Experimental data on filling and emptying of a large-scale pipeline

Physical experiments are one of the important means to explore the evolution of gas-liquid interface and the oscillation mechanism of pressure in pipelines during rapid pipeline emptying. This study presents a dataset obtained from the experimental results of the flow behaviour during the rapid emptying of a large-scale pipeline. Emptying of an initially water-filled horizontal PVC pipeline driven by different upstream compressed air pressures and with different outflow restriction conditions, with motion of an air-water front through the pressurized pipeline, is investigated experimentally. The test rig includes a variety of components (e.g. tanks, flow meters, valves, pipes of different materials) and the operation procedure is rather complex. The flow behaviour is measured by this various instruments and hence a thorough hydrodynamic analysis is possible. It can be observed additional shortening of the moving full water column due to formation of a stratified water-air “tail”. All these features and data framework make the current study particularly useful as a test case for real rapid emptying situations.