What is Air Lock?

A demonstration and brief explanation of air lock in fluid pipelines.
If you assume that gasses don’t get into pipes or that they can’t constrict the flow, you might design a pipeline that doesn’t work. Luckily for engineers, this is a well-known phenomenon in pipe systems. It’s just one of the complexities that come with the job and we’ve come up a with a lot of creative ways to overcome it.
Watch this video and the entire Practical Engineering catalog ad-free on Nebula: go.nebula.tv/practical-engine...
-Patreon: / practicalengineering
-Website: practical.engineering
Writing/Editing/Production: Grady Hillhouse
Director: Wesley Crump
Tonic and Energy by Elexive is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License
Source: • Elexive - Tonic and En...
This video is sponsored by HelloFresh.

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

Make sure you never miss a Practical Engineering video and keep up with all my other projects: practical.engineering/email-list

[@shadowcoder19]

My favorite channel on youtube. Keep up the good work!

[@paintedwings74]

I love your channel, thanks! Would you consider doing one on the impact of living things on infrastructure? Fungi can break concrete to push a mushroom up into the air; tree roots regularly buckle sidewalks; and even modern freeways can get grass growing in the seams between one concrete slab and another. When I was an aircraft refueler, we had to test our Jet-A and Avgas for bacterial contamination; and of course, the other lifeforms at the airport had interesting impacts as well. (I recall dodging a frog mating-migration as I drove the refueling truck to the tank farm, and of course, our airport was built on the flat expanse of a marsh, so; Birds.) As a polymath biologist, I'd really love to hear how engineers plan--or fail to plan--for the impacts of living things on modern structures.

[@iamdave84]

@@paintedwings74 I'd watch a video on that 🙂

[@rickdees251]

How does an air (release) valve work when the water is under pressure. If the water is under pressure so is the air and a simple weight will have to be more than the air psi. Are there springs involved?

[@dexter513]

Are you doing this because of the corona virus? was reports of people getting infected because of no traps in the plumbing in china.

[@fidjeenjanrjsnsfh]

Another form of air lock is very deadly. An air emboli is when a bubble of air manage to enter your blood vessels and can block it leading to that organ not able to get blood and can prove fatal indeed.

[@kittypewpew]

And you usually get one when putting a pipe in your body (a central venous catether)

[@SuperSiggiboy]

This is probably one of the reasons why they always squirt some fluid out of the needle before inserting when administering a vaccine

[@Flumphinator]

Which is exactly why I eat a bleed valve for breakfast every morning.

[@Yadobler]

you can also get this when you dive deep and then resurface too fast (or go on a plane too soon after diving), causing the nitrogen in the bloodstream to undissolve into a lump of air

[@Alpha2749]

The 'resurface too fast' you are referring to is called: decompression sickness (DCS) (also known as 'the bends' or Caisson disease). It can occur in SCUBA divers/ deep sea divers OR in High atitude/ aerospace events also, and it is when the dissolved gasses in your bloodstream come out of solution, leading to bubbles.

[@SuomiFinlandPerkelee]

This may be the only KZbin channel that answers the question brought up in the video title during the first few lines. No clickbait nonsense, no long-dragging filler talk just to make the video longer. Just simple, straightforward and straight to the point explanations. Keep up the good work!

[@mradhayuda1]

No fancy unnecesary animation

[@Zacharyswansonchannel]

Yeah. I watched hello fresh at the end because of that. As a thank you really.

[@manitoba-op4jx]

SuomiFinlandPerkelee suomi kyllä

[@iamme2739]

Air lock, air flow, where does it come from and where does it go?

[@sayujraphael]

@@mradhayuda1 you mean like Bright side?🤣

[@gufu21]

Grady: A civil engineer who frequently discusses the strengths and limits of materials within specific design parameters and expected uses. Also Grady at 8:47: scrapes a metal spoon around the inside of a teflon-coated pot.

[@popcornfilms1]

Made me wince

[@iainballas]

@@popcornfilms1 had nightmare flashbacks from the few of mom's pans I've destroyed. A whooping would be had in this house would one use a metal object on a teflon object.

[@hoobidibahbidibah8119]

He _did_ say he's an engineer and not a chef ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@elyetimx6045]

@@hoobidibahbidibah8119 Yeah, but that is just common sense. Teflon is softer than steel, so it will be scratched.

[@ItsIdaho]

I can still hear my mom scream "Dont SCRAPE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD"

[@woods-garage]

I have to say, I love how you deal with sponsors. I appreciate it so much that I often end up watching the full sponsor add at the end of the video. It is really irritating when you’re watching another channel, and mid sentence, a commercial interrupts what I was trying to learn about. In those cases, I completely ignore the commercial and focus on the timer counting down to when I can skip the commercial. Thanks again, and I love the content.

