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Size Letdown
Lines for Pressure Surges
Loss of liquid in high-pressure
liquid/vapor separators may
result in a high-pressure gas flow in
the letdown circuit, causing damage
to piping and equipment. Here is
how to design the system to avoid
Gianni Anci, damage should a pressurized gas
EPSI
flow occur.
pending upon the type of fluid and the operating pressures, Fluid properties
flashing can occur in the liquid being let down from high to The model uses average properties for the fluid (liquid
low pressure. The presence of gas bubbles or even a second containing dispersed gas):
phase reduces the apparent overall or “effective” value of the The mean fluid density is evaluated with Eq. 1:
bulk modulus and the speed of propagation of the pressure
wave in the fluid, thus reducing the severity of the pressure ρmix = ε ρgas + (1 - ε) ρliq (1)
surge for single-phase conditions. This is accounted for by
adopting suitably corrected bulk properties for the fluid. This The speed of propagation of sound in the fluid, is evaluat-
approach was experimentally verified to provide accurate re- ed by using:
sults for volumetric fractions of gases in the liquid up to 3%
(2). a= K eff /ρ mix (2)
• The fluid injected from the upstream separator during
the transient consists of gas only: entrained liquid, if any, is and is influenced by the fraction of gas in the gas/liquid mix-
considered to contribute a negligible fraction to the total vol- ture, and by the elastic properties of the pipe. An effective
ume upstream of the gas/liquid interface. bulk modulus is defined by:
• The inertia effect and the friction losses of the gas are
considered negligible; the pressure in the volume (pipe seg- Keff = 1/[(1 - ε)/Kliq + ε/Kgas + d/Es] (3)
ment) occupied by the gas is considered uniform.
• The gas pressure follows the ideal gas law. At low temperatures and moderate pressures, the gas-
• Neither heat nor mass transfer occurs at the gas/liquid phase bulk modulus may be approximated by the local gas
interface. absolute pressure.
• The pressure upstream of the valve in the gas/liquid sep-
arator remains constant throughout the computation period. Basic equations
• The gas injection rate is calculated for a constant open- The basic equations in water-hammer analysis are the
ing of the control valve (i.e., assuming the valve coefficient equations of motion and continuity. By considering an ele-
corresponds to steady-state operation at liquid design rate). ment of fluid in a pipe, the equation of motion may be ex-
• The compression of the gas in the gas-filled portion of pressed by Eq. 4, while the equation of continuity may be ex-
the pipeline is isothermal. pressed by Eq. 5:
The model considers the injection of gas into the pipeline
fV V
through the control valve, with the gas occupying the vol- g ∂H + V ∂V + ∂V + =0 (4)
ume of pipe between the valve and the previous fluid inter- ∂x ∂x ∂t 2D
face (possibly a liquid with dispersed gas). The gas/fluid in-
terface moves along the pipe, depending on the initial a 2 ∂V + ∂H + V ∂H = 0 (5)
(steady-state) conditions of the liquid, and on the evolution g ∂x ∂t ∂x
of the pressure at the interface. The pressure buildup in the
line accelerates the fluid, which offers resistance due to iner- Equations 4 and 5 contain the two unknowns V and H. We
tia and friction. can consider a linear combination of the two equations, in the
The pressure on the gas/fluid interface is calculated using form of Eq. 6, that can be rearranged in the form of Eq. 7.
the valve’s flowrate equation and mass balance, applying the
perfect gas law; it converges on the equilibrium pressure by Eq. 4 + λ Eq. 5 = 0 (6)
using the secant method. The transient pressure and velocity
variations in the fluid are calculated by the equation of mo- λ is a dimensionless multiplier used for the linear combi-
tion and the equation of continuity, following the classical nation of the two equations. The linear combination permits
method used in water-hammer analysis. transforming the partial-derivative equations into total-deriva-
The integration of the differential equations is performed tive ones, and enables solving them under some conditions.
by the method of characteristics, with finite-difference ap-
proximations in time and space. Piping components are ∂H V + λg + ∂H + λ ∂V V + a 2 + ∂V +
characterized by mathematically formulating appropriate ∂x ∂t ∂x gλ ∂t
boundary conditions describing the corresponding flow
properties. For simplicity, no inline valves or other compo- fV V
λ =0 (7)
nents are considered, as a simple pipe appears to be general- 2D
ly adequate and sufficient to characterize most letdown cir-
cuits. If more complex components or equipment are pre- If Eq. 8 and 9 are satisfied, then the first bracket of Eq. 7
sent, specific boundary conditions or mathematical models would be the total derivative, dH/dt, and the second bracket
should be adopted. would be the total derivative, dV/dt, as in Eqs. 10 and 11:
∆t ∆t
P
∆t C+ C-
A C B
x
A R C S B
■ Figure 1. Characteristic curves in space-time region.
a ∆t
RC = AC *
∆x
■ Figure 2. Interpolation scheme used in solving equations.
dx = V + λg (8)
dt
and C-, at Point P, the values of the unknowns must satisfy
dx = V + a 2 both equations. So, the two equations may be solved for the
dt λg (9)
two unknowns to yield the values of head, H, and velocity, V.
