Effects of Flow Regime on Solids Deposition in Multiphase Petroleum Flow

This paper undertook a numerical study to investigate the effects of flow patterns on solids deposition in petroleum pipelines, which are known to contribute and accelerate internal corrosion.  In this study, the flow pattern was first determined based on the superficial liquid velocity, superficial gas velocity, as well as pipeline angles. The velocity fields of stratified flow, annular mist, bubble flow, as well as slug flow were simulated through writing in-house codes and commercial software with essential simplification and assumption. Based on the acquired velocity distribution of the liquid phase, the particle trajectories were tracked by solving the motion equation using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. Through an approximated interaction model between particles and metal wall, the behaviours of solids deposition in petroleum pipelines can be understood.  Furthermore, the effects of particle properties (e.g., size, density, and shape), liquid properties (e.g., viscosity and velocity), and terrains (e.g., horizontal, uphill, and downhill) can be characterized. This work was done in conjunction with the ongoing development of Broadsword’s internal corrosion prediction model (ICPM) called enpICDA^TM which can predict pipeline corrosion and related under-deposit corrosion.