Fluid and Machinery Dynamics

The Institute's mechanical and fluids engineering program encompasses multiphase flow technology, fluid machinery, flow pulsation control, turbomachinery, flow measurement, microgravity propellant dynamics, acoustics, and structural dynamics. A major client base is the oil and gas industry, which covers the full spectrum of industry sectors from exploration and production through transmission and refining. Other aspects of the program serve the aerospace and telecommunications industries. Investigations range from engineering field service to space hardware development to equipment qualification testing.

The Institute continues to operate the Gas Machinery Research Council (GMRC) Pulsation Design Facility, located at SwRI, for the benefit of the gas industry. Work at the facility is typically performed for the natural gas transmission pipeline industry. However, the past year saw a significant increase in studies for positive displacement pump applications for the petrochemical industry. Two major trends in the industry are an increase in the use of high-speed reciprocating compressor packages and the installation of gas-turbine-powered centrifugal compressors. In response to the first trend, SwRI engineers have developed a new digital analysis tool to support the design of the unique operational aspects of high-speed machines. A new suite of analysis tools for rotordynamic behavior of turbomachinery is addressing the second trend.

For the past 48 years, the Institute has conducted the annual research and development program for the GMRC. This year the program addressed six topics, including the continuation of research into an active surge control system for centrifugal compressors, a survey of compression needs for the upstream gas industry, and advanced crankshaft condition assessment methods. New research topics include developing guidelines for the forensic analysis of failed parts, compressor station energy audit methodologies, and crankshaft strain measurements during operation. The latter project was made possible because of a unique instrument developed using SwRI internal research funds.

The Institute's plant engineering services program provides worldwide diagnostic services for the oil and gas, refining, petrochemical, and gas transmission industries. Efficiently resolving machinery failures and excess equipment vibration, and identifying the conditions that lead to imminent failure and result in production losses, are critical aspects of this program. The prevention of such problems is driving the need to continue developing analysis tools, diagnostic equipment, and enhanced modeling capabilities. Operational problems in large turbomachinery, reciprocating compressors, liquefied natural gas (LNG) pumps, and offshore oil production equipment have resulted in studies conducted in Indonesia, Korea, Brazil, the Middle East, and Canada, as well as the United States.

Over the past year, SwRI's machinery field services staff have addressed compressor capacity limitations, engine power shortfalls, and mechanical integrity problems associated with packaged, high-speed reciprocating compressors used for gas production and transportation. Staff have developed heated pressure transducers that preserve more consistent calibration as test conditions change, strain-gauge-based engine torque measurement, and predictive tools that can help pinpoint the contributors to problems from among piping pulsations, valve dynamic response, and valve flow resistance.

A growing demand for energy has increased the importance of the gas-to-liquids business. Propane centrifugal compressors play a critical role in many LNG and liquefied petroleum gas plants. SwRI has helped manufacturers, engineering companies, and operating companies identify and solve pulsation and rotor vibration problems on these compressors after installation. SwRI has also helped avoid these problems during the machinery procurement cycle. To support this service activity, the Institute has used its internal research program to refine predictions of rotor natural frequencies, excitation forces, and vibration control methods. SwRI is installing a turbomachinery systems laboratory that will focus on dynamic interaction phenomena such as stall in the compressor, with pulsations in the piping as sources of piping and rotor vibration.

NASA Kennedy Space Flight Center is the lead center for the agency's space launch services. One of their critical responsibilities is to assure that all payloads launched will be stable enough to reach their intended orbit. To meet this challenge, SwRI has fabricated a spinning slosh rig that can test full-scale satellite propellant tanks under the demanding upper-stage conditions. Data from these tests will be used to validate the spacecraft models to assure that the satellite is spin-stabilized during upper-stage operations. Engineers used the Pressure Systems, Inc. Tank Simulator for the tests.