[@Patrick-jd6ny]

I agree, this is my favorite way of handling them. That said, I think he does it because many of his videos are used in school settings (I found him in college engineering class, haha.) I think it's less problematic to the teachers if the sponsor is optional at the back.

[@aux1661]

Those mid sentence ads are not controlled by the channel. Those are inserted by KZbin where ever they please. In the last month alone i have probably been shown Ram truck commercials about 300 times!

[@IrubyyI]

Airlock is so you dont get deeped on

[@Yoon_gibiased]

@@aux1661 I’m pretty their talking about the sponsor ads where the person/people making the video talk about it themselves. They stop talking and edit in the ad in the middle of the video it’s kinda annoying especially since most of them don’t even put a timer or say when the ad ends

[@Leandro-tb3xi]

You can use sponsorblock extension for chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Brave) on pc to automatically skip ads and annoying intros/outros or simply install vanced youtube then enable sponsorblock in the settings for android devices.

[@juanyeap]

This channel inspired me to become a student of Civil Engineering, never thought I'd be interested in sewage and drainage and other public infrastructure. Thanks dude!

[@advocatusdiaboli9351]

ooof, guess why he has a KZbin channel... there is no work for civil engineers. I remember I worked with a civil engineer in construction side by side as electrician.

[@ivankoh3779]

@@advocatusdiaboli9351 thanks for the anxiety i needed more in my life

[@MrRoboticeyes]

@@advocatusdiaboli9351 the reason why he has a youtube channel is because there are a lot of people that interested and apparently work as civil engineers as his viewers. the world's population keep growing every day, and people will need house and infrastructure to support their life. So yeah, there will still be lots of jobs for civil engineers.

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

This is just a side project. I have a full time job as a civil engineer.

[@RandomGuy-nm6bm]

Curse him in 3 years when you dropped out

[@jessephillips8628]

this was absolutely the most overlooked and frustrating yet easily avoidable problem that I dealt with when commissioning new wastewater facilities over the last decade. not only was this a problem in itself, but it effected system monitoring instruments and almost always set off alarms that indicated a different problem. I lost so many nights of sleep over "critical alarms" that amounted to "just air in the pipe"

[@Thinkle911]

Be happy, that it was only waste water! Nuclear power plants got affected by it, too. After a german one went a little bit to critical, a glas reactor in a german research facility was built to study steam bubbles travelling through pipes and driving the computer and control team mad with false meter readings.

[@cjwrench07]

I went through the same thing while working with firefighting equipment and the associated infrastructure.

[@jamesnorris5778]

I was recently hired as a Process Operator for what will eventually be a Polypropylene plant. Having no experience in the industry previously, it amazed me to see the amount of trapped air that exist in our large 24" cooling water lines (when we filled them up we opened vents on top). Vapor lock in general has been a difficult concept for me, and your video was the first to answer and demonstrate it visually in a way that is easy to understand. Thanks a bunch!

[@reid6302]

As a project manager for a mechanical contractor this concept is so important when flushing and filling any building’s piping system. Awesome video.

[@GreatNorthWeb]

the eyeballs are distracting i just want to watch the flow but the flow is watching me back

[@darioinfini]

That's Herr Loch keeping an eye out for trouble in the pipeline.

[@TheOtherSteel]

Monsters are watching from the pipes!

[@jaysea5939]

This and a Device Orchestra video were together in my recommended. Googly eyes taking over KZbin!

[@7636kei]

Going full Nietzsche, aren't you

[@NicholasLittlejohn]

420

[@TheOtherNeutrino]

Air Lock is Rayquaza's ability that negates the effects of weather.

[@nothankyouYouTube420]

Thank you , I knew I'd heard the term before , but also knew it had NOTHING to do with practical engineering

[@Colonel_Overkill]

Sadly IRL uses the no legendary ruleset.....

[@maindepth8830]

169 likes, cant like

[@AnshulGuptaAG]

"Oh what's that, Primal Groudon? You can evaporate Kyogre's water attacks? Cute."

[@Colonel_Overkill]

@@AnshulGuptaAG yea, rayquaza, groudon and kyogre are a trio and their primal forms all have a similar ability aligning to their types.

[@ProjectileGrommet]

God you are such a good writer. I’m a sophomore in biomedical engineering and your videos are such a fun buffer from my coursework to allow me to step back and appreciate the industry as a whole. I love your topics, but your scripts are just amazing. Keep it up!

[@karrr1573]

The avergae view-time-to-length-of-video ratio on Practical Engineering must be through the roof. All videos are so concise and engaging.

