Siphon
Encyclopedia
History
EgyptianAncient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
reliefs from 1500 BC depict siphons used to extract liquids from large storage jars.
We have physical evidence for the use of siphons by Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
engineers in the 3rd century BC at Pergamon
Pergamon
Pergamon , or Pergamum, was an ancient Greek city in modern-day Turkey, in Mysia, today located from the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus , that became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty, 281–133 BC...
.
Hero of Alexandria
Hero of Alexandria
Hero of Alexandria was an ancient Greek mathematician and engineerEnc. Britannica 2007, "Heron of Alexandria" who was active in his native city of Alexandria, Roman Egypt...
wrote extensively about siphons in the treatise Pneumatica.
In the 9th century, the Banu Musa
Banu Musa
The Banū Mūsā brothers , namely Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir , Abū al‐Qāsim Aḥmad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir and Al-Ḥasan ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir , were three 9th-century Persian scholars of Baghdad who are known for their Book of Ingenious Devices on automata and mechanical devices...
brothers invented a double-concentric siphon, which they described in their Book of Ingenious Devices
Book of Ingenious Devices
The Book of Ingenious Devices was a large illustrated work on mechanical devices, including automata, published in 850 by the three Persian brothers known as the Banu Musa working at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, Iraq, under the Abbasid Caliphate...
.
Theory
A siphon works because gravity pulling down on the taller column of liquid causes reduced pressure at the top of the siphon. This reduced pressure means gravity pulling down on the shorter column of liquid is not sufficient to keep the liquid stationary so it flows from the upper reservoir, up and over the top of the siphon.An occasional misunderstanding of siphons is that they rely on the tensile strength of the liquid to pull the liquid up and over the rise. While water has been found to have a great deal of tensile strength in some experiments (such as with the z-tube
Z-tube
The Z-tube is an experimental apparatus for measuring the tensile strength of a liquid.It consists of a Z-shaped tube with open ends, filled with a liquid, and set on top of a spinning table. If the tube were straight, the liquid would immediately fly out one end or the other of the tube as it...
), and siphons in vacuum rely on such cohesion, common siphons can easily be demonstrated to need no liquid tensile strength at all to function. Furthermore, since common siphons operate at positive pressures throughout the siphon, there is no contribution from liquid tensile strength, because the molecules are actually repelling each other in order to resist the pressure, rather than pulling on each other. To demonstrate, the longer lower leg of a common siphon can be plugged at the bottom and filled almost to the crest with liquid, leaving the top and the shorter upper leg completely dry and containing only air. When the plug is removed and the liquid in the longer lower leg is allowed to fall, the liquid in the upper reservoir will then typically sweep the air bubble down and out of the tube. The apparatus will then continue to operate as a siphon. As there is no contact between the liquid on either side of the siphon at the beginning of this experiment, there can be no cohesion between the liquid molecules to pull the liquid over the rise. Another simple demonstration that liquid tensile strength isn't needed in the siphon is to simply introduce a bubble into the siphon during operation. The bubble can be large enough to entirely disconnect the liquids in the tube before and after it, defeating any liquid tensile strength, and yet if the bubble isn't too big, the siphon will continue to operate with little change.
The uphill flow of water in a siphon doesn’t violate the principle of continuity because the mass of water entering the tube and flowing upwards is equal to the mass of water flowing downwards and leaving the tube. A siphon doesn't violate the principle of conservation of energy
Conservation of energy
The nineteenth century law of conservation of energy is a law of physics. It states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant over time. The total energy is said to be conserved over time...
because the loss of gravitational potential energy
Potential energy
In physics, potential energy is the energy stored in a body or in a system due to its position in a force field or due to its configuration. The SI unit of measure for energy and work is the Joule...
as liquid flows from the upper reservoir to the lower reservoir equals the work done in overcoming fluid friction
Viscosity
Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear or tensile stress. In everyday terms , viscosity is "thickness" or "internal friction". Thus, water is "thin", having a lower viscosity, while honey is "thick", having a higher viscosity...
as the liquid flows through the tube. Once started, a siphon requires no additional energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
to keep the liquid flowing up and out of the reservoir. The siphon will draw liquid out of the reservoir until the level falls below the intake, allowing air or other surrounding gas to break the siphon, or until the outlet of the siphon equals the level of the reservoir, whichever comes first.
