Pipeline Problem Research Articles

3D-printed zeolite 13X-Strontium chloride units as ammonia carriers

The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system in automobiles using urea solution as a source of NH3 suffers from solid deposit problems in pipelines and poor efficiency during engine startup. Although direct use of high pressure NH3 is restricted due to safety concerns, which can be overcome by using solid sorbents as NH3 carrier. Strontium chloride (SrCl2) is considered the best sorbent due to its high sorption capacity; however, challenges are associated with the processing of stable engineering structures due to extraordinary volume expansion during the NH3 sorption. This study reports the fabrication of a novel structure consisting of a zeolite cage enclosing the SrCl2 pellet (SPZC) through extrusion-based 3D printing (Direct Ink Writing). The printed SPZC structure demonstrated steady sorption of NH3 for 10 consecutive cycles without significant uptake capacity and structural integrity loss. Furthermore, the structure exhibited improved sorption and desorption kinetics than pure SrCl2. The synergistic effect of zeolite as physisorbent and SrCl2 as chemisorbent in the novel composite structure enabled the low-pressure (<0.4 bar) and high-pressure (>0.4 bar) NH3 sorption, compared to pure SrCl2, which absorbed NH3 at pressures above 0.4 bar. Regeneration of SPZC composite sorbent under evacuation showed that 87.5% percent of NH3 was desorbed at 20 °C. Thus, the results demonstrate that the rationally designed novel SPZC structure offers safe and efficient storage of NH3 in the SCR system and other applications.

The Importance of Policies: It’s not just a pipeline problem

The Importance of Policies: It’s not just a pipeline problem

Design of magnetic flux leakage detection device for three dimensional small diameter pipeline based on MEMS

Based on the common pipeline detection device faced with small diameter pipeline space, small turning radius is prone to the problem of stuck pipe phenomenon, this paper combined with the actual production needs, for small diameter pipeline leakage detection based on MEMS technology designed a detection device. COMSOL Multiphysics software was used to create a finite element model to simulate the magnetic flux leakage detection of pipeline defects. The influence of the type, size and location of pipeline defects on magnetic flux leakage signals was discussed. Based on MEMS triaxial magnetic force sensor, a magnetic flux leakage detection device with small volume, high precision and strong adaptive ability was designed. Through experiments, the magnetic flux leakage detection data consistent with the simulation results were obtained, which provided ideas for solving the detection problem of small-caliber pipelines.

Bionic eco-friendly synergic anti-scaling Cu-Zn-CeO2 coating on steel substrate functionalized by multi-scale structures and heating enhanced adsorption

Scaling is a universal issue encountered in pipeline steel during offshore oil extraction. In this paper, a synergic anti-scaling Cu-Zn-CeO2 coating on the pipeline steel substrate was fabricated by one-step composite electrodeposition and magnetic stirring. It shows the wettability transition from superhydrophilic to superhydrophobic of the multi-scale structured Cu-Zn-CeO2 coating without low-surface-energy modification after heating at 60℃ for 60 min and stored in air for ∼ 35 days. The wettability transition is owing to the hydrocarbons adsorption. The heating treatment and the multi-scale structure improve the hydrocarbons adsorption and reduce the transition time. The inherent hydrophobic CeO2 is beneficial for the superhydrophobic property and reduces the transition time. Compared with the steel substrate and previous superhydrophobic Cu and Cu-Zn coatings, it indicates the superhydrophobic Cu-Zn-CeO2 coating shows the promising synergic anti-scaling property due to its superhydrophobicity and the anti-scaling property of Cu-Zn alloys. This eco-friendly synergic anti-scaling Cu-Zn-CeO2 coating also shows excellent self-cleaning and anti-fouling properties. Moreover, the stability of the superhydrophobic Cu-Zn-CeO2 coating was enhanced compared with our previous superhydrophobic Cu-Zn coating due to CeO2 nanoparticles. This research enriches the theory and the technology of the wetting field, which also provides a technical basis for solving scaling problems of pipelines.

