Fluid In Pipeline Research Articles

Development of Model and Graphical User Interface for Leak Localization in Crude Oil Pipeline

Pipelines provide the most efficient and cost-effective means for fluid transport but the challenge posed by leaks has substantially increased the risks and hazards in pipeline fluid transportation. The development of efficient leak detection system pays off in quicker leak detection and localization, leading to quicker responses and remediation works by the pipeline emergency response team. This would ultimately bring about less severity of the pipeline leak in terms of financial losses, human and environmental consequences. Steady state modeling of crude oil pipeline flow with attempt to determine and localize leak has been achieved in this study. Mathematical models have been developed to detect and localize leaks in crude oil pipeline during leak occurrence. Leak detection was modeled using the conservation of mass equation while leak localization was modeled by modifying the Darcy-Weisbach pipeline liquid flow equations and utilizing the Swamee-Jain friction factor correlation. Equations for flowrate and pressure drop along the pipeline were developed for two cases: a case where there is no leak in the pipeline and a case where there is leak in the pipeline. Leak localization equation was determined by equating the fluid flow equation when there is no leak and when there is leak. The model was structured and simulated in Matlab software with the model tested for four field cases. The results from the simulation revealed swift leak detection, accurate localization of the leak, and determination of the pressure at the point of leak. Experimentally determined results from actual field measurements of leak incidences were used to validate the results. The result determined from the model developed proved accurate with only an average error of 0.216 miles.

Assessing the safe transportation of multiphase pipeline by integrating mechanism and Machine learning models

Developing a safe Multiphase Transport Boundary (MTB) is crucial due to the complex flow and heat transfer laws of multiphase transportation of fluids in pipelines. However, there is no efficient, accurate, and widely adaptable method for MTB formulation. This paper proposes a hybrid method based on traditional multiphase flow mechanisms and machine learning models to determine the safe operational MTB for multiphase pipeline transportation processes. The interactive logic enables the efficient and accurate calculation of MTB under real-time measurement data-driven for the proposed new hybrid model. Using a northwest oil field in China as an example, the results indicate that the hybrid model has an average relative error of less than 4.7% compared with simulated data, showing high accuracy. The calculation of a million operating conditions only takes 232 s. The research results can guide promoting the design, operation, and modification of pipeline transportation systems to ensure safety.

Failure analysis of local effusion corrosion in small diameter gas pipeline: Experiment and numerical

In the later stage of gas well production, water–gas ratio increases, liquid carrying capacity decreases, gas field water accumulates in pipes for a long time, and the corrosion environment of pipelines becomes more and more severe. On the basis of carbon dioxide corrosion, microbial corrosion in gas field water accelerates catalytic pitting and finally leads to serious internal corrosion of pipelines. Therefore, accurate prediction of fluid distribution and flow characteristics in pipes is of great significance for engineering applications. In this work, the location and morphology of the corrosion pit were determined by physicochemical analysis. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was established by using VOF and RNG k-ε models to predict fluid distribution characteristics and fluid accumulation locations in pipelines. The results showed that: 1) Corrosion and perforation occurred in the position of pipeline fluid accumulation. 2) The main elements of the corrosion pit on the inner surface of the pipe sample are O, Fe, C, S and Cl. The main corrosive substances in the pipeline corrosion pit are FeCO3 and Fe2O3. 3) The low-lying areas and uphill sections are prone to corrosion. A decrease in the fluid velocity in the pipe and a corresponding increase in the gas–liquid ratio will result in a greater accumulation of liquid in the pipe. 4) Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) detection method can be used to detect the characteristics and distribution of pipeline corrosion defects and determine the corrosion area. The research results are of great significance to the safety evaluation of small diameter pipelines for gathering and transporting in oil fields.

Hydrodynamic metamaterial redirector for steering fluid flow in pipelines with arbitrary curvatures

Hydrodynamic metamaterial redirector for steering fluid flow in pipelines with arbitrary curvatures

A Review on Analytic Anomaly Detection of Fluid in Pipeline Using Machine Learning

Fluids such as water, oil, and gas are transported using pipelines in industries. Because of society's social, health, and economic importance, pipelines transporting these fluids should be properly managed. This paper presents a review of the anomaly detection of fluid transported via pipelines using Machine Learning (ML) approaches. We used the conventional method to search, filter, and include relevant papers available in the literature. We classified the included papers based on the fluids category, which includes water, oil, and gas. Numerous researchers propose solutions for detecting anomalies of fluid in pipelines in a generic way. Despite significant contributions from the available works in the literature, we identified the following gaps: lack of research available in the context of water abnormality detection; human and environmental factors are not considered in many works during experiments; lack of research on detection of the anomaly of fluid transported beneath soil.

