PRESSURE DROP IN GAS PIPELINES

J n Steinar Gumundsson
TPG4140 Natural Gas
September 16, 2010
Importance of pressure drop and different pipes
Pressure drop in pipelines (depends on d
5
)
Equations for liquid and gas flow
North Sea gas pipelines
Friction factor and roughness
R&D on friction (roughness) and pressure drop
Summary
A: Wells, B: Flowlines, C: Risers, D: Process pipes, E: Off-Loading, F: Pipelines
Importance of pressure drop
Transport capacity, we want to be able to push as much gas as
possible through existing pipelines to customers. Norwegian export
pipelines 100 BCM annually.
Expensive gas compression (power and emissions) needed to give
sufficient inlet pressure to overcome pressure drop. Gas turbines
drive centrifugal compressors offshore (and on land?). Largest
consumption of power offshore.
Export pipelines have epoxy coating to make wall smoother to
reduce wall friction and hence greater production rate.
Production capacity (subsea-to-beach), we want to maintain
wellhead pressure as low as possible to sustain large production
rate from gas fields with time. Eventually we need subsea
compression.
Large diameter pipelines used to avoid compression platforms along
export gas pipelines. On land, compressor stations along pipeline.
Pressure and Temperature With Distance
Booster compressor duty: 15.5 MW (most likely roughness)
sgard Transport (69.4 vs. 76.9 MSm/d)
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
190
200
210
0 200 400 600 800
Di stance KP (km)
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
g
)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(

C
)
Pressure Booster_press Temperature Booster_temp
Aamodt (2006)
Natural Gas Pipeline
Pressure Drop in Pipelines
where g (gravitation), a and f stand for hydrostatic, acceleration and
friction, respectively. The three terms can be expressed as
f a g
p p p p A + A + A = A
L u
d
f
p
u u p
L g p
f
a
g
A = A
A = A
A = A
2
1
2
sin

o
The total pressure drop in pipelines and wells consists of three terms
The angel is measured from horizontal and the lenght is the pipe lenght,
not height over/under the surface. The pressure drop due to friction is
the Darcy-Weisbach equation.
Darcy-Weisbach Equation
Darcy-Weisbach Equation
Liquid Flow and When Gas Average Density Used
t t t L r r p A = A 2
2
L
p r
A
A
=
2
t
2
8
1
u f t =
2
8
1
2
u f
L
p r
=
A
A
2
2
u
d
L f
p
A
= A
Darcy-Weisbach Equation
Force balance, steady-state pipe flow
w
rdL r dp t t t 2
2
=
dL
dp r
w
2
= t
2
8
1
u f
w
t =
2
8
1
2
u f
dL
dp r
=
2
2
u
d
L f
p
f
= A
North Sea Pipelines
Sletfjerding, E. (1999): Friction Factor in Smooth and Rough Gas Pipelines, Dr.Ing.,
Petroleum, NTNU.
North Sea Pipelines
Sletfjerding, E. (1999): Friction Factor in Smooth and Rough Gas Pipelines, Dr.Ing.,
Petroleum, NTNU.
North Sea Pipelines
Sletfjerding, E. (1999): Friction Factor in Smooth and Rough Gas Pipelines, Dr.Ing.,
Petroleum, NTNU.
North Sea Pipelines: Pressure Gradient
Sletfjerding, E. (1999): Friction Factor in Smooth and Rough Gas Pipelines, Dr.Ing.,
Petroleum, NTNU.
6,06
348,40 6,30 812,8 95,5 146,7 H
167,60 10,66 227,0 112,1 136,3 G
334,10 9,44 48,5 67,45 72,03 F
334,10 6,95 619,0 86,8 129,85 E
185,40 3,26 48,5 63,64 65,22 D
185,40 2,23 619,0 94,16 107,97 C
383,50 6,81 303,5 145,59 166,26 B
205,50 2,81 812,4 85,59 108,42 A
kg/s bar/100 km km bar bar
m (p1-p2)/L L p2 p1
Pressure Gradient in Gas Pipelines
6 (average 8 pipelines)
15-25
North Sea, Sletfjerding
(1999)
Canada, Hughes (1993)*
Gradient (bar/100 km)
* Mokhatab o.a. (2006, s. 419)
Maximum Gas Velocity*
*NORSOK P-001 (1999)
Sletfjerdings (1999) North Sea Pipelines A-H, u
average
(m/s), only 10-20 % av NORSOK u
maximum
Pressure Drop Horizontal Gas Pipeline
( ) 0 ln
2
1
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
= +
|
|
.
|