Fluid-induced vibration analysis of pipe based on the transfer matrix method and added mass, added damping analogy method

In this paper, the 14-equations of pipeline system were written as matrix forms in frequency domain with Laplace transformation and further solved by transfer matrix method (TMM). Moreover, the added mass and added damping models were established and combined with the TMM for decoupling investigated the Turbulence-Induced Vibration (TIV) of clamped-clamped pipe system. Firstly, the feasibility of the TMM for analyzing the frequency responses of water-filled pipelines with free support boundary conditions and the added mass, added damping for decoupling investigation of TIV were finished verify. Then the frequency responses for Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) problems of pipeline with different flow velocities were acquired. The results indicate that the calculated frequencies agree well with corresponding data yield from Galerkin method. And the increasing flow velocity results in a decreased amplitudes of the frequency responses due to the effect of fluid added damping. Those results of the research in this paper implied that the decoupling method composed of the TMM that considered the added mass and added damping is validity and accuracy for frequency response analysis of the pipeline.

Water Hammer Analysis in Water Pipelines and Methods for Protection

In water processing industry, pressurised pipeline problems bring dangerous consequences, causing flooding, traffic accidents or death, financial and material losses and the disruption of the water supply. There are some problems in water pressurised pipelines system occur gradually, and some problems occur in very sudden without any warning with massive impacts and harms. Most of the sudden events that affect water system and municipal operation and maintenance centres are the phenomenon of sudden explosions and cracks in water pipes which lead to disaster. The phenomenon of water hammer is as a result of imperfect design or poor operation methods. The transition in the pressurised pipeline from one steady state to another steady state such as from a constant velocity to another velocity without a protection system make huge in pressure change. Any change in velocity leads to a pressure changes in very short time will cause to disaster strikes for the system stabilization. Professional design of liquid pipelines and proper selection of materials prevents the phenomenon of water hammer. Therefore, in this paper, the important issues on water hammer, protection systems and professional planning with special software programmes such as Allievi software was addressed.

Natural frequency assignment of a pipeline through structural modification in layout optimization of elastic supports

Layout optimization of elastic supports is an effective approach to address the resonance problem of an industrial post-manufactured pipeline. However, previous investigations of support layout optimization of a post-manufactured pipeline usually require establishing or updating the numerical model of the whole pipeline system, which may lead to time-consuming calculations and poor optimization results. In order to overcome these drawbacks, a new measurement-based layout optimization method is proposed in this method. Only a small number of experimental modal parameters (natural frequencies, damping ratios, and mode shapes) are needed in this method. Resonance avoidance, in this method, is recast as an assignment of natural frequencies, and the target natural frequencies are realized by performing structural modification in two stages. In addition, each of the elastic supports is viewed as a mass-spring-damper sub-system in this paper, which is represented by its measured dynamic stiffness and does not need a pre-determined simplified form. A numerical example demonstrates that the proposed method can accurately realize the target natural frequencies. The application of the proposed method to optimize the support layout of a real L-shaped pipeline system provides experimental evidence of its effectiveness. This experiment is the first attempt to achieve the layout optimization of pipeline supports for solving the resonance problem of a post-manufacture pipeline, entirely relying on the measured modal data.

Study on Corrosion of Buried Metal Pipeline by Stray Current Along Metro Line

This year, with the continuous improvement of China's subway system, serious corrosion problems of metal buried pipelines laid along the subway have attracted social attention. In order to discuss the corrosion mechanism, this paper briefly describes the corrosion status and characteristics of the subway stray current on the buried metal pipes, and introduces the characteristics of the subway stray current on the buried metal pipes, such as fast corrosion speed, large strength and wide influence range. The corresponding corrosion mechanism is summarized, and the detection and protection methods of stray current at home and abroad are introduced. Including pipe to ground potential test, soil potential gradient test, test piece method or polarization probe method test, current probe method test, intelligent stray current detector (SCM) test, corrosion inspection piece test, etc. The protection method of "giving priority to plugging, taking drainage as auxiliary, combining plugging with drainage, and strengthening monitoring" is proposed.

