An analytical study of the transfer of liquefied natural required LNG flow rate.

The analysis depends on

gas in vacuum insulated pipes is given. Simplified empirical constants which are evaluated only approxi-
equations describing heat and mass transfer during the mately and are then used in a numerical example
cool down, steady state, and warm up periods are regarding the operation of a 10 in. diameter, 100 km
presented enabling the sizing of a suitable pipeline for a long LNG pipeline.

TRANSFER OF LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS

IN LONG INSULATED PIPES

A. C H E R V I N S K Y and Y. M A N H E I M E R - T I M N A T

INCREASED ACTIVITY in the field of liquefied transfer of LNG in long vacuum insulated pipes, in order
natural gas (LNG) has given rise to feasibility studies on to explore the feasibility of the construction of LNG
transmission of natural gas in liquid rather than gaseous pipelines in Israel. The study is divided into the following
form. parts:
The major advantage of a LNG pipeline is the great
(a) Cool down period, in which liquefied gas is pumped
reduction in volume which enables the capacity of the
into the pipeline which is initially at some ambient
LNG pipeline to be three times that of the corresponding
gas phase line. 1 This fact together with the much lower temperature (for example, 27 C).
(b) Steady state operating period, in which the line is
friction of LNG per unit of throughput leads to the
operated at the design conditions and LNG is trans-
second advantage of LNG transmission; horsepower
ferred.
requirements for liquid lines are only one tenth of the
(c) Warm up period, which occurs when pumping of
corresponding gas phase lines.
the liquid stops and the stationary liquid in the pipe is
Studies of the technical aspects of LNG pipelines have
warmed up due to external heat leakages.
been carried out and have shown that these lines appear
to be feasible. 2,3 Most studies recommend the use of a 9~ The last section of the paper considers numerically a
nickel steel pipe covered with special insulating materials. particular pipeline showing the effect of different para-
It is however believed that better insulation and reduction meters.
of heat leakages in long pipes may be achieved by
vacuum insulation. Analysis
The advantages of LNG pipelines are offset to some (a) Cool down time and LNG requirements during cool
extent by the added cost of initially liquefying the gas and down period
maintaining it in the liquid phase. This requires a The initial operating period of any LNG pipeline is the
considerable expenditure for insulation and for com- cool down period in which liquefied gas is being pumped
pression and refrigeration stations along the pipeline. If, into the pipeline which is at some ambient temperature.
however, a vacuum insulated line is designed, the need Heat transfer from the pipe to the flowing liquid takes
for refrigeration stations may be eliminated by allowing place, resulting in the complete evaporation of the
controlled evaporation of LNG along the line. liquid. A decrease of the pipe temperature with time
Studies of the transfer of cryogenic liquids over short follows, giving rise to transient heat and mass transfer
and long distances have been reported? ,5,6 Most of them in the pipe. When the temperature of the pipe becomes
deal with the steady state and cool down periods of the equal to the saturation temperature of LNG, a steady
transmission of liquid hydrogen or nitrogen in pipes state is reached, in which the fluid flowing in the pipe is in
without considering the effect of primary evaporation of the liquid phase. Important parameters which must be
the liquid. determined are: the cool down time, meaning the time
The purpose of the present work is to analyse the elapsing before a steady state is reached, the rate of
liquid flow, and LNG requirements for cooling the system
The authors are with the Department of Aeronautical Engineer- down to the saturation temperature.
ing, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
A.C. is at present with the Department of Aerospace and
Some theoretical and experimental work regarding the
Mechanical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, New transient operation of cryogenic liquid lines has been
Jersey. Received 6 November 1968. reported. Burke et al 4 measured temperatures, pressures