The maximum height of the crest
Crest (physics)
A crest is the point on a wave with the maximum value or upward displacement within a cycle. A trough is the opposite of a crest, so the minimum or lowest point in a cycle.-Interference:...
is limited by atmospheric pressure
Atmospheric pressure
Atmospheric pressure is the force per unit area exerted into a surface by the weight of air above that surface in the atmosphere of Earth . In most circumstances atmospheric pressure is closely approximated by the hydrostatic pressure caused by the weight of air above the measurement point...
, the density
Density
The mass density or density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ . In some cases , density is also defined as its weight per unit volume; although, this quantity is more properly called specific weight...
of the liquid, and its vapour pressure. When the pressure within the liquid drops to below the liquid's vapor pressure, tiny vapor bubbles can begin to form at the high point and the siphon effect will end. This effect depends on how efficiently the liquid can nucleate bubbles; in the absence of impurities or rough surfaces to act as easy nucleation sites for bubbles, siphons can temporarily exceed their standard maximum height during the extended time it takes bubbles to nucleate. For water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
at standard atmospheric pressure, the maximum siphon height is approximately 10 m
Metre
The metre , symbol m, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units . Originally intended to be one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's equator to the North Pole , its definition has been periodically refined to reflect growing knowledge of metrology...
(32 feet); for mercury
Mercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
it is 76 cm (30 inch
Inch
An inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...
es).
Analogy
A simplified conceptual model of a siphon is that it is like a chain hanging over a pulley with one end of the chain piled on a higher surface than the other. Since the length of chain on the shorter side is lighter than the length of chain on the taller side, the chain will move up around the pulley and down towards the lower surface.There are two problems with the chain model of a siphon. The first is that under most practical circumstances, dissolved gases, vapor pressure, and (sometimes) lack of adhesion with tube walls, conspire to render the tensile strength within the liquid ineffective for siphoning. Thus, unlike a chain which has significant tensile strength, liquids usually have little tensile strength under typical siphon conditions, and therefore the liquid on the rising side cannot be pulled up, in the way the chain is pulled up on the rising side.
The second problem with the chain model of the siphon is that the weight of liquid on the up side of the siphon can be greater than the liquid on the down side, yet the siphon can still function. For example, if the tube from the upper reservoir to the top of the siphon has a much larger diameter than the section of tube from the lower reservoir to the top of the siphon, the shorter upper section of the siphon may have a much larger weight of liquid in it, yet the siphon can function normally.
Practical requirements
A plain tube can be used as a siphon. An external pumpPump
A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as liquids, gases or slurries.A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. Pumps fall into three major groups: direct lift, displacement, and gravity pumps...
has to be applied to start the liquid flowing and prime the siphon. This can be a human mouth. This is sometimes done with any leak-free hose to siphon gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
from a motor vehicle's gasoline tank to an external tank. (Siphoning gasoline by mouth often results in the accidental swallowing of gasoline, which is quite poisonous, or aspirating
Pulmonary aspiration
Pulmonary aspiration is the entry of material from the oropharynx or gastrointestinal tract into the larynx and lower respiratory tract...
it into the lungs, which can cause death or lung damage.) If the tube is flooded with liquid before part of the tube is raised over the intermediate high point and care is taken to keep the tube flooded while it is being raised, no pump is required. Devices sold as siphons come with a siphon pump
Pump
A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as liquids, gases or slurries.A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. Pumps fall into three major groups: direct lift, displacement, and gravity pumps...
to start the siphon process. When applying a siphon to any application it is important that the piping be as closely sized to the requirement as possible. Using piping of too great a diameter and then throttling the flow using valves or constrictive piping appears to increase the effect of previously cited concerns over gases or vapor collecting in the crest which serve to break the vacuum. Once the vacuum is reduced the siphon effect is lost.
