Title: Exergy-based multi-objective optimisation and thermodynamic-hydraulic performance analysis of urban light hydrocarbon gas pipeline systems

Authors: Liwei Chen; Penghao Liu; Suying Bai; Jingying Hao; Ruijuan He; Kanhong Wang; Jinggang Wang; Changjian Zhang

Addresses: College of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, Hebei, China ' College of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, Hebei, China ' College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, Hebei, China ' College of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, Hebei, China ' College of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, Hebei, China ' College of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, Hebei, China ' College of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, Hebei, China ' College of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, Hebei, China

Abstract: The thermodynamic-hydraulic behaviour of light hydrocarbon gas differs from that of natural gas. Therefore, this study employs a combined method using the BWRS equation of state, the Colebrook-White friction model, and a revised iterative equivalent length method. The results show that increasing the pipeline diameter reduces pressure loss by up to 98% and increases exergy efficiency from 0.41 to 0.65. In the case study, the DN 75 configuration achieves the most balanced trade-off among economic, hydraulic, and thermodynamic performance. The proposed framework unifies exergy analysis and hydraulic optimisation to guide efficient and sustainable design of urban gas systems. The highlights of the paper are: 1) a methodology with modelling, optimising and evaluating is established; 2) a model with embedded iterative method is constructed and validated; 3) optimisation process is conducted by simulation experiment and comparative analysis; 4) a systematic exergy-based assessment is performed for pipeline network optimisation; 5) multi-dimensional evaluation method is developed to quantify system performance.

Keywords: light hydrocarbon; pipeline optimisation; energy losses; exergy efficiency; multi-dimensional evaluation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2026.154503

International Journal of Exergy, 2026 Vol.50 No.2, pp.107 - 132

Received: 08 Oct 2025
Accepted: 14 Jan 2026
Published online: 30 Jun 2026 *

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