[@dylanhatch1004]

I’m graduating with a civil engineering degree in May! With an emphasis in water resource. I’m going to work at a firm that specializes in large scale irrigation systems, continuous acting air vents are a necessity in these large diameter pipelines! I love seeing the backyard experiments to better visualize what’s happening in the pipe. Love the videos thanks for all you do!!

[@biggreenblob]

I work in wastewater treatment, and airlock is one of the more vexxing problems we have to deal with. It is unbelievablely frustrating to tear down and rebuild a large pump only to find that it still is not pumping enough, or not at all, then realize the air relief valve is simply plugged.

[@jimschofield8734]

...That sounds unbelievably disgusting also... You sanitation folk are true heroes, dealing with THAT so the rest of us don't all get cholera... Bless you for your service!!

[@markfryer9880]

Everyone should take the opportunity to visit their cities waste water treatment plant to learn about its operations. You also get to learn about all the stupid crap people put down the loo. Some people just don't deserve to have access to a proper sanitation system. They should have to learn the hard way to value and protect it.

[@ulogy]

Dude, I want Grady to do an entire episode on how lift stations function. And how they break down.

[@louf7178]

@@ulogy They grind and pump ( w/ high and low limit switches).

[@louf7178]

Is it really that much of an impedance? I may be oversimplifying, but I can't see flowing through air pockets as that bad, in reality??

[@cynic5581]

As a boiler tech I “knew” all this stuff but the clear tube visualization really helps put knowledge to practice. Thanks!

[@Abdul-Y]

Thanks a lot, i’m a med student and i found your videos really helpful for understanding some topics that have engineering aspects. such as water hammer effect in conditions of hyperdynamic circulation e.g. anemia and aortic regurgitation, and how an air embolus forms a vapor lock. Thanks again sir for producing awesome scientific content.

[@Coastfog]

You're one of the channels I'm most excited about when they release something new, maybe because you don't release new content that often. But boy do I know I'm in for a few minutes of some of the best content on KZbin...

[@MjkL1337]

yeah even though this channel has grown a lot, it feels underrated to me

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

Thanks that’s really kind!

[@dzim]

As someone who works as a engineer at an valve manufacturer who makes air valves, I really appreciate this video. I can now share this video to help explain to people why someone would even need something my company makes.

[@kingspartacus2407]

Grady does an excellent job explaining and answering the questions brought up. He makes me feel like I am also an engineer because I understand what he says when. But of course it’s because of how intelligent he is that makes it sound easy and simply. I enjoy these videos.

[@thothtahuti5509]

I never took engineering at or after leaving school. However you and a few other channels have truly opened up a passion in these ways of thinking about/solving life's problems and I just wanted to say thank you for unlocking another interest from within me ::)

[@LiLi-or2gm]

Ah, the dreaded vapor lock that can occur on normally aspirated IC engines! I had an older Toyota Corolla that would get vapor locked in hot weather. The problem was eventually traced to the fuel line where the previous owner had replaced a section it. They had routed it too close to the exhaust manifold and in hot weather, fuel would be vaporised in the line and block the flow of liquid gas to the carburetor.

[@yyiii276]

Naturally aspirated not normally aspirated. Anyway...good that you figured out the issue. Vapor lock can drive people crazy and make unnecessary repairs when the simple thing is the real culprit!

[@LiLi-or2gm]

@@yyiii276 Thanks for the mancheck. _A naturally aspirated engine, sometimes known as a normally aspirated engine_ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturally_aspirated_engine

[@salvatoreshiggerino6810]

Why would a naturally aspirated engine be more or less susceptible to vapour lock than one with forced induction?

[@bradarmstrong3952]

@@salvatoreshiggerino6810 It's not about naturally aspirated vs. forced induction, rather it is about carbureted vs. fuel injected. The OP clearly misspoke about this. The latter runs at higher pressure (much higher for diesel) so harder to vaporize the fuel accidentally as long as a leak is not the cause.

[@salvatoreshiggerino6810]

@@bradarmstrong3952 Probably not even that. I'd say the determining factor would be whether you have an auxiliary fuel pump to keep the fuel lines at an adequate pressure, and whether your fuel system has a lot of high spots that trap the vapour. There's nothing inherent about an injection system that protects against vapour lock. Some fuel injected aircraft engines are notoriously hard to hot start because of vapour lock.

[@The.Talent]

Back when you first did the “what’s that infrastructure” series I sent you a photo of a 5 meter vertical pipe that comes directly out of the ground in my local park. Our suburb was once a swamp and I assumed that there was probably some gasses that somehow needed to vent from somewhere underground, but now I think I would probably guess it was one of these airlock valves. And I think I remember seeing sewage department signs near by to this pipe so I guess methane and other nasties could contribute to this airlock problem. One weird thing though: why the height? The suburb was fairly flat and this was probably already at about the highest spot in the area, so maybe just to prevent tampering, or to allow nasty smells to dissipate before they fall to pedestrians nose height or something like that.

