Mud traps

General information about what the sump is intended for

In heating routes and plumbing systems for various purposes (cold, hot water supply, heating, technological), the purity of the coolant (water) is one of the main factors that determines the economic performance of their work, as well as overall performance. At the same time, water pollution with insoluble solid particles entering them during water intake (clay, sandy, plant residues, artificial) and as a result of processes occurring in metal pipes or fittings (corrosive scale, precipitation) becomes the cause of the appearance in pipeline systems such an unpleasant phenomenon as mud drifts. Dirt drifts from solid, viscous clayey or mucous accumulations lead to a decrease in the flow area of pipes and channels, the accumulation of dirt in boilers and heat exchangers, which ultimately leads to an increase in hydraulic resistance in the system, and in the end - to the formation of impassable plugs that make the water supply system partially or completely inoperative.

A very good quality of water purification from solid insoluble particles is shown by widespread water filters with fine mesh filtering elements, which exist in a wide variety of standard sizes. As a rule, mesh water filters are installed on subscriber outlets of water supply systems with a low carrier consumption, and immediately in front of the inlet pipes of water supply fittings or heating equipment. But installed in pipelines with high water flow rates, fine-mesh filter nets tend to become clogged with dirt, which leads to a rapid increase in hydraulic resistance and a sharp decrease in the economic performance of the system. For this reason, water mesh filters (with fine-mesh filter elements) require constant monitoring and frequent cleaning, and are completely unsuitable for plumbing systems with high flow rates.

For water purification in pipeline systems with high coolant flow rates, coarse filters are used, combining (combining) the principles of inertial-gravitational cleaning, and mesh filtration (c), called mud collectors. As a mesh filter element in mud collectors, a coarse mesh of low hydraulic resistance is used, designed to cut off only large solid particles with positive buoyancy (wood chips, plastic, foam, etc.), which cannot be cut off (separated from the stream of purified water) by inertial-gravity way. For high-performance plumbing and heating systems, the mud collector, by and large, performs the functions of a coarse water filter. At the most high-performance water treatment plants, large-sized mud collectors can only be used with an inertial-gravity cleaning principle.

Device, scheme of work

The water purifier - a sump is designed according to the principle of a pipeline expansion unit. Structurally, it is made in the form of a vertically located flow-through body - a glass, which for connection to the pipeline has two nozzles equipped with flanges or threads. The body of the mud collector is made of simple carbon steel (for cold water supply systems) or alloy steel (for heating systems with high media temperatures).

Untreated water, getting from the inlet into the expansion cup, sharply loses speed and changes the direction of movement, forming turbulence. As a result, large solid (insoluble) particles of contaminants carried by the injection stream fall out of the main stream under the action of inertia of motion and gravity and settle in the form of sludge (mud) to the bottom of the body (glass) of the mud collector. The water flow purified in this way (inertial-gravitational) enters the outlet pipe, equipped with a coarse mesh, on which the final cutting off of large-sized floating (floating) pollution particles takes place.

For periodic cleaning of the sump cup from accumulated sludge (by draining it), there is a drain hole or a fitting on its bottom. To remove stubborn dirt, service the walls of the sump from adhering dirt, its top cover has a removable design. In addition, on large-sized models of mud collectors, in their lower part, a revision hole is usually equipped, also with a removable cover.

The upper part of the sump body usually has some elevation above the level of the inlet and outlet nozzles, forming an upper-located chamber. This chamber is designed to collect and accumulate air supplied with an injection stream of untreated water. The sump cover, as a rule, has a threaded socket for screwing in a tap or a fitting necessary to drain the accumulated air. Thus, the sump also performs the function of removing excess air from the system, preventing it from airing.

However, this is a presentation of only one, albeit the most common, principle of operation of a water supply sump, and its typical vertical (VG) structural diagram. In fact, there are several options for solving the problem of water purification, and structural schemes for its implementation. So, there are mud collectors with a horizontal water treatment scheme (HG), vertical VG with a coarse mesh for the entire height of the body of the glass, completely without mesh inertial-gravitational mud collectors, and other options.

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Scope of application of mud collectors

Even if prepared (purified) water is supplied to the heating main or other large local water supply system with high productivity (through the pumped medium), you still cannot do without a water purifier - a mud collector. Since inside the system itself there are objectively processes of corrosive wear of metal pipes and equipment, with the formation and precipitation of solid particles of scale into the water flow, the processes of formation of insoluble compounds from soluble substances, with their precipitation. Not to mention plumbing systems, in which water intake comes from natural sources or open reservoirs, the water from which obviously contains a lot of solid insoluble particles. Thus, as the main areas of application of mud collectors, you can specify:

• heating networks and routes
• water intakes into pipeline systems from natural or artificial reservoirs, from open reservoirs;
• at water intakes of any local water supply systems, with a consumable or circulating medium (water supply, heat supply, cooling, technological purpose);
• for cleaning process streams from mechanical impurities;
• in front of fine water filters at the inlet of valuable pipeline equipment: pumps, boilers, valves, throttle valves, heat exchangers, etc.
• in hot water boilers of heating and hot water systems: on the return and supply pipes of the heating system and the water intake of the make-up system;
• at subscriber inputs from centralized water supply and heat supply systems (heating points).

Parameters for the selection of a mud collector

• The defining requirement for the selection of a sump are the features of its interface with the pipeline system:
• bore diameter of the pipe at the inlet and outlet;
• type of connection (mounting): flanged or threaded.
• The sump should not significantly increase the hydraulic resistance of the system, and its installation should not lead to significant alteration or reconstruction of the pipeline unit where it is installed. You should also pay attention to the performance characteristics of the carrier (water) in the system for which the mud collector is designed: maximum pressure (usually: 0.6 MPa, 1.0 MPa, 1.6 MPa or more on request) and temperature (up to 40 degrees .C for cold water and 150 degrees. C for hot water).
• For cold water supply systems, mud collectors with housings made of simple carbon steel are chosen, for systems with increased corrosive wear (including heating, hot water supply) - from corrosion-resistant alloy steel.

Mud collectors from OPEKS

OPEKS Energosystems, a company specializing in the production of heat exchange equipment and pipeline fittings, knows the price and importance of high-quality water treatment for water supply systems. After all, it is extremely necessary to ensure the effective and long-term operation of both our equipment and water supply systems in general. Therefore, our company is ready to offer its customers a series of our own high-performance mud collectors of vertical design (OPEKS-1-MB), with a flange type of connection, in a wide range of standard sizes (from DU25 to DU200). Mud traps of the OPEKS company are characterized by impeccable workmanship, durability, tightness, and, of course, by the efficiency of water treatment. They are made of carbon steel and are designed for use in plumbing systems with a maximum pressure of up to 1.6 MPa.

The main feature of the TM OPEKS mud collectors is a design carefully thought out by experienced engineers, made with maximum consideration of the hydrodynamic processes occurring inside the body of the water treatment unit. Due to this, and despite the apparent simplicity of the design, the work of OPEKS mud collectors for preliminary (rough) water purification is particularly effective. OPEKS Energysystems is absolutely confident in the quality and efficiency of its mud purifiers. Therefore, I would prefer that in the water supply systems where heat exchangers or other water supply equipment and fittings manufactured by OPEKS are installed, preliminary water treatment would be assigned to mud collectors also of our production.