Solution Provided | Simulation of Water Pumping System using Hytran Transient Analysis Model
Discipline | Mechanical and Process Engineering
The client's underground mine produces high quality metallurgical coal used for steelmaking. The client sought assistance from Carnac to address the water hammer issues experienced with the current issues.
Carnac developed a Hytran Transient Analysis (Hytran) model using the clients Fluid Flow 3 (FF3) model for the water pumping system to simulate pump startup and shutdown scenarios.
This model was successfully used to predict system transient pressures for various startup and shutdown scenarios as well as air in the system.
Carnac provided recommendations to the client that included:
- Installation of an air valve at the top of the vertical section of FRP line to release any air pockets that may accumulate in the system;
- Installation of a soft start (>5s) on the pumps to avoid column separation on startup; and
- To ensure a non-return valve is installed on the future pipeline to avoid significant pressure spikes due to columns of water combining after pump showdown.