Measurement of Decompression Wave Speed in Rich Gas Mixtures at High Pressures (370 bars) Using a Specialized Rupture Tube

Measurements of decompression wave speed in conventional and rich natural gas mixtures following rupture of a high-pressure pipe have been conducted. A high-pressure stainless steel rupture tube (internal diameter=38.1 mm and 42 m long) has been constructed and instrumented with 16 high frequency-response pressure transducers mounted very close to the rupture end and along the length of the tube to capture the pressure-time traces of the decompression wave. Tests were conducted for initial pressures of 33–37 MPa-a and a temperature range of 21–68°C. The experimentally determined decompression wave speeds were compared with both GASDECOM and PIPEDECOM predictions with and without nonequilibrium condensation delays at phase crossing. The interception points of the isentropes representing the decompression process with the corresponding phase envelope of each mixture were correlated with the respective plateaus observed in the decompression wave speed profiles. Additionally, speeds of sound in the undisturbed gas mixtures at the initial pressures and temperatures were compared with predictions by five equations of state, namely, BWRS, AGA-8, Peng–Robinson, Soave–Redlich–Kwong, and Groupe Européen de Recherches Gaziéres. The measured gas decompression curves were used to predict the fracture arrest toughness needed to assure fracture control in natural gas pipelines. The rupture tube test results have shown that the Charpy fracture arrest values predicted using GASEDCOM are within +7% (conservative) and −11% (nonconservative) of the rupture tube predicted values. Similarly, PIPEDECOM with no temperature delay provides fracture arrest values that are within +13% and −20% of the rupture tube predicted values, while PIPEDECOM with a 1°C temperature delay provides fracture arrest values that are within 0% and −20% of the rupture tube predicted values. Ideally, it would be better if the predicted values by the equations of state were above the rupture tube predicted values to make the predictions conservative but that was not always the case.