ASCE has honored Qingzhi Hou, Shunda Li, Arris S. Tijsseling, and Janek Laanearu with the 2021 J.C. Stevens Award for their discussion of “Rigid Water Column Model for Simulating the Emptying Process in a Pipeline Using Pressurized Air,” in the Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, March 2020.
The discussers start their work by challenging the conclusions presented in the original paper. They then introduce a theoretical model that allows for predictions in close agreement with the data the original paper provided, but without questionable tuning of coefficients. The discussion solidly speaks to the discrepancies in the assumptions of the original model, and to the impact of those questionable assumptions on results. Finally, they show that important deviations from the data arise when correct parameters are used on the main variables of the problem. The flow addressed in the discussion is a very important one with implications in many practical situations.
The J.C. Stevens Award recognizes excellence in a paper published by the Society. The paper is in the field of hydraulics, including fluid mechanics and hydrology.