The Institute continues to operate the Gas Research Institute Metering Research Facility (MRF) located on the SwRI grounds. The major emphasis at the facility this year has been in natural gas sampling and ultrasonic flow metering. SwRI's commercial calibration activities in ultrasonic meters grew at a rate that justified a major facility expansion. The enhancements enable the MRF to calibrate twice the number of meters than was previously possible. Operator savings resulting from these meter calibrations may approach $1 million per year for the larger meter sizes. The Department of Energy has also provided funding for the development of a new energy flow rate meter to alleviate the need for independently measuring volumetric flow rate and gas composition to arrive at the energy values required for custody transfer.

The Institute's flow component testing program encompasses the testing of valves, packings, and gaskets. The primary activity is qualification testing to assure that these products meet industry standards, such as API 14A and 6AV1, for surface and subsurface safety valves, respectively, or API 607, 589, or 6F, for fire testing. Specialty testing is also conducted to support the product development needs of equipment manufacturers. Facilities are available that provide high flow-rate tests using nitrogen gas, moderate flow-rate tests using water or a water-sand slurry, high static pressure, cryogenic temperatures, and high-temperature or fire engulfment.

SwRI performs multiphase flow research for the drilling, completion, and production sectors of the oil and gas industry. Primary research activities include flow assurance, multiphase metering and pumping, separation, erosion of sand control screens, and gravel packing. A major upgrade to the SwRI Multiphase Flow Facility this year accommodates the higher pressure ranges required for deep water. This unique capability replicates conditions found in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Institute is leading a multiyear project focusing on the development of a new computer algorithm that uses parallel computing methods, multi-domain techniques, and multidimensional models to simulate multiphase fluid flow and transport in large-scale pipeline systems. This code will provide a design and simulation tool to address flow assurance issues in large-scale pipe networks, such as those that connect the wellhead to the production platform. Chevron Research and Technology Company is sponsoring the project.

The Institute provides comprehensive environmental testing services for the telecommunications industry. This independent, single-site testing program is unique to SwRI. The multi-division effort provides all the testing capabilities required by this industry, including frame-level compliance testing for extreme conditions such as earthquake, fire, outdoor and indoor gaseous contaminants, temperature and altitude, electromagnetic compatibility, and others. A leader in seismic engineering and testing, SwRI also assists industry in determining the robustness and susceptibility of equipment to vibratory loading using an independent, biaxial seismic simulator that subjects equipment to realistic earthquake motions.

SwRI is developing a fuel gauge for the Microgravity Advanced Upper-Stage Gauging Experiment (µGAUGE), sponsored by NASA Glenn Research Center under NASA's Future-X program. The objective of this experiment is to investigate the accuracy of this technique for cryogenic liquid propellants operating in an actual space environment. This illustration shows the current design of a compression mass gauge for a microgravity liquid hydrogen application.

The Institute is the prime contractor on the NASA Future-X µGAUGE (Micro-Gravity Advanced Upper-Stage Gauging Experiment) program. SwRI will develop advanced mass gauging technology that reduces the excess propellant typically flown because of difficulties in accurately measuring propellant inventories under microgravity conditions. SwRI has teamed with Boeing, NASA Glenn Research Center, and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center to develop and demonstrate a unique microgravity fuel gauge aboard the Air Force Solar Orbit Transfer Vehicle to be flown in 2003.

Many spacecraft spin during the time they are still connected to the upper stage of the launch vehicle to enhance the flight stability prior to entering orbit. Launch service providers must independently assess vehicle stability during this critical phase of the mission to validate the spacecraft manufacturer's assessment. Of special concern are spacecraft that use fuel tanks containing flexible bladders to restrain fuel motion because there is relative lack of experimental data for such spacecraft compared to spacecraft that use unbladdered fuel tanks. To obtain the needed experimental data, NASA Kennedy Space Flight Center contracted SwRI to design and build a rotating slosh facility that will produce fundamental fuel motion data for full-scale bladdered fuel tanks in a spinning spacecraft, as well as to develop stability-assessment models. Engineers used the Pressure Systems, Inc. Tank Simulator for the tests.

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