The influence of different offset modes on the drainage characteristics of a double stack drainage system in a high-rise building

To meet the functional requirements of high-rise buildings, drainage stacks usually employ an offset pipe in the structural transfer floor. At the offset point, the flow direction changes and the air pressure fluctuates, which significantly influences the drainage system capacity and water seal effectiveness. Different offset modes have different degrees of influence on drainage characteristics. To better understand the influence of different offset modes on drainage characteristics, five different test conditions in double stack building drainage systems were established and investigated. DS1 was a standard double-stack drainage system with anti-reflux H-tube joints for every two floor levels. The remaining four systems were developed from DS1 by adopting various offset pipes (or pipe joints) on the fourth floor. DS2 adopted an S-shape offset pipe joint at the offset point. DS3 adopted double S-shape offset pipe joints. DS4 adopted a 1.0-m-long horizontal offset pipe. DS5 adopted a 1.5-m-long horizontal offset pipe. The pressure fluctuations and water seal losses were chosen as the experimental parameters to determine the maximum discharge capacity according to the Standard for Capacity Test of Vertical Pipe of the Domestic Residential Drainage System CJJ/T 245. The experimental results demonstrated that the installation of offset pipes (or pipe joints) contributed to the abrupt positive pressure and severe water seal losses at the position where flow direction shifted. As the length of the offset pipe increased, the positive pressure was more severe, and maximum discharge capacity was minor. The relationships among the maximum discharge rate, pressure fluctuation limits, and water seal losses are discussed. Lastly, a nondimensional analysis was adopted to understand the relationship between water seal losses and pressure limit values under different discharge rates for current test facilities. Practical application: Pipe offset has the potential to influence a drainage system discharge capacity. As the length of the horizontal offset pipe increases, the discharge capacity will decrease. In the actual design, the length of the offset pipe section should be reduced and this study demonstrates that the application of S-shape offset pipe joints is an efficient solution.