Flow Modeling and Simulation in Pipelines

Thermo-hydraulic simulation of a pipe flow implies in the numerical determination of the flow field and temperature distribution to evaluate flow rates, pressure drop, and heat loss. The numerical prediction of the flow for a given configuration can be applied during pipeline design, to define the pipe characteristics (pipe diameter, thickness, material, insulation), to determine the required pumping power, or to plan pipeline inspection gauge (PIG) launching sites. The numerical solution of the flow field can also be useful during pipeline operation, to control and plan supply and demand requirements, optimizing the process. A numerical real-time solution can also be applied as didactic tool for pipeline operator training purposes, after performing model validation and communication with the supervisory software. In the following sections, after a brief introduction, the necessary mathematical modeling and numerical strategies are presented. In the sequence, a few typical examples are described.