Hydraulic behavior of valves used in building water supply systems

ABSTRACT This study was developed with the objective of evaluating the steady-state hydraulic behavior of gate, ball, and pressure valves with nominal diameters of ½” and ¾”, which are widely used in building water supply networks in Brazil. For this purpose, tests were performed to determine the head loss in ten different valves in four openings with five replicates. A hydraulic head loss testing apparatus was set up in a pipeline network that allowed for the control, monitoring, and acquisition of data. Mean values of the K coefficient of the minor head loss and the equivalent length were estimated for the conditions evaluated. The results were analyzed using box plots, correlation, principal components analysis, and hierarchical clustering. In general, the gate valves showed lower head loss for all the relative openings considered, while the pressure valves showed the greatest head loss. Of the clusters formed, for the second group, there was a predominance of treatments with pressure valves, which showed similarity in terms of the values of the hydraulic variables due to the geometry and construction of the valves.