The Role of Methane Hydrates in the Failure of a Gas Pipeline


== Abstract ==

Gas hydrates are known to form plugs in pipelines. Gas hydrates are crystalline compounds that form when hydrocarbons such as methane come in contact with water under thermodynamical opportune conditions, as high pressure and low temperature. Hydrates, like any obstruction in a pipeline, reduce flow, increase back pressure in the system and increase the differential pressure across the obstruction. When the line section is obstructed by a plug, the differential pressure can put the hydrate in movement and quickly accelerate it up to a speed approaching that of sound; in this case, the moving mass can cause serious mechanical damages at downstream locations where the plug can also meet restrictions or obstacles such as valves, elbows or tees. In this paper a real case of a gas pipeline failure, due to the presence of a moving mass of methane hydrate, has been investigated by considering an analytical and numerical modeling of the motion of the hydrates, as well as of their impact against the pipes.


== Original document ==

The different versions of the original document can be found in:

* [http://hdl.handle.net/11591/176434 http://hdl.handle.net/11591/176434]

* [https://www.scientific.net/KEM.577-578.377 https://www.scientific.net/KEM.577-578.377],
: [https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/1997242134 https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/1997242134]

* [https://www.scientific.net/KEM.577-578.377.pdf https://www.scientific.net/KEM.577-578.377.pdf],
: [http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.577-578.377 http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.577-578.377]