Application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to flow simulation and erosion prediction in single-phase and multiphase flow

There are two primary goals of this study: to determine the relative erosion resistance between plug tees and elbows for single-phase flow and to estimate the erosion in elbows for multiphase flow using a relatively simplistic approach.; For single-phase flow, a CFD-based erosion prediction procedure was applied to predict the erosion in elbows and plug tees for a broad range of flow conditions. This CFD-based erosion prediction procedure was significantly improved by implementing a stochastic particle rebound model. The penetration ratio between the plug tee (both End Region and Side & Corner Region) and the elbow was determined numerically by applying the implemented stochastic particle rebound model. Simulations illustrate that plug tees experience greater erosion than elbows for conditions where the carrier fluid has high density and viscosity, like water. The predictions agree with Bourgoyne's (1989) experimental observations. Experimental erosion tests were conducted to validate simulation results obtained in air. Based on experimental data and simulation results, a simplified model was developed to calculate the penetration ratio between the Side & Corner Region of the plug tee and the elbow. The value of 0.5 was recommended for the penetration ratio between the End Region of the plug tee and the elbow.; Immaturity of multiphase flow modeling and particle tracking determines that the single-phase CFD-based erosion prediction procedure can not be simply adopted for erosion prediction in multiphase flow. Consequently, a mechanistic and CFD combined approach was proposed to estimate the erosion in elbows for multiphase flow. The flow regimes covered by this study include bubbly flow, slug flow, and annular/annular-mist flow. The key of this approach is to identify a representative single-phase flow and to determine the effective sand mass ratio that result in an accurate erosion prediction for individual flow patterns. The single-phase CFD based erosion prediction procedure was employed to calculate the erosion for the resulting representative single-phase flow. The proposed erosion estimate approaches were validated by the experimental data of Bourgoyne (1989) and Salama (1998). Reasonable agreement was achieved between the predictions and the data.