Investigation on internal resonance of fluid conveying pipes with initial geometric imperfection

This paper shows numerical research on the 1:2 internal resonance and chaotic bifurcation phenomena of the graphene platelets reinforced metal foams (GPLRMF) pipes, with emphasis on the effect of initial geometric imperfection. To this end, combining the high order shear deformation beam theory and Kelvin-Voigt viscoelasticity, a mathematical model that considers geometric imperfection is established. The fluid in pipeline is supposed to be incompressible and inviscid. Subsequently, the Galerkin discretization and multiscale method are utilized for solving the nonlinear governing equations in the case of 1:2 internal resonance. And the nonlinear dynamic behavior of the fluid conveying pipes can be analyzed through the frequency amplitude diagrams, bifurcation curves, time course curves, phase trajectories, and Poincaré maps. The double jump phenomena are excited to demonstrate the dynamic characteristics of the pipes with 1:2 internal resonance. In the case of small disturbance coefficients, various internal resonance and chaos phenomena can be captured in the pipeline system. Research shows that the coupled effects between initial geometric imperfection and nonlinear geometric relationships is non-monotonic. That is to say, for bimodal internal resonance, when the initial geometric imperfection increase, the unstable region will be compressed, and the response amplitude will increase.

Experimental study on cavitation inhibition in a butterfly valve with different plate shapes

A valve is a kind of mechanical device used to control the flow of fluid in pipelines or systems, which has a wide range of uses in various industrial, commercial, and household applications. When the fluid passes through the valve, cavitation often occurs in the valve, resulting in the valve not working properly and even damaging the valve and related systems. In this paper, experimental visualization was used to investigate cavitation evolution through a butterfly valve with different plate shapes under different pressure conditions. The results show that with the increase in the curvature of both sides of the butterfly plate and the increase in the total pressure condition, the cavitation type inside the butterfly valve will change from non-attached cavitation to attached cavitation. In addition, the maximum length and thickness of the attached cavitation bubbles gradually increase as well. However, when the shape of both ends of the butterfly plate is triangular, the adhesion ability to cavitation bubbles is greatly reduced. As the curvature increases, the frequency of the shedding of cavitation bubble gradually decreases, the volume of cavitation bubble increases, and the shedding of the cavitation bubble caused by the shock wave is more obvious. When the shape of both sides of the butterfly plate is triangular, the position where the bubble collapses is closer to the front end of the butterfly plate, and the shock wave generated by the bubble collapse will lead to the collapse of the attached cavitation bubble.

PERCOLATION CHARACTERISTICS OF POWER-LAW FLUID IN THE FRACTAL TREE-LIKE BIFURCATION NETWORKS WITH ROUGH SURFACES

In order to study the seepage characteristics of power-law fluids in the fractal tree-like bifurcation networks with rough surfaces based on fractal theory, the shape factor of rough surfaces is treated as the randomly distributed cones. According to the generalized Darcy's law and the constitutive equation of power-law fluids, the fully-developed laminar and incompressible flow of power-law fluids in rough pipelines is explored, and the velocity graduation and flow rate expressions of fluids in rough pipelines are obtained. Then, the fractal model for the permeability of power-law fluid in the tree-like bifurcation network with rough surfaces is proposed, and the total flow rate, total pressure drop, and permeability of power-law fluid in the tree bifurcation network with rough surfaces are derived. The relative increase in pressure and the relative decrease in permeability are also obtained. Finally, the analytical expression for the permeability of power-law fluids is analyzed. It can be seen that the permeability of a rough tree-like bifurcation network is inversely proportional to relative roughness, length ratio, bifurcation angle, etc., and directly proportional to the power-law index and diameter ratio. At the same time, the predicted values of the model are compared with existing models, proving the correctness and rationality of the model.

A novel ant lion optimizer-salp swarm algorithm for inverse heat conduction problem in pipeline fluid temperature recognition

A novel ant lion optimizer-salp swarm algorithm for inverse heat conduction problem in pipeline fluid temperature recognition

Cross-dimensional isothermal model for the transient restart of weakly compressible laminar/turbulent flow of time-dependent non-Newtonian fluid in a long pipeline