Nested physics-informed neural network for analysis of transient flows in natural gas pipelines

Natural gas pipeline systems are commonly designed under the assumption of constant supply and demand flow conditions. This is while gas flows are transient because of the compression stations, presence of gas storage facilities and fluctuating supply and consumer demands. Analyzing such transient flows substantially benefits design, control, and monitoring of natural gas pipeline systems. The nonlinear partial differential equations describing the physics of transient flows in pipelines are solved using conventional methods, which are computationally demanding especially for uncertainty quantification purposes where many simulations are required. In this study, we propose an alternative physics-informed neural network (PINN) framework for the transient analysis of pipeline networks that can perform transient flow analysis in natural gas pipelines that the original PINNs cannot solve due to the high complexity of the problem. We propose a nested structure for the PINNs with a loss model that greatly reduces the number of tasks in the emergent complex multi-task learning process. We also integrate an adaptive weights approach that tackles the imbalanced gradients caused by the extremely large coefficients in the equations of the natural gas pipeline problem. The proposed framework, for the first time, can produce accurate results for the complex natural gas pipeline network problem using PINNs. Furthermore, we investigate the parameterization of the nested PINNs as a surrogate model for the natural gas pipeline system. With merely 26% more training costs, the surrogate model can perform the transient flow analysis given thousands of realizations of parameters in a split millisecond, while the costs of performing the same simulations using conventional methods can be prohibitively expensive. This can greatly boost the efficiency of complex many-query analyses such as sensitivity analysis, uncertainty propagation and design optimization.

Cultivating a culture of inclusivity in heliophysics

A large number of heliophysicists from across career levels, institution types, and job titles came together to support a poster at Heliophysics 2050 and the position papers for the 2024 Heliophysics decadal survey titled “Cultivating a Culture of Inclusivity in Heliophysics,” “The Importance of Policies: It’s not just a pipeline problem,” and “Mentorship within Heliophysics.” While writing these position papers, the number of people who privately shared disturbing stories and experiences of bullying and harassment was shocking. The number of people who privately expressed how burned out they were was staggering. The number of people who privately spoke about how they considered leaving the field for their and their family’s health was astounding. And for as much good there is in our community, it is still a toxic environment for many. If we fail to do something now, our field will continue to suffer. While acknowledging the ongoing growth that we as individuals must work toward, we call on our colleagues to join us in working on organizational, group, and personal levels toward a truly inclusive culture, for the wellbeing of our colleagues and the success of our field. This work includes policies, processes, and commitments to promote: accountability for bad actors; financial security through removing the constant anxiety about funding; prioritization of mental health and community through removing constant deadlines and constant last-minute requests; a collaborative culture rather than a hyper-competitive one; and a community where people can thrive as whole persons and do not have to give up a healthy or well-rounded life to succeed.

Analytical and numerical study of the lateral buckling of an imperfect pipe accounting for torsional effects

The stability problem of pipelines under high temperature and high pressure in terms of lateral buckling has been largely concerned recently. Owing to the complex conditions encountered in the sea bottom, many factors affect the structural behavior of pipelines resting on the seabed, such as initial imperfections and unexpected torsion. This paper thus focuses on the mechanical response of imperfect pipes (with a fixed length) under uniaxial compression, in presence of torsional effects. The problem is addressed first in an analytical way. The classical governing equations of a beam lying on the seabed are adjusted, introducing extra terms accounting for initial imperfections and twisting effects. The cases of imperfect pipes with free and fixed torsion at both ends are investigated, and closed-form analytical solutions are obtained in most cases. Furthermore, non-linear finite element computations are performed. Results include force–displacement response curves and buckled deformed shapes. A detailed comparison is conducted between numerical results and analytical solutions, accounting for various lateral stiffness densities, and different imperfection types and amplitudes. A general good agreement is achieved, at least within a small deformation domain. However, the numerical calculations sometimes lead to unexpected phenomena that analytical solutions cannot capture due to geometric non-linearities.

