Erosion Wear Characteristics of V-Shaped Elbow in Blooey Line

In gas drilling operations, the blooey line is highly susceptible to erosion-induced leakage. This study focuses on the use of field-welded V-shaped elbows in blooey lines, establishing a numerical method for erosion prediction and validating its accuracy through experimental data. The numerical results reveal that, due to the inclined configuration of the V-shaped elbow, particles from the central inlet flow directly impact the outer wall of the outlet pipe opposite the inlet, and then rebound and strike the inner wall. Meanwhile, solid particles near the pipeline wall on both sides of the inclined plane collide with the outer wall and exit in a helical flow pattern along the outlet pipe. The maximum erosion rate (3.6 × 10−4 kg/(m2·s)) occurs at the intersection of these spiral particle flows. Based on erosion predictions under various operating conditions, an empirical formula was established to correlate the erosion rate with the gas injection rate at a rate of penetration (ROP) of 1 m/h, along with corresponding conversion relationships for different ROPs. The predicted residual thickness of the V-shaped elbow showed a 6.8% relative error compared to field measurements. The proposed method can be programmed to enable real-time monitoring of the residual wall thickness and the remaining service life of the blooey line before leakage occurs, assisting field operators in determining optimal pipeline replacement schedules to ensure operational safety.