Hydraulic Characteristics of Pipelines Transporting Hot Waxy Crudes

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Chen ◽  
Jinjun Zhang ◽  
Hongying Li
Keyword(s):  
Flow Rate ◽  
Pour Point ◽  
Friction Loss ◽  
Low Flow ◽  
Critical Flow ◽  
Outlet Temperature ◽  
Hydraulic Characteristics ◽  
Critical Flow Rate ◽  
Waxy Crude ◽  
Oil Pipeline

Waxy crudes are generally pipelined by means of heating. In general, the friction loss of a pipeline decreases with decreasing flow rate. This is the case of isothermal pipeline. However, a hot oil pipeline operated at low flow rate might show a contrary case, i.e. friction-loss increases with decreasing flow rate. This is an unstable operation state and may result in disastrous consequence of flow ceasing if tackled improperly. For a waxy crude pipeline, this may also be exaggerated by the non-Newtonian flow characteristics at temperatures near the pour point. That is to say, there may exist a critical flow rate for pipelines transporting heated waxy crude, and in order to ensure safe operation, the flow rate of a pipeline transporting hot oil should be no less than this critical flow rate. Based on theoretical analysis and can study, the hydraulic characteristics of pipelines transporting hot waxy crudes was investigated, and an empirical model was developed correlating the critical flow rate QC and the pipelining parameters, such as the average overall heat transfer coefficient, the ground temperature, the heating temperature, etc. Another relationship was found between TZC, the outlet temperature of the pipeline corresponding to the critical flow rate, and the critical flow rate. This TZC is also the lowest pipeline outlet temperature that ensures the normal pipelining operation state. Case study on a 720mm O.D. pipeline transporting heated Daqing waxy crude with a pour point of 36 °C showed that the TZC was in a range of 31∼34.2°C.

Determination of Safe Pumping Temperature for Waxy Crude Pipelines

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinjun Zhang ◽  
Jianlin Ding ◽  
Kang Xu ◽  
Huajun Fan
Keyword(s):  
Flow Rate ◽  
Pour Point ◽  
Heating Temperature ◽  
Safety Margin ◽  
Low Flow ◽  
Stable Operation ◽  
Inlet Temperature ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Point Temperature ◽  
Waxy Crude

Flow risk of a hot waxy crude pipeline mainly comes from restart failure, i.e. oil gelation resulted from prolonged pipeline shutdown, and unstable operation at low flow rate. Once the unstable operation happens, the friction loss of the pipeline increases with decreasing flow rate and finally flow may cease if treated improperly. To avoid these flow risks, the pumping temperature of the crude is generally required to be kept above a minimum allowable temperature, and conventionally the pour point temperature is taken. This practice is effective but quite rough. Obviously, to control the inlet temperature of a heating station at the pour point temperature implies different safety margin for winter and summer operation. For large throughput hot oil pipelines, reduction of the heating temperature even by a little bit may save a great amount of fuel. Therefore, how to save fuel while ensuring safe operation has been a valuable topic for long time. On the other hand, many factors impacting the flow safety are stochastic and with uncertainty, so analysis without considering this feature can hardly yield convincible results, though this has been the common case for many years. In this paper, by taking the stochastic feature into account, a Stable Operation Index (SOI) and a Pipeline Restartability Index (PRI) were proposed to assess the flow safety of a pipeline concerning the low-flowrate stable operation and restartability after shutdown. Combining these two indexes, a Pipeline Flow Safety Index (PFSI) was adopted to assess the flow risks of hot waxy crude pipelines. On this basis a new approach to quantitatively determining the safe pumping temperature was developed and illustrated by a case study. Encouraging results show that this new approach has the potential to replace the simple rule of pour point as a guide to determining the safe pumping temperature of waxy crude pipelines.

scholarly journals Role of Shearing Dispersion and Stripping in Wax Deposition in Crude Oil Pipelines

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 4325
Author(s):  
Zhihua Wang ◽  
Yunfei Xu ◽  
Yi Zhao ◽  
Zhimin Li ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Critical Flow ◽  
Wax Deposition ◽  
Dominant Effect ◽  
Critical Flow Rate ◽  
Oil Pipelines ◽  
Oil Flow ◽  
Shearing Mechanism

