Pipeline design – density wave amplification and slurry dynamics

The effect of density waves and slurry dynamics on slurry pipeline flow assurance cannot be predicted with current slurry pipeline design methods. Current methods are based on steady-state assumptions, assuming that the mixture velocity and density are constant in time and in the pipeline. Therefore, using current design methods a dynamically stable pipeline cannot be guaranteed. Furthermore, new experiments in vertical pipelines show that density wave amplification is possible at mixture velocities far above the critical velocity. This article presents a new temporal design method based on 1D Driftflux CFD, which is able to model growing density waves.