Numerical investigation and dimensionless erosion laws of solid particle erosion in plugged tees

Abstract

In the process of oil and gas production, particle erosion is an important cause of pipe fitting failure. It is generally believed that the plugged tees have the potential to mitigate erosion. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based erosion prediction numerical model is employed to investigate the gas-solid flow and erosion behavior in the plugged tees. The trajectories of particles released from different positions on the inlet cross-section are tracked. The phenomenon of particle recirculation is found in the plugged pipe through particle trajectory analysis. Combined with particle impact characteristics, the erosion morphology at the end region is analyzed. Erosion mitigation performance of the plugged tees is evaluated by comparison with elbows. Additionally, four important dimensionless groups are derived through dimensional analysis. Self-similarity behavior between these groups is extracted to establish two new dimensionless numbers that are suitable for the erosion prediction of the end region and the corner region, respectively.