Reducing the size of pipe used closer to requirements appears to reduce this effect and creates a more functional siphon that does not require constant re-priming and restarting. In this respect, where the requirement is to match a flow into a container with a flow out of said container (to maintain a constant level in a pond fed by a stream, for example) it would be preferable to utilize two or three smaller separate parallel pipes that can be started as required rather than attempting to use a single large pipe and attempting to throttle it.
Applications
Foam
-Definition:A foam is a substance that is formed by trapping gas in a liquid or solid in a divided form, i.e. by forming gas regions inside liquid regions, leading to different kinds of dispersed media...
and floaties) from being transferred out of one container into a new container. Siphoning is thus useful in the fermentation
Fermentation (food)
Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...
of wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
and beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
for this reason, since it can keep unwanted impurities out of the new container.
Self-constructed siphons, made of pipes or tubes, can be used to evacuate water from cellars after floodings. Between the flooded cellar and a deeper place outside a connection is built, using a tube or some pipes. They are filled with water through an intake valve (at the highest end of the construction). When the ends are opened, the water flows through the pipe into the sewer or the river.
Siphoning is common in irrigated fields to transfer a controlled amount of water from a ditch, over the ditch wall, into furrows.
Large siphons may be used in municipal waterworks
WaterWorks
WaterWorks is a water park owned by Cedar Fair, located at the back of Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. When it debuted in 1992, it was originally named Hurricane Reef...
and industry. Their size requires control via valves at the intake, outlet and crest of the siphon. The siphon may be primed by closing the intake and outlets and filling the siphon at the crest. If intakes and outlets are submerged, a vacuum pump
Vacuum pump
A vacuum pump is a device that removes gas molecules from a sealed volume in order to leave behind a partial vacuum. The first vacuum pump was invented in 1650 by Otto von Guericke.- Types :Pumps can be broadly categorized according to three techniques:...
may be applied at the crest to prime the siphon. Alternatively the siphon may be primed by a pump at either the intake or outlet.
Gas in the liquid is a concern in large siphons. The gas tends to accumulate at the crest and if enough accumulates to break the flow of liquid, the siphon stops working. The siphon itself will exacerbate the problem because as the liquid is raised through the siphon, the pressure drops, causing dissolved gases within the liquid to come out of solution. Higher temperature accelerates the release of gas from liquids so maintaining a constant, low temperature helps. The longer the liquid is in the siphon, the more gas is released, so a shorter siphon overall helps. Local high points will trap gas so the intake and outlet legs should have continuous slopes without intermediate high points. The flow of the liquid moves bubbles thus the intake leg can have a shallow slope as the flow will push the gas bubbles to the crest. Conversely, the outlet leg needs to have a steep slope to allow the bubbles to move against the liquid flow; though other designs call for a shallow slope in the outlet leg as well to allow the bubbles to be carried out of the siphon. At the crest the gas can be trapped in a chamber above the crest. The chamber needs to be occasionally primed again with liquid to remove the gas.
Bowl siphon
Bowl siphons are part of flush toiletFlush toilet
A flush toilet is a toilet that disposes of human waste by using water to flush it through a drainpipe to another location. Flushing mechanisms are found more often on western toilets , but many squat toilets also are made for automated flushing...
s. Siphon action in the bowl siphon siphons out the contents of the toilet bowl and creates the characteristic toilet "sucking" sound.
Some toilets also use the siphon principle to obtain the actual flush from the cistern
Cistern
A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...
. The flush is triggered by a lever or handle that operates a simple diaphragm-like piston pump that lifts enough water to the crest of the siphon to start the flow of water which then completely empties the contents of the cistern into the toilet bowl. The advantage of this system was that no water would leak from the cistern excepting when flushed.
