Prediction of the Maximum Erosion Rate of Gas–Solid Two-Phase Flow Pipelines

Erosion is one of the important reasons for the thickness decrease and perforation of the pipe walls. Understanding the gas–solid two-phase flow pipe erosion mechanism is the basis for monitoring pipe erosion. According to the structural characteristics and working conditions of the gas–solid two-phase flow pipeline in a gas transmission station, a gas–solid two-phase flow pipe erosion finite element model was established and validated by combining it with field test data. Then, the gas–solid two-phase flow pipeline erosion characteristics under different pressures, solid contents, throttle valve openings, and pipe diameters were studied. On this basis, a maximum erosion rate prediction equation was put forward after verification by using actual wall thickness detection data. Results show the following: (1) The absolute error of the maximum erosion rate between the model results and the test datum is ≤10.75%. (2) The outer cambered surface of the bend after the throttle valve is the most seriously eroded areas. (3) The maximum erosion rate increases with pressure, solid content and throttle valve opening increasing, but, along with the change of the pipe diameter, the maximum erosion rate increases at first and then decreases with pipe diameter increasing for throttle valve openings of 20% and 30%, and it decreases with pipe diameter increasing for a throttle valve opening of 50%. (4) A maximum erosion rate prediction equation, involving pressure, solid content, opening of the throttle valve, and pipe diameter, is proposed and is verified that the absolute percentage error between the prediction equation calculation results and the field test datum is ≤11.11%. It would seem that this maximum erosion rate prediction equation effectively improves the accuracy of predicting the gas–solid two-phase flow pipe erosion rate in a gas transmission station.