Abstract
Solid particle erosion is a mechanical process that removes material by the impact of solid particles entrained in the flow. Erosion is a leading cause of failure of oil and gas pipelines and fittings in fluid handling industries. Different approaches have been used to control or minimize damage caused by erosion in particulated gas-solid or liquid-solid flows. S-bend geometry is widely used in different fluid handling equipment that may be susceptible to erosion damage. The results of a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation of diluted gas-solid and liquid-solid flows in an S-bend are presented in this paper. In addition to particle impact velocity, the bend radius may have significant influence on the magnitude and the location of erosion. CFD analysis was performed at three different air velocities (15.24 m/s–45.72 m/s) and three different water velocities (0.1 m/s–10 m/s) with entrained solid particles. The particle sizes used in the analysis range between 50 and 300 microns. Maximum erosion was observed in water with 10 m/s, 250-micron particle size, and a ratio of 3.5. The location of maximum erosion was observed in water with 10 m/s, 300-micron particle size, and a ratio of 3.5. Comparison of CFD results with available literature data showed reasonable and good agreement.
Highlights
Erosion due to particulated multiphase flow is a complex phenomenon resulting in severe structural damage due to wall thickness loss in high pressure pipelines and fluid handling equipment
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations can provide an economical means of understanding the complex fluid dynamics and how it is influenced by changes in both design and operating conditions [4]
Three different air and water velocities with six different particle sizes ranging from 50 to 300 microns were used in the simulation
Summary
Erosion due to particulated multiphase flow is a complex phenomenon resulting in severe structural damage due to wall thickness loss in high pressure pipelines and fluid handling equipment. Erosive wear damage has been observed in oil and gas pipelines, aircraft, cyclone separators, boilers, fluidized beds, gas turbines, and coal gasification processes. Solid particle impact velocity was recognized as the most significant factor influencing erosion by researchers, and the erosion rate is proportional to the exponent of the solid particle velocity or the fluid velocity surrounding the particles [3]. The advancement of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) provides an effective method to predict the flow behavior that can aid in predicting erosion. The study reported lower erosion when a long radius elbow is used compared to Modelling and Simulation in Engineering a standard elbow (r/D = 1.5) for the same flow condition. Several investigations used computational methods to predict erosion behavior in different geometries, different solid particles, and different flow velocities and fluids [10,11,12]. A previous CFD study reported the location of maximum erosion at 182∘ from inlet of a U-bend at a 15.24 m/s air velocity and 50-micron particle size [13]
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