Abstract
U-bend comprised of two 90° elbows is widely used in offshore oil production systems to convey sand-laden oil flow and to adjust the flow direction, and hence one of the easily-worn part. The majority of this work is to investigate the erosion behavior of liquid-solid flow and the particle trajectories in a U-bend. The computational fluid dynamics-discrete phase model (CFD-DPM) based on the Eulerian-Lagrangian approach coupled with an erosion model is employed to solve the liquid-solid flow and to predict the erosion distribution. The numerical model is validated by the experimental data available in previous literature. The results indicate that the erosion mainly occurs in the extrados and the lower surface of the U-bend and the downstream tube. Particularly, two erosion spots along the extrados in sequence are caused by the impingement of particles. Compared to the impingement occurring at the first 90° elbow, more particles with higher velocity take part in the impingement on the second 90° elbow, resulting in severer erosion. The erosion rate is sensitive to the flow velocity and particle size. The growth of either of them results in the enhancement of erosion.
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