[@DaAsianJuan]

This should be on top

[@majorfallacy5926]

If it's a pipe going 5 metres in the air it's safe to assume it didn't transport air, or at least not normal smelling air. Usually sewage lines and the like follow streets, so that's probably not it either. However, depending on where you live, a possible explanation would be an old bunker. They are sometimes located underneath parks and need ventilation. The height doesn't make a lot of sense in that case though, unless they were storing hazardous stuff.

[@The.Talent]

Major Fallacy highly unlikely to be a bunker, and actually it was right near a road. You can see it on google street view. There is a wooden pole in front of the pvc pipe in this though so it’s kind of hidden. goo.gl/maps/QxeSZfc2qLpUfotU9

[@theuncalledfor]

It's probably raised to reduce the pressure of the liquid at the valve, to prevent liquid from breaking through the release valve. Automatic valves aren't perfect and too much pressure might result in liquid following the released gas, or straight up leaking through the closed valve. That, or it's a release pipe without a valve that goes all the way up to, and above, the hydraulic grade line, effectively using the grade line as a valve. Air gets out, liquid does not.

[@Tonatsi]

@@The.Talent I took a look around and if you look closely, you'll notice a few manhole covers that would indicate a pipe-line traveling near it (one by the small tree garden, and one close to the fence) so it is possible that it is a airlock release valve. Also, is that a faucet next to the decommisioned lamp post? Edit: I took a look from the other end of the stree so I could see the shape of the pipe, and it does look like there is a valve in the middle of it. There also might be some underground infrastructure in the area and it needs ventilation.

[@ItsSpeltChayce]

More teachers should show your videos in class for related topics. I’m positive people would be more motivated to learn thanks to good quality content like yours.

[@davidkelley9509]

I love how straightforward engineers are. Makes for very good and informative videos.

[@Asdayasman]

Grady: "Air gets trapped where it's not supposed to all the time." Me: "hhhehehe" Grady: "hhhehehe" Me: :o

[@jensonwilliams9404]

Tazerfish hahah don't think your being serious but saafe my g

[@BenMitro]

very good - can i suggest the problem occurs when such entrapped air is released?

[@zvpunry1971]

Actually it is only a problem as long as the air is trapped. The release can become a social problem only if others are able to notice and localize the source of the released air and are offended by it. In some circumstances it can be a source of fun. This goes so far that people even invented devices like the Whoopee Cushion.

[@Fraggr92]

@@jensonwilliams9404 By order of the Jarl, stop right there!

[@milanstevic8424]

@@Fraggr92 I would, but see, I have this air in my knee

[@zhubajie6940]

Sufficient pump head and flow is especially important in U-tube (not KZbin) heat exchangers. These are commonly found in nuclear power plant steam generators and even in some electrical generator coolers and various process boilers. You can't put a bleed valve on every tube so you always have to evaluate how much head you need to drive non-condensable vapors from the tubing.

[@Deacetis1991]

Is it a sealed exchanger? Sealed cooling system? Or more like a pump and dump?

[@revimfadli4666]

Curious, what makes them have to be vertical and not horizontal?

[@luitzm.1280]

I am a medical student, yet this videos are fascinating. I could had died without knowing whatwas an airlock, without having a change in my life, yet the complexity of this simple, yet invisible problems for anyone that is not directly involved in the engineering field, and how ingenious we are to overcome this problems is fascinating. Thanks!

[@LaenPvP]

Thank you for making all of the content that you create. It's opened my eyes to the world around me quite a bit more and I feel empowered to continue to learn how everything works, even if I will never achieve that goal I will continue with that mindset!

[@-.._.-_...-_.._-..__..._.-.-.-]

This is the most interesting video I've watched in a while. I loved the opening, about our assumptions and simplifications. I never thought about air acting as a kink in the line, and I very much appreciate being able to see it in action through the transparent pipes.

[@skuzzyj]

I've dealt with this on a project I worked on where we were bypassing a city's main water treatment facility. Obviously getting the water from the river wasn't an issue as we had submersibles feeding a set of high-head power units but the end point of the very long pipe run had to go over a 25' high wall to feed fresh water into their system. Basically looked like the trap under your sink but upside down. Because of this, when we first fired up the system, it was deadheading hard until we figured out that we needed to place air vents/valves at a couple places along the run. I think it took like 3 or four vents per discharge pipe along the path to get it to actually work as intended. If course we did the whole project in winter. Which meant we were sliding around in mud for several months. Fun times.

