Avoid the Squeeze on Your Wallet and Pipeline: ARV Strategies

Much like medical stents for a heart patient, air valves properly applied to a pipeline are a pressure relief mechanism that can mean the difference between an emergency and peace of mind. A design approach that reduced by almost one third the cost of air valves on a well field pipeline for a Texas Panhandle city is making engineers and owners take notice. Parkhill, Smith, and Cooper (PSC) engineers initially used an air valve manufacturer’s software to get the manufacturer’s recommendations for the pipeline. The manufacturer’s program called for 117 air valves, which would be prohibitively costly. So PSC used hydraulic modeling, to perform transient analysis, which showed that 48 combination air valves ranging from 4 to 12 inches in size would be sufficient. The air release valve recommended by the manufacturer’s software would have cost over $1.2 million; whereas the air valves defined with hydraulic modeling, would cost under $880,000. The project piqued the interest of the El Paso Water Utilities and the American Council of Engineering Companies, which requested a presentation in February 2015, comparing the costs of each type of work. Using hydraulic modeling rather than manufacturers’ recommendations for air valve placement can significantly reduce capital cost on your project while still protecting the pipeline.