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 02 06 ..::INTRODUCTION Dr. Dennis Nagy

Contents
Introduction
01 Energy Issues
Introduction from Dr Dennis Nagy

Oil & Gas

02 - 03 Reducing “Separation Anxiety”
with powerful 3D Flow and Thermal Simulation

“
04 08
04 - 05 Forever Blowing Bubbles
Revolutionary MBF Separator Design with CFD CAE technology
06 - 07 Hurricane Resistant
Offshore Platform Design and Wave Slamming
has been called
08 - 09 Offshore Mooring
upon to
Anchoring large offshore structures
demonstrate the
10 - 11 Safer Flare Design
Using CFD analysis to predict flare performance
viability, improve
12 Latest News 10 14
the safety and
New consulting services from DNV
increase the
13 Free DVD
efficiency of both
Flow, Thermal and Stress Simulation Technology from CD-adapco

Alternative Energy
14 - 15 Providing Flow Simulation Power for Wind Energy Engineers
Energy Issues renewable and
non-renewable
16 New simulation tool
For solid oxide fuel cell design
Introduction by Dr Dennis Nagy energy supplies.
Nuclear Energy
17

18 - 19
CD-adapco and ANL win benchmarking exercise
For the prediction of boiling within Nuclear Reactor Fuel Bundles

The impact of CFD on the design of the PBMR

17 18
Just a year or two ago, if you’d asked me to describe my “carbon-footprint” I’d have
uncomfortably murmured something about not owning any Kevlar shoes.
”
Tackling challenges during the design phase
Today, it is difficult to flick through the pages of any newspaper, or the news channels on
20 - 21 Simulating safety
cable, without encountering a story or two about “energy security” and “global warming”.
For high temperature reactors

Fossil Fuels
These are exciting times to be an engineer. As our governments This magazine contains a small selection of the energy related
22 - 23 Optimization of a Tangentially Fired, low-NOx
face the daunting dual challenge of maintaining access to projects that CD-adapco have been involved with over the last
Natural Gas Process Boiler
secure and affordable energy supplies while mitigating the few years. There are many others, but we have tried to
Regulars 20 22 effects of climate change, they will increasingly rely on high- concentrate on diversity of application, and to illustrate projects
quality engineering, and particularly Computer Aided in which CAE technology has been called upon to demonstrate
24 Upcoming Events
Engineering, to solve the difficult technological problems at the the viability, improve the safety and increase the efficiency of
Trade Shows and Workshops heart of the sustainability issue. both renewable and non-renewable energy supplies.

Enjoy your read!

Dennis Nagy
EDITORIAL Director, Energy Sector
Energy Report & Dynamics Magazine welcome editorial from all users of CD-adapco software or CD-adapco
services. To submit an article:
Email [email protected] Telephone: +44 (0)20 7471 6200
Editor Stephen Ferguson [email protected]
Sub-editors Joel Davison, Dejan Matic
Art Direction Brandon Botha
Advertising Geri Jackman [email protected]
Multimedia Director Mark Adlington
Subscriptions
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please email [email protected]
Telephone +44 (0)207 471 6200
 EMAIL [email protected]
Printed on ‘9Lives 80’ recycled paper using vegetable inks. We’re doing our bit, are you?
Reduce your Carbon Footprint today http://www.carbonfootprint.com/ Cover Image Credit - Wingring Energy 01
..::SECTOR OIL&GAS ..::SECTOR OIL&GAS
involving fluid flow (whether liquid or gas or a mixture of both) or structural
components that are influenced by flow, and thus is particularly suitable for

“
separator analysis. CFD simulation can help both in the design of new separator
technology and in determining the range of operating conditions under which
existing technology might be successfully deployed.
CFD simulation allows
Data from CFD calculations can also be used to assist other types of analysis, for
example, the forces acting on the separator internals can be calculated, either separator designers to
directly within the CFD code or via an external stress-analysis software package.
In extreme cases, where fluid forces cause large deflections of components, the make informed
CFD simulation can be coupled directly with the stress simulation tool and both
stress and fluid simulations can be performed simultaneously, each simulation decisions early in the
Reducing feeding new boundary conditions to the other.

Case study 1 – sloshing in a free water knockout drum

The free water knockout (FWKO) drum is perhaps the crudest form of separator.
design process, before
even the first
“Separation Anxiety” FWKO drums work on a gravitational principle, relying on the fact that oil has a
lower specific gravity than water and, if allowed to settle, will float to the top,
forming a layer than can easily be skimmed off and extracted. Water is extracted
through a valve at the bottom of the tank, while in the example shown in Figure
prototypes are
available.

with powerful 4, the oil trickles over a weir plate at the left hand side of the drum into the oil
stream outflow.

Under normal operating conditions, this system provides a very effective means of ”
3D Flow and Thermal
preliminary. However, when deployed aboard an FPSO (floating production, storage
and offloading vessel), there is a risk of the tank being disturbed by the motion of 65μm

a passing wave, causing sloshing within the tank and leading to significant
amounts of water passing over the weir plate or oil-emulsion contaminating the
water outtake and possibly damaging downstream separation equipment.

Simulation Figure 5 shows a large sloshing motion that has developed in the vessel due the
disturbing motion of a passing wave (as predicted by the CFD calculation). The
simulation predicts that, under these conditions, a significant amount of water will
35μm
slosh over the weir plate into the oil outflow.
 Fig:01
Separating reservoir fluids into streams of oil, water and gas is a major concern In order to prevent sloshing, separator manufacturers typically insert a series of
The largest single
product of the global to the global oil and gas industry, and has been almost since its inception. permeable vertical baffles into the tank, which act to damp the motion of the fluid
oil and gas industry is within the vessel, preventing large-scale sloshing motions from developing. CFD
neither oil nor gas, but
Historically, the major driver for effective separation was economics – extracting simulation allows separator designers to make informed decisions early in the
design process, before even the first prototypes are available, allowing them to
water: produced at a the maximum amount of usable hydrocarbon from the reservoir fluids. However, answer questions such as ‘How many baffles do I need?’, ‘How do the baffles
rate of approximately 3 5μm
barrels to every barrel environmental concerns now mean that oil and gas producers are also influence separator performance?’, ‘What sort of forces are acting on the baffles
and on the vessel walls?, and ‘Under what range of wave conditions can the
of oil, in 1999 the oil increasingly bound by legislation that strictly controls the levels of pollution in separator safely operate?’
and gas industry was
 Fig:03
responsible for discharged produced water – this combination is the growing ‘separation anxiety’. CFD simulation of three-phase separator, showing path of various particle sizes.
extracting 77 billion Case study 2 – redesign of a gas phase separator
barrels of water. Designing separators to meet these demands remains a The aim of a gas phase separator is to remove small particles of hydrocarbon
significant engineering challenge. Critically, separators do not condensate (and other well-fluids) from a stream of natural gas. To be effective,
come in a ‘one-size-fits-all’ specification. They must be carefully the separator needs to be able to remove the wide variety of droplet sizes
chosen to not only account for the unique composition of fluids transported in a typical gas stream, from large visible droplets of hydrocarbon, to
produced from a given reservoir, but also for the likely changes in individual mist particles measuring just a few microns in diameter.
composition that will occur over the lifetime of the well. Separator
technology that is effective in early production might become less effective, Exactly which fate each particle eventually meets depends largely on its size, but
or even fail, as the well matures or because of some temporary and for the separator to work effectively, all but the smallest particles should be caught
unexpected change in the reservoir fluids. The increasing cost of platform by one of the first three mechanisms. The vane pack demister acts as the final
real estate also means that there is also constant demand either to reduce line of defence, removing a fine mist of droplets with diameters of around 10 mm
the size of offshore separators or else to move them off the platform or less. For effective operation, it is critical that the demister is not blocked by
altogether, turning to newly developed subsea separation technologies. much larger oil particles, which, given enough time, should fall onto the surface of
the liquid layer due to the influence of gravity. The separator therefore needs to be
 Fig:02
Whatever type of separation technology is employed, or retrofits and long enough, upstream of the demister, to ensure that the gas flow has sufficient
Environmental concerns mean that oil and gas producers are
adjustments made, the cost of getting it wrong can be immense. The residence time to allow these larger particles to fall into the liquid layer of
increasingly bound by legislation that strictly controls the level
production capacity of any facility depends, to an extent, on the effectiveness hydrocarbon at the bottom of the tank.  Fig:04
of pollution in discharged or reinjected water.
of its separation process. Although most facilities employ at least two Three-phase separator - courtesy of Saudi Aramco.
independent separation trains, diverting production while diagnostic analysis is performed on a poorly performing separator inevitably The simulation results reported in Figure 3 show that the majority of 65 mm and 35
results in a reduction of throughput. With oil prices topping $60/b, even a 5% drop in production from a 50,000 b/d installation will cost mm particles hit either the vessel wall or the liquid surface a short distance after
in excess of $150,000/d. Worse, if significant problems occur in the separation process, the cause of which cannot easily be diagnosed, entering the separator. By contrast, many of the small 5 mm particles are carried
the only alternative is to stop production altogether, or ship the reservoir fluids for processing at another facility. with the gas flow until it passes through the vane pack, at which stage they are
removed. The simulation predicted an overall trapping efficiency of 90%, with almost
Separator flow simulation a 100% of particles of diameter 40 mm or higher removed by the separator. The
CFD has been applied at every stage of the oil, gas and petrochemical production process and can provide insight into any problem separator manufacturers were able to significantly reduce the length of the
separator, after establishing with the aid of further simulation, that since larger
particles were hitting the walls of the liquid surface soon after entering the  Fig:05
 MORE INFORMATION http://www.cd-adapco.com/ separator, much of the length upstream of the demister was unnecessary.  CFD simulation of FWKO drum disturbed by a passing wave while aboard FPSO.

