Safely convey water or sewage while protecting infrastructure from damage, vibration, odor and noise.
Hydro-Brake® Drop is a compact, self-activating conveyance and flow control system that dissipates the energy of dropping water, enabling engineers to convey clean or foul water from great heights while preventing the damage and nuisance effects associated with falling fluids.
Using vortex technology to minimize erosion, corrosion, noise and odor, only Hydro-Brake® Drop benefits from over thirty years of Hydro-Brake® flow control and water management expertise.
Hydro-Brake® Drop is a self-activating conveyance and flow control system that enables engineers to safely convey water or sewage from height while protecting infrastructure from damage, vibration, odor and noise.
Using the same advanced vortex technology that enables the Hydro-Brake® Optimum to deliver precision flow control, Hydro-Brake® Drop's vortex technology dissipates the energy of dropping water, enabling customers to drop water from heights of up to 330 ft while preventing the damage and nuisance effects that conveying water from these heights would otherwise cause when using a conventional solution such as a drop manhole or equivalent drop shaft structure.
You can watch a brief video that demonstrates the Hydro-Brake® Drop here. Download the Hydro-Brake® Drop brochure here.
With Hydro-Brake® Drop flows of up to 10,500 cu ft / min can be transferred safely through drop heights of up to 330 ft. The use of multiple pipes can accommodate even higher flow rates.
Hydro-Brake® Drop has been designed using the latest computational fluid dynamics to minimize erosion and other kinetic damage to expensive or important structures. Rigorous real-world testing has confirmed that the destructive forces associated with cavitation and water hammer have been eliminated.
Hydro-Brake® Drop incorporates a specially designed air switch that draws air through the pipe continuously as water flows through the system. This entrains air in the water, oxidizing odorous gases such as hydrogen sulfide and preventing the release of noxious gases that could otherwise cause odor and corrosion problems.
Hydro-Brake® Drop is a self-activating conveyance and flow control system with no moving parts and no requirement to keep an air core within the drop pipes, so it can be installed easily and cheaply either as part of a new construction project or as a retrofit to an existing system. Its integrated access and small pipe sizes minimize excavation costs, shaft diameters and the need for a separate access shaft. The system also benefits from a compact and simple-to-construct inlet chamber with no complicated curves or benching required.
At low flow water passes through the inlet pipe and drops as a film, maintaining contact with the inside surface of the Drop Pipe. This results in the formation of a central air core through the pipe. Water then enters the top of the Energy Dissipation Unit and exits the system through the sides into the bottom of the drop chamber. A weir at the bottom of the chamber creates a stilling area to absorb the release of energy from the water exiting the Energy Dissipation Unit - this ensures a smooth operation with minimal turbulence.
At increased flows, the water level in the inlet chamber submerges the inlet pipe. At this stage, air is fed in via the Air Switch, maintaining the stability of the air core and a smooth flow regime.
If the flow rate continues to increase then the water in the upstream inlet chamber rises until it reaches the Air Switch, whereupon the system begins to enter the transition to Pipe Full mode. At this stage any increase in flow has a much lower impact on the upstream water level due to the high flow capacity. The Air Switch is designed to smoothly and efficiently regulate the transition phase, eliminating any 'glugging' or vibrations, until Pipe Full mode is reached completely and there is no more air flow through the system.
During Air Entrainment mode air is carried down the shaft and released in the outlet chamber to ensure that damaging water hammer cannot occur. During Pipe Full mode no air is carried and therefore the drop pipe can operate at full capacity, pulling water from the inlet chamber until once again air is introduced.
Maximum flow: 10,500 cu ft / min (in a single unit)
Maximum drop height: 330 ft
The system is constructed from stainless steel. The inlet bend, reducer and Energy Dissipation Unit are additionally treated with a protective coating to protect against wear.
Controls the amount of air entering into the falling flow from the Drop Pipe, eliminating 'glugging' and therefore the damaging effects of water hammer or hydraulic shock.
Safely transitions the flow into the vertical section of the pipe. A taper may be required depending on site circumstances.
A full-depth chamber housing the Drop Pipe, a control weir, maintenance access and the Outlet Structure.
Developed using the latest vortex flow control techniques, this component is designed to disperse the energy created by the falling water, in addition to effectively preventing erosion and controlling the onward flow.
Manage low, moderate and high flows to deliver low-impact drainage from single sites to large networks.
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