Wax deposition during crude oil transmission can cause a series of negative effects and lead to problems associated with pipeline safety. A considerable number of previous works have investigated the wax deposition mechanism, inhibition technology, and remediation methods. However, studies on the shearing mechanism of wax deposition have focused largely on the characterization of this phenomena. The role of the shearing mechanism on wax deposition has not been completely clarified. This mechanism can be divided into the shearing dispersion effect caused by radial migration of wax particles and the shearing stripping effect caused by hydrodynamic scouring. From the perspective of energy analysis, a novel wax deposition model was proposed that considered the flow parameters of waxy crude oil in pipelines instead of its rheological parameters. Considering the two effects of shearing dispersion and shearing stripping coexist, with either one of them being the dominant mechanism, a shearing dispersion flux model and a shearing stripping model were established. Furthermore, a quantitative method to distinguish between the roles of shearing dispersion and shearing stripping in wax deposition was developed. The results indicated that the shearing mechanism can contribute an average of approximately 10% and a maximum of nearly 30% to the wax deposition process. With an increase in the oil flow rate, the effect of the shearing mechanism on wax deposition is enhanced, and its contribution was demonstrated to be negative; shear stripping was observed to be the dominant mechanism. A critical flow rate was observed when the dominant effect changes. When the oil flow rate is lower than the critical flow rate, the shearing dispersion effect is the dominant effect; its contribution rate increases with an increase in the oil flow temperature. When the oil flow rate is higher than the critical flow rate, the shearing stripping effect is the dominant effect; its contribution rate increases with an increase in the oil flow temperature. This understanding can be used to design operational parameters of the actual crude oil pipelines and address the potential flow assurance problems. The results of this study are of great significance for understanding the wax deposition theory of crude oil and accelerating the development of petroleum industry pipelines.

scholarly journals Study on Optimizing Operation of Preheating Commissioning for Waxy Crude Oil Pipelines

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 894256
Author(s):  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Yi Wang ◽  
Xinran Wang ◽  
Handu Dong ◽  
Jinping Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Outlet Temperature ◽  
Fluid Temperature ◽  
Governing Equations ◽  
Waxy Crude Oil ◽  
Waxy Crude ◽  
Oil Pipeline ◽  
Single Station ◽  
Oil Pipelines ◽  
Volume Method

A mathematical model is established for the preheating commissioning process of waxy crude oil pipelines. The governing equations are solved by the finite volume method and the finite difference method. Accordingly, numerical computations are made for the Niger crude oil pipeline and the Daqing-Tieling 3rd pipeline. The computational results agree well with the field test data. On this basis, fluid temperature in the process of the preheating commissioning is studied for single station-to-station pipeline. By comparing different preheating modes, it is found that the effect of forward preheating is the best. Under different preheating commissioning conditions, the optimal combination of outlet temperature and flow rate is given.

scholarly journals Unavoidable Destroyed Exergy in Crude Oil Pipelines due to Wax Precipitation

Entropy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Qinglin Cheng ◽  
JinWei Yang ◽  
Anbo Zheng ◽  
Lu Yang ◽  
Yifan Gan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Burial Depth ◽  
Outlet Temperature ◽  
Waxy Crude Oil ◽  
Wax Precipitation ◽  
Waxy Crude ◽  
Oil Pipeline ◽  
Oil Pipelines ◽  
Operation Parameters

Based on the technological requirements related to waxy crude oil pipeline transportation, both unavoidable and avoidable destroyed exergy are defined. Considering the changing characteristics of flow pattern and flow regime over the course of the oil transportation process, a method of dividing station oil pipelines into transportation intervals is suggested according to characteristic temperatures, such as the wax precipitation point and abnormal point. The critical transition temperature and the specific heat capacity of waxy crude oil are calculated, and an unavoidable destroyed exergy formula is derived. Then, taking the Daqing oil pipeline as an example, unavoidable destroyed exergy in various transportation intervals are calculated during the actual processes. Furthermore, the influential rules under various design and operation parameters are further analyzed. The maximum and minimum unavoidable destroyed exergy are 381.128 kJ/s and 30.259 kJ/s. When the design parameters are simulated, and the maximum unavoidable destroyed exergy is 625 kJ/s at the diameter about 250 mm. With the increase of insulation layer thickness, the unavoidable destroyed exergy decreases continuously, and the minimum unavoidable destroyed exergy is 22 kJ/s at 30 mm. And the burial depth has little effect on the unavoidable destroyed exergy. When the operation parameters are simulated, the destroyed exergy increases, but it is less affected by the outlet pressure. The increase amplitude of unavoidable destroyed exergy will not exceed 2% after the throughput rises to 80 m3/h. When the outlet temperature increases until 65 °C, the loss increase range will not exceed 4%. Thus, this study provides a theoretical basis for the safe and economical transportation of waxy crude oil.