02 Energy Energy 03
..::SECTOR OIL&GAS ..::SECTOR OIL&GAS

applications of MBF™ is directly within API tanks which typically GLR Solutions Ltd. is a manufacturer and supplier of innovative technologies
incorporate multiple stages to enhance removal of the oil, while and services for the treatment of produced water. Notably we have
eliminating of oil short-circuiting. The application of gas flotation within pioneered new applications of Micro Bubble Flotation, Nutshell Filtration and
API tanks provides increased retention time, relative to an IGF Fluid Dynamic Modelling. GLR Solutions has distribution and service
separator, which would buffer any upsets in oil concentration or flow representatives Worldwide to assist you with projects of any size.
rates produced in upstream operations.
www.glrsolutions.com
Case Study – MBF™ Separation for ENI Dacion
GLR Solutions have invested heavily in CFD simulation, both in the prevent them doing so. Current chambered API tank designs have been
initial development of the MBF™ system, and while planning large-scale modeled and the models field verified to confirme that bubbles will not
commercial installations, including the recent installation of an API tank exit the last chamber with the clean water.”
based flotation system in Eastern Venezuela.
“With the aid of CFD we were able to test a variety of internal configu-
ENI Dacion BV, is a Venezuala based joint venture of ENI S.p.A. a rations over a wide variety of operational conditions, that finally led to
worldwide oil producer and oilfield operator, owns and operates the optimal design that we proposed to ENI, and that was eventually
numerous facilities for the treatment of oil and water. GLR Solutions implemented at the GED-10 facility. One of the benefits of CFD is that,
were engaged to provide the most appropriate separation technology using post-processing, we were able to effectively communicate to our

Forever Blowing for the GED-10 Station in the Dacion field. The GED-10 Station is one client exactly how the separator would perform in action, using easy to
of ENI’s smaller facilities; when it was originally designed and built, understand graphics, rather than having to deal exclusively in abstract
water cuts in the produced oil were typically very low, with anticipated engineering descriptions.”
flow rates of 5,000 – 10,000 bwpd. However, as is typical for
reservoirs with active aquifers, water cuts have significantly increased Having determined the details of the optimal basic design (which

Bubbles in recent years (the station currently operates at 6,000 bopd, 15,000
bwpd), and it is expected that the facility will eventually need to handle
flows of up to 25,000 bwpd. This has meant the majority of the
equipment now has insufficient capacity to be used in the way it was
includes two tanks – as shown), GLR Solutions then deployed further
CFD simulation in order to refine other aspects of the separators
performance, closely examining flow patterns within the tanks for
additional benefits within the system: “GED-10 had identified a major

Revolutionary MBF™ Separator originally designed.

During previous development in the Dacion field, expensive water

concern with solids in their water treatment system, to account for this
we tried to incorporate internal modifications that would not only
prevent solids from hindering performance, but might also aid in the

