Simulation in the Energy Industry

Ansys FEA and CFD engineering analysis software have been widely used in all power generation applications.

Simulation Methods Advancing the Energy Industry

In addition to engineering simulation software and services, SimuTech Group is a leader in providing blade frequency testing, moment weighing, and strain gage & telemetry services to the power generation industry.

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Common Power Systems

The expert team at SimuTech has extensive capabilities and experience in the design and engineering of steam turbines with Ansys CFD and FEA software for structural, thermal and fluid dynamics, as well as fatigue analysis with fe-safe.

Over more than 30 years, SimuTech Group has established itself as a leader in the steam turbine industry, specializing in physical testing services such as modal testing & MAC and blade frequency testing. Please contact us at any time to see how we can assist you.

Generators
Steam Turbines & Steam Turbine Failure
Heat Exchangers

Common Power System Simulation Elements

Design Elements	Challenges	Simulation Benefits
Steam Turbines	Part life/erosion Costly downtime for failed equipment Thermal stresses	Determine and then design for likely nucleation and condensation regions Maximize part life through optimizing fatigue/creep trade-offs
Motors & Generators	Need to dissipate large thermal loads with a minimum of parasitic power losses Generating a clean voltage signal	Determine generator characteristics before creating a physical prototype: Subtransient reactance Open-circuit saturation curve Output voltage signal harmonic distortion Heat transfer in air passages
Balance of Plant:	Erosion/Corrosion Poor performance Fatigue failure	Maximize efficiency Design for uneven flow distribution Reduce erosion in virtual prototypes
Transmission Systems	Failures can affect thousands of customers Keeping electric field strengths within specifications Designing for complex failure modes	Simulate complex coupled physics during the design process Improve safety and reliability

Coal Power Generation

As the economic, political and environmental pressures force coal plants to be more efficient and environmentally friendly, SimuTech Group can provide Ansys FEA and CFD simulation software and consulting services to help meet these challenges in the coal power generation industry.
Contact us to find out more about how we can help you, and check out the coal power generation design elements we’ve had experience with below:

Burners
Boilers
Fluidized Beds
Scrubbers
NOx Reduction
Gasification
Mercury Capture

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Coal Power Generation Simulations

Design Element	Challenges	Simulation Benefits
Pulverizers and Classifiers	Control product fineness for low carbon loss, minimal NOx Balance competing forces of mill Efficiency Throughput Power consumption	Reduce design time by: Understanding flow patterns to improve design Predicting performance and erosion behavior for varying designs Predicting dynamic behavior, stress, strain for rotating parts
Burners	NOx reduction Unburned carbon (LOI) Fatigue and creep from thermal stresses in coal nozzle	Reduce design effort and field tests by Predicting temperature, NOx, and LOI with varying fuel, load, swirl Predicting thermal loads and stresses for different designs
Furnaces	Maintaining stable flame under varying load conditions Pollutant formation control Maintaining proper radiation and convection properties with retrofitted low NOx burners Optimizing retrofitted air staging Minimizing water wall corrosion Designing optimal spray system for Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR)	Ensuring retrofit success by predicting Flame shape and thermal loads Impact of various air staging methods Corrosion prone regions SNCR local NOx reduction Avoiding further downtime in a trial-and-error approach
Fluidized Beds	Erosion Maximizing gas-solid contact Avoiding channeling Maximizing heat transfer to immersed tubes Creep and fatigue due to thermal stresses	Avoid costly problems after manufacture by: Predicting erosion in virtual prototypes Predicting channeling problems Predicting thermal stresses Optimize heat transfer
Gasification	Ensuring complete reaction Varying fuels, loads Thermal stresses and heat transfer Carbon capture	Gasifier design Impact of inlet positions and flow rates on performance Impact of fuel changes Calculate and design for scale-up effects
Economizers	Minimizing erosion and fly-ash buildup Optimizing heat transfer to incoming water	Determine areas of likely erosion and fly-ash buildup early in design phase Make flow distribution modifications that will resolve problems before manufacture
Flue Ducts	Uneven flow distribution impacting pollution control equipment performance Air leakage Sagging and deformation	Optimize vanes and turns for flow distribution prior to manufacturing Ensure deformations will be within limits by testing/optimizing design specs
Selective Catalytic Reduction Systems	Poor ammonia/NOx mixing Ammonia slip Hopper fly ash capture efficiency Plugged catalysts Thermal stresses within catalyst beds	Retrofit to improve poorly performing existing SCR units without resorting to a trial-and-error approach with physical prototypes. Predict: Ammonia spray distribution, evaporation, and mixing Flow distribution into the catalyst beds Local NOx concentrations Overall system performance Ash and particulate distribution, and hopper performance Thermal stresses Reduce the design cost and increase the performance of new SCR designs
Sulfur Dioxide Scrubbers	Poor distribution of spray and/or flue gas Designing spray nozzle placement	Improve retrofit and new scrubber performance by using virtual prototyping, predicting: Air and spray droplet flow distribution throughout the scrubber Local sulfur absoprtion and concentration Droplet-wall interaction
Particulate Control	Short life of systems and components High cleaning frequency Often caused by: Uneven flow distribution Uneven loading of baghouses, filters, and electrostatic precipitators	Determine expected loadings prior to field implementation Determine stresses on components Use results to optimize ducts and turning vanes Few shutdowns Shorter cleaning frequencies Longer bag and plate life