Early urinals incorporated a siphon in the cistern which would flush automatically on a regular cycle because there was a constant trickle of clean water being fed to the cistern by a slightly open valve.
Inverted siphon
An inverted siphon is not a siphon but a term applied to pipes that must dip below an obstruction to form a "U" shaped flow path. Inverted siphons are commonly called traps for their function in preventing smelly sewer gasSewer gas
Sewer gas is a complex mixture of toxic and non-toxic gases produced and collected in sewage systems by the decomposition of organic household or industrial wastes, typical components of Sewage....
es from coming back out of drains and sometimes making dense objects like rings and electronic components retrievable after falling into a drain. Liquid flowing in one end simply forces liquid up and out the other end, but solids like sand will accumulate. This is especially important in sewage
Sewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
systems or culvert
Culvert
A culvert is a device used to channel water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or embankment. Culverts can be made of many different materials; steel, polyvinyl chloride and concrete are the most common...
s which must be routed under rivers or other deep obstructions where the better term is "depressed sewer". Large inverted siphons are used to convey water being carried in canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
s or flume
Flume
A flume is an open artificial water channel, in the form of a gravity chute, that leads water from a diversion dam or weir completely aside a natural flow. Often, the flume is an elevated box structure that follows the natural contours of the land. These have been extensively used in hydraulic...
s across valleys, for irrigation or gold mining.
Back siphonage
Back siphonage is a plumbing term applied to clean water pipes that connect directly into a reservoir without an air gap. As water is delivered to other areas of the plumbing system at a lower level, the siphon effect will tend to siphon water back out of the reservoir. This may result in contamination of the water in the pipes. Back siphonage is not to be confused with backflow. Back siphonage is a result of liquids at a lower level drawing water from a higher level. Backflow is driven entirely by pressure in the reservoir itself. Backflow cannot occur through an intermediate high-point. Back siphonage can flow through an intermediate high-point and is thus much more difficult to guard against.Anti-siphon valve
Anti-siphon valves are required in such designs. Building codeBuilding code
A building code, or building control, is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects such as buildings and nonbuilding structures. The main purpose of building codes are to protect public health, safety and general welfare as they relate to the...
s often contain specific sections on back siphonage and especially for external faucets. (See sample building code below.) The reason is that external faucets may be attached to hoses which may be immersed in an external body of water, such as a garden pond
Garden pond
A garden pond is a water feature constructed in a garden or designed landscape, normally for aesthetic purposes and/or to provide wildlife habitat.-Habitat:...
, swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
, aquarium
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
or washing machine
Washing machine
A washing machine is a machine designed to wash laundry, such as clothing, towels and sheets...
. Should the pressure within the water supply system fall, the external water may be siphoned back into the drinking water system through the faucet. Another possible contamination point is the water intake in the toilet tank. An anti-siphon valve is also required here to prevent pressure drops in the water supply line from siphoning water out of the toilet tank (which may contain additives such as "toilet blue") and contaminating the water system. Anti-siphon valves function as a one-direction check valve
Check valve
A check valve, clack valve, non-return valve or one-way valve is a mechanical device, a valve, which normally allows fluid to flow through it in only one direction....
.
Anti-siphon valves are also used medically. Hydrocephalus
Hydrocephalus
Hydrocephalus , also known as "water in the brain," is a medical condition in which there is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles, or cavities, of the brain. This may cause increased intracranial pressure inside the skull and progressive enlargement of the head,...
