The Bayer Process (the process of extracting alumina from bauxite) is an energy-intensive technology, consuming large amounts of fuel and energy. This Alumina or aluminium oxide (Al2O3) is then used to produce Aluminium at a ratio of 2:1. However, did…
Tee junctions are found in most piping systems in many engineering applications. As such, engineers need to determine the pressure losses across these junctions. Steady-state pressure loss coefficients can be calculated using experimental and analytical expressions. However, the calculation of…
Natural gas distribution or utility systems are used to deliver natural gas to customers across different sectors including residential, commercial and industrial. Natural gas distribution pipelines tend to operate at higher elevated pressures which enables the gas to travel long…
This blog gives a general outline of the rules or laws which can be used to predict fan performance in a given system. Why are the fan laws important? As an example, let’s consider the fan curve typically provided by…
Pump Sizing: We’ve probably all come across the topic oversizing of centrifugal pumps in the past but why can it happen and what are the effects? This blog takes a look at the condition of oversizing centrifugal pumps. Pumps can…
Good luck to UC Davis OneLoop Pod in the SpaceX 2019 Hyperloop Pod Competition on July 21. Proud that FluidFlow was crucial in designing a potential prototype of the transportation of the future! The Hyperloop is a novel form of…
The mass flow of fluid discharged through a safety pressure relief valve is typically a liquid or vapor however, it can be a combination of both liquid and vapor or in other words, two-phase flow. When considering pressure relief applications,…
Most pharmaceutical organisations utilise process cooling plant as part of the manufacturing processes. The cooling water is used for tablet formation, batch processing, R&D, liquid sterilisation, ointment and cream cooling etc. In recent years, many pharmaceutical companies have opted to…
The design of two-phase liquid-gas pipe flow systems is a complex process. It can be common practice for engineers to use template design calculation sheets for two-phase systems. These calculation sheets often utilize rules-of-thumb as part of the template for…
Geothermal power plants utilise hot water and steam from deep underground dry steam or hot water wells which is piped upwards and used to generate electricity. Technologies used in geothermal power plants typically includes dry steam, flash steam or binary…
Increasing the capacity or yield of existing chemical process sites through expansion or upgrades is often a cost-effective means of increasing capacity without incurring the higher costs associated with embarking on a new greenfield construction. In order to complete upgrades…
Two-phase gas-liquid flow is a common phenomenon in nuclear, geothermal, chemical, oil and gas and refrigeration industries where gas-liquid mixtures are transported in piping systems. Two-phase pipe flow is the simultaneous flow of a gas (or vapor) and a liquid…
The calculation of frictional pressure loss for two-phase gas-liquid flow is a complex process. The coexistent flow of two phases complicates the theoretical and empirical approaches which are available. This means that a complete analytical solution is not possible. After…
An orifice plate is essentially a disc with a central aperture which is inserted into a pipeline between a pair of flanges. Orifice plates are mainly used to achieve restricted or controlled flow of a process fluid. What happens when…
Sanding of Slurry Pipelines: The obstruction of flow within a slurry pipeline is sometimes referred to as sanding. Sanding can occur when particles or solids accumulate in a pipeline which in turn reduces the pipe cross section area or flow…
Relief Valve Sizing – Pressure relief devices (PRD’s) are widely and effectively used to protect process equipment such as piping systems, pressure vessels, distillation columns and other equipment from pressures exceeding the design-pressure rating by more than a fixed predetermined…
Mining of valuable minerals or metals usually involves the removal of vast quantities of earth from the ground in order to obtain a relatively small amount of the desired material. The material left over after the refining process is referred…
A previous blog-post discussed the importance of control valve sizing and energy optimization opportunities. This blog-post will focus more on the topic of control valve selection although, both topics shouldn’t be considered to be mutually exclusive. When selecting a control…
Non-Newtonian fluids are encountered in a wide and varied range of industrial processes including food, mining and minerals, pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper processing and other products in the form of pastes, slurries, concentrated solid suspensions or emulsions. Examples include coal…
The characteristics of slurry viscosity are defined by its rheology which describes the deformation and flow behaviour of materials, both fluids and solids. It applies to fluids which exhibit complex microstructures such as sludge and suspensions, mud, fluid-foods etc. These…
Pipework: One of the most important tasks in plant design is the sizing of the process pipework. Sizing your pipework incorrectly will have a major impact on plant capital cost, operating costs and plant reliability. Piping always represents a significant…
Piping System Design; Much has been written about common problems with poorly designed pumped piping systems. Whilst there is no “one size fits all” or “rule of thumb” solution for all systems types, i.e. liquid, gas, slurry, two-phase etc, the…
Slurry Piping Systems: The mining and mineral processing industry provides a diverse set of challenges in the design and operation of pipelines, from complex slurry pipelines through to mine dewatering systems. The traditional requirements of reliability and availability remain key…
We are all fairly familiar with the performance curves for centrifugal pumps but what may not be so obvious is the extremely important relationship between the actual duty-point on the pump curve and the resultant pump reliability. Overlooking this relationship…
The phenomenon of choked flow is often encountered in gas piping systems and tends to occur where there is a change in the flow path cross-sectional area. It can, therefore, occur in locations where we have orifice plates, valves, and…
Inadequate or poorly designed compressed air distribution systems can lead to low productivity, poor air tool performance and perhaps more importantly, high energy bills. In order for a compressed air system to operate properly and cost effectively, it should be…
To obtain maximum accuracy in gas calculations, particularly in systems where large pressure losses occur, the Joule-Thomson effect needs to be included in the solution. The J-T effect describes the increase or decrease in temperature of a real gas (as…
A previous blog post considered the applicability or the ideal gas equations for gas flow modelling and the potential pitfalls of using such a solution approach. This post considers a number of simple natural gas pipe flow systems which have…
District Cooling Systems – Many countries experience hot summers which impose a need for air conditioning in order to achieve and maintain a comfortable indoor environment. Air conditioning has traditionally been provided to buildings by electrically powered air conditioning units…
Fire sprinkler systems can be found in a wide range of buildings or structures from warehouses to multi-story buildings, ships, oil rigs etc. Sprinkler systems are used to provide a reliable method of automatically detecting and extinguishing fires at an…
In general, there are two main types of systems in which pumps can be installed, open-loop and closed loop systems. Open-loop systems are circuits in which the pumped fluid is exposed to the local atmosphere at some point in the…
What are the different types of steam? When water is heated beyond its boiling point it vaporizes into the gaseous phase or as we more commonly know it, steam. The properties of steam vary considerably and are greatly dependent on…
This example case considers the flow of water in a 6 inch Schedule 40 pipeline and compares the results when using the Moody Friction Factor vs the Hazen Williams formula for the same flowing conditions. A hand calculation will initially…
When considering Net Positive Suction Head, it is useful to differentiate between available net positive suction head (NPSHA) and required net positive suction head (NPSHR). NPSHA is a characteristic of the system in which a centrifugal pump operates and represents…
Back in November 2014, Nevesbu and Iv-Oil & Gas joined forces and started the Pre-Contract Engineering for the contract to modify and upgrade the Petrojarl 1 FPSO. It was anticipated that the upgrade will take around a year to complete.…
Control Valve Authority – Technical Paper Valve Authority is a term used to describe the basis on which a control valve is selected. Quality in design represents the correct consideration of many engineering decisions and sizing control valves based on…