Oil valve erosion
The customer
- Size: Large enterprise
- Sector: Oil and gas
- Country: United Kingdom
The Project
- Size: 50-65 man-hours
- Duration: 1-2 weeks
The Problem
- Unknown erosion effect on wall thickness
- Investigation of different sand particles distribution in the fluid
Proposed solution
- Model the sand particles movement in the fluid for a given flow rate
- Count number and energy of particle impacts on valve walls
The simulations
- Fluid simulation for valve's operational conditions (CFD analysis)
- Particle movement distribution in the fluid and expected impacts on the walls (CFD analysis)
- CFD Results extrapolation to investigate the erosion wear in mm/year
Project overall results
- Erosion hotspots located and expected useful life learned. Redesign recommended.
- Savings over £23,500 for the customer in prototyping and testing (estimate)
- Savings of more than 18 weeks in development time (estimate)
For more details about valve design, please read our FEA and CFD analyses for valves white paper.
