Experimental investigation of erosion rate for gas-solid two-phase flow in 304 stainless /L245 carbon steel

Abstract

Erosion is one of the most concerning issues in pipeline flow assurance for the Oil & Gas pipeline industries, which can easily lead to wall thinning, perforation leakage, and other crucial safety risks to the steady operation of pipelines. In this research, a novel experimental device is designed to investigate the erosion characteristics of 304 stainless and L245 carbon steel in the gas-solid two-phase flow. Regarding the impacts on erosion rate, the typical factors such as gas velocity, impact angle, erosion time, particle material and target material are individually observed and comprehensive analyzed with the assistance of apparent morphology characterized via Scanning Electron Microscope. Experimental results show that the severest erosion occurs when the angle reaches approximate 30° whether eroded by type Ⅰ or type Ⅱ particles, which is observed in both two types of steel. Concretely, 304 stainless steel and L245 carbon steel appear to be cut at low angles, and impacted at high angles to form erosion pits. In the steady operational state, the erosion rate is insensitive to the short erosion time and free from the influences caused by the “erosion latent period”. Based on the comparison between experimental data and numerical results generated by existing erosion models, a modified model with low tolerance (<3%), high feasibility and strong consistency is proposed to make an accurate prediction of the erosion in terms of two types of steel under various industrial conditions.