INFLUENCE OF THE INLET PRESSURE ON IMPULSE CHARACTERISTICS OF ALUMINUM SAMPLES

Abstract

In this work, the cavitation water jet technique was used to clean the inner walls of oil pipes after tertiary oil recovery. The surface morphology, depth of impinging pits, and corrosion resistance of aluminum samples after impingement with the cavitation water jet were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), 3D microscopy, and an electrochemical workstation. When the inlet pressure was higher than 3[Formula: see text]MPa, the number of cavitation bubbles generated by the cavitation nozzle increased with an increase in inlet pressure. Moreover, the cleaning effect that the cavitation water jet had on the aluminum samples was higher than that of general water jet technology. There were no obvious changes to the surface of the aluminum samples when the inlet pressure was decreased to 13[Formula: see text]MPa. Meanwhile, the mass loss of aluminum samples also increased. However, the internal corrosion resistance of the pipe wall after impact was relatively low. These results indicate that the impinging efficiency of the cavitation water jet was obviously enhanced and the degree of damage to the oil pipe wall was low at an inlet pressure of 15[Formula: see text]MPa. The best target distance was 8–12[Formula: see text]mm, and at this point, the jet flushing effect was the best. Moreover, the jet velocity at the outlet cavity was 184[Formula: see text]m/s, and the jet strike area was 250[Formula: see text]mm2.