189 CRYOGENICS • JUNE 1969

 Consider then a long round pipe insulated from the
NOMENCLATURE
surroundings into which a liquefied fluid is being intro-
a, b parameters defined in the text duced at some initial section. Due to the assumed lack
c heat capacity at constant pressure of a two phase region, instantaneous evaporation occurs
CpL heat capacity of liquid L N G so that the fluid flowing downstream of the entrance
D pipe diameter section is in gaseous form.
f friction coefficient The equations for heat transfer between the gas and the
h heat transfer coefficient pipe are :
I0, Ii modified Bessel functions of order zero and
one for the gas
Jo, J~ Bessel function of zero, first order
K heat conductivity bT: ~T:
cfp.r-~- + h ( T f - T , r ) + cjo[w--~-
x = 0... (l)
L pipe length
p pressure for the pipe
Q heat leakage rate
R pipe radius TtF
s pipe cross sectional area c,vpw~ +h(T,-Tr)+Q = 0... (2)
T temperature
U dimensionless temperature of the pipe where cl and Cw are the heat capacities of the gas and
V dimensionless temperature of the fluid pipe respectively, h is the heat transfer coefficient, w the
w average velocity of the fluid in the pipe average gas velocity in the pipe, and Q the heat of
dimensionless heat of evaporation evaporation.
d pipe wall thickness Defining dimensionless parameters and coordinates
0 temperature as follows
n thermal diffusivity Tf- T,~ Tw- T~
2 latent heat of evaporation V- U-
dimensionless axial variable
p density I1 17
a specific L N G requirement for cool down -- b - - - --- a x r = b(wt- x)
cfpyw C wp wW
r dimensionless time variable
~b integral function defined in the text where Ts is the saturation temperature of ENG we have
Subscripts the following equations instead of (1) and (2)
c critical value ~V
J" value pertinent to the fluid in the pipe --=U-V .. (3)
g value at the surface of the ground
i initial value
br V- U+a . . . (4)
L value at a distance L from the pipe entrance
l liquid
where c~ = (Q/hTs) = constant. Initial conditions are
o value at the pipe entrance section
s saturation value w(~, o) = wo v(o, 0 = 0 ... (5)
w pertinent to the pipe
Equations (3) and (4) together with the initial conditions
(5) have been solved by Brinkley 7 and the solution is
given in the form of:

and flow rates during cool down of a liquefied nitrogen r j , - Ts

v ( ~ , r) - T8 - {(Uo + :~r)¢(~, r) + ~ ¢ ¢ ( r , ~) -
transfer line 175 ft long. Their experimental results were
compared to a semi-empirical integral theory and good - ~(~v)~ll[2(~r)~]}e-~ ~ . . . (6)
agreement was found. Tantum and Farrar s measured the
cool down losses of a vacuum insulated pipe carrying T w - T,~,
u ( L r) - Uo - - l [ e ( ¢ + 1) - Uo]~b(r, 4) +
liquid oxygen. Chi 6 carried out experiments on the cool
down of a short metal test section by liquid hydrogen. In
+ c~r~b(~,r) + c((~r)~/,[2(~.r)l]}e -e-T . . . (7)
his analysis Chi replaced the two phase fluid flowing in
his test section by a fictitious fluid having the properties where
£
of a gas. This assumption was based on the experimental
fact that the fluid in contact with the pipe is in gaseous qS(~, r) = e~ .[ e ~'lo[2(~'r) ~] d~' . . . (8)
O
form. All evaporation effects were thus neglected.
In the present analysis a solution of the unsteady one An analogous expression may be written for ~b(r, ~).
dimensional equations of heat transfer including an Equations (6) and (7) enable us to calculate the
evaporation term is given. A Newton type law of cooling temperature of the gaseous natural gas and of the pipe at
is assumed and the existence of a two phase region in the any distance or time during the period of cool down, and
pipe is neglected. This last assumption may be well the time which elapses before cool down is achieved.
justified when considering the relative length of such a Knowing the mass of the pipeline, the heat of evaporation
region with respect to the total length of the pipe which and the cool down time, the gas required for cooling the
may be of the order of 300 km. system to the saturation temperature can also be