Design with CFD treatment systems had been installed, based on de-sanding and de-
oiling hydrocyclones and nutshell filter technology. Despite the high
capital and operational costs of these (relatively complex) solutions, the
removal of solids from outlet water,” says Lee. Based on the CFD
results, GLR incorporated a solids dropout area within the water weir of
the first chamber. The CFD modeling predicted that upon entry of the
level of treatment efficiency delivered by these systems was produced water to the weir, the majority of the water would flow over the
Stephen Ferguson in conversation with GLR Solutions Ltd. CEO Douglas Lee insufficient. ENI decided to evaluate other technologies for the weir into the chamber, while a smaller volume of water containing the
selection of the most appropriate system for GED-10 in order to meet heavier solids would drop out and be directed to the bottom of the tank.
the treatment capacity and water quality specifications. ENI established
Faced with increased water-cuts from maturing wells and a combination of environmental a set of selection criterion in order to determine which separation An additional benefit that was incorporated into the multi-chamber
technology was most appropriate, based on: ease of operation and design was positioning and sizing of nozzles and weir shapes and sizes
legislation and operational demands, Oil and Gas operators are being forced to review their to allow for easy hydraulic skimming of oil into the oil trough. As seen
maintenance; cost of operation and maintenance; capital cost;
separation processes. Not only must separation trains now handle a larger throughput of well performance; and flexibility (the ability to handle a large range of inlet by the CFD graphics (Figure 8), hydraulic patterns at the surface are
flow fluctuations, both in total flow, and oil and solid content). such that oil collected on the surface readily flows into the trough, from
fluids (due to the increased water content), but the water that they deliver for disposal or re- all areas of the chamber.
injection must also be cleaner than ever before. After internal evaluations within ENI, the multi-chamber API tank config-
uration of MBF™ was selected, allowing GLR Solutions to set about Operational Results
designing the optimal configuration for the GED-10 field. Aware that Modifications of the existing tank 30-T-04 began in mid February of
In this article, we explore how Canadian company GLR partitioning of the vessel into various chambers so that the bubbles there would be little opportunity for post-installation modification 2005. After cleaning and preparing the tank, nozzles were added and
Solutions has applied advanced Computational Fluid can act on successfully cleaner batches of produced water. The (without disrupting oil revenue from the station), GLR Solutions decided internals were welded as designed by GLR Solutions. The microbubble
Dynamic simulation in the design and implementation of downside of IGF is the requirement for additional process vessels, to undertake detailed design analysis using CD-adapco’s STAR-CD CFD system was started up in May 2005, and favourable results for water
their Micro Bubble Flotation technology which has become limited efficiency due to bubble size limitations of conventional package: “A major factor which aided in the determination of an optimal quality were observed within days of start-up.
recognized in the industry as one of the highest equipment, and that the relatively low retention times do not provide tank design was Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling,” says
performance methods for treatment of produced water. an adequate buffer against upstream disturbance (process upset). Doug Lee. “CFD simulation allows us to simulate fluids in a variety of During normal operations over the spring/summer of 2005, the skim
compositions as they flow through the complex three-dimensional tank (30-T-04) receives approximately 15,000 bpd of produced water at
At the heart of most Oil and Gas separation processes is the API GLR Solutions have devised, with the aid of extensive CFD simulation, structure of the separator.” oil concentrations ranging from 100-600 ppm. The quality of the clean
Skim Tank. Slow and reliable, the skim tank depends on the an improved gas flotation technology that uses micro bubbles of gas water exiting the tank is consistently within 2-21 ppm during normal
difference in specific gravity between oil and water, lighter oil (~10-50 microns in diameter) to assist separation. Douglas Lee, An optimal design, as determined by GLR Solutions, had to include a operations. Periodically high inlet oil concentrations would occur in
eventually floating to the top of the denser water content, where it can President and CEO of GLR Solutions, explains: “A bubble of gas of a number of attributes. As the design was to be incorporated into an which concentrations of oil would spike to 1,000-2,000 ppm and in rare
easily be skimmed off. Although ubiquitous, the standard skim tank given size will attach itself to a similar sized oil droplet and encourage existing tank at GED-10 Station, and it was known that flow rates would cases much higher. During these upsets it was found that oil removal
suffers from the long retention times required to perform effective it to float to the surface where the oil coalesces, collects and is be increasing, it was important to make use of the available volume of efficiencies would remain above 90% with outlet oil in water concen-
separation, which can be useful when buffering out the effects of skimmed off.” the tank: “For heavy oil applications, such as GED-10, it is essential to trations less than 40 ppm.
upstream spikes in production, but ultimately is inefficient when ensure that there is sufficient contact between oil-droplets and
separating small amounts of oil from large amounts of produced According to Lee, GLR Solution’s Micro Bubble Flotation technology microbubbles throughout the tank,” said Lee. “Using CFD modeling we “CFD modeling has proven to be a continuously useful tool in the
water. API gravity tanks are also relatively inefficient when dealing with (MBF™) substantially enhances the separation process over conven- could not only visualize the flow patterns within the separator, but we design of tanks and vessels and a critical tool to our R&D of new
heavy oils or emulsions. tional skim tanks and IGF and gives much improved separation could also track the progress of individual microbubbles. This allowed produced water treatment technologies ,” says Douglas Lee. “Many on-
results: “The benefits of this are increased revenue from recovered us to conclusively demonstrate that sufficient mixing occurred between going projects are being designed through the use of CFD modeling by
To counter these shortcomings, many modifications to the traditional oil, fewer problems in reinjection of the water, elimination or fewer the microbubble and produced water streams and that adhesion would GLR Solutions and in the future solids will be tracked through CFD
API vessel have been attempted, aimed at increasing the separation chemicals where chemicals are used and the ability to separate oil readily occur in the designated region of the tank.” models and a design will be determined in order to better handle
efficiency of the API vessels (wherever possible using existing even in an emulsified state with considerable savings in the reduction produced water with high solids concentrations.”
separation equipment), often resulting in the introduction of internal of chemicals.” As well as ensuring sufficient contact between bubbles and oil in the
structures or distribution nozzles, which are intended to encourage produced water, it was also necessary to ensure that, after contact with GLR Solutions is also exploring further is the modifications to the
the coalescence of oil droplets within the tank. A more novel, and Fewer problems in reinjection include less plugging of the formation the oil, the bubbles were transported directly to the liquid surface, and physical models of the CFD software itself, to allow them to include
generally more effective approach, involves flooding the separation due to oil and solids contamination and a reduced need for expensive not through the outflow of the separator where they might cause explicitly the effects of model bubble and oil coalescence, as this is an
vessel with bubbles of gas, which adhere to similarly sized oil well workovers to remedy plugging. A reduced level of oil and solids problems for downstream processes: “CFD modeling allows us to track obvious occurrence within the system.
particles and float them to the surface of the tank. This approach, in the outlet from the skim tank also offers much-reduced loading on bubble particles through the tank. We can therefore predict whether
known as Induced Gas Flotation, or IGF, usually requires the final, oil removing filters when in use. One of the most unique bubbles travel to the lower portions of the tank and, if so, how we can  MORE INFORMATION www.glrsolutions.com

04 Energy Energy 05
..::SECTOR Oil & Gas ..::SECTOR Oil & Gas

Hurricane resistant
offshore platform design

 Fig:01
CD-adapco software has been used
to evaluate the wind and wave
loading on platforms in storm
conditions. These analyses allowed
platform designers and operators to
evaluate many different platform
loading scenarios without the
excessive cost of creating physical
prototypes.

free to consider the impact of wave heights of 80,

Current design standards require that platforms be built to survive so-called BENEFITS FACTS 
90, or even 100 feet,” says Nagy. “All they need Data from CFD calculations can also be used to
100-year storms, which generate wave heights of up to about 70 feet. to do is input the new condition and sit back while assist other types of analysis, for example, the • Rapid turnaround time.
the computer does the number crunching. It is a forces acting on a platform can be exported to a • Easy investigation of ‘what-if’ scenarios.
However, during Hurricane Ivan peak wave heights of over 90 ft were measured very effective way of assessing the limit of your stress-analysis software package. In extreme
design.” cases, where fluid forces cause large deflections • Simulations are carried out at full scale.
(including one that severely damaged the Chevron Petronius platform) of components, the CFD simulation can be coupled • Data available at every part on the platform
consistent with a once in 2500-year storm. The problem is compounded by the Unlike testing of physical prototypes, CFD directly with the stress analysis tool and both at every interval
simulations are typically carried out at full scale stress and fluid simulations can be performed
fact that many of the 4000 platforms operating in the Gulf of Mexico were (the computer model has the same dimensions as simultaneously, each simulation feeding new
• Can be exported to a stress analysis package

designed before 1988, when the current 100-year design standards came into the actual production platform rather than those of boundary conditions to the other.
a smaller experimental model). This has the
operation (although some of the destroyed platforms were of recent design). considerable advantage that results can be In Nagy’s view, the adoption of CFD technology as
interpreted directly and do not have to undergo a routine part of offshore design is inevitable. “In
The scale of these losses combined with pressure Although CFD technology has been routinely applied in many scaling, a process that can introduce a significant the automotive industry almost every component is
from insurers, has led to a rapid re-evaluation to the industries since the early eighties, it has only recently begun to uncertainty, especially for transient phenomena designed with the aid of CFD technology, to bring a
techniques used to design offshore platforms. Many be seriously used in offshore platform design. Most current such as the impact of a wave. new product to market without it would be
operators are turning towards Computational Fluid offshore platforms were designed using extensive experimental unthinkable,” he says. “The financial and environ-
Dynamics in order to provide additional insight into how their model testing. Although experimental analysis provides consid- A further advantage is that, instead of being mental impact of the recent hurricanes means that
platforms perform under the most extreme operating conditions. erable insight into the performance of a particular design, restricted to retrieving data from a few experi- the oil and gas industry has no choice but to
physical prototypes are expensive and time consuming to mental monitoring probes, data is available at follow suit.” 
Computational Fluid Dynamics (or CFD) is a technique that construct. every point on the platform, at every discrete time  Fig:03
simulates fluid flow phenomena using super-computer interval for which the simulation is performed. The Wave impact study of offshore platform
technology. Although its origin is in the aerospace and Dr Dennis Nagy, CD-adapco’s Director for the Oil and Gas sector wave impact on a platform can be viewed from any
automotive industries, CFD is increasingly finding application in explains: “It isn’t that CFD technology wasn’t available when the angle, and the instantaneous forces acting on any
many areas of the oil and gas industry. CFD can be used to current generation of platforms was designed; CFD technology part of the structure can be calculated.
simultaneously simulate the aerodynamic effect of strong winds has been routinely applied in many industries since the early
 Fig:02
on the platform with the hydrodynamic influence of waves eighties. It is just that the cost of performing the analysis
CD-adapco’s CFD solutions are impacting upon it. would, until very recently, have been too prohibitive.”
routinely used in the design of
marine applications to Nagy feels that the biggest advantage of CFD is that its rapid
understand how a unit will react turn-around time helps to break the dependence of offshore
upon impact by a wave. design on pre-existing design codes. Although design wind and
This technology allows wave conditions are a useful starting condition for offshore
engineers to optimize the platform analysis, CFD simulation allows designers to more
hydrodynamic performance of easily pursue multiple “what if?” scenarios. Once a CFD
the ship, FPSO or platform and model for a platform is set up, it is relatively simple to repeat
understand the range of the calculation for multiple loading scenarios. “Instead of
conditions under which safe becoming stuck by the fact that the design codes don’t deal
operation can be assured. with wave heights above 70 feet, using CFD designers are  MORE INFORMATION [email protected]

