Air Chamber Surge Tanks in High Head Hydro Plants

by Joseph Wexler, Albuquerque District Corps of, Engineers, Albuquerque, NM, USA,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Hydraulic Engineering

Abstract:

The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District considered an air chamber during the design of the 'Crater Lake phase of the Snettisham Project near Juneau, Alaska. A conventional surge tank was the ultimate choice, but a detailed air chamber design was completed. The air chamber was less expensive but was rejected because the dollar savings over the conventional unit were considered inadequate to justify building an untested design. An equation developed by R. Svee of Norway is used for the initial sizing of the air chamber with further refinements being made by a computer model. Monitoring the water surface elevations in the reservoir and in the air chamber is crucial for successful operation of the system.

Subject Headings: Water storage | Water tanks | Power plants | Hydro power | Computer models | Water surface | Head (fluid mechanics) | Alaska | United States | Norway | Europe

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