Investigating the Flow Conditioners Working Regimes Efficiency Using Numerical Simulations

Nowadays, the power engineering and oil-and-gas industry cannot be imagined without pipes used as a main fuel transport system. The flow after the elbow parts of the pipes is extremely non-uniform. Traditionally, for the stabilization of the flow velocity field and reducing pressure pulsation, the flow conditioners are used. The numerical simulation of such devices was made in open-source package OpenFOAM. In current research two flow conditioner installation types were considered: directly inside the pipe and installation with a stepped connection with a large diameter. Approved that the device efficiency can be improved via its connection to a larger diameter of the pipeline. Results of numerical simulations were compared with experimental data. Checked such parameters as flow uniformity coefficient and velocity distribution along the pipe after flow conditioner.