06 Energy Energy 07
..::SECTOR Oil & Gas ..::SECTOR Oil & Gas

Offshore Mooring
All aspects of the installation were verified with FEA analysis.
Analytical models were constructed in pro-fe, the FEA pre and
postprocessor supported by the CD-adapco. High quality hex
meshing was used for all components of the pile, to ensure
good stress values at the mount points. pro-STAR’s automatic
trimmed cell meshing capability was used to easily fill the soil
volume of the seabed surrounding the anchor.
Delmar Systems, Inc. is the world
leader in offshore mooring, providing The structural analyses included G-loadings during transport
the safest, most efficient mooring and over-boarding. Particular emphasis was placed on the skid
solutions for the oil and gas support structure, as well as the cable mounting system.
When Delmar Systems wanted to perform a design industry. Every Delmar employee is During the initial design phase, the analysis determined that

“
validation of the world’s largest suction pile anchor empowered with knowledge to use the winch attachment needed to be redesigned for adequate
the most sophisticated technology. margin.
system, they called upon the expertise of CD-adapco. Our success is measured only

These anchors are used to “park” and anchor large against uncompromising Additional analysis addressed pressure loadings during instal-
lation, when the ROV creates a negative pump pressure on the
pro-STAR’s automatic
expectations.
offshore structures such as mobile drilling units. www.delmarus.com
inside of the pile. The seabed was modeled as a bi-phasic
material, using soil properties developed for that particular
trimmed cell meshing
location. Eigenvalue buckling calculations were also performed
to check susceptibility during installation.
capability was used
The anchoring of a drilling rig is somewhat more There is a potential for damage to the structure during
sophisticated than anchoring a boat. Installing deployment, when the massive weight is cantilevered off the The anchor was successfully installed and remains at its
to easily fill the soil
these units is equivalent to towing an eight story ship.
building out into the middle of the Gulf of Mexico,
installed location for approximately six months to allow the
soil to settle. After this time the anchor becomes active as a
volume of the seabed
tipping it over the side of a large vessel, and burying it two Proper design of the sled structure and cable mounting
miles down into the sea floor. system are essential; damage to the pile during this phase
parking anchor for mobile drilling units. surrounding the
would be catastrophic.
The structure is constructed from massive welded sections of anchor.
plate steel. Internal ribbing and mounting flanges are Another “event” that requires investigation is the sinking of
designed to provide the necessary rigidity and strength. Not
surprisingly, the shear weight of this structure makes its
transport a major undertaking.

The most critical of these is the “overboarding event”, when

the structure. Suction piles drive themselves part way into the
sea floor under their own weight. A remotely operated vehicle
(ROV) is then used to pump the seawater from the tower,
creating a vacuum that draws the tower further into the
seabed. During this process, adequate internal ribbing is
”
the pile is launched overboard using a sled and winch system. necessary to avoid buckling of the outer shell.  MORE INFORMATION VISIT http://www.delmarus.com

08 Energy Energy 09
..::SECTOR Oil & Gas ..::SECTOR Oil & Gas

Flaring systems were originally developed to dispose of the CD-adapco has recently performed a number of radiation studies
waste gas produced as a side effect of the oil production deployed on both fixed and floating units, including a project
process, although continuous flaring has been effectively undertaken on behalf of DPS, a leading engineering design company
outlawed by strict legislation and economic and environ- with a vast amount of experience in the design, supply and support of
mental concerns. Today, flaring systems are principally deployed as process equipment for the Oil and Gas industry, which involved the
safety systems, protecting the production system from over-pressuri- analysis of a flare deployed on a Floating Production Unit (FPU).
sation during the extraction process. During surges in production,
gas, and occasionally liquids, are routed by a pressure-relief valve (or Unlike fixed installations, FPUs are limited by stability considerations
by an emergency safety valve) up through the flare-header towards the in the length of boom that they can deploy in order to reduce the
flare tip. incident radiation on the deck. During the DPS study the impact of
various mitigation scenarios was considered, including variations in

Safer flare design An obvious consequence of combusting large amounts of natural gas
is the considerable amount of radiation emitted by an operational
flare. Modern flare systems are specifically designed to reduce the
radiation, pollution and acoustic impact of a flare, by using the energy
boom angle, installation of physical shielding and the deployment of a
protective water curtain. The simulation results allowed the design
team to accurately assess which areas of the deck would be exposed
to high levels of radiation and to adjust their protection strategy

with CFD associated with the high-pressure gas to entrain large amounts of air
(typically using Coanda effects, or sonic or super-sonic nozzles).
These aerated flames are small and have a relatively low radiation
signature – however the amount of radiation that they generate is still
accordingly.

“Using CFD analysis we were able to predict the performance of the

flare installation with confidence, which allowed us to carefully select
a level of protection that would ensure the safety of personnel and
Using CFD analysis to predict enough to cause significant damage to personnel and equipment on
the installation. equipment aboard the FPU” said Jasbir Landa, Project Manager for
the FPU project at DPS.

flare performance Although the American Petroleum Institute API 521 effectively limits
the amount of incident radiation on production surfaces to 1390 Wm-
2 during normal operation -- a level at which “continuous exposure is
The CFD model was also used to examine the influence of wind
speed and direction on the flame combustion and the shape of flame
allowed without causing permanent injury” –- the consequences of that it generates, something that is generally not possible with less
The flaring of natural gas plays a critical role exceeding those levels can be serious. At 1580 Wm-2, exposure of sophisticated flare modeling packages. “In this case flame shape had
more than a minute will cause symptoms similar to mild sunburn. At a significant impact on the radiation footprint of the flare, which
in the global oil and gas industry. According to 1890 Wm-2, bare skin will begin to feel pain after 50 seconds of was something we had to address carefully when choosing a
the World Bank over 150 billion cubic meters exposure; by 2840 Wm-2 this time is reduced to 30 seconds; at 4730 mitigation strategy.”
Wm-2 bare skin will begin to feel pain after 18 seconds, and
(or 5.3 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas are personnel without protective clothing have just 23 seconds to escape  Flare simulation in STAR-CCM+

flared and vented annually, mostly as part of to a safe area.

the oil and gas production process.

“
In practice, safety conscious operators try to limit radiation to well
below the minimum API standard. This is partly due to economic
necessity as, during unexpected surges in gas production, should the
radiation levels rise to unacceptable levels, operators have no choice Using CFD analysis
but to reduce production or to stop it all together, effectively limiting
the overall profitability of the installation. we were able to
Traditionally, the radiation signature of a flare on a specific installation predict the
has been calculated using a combination of empirical calculations
and ad-hoc post-installation modification. Increasingly manufacturers performance of the
and operators are turning towards Computational Fluid Dynamics as a
way of predicting how flares will perform under realistic operating flare installation
conditions, before even the first prototype is built.
with confidence,
Computational Fluid Dynamics (or CFD) is a powerful technique that
simulates fluid flow phenomena using computer technology. Although which allowed us to
its origin is in the aerospace and automotive industries, CFD is
increasingly finding application in many areas of the oil and gas carefully select a
industry.
level of protection
Unlike testing of physical prototypes, CFD simulations are typically
carried out at full scale (the computer model has the same that would ensure
dimensions as the actual production platform rather than those of a
smaller experimental model). This has the considerable advantage the safety of
that results can be interpreted directly and do not have to undergo
scaling, a process that can introduce a significant uncertainty, personnel and
especially for problems involving combustion and radiation.
equipment aboard
One of the biggest advantages of CFD is that its rapid turn-around
time helps to break the dependence of design on pre-existing design the FPU.

