Similarity criteria of the solid particle erosion in elbows between model experiments and engineering for dry gas and gas–mist flows

• Similarity criteria on erosion are considered between model experiments and engineering.
• The erosion in production can be predicted through similar experimental design.
• The similarity relationship is judged by the equivalence of dimensionless similarity numbers.

Solid particle erosion in elbows is a prominent problem encountered in hydrocarbon transportation pipelines, especially for dry gas and gas–mist flows. There is great difference in flow conditions between model experiments and engineering. A set of similarity criteria is proposed to analyze the corresponding relationship between engineering conditions and that in laboratory tests. The similarity criteria aim at building a procedure that can predict the maximum penetration rate and its position in engineering conditions through the corresponding experimental design, reducing the heavy monitoring work in field circumstances. Principal dimensionless numbers on the flow field and particle response behaviors are presented to make up the similarity relationship between engineering cases and laboratory tests, respectively for dry gas and gas–mist flows. For several typical lab tests from the literature, each of them is extrapolated to a series of similar engineering cases which vary in pipe diameter and operating pressure. Then the typical laboratory tests and the corresponding engineering cases are calculated by the validated CFD method and four classic empirical or semi-empirical models to get the dimensionless penetration rates and maximum erosion positions, which are the two dimensionless similarity judgment numbers. The judgment numbers show good equivalence trends for the same series of laboratory test and its corresponding engineering cases. The similarity criteria developed in this study are verified and prove to be rational and efficient in predicting erosion in engineering through model experimental design.

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