Modeling of Sediment Bed Behavior for Critical Velocity in Horizontal Piping
This paper compares results from a predictive tool for modeling transport of a multiphase mixture (solids in a liquid) in a pipeline, (up to and including plugging) with experiments performed to support the Hanford site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). The treatment of high-level waste at the DOE Office of River Protection’s WTP will involve the transfer of high solid content suspensions through pipelines. Pipeline plugging was identified as a significant potential issue by a panel of external experts. In response to their concerns an experimental effort was initiated at PNNL to determine the critical velocities for a variety of operating conditions. A computational method has been developed to predict the dynamic behavior of a sediment bed in response to the surrounding suspension flow. The flow field is modeled using a lattice kinetics method, similar to the lattice Boltzmann method, which scales very well on highly parallel computers. Turbulent quantities are calculated using a k-epsilon RANS model. This work is part of a larger effort to develop a process simulation capability for a wide range of applications. Solids are represented using two different continuum fields. The suspended solids are treated as passive scalars in the flow field, including terms for hindered settling and Brownian diffusion. Normal stresses created by the irreversible collisions of particles during shearing are added to the pressure tensor. The sediment bed interface is represented using a continuum phase field with a diffuse interface. The bed may change with time due to settling, erosion and deposition through convection. The erosion rates are calculated using the local shear stress obtained from the turbulence model. The method is compared with data from the PNNL pipeline experiments conducted at PNNL (Poloski et al. 2008). The experimental flow loop consists of 3-inch schedule 40 piping with instrumentation for determining flow rate and pressure gradient. The simulant test particles ranged in density from 2.5 to 8 g/cc while the nominal particle size ranged from 10 to 100 μm. At the beginning of each test, the slurry flow velocity was nominally set to 8 ft/sec. The flow was incrementally ramped down, and a steady-state pressure gradient was obtained at each flow condition. A rise in pressure gradient as the flow rate drops indicates that the pipe cross-sectional area is beginning to fill with sediment. This point is referred to as the “critical velocity”. Visualization information is provided using Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT). The paper will show favorable comparison of results with data.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 973443
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-63578; TRN: US1001743
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste Management 2009 (WM'09): Waste Management for the Nuclear Renaissance, 3820-3826, Paper No. 9263
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
COMPUTERS
CONVECTION
CRITICAL VELOCITY
DEPOSITION
DIFFUSION
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
FLOW RATE
KINETICS
MIXTURES
PARTICLE SIZE
PIPELINES
PLUGGING
PRESSURE GRADIENTS
SCALARS
SEDIMENTS
SHEAR
STRESSES
TEST PARTICLES
TOMOGRAPHY
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING