Analysis of the Effects of Valve Propagated Pressure Surge on Pipe Flow英文文献资料.docVIP

Engineering, 2011, 3, 1098-1101 doi:10.4236/eng.2011.311137 Published Online November 2011 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/eng) Analysis of the Effects of Valve Propagated Pressure Surge on Pipe Flow Barinaadaa Thaddeus Lebele-Alawa, Felix Ezekiel Oparadike Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, Nigeria E-mail: lebele-alawa.thaddeus@.ng Received September 15, 2011; revised October 8, 2011; accepted October 22, 2011 Abstract This paper analyses the effects of pressure surge on pipe flow. The surge pressure investigated is that propa- gated by the emergency relief coupling valve (ERV) connected to a loading system carrying crude oil from four flow stations. The results of the analysis show remarkable changes in the fluid parameters arising from the shut down of the loading system by the ERV in the event of storm. For instance, in pipe 1 the pressure dropped from an initial value of 25 × 10 N/m to 19 × 10 N/m , while the velocity of flow increased from 5 2 5 2 1.76 m/s to 2.97 m/s. The system showed high Reynolds number indicating turbulent flow and the Mach number in pipe IV as high as 3.6 indicating supersonic flow. The consequence of the pressure drop is column separation or cavitations. If the bubbles collapse, re-surge pressures occur leading to possible leakages and rupture of the pipes. All these can be minimized by selecting appropriate surge suppression devices for the system. Keywords: Pressure, Surge, Crude-Oil, Pipes 1. Introduction orifice plate was installed reduced to about 30 meter of water while the pressure when a 75 mm orifice was in- stalled was still as high as 168 meter of water from a surge pressure of 210 meters of water. It is imperative to transport fluids through pipes to places where they are needed. Crude oil (a special type of fluid) is transported through a system of large diameter pi