Standalone Sand Screen Erosion Testing 

Standalone Sand Screen (SAS) Erosion Testing

The screen erosion depends on the screen type, flow velocity, sand PSD or particle sizes, and the amount of sand impacted on the screen. The erosion testing setup was developed to evaluate the erosion risk of sand screens with direct impingement of sand particles. In this test, sand particles are constantly drawn from the sand feeder cell into a 1/8-inch nozzle pipe and then impinge onto the sand screen by the pressurized air supplied by the compressor at a steady mass rate. The particle impact could wear out the screen coupon material, widening the aperture. 

The experiments can be carried out with varying velocities of impact and screen orientations relative to the direction of the jet flow. The previous works show that the maximum erosion rate for brittle and ductile materials occurs at impact angles of 90º and 15º-30º, respectively [1]. The composition of steel alloys typically includes both ductile materials such as ferrite and bainite and brittle materials like martensite, which demonstrate a higher level of erosion at a 45-degree angle [2]. 

1. Jasem et al. (2020). Solid particle erosion behavior and protective coatings for gas turbine compressor blades—A review, Processes,984

2. Biswas et al. (2014). Subsurface behavior of ductile material by particle impacts and its influence on wear mechanism. Procedia Engineering 90,    160–165.