Vortex Breaker

Funny, I got answers for both "Vortex Breaker" and "ASTM A516 Grade 70" when I Googled them.

Are you sure it is Google? Or perhaps government policy?

lots of articles on what it is . but no actual manufacturers it seems

As far as I know, they are not a mass-production item. Usually a vortex breaker is just a flat plate (or pair of crossed plates) inserted into a vessel drop leg or pipe, to inhibit rotation of the fluid.

Send me a drawing and I'll send you a quote. Any local metal bashing shop can do it. Have you looked in Yellow Pages?

Be sure to specify the hemisphere of installation to assure the proper anti-rotation feature. Installing a breaker intended for northern hemisphere installation in the southern hemisphere could result in a calamity.

Wouldn't you install a northern hemispheric model backwards in the southern hemisphere?

Naw, just flip it up side down when installing it down under

Not sure if these Just for some historical context, here's one of the top 10 results when I searched "vortex breaker" on Bing:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/18720/Vortex-Breaker

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/10097/Vortex-Breaker-Calculations

I usually use Bing when I'm looking for products/parts/professional services -- my experience is that Bing promotes "professional" content over fluff. Not sure how you'd rate the above CR4 threads; I'm not a vortex expert.

At any rate, results differ, so it's worth using at least one additional search engine for searches like this.

Look at swimming pool and hot tub drains, here in California vortex breakers are mandatory parts.

As a firefighter, we use a beach ball, soccer ball, basketball or any spherical ball that floats on water. Why? When fighting fires away from the areas with hydrants you have to haul the water in "Tenders" (tank trucks) to be dumped into a portable pool. A engine then drafts out of that and pumps the water to the engines at the fire.

If a ball isn't used the vortex will suck air into the suction hose and possibly loose pressure from the pump or have it loose the prime. That's not good, especially if your life may depend upon the water. Those balls on fire engines are not recreational, they are specialized fire fighting equipment just like an axe or pike pole.

Follow our example and just throw a soccer ball into the reactor and don't worry about the vortex.

Good Luck, Old Salt

I don't even want to think about kicking a soccer ball that's meets "ASTM A516 Gr 70 material"

Very simple solution:

Also good for kicking soccer ball, "kick" balls, rugby balls, footballs and "brass" balls.

Only problem is passing through the TSA check points at airports.

Good Luck, Old Salt

How come it doesn't work on tornadoes ? My in-laws' ball has been missing for months and months now....

Thanks, Old Salt, good info. I built a flume for scientific purposes and the pump sucked a really long whirlpool up to the surface, even though the pump was six foot or more away from the surface, and two 90 degree turns. I could not figure out how to stop it.

Easy. Install a vortex breaker.

Surely you need to share the size with us ?