GUIDELINES FOR MINIMISING EROSION IN PIPING

(to be included into Process Tools work instruction)

1.

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this design practice is to provide simple and practical guidelines for minimising the effects of erosion on carbon steel piping. The guidelines are presented in the form of threshold velocity limits for all general types of conditions and pipeline services. All pipe sizing calculations are affected by this design practice, except as below. Do not use this design practice for detailed design in critical services with major capital outlays, such as large production flowlines and risers. In such cases, a more accurate assessment is justified (see ref.3 for guidance). This design practice is based on ref.1. Where statements are not referenced, it can be assumed that they were sourced from this reference. All of the following guidelines are based on erosion rates for elbows, tees and similar direct impingement geometries, where the wear rate is most extreme. In general, where there are no direct impingement geometries, there are no erosion concerns. The only exception is for slug flow; direct sand impact is still possible in straight pipe because of high turbulence within the slug. In order to minimise erosion, susceptible fittings such as tees and standard elbows should be replaced by pipe bends, long radius elbows and Y-junctions.

2.

REFERENCES

1. BP Research and Engineering, Report No.: ESR.94.ER.070, Erosion Guidelines: Guidelines On Allowable Velocities For Avoiding Erosion And On The Assessment Of Erosion Risk In Oil And Gas Production Systems, BP International Ltd., July 1994. 2. RP14E Recommended Practice for Design and Installation of Offshore Production Platform Piping Systems, Third Edition, API, Dec. 1981. 3. S.A. Shirazi, B.S. McLaury, J.R. Shadley and E.F. Rybicki, Generalization of the API RP14E Guideline for Erosive Services, Journal of Petroleum Technology, pg693-698, August 1995. 4. DEP 31.38.01.11 - Gen (Dec 1996) Piping -General Requirements, Shell International. 5. MathCAD program gasflow.mcd, Transfield Worley, 1997 6. MathCAD program liqflow.mcd, Transfield Worley, 1997

3.

FLUID CLASSIFICATIONS

The guidelines in the summary table (Table 1), are listed by different categories of fluids, with the variables being: Fluid phase (gas, liquid, or two-phase) Corrosivity of the environment (corrosive or non-corrosive) Presence of solids (none, nominally solids free, or typical amount present). This classification is more practical than specifying the exact quantity of sand, due to the limitations in sand monitoring and in varying process conditions, from the well-head to the storage tank.

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Onshore, there are fewer solids present in the process lines, most of these are scale and rust products. Offshore pipes have measurable amounts of solids such as formation sand, frac sand from well workovers and rust.

4.

EROSION MECHANISMS

It is important to note that all following velocity limits are erosion based. They do not take into consideration other factors relevant to pipe sizing, such as DEP velocity guidelines (ref.4, page 7 & ref.5, 6), pressure drop considerations and acoustically induced noise & vibration (ref.5, 6).

4.1

Gas

In gas flow, no boundary layer exists to protect the pipe wall from impact of solids. Solid particles hit the pipe wall at the bulk gas velocity (with the highest momentum) and hence cause the highest possible damage. As the sand content increases, the threshold velocity decreases quickly (ref. 3).

4.2

Liquid

For pure liquids, the threshold velocity for flows with solids is much higher than for pure gases. This is due to the cushioning effect of the liquid stagnation layer near the pipe wall, which slows down the particle from its bulk velocity before impact. In practice, this characteristic increases with fluid viscosity, but for these guidelines it can be assumed to be constant.

4.3

Two Phase

Two phase flow, even without solids, can cause significant wastage in corrosive systems: In corrosive systems without solids, it is the protective layer of corrosion product that is being eroded away by liquid droplets or slugs. The rate of pure corrosion can be thus effectively doubled. Similarly, in corrosive systems with solids, erosion and corrosion occur synergistically. The rate of pure corrosion can also be effectively doubled. In non-corrosive systems with solids, pure erosion occurs. In non-corrosive systems without solids, metal wastage does not occur. The erosion rate is highly dependent on the flow regime, with the worst, according to ref.1, being annular mist flow. This type of flow pattern is to be avoided in order to minimise erosion. Erosion is caused by liquid droplets impacting on the pipe surface at the bulk fluid velocity, similar to solids in pure gas.

