The pipeline conveys liquid from a high peak and then down. If the fluid is discharged by gravity from one side of the pipe, is it possible to crumple the pipe due to the negative pressure at the tip of the peak? How can you calculate the pressure difference required to destroy the pipe at the top?
By draining how much volume of fluid at the bottom of the peak, the pipe may be damaged in the peak?
The pressure of a liquid won't go below it's vapor pressure. If it drops to the vapor pressure, it will start to boil (if it's a mixture, it will vacuum distill due to differences in boiling pressure) and the pipe will form a vapor pocket. As you remove more liquid, the vapor bubble will get bigger but its pressure won't change much.
There are methods for calculating collapse pressure and full scale testing is also commonly performed. Because the lowest fluid pressure is 0 Pa absolute, collapse of steel pipe is usually only a problem when the outside pressures are high, like in a subsea environment.
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