Hydraulic resistance of an inspection projectile motion control system with a streamlined valve in a low-pressure gas pipeline

Abstract

The main problem while developing inspection shells for low-pressure gas pipelines is maintenance of their uniform motion under the action of the pumped gas. In the present work, we propose a solution to this problem based on changing the cross-section of the central flow channel of the smart pig by moving an axially symmetric valve along the axis of the channel. Two types of valves with a drop-shaped and a cone-shaped front part were considered. The choice of the valve shape and size can be made by calculating the forces acting on the smart pig during gas flow. The problem was solved by the methods of computational fluid dynamics under the assumption of axial flow symmetry. The gas was considered to be compressible. The calculations showed that the total force acting on the valve and walls of the flow channel does not depend on its shape and, depending on the valve position, can change by more than two times. The optimum length of a drop-shaped valve is nearly half that of a conical valve. Although the drop-shaped valve produces a more inhomogeneous velocity field than the conical valve, the former is more acceptable for regulating gas flow through the central channel of the inspection smart pig.