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Slug flow should be carefully considered, as it has not been thoroughly modelled. It is important to beware of over-sizing piping with two-phase flow, as this may lead to slug flow, with possible erosion. This type of erosion is caused by gas bubbles, entrained in the slug, being driven against the bottom of the pipe as the slug churns along. The gas bubbles implode, causing erosion even in the total absence of solids. Of course, under-sizing of piping will produce mist flow, with undesirable effects as discussed above.

5.

EROSION EQUATIONS

The threshold velocity is the value below which erosion is assumed to be negligible, i.e. < 0.1 mm/year. This is equivalent to 4 mpy where mpy refers to mils per year, 1 mil=0.0254 mm. This unit (one thousandth of an inch), is commonly used in corrosion/erosion literature and hence it is useful to be aware of it. Threshold velocity limits can be either: specified directly; or determined by the API RP14E formula, given the constant C in Table 1; or determined from erosion rate equations in Table 1.

5.1

Direct Specification

Metal erosion by high velocity, clean and non-corrosive two-phase flow is not likely under normal oil and gas operating conditions. Critical threshold velocities of 100 m/s were measured experimentally.

5.2

API 14E Equation

V = C / 0.5 V = fluid velocity (= mixture velocity for two-phase flow), m/s = fluid density, kg/m3 In two phase flow, the fluid should be considered to be homogeneous; then fluid density = total mass rate / total volumetric rate, and fluid velocity = total volumetric flow rate / pipe cross-sectional area

General form: Where:

It appears that the API 14E limit refers to the physical breakdown of the protective layer in flow-enhanced corrosion occurring under mildly corrosive conditions. In two-phase gas/liquid flow, the API velocity also correlates with the transition to annular mist flow. In this flow regime, high energy droplets are generated that can cause flow enhanced corrosion, (see section 4.3 above and ref.1, page 14). This is an empirical formula originally derived from experience in steam power service in 1946, with values of the constant C assigned later from those proposed by different companies. The values of C used here are as per ref.1. This equation only strictly applies to two phase flow containing no solids however, as can be seen from Table 1, it has been found useful elsewhere because of its simplicity. For corrosive two phase flow: For corrosive liquids: water: V = 165 / 0.5 V = 305 / 0.5 = 1000 => V = 9.6 m/s

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crude oil (i.e. with water*): = 850 => V = 10.5 m/s condensate (i.e. with water*): = 700 => V = 11.5 m/s * no liquid water = no corrosion

5.3

Erosion Rate Equations

There are different models that can be used to determine the rate of erosion for a specific flow situation. They all use mixed fluid velocity, solids production rate and pipe internal diameter to calculate the rate of wall thickness reduction. Most of these models are based on sharp sand particles with a diameter of 150 m. The Salama-Venkatesh (SV) and simplified Tulsa models are to be used for pure gas flow only. The SV model is theoretical, based on individual particles causing erosion by a ploughing action; with a safety factor of 7 built into the erosion rate. The Tulsa model was arrived at from a mixture of empirical data and theoretical modelling. The simplified API and RCS models can be used for either pure liquid or two-phase slug flow, as slug flow exhibits similar erosion to pure liquid. These models are based on data obtained in slurry impingement tests in laboratory-scale flow loops. For other two-phase flow regimes, such as stratified and annular flow, more complex tools such as the Churn and Harwell models must be used. For background reading on all above models, further sources such as ref.1 should be consulted. An acceptable rate of erosion was taken to be 0.1mm/year (equivalent to 4 mpy). This is based on a 20 year plant life, with an acceptable loss of pipe wall thickness of 2 mm. It is important to note the difference in results obtained by using these different models, as it gives some idea of the inaccuracies involved. The Tulsa, Salama-Venkatesh, API and RCS erosion rate equations (ref.1) are all in the form of: E = K * M * Vn / d2 Where E V M d K, n erosion rate, mm/year threshold erosion velocity of the mixture, m/s solids production rate, g/s pipe internal diameter, mm constants, as in table below K 604 4280 4.1 5.33 n 2 1.73 2.5 2 (1)