”
codes. Although design conditions are a useful starting condition for
offshore design analysis, CFD simulation allows designers to more
easily pursue multiple “what if?” scenarios.  MORE INFORMATION [email protected]

10 Energy Energy 11
..::SECTOR Oil & Gas ..::SECTOR Oil & Gas

FREE DVD
Flow, Thermal and Stress Simulation Technology
from CD-adapco

Latest News
New consulting services from DNV with fluid
dynamics software from CD-adapco

DNV (Det Norske Veritas) has selected a software solution for computational CD-adapco invites you to explore the
fluid dynamics (CFD) from CD-adapco to extend its leading-edge technical business advantage that can be
consulting service line. The new software will be a valuable addition to the gained through the application of flow,
DNV toolbox to provide accurate and reliable estimation of slamming and thermal, and stress simulation
sloshing loads, which are critical for the design and operation of both ships technology within the Oil and Gas
and offshore structures. industry with our new DVD.

Drawing on more than 140 years of experience, capabilities within its software that meet the most challenging More than any other, the Oil and Gas industry is
DNV deliver services that predict and assess the problems within these industries. dominated by fluids. From the extraction,
motions, loads and other dynamic responses of processing and delivery of the hydrocarbons, to
ships and offshore structures in waves or related “We are delighted that DNV, with its global presence and as designing installations that are more able to resist
fluid flow problems. one of the ‘big-three’ classification societies, has justified this the most-extreme environmental conditions, understanding
investment by choosing our software. By working closely with the behavior of fluids in and around your process is critical
Says Dr Bo Cerup-Simonsen, head of DNV Maritime Technical DNV, we intend to further refine our technology to meet the to success in an intensely competitive industry.
Consulting and DNV Fellow in computational mechanics: “The industry demands,” says Dr Dennis Nagy, CD-adapco - Vice
shipping and energy industries are faced with a number of President of Marketing and Business Development and Computational Fluid Dynamics (or CFD) is a technique that
new challenges, driving the need for novel designs and Director for the Energy Sector. simulates the fluid-dynamics using computer technology.
technologies. For shipping this concerns, among others, CD-adapco's flow and thermal simulation technology can
container and LNG vessels as well as more specialised ships. Simulating sloshing behavior provide insight into any problem that involves fluid flow
The lack of experience for a novel design demands accurate DNV’s engineers will use CD-adapco’s STAR-CCM+ to tackle (liquid or gas or combinations of both) and has been applied
prediction of loads, motions, resistance and propulsion problems involving sloshing resonance. Liquid motion at every stage of the oil and gas production process - from
efficiency. For example, slamming pressures on the bow and resonance can lead to sloshing impacts at sharp corners and exploration to extraction, from transport to processing.
aft part of the ship and sloshing effects in LNG tanks are knuckles inside tanks, with a potential risk of damage. The
some of the areas that are critical and challenging. This new software will allow DNV to simulate sloshing behavior driven Our DVD includes material to explain how CD-adapco's
CFD solution combined with our world-class competence will by a wide range of sea-conditions, allowing engineers both to advanced simulation technology can be used to increase
extend our capabilities to better meet this demand.” visualize the liquid motion and to identify critical events that safety, reduce costs and improve efficiency of a wide range
may cause high sloshing induced impact forces. DNV will also of Oil and Gas processes.
CD-adapco has a long history of successful partnerships with use STAR-CCM+ for the analysis of vortex induced vibration
leading companies in both the maritime and petrochemical and for general six-degree-of freedom free-surface
industries. The company has invested heavily in providing calculations.

 MORE INFORMATION [email protected] [email protected]  TO RECEIVE YOUR FREE COPY OF OUR DVD PLEASE EMAIL [email protected] OR CONTACT YOUR LOCAL OFFICE.

12 Energy Energy 13
..::SECTOR Alternative Fuel ..::SECTOR Alternative Fuel

 Turbine simulations without shroud.

(Image courtesy of Wingring)

 Turbine simulations with shroud.

(Image courtesy of Wingring)

CD-adapco:
Providing Flow Simulation
Power for Wind Energy
Engineers
Onshore wind farms

“
Keeping turbines in a clean airflow significantly increases their power output and
In order to meet the world’s energy demands in a sustainable manner, engineers longevity. STAR has been used to simulate the airflow over a potential site and
need to deliver robust innovative technology. For 25 years, CD-adapco has turbine configurations to enable wind farm developers to visualize complex wind
patterns, identify areas of high wind speeds or turbulence and optimize turbine
If the simulations had
enabled energy engineers to do just that in the ‘traditional’ energy sectors. positioning. been carried out before
Now we’re routinely applying our technology and expertise in the renewable A combination of atmospheric boundary-layer inflow conditions and coupling to
meteorological codes ensures accurate representation of the local weather
the prototype stage,
energy sector as well. conditions. millions of dollars could
CD-adapco’s Proven Pedigree
Offshore wind farms
Coping with higher wind-speeds, corrosion and wave impacts, the challenges of
have been saved...
CD-adapco has a proud history of supplying 3D Computer Aided Aerodynamics and Structural Loading
During the design of wind turbines, designers aim to simulta- producing durable, cost-effective offshore wind farms are great, but far from Hans Grassmann - University di Udine
Engineering (CAE) simulation solutions to the Power Generation

”
neously increase a turbine’s power output over the full range of insurmountable. One example where 3D flow simulation is having a significant
sector with the industry leading Computational Fluid Dynamics
operating conditions, while improving durability. In a recent project, impact is in modeling wave loading. The loading on the turbine-supporting
(CFD) codes STAR-CD and STAR-CCM+. Our software and services
wind turbine design company Wingring used STAR-CCM+ to structure can be determined for different wave heights, sea-states or wind
are increasingly being utilized in the alternative energy sector, as
improve the design of their innovative shrouded turbine. The speeds, at full-scale and without the expense of manufacturing prototypes or
companies seek to improve the performance and durability of their
simulations provided detailed insight into the aerodynamics of the physical testing. Technology that’s been routinely used in the marine industry
designs in a cost effective way. CFD allows engineers to perform
turbine as well as the force loading on it, enabling engineers to for years is now being applied to reduce the impact of the harsh offshore
detailed design-analyses before even the first prototypes are built,
quantify the effect of design changes. environment on wind turbines.
allowing good designs to be identified and bad ones ruled out.