At this point Eqs. 14 and 16 may be solved for x and t.
dH = ∂H dx + ∂H Consequently, the solution is carried out along the character-
dt ∂x dt ∂t (10)
istics, starting from known conditions, by finding new inter-
sections, so that velocity and head values are calculated for
dV = ∂V dx + ∂V the next time-step.
dt ∂x dt ∂t (11)
Finite differences
Equations 8 and 9 must be equivalent, which implies that For the purpose of calculation, the pipe is considered to be
Eq. 12 is also valid: made of N equally spaced segments, of length ∆x. Head, H,
and fluid velocity, V, are initially known for each of these
2
V + λg = V + a (12) sections from steady-state analysis. In the computation, Eqs.
λg 14 and 16 are used to determine the resulting time-step, and,
hence, the mesh size in the grid system. Along the character-
Solving for λ, we obtain λ = ± (a/g). Thus, these two real, istic curves, the time increment, ∆t, is related to the space in-
distinct values of λ convert the two partial differential equa- crement, ∆x, by: ∆t = ∆x/a.
tions into two total differential equations, subject to the re- By using a first-order approximation in the integration
strictions of Eqs. 8 and 9. along the C+ and C- characteristics, Eqs. 13 and 16 be-
Substituting for λ, we obtain Eqs. 13, 14, 15 and 16. Since come Eq. 17 along the C+ characteristic, and Eq. 18 along
in water-hammer calculations the value of V is small com- the C- characteristic:
pared with a, it may be dropped.
g f VA VA
g dH dV fV V a H P – H A + VP – V A + 2D ∆t = 0 (17)
a dt + dt + 2D = 0 (13)
dx = V + a ≅ a g f VB VB
dt
(14) a H P – H B + VP – V B + 2D ∆t = 0 (18)
g fV V
– a dH + dV + =0 (15) Adding Eqs. 17 and 18 eliminates HP, while subtracting
dt dt 2D eliminates VP, resulting in Eqs. 19 and 20, respectively:
dx = V – a ≅ –a
dt
(16) [
VP = 0.5 V A + V B + g/a H A – H B
25
4.0 s
20
Separator
3.0 s
Pressure, barg
0.6 s
15
1.0 s 2.0 s
Gas Liquid 10
1.4 s
5 0.2 s
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Distance, m
0
0 14 28 42 56 70 84 98
■ Figure 3. Interface model for separator and downstream piping.
Pipe Length, m
From an analysis of these equations, it can be seen that the ■ Figure 4. Pressure profiles along the pipe length.
terms of the right-hand sides are constants and known values
from the previous time-step. The solution is then carried out 25
at the intersections of the characteristic curves, as shown in
Figure 1. The solution can be carried out only in a limited re- 20 4.0 s
gion, unless information is given for external conditions as a
Flluid Velocity, m/s 3.0 s
function of time for x = 0 and for x = L (at the initial and ter-
minal sections of the pipeline). Once the piezometric head 15
0.2 s
(pressure expressed as height of liquid column) and the fluid 1.4 s
velocity values are known for a given time-step, the proce- 10
dure is repeated for the next step, until the required time peri- 1.0 s
0.6 s
od is covered.
5
In standard water-hammer analysis two simplifying as-
sumptions are often made: 2.0 s
0
1. The bulk properties of the fluid are considered constant
0 14 28 42 56 70 84 98
throughout the pipe length.
2. The time-step is taken as the time interval required by a Pipe Length, m
sound wave to travel the length of the space step (∆t = ∆x/a).
This avoids the need for interpolation, since the space-time ■ Figure 5. Velocity profiles along the pipe length.
grid points are always on the characteristic curves.
In reality in our case, the pressure surge will cause
changes in the density and the bulk modulus of the dis- 4.5
persed gas phase, thus causing a variation in the speed of
propagation of the pressure wave. It is therefore necessary 4
to introduce local fluid properties (density and bulk modu-
lus) to evaluate the wave speed, and to select a fixed inte- 3.5
gration time-step not linked to the wave propagation speed
(which varies as the surge propagates along the line). Inter- 3
polation of the fluid velocity and head values have been in-
2.5
Times, s
Table 1. Data for methanol example. Table 2. Influence of parameters on maximum peak pressure.