Based on reasonable simplifications of three-dimensional governing equations, a cross-dimensional isothermal model for the transient flow restart of time-dependent non-Newtonian fluid in a long pipeline is established, in which conservation equations are in one-dimensional (1D) form and two key variables (average velocity and wall shear stress) in the 1D conservation equations are related to some two-dimensional (2D) equations. This model considers fluid compressibility, complex non-Newtonian rheological behavior, and flow pattern transition. A prediction-correction method and a trial calculation method are combined to solve the cross-dimensional model. The presented cross-dimensional simulation is validated from different perspectives using a theoretical formula, a mature empirical formula, and numerical results from 2D and 1.5-dimensional (1.5D) simulations. The presented cross-dimensional simulation is considered to have strong universality for predicting flow processes in long pipelines. Moreover, the complex flow restart in a long waxy crude oil pipeline is numerically simulated. The results indicate that the flow restart can be divided into three stages according to differences in various influence factors and flow features. These three stages include the laminar/turbulent flow in the yield front movement, the laminar/turbulent flow in the fluid structure breakdown and flow pattern transition, and the turbulent flow in the pure fluid structure breakdown. Analysis of flow processes in these three stages reveals the complex characteristics of the flow restart in a long pipeline.

Sustainable irrigation of pipeline fluid flow rate regulation based on traveling wave magnetic field

To adjust the flow rate of liquid in the pipeline in real-time in the process of crop drip irrigation, to achieve sustainable agricultural irrigation. This paper designs and develops a kind of liquid speed-regulating device for drip irrigation based on traveling wave magnetic field. This paper aims to use the electromagnetic driving force generated by the traveling wave magnetic field to realize the soft control of liquid flow rate in drip irrigation pipelines. First of all, the structure of the combined traveling wave magnetic field generator was designed. COMSOL physical field simulation software was used to build the traveling wave magnetic field simulation model, and the magnetic field distribution diagram and the variation curve of the magnetic field intensity were generated in the time domain. Then, through the analysis of the simulation model, the harmonic interference of a single row and combined traveling-wave magnetic field generator is compared, and the optimal spacing between the traveling-wave magnetic field generator units is determined. Finally, the water-fertilizer fusion liquid used in the process of agricultural irrigation was selected and the liquid speed regulation experiment was carried out. The experimental results show that the combined liquid speed regulating device can effectively reduce the number of traveling wave field harmonics, compared with the single wave field generator at the same power, the magnetic field intensity is increased by 33.9 %. When the excitation current is 2 A and the initial flow rate is 0.5 m/s, the device can increase the flow rate of water-fertilizer fusion liquid for agricultural drip irrigation by 2.27 % and decrease by 2.13 %, which can meet the real-time and effective speed regulation requirements of water-fertilizer fusion liquid in the process of agricultural drip irrigation.

TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE DEPOSITS VOLUME ASSESSING USING REFERENCE LIQUIDS IN PIPELINES

The gas-liquid mixture flow along an oil and gas field pipeline is a complex process, the parameters of which, as a rule, are not determined along its length. Pressure and temperature of water-oil emulsion decrease along the pipeline length, pressure and temperature conditions of separation from oil both light components in the form of associated petroleum gas and heavy components – in the form of asphaltenes, resins, paraffins and mechanical impurities – change. Two techniques for deposit quantitative diagnostics in the pipeline are discussed in the article. Viscosity and velocity of injected reference fluid in the pipeline section complicated by deposits are considered as informative parameters when using pressure sensors and ultrasonic flowmeter.
 Technologies for the quantitative assessment of deposits in oilfield pipelines based on the control of the movement of a fluid with a reference property different from the property of the pipeline fluid are proposed. According to the first technology, the viscosity of the liquid is changed and the pressure difference at the beginning and at the end of the pipeline with deposits is fixed in time. According to the second technology, the value of the increased velocity of fluid movement in places where the pipeline is narrowed due to the presence of deposits is measured. The theoretical basis of the processes occurring with liquids in pipeline transport is substantiated. With an increase in the viscosity of the reference liquid, the degree of compression of the liquid increases and, as a result, the frequency of vibrations of the liquid molecules increases. With a decrease in the viscosity of the reference liquid, the reverse picture is observed.

Design and Mechanical Characteristics Analysis of Deep Sea Manifold System

Subsea manifolds are important equipment for offshore oil and gas extraction. The layout of the manifold is related to both the difficulty of fabrication and the installation and maintenance of the manifold. Based on 1500 m deep sea conditions and 68.9 MPa pipeline fluid pressure, the overall design of a double well groove and double collector subsea manifold is investigated, the selection of specific parameters is discussed in detail. The arrangement of different valves and pipelines and the efficiency of space volume usage are discussed. Stress analysis of the designed manifold as a whole was carried out using AutoPIPE software and its strength was assessed according to the applicable American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standards. It was found that the maximum stress ratio was 0.9 for radial stresses and relatively small for axial stresses, but both met the design requirements for deep sea manifold piping. Finally, linear and nonlinear buckling analyses of circular arc pipes were carried out, the fifth-order linear eigenvalue buckling modes, linear critical buckling load and nonlinear critical buckling load were obtained. It is found that the nonlinear critical buckling load was 20.5% lower than the linear critical buckling load. The failure mode of post-buckling is local dimple, which is located at the initial defect, indicating that early geometric defects have a greater influence on the load carrying limit of the pipe. This paper can provide a reference for the study of common technologies for the design of deepwater subsea pipeline manifolds and subsea production facilities.

