Frictional forces during pigging of multiphase pipelines

Conference paper (2016)

Authors

M.H.W. Hendrix Fluid Mechanics - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
W.P. Breugem Multi Phase Systems - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
R.A.W.M. Henkes Fluid Mechanics - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering , Shell
Research Group
Fluid Mechanics (Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering) (TU Delft)
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Published Date

2016

Language

English

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Faculty

Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering

Department

Process and Energy

Research Group

Fluid Mechanics

Abstract

In this study the frictional force between a pig and the pipe wall is studied by investigating the properties of the sealing disk of the pig. This is done by subjecting the sealing disk to a wall normal force and a frictional force in a lab facility. The experimental results are compared with values obtained by Finite Element Analysis and by a simplified mechanistic model. The obtained results are important for estimating the steady state pig velocity in a pipeline, and thus for the arrival time of the pig. In addition, the results can be used to improve 1D transient pig modelling in a pipeline, where the frictional force is an input parameter.