Parameter Value Maximum Pressure Developed in Letdown Circuit, barg
High-pressure separator pressure, barg 80 % Gas volume downstream control valve
Low-pressure flash vessel pressure, barg 5 0.5% 3% 15%
Liquid density, kg/m3 800
Initial liquid 20 m3/h 18.15 13.94 10.43
Liquid viscosity, cP 0.6
flowrate
Liquid bulk modulus, kg/m2 2 E+07 60 m3/h 28.75 21.76 16.69
Volume fraction of gas downstream control valve 0.005–0.15 100 m3/h 35.90 27.56 20.82
Liquid flowrate before loss of level, m3/h 20–100
Gas molecular weight 4
ly upon loss of level, and propagates with a step profile at
Gas specific-heat ratio 1.4
sonic speed along the pipe. When the whole pipe is pressur-
ized, a gradual variation, caused by friction losses, is estab-
Pipe characteristics lished between the interface front and the pipe outlet. The
Dia., mm 154 profile becomes steeper as the fluid is accelerated by the
pushing action of the gas.
Thickness, mm 7
• Only for large, initial gas-volume-fractions does the
Material Carbon steel pressure slightly increase during propagation. This can be ex-
Roughness, mm 0.05 plained as due to a slowdown of the interface displacement
Modulus of elasticity, kg/m2 2 E+10 speed due to the increase of fluid density caused by compres-
sion of the gas fraction.
Total length downstream valve, m 100
• The flow velocity of the fluid, after the propagation of
the pressure wave from the interface to the pipe outlet, in-
pressure, which implies zero flow across the valve) and Pb = creases gradually, with a bulk motion of the fluid in the pipe,
0 (pressure downstream of the valve equal to zero, which im- and reaches its maximum value when the interface reaches
plies maximum flow across the valve). At each step, the pre- the pipe outlet. The total displacement of the fluid occurs in a
viously calculated value of the pressure is taken as a new se- few seconds as the fluid velocity reaches high values.
cant pole, substituting the previous pole (P = Psep in the ini- • Maximum caution in design appears to be required in
tial step), until the values calculated in two subsequent cycles cases such as high-pressure gas solvent treating, due to the
are within a given tolerance (fixed at a relative error of 10–4 ). high density of the liquid and the relatively low amount of gas
being released by the solvent in the letdown process. These
Example and insights gained factors tend to involve higher pressures and larger thrusts on
A typical example is presented that evaluates the pressure supports, due to larger changes in density at the interface.
profiles in the letdown line for a raw condensate letdown cir-
cuit from a methanol synthesis loop. Typical conditions se- Computer program
lected are reported in Table 1. Figures 4 and 5 show the pres- A listing of a BASIC computer program is available on
sure and velocity profiles in the letdown piping circuits, eval- the author’s web page at http://web.tiscali.it/Ancihome. CEP
uated at different times after the gas breakthrough. Figure 6
traces the position of the interface as a function of time, dur-
ing the displacement of the initial fluid by the injected gas. Literature Cited
Parameters for these three figures are 3% flash and 60 m3/h.
1. Wylie E. B., et al., “Fluid Transients in Systems,” Prentice Hall, En-
The study was performed for various different gas vol- glewood Cliffs, NJ (1993)
ume-fractions in the liquid downstream of the control valve 2. Swaffield & Boldy, website: www.iteract.cam.ac.uk/wh/SWAFFIELD
(as calculated at steady-state conditions, before gas break- 3. “Control Valve Sizing and Selection Handbook,” Masoneilan Co., Bul-
through and surge occurrence), and different initial flow con- letin OZ 1000 (June 1994) (now Dresser Flow Control, Avon, MA).
ditions. The influence of these parameters on the peak value
of the pressure is summarized in Table 2. The following gen-
eral conclusions can be drawn:
GIANNI ANCI is a founder and managing director of EPSI, a process
• The calculated pressure and velocity profiles at various consulting company in Rome, Italy (E-mail: ganci@technip.com). He has
time intervals confirm the intuitive expectations: the presence nearly 30 years of experience in process synthesis, design and
of a larger gas fraction dampens the pressure surge, and re- engineering. He is the author of Italian Patent No. 1276517, “Simultaneous
duces the speed of propagation of the pressure front. Also, Production of Aviation Jet Fuel and Low Sulphur Gasoil by Hydrotreatment.”
His current commitments are with Technip Italy as process and engineering
the maximum fluid velocity is reduced with respect to lower manager in project management support contracts in Argentina for LNG
gas fractions. recovery at Compañia MEGA and in a methanol plant for Repsol-YPF. He is a
• The maximum pressure generally is reached immediate- graduate of Rome Univ., Italy, and a chartered professional engineer.