Pressure loss reduction in hydrogen pipelines by surface restructuring

This paper concerns the reduction of pressure losses during pipeline hydrogen transportation, as the cost of hydrogen compression is a significant obstacle for efficient hydrogen pumping on a large-scale basis. The use of organized micro-structures on pipeline walls is proposed to obtain lower values of pressure losses with respect to smooth walls. Three-dimensional micro-structures of a sinusoidal shape are investigated as potentially more efficient counterparts to conventional two-dimensional structures (riblets) developed in aerospace industry. Aerodynamic performance of three-dimensional structures is investigated computationally in terms of both skin friction and pressure drag, two constituents of the total drag. Three-dimensional structures are shown to provide larger total drag reduction than two-dimensional structures for some range of geometrical parameters (14.5% versus 11%). Parametric dependence of both pressure and skin friction drag on structure geometry is analyzed, and an optimum configuration maximizing the total drag reduction is proposed.