Applied Flow Technology announces the winners of their 2019 Platinum Pipe Award. Each year they recognize excellence in piping and ducting system models using AFT software.

All winners won a $500 Amazon gift card and $2,000 in software credit for their company. 

Below are the winners and condensed descriptions of their projects. Those who receive the AFT Pipeline monthly newsletter will see expanded case studies and the detailed models for each of the four winning projects as well as three projects who received Honorable Mentions. 

Most Interesting Model

  • Joel Neville of Wood in Calgary, Canada

AFT Impulse, Production Platform in Gulf of Mexico

An Impulse model of a production platform in the Gulf of Mexico owned by a multinational oil and gas company. A variety of transient cases were required to be analyzed for the complex system exporting up to 140,000 BOE per day to a subsea pipeline network. The Primary Engineering Firm created a model of the system in AFT Fathom, and Wood used this model to verify the base AFT Impulse model. A large number of complex junctions and features were utilized to simulate complex components, events, and system logic. The model contains 81 scenarios, analyzing a range of system operations including all pump start-up and shutdown, partial pump startup and shutdown, emergency shutdown, valve closures, flow path changes, and many combinations of the above. Additionally, both cavitation models were compared in many cases to check for consistency in results, increasing confidence. The complexity of the model is evident examining the junctions used – there are 20 check valves, all with reverse closure velocities, 6 control valves with rate limits and open percentage data, a gas accumulator, 6 pumps generally starting or tripping with speed vs time profiles, 10 pressure/pressure relief valves, and almost 80 valves, dozens of which have event-based transients and many which are based on realistic characteristics. The model was drawn in an isometric fashion to facilitate the ease of understanding the 153 applied Force Sets, which were used to export to stress analysis software. Various recommendations were obtained. In some areas, these recommendations reduced pressure pulsation by 75% and forces by a comparable amount. 

  • Arunkumar M, L&T Construction in Chennai, India

AFT Fathom with GSC, Cooling Water System for a Nuclear Fusion Project

A cooling water system containing hundreds of components needed hydraulic analysis to ensure all components met a maximum water pressure restriction. The heat transfer enabled Fathom model showed that the pressure restriction was met everywhere except for one set of components. Multiple options to reduce the pressure at this location were explored, including moving the heat exchangers, increasing line sizes, adding booster pumps, and both adding boosters along with moving the exchangers. Fathom allowed the easy comparison of various scenarios, control valve open percentage gave feedback on operation, and vapor detection allowed potential cavitation issues to be addressed. The model contains 6 scenarios, 898 pipes, and 788 junctions. This includes over 100 specified heat rate heat exchangers, over 225 correctly configured (spot checked) Detailed Tees, and over 200 valves. Also utilized in the model were Design Alerts and Fittings and Losses.

Correlation to Test/Field Data

  • Daisy Ambach, Hatch in Dorking, United Kingdom

AFT Impulse, Hazard and Operability Study of Water Injection System

Project Description: The client completed a HAZOP study for one of its operational production facilities in the North Sea. The HAZOP committee were tasked to re-validate the design and operation of the production facility in accordance with regulatory requirements, identify any safety critical issues and recommend appropriate actions where necessary. They identified a range of actions related to relief and blowdown; piping; and flow assurance. During the HAZOP, it was noted that a surge analysis had not been conducted for the water injection system at the site. In case of a remote facility trip or a closure of a shutdown valve in the system, the committee identified that the only safeguard in place for pressure surges is the piping design pressure. Data being compared are measurements of pressure and flow during steady state analysis at key points such as the pumps and heat exchangers. On average a match of 8% match was found, with 13 % as the maximum difference and 0% as the minimum.

Operational Benefits and Sustainability

  • Manas Karnure, Swapnil A. Paingankar, and Dhiresh Mahajan, Ingenero Technologies Pvt. Ltd. In Thane, India

AFT Fathom, Hot Oil Network at Petrochemical Facility

Project Description: It was envisaged that a hot oil network in a petrochemical facility owned by Ingenero’s client be examined to explore possible energy savings avenues. The preliminary understanding was that the network was being operated with high pump discharge pressure and the pressure drops across certain control valves were excessively high. The client wanted the energy optimization be carried out with least possible and cost-effective configuration changes in the hot oil network. The focus of the hydraulic modeling was to reduce power consumption and make the operation energy efficient by focusing on pump energy consumption and control valve settings. The implementation of Ingenero’s recommendations resulted in 40% energy savings. Applied Flow Technology is already accepting entries for the 2020 Platinum Pipe Award. Entry deadline is October 31, 2019.  To enter, or for more details, visit: https://www.aft.com/about-aft/platinum-pipe-award