\
|
L
p
p
f
d
p p
zRT fm
M dA
Frictional Pressure Drop Gas Pipeline
Horizontal Pipeline, Inclined Well
2
2
u
d
L f
p
f
= A
( ) 0 L
p
p
ln
f
d
p p
RT z m f
M A d
2
1
2
2 2
1
2
2
2
2
= +
|
|
.
|

\
|

( ) ( ) | | L ag
g a
b
L ag p p o
o
o sin 2 exp 1
sin
sin 2 exp
2
2
1
2
2
=
zRT
M
a =
d A
fm
b
2
2
2
=
Friction Factor in Pipelines
Nikuradses Sand-Grain Data
Moody Chart
Add reference to fluid mechanics text book.
Blasius Equation
000 . 100 Re
Re
316 , 0
25 , 0
s
=
rr glatte Hydraulisk
f
Haalands Equation
vske for n
gass for n
d
k
n f
n
n
1
3
75 , 3 Re
9 , 6
log
8 , 1 1
11 , 1
=
=
(
(

|
.
|

\
|
+
|
.
|

\
|
=
Wall Roughness in Pipes
5.1
12.5
30.0
33.0
35.1
38.1
53.3
0.20010
-3
0.49210
-3
1.1810
-3
1.3010
-3
1.3810
-3
1.5010
-3
2.1010
-3
Internally plastic coated pipeline
Honed bare carbon steel
Electropolished bare 13Cr
Cement lining
Bare carbon steel
Fiberglass lining
Bare 13Cr
Average
Absolut
Roughness
(m)
Average
Absolut
Roughness
(inch)
Material
Farshad og Rieke, J PT, oktober 2005, side 82-86.
Blasius, Colebrook-White and Haaland
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
d
k
f
f 7 , 3
Re
51 , 2
log 2
1
(
(

|
.
|

\
|
+
|
.
|

\
|

=
n
n
d
k
n f
11 , 1
75 , 3 Re
9 , 6
log
8 , 1 1
Haaland n=1 for liquids, same as Coolebrook-White
Haaland n=3 for gases, same as AGA data
25 , 0
Re
316 , 0
= f
Haaland Friction Factor
Gases, n=3, Hydraulically smooth and k/d=0.001
0,00000
0,00500
0,01000
0,01500
0,02000
0,02500
0,03000
0,03500
0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000 1200000
Reynol ds-tal l
F
r
i
c
t
i
o
n
f
a
k
t
o
r
Haaland for gas based on AGA data, lower than for liquids, transition different
Haaland Friction Factor
Liquid n=1 and gas n=3, k/d=0.001
0,00000
0,00500
0,01000
0,01500
0,02000
0,02500
0,03000
0,03500
0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000 1200000
Reynol ds-tal l
F
r
i
k
s
j
o
n
s
f
a
k
t
o
r
Gas 3.8 % lower than liquid at Re=10
6
Nikuradses Sand Grain and Real Roughness
Sletfjerding
R
a
= Arithmetic mean roughness
R
q
= Root-mean-square roughness
R
z
= Mean peak-to-valley roughness
Pipes Used by Sletfjerding
Sand-grain roughness k
s
, Measured roughness R
q
, Hurste exponent H
4.5 < (k
s
/R
q
) < 5.8
21 < k
s
< 181
Summary
Equation for pressure drop in horizontal gas pipelines; the
natural logarithm term can often be neglected (gentle
decrease in pressure)
Blasiuss equation used for smooth pipes and when Re<10
5
while Haalands equation is general and includes the effect of
roughness (recommendet).
Pressure drop in gas pipelines lower than in liquid pipelines.
Indicates that correlations are not perfect.
Friction equations conservative, give 5-10 % higher friction
factor and hence pressure drop than measured.
Friction correlations have come into focus after EOS (gas
density) and gas viscosity correlations have improved.
Pressure drop in gas export pipelines (up to 1 m in diameter
and 400-1200 km long) is of great economic importance for
Norway as gas exporter.