CRYOGENICS • JUNE 1969 181

 calculated. Such a calculation was performed by R. B. inlet (x = 0) the pressure is equal to the pump discharge
Jacobs. 8 pressure p0 and the temperature to some initial value
Following reference 8 we write: - To. After a certain distance x = L the liquid will start
to evaporate. Assuming that at this point the temperature
t~Qw = dmwcw dTw and the pressure are related by the Clausius-Clapeyron
and equation, and that the vapour obeys the equation of state
for a perfect gas, the boundary condition at x = L can be
8QI = dmr 2 + I cldT1
T,
1
I
written 9
1 1 R PL
where - f i Q w is the heat transfer from the pipe to the To TL = ~ l n ~ ... (14)
flowing gas and 8QI the heat absorbed by the gas,
including the latent heat of evaporation. Equating the where PR is the pump dewar pressure.
above two expressions one obtains Now integrating the set of equations (11) and inserting
Tw the boundary conditions, one gets:
dmi= -dmwcw[2 + fctdTs~]-ldTw ... (9)
2
P - Po = - ~ p f w 2 x . . . (15)
Integration of (9) gives an expression for the mass of
liquid required to cool a mass of equipment dmw from an Qx Qx
initial temperature T, to the saturation temperature T, T-To =- = -: . . . (16)
p ws m
Tc T~
so that the pressure and the temperature vary linearly
along the pipe. In order to estimate the length of the pipe
T, |T,
after which saturation occurs, we can use equation (14)
Taking drnw as the unit mass of the pipe and assuming and obtain by substituting it into (15) and (16)
average constant heat capacities of the pipe and the gas
we get Po 2 2 L ' 1
-ff-R = ~)pfw x-ff-R + exp R--~o(l + (c, Toth/QL)) . " " (17)
=
[
cw in 1 + ]
(T~ -- Ts) • - • (10)
Pumping and refrigeration stations may be designed
according to equation (17). The number of pumping and
where amin is the minimum liquid requirement for refrigeration stations can be reduced to a minimum by
cooling a unit mass of the pipeline to the saturation allowing for controlled flushing of liquid along the pipe.
temperature.
(c) W a r m up period
(b) Steady state operation
In the steady state the pipeline is at a temperature which When pumping of the liquid stops, the fluid in the pipe
is equal at most to the saturation temperature of the may warm up. When this happens heat is transferred
liquefied fluid. The designed rate of liquid 'flow must be from the tube to the stationary liquid in the radial
attained for a given pressure gradient and a given rate of direction according to the amount of heat leakage along
heat leakage into the pipe. We consider then the following the pipe. The equation describing the distribution of
equations for heat and mass transfer: temperature in the pipe during this operation mode is

d(pw) = 0 ~0 {~20 1 ~0~

= + 7 . .. (18)

d(pwz) + dp + 4 t/dx = 0 where

O=T-Ti
c~dT--- Q dx . . . (11) The temperature in equation (18) is a function of the
pws
axial distance as a result of the distribution of tempera-
where r/ is the shearing stress and Q the rate of heat ture and heat leakages during the steady state period.
leaking into the pipe. Since, however, evaporation will occur at the critical
A supplementary equation for the shearing stress points where the temperature has its maximum value, we
yields: may consider equation (18) only in the vicinity of those
points. Thus equation (18) becomes independent of x and
D dp pw 2 is integrated subject to the initial condition O(r, O) = O.
t/ - 4 dx-f× -2- ... (12) If there is a constant heat flux from the surroundings into
the tube, the solution given for 0 is written in the form xo
where f is a friction factor whose value is given by 9
f = 0.0014 + 0.125 x (Re) -'°'32 . . . (13) 0 = --p-b- + -U- h-b-2 2 e •
n=l

for3000< Re<3x 106 ... (19)

Since the temperature variation of the liquid in the steady where an are the positive roots of the equation Jo(~n) = 0.
state period is small, it can be assumed that p, c~, and f From equation (19) it can be inferred that the maximum
are all constants. As for the boundary conditions, at the temperature of the fluid is found near the pipe walls.

