Modeling the dynamics of flow in gas pipelines

The description of nonstationary one-dimensional flow of a nonideal gas in a pipe is treated with the goal of developing a mathematical description of flow and pressure (density) dynamics adequate for creating a simulation model of large pipeline networks, the analysis starts from Newton´s equation of motion. The continuity equation, and the energy equation. The authors determine the relationships among: space discretization, terms of Newton´s equation, and frequency of the dynamic processes occurring in the system. The resulting dynamic description of a pipe is discussed for two different modes of space discretization, and quantitative rules for space discretization are given.