A Computational Code for Sand Erosion Prediction in Elbows and Tees: An Improvement to the Direct Impingement Model to Account for Temperature Dependence

Prediction of erosion rate is important for material selection
and operations design in production and transportation
of oil and gas industry. Using Visual Basic Programming
(VB6), a computational package was developed to provide
a comprehensive sand erosion prediction tool. The two
models used are the Salama Model and direct impingement
model (DIM). In the Salama Model, the particle’s velocity is
assumed to be the same as the fluid velocity while in the
DIM model; the sand particle velocities are estimated and
substituted in the erosion model. Both models are critically
reviewed and verified using measured data.
The developed package is used to investigate the effects
of different parameters on erosion rate. The parameters
investigated are flow velocity, pipe diameter, and sand
production rate. The effect of temperature on fluid viscosity
and hence erosion rate is also investigated.