Ahmed, Feroz;
(2023)
Pressure pulsation in a complex piping system.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Various unsteady excitation mechanisms exist in the complex piping systems of the energy sector, e.g., flow turbulence and pressure pulsation. The dominant source is the high-pressure reciprocating pumps that can cause intense energy to be transferred to the piping systems. The energy is then propagated throughout the piping systems via pressure pulsations, which can enhance vibration when coupled with structural modes. The complexities in these piping systems arise due to each pump generating multiple frequencies (i.e., harmonics), types of dynamic pump operations (i.e., steady-state or startup-shutdown), types of pump’s interaction mechanisms (i.e., contrasting driving frequency and phase differences), the presence of long piping networks (i.e., eigenmodes), and the presence of local pipe components (i.e., losses and shaking forces due to fitting pipes, e.g., bends, junctions, and valves). While some attention has been paid to the piping systems connected with multiple pumps, the general influence of their interactions (contrasting phase differences) and dynamic pump operations (startup-shutdown transients) on the network response is scarce. A combination of component-level (3D CFD and empirical models) and system-level (1D CFD-FEM models) computations are used to study three aspects of pulsations in a piping network connected with multiple reciprocating pumps. First, a new acoustic resonance mechanism has been observed in a network driven by multiple pumps. When included in system-level 1D CFD computations, the empirically-derived component-level fitting losses approximately capture the acoustics of BP Shah Deniz’s field measurement. Second, the linear model of pulsating flow in a pipe bend identifies flow acceleration as the predominant source of shaking forces. Third, using numerically-derived component-level (fitting) shaking forces, the system-level 1D CFD-FEM computations identify transient acoustic wave as the dominant mechanisms in pump startup-shutdown events with pulsating flows. The outcomes of this thesis will be a set of engineering tools and recommendations for vibration-induced fatigue in industrial pulsation services.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Pressure pulsation in a complex piping system |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2022. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Mechanical Engineering |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10163032 |
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