, if the water level within the reservoir is within 8 meters below the embankment, no other moving force is necessary if we adopt "Siphon flow" in transporting water. All the pipeline along the whole course can be laid with the rise & fall of the ground without excavation of earth from

the ground. Adopting "Siphon flow" to supply water to the users in urban area has the advantage of keeping a stable equilibrium of water output & water consumption. The so called "interruption of water within the tube" would be over 85% less than that happens either to "Pressure flow" or "Gravitation flow". In the case when the users install any pump for their own convenience, such phenomenon as interruption of water as in the case of "Gravitation flow" or endangering the safety of the Siphon pump station as in the case of "Pressure flow" would not occur. Instead, such installation of water pump by the users themselves heighten the potential of the Siphon pump, resulting in the enhancement of the output volume of the water. All in all, the scope of applying this Siphon pump in our life is really very extensive. It can be applied to any drainage project, either big or small. Further, it yields several data of reference for us, which may help us to find out solutions for those problems such as air obstruction, cavitation bursting of the pipe volume of flow or lowering of the potential pressure. The writer of this article considers that fur the study of this objectively existent Siphon flow would surely solve the problems of trouble of consuming water, using water, and will surely bring more profit to the drainage project.