Experimental study of coagulation-tubular microfiltration integrated with high-salt wastewater to remove hardness and silica

In the zero-discharge treatment processes of high-salt wastewater, calcium ions, magnesium ions and silica can lead to scaling problems in membrane equipment and pipelines. When fouling is difficult to remove completely, it eventually leads to deterioration in the performance of the wastewater treatment system. In order to ensure the long-term stable operation of the zero-discharge process for high-salt wastewater, hardness and silica must be effectively removed in the pre-treatment section of high-salt wastewater. In addition, the current zero-discharge pre-treatment process for high-salt wastewater has disadvantages, such as long processes, poor system stability, large floor space and high operating costs. In response to the above problems, this paper designs and processes an integrated dosing coagulation-tubular microfiltration process for hardness and silica removal based on dosing coagulation experiments with high-salt wastewater from a typical coal-chemical plant, and conducts the tests of wastewater hardness and silica removal. In the experiment, the removal rate of calcium ions, magnesium ions and total silicon were close to 90%, the turbidity of the effluent was less than 1NTU, all suspended solids (SS) were removed, and the recovery rate of wastewater was close to 100%.

Iterative angular differential imaging (IADI): An exploration of recovering disk structures in scattered light with an iterative ADI approach

Context. Distinguishing the signal from young gas-rich circumstellar disks from the stellar signal in near-infrared (NIR) light is a difficult task. Multiple techniques have been developed over the years of which angular differential imaging (ADI) and polarimetric differential imaging (PDI) have been most successful. However, both techniques cope with drawbacks such as self-subtraction. To address these drawbacks, we explore iterative ADI (IADI) techniques to increase signal throughput in total intensity observations. Aims. The aim of this work is to explore the effectiveness of IADI in recovering the self-subtracted regions of disks by applying ADI techniques iteratively. Methods. IADI works by feeding back all positive signal of the result from standard ADI over multiple iterations. To determine the effectiveness of IADI, a model of a disk image is made and post-processed with IADI. We explored two versions of IADI, classical IADI, which uses the median of the data set to reconstruct the point spread function (PSF), and PCA-IADI, which uses principal component analysis to model the PSF. In addition, we explored masking based on polarimetric images and a signal threshold for feeding back signal. Results. Asymmetries are a very important factor in recovering the disk because these lead to less overlap of the disk in the data set. In some cases, we were able to recover a factor ~75 more flux with IADI than with ADI. The Procrustes distance is used to quantify the impact of the algorithm on the scattering phase function. Depending on the level of noise and the ratio between the stellar signal and disk signal, the phase function can be recovered a factor 6.4 in Procrustes distance better than standard ADI. Amplification and smearing of noise over the image due to many iterations did occur. By using binary masks and a dynamic threshold this feedback was mitigated, but it is still a problem in the final pipeline. Finally, observations of protoplanetary disks made with VLT/SPHERE were processed with IADI giving rise to very promising results. Conclusions. While IADI has problems with low-signal-to-noise-ratio (S/N) observations due to noise amplification and star reconstruction, higher S/N observations show promising results with respect to standard ADI.

The Myth of The Pipeline Problem: Creating a Diverse and Thriving Team

Corporate leaders issued countless statements decrying racism and investing in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in 2020. As a result of the pandemic and the ongoing racial reckoning that year, the overlap between societal events and corporate commitments became sharply visible. But the actions on those commitments, less so.Focusing on DEI sparks all sorts of biased statements from colleagues like, “There are no Black/Trans/Women researchers,” “We don't want quality to suffer,” and “There's no pipeline, these folks just aren't out there.”In the face of these false and racist sentiments, researchers, leaders, and managers can create diverse and thriving teams.At the end of this PechaKucha, the audience will have instructions and examples so they can create a diverse and thriving team and support a resilient culture.Shakima Jackson‐Martiniz, Senior Director of DEI at AnswerLab, a research and insights firm, has done just that. In this PechaKucha, she will tell the story of how she increased employee diversity by 29% and is moving forward towards a 50% diversity goal. She'll share the three pillars necessary to create a representative and resilient researcher workforce. She'll describe the challenges she faced along the way and how she addressed them. Ms. Jackson‐Martinez will walk through next steps to foster further inclusivity and belonging at any organization.

