Alternative flow control nozzles/energy dissipation of highly erosive fluids
Abstract
An innovative Flow Control Device (FCD) utilizing multiple pairs of opposed coaxially-aligned nozzles was successfully tested in a three-phase erosive-flow stream. A mixture of air, water, and silica was selected to produce velocities representative of those resulting in a high-pressure letdown coal-liquefaction process. Aluminum was utilized for test hardware to provide accelerated erosion data. A globe valve with aluminum trim was tested at the same operating conditions to provide baseline performance data for direct comparison with nozzle results. The time rate of increase in flow-control area of the FCD was less than one third that of the globe valve. This demonstrates the relative severity of impingement erosion over scouring erosion, as there are no abrupt directional changes in the nozzle flow. The receiver walls showed no erosion damage for liquid levels well below the nozzle exit, indicating very efficient energy dissipation in the jet-impact zone. These favorable results coupled with the design simplicity of the FCD provides a solid basis for further development.
- Publication:
-
NASA STI/Recon Technical Report N
- Pub Date:
- September 1986
- Bibcode:
- 1986STIN...8721273M
- Keywords:
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- Fluid Flow;
- Multiphase Flow;
- Nozzles;
- Test Facilities;
- Energy Dissipation;
- Erosion;
- Valves;
- Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer