Abstract
The computational fluid dynamics modeling of solid particles hydrodynamic based on the Lagrangian framework for diluted solid-gas flow through 90° gas pipeline bend is carried out to discover the effect of particles size distribution on particles flow pattern and their erosive effect on the bend. Particles size distribution has been obtained experimentally by measuring the sizes of solid particles that are flowing through the gas pipelines of Aghajari gas booster station. Also the erosion rate at the outer wall of the bend is predicted. The pipeline bend under study has a pipe diameter of 56 inches and ratios of the bend radius of the curvature to the pipeline diameter of 1.5. For the validation of computational model, firstly, the computational modeling is performed for a published experimental solid-gas flow data. The computational results include radial gas velocity and radial particle velocity profiles on planes which are at different angles through the bend. The comparison between the predicted numerical results and similar experimental data proves that the predictions of the computational model are acceptable. Finally, the particles' size distributions on each plane through the bend and the erosion rate on the outer wall of the bend have been obtained. The maximum rate of erosion is found to be 3.2 nm/s, occurring between 40 and 65° of the bend.
Highlights
In the oil and gas industry, black powder (BP) is the brief name that is used to describe the black materials found inside most of the gas pipelines worldwide
The required fluid velocity has been determined [6, 7] to entrain and carry away BP in liquid and gas pipelines, respectively. These two studies concluded that the velocity required to move BP particles in gas pipelines is independent of particle size and ranges from 10.4 ft per second to 13.6 fps for 8 and 30 pipelines, respectively
The particulates flow with particles size distribution inside a 90∘ angled bend with ratio of curve radius to pipe diameter of 1.5 and 56 inches of pipe diameter, is considered based on the Lagrangian framework
Summary
In the oil and gas industry, black powder (BP) is the brief name that is used to describe the black materials found inside most of the gas pipelines worldwide. The effect of the drag coefficient and inlet conditions (inlet velocity profile) of solid particles on the particle tracks calculations in vertical and horizontal ducts are studied [8] using the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFDs) package, CFX 4.4 They found that the drag coefficient needs to be reduced by as much as 35% of the standard value to achieve good agreement with the corresponding experimental data in case of a vertical channel flow. To evaluate the performance of elbows and plugged tees geometries under erosive service conditions and using the experimental data [15] to validate the simulation results, a procedure was developed [16] to predict erosion in standard elbows, long-radius elbows, and plugged tees This procedure is implemented into the CFD code CFX 4.2. Particles size distribution is considered in the modeling by Rosin-Rammler distribution function
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