Motion Law and Mechanical Properties of PIGs When Passing through a Pipe Bend

Pipeline inspection gauges (PIGs), as a kind of pipeline robot, are very efficient tools for cleaning and inspecting pipelines. However, the occurrence of obstructions in PIGs has always been a problem. The main cause of the PIG clogging pipeline problem is the reduced pressure differential between the front and rear due to damage to the cup. In this paper, a rigid-flexible coupled multibody dynamic motion system is established by importing flexible bodies. The stress and contact force generated by the elastic deformation of the cup in the pipe are analyzed. Moreover, the spacing ratio of PIG cups and the number of cups were changed, the number of cabin sections was increased, the bending of PIGs of different sizes and specifications was studied, and the influence of the cross-universal joint on the bending of PIGs, as well as the force between the cups and the core tube, was analyzed. Through the design and construction of the corresponding experimental equipment, the influence of the change in the number of leather cups on cornering is studied.

The pretreatment effects of various target pollutant in real coal gasification gray water by coupling pulse electrocoagulation with chemical precipitation methods

To prevent the scale formation in the equipments and pipelines after pre-treated coal gasification gray water (CGGW) entering the reuse system and reduce the influence of various pollutants in the effluent on subsequent biochemical treatment, this study presented a coupled use of pulse electrocoagulation (PEC) and chemical precipitation (CP) coupling method for the pretreatment of coal gasification gray water (CGGW). In addition, the operation parameters of PEC and the reaction conditions of PEC–CP were optimized based on iron plate as electrode and total hardness, turbidity and sludge yield as assessment indicators. Due to the formation of multi-hydroxyl iron by several minutes of pulse current, and the addition of pH regulator and coagulant aid, the efficient removal of various ions, hardness and turbidity was significantly reduced via various mechanism such as redox, precipitation, adsorption and coagulation reaction. The result indicated that under the optimal operation conditions, the total hardness, turbidity, and Fen+ of PEC–CP effluents were 275.0 mg/L, 3.0 NTU and 5.6 mg/L, respectively and sludge amount was 0.88 kg/m3. The removal rates of Si, B, Mn, Ba, COD, NPOC and NH4+–N by PEC–CP reached 80.0%, 75.4%, 97.0%, 99.8%, 35.0%, 33.6% and 23.8%, respectively. The present results suggested that the CGGW pretreatment effluents could be not only reused directly, but also greatly alleviate the scaling problem of water pipeline and coal gasification production facilities.

Study on Optimization of Anticorrosion Technology for Valve Pit Facilities in Tahe Oilfield

Due to the abundant underground water source, the structure of the valve pool, the non installation of water stop flange in the crossing pipeline and other problems, the leakage disease rate of the valve pool in Tahe oilfield reaches more than 80%. If it is not treated in time, the valves, pipe fittings and other facilities will be rusted, which will affect the normal operation and daily maintenance of the valves and cause serious potential safety hazards. According to the characteristics of the valve pool in Tahe oilfield, XinJiang, the performance and construction technology of different kinds of anti-corrosion materials are studied, and the best anti-corrosion materials are optimized. Through comparative research, it is found that the multi-layer petrolatum coating technology has excellent anti-corrosion performance and simple construction technology, which can completely solve the corrosion problem of the pipe fittings inside the valve pool.

