A carbon steel pipes inner surface is coated with smooth pla

A carbon steel pipe\'s inner surface is coated with smooth plastic resin (zero roughness) to transport oil. The pipe vendor says that friction loss will be reduced by the high tech coating regardless of flowrate. Is it true or false? Why?

Solution

It is true

Internal coatings are used to increase the flow efficiency for oil . Internal plastic coatings (IPC) have a very low surface roughness in relation to the steel pipes they protect. This impacts pipe hydraulics and provides a surface change that will aid in the mitigation of organic and inorganic deposit formation, increasing the economic justifications for using IPC

The surface finish of an internally plastic-coated pipe has a fraction of the surface roughness of bare pipe, reducing the friction generated at the surface during product flow. The usage of IPC in gas pipelines have shown a reduction in friction coefficient of up to 50% resulting in a transmission increase of 15 to 25% (2) (4). The potential pipeline transmission increases are more pronounced in smaller sized pipes, as well as systems with higher Reynolds numbers where flow is turbulent