Case Study: Addressing the Mounting Challenge of Produced-Water Metering Inaccuracy With Nanotechnology

_ As the energy industry strives to reuse produced water and disposal costs of produced water increase, it has elevated the need for more accurate measurement to save money. Measurement of produced water in the US unconventional market is impacted by paraffin deposition on the meters causing inaccurate readings of the volume of produced water. The industry is starting to address this growing issue by applying new technology solutions that enable lasting accuracy in the place of routine maintenance that provides a temporary solution. Most oil and gas producers face paraffin buildup on the inside surface of their electromagnetic flowmeters. These meters are typically located on the produced-water leg, downstream of production and test separators. Paraffin, a waxy substance present in crude oil production, drops out of solution as the fluid cools from the wellhead through the surface equipment. How Paraffin Impacts Metering As the fluid is transported through the pipes, it cools down, causing the paraffin to solidify and deposit on the walls of pipes and flowmeters. Separators that are designed to remove most of the paraffin via heat are still susceptible to the accumulation of small amounts of paraffin that may coat the pipe and measurement devices. Electromagnetic flowmeters are used to measure the volumetric flow rate of conductive fluids in pipelines, such as produced water. They operate by generating a magnetic field across the flow path and measure the voltage induced by the fluid as it flows through the magnetic field. The voltage is proportional to the flow velocity and the magnetic field strength, which is used to calculate the volumetric flow rate of the fluid. Electromagnetic flowmeters contain a minimum of two electrodes, composed of ceramic or metallic materials depending upon the manufacturer. The electrodes read the induced voltage of the produced water flowing through the meter. An insulating liner is placed inside the meter between the conductive fluid and the metal body. This isolates the fluid being measured from the meter body, preventing the fluid from creating an electrical short circuit. Paraffin buildup affects the accuracy and reliability of electromagnetic flowmeters as it nucleates on the electrodes and the liner of the meter. Over time, the paraffin deposition will increase around the electrodes, essentially insulating the electrodes from the fluid. At this point the conductivity of the fluid is artificially reduced, and the flowmeter will under read. If the paraffin coating on the electrodes becomes thick enough, a flowmeter will be completely insulated from the produced water, which the meter interprets as zero flow. As the paraffin coating on the liner increases, the cross-sectional area of the meter is reduced, creating a higher fluid velocity which results in the meter overreading the flowrate (Q = Av where A is the cross-sectional area of flow and v is its average velocity).

GPU-accelerated transient thermo-hydraulic simulation of weakly compressible restart flow of a non-Newtonian fluid in a long-buried hot oil pipeline

For the complex transient thermo-hydraulic restart process of a long-buried hot oil pipeline, it takes a long time to solve the restart simulation model, which cannot meet the requirements of rapid restart prediction and assessment. The modern GPU is specialized for compute-intensive and massively parallel computation, and it has great potential to accelerate transient thermo-hydraulic restart simulation. According to the computational characteristics of restart model solutions, four types of GPU parallel strategies, from the mapping of grids to the convergence judgment of the discrete equation solution, are combined to accelerate the whole process of a transient thermo-hydraulic restart simulation. The results indicate that the total computation time of the transient thermo-hydraulic simulation is reduced from 185.4 min to 8.8 min, corresponding to an acceleration rate of 21.1, which exhibits a good acceleration effect for a single GPU and is beneficial to the rapid assessment of restart schemes. Based on the GPU-accelerated numerical results, the complex transient thermo-hydraulic restart process with the changing soil temperature field, the non-Newtonian thixotropic behavior of crude oil and flow pattern evolution, is investigated. The analysis reveals that the dominant influencing factors of the restart process vary with the restart time, and the flow pattern evolution plays an important role in the thermo-hydraulic characteristics of the restart process.

