Measurement of Local Mass Transfer and the Resulting Roughness in a Large Diameter S-Bend at High Reynolds Number

The local mass transfer and the resulting roughness in a 203 mm diameter back-to-back bend arranged in an S-configuration were measured at a Reynolds number of 300,000. A dissolving wall method using gypsum dissolution to water at 40 °C was used, with a Schmidt number of 660. The topography of the unworn and worn inner surface was quantified using nondestructive X-ray computed tomography (CT) scans. The local mass transfer rate was obtained from the local change in radius over the flow time. Two regions of high mass transfer were present: (i) along the intrados of the first bend near the inlet and (ii) at the exit of the extrados of the first bend that extends to the intrados of the second bend. The latter was the region of highest mass transfer, and the scaling of the maximum Sherwood number with Reynolds number followed that developed for lower Reynolds numbers. The relative roughness distribution in the bend corresponded to the mass transfer distribution, with higher roughness in the higher mass transfer regions. The spacing of the roughness elements in the upstream pipe and in the two regions of high mass transfer was approximately the same; however, the spacing-to-height ratio was very different with values of 20, 10, and 6, respectively.