Experimental and Numerical Study on Solid Particle Erosion of Standard Elbows in Dispersed-Bubble Flow

Abstract

Abstract Solid particle erosion is an important subject when it comes to pipelines carrying solid particles in mining and oil and gas operations when sand production occurs. For that, to predict erosion that occurs and to maintain equipment integrity, the erosion phenomenon has been widely investigated over recent years. For pipelines carrying multiphase (gas-liquid-sand) flows, solid particle erosion is affected by superficial gas and liquid velocities, particle size and shape, and flow regime. This work aims to investigate the effect on the erosion of two multiphase cases with similar mixture velocity but different superficial gas and liquid velocities in 2-inch (50.8 mm) standard (r/D = 1.5) elbows. Flow visualization experiments were conducted to observe the flow regime. The cases considered are dispersed-bubble flow and churn flow based on the predicted flow pattern maps. However, flow visualization studies indicated that the flow regime is dispersed-bubble flows for both cases. Also, paint removal tests were conducted using an acrylic box painted with black paint to study the erosion pattern. In addition, CFD simulations were performed to compare the erosion patterns and the location of the maximum erosion with the paint removal patterns obtained with the paint removal tests. The location of the maximum erosion and erosion patterns agrees with the paint removal tests. However, the CFD simulations showed different erosion magnitudes even though the mixture velocity is equal; one case showed higher erosion by a factor of 2.5 as compared to the other.