, or excess fluid in the brain, may be treated with a shunt
Shunt (medical)
In medicine, a shunt is a hole or a small passage which moves, or allows movement of fluid from one part of the body to another. The term may describe either congenital or acquired shunts; and acquired shunts may be either biological or mechanical.* Cardiac shunts may be described as...
which drains cerebrospinal fluid
Cerebrospinal fluid
Cerebrospinal fluid , Liquor cerebrospinalis, is a clear, colorless, bodily fluid, that occupies the subarachnoid space and the ventricular system around and inside the brain and spinal cord...
from the brain. All shunts have a valve to relieve excess pressure in the brain. The shunt may lead into the abdominal cavity such that the shunt outlet is significantly lower than the shunt intake when the patient is standing. Thus a siphon effect may take place and instead of simply relieving excess pressure, the shunt may act as a siphon, completely draining cerebrospinal fluid from the brain. The valve in the shunt may be designed to prevent this siphon action so that negative pressure on the drain of the shunt does not result in excess drainage. Only excess positive pressure from within the brain should result in drainage.
Note that the anti-siphon valve in medical shunts is preventing excess forward flow of liquid. In plumbing systems, the anti-siphon valve is preventing backflow.
Other anti-siphoning devices
Along with anti-siphon valves, anti-siphoning devices also exist. The two are unrelated in application. Siphoning can be used to remove fuel from tanks. With the cost of fuel increasing, it has been linked in several countries globally to the rise in fuel theft. Trucks, with their large fuel tanks, are most vulnerable. The anti-siphon device prevents thieves from inserting a tube into the fuel tank.Siphon barometer
A siphon barometer is the term sometimes applied to the simplest of mercury barometerBarometer
A barometer is a scientific instrument used in meteorology to measure atmospheric pressure. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather...
s. A continuous U-shaped tube of the same diameter throughout is sealed on one end and filled with mercury. When placed into the upright position, mercury will flow away from the sealed end, forming a partial vacuum, until balanced by atmospheric pressure on the other end. The term "siphon" is used because the same principle of atmospheric pressure acting on a fluid is applied. The difference in height of the fluid between the two arms of the U-shaped tube is the same as the maximum intermediate height of a siphon. When used to measure pressures other than atmospheric pressure, a siphon barometer is sometimes called a siphon gauge and not to be confused with a siphon rain gauge. Siphon pressure gauges are rarely used today.
Siphon bottle
Soda syphon
The soda syphon , also known as the seltzer bottle or syphon seltzer bottle is a device for dispensing carbonated or soda water....
or, archaically, a siphoid) is a pressurized bottle with a vent and a valve. Pressure within the bottle drives the liquid up and out a tube. It is a siphon in the sense that pressure drives the liquid through a tube. A special form was the gasogene
Gasogene
The gasogene was a late Victorian device for producing carbonated water.It consisted of two linked glass globes surrounded by a wicker or wire protective mesh because they tended to explode. The lower contained water or other drink to be made sparkling, the upper a mixture of tartaric acid and...
.
Siphon cup
A siphon cup is the (hanging) reservoir of paint attached to a spray gun. This is to distinguish it from gravity-fed reservoirs. An archaic use of the term is a cup of oil in which the oil is siphoned out of the cup via a cotton wick or tube to a surface to be lubricated.Siphon rain gauge
A siphon rain gauge is a rain gaugeRain gauge
A rain gauge is a type of instrument used by meteorologists and hydrologists to gather and measure the amount of liquid precipitation over a set period of time....
that can record rainfall over an extended period. A siphon is used to automatically empty the gauge. It is often simply called a "siphon gauge" and is not to be confused with a siphon pressure gauge.
Heron's siphon
Heron's siphon is a siphon that works on positive air pressure and at first glance appears to be a perpetual motionPerpetual motion
Perpetual motion describes hypothetical machines that operate or produce useful work indefinitely and, more generally, hypothetical machines that produce more work or energy than they consume, whether they might operate indefinitely or not....
machine. In a slightly differently configuration, it is also known as Heron's fountain
Heron's fountain
Heron's fountain is a hydraulic machine invented by the 1st century inventor, mathematician, and physicist Heron, also known as Hero of Alexandria....
.
