Computational fluid dynamics modeling of subsea pipeline leaks in Arctic conditions

• Published in: All Days
• Main Authors: Jujuly, M, Thodi, P, Rahman, A, Khan, F
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: OnePetro 2016
• Subjects: Engineering; Fluid mechanics and thermal engineering; Computational methods in fluid flow; heat and mass transfer (incl. computational fluid dynamics); Arctic; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.4043/27417-ms; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/140152

The purpose of this study is to investigate subsea pipeline leaks and their impact on the surroundings. A numerical approach using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package is used. The subsea condition is extremely harsh due to the remoteness and inaccessibility. Marine pipeline can be damaged directly by contact with drifting sea ice. Trenched pipeline is at risk as well, as it may be damaged by corrosion, or the pipeline could be plastically deformed by the resulting seabed shake down event. Furthermore, due to the remoteness and harsh climate of the under the ocean, it is difficult to conduct normal maintenance procedures. Leakage of pipelines in arctic subsea environment can have severe consequences. Leak detection and location identification in a timely manner is crucial because of the economic impact of a hydrocarbon spill to its stakeholders can be huge. Pipeline leakage could have an adverse impact on life, the environment, the economy and corporate reputation. It is imperative to take additional precautions while operating in the subsea regions, so rapid leak detection and location identification is crucially important. In this paper, a numerical modeling of a subsea pipeline leakage is performed using a 3-D turbulent flow model in computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Four different types of fluids are tested in this study, with specified operating conditions. It is difficult to conduct small-scale experiments on subsea pipeline with leakage, mainly because; the pipeline may need to release hydrocarbons to the environment. Further, since the industrial full-scale pipeline is large in diameter, fluid thermodynamics cannot be captured accurately in a small-scale, laboratory environment. Thus, a numerical simulation can provide a better understanding of pipeline internal flow and the consequences of pipeline leaks in different scales, reducing the cost and number of experiments. Commercially available ANSYS (FLUENT) computational fluid dynamics software is used to serve this purpose. ANSYS workbench ...