[@CarltonS]

This analysis is exactly right, but in my experience designing pipelines, it was not commonly understood by other engineers. I figured it out myself and used it in designing several pressure pipes (force mains) carrying sewage, and in many cases these had high points where gas from the sewage could accumulate. The problem there was that (1) a gas release valve at the high point could quickly become fouled with scum from the sewage, and (2) these high points were often in locations that were not practical to access for maintenance. So, I often designed the pumps to discharge against the added pressure created by air in descending legs of the pipe (referred to here as "waterfalls"). That required more electrical energy for pumping, but worked reliably with little maintenance, which is an example of trade-offs that are inherent in good engineering design.

[@nazariiroudyk8660]

As a plumber it's nice to know there are engineers out there who care

[@CarltonS]

@@nazariiroudyk8660 And I always enjoyed learning about the "nuts and bolts" aspects of piping systems that COMPETENT plumbers understood better than I did. Everybody benefits when competent professionals act as teams with the common goal of making things work at reasonable prices.

[@cindystrachan8566]

My Dad would have loved your videos, if KZbin had been around while he was. He was a mechanical engineer for Ford specializing in heating and cooling systems. A brilliant man who had a gift for explaining complex systems in a simple and accessible way, just like you. Thank you.

[@nloughner2015]

It's entertaining to me the differences and similarities in our industries. I do mechanical and plumbing design for buildings and we always go the way of sizing the pumps larger, even for some rather big runs of piping. We do try and remove the air for open loop water systems but those are rather easily naturally vented. And the principles of flow with sir present are accounted for with drainage piping in building codes by having them oversized. I work with civil engineers and it seems somtimes we use different principles to handle the same problems before and after the pipes leave the building

[@siradmiralbanana]

I'm graduating in May with a Civil Engineering degree and I truly believe your videos will help me be a better engineer. If anything, it's good I'm being exposed to concepts I otherwise wouldn't have been taught, but your demonstrations are ALWAYS super clear and on-point.

[@ody9931]

Great info and love the clear pipes for the visual. I've been in the fire suppression industry for a long time and have had some fancy titles yet I ALWAYS learn something when watching your vids on piping. Very well done sir, thank you

[@leemontgomery7914]

Really good job. When studying for the PE (Thermal Fluids), I never got the gradient line concept but your explanation was so clear.

[@ianbottom7396]

Another big problem you should mention is that of corrosion. Air or vapour locks in pipework can readily create an interface environment where the contents become corrosive where the pipe would be otherwise unharmed by being full of the same product. This can be a common and expensive problem where the products are acid, correctly selected grades of stainless are very resistant to strong acids but in the vapour space there is more likely to be a weak, humid acidic atmosphere which will damage the surface far more readily than the strong acid itself.

[@kraps2312]

The liquid in a pipe can also boil depending on many factors, heat being one of them. Many that drive or have driven older cars know about 'vapor lock'

[@chuckquinn8026]

kraps2312 that issue basically went away when gasoline vapor pressure was lowered for warm summer season, then raised back up for winter operation for easier starting

[@justinjacob7330]

@@chuckquinn8026 I've got some pickups that still vapor lock when it get to be over 90 outside

[@eideticex]

Modern cars see it in the brake and coolant systems. Any time you expose your brake lines to air, you have to get the air out of there, usually with a manual bleeder valve located at strategic places like the end points (calipers/drums) and certain valves that are obvious potential reservoirs for air. Modern coolant setups generally use a loop around the top of the engine with two or more manual bleeder valves, even when you put a strong vacuum pump and cycle the fluid itself back into the reservoir, you still get little pockets of air inside the engine block. I'm sure many of us have seen mechanics bouncing the front of the car while bleeding out air, it's to knock those air bubbles loose even though it's not as effective as simply driving down a bumpy road.

[@louf7178]

@@chuckquinn8026 That is such a thing?

[@chuckquinn8026]

Justin Jacob where do you live?

[@ramanshah7627]

Great video. I learned this quite viscerally in the first winter in my home. In fixing my hydronic heating system, the 2nd floor zone ended up as one big air lock bubble with no bleed valves upstairs. I had to do some plumbing to add a valve to effectively flush out the bubble!

[@Liam1694u]

Love your teaching technique. You explained this concept better in 10 minutes than I ever got in 6 years of undergrad and graduate school.

[@user-px1wj2uv3r]

I love these uncommon problems. I watch a lot of science/engineering type videos and your channel always surprises me with something I'd never considered. Thanks!

[@Anklejbiter]

7:26 I recognise this system! In reverse, it's also what lets a toilet know when to stop filling a tank - when the water level gets high enough, the float stops a valve which means no more water.

[@JefferyWilliamsblurp]

I was having this problem last night with my home plumbing. Having watched your video, I understood the problem and was able to take actions to correct it myself. Thanks for the great video!

