Vibration and Stress Analyses of Positive Displacement Pump Pipeline Systems in Oil Transportation Stations

Abstract

In oil transportation stations, the plunger motion exhibited by positive displacement pumps can cause a great deal of vibration that can influence the secure operations of the equipment and pipelines. If resonance between the equipment and pipelines occurs, their integrity can be compromised, resulting in catastrophic damage. Therefore, both stress analysis and vibration analysis are necessary before a pipeline is formally put into operation. For this study, mechanical models of pipelines and constraints in positive displacement pump pipeline systems, based on theories of stress and vibration in pipelines, were created. Numerical simulations, including stress, modal, and vibration analyses were performed on-site at an oil transportation station in west China. The data were collected, reported, calibrated according to published standards, and then analyzed. The results revealed that the models created were reliable for stress and vibration analyses of pipelines in practical applications and that resonance between pipelines and equipment can be avoided by enhancing the pipeline’s support and increasing its natural frequency. This research also provides engineering design suggestions for positive displacement pump pipeline systems.