The global reliance on oil and gas pipelines for energy transportation is increasing. As the pioneering review in the field of ultrasonic defect detection for oil and gas pipelines based on bibliometric methods, this study employs visual analysis to identify the most influential countries, academic institutions, and journals in this domain. Through cluster analysis, it determines the primary trends, research hotspots, and future directions in this critical field. Starting from the current global industrial ultrasonic in-line inspection (ILI) detection level, this paper provides a flowchart for selecting detection methods and a table for defect comparison, detailing the comparative performance limits of different detection devices. It offers a comprehensive perspective on the latest ultrasonic pipeline detection technology from laboratory experiments to industrial practice.

Obtaining accurate components' characteristic maps has great significant for gas-turbine operating optimization and gas-path fault diagnosis. A common approach is to modify the original components' characteristic maps by introducing correction factors, which is known as performance adaptation. Among the existing methods, total average prediction error of measurable parameters (MPTAPE) at specified conditions is used to evaluate the adaptation accuracy. However, when a gas turbine undergoes a field operation, the performance parameters of each component are zonally distributed under the operating conditions. Under such circumstances, randomly selecting a few data points as the error control points (ECPs) for performance adaptation may lead to an inappropriate correction of the characteristic maps, further lowering the prediction accuracy of the simulation model. In this paper, a genetic-algorithm-based improved performance adaptation method is proposed, which provides improvements in two aspects. In one aspect, similarity between the components' predicted performance curves and the performance regression curves is used as the criterion with which to evaluate the adaptation accuracy. In the other aspect, in the process of off-design performance adaptation, the performance parameters at the design point are recalibrated. The improved method has been verified by using rig test data and applied to field data of a GE LM2500+SAC gas turbine. The comparison results show that the improved method can obtain more accurate and stable adaptation results, while the computational load can be significantly reduced.

Vane number is an important parameter of IGV device, which indirectly affects hydraulic performance and pressure pulsation characteristics of the attached pump. In this study, based on an IS pump, the influences of vane number on hydraulic performance and pressure pulsation characteristics were considered. Four set of IGV devices were generated to assemble to the pump with 5, 6, 7 and 9 vanes, respectively. Then the three-dimensional unsteady flow fields were simulated using RNG k - ε turbulence model and sliding mesh by Fluent-16.0. The numerical results showed good agreement with the experimental data, which validated the numerical models. The effects of vane number on pump head and efficiency are different. 6 vanes IGV device can produce higher head while 7 or 9 vanes can bring about higher efficiency. Similarly, the influences of vane number on pressure pulsation in time domain and frequency domain are also complex. 6 vanes IGV device can remarkably decrease power spectral density at all flow rate conditions, but 7 vanes IGV device can improve pump pressure pulsation characteristics and realize better hydraulic stability. Therefore, it is hard to determine the best vane number, but 6 vanes IGV device is suggested for engineering application to obtain better hydraulic performance.

The application of a cryogenic liquefied natural gas expander can reduce the production of flash steam and improve the efficiency of natural gas liquefaction. Like traditional hydraulic machinery, cavitation will occur during the operation of a liquefied natural gas expander, in particular, there is a strong vortex flow in the draft tube, and the cavitation phenomenon is serious. In this paper, the energy loss coefficient of the draft tube is used to describe the cavitation flow in the draft tube, and the goal of reducing the cavitation in the draft tube is achieved through the optimization design of the runner. Different runner models within the range of design parameters were obtained using the Latin hypercube test, and the relationship between design parameters and objective functions is constructed by a second-order response surface model. Finally, the optimized runners were obtained using a genetic algorithm. The effects of blade loading distribution and blade lean angles on the cavitation in the draft tube were studied. According to the optimization results, the blade loading distribution and blade lean angles are recommended in the end.

The small leakage in the natural gas pipeline in China increased rapidly in recent years. Its overall amount has exceeded 40,000 km and the nation-wide gas pipeline network has taken shape. Therefore, pipeline safety management has gained more and more attention. The signals of sound, pressure drop and vibration - which are produced by small leakages in buried pipeline - are always too weak to be captured by SCADA. But, if the small leakage lasts for a certain amount of time, it can cause very severe damage. Therefore, this paper researched the diffusion rule of buried pipeline small leakage based on the theory of single-phase seepage and high-speed, non-Darcy seepage. It established a mathematical model of seepage using FVM to solve control equations and was finally verified by experiment. By comparing the results of experiment and numerical computation, we built an empirical formula to determine the non-Darcy coefficient and a pressure correction equation suited to high-permeability soil and soil deformation. This model can be used to estimate mass flow of buried pipeline and seepage time to the ground and to provide reference to establish management regulation such as natural gas long-distance pipeline's patrol cycle.