Performance of construction materials in multiphase liquid/solid flows

Abstract

The transport of corrosive liquids containing solids, in conventional energy and process technology as, for example, in oil and gas production, places high demands on the selection of materials for plant construction. A discussion on the chemo-mechanical load demonstrates the significance of hydrodynamics in selecting the test method. Choosing a pipe with an abrupt expansion of cross-section as a flow model yields a new method of simulating operation conditions. By subjecting ferrous materials used for hydraulic machinery to representative media from three important industries, a broad spectrum of results can be obtained. Classification of the results leads to four basic types of mass loss behaviour in materials as functions of flow rate. These findings yield guidelines for the selection of materials and the dimensioning of flow equipment.