Volume flow rate calculation model of non-full pipe multiphase flow based on ultrasonic sensors

In the oil and gas industries, it is crucial to employ appropriate drilling fluids in order to maintain equilibrium of formation pressure throughout the various stages of drilling operations. During the recycling process, the drilling fluid may precipitate gas and as a result exhibit non-full pipe flow upon return to the surface. Accurate measurement of the volume flow rate of the drilling fluid is imperative in obtaining valuable information from the bottom of the well. Commonly, on-site drilling operations use a multiphase target flowmeter in conjunction with an empirical model to rectify calculation results. However, the returned multiphase flow that is not fully in the pipe and its liquid component exhibits corrosive properties, making it a challenge for traditional invasive measurement methods to achieve adequate accuracy over an extended period. Therefore, the theoretical potential of utilizing non-contact ultrasonic sensors for measuring the multiphase volume flow rate of the non-full pipe flow is significant. In this research, an apparent flow velocity calculation model was established by integrating the ultrasonic Doppler shift model and pipeline fluid mechanics utilizing a four-channel ultrasonic array. Subsequently, the invariant scattering convolution—long short-term memory) network was trained on the data-fused ultrasonic signal to identify the liquid level. The velocity-area method was also employed to establish a new multiphase volume flow calculation model. To evaluate the validity of the proposed model, comparison experiments of liquid single-phase flow and liquid–solid two-phase flow were conducted. The experimental results show that, compared with the comparative flow measurement system, the accuracy of the ultrasonic flow measurement system is reduced by 0.965%, the nonlinear error by 2.293%, the average relative error by 2.570%, the standard deviation by 1.395, and the root mean square error by 14.394.

Development of machine learning model for determination of contamination length in a multi-product pipeline

Batch transfer results in contamination over the length of travel of the fluids in product pipelines. Mathematical models have been in use. Machine learning with Python, due to higher efficiency was applied to determine contamination length. Six models were developed and the best with an accuracy of 97.4% and RMSE score of 262.5 was developed. It predicts with higher precision and also accurately ranks the input variables in order of their influence on transmix length. The distance of travel had the highest influence on the amount of contamination in a pipeline, followed by Reynolds number and pipe diameter.

Determination of flow rate and velocity of fluids in a non-pressurized pipeline

This article discusses the importance and principles of hydraulic calculations in in non-pressurized pipelines. The main hydraulic elements of flow in a non-pressurized pipe are determined depending on the radius of the pipe. The most efficient hydraulic cross section R=f(h) for fluid flow in a non-pressurized pipe was scientifically substantiated for the depth and diameter of the flow through a functional relationship.

An Analysis of Li-ion Traction Battery System Thermal Simulation Based on Simplified Pipeline Fluid Model and Liquid Cooling Enhancement

In recent years, while the “decarbonized economy” is being practiced globally, the ownership of new energy vehicles has been increasing rapidly. During the development of new energy vehicles, the design of thermal management systems has been underlined. Developing an effective and energy-saving battery thermal management system is an important factor in guaranteeing the high performance of new energy vehicles. This article dissects the electrothermal coupling performance of the battery pack based on finite element methodology and proposes a liquid cooling layout of the battery cooling system with an optimized cooling effect. The research reveals that: (1) By constructing a multi-dimensional electrothermal coupling model consisting of a one-dimensional electrochemical model, one-dimensional pipeline fluid model, and three-dimensional heat transfer model, the electrothermal performance of the battery pack can be simulated efficiently and further improvement can be established on its liquid-cooling system. (2) During the discharging process, the central temperature of the battery pack is significantly higher which reaches 45°C with a 2C discharging rate. (3) The liquid-cooling pipelines on the side can efficiently reduce the temperature of the battery pack. With an increasing flow rate of the coolant, the average temperature of the battery pack is reduced while the maximum temperature difference is increasing instead; with a certain flow rate, increasing the radius of the pipe would lead to a decrease in maximum temperature and the maximum temperature difference within the battery pack.

Prediction model of critical liquid‐carrying gas velocity for high gas‐to‐liquid ratio gathering pipelines

As the pressure and temperature of natural gas pipelines decreases during operation, water and condensate accumulates form in the low areas of the pipelines, affecting the operational efficiency of the pipelines and even corroding them. The critical gas velocity is a key factor in predicting liquid loading onset in the pipeline, so that appropriate measures can be taken in advance and hazards can be reduced. This paper proposes a model for predicting pipeline liquid loading onset based on the liquid film and wall shear stress of zero, and applicable to different pipe diameters and different inclination angles. This model provides a more simplified and comprehensive prediction of pipeline fluid loading than other models with complex calculations. The critical gas velocity in this model is a function of the liquid holding rate rather than the liquid film thickness, and the critical gas velocity prediction in a phase-inclined pipe is carried out by an improved Belfroid angle correction term. The experimental data, field data and seven models in the published literature were compared and validated, and the errors were judged. The results showed that the new model outperformed the other models in terms of absolute mean error at full inclination angle, and was able to predict the pipeline liquid loading accurately.