equation Salama&Venkatesh Tulsa RCS API

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Using solid loading S is more practical than the solid production rate: M=S*Q Where: Because: Then: S Q solid loading, g/m3 volumetric flow rate of fluid, m3/s

Q = 0.25 * 10-6 * V * * d2 M = 0.25 * 10-6 * S * V * * d2 ..(2)

Substituting Eq.2 into Eq.1 and re-arranging for the threshold velocity V gives the general form: 1,273,240 * E 1/(n+1) ---------------------------- K*S

V=

..(3)

E = 0.1mm/year (4mpy) is on the conservative end of the generally acceptable range of erosion rates. The minimum accurately measurable solids loading is typically 3 g/m3, fluids with less solids can be considered to be solids free. A typical solids loading would be 150 g/ m3. Hence these two solids loading are considered. For S=3 g/m3 and E=0.1mm/year, by substituting S, E, K and n into Eq.3, we get: Salama & Venkatesh eqn. (gas only) Tulsa eqn. (gas only) RCS eqn. (liquid only or slug flow) API eqn. (liquid only or slug flow) K=604 , n=2 K=4280, n=1.73 K=4.1 , n=2.5 K=5.33, n=2 => V = 4.1 m/s => V = 2.3 m/s => V = 14.0 m/s => V = 20.0 m/s

Velocities calculated from all models are given to show the inaccuracies in quantifying the effects of erosion.

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TABLE 1 EROSION LIMITS FOR IMPINGEMENT SURFACES MADE OF CARBON STEEL (see note 7) - denotes values suggested to be most applicable to in-plant piping - denotes values suggested to be most applicable to production piping Fluid Gas Corrosive ? No Sand ? None < 3 g/m3 3-300 g/m3 None < 3 g/m3 3-300 g/m3 None < 3 g/m3 3-300 g/m3 None < 3 g/m3 Threshold Velocity (m/s) (note 3) 4 1 (note 3) 4 1 (note 3) 14 4 (note 3) (water)10 (crude)11 (condensate)12 4 100 165 / 0.5 (note 4) 122 / 0.5 165 / 0.5 165 / 0.5 (note 4) 122 / 0.5 Erosion Rate Model Applicable Salama-Venkatesh or Tulsa Salama-Venkatesh or Tulsa Salama-Venkatesh or Tulsa Salama-Venkatesh or Tulsa API or RCS API or RCS API 14E, API, RCS

Yes (note 1)

Liquid

No

Yes (note 2)

Two phase

No

Yes (note 2)

3-300 g/m3 None < 3 g/m3 3-300 g/m3 None < 3 g/m3 3-300 g/m3

API or RCS none API 14E (note 5) API 14E (note 5) API 14E API 14E (note 5) API 14E (note 5)

Notes: (1) To be corrosive, the gas must contain some liquid water. However, with a very low level of liquid, the rate of corrosion is low and hence the erosion criterion can be used unchanged. (2) Erosion rate = 0.1 mm/yr, corrosion rate = 2 x (listed literature value), due to a synergistic effect between corrosion and erosion. (3) Erosion is not possible as no mechanism exists under this condition. (4) This API14E velocity correlates with transition to annular mist flow. If this velocity is exceeded, annular mist flow is possible and erosion rates will be unacceptable. (5) API and RCS models can be used for slug flow, Churn flow model for stratified flow and Harwell model for multiphase vertical flow. (6) Units of density, are kg/m3 (7) See ref.1 for other materials. Assumptions: erosion rate = 0.1 mm/yr particle size 150 m

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