[@davetourle4250]

Not only did I learn from this video, I also enjoyed the way it was explained and presented. Enjoyed it, thanks.

[@jjsjeffjjsjeff]

I worked on a project where they installed an air relief valve as demonstrated @ 7:05 on a large sump pump line for a building to get rid of waste water from a process. The valve apparently stuck open and it was raining in the room until they could get the disconnect turned off for the sump pump motor. Glad I was in a different part of the building that day.

[@TheComedyButchers]

“Engineering nearly always involves assumptions and simplifications” My immediate thought: Pi=3=e

[@frankieandrews9431]

3.1 and 2.7 are basically the same

[@louf7178]

LOL. Where do you use e?

[@JasperJanssen]

Lou Fazio e to the pi i.

[@louf7178]

@@JasperJanssen Euler's identity in construction level engineering? If so, that is absurdly crude.

[@JasperJanssen]

Lou Fazio e is off by 10 percent, pi by 5. Not even close to crude.

[@shyam218]

This thing I learnt in my engineering really helped me out. Our old building never had air release value and in summer water used to be irregular which means water is drained. So I just opened all taps if water drained in OH tank

[@Rottypops]

Practical Engineering : "Don't do it, don't do it..." Brain : "Put googly eyes on it"

[@PatrickSinder]

lol

[@hoobidibahbidibah8119]

Googly eyes should become a standard necessity on any civil engineering project honestly. Practical? No. Necessary? Perhaps... Entertaining? Heck yeah!

[@EdwardNavu]

Extra advantage: The googly eyes can tell if it is exerted with substantial force in horizontal direction

[@user-hu2iw5qu3i]

Another way of having "air lock" is when there are different metals involved or different electric potentials on both ends of a pipe. Dissociation of the water mollecule to hydrogen and oxygen is common in these conditions. Exploding "air" from the bleeder is deffinitely interesting!

[@adamiotime]

Hey Grady, could you do a video about how giant industrial chemical processing plants work? Whenever I pass by a huge industrial complex or a gas refinery, I'm always blown away by the huge complexity of the infrastructure. The massive web of piping literally overwhelms me and I can't even begin to conceive how people manage to design such things! 😊

[@the_retag]

Each one works differently, and may need its own series of videos to even remotely explain properly

[@Milesco]

@ Adam: While I share your interest and awe in such complex systems, they would be far too complex to really discuss (in anything other than the most superficial way) in a KZbin video. :-( They're cool to look at, though. :-D

[@jpmonin7429]

Teams and teams of people.

[@samuelswanepoel7926]

This information is not freely available as most of the processes has copy rights and is the intellectual property of the process engineer involved. But it is mainly the heating and cooling of a product at different stages during the manufacturing process. Mostly a huge upscaling of a product developed in a laboratory.

[@sudoscience5084]

The Chemicals Safety Board has a KZbin channel where they explain accidents and incidents at refineries and other chemical plants; they also explain to some extent what those facilies do when they’re not like on fire

[@jakedean22]

I work in the valve industry and would love to see more of these types of videos, keep it up!

[@HariKrishnaDara]

Wow, the clarity of the content and the comprehensive coverage of the subject is amazing. Subscribed!

[@GruesomeJeans]

Another form of Vaporlock I've experienced is in automotive applications. The heat from the engine vaporizes the fuel in the fuel line creating an Air Lock and either preventing the vehicle from starting or causing it to have a tough time starting. Most of this is experienced with carbureted vehicles that use an engine mounted fuel pump. Those normally only use a small amount of PSI so it isn't able to overcome the air lock.

[@moofy69]

happens in diesels too when the fuel gets hot because their fuel pumps are mostly sucking fuel up the hoses so its harder to clear than a pump that pushes. so youll find most diesels have fuel coolers to stop that happening

[@feynthefallen]

Let's have a moment of silence in remembrance of all the legions of luckless engineers who found out those well-known facts the hard way so we can make succeeding look easy.

[@h-leath6339]

Your unabashed enthusiasm for engineering makes watching all your videos sooo much fun. Your models bring me back to childhood. You should be running a learning museum like the Exploratorium used to be! Thank you. Also, I feel like there should be a wall of science built where you connect all your hydrodynamic tube example systems together and it just gets a continuous feed of water (the steam generation part might be tricky but that can be worked out later) and it shows all the systems and problems at once!

[@rx1834]

Brilliant explanation and demonstration. Seeing the phenomenon in action makes all the difference in understanding things intuitively.

