AFT Blog
When completing the analysis on a model, there is nothing more frustrating than having to do the same thing over and over again. Thankfully, using AFT's Piping Layout Wizard you will no longer need to rebuild your CAD, CAESAR II, and EPANET files to analyze the hydraulics using AFT Fathom, AFT Arrow, and AFT Impulse. In addition to GIS sh...
Here at AFT we are always looking for more ways to bring more convenience and accuracy to our model files. One of the ways we are doing this is with NIST REFPROP, the new fluids database that we have incorporated into AFT Fathom 10 and is coming soon in AFT Arrow 7 and AFT Impulse 7. Unlike Chempak, REFPROP is included at no additional cost to users. In this blog I will highlight a few reasons why you may want to take advantage of this database.
Have you ever wanted to show the three-dimensional nature of your piping system in AFT applications? Maybe you are building a model from an isometric reference drawing. Or maybe you are incorporating your model into a report and want to represent the x, y, AND z axes.
Whatever the reason may be, the great news is that AFT Fathom 10 includes a new Isometric Pipe Drawing Mode!
We are all shaped by our experiences as engineers. Our early experiences as young engineers are especially influential.
I first worked in the aerospace industry for five years and then the nuclear industry for two years. At each of these companies we relied heavily on a handbook written originally in Russian by a Russian engineer. I am talking about the Handbook of Hydraulic Resistance by I.E. Idelchik. This book is my "go to" book on any unusual pipe system configuration hydraulic calculations and, especially, with calculations at tees and wyes.
AFT Fathom and AFT Arrow both have the powerful ability to model heat transfer in pipes and heat exchangers, allowing you to represent these critical features of temperature-sensitive systems in your hydraulic model. However, without being able to see the affect heat transfer has on an entire system these features would be of limited usefulness. One of the most powerful aspects of AFT’s implementation of heat transfer is that energy is balanced across the entire system. For example, you can observe changes in pump or control valve operation when adding heat transfer to a remote part of a system. Looking at...
Among the many talents of AFT Fathom and AFT Arrow software is the ability to model heat transfer. While a major source of heat transfer is heat exchangers, this blog will address heat transfer that occurs in pipes. First, for the basics: Just what is heat transfer? Well, heat transfer occurs when there is a temperature difference between two objects at different temperatures. As all engineers know, the common theme of physics is that matter and energy alike travel spontaneously from higher, more chaotic surroundings to calmer, lower energy situations (not unlike the stereotypical engineer), and heat transfer is no different....
Heat exchangers are some of the most expensive pieces of process equipment, so it is crucial that their pressure losses and heat transfer are well understood. AFT Fathom and AFT Arrow allow users to model heat exchangers within their piping systems. Pressure loss models include input K factors, resistance curves, or tube bundle information. When energy balances are being considered, users can choose between 11 heat transfer models in AFT Fathom and 12 heat transfer models in AFT Arrow to best meet their hydraulic modeling needs. While AFT Fathom and AFT Arrow can also model heat transfer in pipes, this blog...