Hot Oil Pipeline Numerical Simulation

In order to ensure safety of the hot oil pipeline, the primary issue is to give an allowable minimized mass flow-rate and a lowest outlet oil temperature of station under the assignment mass flow-rate for a hot oil pipeline. As hot oil pipeline inevitability is in shutdown sometime, the work of transport, the temperature drop in shutdown and restart again must be considered together. As a result of many factors which are crude oil, the variation of physical properties of the medium around the pipelines, soil, and atmosphere etc, the paper comprehensively consider the influence and change of variable outer and inner factors in order to study the works of transport, in shutdown and restart again of hot oil pipeline. And corresponding mathematical models to steady operation, unsteady operation, shutdown and restart again are established. The finite element method and predicator-corrector method are applied to solve these mathematical models. The software of mathematical simulation about hot oil pipeline is developed, which consider the versatility and can simulate various processes. By simulating an actual pipeline, the allowable minimized mass flow-rate and the lowest outlet oil temperature of station under an assignment mass flow-rate are discussed in the paper. The mathematical models and mathematical solutions are verified by actual test data.This study can provide scientific criterion for actual product management and it is important to guide the transporting petroleum production, the safe running of pipelines and the energy saving in the oil field.