182 CRYOGENICS • J U N E 1969

Knowing the constant values of T~, to, K, and Q, the exact TABLE 1
distribution of the temperature as a function of radial Molecular weight = 16.0
distance and time can be calculated. Gas density = 0.55p air (at 1 atm)
B o i l i n g point = - 260 F (at 1 atm)
Numerical example and discussion Calorific value = 1 000 Btu/ft3(vap)
Average heat capacity of vapour for the temperature range
In order to demonstrate the application of the theory - 2 0 0 F to +200 F C p = 0.50Btu/Ib F
presented in the analysis we consider a 10 in.-100 km Latent heat of evaporation ). = 220 Btu/Ib
vacuum insulated pipeline (plotted schematically in Average viscosity of vapourlL = 0.01 centipoise
Figure 1) whose designed L N G flow rate is 3 x 106 litres Average heat conductivity of vapour K = 0.017 Btu/h ft F
Liquid density = 0.45 g/cm 3
per day.
Average heat capacity of liquid Cpz = 0.7 8tuJlb F
The physical parameters of L N G are taken in the Average heat conductivity of liquid K~ = 0.08 Btu/h ft F
present example to be those of methane, CH4. The data V i s c o s i t y of liquid #z = 0.7 centipoise
required for the calculations were taken from the
Handbook of Natural Gas Engineering a~ and are given in
Table 1. that long pipes require the construction of a number of
The sizing of an L N G transfer line, discharge pressures pumping stations along the line. This number is plotted
and number of pumping and refrigeration stations are all as a function of the pump discharge pressure for different
determined by the designed flow rate and by the amount pipe diameters in Figure 3. The calculation of the number
of heat leakage into t h e pipe during the steady state of pumping stations is based on the curve in Figure 2
period. These parameters are calculated with the aid of describing the pressure needs for a 100 km pipeline.
equation (17), for a flow rate of 3 x 10~ litres per day and Since an increase in temperature follows a correspond-
an assumed heat leakage into the pipe of Q = 0.1 Btu/h in. ing pressure fall, refrigeration stations must be built at
The results for different pipe diameters are shown in the same locations along the line as the pumping stations.
Figure 2. The number of refrigeration stations may be reduced if
The pump discharge pressure for a 10 in.-100 km suitable technical means for controlled evaporation of
pipeline reaches a value of 15 atm rising sharply with the L N G can be designed.
increase in pipe length. It may, therefore, be concluded In the cool down period heat is transferred to gaseous
L N G from the carrying pipe walls. We then use the
Colburn relation for the coefficient of heat transfer. ~2

hz {pcf~ ~ 0"023
Outer insutoting '= LNO carrying
tube I tube c~oG × \--k--J: - (DG/kt:) °'z , . . (20)

Here G = m / s = pw and f designates evaluation of the

properties at the film temperature tl = (t~ + tb)/2, while
c~b is the heat capacity of the gas evaluated at the bulk
temperature. The value of G is determined by the ability
of the pipe to vent the gas. If no extra pumps are used for
I .............. ,...It I ............ J venting the gas, the flow in the pipe will be choked and
! !

Entrance t~pumping Pumping and

determined by the temperature along the line. The
station and d e w a r refrigeration station minimum rate of flow will be determined by the
saturation temperature. Here the velocity of the gas
Figure 1. Schematic drawing of the system
flowing in the pipe will be approximately 270 m/s.
Evaluating h~ from equation (20) one obtains
hz ~ 0.122 kcal/s m 2 K and h = hi~& where O is the pipe
wall thickness, equal in the present example to ¼ in. The
32 values of a and b which correlale the dimensionless
PR=IQt m I D=10 in.--
28 r h = 3 x l 0 ~ titres/dQy
E

O=5in.-- / 16
[111
~ 20
V)
/ /I (3

~72
P~=I arm
m = 3x106 [itres/day

/
" 15
pipe Length=lOSm
~, 70
t..
Q.
u

En
D= 20 in. L. D=5in.
~.
E
8 .C 6 ;\Q,~
D=10in. ~
I
2 I
I
10z 103 10'* 10 5 10s i i 1
Length of transfer [ine~ ff~ 0 1 2 3 /, 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Figure 2, Pump discharge pressure Figure 3. Number of pumping stations

C R Y O G E N I C S • JUNE 1969 183

variables of equations (3) and (4) with the axial distance =~ s00
and the time are 2
ht ~:
a - - - - 0.20 m -~ b = 0-9 x 10 -4 m -~ o ~00
~CI~IW 5
8 D =12- 5 = ~ ' 4 ~
The third parameter appearing in equations (3) and (4) ~ 300
is the heat of evaporation represented by the term ~. ~,
Using the data given at the beginning of this section one
finds for ~ the value E 200 amin =0.113

Q~ 42m5 g
hzTs x vol.
-
htTszr(D~
o
--D
~)L ~ -
0.002 L
=
5 1oo

Equations (6) and (7), which describe the variation of the

pipe and gas temperatures with time during the cool
~ f
down period, have been calculated for various values of ~ °10~ 10~ 2x105
and r using the above value of e and taking Uo = 1.6. Length of pipeline, r~
The calculation has been performed with the aid of the Figure 5. LNG requirements during cool down
Technion's Elliot 503 computer and the results are
plotted in Figure 4.
Figure 4 shows that at small distances from the pipe
entrance, the temperatures of the gas and of the pipe
decay exponentially with time. For large times associated o.2
with long pipes the variation of the temperature of the gas
flowing in the pipe, and that of the pipe itself, can be
described according to the linear relations
0"1
r
V .
TI - Ts
.
Uo +
. o~r .0
Tw - Tw. 0C£
T, T, xt

