Experimental and CFD investigation of flow behavior and sand erosion pattern in a horizontal pipe bend under annular flow

The internal erosion of pipelines in oil and gas storage and transportation engineering is highly risky. High gas velocity of annular flow entrained sand will cause damage to the pipelines, and may further result in thinning of the wall. If this damage lasts for a long time, it may cause pipeline leakage and cause huge economic losses and environmental problems. In this research, an experimental device for studying multiphase flow erosion is designed, including an erosion loop and an experimental elbow that can test the erosion rate. The annular flow state and pipe wall erosion morphology can also be tested by the device. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method is combined with the experiment to further study the annular flow erosion mechanism in the pipeline. The relationship between gas-liquid-solid distribution and erosion profile was studied. The results show that the most eroded region occurs between 22.5° and 45° in the axial angle direction and between 90° and 135° in the circumferential angle direction of the elbow. The pits and deep scratches form on the surface of the sample after the sand collision.