Computational Analysis of Erosion Wear Rate in a Pipeline Using the Drift Flux Models based on Eulerian Continuum Equations

This paper clearly explains the use of drift flux models based on Eulerian continuum equations in predicting erosion wear rate in a transmission pipeline. In this case, a pipeline with a diameter of 0.5m was investigated. It was found that there was a large sand particle concentration on the welded parts of the pipe which has affected the internal geometry of the pipe. From physical examination, the reduction in the nominal thickness of the pipe was related to erosion wear. Wallace et al (2000) erosion wear prediction equation was applied to determine the rate of erosion wear (E) which was found to be 4 9.9 10 × mg/g at a fluid velocity of 9.45m/s. The high erosion wear value could be attributed to the state of the pipe material and the brittle and hard nature of the sand particles.