Shale gas flow carrying liquid in gathering pipeline with different inclination angles

Abstract

Shale gas reserves are abundant and widely distributed. As a green and clean energy source, it has tremendous development potential. Nonetheless, the shale gas transmission process is often accompanied by liquids. The gas transmission will transform to liquid-carrying gas transmission and liquid will accumulate in low-lying areas. These will accelerate pipeline corrosion and perforation, threatening pipeline safety and causing significant economic losses. In this paper, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can be used to establish a transient model of liquid-carrying gas flow. The flow characteristics of liquid-carrying gas in the up-dip shale gas gathering pipelines are studied. The critical flow velocities at 10°, 20°, 30° can be determined 8.25 m/s, 9.5 m/s, 11 m/s. The critical flow velocity can provide a reference for discharging liquid efficiently in engineering. Combining the flow process with corrosion studies, we identified the main cause and the sensitive areas of flow-accelerated corrosion. Finally, we proposed recommendations to prevent pipeline accelerated corrosion. Thus, the flow-accelerated corrosion of shale gas pipelines can be minimized.