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A pressure recovery effect creates more exit flow at the end of the pipe farthest from the source than at the source end. The net effect of this unbalanced flow pattern may be circular flow in the sediment tank and non-optimal tank performance. However, the magnitude of this effect may not match "simple theory" which assumed uniform flow patterns.
Further Experiments
Further experiments will seek again to clarify the magnitude of the differential flow and test various "corrective" designs to see if more uniform flow will result. Dye tests using the model will be the primary method of testing in the next phase, although other tests may also be proposedAfter sufficiently proving the existence of pressure recovery and discovering the circular flow patterns caused by the horizontal component of velocity coming out of the ports, our team's focus shifted to testing of potential design options. Our experimentation made use of dye tests, as well as additional flow capturing experiments, home-made manometers, and small beaded media to track flow in the manifold. Our research lead us to design, test and evaluate multiple design options, as outlined here.