Hydraulic

design of a
pipeline
• The least-cost principles is a well known model which along the proposed
prediction models that are explained in the previous lecture can be used for
design of pipelines.
• All these models can be interconnected together to consider both the
design standards for adequate performance and commercial validity into
consideration.
• Robustness and user-friendliness are two main features of the proposed
model.
• The least cost principle model intends to optimize the design in order to
have minimum cost.
• The cost of a pipeline includes the manufacturing cost and operation cost of
the system.
• This model can also be applied to a fluid carrying pipeline system.
• The total cost of a water pipeline can be defined as the following:
• 𝐶𝑇 = 𝐶 +𝐶
𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔

• In order to have an accurate and meaningful total cost, we have to calculate

both the manufacturing and operating costs in specified time period.
• The operating cost can easily be calculated as per one-year of operation.
• However, the manufacturing cost can also be considered per year by using
system depreciation.
• The manufacturing cost of most flow systems can be divided into the
pumping station cost and pipeline cost.
• The design selection of any pumping station is based on many parameters
such as the minimum required flow throughput, the fluid properties,
pipeline type and length.
• 𝐶𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 = 𝐶𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 + 𝐶𝑝𝑖𝑝e
• The net annual cost of pipe per unit pipe length 𝐶𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒 is given by
Chermisinoff as a function of net annual cost of pipe per unit weight of pipe
material C2:
• 𝐶𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒 = 𝜋 𝐷 𝑡 𝛾 𝐶
𝑝 2

• t : Thickness (m)
• 𝛾 = 𝜌 𝑔 = Specific weight of the pipe (𝑁⁄𝑚 )
𝑝 𝑝
3

• ρ : Density (𝐾𝑔⁄𝑚 )3

• The standard dimension ratio Cc is the ratio of pipe diameter to the wall
thickness of the pipe.
• Hence, the cost of the pipe would be: 𝐶𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒 = 𝜋 𝐷 2
𝛾𝑝 𝐶2 Cc
• Depreciation is an accounting method in order to allocate the total cost of
any system over its expected operation life.
• Usually the depreciation method is used for calculating taxes and for other
accounting purposes. In this work, depreciation can be used in order to
calculate the manufacturing cost per one year of operation.
• There are different depreciation methods such as declining balance method
and straight-line method.
• In this work, the straight-line method was used due to simplicity of the
system and its applicability to the optimization model.
• 𝐷𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 = (𝑆𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒) /𝑈𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒
 Cost of Power

• The head loss

• In the above equation ‘f’ is the friction factor , ‘L’ is the pipe length, ‘V’ is the flow velocity,
‘g’ is the acceleration due to gravity, and ‘D’ is the pipe diameter.
• The term D can be replaced by hydraulic diameter for pipes of different cross section.
• The power needed for operating the system can be defined as:
• 𝑃 = 𝛾f 𝑄 hf /𝜂

• Where: 𝛾f = 𝜌f𝑔 : Specific weight of the mixture (𝑁/ 𝑚3 )

• 𝑄: Mixture flow rate (𝑚3⁄𝑠𝑒𝑐)
• hf: head loss(𝑚)
• η: Efficiency of the Pumping Unit (%)
• The cost of power
• The total cost of power for operating the pipeline for one year can be
expressed as:

2
Ctotal= 𝐶 1 𝜌𝑚 𝑔h𝑓𝑄 + 𝜋 𝐷 𝛾𝑝 𝐶2 Cc
𝜂
• Steps in design
• For a given Q obtain diameter for reasonable flow velocity (2-9 m/s)
• Calculate the flow velocity
• Calculate the pressure drop
• Calculate pumping power needed
• Calculate pumping cost
• Calculate manufacture cost
• Change the diameter and calculate the costs again.
• Plot total cost against diameter
• Select the diameter corresponding to the least cost
 Cost calculations
Q d v rho mu re f hf power c1 M cost c2 cc gp cost M total cost

0.1 0.1 12.73885 1000 0.001 1273885 0.009406 0.777976 1017.593 0.1 101.7593 0.3 0.1 78480 73.92816 175.6874

0.1 0.15 5.661713 1000 0.001 849256.9 0.010409 0.113379 148.2998 0.1 14.82998 0.3 0.1 78480 166.3384 181.1683

0.1 0.2 3.184713 1000 0.001 636942.7 0.011186 0.028912 37.81651 0.1 3.781651 0.3 0.1 78480 295.7126 299.4943

