Hy Guys I see that you are at it again. That means you are not sure and want to explore a little further.
TC installed an AOT on an existing pipeline, at a location where the AOT would help with a bottleneck. I am not sure of this, but I have read somewhere that this is the case.
The laws of nature state; if you want something you have to pay for it. In a pump, liquid horsepower ($$$) is inputted and converted to velocity energy by the impeller, then converted to pressure energy in the diffuser section of the volute case to push liquid through the piping. An energy or pressure difference must exist to cause the liquid to move. A portion of that energy is lost to the resistance to flow. This resistance to flow is called head loss due to friction.
Factors that affect Head Loss (i.e. bottlenecks)
1) Flow Rate
When the flow rate (GPM) increases, the velocity of the liquid increases at the same rate. The friction or resistance to flow (due to viscosity) also increases. The head loss is related to the square of the velocity so the increase in loss is very quick.
2) Inside diameter of the pipe
When the inside diameter is made larger, the flow area increases and the velocity of the liquid at a given flow rate is reduced. When the velocity is reduced there is lower head loss due to friction in the pipe. On the other hand, if the inside diameter of the pipe is reduced, the flow area decreases, the velocity of the liquid increases and the head loss due to friction increases.
3) Roughness of the pipe wall
As the roughness of the inside pipe wall increases so does the thickness of the slow or non-moving boundary layer of liquid. The resulting reduction in flow area increases the velocity of the liquid and increases the head loss due to friction.
4) Corrosion and Scale Deposits
Scale deposits and corrosion both increase the roughness of the inside pipe wall. Scale buildup has the added disadvantage of reducing the inside diameter of the pipe. All of these add up to a reduction in flow area, an increase of the velocity of the liquid, and an increase in head loss due to friction.
5) Viscosity of the liquid
The higher the viscosity of the liquid is, the higher the friction is from moving the liquid. More energy is required to move a high viscosity liquid than for a lower viscosity liquid.
6) Length of the pipe
Head loss due to friction occurs all along a pipe. It will be constant for each foot of pipe at a given flow rate. The published tables have head loss values which must be multiplied by the total length of pipe.
7) Fittings
Elbows, tees, valves, and other fittings are necessary to a piping system for a pump. It must be remembered that fittings disrupt the smooth flow of the liquid being pumped. When the disruption occurs, head loss due to friction occurs.
8) Straightness of the pipe
Because of momentum, liquid wants to travel in a straight line. If it is disturbed due to crooked pipe, the liquid will bounce off of the pipe walls and the head loss due to friction will increase. There is no accurate way to predict the effects since “crooked” can mean a lot of things.
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So Alkalinesolution1, when you referred to a pipe "Flat, Up, Flat" you are introducing a bottleneck to the pipe. When you add the AOT to the mix, you get a pipe "Flat, Flat, Flat". So The AOT removes the bottleneck or some of it by reducing the head loss. The pump does not have to work as hard, but it is still working with the same pressure difference but now there is less head loss. The savings is in the liquid horsepower needed to run the pump.
OK, so now TC have reduced the head loss with several AOTs located where the worst head loss occurred (bottlenecks). Now, they would like to increase the flow rate, so they install an AOT upstream and increase the pump throughput to match the reduced head loss because of lower viscosity. But, then 40 miles down the pipeline, at the next pumping station they encounter a new bottleneck because the effect of the first AOT is no longer active. The viscosity has returned to the original state. The pump is working to maintain the new flow rate, but it will overheat because of the head loss 50 miles downpipe. So an other AOT will have to be installed to remove that bottleneck.. and so on, down the line. Conclusion: you need AOTs from pipeline start to pipeline finish in order to increase the flow rate.
AI