[@honich-eriker]

5:45 - What a coincidence: A few days ago, I removed an unwanted U-bend of my washing machine’s drain hose that often lead to suds locks during spinning laundry. And now the reason for that phenomenon - reduced water flow due to air lock - is given in this video! ;-)

[@hunterschulte9225]

Once I land a job after graduation, Practical Engineering is the first channel I'm supporting through Patreon. Thank you for all your hard work!

[@najinkunnath6009]

I have been after this topic for a long time unable to understand the depth of problem associated with it. Now I can really see it with my naked eye. Thanks a lot for the video...!!!!

[@roberthodge7802]

You just made a set up for a video on cavitation corrosion from air and rough flow areas. Excellent content and format. Thanks!

[@sasha022]

I remember living in a 1960-s Soviet mass-production 5-floor house. Living on the top floor, every time when central heating season started, we had to bleed our radiators using manual valves.

[@millwrightrick1]

Every steam system has that. You also need valves that let air in when the steam is shut off to break the vacuum. This is very simple to automate.

[@sasha022]

@@millwrightrick1 to be frank it wasn't steam. Almost all central heating systems in Russia use liquid water.

[@tedlahm5740]

Alexander Gaukin Gas fired boilers?

[@sasha022]

@@tedlahm5740 it was natural gas as a fuel for heating station, yes.

[@kovona]

Air and vapour locks can also affect fuel delivery in vehicles, especially with fuel like gasoline where its own vapours can lock up a line. In the German V2 rocket program, air or vapour lock interrupting or blocking fuel flow in their prototype liquid engines resulted in many catastrophic and explosive failures up until it was addressed.

[@pinkdispatcher]

Thanks, that was so enlightening. I heard about "vapour lock" in carbureted engines caused by using fuel with a too high vapour pressure (such as using automotive gasoline in aircraft engines at higher altitudes), but never understood exactly what it means. This answered a lot of my questions.

[@mannymorales1407]

I work in the Well and Water Treatment business we get this sometimes when rebedding and changing filters, air locks restrict pressure to the house and is a pain to get the air out, very interesting and helpful video

[@justinpyle3415]

Bro, the eyes on your translucent tube setup are super cool. Also, this is another fantastic video

[@tukriko]

Nice vid! Im in the HVAC industry, but recap never hurts 👍 Side note: some fluids tend to clog up automatic air vents so closing valve before it is handy for maintenance

[@danneedsabeer]

As an industrial mechanic, I love your channel and end up watching your content into the wee hours of the night, thank you Grady

[@Scharpy1]

That explains why I had to make sure my vinyl tubing water level had to have NO trapped air. Thank you for your great videos Practical Engineering!

[@rasput1n6]

*I love how you're teaching me things i didn't even know they were a problem until you said it xD*

[@Watchyn_Yarwood]

I always look forward to your videos. You always have an interesting topic and present it in such a way as to be understandable by even us simple minded ones! Thank you!

[@dsc0273]

I'm a maintenance fitter on a 200 km water pipeline with over 450 air valves and this explains beautifully what happens inside. I wish I was shown this when I was an apprentice.

[@shilimkarnv1]

Very good explanation, Thank you for such informative video.

[@JoshBate]

Hi Grady! I love your videos and have a new video suggestion; Drain vents! I would love to understand why drain vents are required in different circumstances and how they work/help with fluid flow in drain pipes! I am sure that you are up for the challenge, and will make a great video to help people to understand :) Keep up the good work!

[@thomaskilloy2534]

I would like to see the airlock at 5:42 in a physical model. My understanding is that flow would not stop permanently but only long enough for the trapped air to return to the local highest point in the pipe. I feel clarifying would be nice because I feel the video makes it seem like the flow will stop and not restart and I do not expect this to be the case.

[@thomaskilloy2534]

@PracticalEngineeringChannel thanks in advance if you take the time to reply!

[@PBlueturtle]

This is my first video of yours that I watched and I love your format and the explanation for this particular subject was easy to follow and spot on! Subscribed! Thanks and I look forward to more content from you!

[@codywichman213]

That visualization with the pipes and colored fluid was super helpful in understanding why air gets trapped in automotive cooling systems

[@danhealy2027]

He always looks like he's just about to burst out laughing. It's contagious

[@dickrichard626]

He always looks like my foreskin.

[@skitzochik]

omg i noticed this too

[@shouzhengtang2692]

Engineer of practical humor

[@pleappleappleap]

That's called "joy".

[@RobTzu]

I work in a coal power plant. Just last night I had to clear a vapor locked line that goes into the boiler. The pressure of those lines is 2500psi. Burping those lines is always stressful. Hope the packing holds on the block valves. I am going to show this video to the guys at work.

[@rajanvarghese2352]

We do know the tremendous risks involved with boilers, etc. Always take safety precautions, and I guess there's a back up system in place considering the pressures involved. Stay safe....

