Multi-fluid approach for the numerical prediction of wall erosion in an elbow

Multiphase pipeline flows are widely used in the oil and gas industry to transport solid-liquid or gas-solid mixtures. Erosion caused by the impact of solid particles is a major challenge for equipment maintenance and safety, especially in complex geometries such as elbows. In this work, a CFD study on wall erosion in a 90° standard elbow has been performed using a multi-fluid approach, also called Euler/Euler, for poly-dispersed fluid-particle flows. A model is used for the erosion prediction taking into account particle turbulent kinetic energy obtained from the Euler-Euler approach. A good agreement with experiments is observed. The effects of wall roughness and solid mass flow rate on the erosion rate are also investigated. For a certain amount of sand passing through the pipe elbow, there exists a solid mass flow rate for which the particle impact damage is most dramatic. [Display omitted] •An extension of the erosion model to multi-fluid approach is proposed and validated.•Erosion rate does not change monotonously with the inlet solid mass flow rate.•The spatial pattern of erosion damages in an elbow is characterized.