Research on optimization operation technology of QT oil pipeline based on the Heuristic algorithm

Global environmental problems have become increasingly prominent, and China, as one of the world’s major powers, should take action. China promises to achieve a “carbon peak” by 2030, and carbon dioxide emissions will no longer increase, and will gradually decrease after reaching the peak. To achieve “carbon neutrality” by 2060, all the carbon dioxide emissions will be offset by tree planting, energy saving and emission reduction. The optimization of pipeline energy consumption is also associated with it. In recent years, the transportation mode of the QT oil pipeline has changed from normal temperature transportation to heating transportation. The energy consumption of this transportation method mainly comes from heating furnaces and pumps. In order to reduce energy consumption and find a suitable pipeline operation plan, this article optimizes and analyzes the transformed QT oil pipeline under the premise of ensuring safe production. Based on programming software, this article establishes a corresponding mathematical model of energy consumption of the QT oil pipeline, and uses artificial bee colony algorithm, invasive weed algorithm and optimization algorithm based on biogeography to solve the model. The article innovatively introduces the speed of the variable frequency pump as a variable to study the energy consumption optimization problem of the oil pipeline, analyze the practical application of the oil pipeline of the QT oil pipeline, and obtains the best plan for the optimized operation of the oil pipeline of the QT oil pipeline It provided research basis and played a role in promoting the country’s dual-carbon goals.

PROMENADE: A big data platform for handling city complex networks with dynamic graphs

Continuous data streams, generated by modern sensed cities, open many opportunities and perspectives in terms of developing new innovative services. To exploit this potential, flexible and scalable platforms are needed to ease the design, development, deployment, and operations of new city services. In recent years, several problem-specific platforms have been proposed in different application domains; however, to boost the evolution of smart cities, we claim the need for city-oriented platforms that can be easily customized to address different day-to-day life challenging problems. In this paper, we present the main architectural challenges and solutions proposed for the design of a novel open-source platform (named PROMENADE) characterized by: i) a data-driven graph-based modeling support to ensure high generality for addressing disparate problems related to the networked nature of many city infrastructures and systems, ii) the dynamic nature of the graph entities updated in real-time from different sources (e.g., IoT/Edge networks, data providers, etc.), and iii) high efficiency, scalability and flexibility to easily support new city services. The platform is designed around a general-purpose core that provides a set of built-in standard features such as data ingestion, storage, processing, and visualization exposed as a collection of containerized microservices. A specialization of the platform has been developed for road networks monitoring. It has been deployed in OpenShift/Kubernetes and tested using realistic datasets collected from the city of Lyon, France. The analysis addresses an important problem of big data processing pipelines: the synchronization between data ingestion and processing in order to produce an accurate result in useful time. To this end, we study different approaches for synchronization and show how the end-to-end latency is kept under control by leveraging the scalability of the platform.

Fast and Intelligent Irrigation System Based on WSN.

In the agricultural industry, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) can be an important tool to promote economic growth. Using network devices in agriculture has the potential to enhance the production process. One of the key challenges WSN faces is energy efficiency. A model based on the water pipeline method is proposed in order to efficiently utilize sensor nodes in agricultural production and water distribution. A water pipeline serves as an important structure for transporting potable water across a distance for consumption or irrigation. In contrast, the biggest transportation problems of water pipelines are leaks. So, water resources may be lost as a result. These pipes need real-time monitoring to prevent such problems. The wireless sensor network technique, however, is considered one of the best solutions available today for monitoring water pipelines. A detailed analysis of agriculture is provided by the model. Aspects of WSN are discussed and their agricultural use is expounded. Moreover, this paper describes the various types of applicability of existing sensor networks in the field of agriculture, along with some technical perspectives. To achieve the best power consumption and communication for the two types of range, ZigBee wireless protocols are utilized. As such, high-performance information that provides a platform for WSNs to better support agricultural production is also included in our proposed model in order to address the shortcomings of existing WSNs regarding energy efficiency. This paper presents the improvements of the proposed solution compared to other techniques in the context of energy conservation in wireless sensor networks and in the monitoring water-saving process.