[@reallyWyrd]

At the Blue River Wastewater Treatment Plant, we definitely had centrifugal pumps that would get air locked sometimes. I think we mostly dealt with it with bleedoff valves.

[@bishop5470]

testing and balancing apprentice here, these videos are very useful for explaining phenomena that is seen in the field, you the man.

[@MichaelRoach73]

Who gives an awesome video like this a thumbs down? 🤔 Thanks so much for sharing. Your videos are so much fun and educational!

[@DJl3iohazord]

“I’m an engineer not a chef” That sounds like a line from a movie.

[@ZyxwvuTJ]

Reminds me of Bones from Star Trek...

[@HolahkuTaigiTWFormosanDiplomat]

：０

[@Spacekriek]

I couldn't help but to think of one of Steven Seagal's lines, "nobody beats me in the kitchen".

[@drstrangejove637]

@@ZyxwvuTJ Dammit Jim!

[@jek__]

I'm a gardener, not a necromancer!

[@heavymetalredneck7973]

Im a mechanic (auto) and its amazing to me that most people don't realize that air needs to be manually released from an engines cooling system almost every time it is serviced ( flushed radiators, change thermostats, hoses etc) in order to remove air pockets, some vehicles have to be jacked up on one side or the other in order for the air pocket to escape but most have bleeder valves built into the system. This problem didn't really come about until the late 80s when everything was made more compact under the hood causing the cylinder heads to be higher than the vehicles radiator. Thanks for the video's and keep up the good work! Its never too late for old guys like me to learn how things work 😁

[@midnightkitty8172]

Thank you for showing us this. I heard about 'vapour lock' before but didn't know what it was until now.

[@joshh6104]

1:40 Is that Dr. B?! Gotta love that HEB!

[@Mounz4]

So interresting ! It helped me understand why i had low flow in my water pipe lines in Satisfactory :)

[@Aaron.Reichert]

I use a siphon to do aquarium water changes and this is something I have dealt with but never really thought about that much. I could always work the bubbles out manually but never thought about how this impacts larger scale stuff.

[@nothingmuch2023]

I love your channel, and I am also really concerned with your teflon pan. I mean, you could believe a company like DuPont if you want, but I've chosen to throw those tetrafluoride horrors out. People used to laugh at those who believed that cigarettes were carcinogens, too. 'Nuff said. Keep up the good work on the videos (love'm!), and stay safe!

[@MaxG-fr]

Just when I was out of youtube video in my subscription list to watch during my lunch, perfect timing Practical Engineering !

[@epck]

Nice wow button

[@say_goodnight7342]

Im a plumber, and I know a lot of us like to talk bad about engineers, but quite a few of your videos on water and plumbing are so very useful. I didnt even know about a trompe, and using some of your videos I was able to explain to my apprentices why we have to do things the way we do even though code might not demand it.

[@bruceackman4526]

I’ve sold plumbing supplies all my life. I love hydronics. Ya gotta learn to deal with air in your boiler piping.

[@jamesedwards6269]

As a sales engineer for a pump company, I can attest that the information you have put in your video is accurate to my experience in the field daily when bypassing municipal sewers or transferring water from one location another. Also as Hello Fresh user I can say that the Bimbop hello fresh is my favorite with the juicy Lucy burgers as a close second.

[@SkiDooRydr]

I live that your wife helps you with the Sponsor ads lol

[@Norsilca]

That part is so adorable

[@dougsundseth2303]

Can you just use an open stand pipe with the top above the hydraulic grade line? (I mean assuming that you don' t mind venting the vapors involved, of course.)

[@torque395]

Love your videos! I want to add that air locks are common all over the place in all kinds of things, and can be a real pain to eliminate. I'm having a hard time getting the air out of the cooling system of my car (which is just one reason why I found and watched this video) and the result is poor heat due to the heater core being half full of air, instead of hot coolant. Just another example of why air locks are a problem, and why they are a bigger deal than what it may seem like it would be. Air in a hose or pipe can also result in pump cavitation, which can cause noise, vibration, and damage.

[@Science_Technology23]

Very useful man. I saw some man use a plastic bottle to lock the air behind the valve. and you can see it works very well. Water completly full of the tube . Make water flow very strong.

[@alanclark8342]

Liking for the googly eyes (and the well explained educational video)

[@Haxters]

An airlock is where you have 2 or more doors that need to be opened to enter your base

[@carultch]

That two, but that is a different kind of airlock.

[@danwilliams4877]

That's a great phrase "...perusing the constructed environment." I reckon if that's something you do....then this channel is for you. Thanks for another useful video.

[@piscis12]

Wow, very good information, thank you for your time to create the the pipe line to explain it and make it easy to understand the process.