Compressible(gas/vapour)FlowinPipes

CompressibleFlowinPipes

•Acompressibleflowisoneinwhichthedensity(orspecificvolume)canchangewithdistancedown
thepipe.

•Thecomplexityofthecompressibleflowproblem,dependsonthetypeofflowthatisassumedtoexist.

-Isothermal(constanttemperature)flowrequiresmassandmomentumbalances
-Adiabatic(noheattransfer)flowrequiresmass,momentumandenergybalances.

•Wewilldevelopthemorecomplexadiabaticcase,whichcanbesimplifiedtotheisothermalcase.

•Thefactthatthedensitycanvary,introducesanextradegreeoffreedomwhichleadstosome
phenomenauniquetocompressibleflow.

•WewillalsolookathowPressure,VolumeandTemperaturearerelatedforrealgasessincewecannot
usetheidealgasequationformostindustrialflows.
 CompressibleFlowinPipes
•Foradiabaticflowofacompressiblefluid(gas/vapour)themass,momentumandenergy
balancesbecome.

∂r r ∂V
=- massbalance
∂x V ∂x

∂V 1 ∂P gcos q 2 fV
=- + - momentumbalance
∂x rV ∂x V d
†
∂T P ∂V
=- energybalance
∂x rVCv ∂x
†
•Themassbalanceisusedtosimplifythemomentumbalancegiveninthelastlecture.

†
•Themassandmomentumbalancesareusedtosimplifytheenergybalancegiveninthelastlecture.

•Theinternalenergyisrelatedtothetmperaturethroughtheequation
E = Cv (T - T0 )

†
 CompressibleFlowinPipes

x x

q z
z q

•Theslopeofthepipeisdeterminedbytheangleq,whichcanhaveavalueofbetween0and
180degrees.

•Itisdoneinthiswaysothat:

q<90 downslope gcosqispositive

q=90 horizontal gcosqiszero
q>90 upslope gcosqisnegative
 CompressibleFlowinPipes
•Thepressuregradient(∂P/∂x)isunknown.Weuseanequationofstatetodescribetherelationship
betweenpressure,volumeandtemperature.

•Foranidealgas

rRT
P= P-Pressure,Ttemperature,Mmolarmass,Rgasconstant
M

•Thisexpressioncanbedifferentiatedw.r.t.xtogivethepressuregradientintermsofdensityand
temperaturegradients.
†
∂P R Ê ∂T ∂r ˆ
= Ár +T ˜
∂x M Ë ∂x ∂x ¯

•Thepressuregradientcanthereforebereplacedinthemomentumbalanceandthesystemof
equationssolved.
†
 CompressibleFlowinPipes
•Replacing∂P/∂xusingtheidealgaslaw,∂r/∂xfromthemassbalanceand∂T/∂xfromtheenergy
balance,leadstothemomentumbalancehavingtheform

gcos q 2 fV
-
dV V d
=
dx È RT Ê R 1 ˆ˘
Í1- Á + ˜˙
Î VM Ë VMCv V ¯˚

•∂V/∂xcanthenbereplacedinthemassandenergybalancestogive

† RT È2 fV gcos q ˘
2 fr rgcos q -
- Í
dr d V 2 dT MCv V Î d V ˙˚
= massbalance = energybalance
dx È RT Ê R 1 ˆ˘ dx È RT Ê R 1 ˆ˘
Í1- Á + ˜˙ Í1- Á + ˜˙
Î VM ËVMCv V ¯˚ Î VM ËVMCv V ¯˚

† †
 CompressibleFlowExample

P=?
P=101.3kPa
200m
150000m 200m

20000m

0.5kgs-1ofamixturecontaining80%bymassmethane,10%bymassethaneand10%by
masspropaneistakenashorethepipelinepicturedabove.Thediameterofthepipeis220mm
andtheabsoluteroughnessis0.046mm.Thefollowingfittingsareintheline
2x90˚standardradiusbends
2x45˚standardradiusbends

Theinlettemperatureis356K,themolarmassofthemixtureis0.018kgmol-1andthespecific
heatcapacityatconstantvolumeforthemixtureis1862Jkg-1K-1.Theviscosityofthegasis
0.00001Pas.

Assumingthegasisideal,findthepressureatthepipelineinlet.
 CompressibleFlowExample
•Forcompressibleflows,itisusualtorepresentthefittingsasequivalentlengthsofpipe.Thisis
becausethevelocityischangingalongthelengthofthepipe,sovelocityheadsaremeaningless.