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Gas Turbine Power Generation

Compressors
Combustors
Turbines
Enclosures

Gas Turbine Power Generation Simulations

Design Elements	Challenges	Simulation Benefits
Inlet Systems	Fogging and cooling Delivering a uniform temperature to the compressor Ensure complete evaporation of spray Avoiding compressor fatigue caused by non-uniform air flow distribution Icing of air filters	Design with virtual prototypes Calculating motion, evaporation, mixing and thermal impact of spray Simulate non-uniformities of inlet coolers or heaters
Shaft and Gear Systems	Ensuring rotational stability Avoiding interferences caused by rotation-induced strains	Predict critical speeds, whirl, stability, base excitation and transient responses Seamless integration between analysis and optimization tools Including Design for Six-Sigma
Compressors	Off-design performance Avoiding surge over a range of power settings Flow separation Flow-induced vibration	Understand rotational and flow-induced vibration modes before building physical prototypes Simple extension of quasi-1D tools to full 3D physics for design refinement Turbo design environment Investigation of separation and tip gap characteristics Installation effects
Combustors	Maximizing thermal energy generation while minimizing NOx and CO emissions Designing liner and other components for proper thermal load Thermal stresses during “staging” or at partial loads	Make early design changes necessary to keep creep and thermal stresses within limits under all operational conditions Optimize combustion and reduce emission levels with virtual prototyping
Turbines	Cooling blades sufficiently without sacrificing performance Flexibility in design for partial power loads Flow separation Rotation and flow-induced vibration Gas flow in secondary flow passages	Design for non-ideal fluid and structural effects of separation, heat transfer, and blade cooling Flexibility of connecting blade passage analysis with secondary flow passages and cooling effects in a user environment geared towards turbomachinery simulation Design for rotational stability
Acoustic Enclosures	Designing ventilation systems to avoid combustible mixtures caused by gas leaks	Improve safety and reduce design costs Test and improve ventilation designs under various leakage conditions before manufacturing

Engineering Simulation in Nuclear Power

Since its inception in the early 1970’s, Ansys FEA and CFD software has been the preferred engineering simulation software in the nuclear power industry, as it provides the FEA and CFD tools required to meet the rigorous design, engineering and regulatory challenges of the nuclear industry as well as standards such as ASME NQA-1, Quality Assurance Requirements for Nuclear Facility Applications, ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code Section III, Subsection NF and ISO-9001.

With its long-term association with Ansys software, SimuTech Group has been providing FEA and CFD software and consulting services to the nuclear power industry for decades. SimuTech Group has an internal QA program developed to the standards of ASME NQA-1. This QA plan was developed in preparation for a large Div1/Div2 stress analysis project for a 1st tier designer/supplier of nuclear pressure vessel equipment.

Fuel Assemblies
Waste Storage
Accident Analysis
Multiphase Flow
Steam Generators

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Consulting Projects in the Nuclear Power Industry

Crash test of nuclear waste containers falling from moving rail car
Plutonium & Uranium (PUREX) waste sludge extraction device structural analysis: Remote attach assembly mechanism for slip fit
ASME Section III, Subsection NB Structural/Thermal Evaluation: Evaluation of steam generator primary head for all plant operating conditions plus seismic
Heavy Lift Load Evaluation per ANSI 14.6 Standard
Turbine Blade Dynamic Evaluation of Fundamental Frequencies
Steam Generator Drop Evaluation: Determination of Potential Damage due to Lifting Equipment Failure

