Design of Functionality Tests for Smart Valve
A proprietary “Smart valve” technology (US Patent 8707981) developed and patented by Flow Dynamics LLC is said to reduce air bubbles in municipal water lines thereby reducing water meter readings enabling savings on water bills. As a proof of concept, Flow Dynamics LLC assigned TEES to test the Smart Valve in a lab setting to understand and simulate its effects on various conditions of water flow in residential/commercial buildings.
Software Used: AutoCAD, Visio, MS Office
DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS:
To test various functionality features of the Valve, following tests were designed:
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Flow Rate Test – To test the effect of Valve on the flow rate of water.
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Pressure Surge Test – To test the effect of Valve against sudden pressure rise in water line.
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Air Bubble Test – To test the effect of Valve on air bubbles in water line.
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Air Test – To test the effect of Valve on large air pockets present in empty pipe lines (No water flow).
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Variable flow rate test – To test the effect of varying flow rates in water pipe lines
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Constant Volume Test – To test the effect of the Valve on water meter reading
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All tests were conducted for three settings of the Valve spring:
â–ª Minimum Setting â–ª Mid Setting â–ª High Setting
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TEST SETUP:
The test set-up was developed to provide control on: Inlet water flow rate, Inlet water pressure and Inlet air pressure; and to Measure parameters: Fluid pressure at inlet and outlet, Fluid flow rate at inlet and outlet, Air inlet pressure, Volume of fluid flowed through the system.
Engineered test setup
TEST RESULTS:
Results of the test have been published on Smart Valve's product website. Please click on the link below for details.