LAUSR

Abstract Solid particle erosion caused by sand production in pipelines is a critical problem in the oil and gas industry. To control, assess, and prevent severe damage from erosion, it is important to have models to predict the erosion magnitude. As one of critical parameters, the erosion rate is of particular interest. In this study, we develop the least-squares boosting model to predict the solid particle erosion rate in elbows from material properties and the geometry of pipewall and sand particles, as well carrier fluid velocities. It applies to both single phase and multiphase flow patterns that involve varying wall materials, particle sizes, and carrier fluid velocities. The model is highly accurate and stable, and thus is promising as a fast, robust, and low-cost tool for solid particle erosion rate estimations.