Design Elements	Challenges	Simulation Benefits
Containment	Determining accurate seismic loads and responses Providing accurate safety analyses to regulators Estimating hydrogen release hazards	Avoid over-designing by performing accurate seismic analyses Accident simulation when 1-D tools are insufficient Impact of accidents on structural integrity Fracture mechanics Emergency core cooling system behavior Showing jet-strike survivability Hydrogen dispersion within containment
Coolant Pumps	Cavitation Installation effects not taken into account by original design Understanding performance in off-design (start-up and accident) conditions	Understand the impact of installation effects before deployment Optimize performance by determining inlet and outlet flow angles and separation patterns Reduce the number of hardware prototypes needed in the pump design and installation process Allows parametric investigation of scale-up effects for these extremely large pumps, which is not possible through testing, but straightforward with simulation.
Reactor Pressure Vessels	Safety analysis for complex stratified flow Code-checking for stress analysis in a timely fashion	Supply regulators with thermal hydraulic predictions for a wide range of LOCA scenarios Stratification caused by thermal variations across cold legs Use a pressure vessel design tool with built-in code checks
Fuel Assemblies	Designing for seismic safety without over-designing Optimizing for thermal transfer in operating and LOCA conditions Designing for flow-induced vibration Limiting cladding fretting and wear	Reduce design time and physical prototypes through simulation Spring design Assembly seismic vibration analysis Mixing vane design Fluid-structure interaction simulation
Pressurizers	Designing steam generation and spray cooling system for optimal responsiveness to pressure changes Design time for code checks	Cost savings through virtual prototyping of new designs and troubleshooting for existing units Heat transfer and phase change due to heating Natural circulation Spray distribution Local condensation rates Rapid vessel design with built
Steam Generators	Tube vibration Accident analysis under natural convection conditions Design for optimal heat transfer	Reduce expensive and time-consuming scaled test loop experiments Investigate and optimize tube vibration sensitivity to flow conditions Extend test results from experimental to full scale conditions Confirm results from system level tools Investigate installation effects
Passive Safety Systems	Inaccuracy of system-level tool safety analyses when natural circulation and mixing are fundamental to the process Scale-up of parametric relationships from lab to full size	Gain physical insight about flow structures to guide safety system design Generate new parametric relationships to embed in system-level tools Extend behavior prediction from experimental to full scale conditions
Generation IV Reactors	Modeling high temperature gaseous flows (sometimes involving chemical reactions) with codes designed for water and steam Modeling natural circulation and mixing in 1-D Scale-up of parametric relationships from lab to full size	Model the full flow physics of gas-cooled reactors Gain physical insight about flow structures to guide safety system design Generate new parametric relationships to embed in system-level tools Extend behavior prediction from experimental to full scale conditions
Waste Storage and Handling	Meeting regulatory requirements for repositories and transport and storage devices Thermal management Structural impacts	Cost-efficient design and troubleshooting of storage devices and repositories to comply with regulatory requirements Structural integrity during container impact Cooling efficiency from forced or natural convection and conduction Pool fire thermal predictions

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Renewable & Alternative Power

Current environmental and political factors have made the renewable and alternative power generation industry a viable market where new methods and technologies are competing for a major role in power generation – now and in the decades to come.
Both SimuTech Group and Ansys continue to play a significant role in the development of many new technological advancements in the renewable and alternative power generation industry.
SimuTech Consulting Projects in the Renewable/Alternative Power Generation Industry:

HVAC CFD simulation for optimal residential natural convection in coastal California
Manufacturing-related process simulations of single-crystal silicon solar cells to eliminate solar cell cracking during handling and stringing operations

See below for some of the major challenges related to alternative power generation engineering and how the experts at SimuTech Group can use Ansys software to solve these issues. Contact us at any time for more information.

Solar
Hydropower
Wind Power
Fuel Cells
Biomass

Alternative Power Generation Simulations

Design Elements	Challenges	Simulation Benefits
Wind Power	Seismic load calculations and assurance Fluid-structure interaction of lightweight composite structures Maximizing efficiency of turbines and turbine placement Generator design and analysis Transmission Systems	Straightforward linear and non-linear vibration analysis Integration with other standard tools (ASAS integration with Flex5) Coupled physics for true virtual prototyping Electromagnetics, thermal/structural, fluid/thermal Optimize turbine output and placement Wind speed prediction over complex terrain
Hydro Power	Turbine design Minimizing flow separation in ducts under a wide range of flow rates Fish protection Fish-friendly turbines Maximizing oxygen levels Aeration Fish ladders Dam design Seismic loads Structural stability assessments	Understand the impact of installation effects before deployment Optimize performance by determining inlet and outlet flow angles and separation patterns Reduce the number of hardware prototypes needed in the pump design and installation process Allows parametric investigation of scale-up effects for these extremely large pumps, which is not possible through testing, but straightforward with simulation.
Solar Power	Wind loads on panels and resulting vibrations The search for cheaper manufacturing methods Designing for thermal loads Maximizing efficiency	Design to minimize fluid-structure interaction with virtual prototypes Simulate and optimize manufacturing methods Predict thermal loads to make necessary design refinements before physical prototyping Maximize heat exchanger and power conversion efficiencies for solar-thermal systems
Biomass	Understanding the impact of fuel changes Slagging, fouling, and corrosion Air staging and emissions control Grate combustion	The capability to design furnaces for a variety of fuels Understanding scale-up implications Understand air staging implications on emissions, heat transfer and ash Access to biomass combustion models
Fuel Cells	Channel design that optimizes distribution of oxygen (hydrogen) to the cathode (anode) Water management Thermal stresses and cooling plate design Materials High costs Property variation Space limitations	Probabilistic design in virtual prototypes Design for Six Sigma Minimize costly physical prototypes using analysis based on first principle physics (electrochemistry, fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, structural mechanics)