(L/d)forstandardradius90˚bend=34.4 equivalentlength=34.4x0.22=7.6m
(L/d)forstandardradius45˚bend=16.1 equivalentlength=16.1x0.22=3.5m

•Thepipecanbesplitintothreesections
-theverticaldropfromtheplatformq=0˚ cosq=1
-thehorizontalsectionalongtheseabedq=90˚ cosq=0
-therisingsectionontolandq=90.6˚ cosq=-0.01

-thetwo90˚bendsareaddedtothedropfromtheplatform L=200+15.2=215.2m
-one45˚bendisaddedtothehorizontalsection L=150000+3.5=150003.5m
-one45˚bendisaddedtotherisingsection L=20000+3.5=20003.5m

Thequantity rV isconstantoverthenlengthofthepipe.Itiscalledthemassflux(kgm-2s-1).Wecan
finditsvaluebydividingthemassflowratebythecrosssectionalareaofthepipe.
.
4m 4 ¥ 0.5 -2 -1
†mass flux = G = 2 = 2 =13.15 kg m s
pd p ¥ 0.22

†
 CompressibleFlowExample density(k
density
•TheReynoldsnumberfortheflowisgivenby 4

3.5
rVd Gd 13.51¥ 0.22
Re = = = = 297220 3
m m 0.00001
2.5
•Therelativeroughnessofthepipeis0.046/220=2.09x10-4 2
fromthefrictionfactorchart f=0.0041
† 1.5

•Finallywehavetospecifytheinletconditionsatthepipelineinlet.
Temperatu
Temperat
360
-wedonotknowtheinletpressuresowehavetoguessavalue,say600000Pa.
340
PM 600000 ¥ 0.018
-Thedensityattheinletisgivenbytheidealgaslaw r = = = 3.65 kg m-3 320
RT 8.314 ¥ 356
.
m 4 ¥ 0.5 300
-1
-ThevelocityattheinletisgivenbyV = = = 3.60 m s
rA 3.65 ¥ p ¥ 0.222 280
†

†
 Results
density(kgm
density Hkgêm3)L
-3 velocity(ms
Velocity HmêsL-1)
4 10

3.5 8
3
6
2.5
4
2

1.5 2

50000 100000 150000

x(m)
x HmL x(m)
x HmL
50000 100000 150000

Temperature(K)
Temperature HKL
Pressure(Pa)
Pressure HPaL
360 600000

500000
340
400000
320
300000
300
200000
280 100000

x(m)
x HmL x(m)
x HmL
50000 100000 150000 50000 100000 150000
 Results
•Theoutletpressurewhentheinletpressureis600000Pais181150Pa.

•Thisistoohighsotheguessedinletpressurehastobelowered.

•Theinletpressurethatgivesanoutletpressureof101300Pais576900Pa

•Attheoutlet

r=0.870kgm-3
V=15.1ms-1
T=251.9K

•Theincreaseinvelocityiscausedbythedecreaseindensity

•Thedecreaseintemperatureiscausedbytheworkrequiredforexpansiondownthepipeline
beingsuppliedbytheinternalenergyofthegas.
AdiabaticPipeFlowExample-UsingCubicEquationofState

•Flowdowntheoffshorepipelinedescribedinthepreviouslecture
•UsetheRedlichKwongequationofstate
 AdiabaticPipeFlowExample-UsingCubicEquationofState

•Thethreeequationsthathavetobesolvedfortheadiabaticflowofthegasare

∂r r ∂V
MassBalance =-
∂x V ∂x

∂V 1 ∂P g cosq 2 fV
MomentumBalance =- + -
∂x rV ∂x V d
†
∂T P ∂V
EnergyBalance =-
∂x rVC V ∂x
†
•Thewaythepressurechangeswithdistancecanberelatedtodensityandtemperature
changesusingtheandequationostate.
†
•Inthiscasewearegoingtouseacubicequationofstate.
 CubicEquationsofState
•Theidealgaslawcanonlybeusedforpressuresupto500kPa.

•Abovethispressure,attractiveforcesbetweenthegasmoleculesinvalidatetheassumptionsunderlying
theidealgaslaw.

•Insteadwemaketwomodificationstotheidealgaslaw

-Theidealgaslawpredictsthatatinfinitepressurethevolumeofthegaswouldbe
zero.Thisisnotthecasesoweintroduceaminimumvolume,b.
-Theinteractionforcesareinverselyproportionaltothevolumesquared.

•VanderWaalswasthefirstpersontosuggestthesemodifications,sothattheidealgas
lawbecomes

RT a
P= - 2 n=molarvolumem3mol-1
n -b n
•Theconstantsaandbcanbefoundifthecriticaltemperatureandpressureareknown.

Acubicequationofstatepredictsboththeliquidvolumeandthevapour/gasvolume
•†
 CubicEquationsofState
•ThevanderWaalsequationisnotallthataccurate,althoughitfollowstrendswell.

•Instead,empiricallymodifiedversionshaveappeared.ThefirstofthesewastheRedlichKwongequation

RT a
P= -
(n - b) n (n + b ) T
•Inthepipelineexampleweareusingdensityinsteadofspecificmolarvolume.Sincen=M/rwe
replacenintheequationaboveandget
†
rRT ar 2
P= -
M - rb M (M + br ) T

•Forthe80%methane,10%ethaneand10%propanemixusedintheexample
†
M=0.018kgmol-1 a=3.9283Jmol-1K0.5 b=3.21x10-5m3mol-1
 CubicEquationsofState
•Wecanusetheequationofstatetoplotthedensityasafunctionofpressureat
differenttemperatures.

•RemembertheseisothermsareaspredictedbytheEOS

100

0K
0
25
K

T=

T=20
00

80
T=3
Pressure(bar)

60

40 P=38 bar

T=150 K
20
P=10 bar

50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

density(kgm-3)
 r RK
CubicEquationsofState
rRK /r
ÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄ
ÄÄ
Ä ID
r ID

1.15

1.1

1.05

0.95

0.9

0.85

HbarL
Pressure(bar)
Pressure
5 10 15 20 25 30

•Significanterrorsinidealgaspredictionsabove5bar.
•Thereareeasiertousenon-idealgasequations(andmorecomplexones)butcubicequations
arethemostwidelyused.
•TwopopularonesaretheSoave-Redlich-Kwong(SRK)andthePeng-Robinson(PR)
equations.
 AdiabaticPipeFlowExample-UsingCubicEquationofState

•Thedifferentialofthepressure,asgivenbytheRedlichKwongEquationisgivenbelow

∂P È R ar ˘ ∂T È RT Ï rb ¸ ar Ï rb ¸˘ ∂r
= rÍ + 1.5 ˙
+Í Ì1 + ˝+ Ì - 2˝˙
∂x Î M - rb 2M (M + rb )T ˚ ∂x Î M - rb Ó M - rb ˛ M (M + rb ) Ó
T M + rb ˛˚ ∂x

•Thisismadeeasiertodigestbyputting
† È R ˘
ar
k1 = rÍ + 1.5 ˙
Î M - rb 2M ( M + rb)T ˚

RT Ï rb ¸ ar Ï rb ¸
k2 = Ì1 + ˝+ Ì - 2˝
† M - rb Ó M - rb ˛ M (M + rb) T Ó M + rb ˛

•Thedifferentialofthepressurew.r.t.xiswrittenas
† ∂P ∂T ∂r
= k1 +k2
∂x ∂x ∂x

†
 AdiabaticPipeFlowExample-UsingCubicEquationofState
Substitutingforthepressuregradientinthemass,momentumandenergybalances

2 fr rg cosq
- 2
∂r d V
= massbalance
∂x Ê k1 P k2 ˆ
Á1- 2 2 - 2˜
Ë r V CV V ¯

g cosq 2 fV
-
∂V V d
† = momentumbalance
∂x Ê k1 P k2 ˆ
Á1- 2 2 - 2˜
Ë r V CV V ¯

È 2f g cosq ˘
PÍ - 2˙
† ∂T rC
Î V d rC V V ˚
= energybalance
∂x Ê k1 P k2 ˆ
Á1- 2 2 - 2˜
Ë r V CV V ¯

†
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

r kg m- 3-3)
r(kgm V(ms
V Hm s-1- )1 L
5 16
14
4
12

3 10
8
2 6
4
1
2
x(m)
x HmL
50000 100000 150000
x HmL
x(m)
50000 100000 150000
T(K)
T HKL P(Pa)
P HkPaL
360 800

340 700
600
320
500
300 400

280 300
200
idealgas
260
100
x HmL
x(m) x(m)
x HmL
50000 100000 150000 50000 100000 150000
ComparisonBetweenIdealGasandCubicEOSPredictions

CubicEOS IdealGasLaw

Inletpressure 711320Pa 576900Pa

Outletdensity 0.910kgm-3 0.870kgm-3

Outletvelocity 14.5ms-1 15.1ms-1

Outlettemp. 241.9K 251.9K

•Themajordifferencesareintheinletpressure(19%higher)andtheoutlettemperature.

•ThesedifferencesareduetothedensitypredictedbythecubicEOSbeinghigher.
 AnalyticalResultsforIdealGases
•Itispossibletosolvetheequationsforisothermalandadiabaticflowsanalytically.Thisleadstothe
followingequations.

Ê P ˆ
G 2 lnÁ 1 ˜ +
M P(
2
2
- P1
2
) ÊL ˆ
+ 4 f Á ˜G 2 = 0 ISOTHERMALFLOW
Ë P2 ¯ 2RT Ëd ¯

2
Êg -1 r1P1 ˆÊ Èr2 ˘ ˆ g +1 r2 ÊL ˆ
† Á + Á1- ˜ - ln - 4 f Á ˜= 0 ADIABATICFLOW
2 ˜Á Í ˙˜
Ë 2g G ¯Ë Î r1 ˚ ¯ g r1 Ëd ¯

g-ratioofspecificheatcapacitiesforagas

†
•Intheseequations,ithasbeenassumedthatthepipeishorizontal,althoughinrealitychangesin
elevationbetweenoneendofthepipeandanotherdonothavealargeeffect
 IsothermalFlowofanIdealGas

200m

Anidealgasflowsdownapipediameter150mm,absoluteroughness0.046mm.Attheinletthe
temperatureis310K.Themolarmassofthegasis0.028kgmol-1.Theinletpressureis120000Pa.
Theviscosityofthegasis0.00001Pas.Theratioofspecificheatsforthisgasis1.4

rin=1.304kgm-3

Whatistheeffectofdecreasingtheoutletpressurefrom120000Paonthemassflowthroughthepipe?
 IsothermalFlowofanIdealGas
1

0.8
OutletPressure/InletPressure

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

massflow(kgs-1)