CFD-Based Study on the Flow and Kinetic Energy Characteristics of a Supercritical Suspended Abrasive Water Jet in the Deep-Sea Environment

• Published in: Journal of marine science and engineering Vol. 12; no. 4; p. 655
• Main Authors: Li, Zhibo, Wang, Xiangyu, Yao, Shaoming, Wang, Liquan, Yun, Feihong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.04.2024
• Subjects: Abrasive cutting; Acceleration; Analysis; Coalbed methane; Comparative analysis; Corrosion tests; Deep sea; Deep sea environments; Deep water; dual inputs of pressure and heat; Efficiency; Energy; Engineering; Force and energy; Hydraulic jets; Hydraulics; Inlet pressure; Inlets (waterways); Kinetic energy; Material properties; Moisture content; Oil wells; Particle density (concentration); Pipes; Simulation; Simulation methods; Software; Stainless steel; supercritical suspended abrasive water jet; the medium kinetic energy ratio; the particle kinetic energy ratio; Velocity; Viscosity; Water content; Water temperature; Water velocity; China
• ISSN: 2077-1312; 2077-1312
• DOI: 10.3390/jmse12040655

A supercritical suspended abrasive water jet with dual inputs of pressure and heat is proposed to improve the cutting performance of the conventional suspended abrasive water jet in deep-sea environments. The paper studies the flow and kinetic characteristics of the supercritical suspended abrasive water jet. The CFD simulation method is proposed to investigate these characteristics by integrating a programmed database of supercritical water material properties with Ansys Fluent. The simulation and comparison show that abrasive particle density, abrasive particle size, inlet pressure, and water temperature affect the acceleration process of the abrasive particles. At the nozzle outlet, the velocity of the abrasive particles reaches over 95% of the supercritical water velocity. With the proposed supercritical abrasive water jet, the jet velocity is increased by 192.2% to 402.40 m/s compared to the conventional suspended abrasive water jet, reducing the amount of water used by 67.7% at a specified temperature of 773.15 K. Correspondingly, the medium kinetic energy is increased by 177.7% and the medium kinetic energy ratio is 2.78. The particle kinetic energy is increased by 723.2% and the particle kinetic energy ratio is 8.23.