The Power of CFD in Wind Energy Upfront design investigation can have a big impact on a project’s
CD-adapco’s 3D flow and structural simulations are now a profitability. In another wind turbine design study, this time by the
mainstay in the wind energy industry, routinely providing insight University di Udine, Italy, the business benefit of early
from design to installation. CFD is used in turbine design to understanding of designs, prior to prototyping, was recognized.
understand rotor aerodynamics and the resulting forces, Having compared various designs using STAR, they gained a level
aeroacoustics and icing; to perform simulations of air paths over a of insight that had otherwise been unattainable. University di
site to determine its suitability and optimal turbine distribution; Udine’s Hans Grassmann states CFD’s impact on the bottom line.
and, offshore it’s used to model wave impacts on installations. “If the simulations had been carried out before the prototype
stage, millions of dollars could have been saved with obvious
benefits to the project profitability and overall success. But the  Understanding the wave impact dynamics on a simple structure with CFD.

success did not stop there. STAR was able to assist in finding a
solution.”  MORE INFORMATION [email protected]

14 Energy Energy 15
..::SECTOR Alternative Fuel ..::SECTOR Nuclear

CD-adapco and ANL win benchmarking exercise for the

New simulation tool for Prediction of boiling
solid oxide fuel cell design within Nuclear Reactor
With increasing environmental concerns and rising oil costs, fuel cells are
attracting great interest for transportation and power generation applications
Fuel Bundles
as a cleaner and cheaper alternative. In recognition of this, CD-adapco in CD-adapco’s leading Computational Fluid Dynamics software, STAR-CD, produced very
partnership with the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National good void distribution results when compared to detailed void distribution
Laboratory (PNNL), has developed a new Expert System, es-sofc, which is experimental data in the BFBT benchmarking exercise at the 2007 BFBT-4 workshop.
playing an important role in optimizing SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cell) design.
In the past decade, a significant amount of effort has distribution, when compared with two other major CFD codes.
Fuel cells convert the chemical energy of a fuel, According to Gary McVay, who oversees fuel cell development been invested toward the simulation of boiling in Boiling The results were obtained using STAR-CD and the Extended Boiling
such as hydrogen, into electrical energy without at PNNL, “As a national lab, our role in the development of Water Reactor (BWR) fuel bundles. The detailed void Framework developed by CD-adapco in collaboration with Argonne.
combustion, with little or no emission of pollutants solid-oxide fuel cell technology is to create the knowledge distribution inside the fuel bundle is regarded as one of The evaluation team concluded that STAR-CD showed very good
and efficient electrical power generation. This is a base and tools that assist industry in meeting production the important factors affecting the performance of BWR fuel agreement with both the overall bundle distribution and the
significant improvement over internal combustion engines. The goals. For a company such as CD-adapco, commercialization assemblies. detailed intra-channel distribution. Other CFD codes predicted the
new es-sofc tool is a knowledge-based tool, carrying with it the of modeling tools is an important part of our overall vapor to remain near the heated pin surface, unlike the experi-
essential electrochemistry, fluid flow, heat transfer, and mission.” The NUPEC Boiling Water Reactor Full-size Bundle Test (or BFBT) mental data that shows the vapor migrating towards the center of
geometrical modeling capabilities required for advanced SOFC benchmarking exercise is jointly run by OECD Nuclear Energy the channel.
design. Agency (NEA), US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Penn
State University (PSU), Japan Nuclear Safety Organization (JNES), “This is a significant success for the combined ANL and CD-
es-sofc works with STAR-CD, as a specialized virtual design, NEA Nuclear Science Committee (NSC), and NEA Committee on adapco team and I want to thank CD-adapco for their close
prototyping and testing environment. Typical issues that can be Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI). cooperation in the BFBT analysis and acknowledge their key role in
handled include: correcting the distributions of fuel and the development of the Extended Boiling Framework, which was
oxidant to the stack, mitigation of excessive thermal gradients In the steady-state microscopic grade benchmark of the void distri- essential in these calculations”, said Dr Adrian Tentner of Argonne
along with temperature prediction for the calculation of bution, the evaluation team concluded that the results submitted National Laboratory.
thermally induced stresses, and manifold/flow passage by Dr. David Pointer and Dr. Adrian Tentner from the U.S,
optimization. These aspects together with gaining a better Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, obtained with
understanding of the electrochemistry and thermal properties the STAR-CD code, provide the best match with the measured
detailed void
 MORE INFORMATION [email protected]
involved, lead to optimized solid oxide fuel cell performance.

16 Energy Energy 17
..::SECTOR Nuclear ..::SECTOR Nuclear

The impact of CFD

on the design of
the PBMR  Fig:06
Geometry of the spent fuel tanks.

Sarel Coetzee, CFD Department PBMR (PTY) Ltd., Centurion, South Africa

 Fig:05
 Fig:02
CFD interaction with internal Close-up of the PCU mesh.
and external groups.
These CFD results have led to several design Spent fuel storage tanks
changes to satisfy the PBMR specifications, The Spent Fuel Storage Tanks are used to store
ranging from the design of the water pipes, spent fuel from the power plant generated during
support structure of the vessel to the design of its production lifetime (40 years). Thereafter, the
the helium inlet and outlet slots. It is clear that the tanks must store the spent fuel for another 40
 Fig:04  Fig:01 design of the RU has been greatly influenced by years before being decommissioned. Detailed and
Meshed volumes of the PCU. Layout of the PBMR. the detailed CFD results. accurate temperature distributions throughout the
complete Spent Fuel Storage Area are needed,
Power Conversion Unit, PCU ensuring that the temperature limits for the fuel,  Fig:07
The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) is a next generation nuclear power Cycle pressure losses and leakage flows have a tank, supports and concrete are not exceeded. Temperature contours of the spent fuel tank walls.
major effect on cycle efficiency. The cycle CFD was used to simulate this complete Spent
plant with high thermal efficiency and inherent safety characteristics. pressure losses are primarily a function of the Fuel Storage Area. This model included the fuel,
The extensive use of CFD in the design of the PBMR allows the engineers to individual component designs and layout. Leakage helium in the tank, the tank itself, the air
and cooling flows are also a function of the surrounding the tank and the concrete walls of the
tackle challenges during the design phases that would have otherwise only been component design and component cooling area (Fig 6).
strategy. These pressure losses, leak flows and
encountered at high cost during the commissioning or operation of the plant. cooling flows must be determined across From the results, temperature distributions in all of
interfaces between components from different the materials could be obtained. The temperature
The PBMR utilizes a direct cycle high temperature gas CFD in the design process suppliers and through the components distribution for the tanks is shown in fig 7 and the
cooled Reactor Unit (RU) and Power Conversion Unit CFD provides detailed information to System Engineers from themselves. Some of these interfaces have a high temperature distribution of the fuel is shown in
(PCU). The plant has a reactor of a pebble bed type PBMR as well as external suppliers and serves as input to FEM temperature and/or pressure gradient. This calls Figure 8. The high heat source from the
and a three-shaft helium Brayton Cycle (Fig 1). The analyses when integrated CFD-FEM results are required. for integrated CFD and FEM analyses. Therefore, a "youngest" fuel can be clearly seen. Note also the
helium gas is heated by the reactor, passes through a high- complete CFD model of the PCU was constructed, effect this has on the tank temperatures. CFD
pressure Turbine, low-pressure Turbine and Power Turbine, driving CFD provides component characteristics for complex geometries containing all the different components and supplied answers to the tank designers, the HVAC
the generator. It passes through a Recuperator, Pre-Cooler, low- to Flownet, a one-dimensional thermo-hydraulic network solver. interfaces (Fig 4 and Fig 5). designers, the building designers and the nuclear
pressure Compressor, Inter-Cooler and high-pressure This interaction is graphically shown in Figure 2. physicists.
Compressor, back through the Recuperator to the Reactor. All fluids and solids were solved simultaneously to
Helium is chosen as the working fluid due to the particular Reactor Unit, RU obtain temperature and pressure fields that were Conclusion
benefits that it brings to closed cycle high temperature reactors. The RU of PBMR consists of a central column of graphite mapped onto a FEM mesh. The CFD results were CFD has been a major contributor to improving
Its advantages are that it is a chemically inert gas and thus not spheres surrounded by an annular fuel pebble bed, enclosed by also used to calculate pressure drops across the PBMR design. Optimizing many design aspects
affected by radiation, high specific heat and its high sonic speed graphite blocks on the inside of the core barrel. Between the different components. The calculated loss coeffi- before commissioning and operating the plant has
(three times higher than air), allows higher circumferential core barrel and the reactor pressure vessel is a gap filled with cients are used by Flownet to improve the accuracy saved time and cost.  Fig:03
velocities on turbo machinery blades. The disadvantages are helium. Between the reactor pressure vessel and the concrete of the cycle calculations. Detailed information Model of the PBMR reactor unit.
that some PCU components need to be either specifically is an array of water pipes, protecting the concrete against high could also be supplied to the component
developed for helium or adapted from existing components. temperatures (Fig 3). CFD is employed to investigate local as designers regarding the thermal environment in
well as global thermal and fluidic effects. which their components will operate.  MORE INFORMATION [email protected]

18 Energy Energy 19
..::SECTOR Nuclear ..::SECTOR Nuclear

reactor. The simulations end one hundred hours (or over four days) of
simulated time later, when the energy removed from the reactor exceeds
the heat produced by the decay of radionuclides in the core, thereby

Simulating safety for causing the total energy in the system to decrease.

The main barrier to simulating such long time scales is that time steps in
transient calculations are limited by the requirement that the Courant

high temperature number-a measure of the number of cells that information travels across in
one time step-remains below fifty. Here, this corresponds to a maximum
time step size of 0.1 seconds. In order to maintain calculation times at
feasible magnitudes, a novel method was used. The calculation begins by

reactors
solving both the momentum and temperature fields for the initial one
thousand seconds. Then it alternates between solving both momentum  Fig:03
and temperature fields using small time steps and solving the temperature Core temperature against time: PCC and DCC.
fields alone, with the momentum field frozen, using large time steps.

Running one calculation, in which both the momentum and temperature

fields were solved at every time step for ten hours of simulated time, and
then comparing the results of this calculation with the results of the
method described above validated this approach. Very little difference was
found.

 Fig:01
The computational domain is a 30º section of the reactor vessel (shown in
Computational domain – solid part.
figure 2). The various materials in the reactor are either modeled explicitly
in STAR-CD or homogeneously: i.e., the “mean” physical properties of a
particular heterogeneous component are used (an example being the fuel
elements, which are composed of fuel compacts and a graphite web
containing holes for the compacts and the coolant).

DCC Results
Figure 3 shows the time history of temperatures in the reactor during a
DCC transient. With coolant no longer flowing downward through the core,
Jan-Patrice Simoneau, Julien Champigny, AREVA, France.
the hottest region moves upward from the bottom of the core to the center.
Brian Mays, Lewis Lommers, AREVA, USA.
Meanwhile, the upper and lower parts of the reactor vessel interior—which
are at the coolant’s inlet temperature during normal operation—become
When presented with a problem that combines 1000 ºC plus temperatures; cooler. The core experiences its highest temperature of 1450 ºC at approx-
imately eighty hours after shutdown. Initially during the transient, the
convection, conduction, and radiation; time scales of over one hundred temperature of the pressure vessel decreases as it is cooled by the RCCS.
t=0 t=1h t=4h t=36h t=100h
hours; and length scales that range from two millimeters to twenty meters, After ten hours, however, some of the heat from the core has passed
through the outer graphite blocks and produces a rise in the peak vessel  Fig:04
most CFD engineers and CFD codes would (quite understandably) admit temperature, which reaches a maximum value (of nearly 480ºC) after one Pressurized Conduction Cooldown – Fluid Part.
defeat without so much as applying a boundary condition in anger. hundred hours of simulated time.

PCC Results
But having been presented with just such a scenario, scenario were investigated for an adapted HTR design. Figure 1, Figures 4 and 5 show the temperature profiles in the fluid and solid regions
the engineers at AREVA didn’t raise the white flag, they shows a schematic of the reactor. against time for a PCC transient. The natural convection currents develop
took up their STAR-CD manuals and got to work. quickly, with fluid circulating up through the core channels and reflector
The test case gaps. The STAR-CD simulation enabled detailed insight into the flow
The result: they have successfully developed a methodology for Two hypothetical scenarios are under patterns and how they evolve over the cooldown period. A significant
using STAR-CD to simulate the cooldown of a High Temperature investigation here: in the first, the helium change in the flow patterns was observed after approximately ten hours,
Reactor (HTR), thereby obtaining a level of understanding which coolant is lost and the primary loop is in a with the flow currents effectively reversing direction.
would otherwise be unobtainable through experimental work depressurized state (called Depressurized
alone. Conduction Cooldown or DCC); in the other, An important finding was that, although the peak temperatures are not
the helium coolant is retained and the much higher during PCC than under normal operation, the natural
Recent years have seen a resurgence in interest in HTRs. This is primary loop remains pressurized (called convection currents cause the hot spot to move up the reactor core,
driven by the possibility of using nuclear energy for the production Pressurized Conduction Cooldown or PCC). exposing the top of the reactor core to high temperatures. Although the
of process heat (to be used for hydrogen production, for example) The key difference for the analysis is that, DCC case exhibits higher peak fuel temperatures than the PCC case, the
as well as the inherent safety characteristics of HTRs. during PCC, natural convection effects within thermal stresses on the upper part of the reactor are much greater for the
the primary loop significantly alter the PCC.
The most efficient means of hydrogen production, such as high- temperature profiles in the core.
temperature electrolysis or thermo-chemical water splitting, Finally, figure 3 shows that, once the initial ten hours of the transient have
require very high temperatures. As a result, HTRs have been Both STAR-CD simulations start at the point passed and an offset is established, the behavior in the DCC and PCC
adapted to increase their output temperatures from approxi- when the reactor is operating at full power scenarios is very similar.
mately 850ºC to temperatures approaching 1000ºC. (600 MW) and all heat sinks are lost except
for the Reactor Cavity Cooling System Conclusion
An important safety characteristic of the HTR design is that, if the (RCCS, a set of vertical panels along the t=0 t=1h t=4h t=36h t=100h
A key characteristic of HTRs is the inherent safety of their design, due to
normal heat sink becomes unavailable, the heat generated by the concrete walls of the cavity containing the passive heat removal. A methodology has been developed and actuated  Fig:05
fuel is passively removed to cooling panels along the cavity walls reactor vessel, which remove heat from the to simulate the reactor cooldown over a duration of one hundred hours. Pressurized Conduction Cooldown – Solid Part.
by conduction and radiation. Consequently, the fuel particle cavity to the outside). At this point the Initial calculations have been carried out to compare two scenarios, DCC
temperatures remain at acceptable levels even when the normal protection system automatically drops  Fig:02 and PCC. The simulation yielded detailed information about the flow  MORE INFORMATION [email protected]
heat removal method fails. Two variations of this “failure” control rods into the core to shut down the Section through reactor. patterns in the vessel and the transient thermal behavior.

20 Energy Energy 21
 ..::SECTOR Fossil Fuels

 Fig:03
Tangentially fired burner.

 Fig: 01 (far left)  Fig:04  Fig:05

Luminous flame contour. Boiler, burners, windbox & ductwork. Ductwork Air/FGR distribution.

 Fig: 02
Luminous flame contour; Fuel-
Rich port level.

Analysis of a low NOx  REFERENCES

burner re-fit of a tangentially *BMA - Brais, Malouin and

Associates Inc 5450 Côte-des-
Neiges, suite 600, Montréal,
(Québec) Canada, H3T 1Y6

fired boiler Dr. F. McKenty, L. Gravel, M. Mifuji

 Fig:06
www.bma.ca

**Cerrey S.A. de C.V. Av.

Republica Mexicana 300, San
Nicolas de Los Garza, N.L.
FGR mass fraction at the face of burners 1– 4. Mexico, C.P. 66450
BMA - Brais, Malouin and Associates Inc.

This study concerns an existing 260 million BTU/hr tangentially fired process so there is more space for the FGR and air streams to mix. Nevertheless, the
average FGR mass fraction at burners 3 and 4 is only 7%, which places the
boiler which was re-fitted with a low NOx natural gas firing system. Fuel/Air/FGR mixture in the pre-mixing chamber within flammability limits. The FGR
The re-fit involved changing the burners, the windbox and the Air/FGR ductwork, distribution imbalance was thus demonstrated to be the source of the damage to
the Fuel-Lean ports caused by the mixture igniting within the port. The specified
as shown, with the boiler, in figure 1. design concentration for FGR of 13% would have made this situation impossible.

After a year of operation, some very unusual damage using boundary conditions corresponding to a homogeneous Figure 5 shows the resulting fireball. It is asymmetrical (Figure 6) as the flame from
was witnessed in some of the burners’ Fuel-Lean ports. Air/FGR mixture entering the windbox. the Fuel-Rich port of burner 2 is severely lifted due to the very high FGR
This was rather puzzling to the manufacturer as this concentrations. This behavior was confirmed by visual inspection of the fireball
burner design had been tried and tested for almost 20 The results of the simulation showed that this firing system through the boiler view-ports. Figure 7 shows flames developing inside the upper
years without suffering such problems. The only difference operates within specifications when subject to design conditions. Fuel-Lean port of burner 3; this is the ultimate cause of the damage.
between this particular unit and the other tangentially fired boilers Furthermore, no examples could be found of situations likely to
where this technology was installed is in boiler capacity; all the cause the damage to the Fuel-Lean ports. Consequently, it was The STAR-CD simulations allowed BMA to pinpoint the cause of the damage as
other boilers had capacities ranging from 500 to 1000 million concluded that the problem with this unit probably lay upstream of being the result of incomplete mixing of the pre-heated air and FGR streams.
BTU/hr. Due to the impossibility of carrying out any kind of experi- the firing system. To explore this further, a second simulation (6.2 This mixing problem only presented itself on this small process boiler because the
mental measurements inside the furnace area of an operating million cells) including all the Air and FGR ductwork was carried out Air/FGR ductwork is considerably scaled down when compared to the larger
boiler, Cerrey S.A. de C.V., an industrial boiler manufacturer, at 60% load. The partial load operating conditions were chosen installations where this technology had previously been installed. Consequently,
requested that a CFD analysis of this boiler’s operation be carried because, as this is a process boiler, it spends half of its time the FGR stream has much less room to thoroughly mix with the pre-heated air
out in order to determine the cause of these unusual problems. operating in turndown mode, which is when it is deemed that the stream before the ductwork splits the flow to each side of the boiler. This behavior
damage to the Fuel-Lean ports is most likely to occur. would have been hard to predict without CFD as most aerodynamic mixing
In order to determine if the combustion system had any operational phenomenon do not scale linearly with geometrical size and flow rates. In this case
difficulties when fired according to design specifications, BMA first Figure 3 shows the FGR mass fraction distribution in the ductwork maintaining geometrical similarity with larger units was insufficient to ensure
carried out a detailed furnace simulation (3.6 million cells). Details and windbox. The pipes shown in red contain 100% FGR and lead identical flow patterns.
of the burner and windbox are shown in figure 2. The burner is either directly to the FGR ports or into the pre-heated air stream.
divided into six zones: a lower Fuel-Lean port with pre-mixing The figure clearly shows that that the FGR distribution within the In summary, the STAR-CD simulations showed that a problem that was first thought
chamber, a lower pure re-circulated flue gases (FGR) port, a central pre-heated air stream is uneven. Figure 4 shows the FGR mass to be the result a serious flaw in the burner design was instead linked to a simple
imbalance in the FGR distribution. This was a very important conclusion as the  Fig:07
Fuel-Rich port, an upper FGR port, an upper Fuel-Lean port and an fraction distribution at the burner face. Burners 1 and 2 have FGR
problem was easily remedied once it was identified, but failure to balance the FGR Luminous flame contour – upper Fuel-Lean port – Burner #3.
Over-Fire-Air (OFA) port. The pre-heated combustion air is diluted concentration distributions that vary widely from port to port.
distribution would have doomed any attempts to eliminate the problem by modifying
with FGR prior to entering the windbox with an average FGR mass Burners 3 and 4 have near-homogeneous FGR distributions; these
the burner design.
 MORE INFORMATION [email protected]
fraction of 13%. The first simulation was carried out at 100% load are the burners that are located on the far side of the boiler and

22 Energy Energy 23
Upcoming Events Computational Flow
Assurance
Risk Mitigation & Performance
Improvement
Flow, Thermal, Stress
3D Simulation Software & Services
• STAR-CCM+ • STAR-CD • STAR-CAD Series

For more information on Flow, Thermal & Stress Simulation, please visit: www.cd-adapco.com
North America CD-adapco regularly participates in many global trade shows. Or contact: [email protected]
www.cd-adapco.com
AUVSI's Unmanned Systems North America 2008
10 - 12 June 2008
To get the chance to talk in person with our experienced and
San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA
http://www.auvsi.org
friendly representatives, please make a note of our appearances
Global Petroleum Show 2008 at the confirmed shows below.
10 - 12 June 2008
Stampede Park, Calgary, Canada
http://www.petroleumshow.com
ASME Turbo Expo
10 - 12 June 2008
For more information please contact our events staff:
North America:
Tara Firenze [email protected]
Flow, Thermal & Stress
Simulation Solutions
Estrel Berlin Hotel & Convention Center
Berlin, Germany
http://www.turboexpo.org Europe:
Marianne Mueller [email protected]

for Oil & Gas

STAR American Conference 2008
23 - 24 June 2008
The Dearborn Inn, Dearborn, MI
www.cd-adapco.com
Europe
Power Gen Europe 2008 AIRTEC 2008
3 - 5 June 2008 11 - 14 November 2008
Coal-Gen 2008 Fiera Milano, Milan, Italy Exhibition Centre Frankfurt, Germany
13 - 14 August 2008 http://pge07.events.pennnet.com/fl/index.cfm http://www.airtec.aero/
Kentucky International Convention Center, Louisville, KY
http://cg08.events.pennnet.com/fl//index.cfm ASME Turbo Expo 2008 Power Expo
10 - 12June 2008 24 - 26 September 2008
37th Turbomachinery Symposium
9 - 11 September 2008
George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX
Estrel Berlin Hotel & Convention Centre in Berlin, Germany
http://igti.asme.org/
Carretera Nacional II, Zaragoza, Spain
http://www.feriazaragoza.com  Productivity
ONS 2008 Professional Motorsport


http://turbolab.tamu.edu
26 - 29 August 2008 11 - 13 November 2008
SAE Commercial Vehicle Congress Stavanger Forum, Stavanger, Norway Cologne, Germany Accuracy
7 - 9 October 2008 http://www.ons.no/ http://www.professionalmotorsport-expo.com/
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL


SMM 2008 Simvec VDI
http://www.sae.org/comvec 23 - 26 June 2008 26 - 27 November 2008 Flexibility
Hamburg Messe, Hamburg, Germany Baden-Baden, Germany
SNAME Maritime Technology Conf. & Expo
www.smm2008.com http://www.simvec.de
15 - 17 October 2008
George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX
www.sname.org
Nafems UK
10 June 2008
Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Glasgow
CAT PRO
9 - 13 September 2008  Expertise
Messe Stuttgart, Germany
Fuel Cell Seminar http://www.nafems.org/events/nafems/2006/Page5/ http://www.catpro.de
27 - 30 October 2008
Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, AZ MIRA Aerodynamics POWTECH 2008 What do you expect from your Engineering Simulation Software?
www.fuelcellseminar.com 6 - 8 October 2008 30 September – 2 October 2008
Aachener Kolloquium, Germany Nürnberg, Germany
Power-Gen 2008 http://www.mira.co.uk http://www.powtech.de/
2 - 4 December 2008
BAUSIM 2008
Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL
8 - 10 September 2008
www.power-gen.com Universität Kassel, Germany
http://bausim.ibpsa-germany.org/
For more information on Flow, Thermal & Stress Simulation, please visit: www.cd-adapco.com
Or contact: [email protected] www.cd-adapco.com
24 Energy