Development of a sectionalizing method for simulation of large-scale complicated natural gas pipeline networks

By 2025, the total mileage of natural gas pipelines in China is expected to reach 163,000 km, placing urgent demands on the simulation technology for increasingly large-scale and more complicated pipeline networks. This paper describes the development of a new sectionalizing method, which is based on optimization strategy, for simulating large-scale and complicated natural gas pipeline networks. Based on analysis of the topological structures, the entire pipeline networks are decomposed into multiple sub-networks according to the connecting nodes between the adjoined pipelines. The sectionalizing method is then implemented by minimizing the residuals of conservation for continuity and momentum at the connecting nodes in isothermal mode. The hydraulic variables in each sub-network are obtained after the hydraulic variables at connecting nodes are updated. The calculation accuracy and efficiency of this sectionalizing method are demonstrated by comparison with a commercial software through three different test cases. It is shown that the maximum relative deviation of pressure of the method developed is within 2.5% of that calculated using the commercial software. In a 5 × 10⁴ km test case with variable spatial step sizes, the computational efficiency is 2.1 to 3.2 times of that of the commercial software. The results of the three case studies suggest that this sectionalizing method is promising and suitable for application to large-scale complicate natural gas network simulation.