... (21) ~ l ~ 0 -0"005

RZ 0.5

and since for such times r ~ t, it is clear that the tempera-

~d 0"02
ture of the pipe and of the gas decay linearly with time. "l~- ~.03 J
Therefore in very long pipes in which the gas flow is
choked the cooling down time is dependent on the para- o4
meter e only, giving thus an inverse relation between the
cool down time and the length of the pipe.
In the 100 km pipeline under consideration, the 02 0,_L.__-j 5 /
dimensionless time required for cooling down the system
to the saturation liquid temperature is found from
Figure 4, or alternatively from equation (21), to be Figure 6. Temperature distribution in'warm up period
re = 800, from which one finds
Te
te - bw - 9"15 h
The temperature distribution in the pipe during warm
The specific amount of liquid L N G needed for cooling up is shown in Figure 6. In order to calculate the time
down the pipeline is found from equation (10) and elapsing until evaporation starts we assume that
Table 1 to be O'min = 0-113, and the total required Ts - Ti = 20 C and Q = 0.5 Btu/h ft 2. For these values
amount of L N G is then 235 tons. This total amount is we find KQ/RO = 7.6 and from Figure 6 we obtain
shown as function of the pipe size in Figure 5. 2•t/R 2 ~ 7.6 - 0.25 = 7.35. After introducing the values
of tc and R into the above relation one gets for the time
after which evaporation will occur (if no extra cooling is
1.6
provided) tl = 4-8 h.
1.2 x=450~
0.8 I I i
Conclusions
;I
p- tel
0'4

0
100 200 300 400 'ks o"- '
~8009001( forx=105r~T Previous experimental and theoretical studies have shown
that the transfer of liquefied natural gas in long insulated
-04 pipelines is feasible. An analytical study of heat and mass
O
-0.8 x\ transfer during the cool down, steady state, and warm up
periods has been presented and discussed.
~ ~-1'2
The analysis enables one to calculate such parameters
~- -1" 6 as the cool down time of the pipeline, the amount of L N G
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 required for cooling, the pump discharge pressure, the
Figure 4. Temperature decay during cool down number of pumping stations along the line, and the time

t84 CRYOGENICS • dUNE 1969

elapsing until evaporation occurs, when pumping of the 3. DIMENTBERG,M. Oil and Gas Journal, 65, 96 (1967)
liquid stops. 4. BURKE,J. C., BYRNESS,W. R., POST, A. H., and RuCCtA, F.
Advances in Cryogenic Engineering 4, Paper F-5 (Plenum, New
These parameters have been calculated for a York, 1960)
l0 in.-100 km vacuum insulated pipeline. 5. TANTUM, O. H., and FARRAR, F. Adwlnces in Crl'q(enic
Engineering 4, paper F-1 (Plenum, New York 1960)
This work was supported by the Israel Petrolium 6. CHI, J. W. H. Advances in Ct:vq(enie En(ineering 10, Paper I-5
Institute. (Plenum, New York, 1965)
7. BRINKEEY,R. J. App/. Ph)'s 18, 582, (1947)
Since this study was completed, the recent work of 8. JACOBS,R. B. Advances in Cryq(enic Engineering, 8, Paper J-6
Carbonell et a113 has been brought to our attention. (Plenum, New York, 1963)
Their treatment deals with the steady state operating 9. JACOBS,R. B. Advances in Cryq(enic Engineering 2, Paper G-7
period; their conclusions on the distance between (Plenum, New York, 1960)
10. CARSLAW,H. S., and JAEGER, J. C. Conduction of Heat in
refrigeration stations and their dependence on the pipe Solids (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1959)
diameter are in agreement with our results. 11. Handbook of Natural Gas Engineering (McGraw-Hill, New
York, 1959)
12. MCADAMS, W. H. Heat Transmission (McGraw-Hill, New
REFERENCES York, 1954)
1. HILBERTANDERSON,J. Oil and Gas Journal, 63, 74 (1965) 13. CARBONELL,E., GUERIN, J. Y., and SOLENTE, P. Advances in
2. DUFFY, A. R., and DAINORA, J. Oil and Gas Journal, 65, Cryogenic En(ineerin( 12, Paper F-5 (Plenum, New York,
(1967) 1967)

CRYOGENICS • JUNE 1969 1t5