0.1 0.05 50.95541 1000 0.001 2547771 0.007909 20.93431 27382.08 0.1 2738.208 0.3 0.1 78480 18.48204 2756.69

0.1 0.07 25.99766 1000 0.001 1819836 0.008604 4.233996 5538.067 0.1 553.8067 0.3 0.1 78480 36.2248 590.0315

0.1 0.09 15.72698 1000 0.001 1415428 0.009161 1.283259 1678.503 0.1 167.8503 0.3 0.1 78480 59.88181 227.7321
 Cost
3000

2500

2000

Operating cost
1500 Capital cost
Cost

Total cost

1000

500

0
0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22

Diameter
 Higher discharge

0.2 0.1 25.47771 1000 0.001 2547771 0.007909 2.616789 6845.52 0.1 684.552 0.3 0.1 78480 73.92816 758.4801

0.2 0.15 11.32343 1000 0.001 1698514 0.008753 0.38136 997.6379 0.1 99.76379 0.3 0.1 78480 166.3384 266.1021

0.2 0.2 6.369427 1000 0.001 1273885 0.009406 0.097247 254.3981 0.1 25.43981 0.3 0.1 78480 295.7126 321.1525

0.2 0.05 101.9108 1000 0.001 5095541 0.006651 70.41435 184203.9 0.1 18420.39 0.3 0.1 78480 18.48204 18438.88

0.2 0.07 51.99532 1000 0.001 3639672 0.007235 14.24141 37255.53 0.1 3725.553 0.3 0.1 78480 36.2248 3761.778

0.2 0.09 31.45396 1000 0.001 2830856 0.007704 4.316351 11291.57 0.1 1129.157 0.3 0.1 78480 59.88181 1189.039
 Multiphase flow

• Pipelines play an important part in many engineering systems.

• Pipelines are used as a mode of transportation in various industries to move ores
such as iron, coal, mining waste etc. over long distances.
• In order to analyse the complex flow phenomena in hydraulic pipelines
transporting multiphase mixtures, it is essential to understand the flow properties
of these mixtures.
Basic effects of adding second heavier phase:

Single vs multiple particles

Regimes of flow for solid liquid flows
 Basic Parameters used for designing solid
liquid pipelines

• Hydraulic Parameters
• Parameters of Corrosion-Erosion
• Parameters of Operational Stability
 Hydraulic Parameters

· Carrier fluid Selection: This depends on its availability and the solid materials
used.
· Optimum particle size: Coarse slurry needs high transportation velocity and this
leads to high pressure drop and wear rate. Extremely fine slurries also lead to
high pressure drop.

· Optimum concentration of solids: It should be high enough to satisfy the required

throughput and less than static settling concentration of 10% to 20%.
· Minimum system operation velocity: Depends on the concentration level and
pipe diameter. On the other hand, the operation velocity should be higher than
solid deposition velocity by 0.5 to 1 m/s.
 Hydraulic Parameters

· Pipe diameter should be designed as per the required solid throughput at

optimum concentration and velocity.
· Pressure drop should be minimized.

· Additives may be required for flow improvement.

· Attrition of particles due to pumping should be minimised which is usually

negligible except in a very long pipeline.
 Parameters of Corrosion-Erosion

· Pipeline life expectation should be as long as possible (20 to 50 years).

· Corrosion additives should be used to control pH and dissolved oxygen.
· Selection of metal allowance
 Parameters of Operational Stability

• Start-up of a slurry flow system, with either single pumps or several pumps in series, may
create significant problems for the pump and pipeline.
• This may cause damage to the motor or pipeline as a result of starting the pump using a
“synchronous electric motor against an open valve”.
• In addition, other difficulties can occur if there are any large changes in the mixture level in the
pipeline. In the case of system shutdown, the “local high spots” are liable to “sub-atmospheric”
pressure and might cause vaporisation. Subsequently, this vapour could cause undesirable
hydraulic transients during start-up procedures.
• The mentioned problems can be avoided either by using Vacuum relief valves at high points of
the pipeline or by draining the pipeline after each shutdown .
• Maximum allowance slope
• The pipe inclination has significant effects on flow velocity, deposition limit and friction loss.
The solid particle size and concentration are important factors in estimating the maximum
allowance slop of the pipeline
 Main definitions

• In principle, the solid-liquid flow can be defined as the process of transporting solid particles at
a volumetric flow rate 𝑄𝑆 and carrier fluid at a volumetric flow rate 𝑄𝐿. The quantities of each
phase are considered an important parameter to be fixed in any design suggestion.

