Effect of Sand Particle Transportation in Oil and Gas Pipeline Erosion

Authors: Christopher Deekia Nwimae, Nigel Simms, Liyun Lao

Abstract:

Erosion in a pipe bends caused by particles is a major concern in the oil and gas fields and might cause breakdown to production equipment. This work investigates the effect of sand particle transport in an elbow using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach. Two-way coupled Euler-Lagrange and discrete phase model is employed to calculate the air/solid particle flow in the elbow. Generic erosion model in Ansys fluent and three particle rebound models are used to predict the erosion rate on the 90° elbows. The model result is compared with experimental data from the open literature validating the CFD-based predictions which reveals that due to the sand particles impinging on the wall of the elbow at high velocity, a point on the pipe elbow were observed to have started turning red due to velocity increase and the maximum erosion locations occur at 48°.

Keywords: Erosion, prediction, elbow, computational fluid dynamics, CFD.

References:

[1] Lin, N., Lan, H., Xu, Y., Dong, S., and Barber, G., 2015, “Effect of the Gas-Solid Two-Phase Flow Velocity on Elbow Erosion,” Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 26, pp. 581–586.
[2] Huang, C., Minev, P., Luo, J., and Nandakumar, K., 2010, “A Phenomenological Model for Erosion of Material in a Horizontal Slurry Pipeline Flow,” Wear, 269(3–4), pp. 190–196.
[3] American Petroleum Institute, 1991, API Recommended Practice 14E Design and Installation of Offshore Production Platform Piping Systems.
[4] Tilly, G. P., 1979, “Erosion Caused by Impact of Solid Particles,” 13, pp. 287–319.
[5] Salama, M. M., 2000, “An Alternative to Api 14e Erosional Velocity Limits for Sand-Laden Fluids,” Journal of Energy Resources Technology, Transactions of the ASME, 122(2), pp. 71–77.
[6] Zhang, Y., Reuterfors, E. P., McLaury, B. S., Shirazi, S. A., and Rybicki, E. F., 2007, “Comparison of Computed and Measured Particle Velocities and Erosion in Water and Air Flows,” Wear, 263(1-6 SPEC. ISS.), pp. 330–338.
[7] Chen, X., McLaury, B. S., and Shirazi, S. A., 2006, “A Comprehensive Procedure to Estimate Erosion in Elbows for Gas/Liquid/Sand Multiphase Flow,” Journal of Energy Resources Technology, Transactions of the ASME, 128(1), pp. 70–78.
[8] Peng, W., and Cao, X., 2016, “Numerical Prediction of Erosion Distributions and Solid Particle Trajectories in Elbows for Gas-Solid Flow,” Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 30, pp. 455–470.
[9] Faeth, G. M., 1986, “Spray Atomization and Combustion,” AIAA, . 86-0136, pp. 1–17.
[10] Amsden, A., O’Rourke, P., and Butler, T., 1989, KIVA-II: A Computer Program for Chemically Reactive Flows with Sprays.
[11] Grant, G., and Tabakoff, W., 1975, “Erosion Prediction in Turbomachinery Resulting from Environmental Solid Particles,” Journal of Aircraft, 12(5), pp. 471–478.
[12] Sommerfeld, M., and Huber, N., 1999, “Experimental Analysis of Modelling of Particle-Wall Collisions,” International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 25(6–7), pp. 1457–1489.
[13] Forder, A., Thew, M., and Harrison, D., 1998, “A Numerical Investigation of Solid Particle Erosion Experienced within Oilfield Control Valves,” Wear, 216(2), pp. 184–193.