Your Incompressible Fluid Is Squishier Than You Think It Is

Dylan Witte, P.E.

Project Manager and Senior Consulting Engineer
Purple Mountain Technology Group
dylanwitte@pmtechgroup.com
719-687-9145
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Introduction
• Fluid properties are the most essential part of any flow analysis
• Any mistake or incorrect assumption here will propagate through the
entire study
• Fluid properties are also often difficult to come by
• Even water may behave differently than expected in the field
• All liquids are slightly compressible, and this is the reason for
pressure waves and why we study them using AFT Impulse
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Steady State
• Using incompressible assumptions makes using the Bernoulli
equation and mass conservation much easier when looking at a
large networked system with minimal error.
• These are the basic assumptions for any steady state analysis
and are used in AFT Fathom with much success.
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Transient
• For transient analysis, such as with AFT Impulse, the
incompressible assumption is no longer valid as the steady
state is perturbed by valve closures, pump trips, etc.
• To determine how waves travel through the piping system and
the magnitude of the associated pressure changes, we need to
know more about the fluid, specifically how fluid density
responds to pressure changes.
• This property is called Bulk Modulus
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Bulk Modulus and Acoustic Velocity

𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
• 𝐾𝐾 = 𝜌𝜌
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
• 𝐾𝐾 = 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀
• 𝑃𝑃 = 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃
• 𝜌𝜌 = 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
• 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 𝐾𝐾 ⁄𝜌𝜌
• This acoustic velocity is the propagation speed in a fluid where there is
no mechanism to impede the wave motion - for example, in an
unbounded body of fluid or in a completely rigid pipe.
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Wavespeed is king
• In piping systems, some of the energy in a pressure wave distorts the pipe itself,
reducing the acoustic velocity. The reduced velocity is commonly referred to as
wavespeed.
• Wavespeed determines
𝐾𝐾�
𝜌𝜌
• Pipeline period or communication time 𝑎𝑎 =
𝐾𝐾 𝐷𝐷
• tc=2L/a 1 + 𝑐𝑐1
𝐸𝐸 𝑒𝑒
• Pressure response to corresponding velocity change
• All of these have a dramatic effect on the analysis
• Important to remember equations for wavespeed are only estimates and have
errors typically in the 10-15% range
Where,
𝑎𝑎 = Wavespeed or celerity, speed at which pressure and flow changes travel in a constrained pipe
𝐾𝐾 = Bulk modulus of the fluid
𝜌𝜌 = Density of the fluid
𝑐𝑐1= Constraint coefficient, See help file in AFT Impulse or Wylie and Streeter, Fluid Transients in Systems (2)
𝐸𝐸 = Young’s Modulus for Pipe Material
𝐷𝐷 = Pipe diameter
𝑒𝑒 = Pipe wall thickness
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Determining wavespeed
• This is the most common way to determine wavespeed for an
analysis using AFT Impulse.
• This is the best way to determine wavespeed across varied pipe
sizes, thicknesses, materials, etc.
• However, sometimes the bulk modulus is not known or is
difficult to come by.
• This is especially true of hydrocarbons.
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Hydrocarbons
• Hydrocarbons are often complex mixtures that depend on the
area they are extracted from
• Their properties are highly temperature and pressure sensitive
• However, common assumptions can be made based on fluid
pressure, density, and pressure.
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Pipeline Rules of Thumb for Crude Oil

• 4th Edition by E.W. McAllister, Editor
• Page 297
• References Chapters 11.2.1 and 11.2.2 of the API Manual
of Petroleum Measurement Standards.
• Lists a formula called the ARCO formula
1� 2
K = 1.286 106 + 13.55𝑝𝑝 − 4.122 104 𝑇𝑇 2 − 4.53 103 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 − 10.59(𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 ) + 3.228(𝑇𝑇)(𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 �

• Where
• K = adiabatic bulk modulus, psi
• P = average pressure in the line, psig
• API = API gravity
• T = Absolute temperature, degrees Rankine
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Pipeline Rules of Thumb for Crude Oil

• 4th Edition by E.W. McAllister,
Editor
• Page 299
• Able to plot Bulk Modulus vs.
API Gravity and 60 deg. R and
80 deg F.
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Useful API Gravity and Specific Gravity

Conversions
141.5
• 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 = − 131.5
𝑠𝑠60

414.5
• 𝑠𝑠60 =
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴60 +131.5

• Where,
• 𝑠𝑠60 = 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 60 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑. 𝐹𝐹
• 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴60 = 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 60 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑. 𝐹𝐹
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NIST REFPROP for Known Compositions

• Example Composition by Mole Fraction
• Butane – 0.5%
• Isopentane – 16.5%
• Pentane – 23.5%
• Hexane – 24.5%
• Heptane – 22.7%
• Octane – 12.3%
• Operating Pressure – 190 psig
• Operating Temperature 125 deg. F
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Additional Concerns
• Times when you will likely not use AFT Impulse to calculate
wavespeed
• High percentages of entrained air
• Non-circular ducting
• Plastically deforming pipe
• Flexible hoses
• Use references to calculate and enter a user specified
wavespeed
• Thorley has an exhaustive list of material properties and common ways
of calculating wavespeed in atypical arrangements.
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References
1. Thorley, A.R.D., Fluid Transients in Pipeline Systems, 2nd
Ed., D&L George, Ltd. 2004
2. Wylie, E.B., V.L. Streeter & L. Suo, Fluid Transients in
Systems, Prentice Hall, Englewood Hills, New Jersey, 1993.