Venturi siphon
A venturiVenturi effect
The Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows through a constricted section of pipe. The Venturi effect is named after Giovanni Battista Venturi , an Italian physicist.-Background:...
siphon, also known as an eductor, is essentially a venturi which is designed to greatly speed up the fluid flowing in a pipe such that an inlet port located at the throat of the venturi can be used to siphon another fluid. See pressure head
Pressure head
Pressure head is a term used in fluid mechanics to represent the internal energy of a fluid due to the pressure exerted on its container. It may also be called static pressure head or simply static head...
. The low pressure at the throat of the venturi is called a siphon when a second fluid is introduced, or an aspirator when the fluid is air.
Siphonic roof drainage
Siphonic roof drainage makes use of the siphoning principle to carry water horizontally from multiple roof drains to a single downpipe and to increase flow velocity. Air baffles at the roof drain inlets reduce the injection of air which causes embolisms in siphons. One benefit to this drainage technique is the reduction in required pipe diameter to drain a given roof surface area, up to half the size. Another benefit is the elimination of pipe pitch or gradient required for conventional roof drainage piping.Siphon spillway
A siphon spillwaySpillway
A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area, typically being the river that was dammed. In the UK they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways release floods so that the water does not overtop and damage or even destroy...
in a dam uses the siphon effect to increase the flow rate. A normal spillway flow is pressurized by the height of the reservoir above the spillway whereas a siphon flow rate is governed by the difference in height of the inlet and outlet. (See math section below.)
Sample building code regulations regarding back siphonage
From Ontario's building codeBuilding code
A building code, or building control, is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects such as buildings and nonbuilding structures. The main purpose of building codes are to protect public health, safety and general welfare as they relate to the...
:
- 7.6.2.3.Back Siphonage
- Every potable water system that supplies a fixture or tank that is not subject to pressures above atmospheric shall be protected against back-siphonage by a backflow preventerBackflow prevention deviceA backflow prevention assembly is used to protect water supplies from contamination or pollution.In water supply systems, water is normally maintained at a significant pressure to enable water to flow from the tap, shower etc...
. - Where a potable water supply is connected to a boiler, tank, cooling jacket, lawn sprinkler system or other device where a non-potable fluid may be under pressure that is above atmospheric or the water outlet may be submerged in the non-potable fluid, the water supply shall be protected against backflow by a backflow preventer.
- Where a hose bibb is installed outside a building, inside a garage, or where there is an identifiable risk of contamination, the potable water system shall be protected against backflow by a backflow preventer.
- Every potable water system that supplies a fixture or tank that is not subject to pressures above atmospheric shall be protected against back-siphonage by a backflow preventer
Self-siphons
The term self-siphon is used in a number of ways. Liquids that are composed of long polymers can "self-siphon" and these liquids do not depend on atmospheric pressure. Self-siphoning polymer liquids work the same as the siphon-chain model where the lower part of the chain pulls the rest of the chain up and over the crest. This phenomenon is also called a tubeless siphon."Self-siphon" is also often used in sales literature by siphon manufacturers to describe portable siphons that contain a pump. With the pump, no external suction (e.g. from a person's mouth/lungs) is required to start the siphon and thus the product is described as a "self-siphon".
If the upper reservoir is such that the liquid there can rise above the height of the siphon crest, the rising liquid in the reservoir can "self-prime" the siphon and the whole apparatus be described as a "self-siphon". Once primed, such a siphon will continue to operate until the level of the upper reservoir falls below the intake of the siphon. Such self-priming siphons are useful in some rain gauge
Rain gauge
A rain gauge is a type of instrument used by meteorologists and hydrologists to gather and measure the amount of liquid precipitation over a set period of time....
s and dams.