• The operational velocity 𝑉 is an important design parameter and it must be higher than the
slurry deposition velocity for a given pipe diameter D
 Basic definitions:

• Solid Volume fraction= Q /(Q + Q )

s s L

• Local in-situ volume fraction = 𝐶 = (1/A) ∫ 𝑐 𝑑𝐴 𝑡

• Mean solid velocity = 𝑣 = ⁄ 𝐴 𝐶t

𝑆
𝑄
𝑠 (A Ct=AS)

• Mean liquid velocity ⁄ 𝐴(1 − 𝐶 )

𝑣𝐿 = 𝑄
𝐿 t

• Mixture velocity V = Q/A

m

• Concentration by weight = C = /( + ) w

• Density of Mixture = 𝜌 = 𝜌 𝑐 + 𝜌 (1 − 𝑐 )
𝑚 𝑠 s 𝑓 s
Solid and concentration distributions

Idealised
Actual Velocity profiles
Actual concentration profiles
 Pressure drop prediction model
Homogeneous regime
• Equation for water flow

• As the solid particles are homogeneously distributed, the entire mixture can
be taken as one fluid with modified density and viscosity and same
corelations can be used.
• Density of Mixture = 𝜌 = 𝜌 𝑐 + 𝜌 (1 − 𝑐 )
𝑚 𝑠 s 𝑓 s

• Viscosity of mixture = µ = µ (1+2.5 C )

eff f s

• Equation for Mixture flow:

• Here fm =f {(𝜌 V d/ µ ),𝜀/D}
𝑚 m eff
 Optimisation

• Same approach as single phase pipeline

input input input

solid
thruput ros cv Q d v rho mu re f hf power c1 M cost c2 cc gp cost M total cost

10 3000 0.1 0.033333 0.1 4.246285 1200 0.00125 407643.3 0.012506 0.114931 60.13176 0.1 6.013176 0.3 0.1 78480 73.92816 79.94134

10 3000 0.1 0.033333 0.05 16.98514 1200 0.00125 815286.6 0.010516 3.092635 1618.067 0.1 161.8067 0.3 0.1 78480 18.48204 180.2887

10 3000 0.1 0.033333 0.07 8.665887 1200 0.00125 582347.6 0.011439 0.62549 327.2565 0.1 32.72565 0.3 0.1 78480 36.2248 68.95044

10 3000 0.1 0.033333 0.09 5.242327 1200 0.00125 452937 0.012181 0.189576 99.18637 0.1 9.918637 0.3 0.1 78480 59.88181 69.80045

10 3000 0.1 0.033333 0.12 2.948809 1200 0.00125 339702.8 0.013089 0.048342 25.29257 0.1 2.529257 0.3 0.1 78480 106.4566 108.9858

10 3000 0.1 0.033333 0.15 1.887238 1200 0.00125 271762.2 0.01384 0.01675 8.763356 0.1 0.876336 0.3 0.1 78480 166.3384 167.2147

10 3000 0.1 0.033333 0.18 1.310582 1200 0.00125 226468.5 0.014486 0.007045 3.686035 0.1 0.368604 0.3 0.1 78480 239.5272 239.8958
 • Particles are uniformly graded.
• Durand’s equation for a uniformly graded solid-liquid
mixture is reasonably accurate for the prediction of
head loss calculations.
Pressure drop
prediction • The friction factor can be obtained with reasonable
heterogeneous accuracy by Wood’s equation .
regime
• The friction loss for slurry flow through pipes can be
estimated by Durand’s equation [7] with reasonable
accuracy.
• Durand, based his model on his data (pipe diameter Pressure drop
varying from 0.02 m to 0.6 m, particle sizes from
0.0001 m to 0.025 m and pipe velocity from 0.6 m/s
prediction
to 6 m/s) heterogeneous
• The following equation for the prediction of head
loss per unit pipe length in heterogeneous solid-liquid
regime
flow was proposed
• .
Pressure drop prediction heterogeneous
regime
 Pressure drop prediction heterogeneous
regime

• Various parameter used in Durand’s equation have been chosen keeping in view the operational
requirements of slurry flow through pipelines.
• The velocity of flow has been fixed at a value slightly higher than the deposition velocity.
• The deposition velocity of a given solid (known density and size) for low solid concentration can be
calculated using Wick’s equation [8]:
 Pressure drop prediction heterogeneous
regime

•
•
Pressure drop prediction heterogeneous
regime
Optimisation
Optimisation
Optimisation
Optimisation
Thought: