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Compressible Gas Flow in Pipelines

The document discusses how equations for modeling gas flow in pipelines often assume gases behave ideally, but this assumption breaks down at high pressures, temperatures, or flow rates. Real gases deviate from ideal behavior due to intermolecular forces and finite molecular size. The document recommends using software that solves for real gas conditions using an equation of state, rather than assuming ideal gas behavior, to improve accuracy in modeling complex, high-pressure gas pipeline systems.

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Rahul Chandrawar
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56 views3 pages

Compressible Gas Flow in Pipelines

The document discusses how equations for modeling gas flow in pipelines often assume gases behave ideally, but this assumption breaks down at high pressures, temperatures, or flow rates. Real gases deviate from ideal behavior due to intermolecular forces and finite molecular size. The document recommends using software that solves for real gas conditions using an equation of state, rather than assuming ideal gas behavior, to improve accuracy in modeling complex, high-pressure gas pipeline systems.

Uploaded by

Rahul Chandrawar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Compressible Gas Flow in Pipelines

fluidflowinfo.com/gas-flow-in-pipelines/

James May 2, 2018


McLoone

Many equations used for the solution of gas flow in pipelines do not take into
consideration rigorously the deviation of natural gas from ideal gas behaviour. For low-
pressure gas flow, the error is considered low, however, for high pressures, high flow
rates, low temperatures or the closer the gas is to change in phase state, this error can
be significant. This deviation from ideality must be taken into consideration. It is
therefore important when modeling gas pipe flow systems to use a
software tool which doesn’t make the simplifying assumptions of gas ideality.

FluidFlow does not make these simplifying assumptions but solves for real gas
conditions using an equation of state. The simplified application of the ideal gas law (Pv
= nRT) makes several assumptions as outlined below;

– Particles in an ideal gas are in constant, random, straight-line motion.


– The volume occupied by the particles is negligible relative to the volume of the
enclosure.
– The collisions between particles are elastic with no loss of kinetic energy.
– There are no intermolecular forces acting between the particles in an ideal gas.

An ideal gas assumes a large number of point particles colliding elastically. It neglects
any short-range intermolecular forces resulting from repulsion or attraction due to
molecular charges and the fact that molecules have a finite volume, i.e. are not infinitely
small! This means a real gas is not infinitely compressible whereas an ideal gas has no
such limitations.

Although the ideal gas law may be a useful simplified description of gases, all real gases
fail to obey this relationship to some degree. The extent to which a real gas departs from
ideal behaviour can be seen by rearranging the ideal-gas equation to solve for n (PV/RT
= n). This form of the equation tells us that for 1 mol of an ideal gas (n=1), the
quantity PV/RT equals 1 at all pressures. However, under the conditions of real gas flow
outlined earlier, a product of PV divided by RT is no longer equal to one.

In the graph shown in Figure 1, we can see the deviation of nitrogen gas from ideal gas
behaviour. On the y-axis, we have the product of PV/RT. On the x-axis, were have
pressure. The dashed blue line shows the behaviour of an ideal gas for which the product
of PV/RT is equal to one under any conditions. The orange, grey and yellow dashed
lines show the deviation of nitrogen gas from ideal gas behaviour at different
temperatures and pressures. These dashed lines show a considerable deviation of ideal
gas behaviour. Notice how the conditions that produce this curve are high pressure and
low temperature.

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Figure 1: Effect of Temperature & Pressure on the Behaviour of Nitrogen
Gas.

As high pressures, the deviation from ideal behaviour is considerable and is different for
each gas. Real gases, therefore, do not behave ideally at high pressures.

It is noted in many literature sources that the ideal gas equations can be used with some
degree of accuracy under certain specific conditions, i.e. at low pressures. Caution
should, however, be exercised when applying gas ideality and a thorough check of
system operating conditions to ensure the design solution falls within the criteria.

FluidFlow doesn’t make the simplifying and often error-prone assumption of applying
gas ideality but solves for real gas conditions using an equation of state. The software,
therefore, takes into account the gas compressibility factor (Z) and solves gas flow
systems using a marching algorithm for incremental pipe length. This ensures a much
higher level of solution accuracy.

The solution of gas flow systems becomes more complex when dealing with gas
mixtures and large systems. It is recommended that a suitable software tool should is
selected to design and solve gas flow systems in an attempt to eliminate the potential for
errors resulting from the simplification of ideal gas flow.
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In conclusion, let’s ponder the following quote:

“Perfect gases are like perfect people: They do not exist.”

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