Numerical Simulation of Vibration of Composite Pipelines Conveying Pulsating Fluid

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (09) ◽  
pp. 1950090 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A. Khudayarov ◽  
KH. M. Komilova ◽  
F. ZH. Turaev
Keyword(s):  
Internal Pressure ◽  
Galerkin Method ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Pulsating Flow ◽  
Integral Model ◽  
Rheological Parameters ◽  
Critical Flow ◽  
Critical Flow Rate ◽  
Weakly Singular ◽  
Pulsating Fluid

Vibration problems of pipelines made of composite materials conveying pulsating flow of gas and fluid are investigated in the paper. A dynamic model of motion of pipelines conveying pulsating fluid flow supported by a Hetenyi’s base is developed taking into account the viscosity properties of the structure material, axial forces, internal pressure and Winkler’s viscoelastic base. To describe the processes of viscoelastic material strain, the Boltzmann–Volterra integral model with weakly singular hereditary kernels is used. Using the Bubnov–Galerkin method, the problem is reduced to the study of a system of ordinary integro-differential equations (IDE). A computational algorithm is developed based on the elimination of the features of IDE with weakly singular kernels, followed by the use of quadrature formulas. The effect of rheological parameters of the pipeline material, flow rate and base parameters on the vibration of a viscoelastic pipeline conveying pulsating fluid is analyzed. The convergence analysis of the approximate solution of the Bubnov–Galerkin method is carried out. It was revealed that the viscosity parameters of the material and the pipeline base lead to a significant change in the critical flow rate. It was stated that an increase in excitation coefficient of pulsating flow and the parameter of internal pressure leads to a decrease in the critical flow rate. It is shown that an increase in the singularity parameter, the Winkler base parameter, the rigidity parameter of the continuous base layer and the Reynolds number increases the critical flow rate.

Effect of Non-Condensible Gas on the Subcooled Water Critical Flow in a Safety Valve

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Se Won Kim ◽  
Sang Kyoon Lee ◽  
Hee Cheon No
Keyword(s):  
Flow Rate ◽  
Critical Pressure ◽  
Safety Valve ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Water Flow Rate ◽  
Critical Flow ◽  
Inlet Temperature ◽  
Nitrogen Gas ◽  
Critical Flow Rate ◽  
Subcooled Water

The effect of non-condensable gas on the subcooled water critical flow in a safety valve is investigated experimentally at various subcoolings with 3 different disk lifts. To evaluate its effect on the critical pressure ratio and critical flow rate, three parameters are considered: the ratios of outlet pressure to inlet pressure, the subcooling to inlet temperature, and the gas volumetric flow to water volumetric flow are 0.15–0.23, 0.07–0.12, and 0–0.8, respectively. It turns out that the critical pressure ratio is mainly dependent on the subcooling, and its dependency on the gas fraction and the pressure drop is relatively small. When the ratio of nitrogen gas volumetric flow to water volumetric flow becomes lower than 20%, the subcooled water critical flow rate is decreased about 10% compare to the water flow rate of without non-condensable gas. However, it maintains a constant value after the ratio of gas volumetric flow to water volumetric flow becomes higher than 20%. The subcooled water critical flow correlation, which considers subcooling, disc lift, backpressure, and non-condensable gas, shows good agreement with the total present experimental data with the root mean square error 8.17%.

Critical flow rate of anode fuel exhaust in a PEM fuel cell system

2006 ◽  
Vol 156 (2) ◽  
pp. 512-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenhua H. Zhu ◽  
Robert U. Payne ◽  
Bruce J. Tatarchuk
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Pem Fuel Cell ◽  
Cell System ◽  
Critical Flow ◽  
Fuel Cell System ◽  
Critical Flow Rate

scholarly journals An analytical solution for critical withdrawal of layered fluid through a line sink in a porous medium

1997 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Zhang ◽  
G. C. Hocking ◽  
D. A. Barry
Keyword(s):  
Porous Medium ◽  
Analytical Solution ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Close Agreement ◽  
Critical Flow ◽  
Hodograph Method ◽  
Critical Flow Rate ◽  
Line Sink ◽  
Surface Profiles ◽  
Layered Fluid

AbstractFluid withdrawn through a line sink from a layered fluid in a vertically confined porous medium is considered. A hodograph method is used to obtain the shape of the interface for a given sink position at the critical flow rate. The analytical solution is compared with a more general numerical solution developed in earlier work. It was found that the surface profiles obtained by the two methods are in close agreement. However, the present work has the advantage that it gives a fully explicit solution.

scholarly journals Prediction of Two-Phase Critical Flow Rate

1965 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Levy
Keyword(s):  
Flow Rate ◽  
Thermal Equilibrium ◽  
Present Model ◽  
Critical Flow ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Critical Flow Rate ◽  
Pressure Losses ◽  
Gas Void Fraction

An analytical model to predict two-phase critical flow rate is proposed. The model is based upon thermal equilibrium, a “lumped” treatment of the two-phase velocity (each phase is represented by a single mean velocity), and upon the neglect of frictional and hydrostatic pressure losses. A comparison of the proposed predictions with available test results and previous analyses shows that: (a) The present model agrees very well with the published test data; (b) In contrast to all other analyses, the model requires no assumption about the gas void fraction.

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