Examination and Improvement of Salama Model for Calculation of Sand Erosion in Elbows

Sand erosion is a problem recognized in many facilities and piping components used in production, treatment, and transportation of oil and gas. Proper controlling of sand erosion requires early prediction at different conditions and within various ranges of flow parameters. Numerous models and correlations are available for sand erosion prediction in varies components. The applicability and accuracy of the available models depends on many factors such as the range of conditions and the number of parameters that are taken into account in developing the model. One of the models widely used for sand erosion prediction is Salama model, which is used for calculation of sand erosion in elbows and tees. In spite of Salama model's simplicity, it is not recommended to use in many cases due to decrease in accuracy. Salama model accuracy, in general, decreases when it is applied to viscous fluids flow and low gas-liquid-ratio multiphase flow. In this paper, the discrepancy of Salama model with field data was confirmed by comparing its output with published measured data. The model was, then, improved by comparing its results with three sets of measured sand erosion data for pure gas, high gas-liquid-ratio fluids, and low gas-liquid-ratio fluids. The model improvement results in three models for prediction of sand erosion in elbows with higher accuracy.