Analysis of Heat Transfer Performance for Deepwater Phase Change Material Sandwich Pipes

As the exploitation of oil and gas gradually enters the deep sea, the low-temperature and high-pressure deep-sea environment poses a huge challenge to the flow protection of pipelines (2014a). In this paper, the phase change material sandwich pipeline which uses phase change heat storage and exothermic to maintain the pipeline temperature is taken as the research object, the heat transfer characteristics of the deep-water phase change material sandwich pipe are studied through the combination of theoretical analysis and numerical simulation (2014b). The main contents include: Firstly, through the establishment of two-dimensional and three-dimensional pipe models, analyzed the temperature distribution along the pipeline and the radial temperature distribution of the pipeline under steady oil flow conditions. Secondly, by using transient heat transfer, the effects of phase change material parameters, the proportion of phase change material in the insulation layer, and the difference in the ratio of phase change materials in the insulation layer on the insulation performance are analyzed to obtain the best results. Insulation material and optimal insulation layer layout; finally, the thermal storage and the phase change conditions of the phase-change material sandwich pipe is studied under the re-starting condition. The results show that the effective holding time of the phase change material insulation layer is close to 1.4 times that the non-phase change material insulation layer, and the melting point size has little effect on the insulation material. The closer the phase change material is to the inner tube, the better the insulation effect. This study provide guidance for the design and utilization of phase change material sandwich pipe.