Development of a Novel Erosion Model for Determining Threshold Velocity of Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) in Water Injection System

Abstract In order to mitigate corrosion problems, industries have the tendency to transition from metallic to nonmetallic materials, particularly in applications such as water injection systems and low-pressure oil and gas transportation pipes. Polymers are increasingly favored due to their corrosion resistance, lower density, and ease of manufacturing. Among them, Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) stands out for its excellent chemical stability and high thermal resistance under harsh conditions. This study investigates the erosion rates of PPS under both gas-sand and submerged liquid-sand direct impinging jet conditions. A series of experiments was conducted using a dry gas-sand impingement testing facility. Results showed that the maximum erosion occurred at a 30° impact angle, indicating semi-ductile behavior. The erosion ratio determined from test results followed a power-law correlation with a velocity exponent similar to values reported for metallic materials. Building on these findings, a new erosion model has been developed and proposed by revising an erosion model that was previously developed for metallic materials. The revised model demonstrated strong agreement with experimental data. To further validate the model, it was implemented in ANSYS FLUENT via UDF (User Defined Function). The modified model significantly improves prediction accuracy. Additionally, submerged liquid-sand erosion tests were also conducted to examine the applicability of the developed model under liquid-sand conditions with much lower flow velocities. Thus, the submerged test conditions were simulated with CFD, and the results were compared to the experimental data. The model showed a significant improvement in accuracy over a previous model that was developed for non-metallic materials. Overall, the results underscore the importance of developing tailored erosion models for non-metallic materials such as PPS so that it can be applied to determine threshold velocities for various water injection systems and other transportation pipelines under multiphase flow conditions.

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