Coupled Condensation–Melting Heat Transfer and Thermal Design Limits of a Steam-Assisted Pipeline Cleaning Crawler: A Probabilistic Modeling Study
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Manuscript, supplementary information and cover letter prepared for Applied Thermal Engineering. A probabilistic modeling study of coupled condensation-melting heat transfer and thermal design limits of a steam-assisted, motorized pipeline cleaning crawler (TAMPRC): a dimensionless retained-melt-film resistance and a dynamic film (melt production against gravity drainage), benchmarks against an enthalpy-method Stefan solver and the Neumann solution, three condensation representations, global Sobol sensitivity, a constrained design search, and a pressure-temperature check of the steam envelope. All inputs are assumed; the numerical solutions are verified (62 automated checks) and the coupled model is not validated. Code and data: https://github.com/sandlerleon/tamprc-pipeline-crawler-mc
Author: Sandler, Leon
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225562416