Reinventing Process Simulation: Complete Compressor Design and Analysis with One Model

The centrifugal compressors employed in gas processing plants, gas pipeline transmission systems, and other chemicals processes provide a vital function to overall plant operation, and therefore must ensure a high level of operational reliability. Turbomachinery engineers design these compressor systems to eliminate or minimize the potential for surge, which is a dynamic instability that is detrimental to the integrity of the unit.

Therefore, it is essential to use a simulation platform that can:  

1)    Accurately simulate a compressor in both normal conditions and transient conditions, such as the transition to surge and stonewall or choke conditions.

2)    Determine the appropriate equipment sizing required for anti-surge protection and check for operational instability.

3)    Test operability of the process, validate control strategies such as anti-surge control algorithms for upsets like a motor trip or blocked outlet scenario and determine the maximum compressor outlet temperature during upset situations.

AVEVA™ Process Simulation (formerly SimCentral) is the innovative, integrated simulation platform that can operate in steady-state, fluid flow, and dynamics modes using a single simulation definition. It is the only process simulator capable of running the same simulation for design, equipment sizing, and dynamic analysis of the process and controllers all in one simulation, which makes it an ideal choice for combined compressor design and dynamic analysis.

The users of AVEVA Process Simulation benefit from:

• Seamless switch between design (steady-state), rating (steady-state), and dynamic modes
• Multiple compressor curves
• Open equations and model writing without coding
• Flexible specifications
• Excel reporting
• Snapshots
• Cloud access
• Integration with AVEVA™ Unified Engineering

The open equation philosophy of AVEVA Process Simulation allows the user to easily modify existing models and create custom models for new processes. Engineers can organize models into libraries so that you can share them with other users, significantly lowering the engineering effort. Compressor and control emulation libraries tied with the open equation platform enable the user to rigorously simulate the centrifugal compressor system.

AVEVA Process Simulation saves up to 20 change events that allow the user to go backward and forward while making changes and corrections in the model. Optimization features let engineers find the best compressor design and minimize operational costs while meeting performance and reliability targets.

Download the whitepaper to learn more about AVEVA Process Simulation

In real life, targets always move. Compressor design takes place at the same time as other plant systems are evolving. Process engineers waste time chasing design data and verifying information. AVEVA Process Simulation integrates with AVEVA Unified Engineering to maximize efficiency and provide a single platform for end-to-end facility engineering information from process simulation to 1D, 2D, and 3D design data for all phases of a project. Whether the source is process engineering or another discipline, it creates a single “source of truth” where all the engineering disciplines can see current project data. AVEVA Unified Engineering provides bidirectional communication between the simulation and the engineering database.  As the project is designed, current simulation results are available at your fingertip. You can revisit overall design, equipment sizing, process dynamic behavior, and process control systems in real-time.

Watch the on-demand webinar on The Digital Transformation of Process Engineering to see how AVEVA Process Simulation empowers engineers to use the same model across the engineering lifecycle and collaborate transparently with peers in other disciplines.