The rapid growth of liquefied natural gas consumption makes the issues of its transportation more urgent. At present, liquefied natural gas pipeline transportation is carried out only by means of short length process lines. This paper discusses the main features of cryogenic liquids pipeline transportation that obstruct its spread. The proposed model allows to carry out thermal and hydraulic calculations of an underground cryogenic pipeline. The distinctive feature of this model is the fact that it takes into account the changes in basic thermodynamic parameters of cryogenic liquid. The model is based on the Darcy-Weisbach equation and a differential heat transfer equation. In addition, the influence of the Joule-Thomson coefficient inversion on the temperature of the pumping cryogenic liquid was discussed. The comparative analysis of the pipeline construction efficiency made of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene and AISI 321 steel was conducted. It was found that the use of polymer materials contributes to an increase in the transportation distance. The developed model can be applied for estimation of the transportation parameters change of single-phase fluid flow. The obtained results can be used in initial analysis of the process lines designing and construction.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is one of the most promising fuels for energy supply because it has a favorable combination of environmental and economic properties in connection with new trends aimed at the development of ecological and sustainable consumption of natural resources, which ensure a constant growth in LNG consumption. The article presents an analytical review of the main technical solutions for the construction of cryogenic pipelines and insulating coating structures. The ANSYS Fluent software was used for simulation of the LNG flow in a pipeline section 10 m long with an outer diameter of 108 mm for three types of insulating coating (polyurethane (PU) foam, aerogel, and vacuum-insulated pipe (VIP)). In addition, an assessment was made of the insulating effect on the LNG temperature distribution along the length of the pipeline. The largest increase in temperature from 113 K to 113.61 K occurs in PU foam-insulated pipes; the smallest was observed in VIP. Further, as an alternative to steel, the use of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) for pipeline material was considered. The optimal result in terms of temperature distributions was obtained while simulating the flow of an LNG pipeline with PU foam by increasing the thickness of the insulating coating to 0.05 m.
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