Capillary action
Capillary action
Capillary action, or capilarity, is the ability of a liquid to flow against gravity where liquid spontanously rise in a narrow space such as between the hair of a paint-brush, in a thin tube, or in porous material such as paper or in some non-porous material such as liquified carbon fiber, or in a...
can be used in self-priming siphons. In these, water soaks upwards (into a cotton-filled hose) and below the crest to begin the siphon gradually, and as weight is added to the down stream, this kind of siphon will speed up, but it will never be as fast as the same diameter of open hose.
Anatomy
The term "siphon" is used for a number of structures in human and animal anatomy, either because flowing liquids are involved or because the structure is shaped like a siphon, but in which no actual siphon effect is occurring: see Siphon (biology)Siphon (biology)
The term siphon is used for a number of biological structures, either because flowing liquids are involved, or because the object is shaped like a siphon...
.
Biologists debate whether the siphon mechanism plays a role in blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
circulation
Circulatory system
The circulatory system is an organ system that passes nutrients , gases, hormones, blood cells, etc...
. It is theorized that vein
Vein
In the circulatory system, veins are blood vessels that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated blood to the heart...
s form a continuous loop with arteries
Artery
Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart. This blood is normally oxygenated, exceptions made for the pulmonary and umbilical arteries....
such that blood flowing down veins help siphon blood up the arteries, especially in giraffes and snakes. Some have concluded that the siphon mechanism aids blood circulation in giraffes. Many others dispute this and experiments show no siphon effects in human circulation. Some cite negative pressure in the brain as supporting the role of the siphon effect in the brain.
Geology
In speleology, a siphon is that part of a cave passage that lies under water and through which cavers have to dive to progress along it.Explanation using Bernoulli's equation
Bernoulli's equation may be applied to a siphon to derive the flow rate and maximum height of the siphon.
- Let the surface of the upper reservoir be the reference elevation.
- Let point A be the start point of siphon, immersed within the higher reservoir and at a depth −d below the surface of the upper reservoir.
- Let point B be the intermediate high point on the siphon tube at height +hB above the surface of the upper reservoir.
- Let point C be the drain point of the siphon at height −hC below the surface of the upper reservoir.
Bernoulli's equation:
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-
= fluid velocityVelocityIn physics, velocity is speed in a given direction. Speed describes only how fast an object is moving, whereas velocity gives both the speed and direction of the object's motion. To have a constant velocity, an object must have a constant speed and motion in a constant direction. Constant ...
along the streamline -
= gravitational acceleration downwardsStandard gravityStandard gravity, or standard acceleration due to free fall, usually denoted by g0 or gn, is the nominal acceleration of an object in a vacuum near the surface of the Earth. It is defined as precisely , or about... -
= elevationElevationThe elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
in gravity field -
= pressurePressurePressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure.- Definition :...
along the streamline -
= fluid densityDensityThe mass density or density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ . In some cases , density is also defined as its weight per unit volume; although, this quantity is more properly called specific weight...
Apply Bernoulli's equation to the surface of the upper reservoir. The surface is technically falling as the upper reservoir is being drained. However, for this example we will assume the reservoir to be infinite and the velocity of the surface may be set to zero. Furthermore, the pressure at both the surface and the exit point C is atmospheric pressure. Thus:
(Equation 1.)Apply Bernoulli's equation to point A at the start of the siphon tube in the upper reservoir where P = PA, v = vA and y = −d
(Equation 2.)Apply Bernoulli's equation to point B at the intermediate high point of the siphon tube where P = PB, v = vB and y = hB
(Equation 3.)Apply Bernoulli's equation to point C where the siphon empties. Where v = vC and y = −hC. Furthermore, the pressure at the exit point is atmospheric pressure. Thus:
(Equation 4.)Velocity
As the siphon is a single system, the constant in all four equations is the same. Setting equations 1 and 4 equal to each other gives:
Solving for vC:
- Velocity of siphon:
The velocity of the siphon is thus driven solely by the height difference between the surface of the upper reservoir and the drain point. The height of the intermediate high point, hB, does not affect the velocity of the siphon. However, as the siphon is a single system, vB = vC and the intermediate high point does limit the maximum velocity. The drain point cannot be lowered indefinitely to increase the velocity. Equation 3 will limit the velocity to a positive pressure at the intermediate high point to prevent cavitation
Cavitation
Cavitation is the formation and then immediate implosion of cavities in a liquidi.e. small liquid-free zones that are the consequence of forces acting upon the liquid...
