Performance Similarity between Different-Sized Air Exchange Valves

A central element of a pipeline’s air management infrastructure is typically its set of air exchange valves (AEVs), a designation that includes air release and air/vacuum valves. Knowledge of the air mass flow rate as a function of pressure difference is essential for AEV selection and design, a relationship expressed by its somewhat complex and certainly nonlinear characteristic curve (CC). However, both measurement and simulation of this CC …