Guideline to Determine Erosional Velocity for Liquid Hydrocarbon Transmission Pipelines

Abstract Erosion can be a major threat to liquid hydrocarbon transmission pipeline integrity if high liquid flow rates are combined with the presence of solid particles. Erosion may cause metal loss to the pipeline and in extreme cases lead to pipeline failure. There is currently no industry-recognized guidance document or standard for determining erosional velocity limits for liquid hydrocarbon transmission pipelines. Many operators use the general form of the American Petroleum Institute RP 14E equation to determine erosional velocity, but it does not properly address the effect of the key parameters affecting erosion in liquid pipelines and could give erroneous results in some cases. This paper presents a guideline to determine erosional velocity limits for liquid hydrocarbon transmission pipelines, developed based on a multi-analytical probabilistic approach that integrated results from two industry-recognized erosion prediction models. The guidance developed allows pipeline operators to reduce capital costs when designing new pipelines or can provide engineering justification for increasing the throughput of existing facilities while maintaining pipeline integrity relative to the threat of erosion.