. The maximum velocity may be calculated by combining equations 1 and 3:
Setting PB = 0 and solving for vmax:
- Maximum velocity of siphon:
The depth, −d, of the initial entry point of the siphon in the upper reservoir, does not affect the velocity of the siphon. No limit to the depth of the siphon start point is implied by Equation 2 as pressure PA increases with depth d. Both these facts imply the operator of the siphon may bottom skim or top skim the upper reservoir without impacting the siphon's performance.
Note that this equation for the velocity is the same as that of any object falling height hC. Note also that this equation assumes PC is atmospheric pressure. If the end of the siphon is below the surface, the height to the end of the siphon cannot be used; rather the height difference between the reservoirs should be used.
Maximum height
Setting equations 1 and 3 equal to each other gives:
Maximum height of the intermediate high point occurs when it is so high that the pressure at the intermediate high point is zero; in typical scenarios this will cause the liquid to form bubbles and if the bubbles enlarge to fill the pipe then the siphon will 'break'. Setting PB = 0:
Solving for hB:
- General height of siphon:
This means that the height of the intermediate high point is limited by velocity of the siphon. Faster siphons result in lower heights. Height is maximized when the siphon is very slow and vB = 0:
- Maximum height of siphon:
This is the maximum height that a siphon will work. It is simply when the weight of the column of liquid to the intermediate high point equates to atmospheric pressure. Substituting values will give approximately 10 metres for water and 0.76 metres for mercury.
Vacuum siphons
Experiments have shown that siphons can operate in a vacuum, provided that the liquids are pure and degassed and surfaces are very clean.Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English DictionaryOxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
(OED) entry on siphon, published in 1911, states that a siphon works by atmospheric pressure
Atmospheric pressure
Atmospheric pressure is the force per unit area exerted into a surface by the weight of air above that surface in the atmosphere of Earth . In most circumstances atmospheric pressure is closely approximated by the hydrostatic pressure caused by the weight of air above the measurement point...
. Stephen Hughes of Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology is an Australian university with an applied emphasis in courses and research. Based in Brisbane, it has 40,000 students, including 6,000 international students, over 4,000 staff members, and an annual budget of more than A$750 million.QUT is marketed as "A...
criticised this in a 2010 article which was widely reported in the media. The OED editors stated, "there is continuing debate among scientists as to which view is correct. ... We would expect to reflect this debate in the fully updated entry for siphon, due to be published later this year." Dr. Hughes continued to defend his view of the siphon in a late September post at the Oxford blog. A set of experiments was recently published, seriously questioning Hughes's hypothesis.
See also
- Communicating vesselsCommunicating vesselsCommunicating vessels is a name given to a set of containers containing a homogeneous fluid: when the liquid settles, it balances out to the same level in all of the containers regardless of the shape and volume of the containers...
- 1992 explosion in Guadalajara1992 explosion in GuadalajaraThe 1992 Guadalajara explosions took place on April 22, 1992, in the downtown district of Analco. Numerous gasoline explosions in the sewer system over four hours destroyed 8 kilometers of streets. Gante Street was the most damaged. Officially, by the Lloyds of London accounting, 252 people were...
for details of an accident involving a siphon. - Gravity feedGravity feedGravity feed is the use of earth's gravity to move something from one place to another. It is a simple means of moving a liquid without the use of a pump. A common application is the supply of fuel to an internal combustion engine by placing the fuel tank above the engine, e.g. in motorcycles,...
External links
- The Straight Dope: How Does A Siphon work?
- Pnematics of Hero of Alexandria - Interesting Applications of Siphons