Influence of the shape on the hydraulic resistance of bypass channels inside a smart pig for low pressure gas pipeline inspection

Abstract The in-line smart pig for gas pipeline diagnostics is driven by the pumped gas and performs quality diagnostics only if its speed is constant, when the information reading is uniform along the length of the pipeline. In a low-pressure gas pipeline, if there are inhomogeneities on its walls, the condition of the pig speed constancy is easily broken, as the force of resistance to the pig movement on the stoppers is comparable with the difference of pressure forces acting on its ends. A central bypass channel of constant cross-section is usually used to control the pig velocity. The paper shows insufficiency of such method of regulation, leading to noticeable flow pulsations at the outlet of the channel. The use of variable cross-section of the bypass channel along its length in the form of a Laval nozzle to reduce flow pulsations is proposed. The numerical simulation of gas flow in Laval nozzles of different configuration is performed; it is shown that for all considered nozzles, the pressure pulsation at the channel outlet is 20-30 times less than that in the cylindrical channel, which simplifies the velocity control of such pig. However, it is not possible to completely avoid detachment of the flow from the walls of the expanding part of the nozzle, so in order to reduce the area of the detachment zone and reduce the flow resistance force, additional peripheral bypass channels connecting the inlet end of the pig with the diffuser section of the central bypass are added. Thus, a 40% reduction of gas flow resistance force through the bypass compared to the cylindrical bypass is obtained.