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. Major clients include the oil and gas industry, which covers the full range of industry sectors from exploration and production through transmission to refineries. The program also serves the aerospace, military, and telecommunications industries. Investigations range from engineering field service, to space hardware development, to equipment qualification testing.

SwRI engineers use materials that simulate the porosity of rock to evaluate new drilling fluids.

The Institute has been awarded a multi-million dollar program by the U.S. Army to help reduce operating and maintenance costs and increase reliability for the CH-47 helicopter. Engineers will conduct engineering and statistical analyses, and economic assessments. The outcome will be a series of recommendations that define the combination of design, technology insertion, and process changes needed to increase airworthiness and mission availability.

The Institute's long-running propellant dynamics program continued at a steady pace this year, driven by the increased demand of the commercial satellite industry to significantly reduce the launch cost to put satellites in orbit. The Institute is the prime contractor on the µGAUGE program, part of NASA's 2nd Generation Launch Vehicle program to develop advanced mass gauging technology. This technology will reduce the amount of excess propellant typically flown because of the uncertainty involved in measuring propellant inventories in microgravity conditions. A completed design and fabrication of the gauge is expected by late 2002. In 2003, the gauge is scheduled to undergo ground testing at NASA's Glenn and Marshall Space Flight Centers.

Because many satellites spin in the upstage phases of launch operations, satellite launch service providers must determine vehicle stability in the orbit insertion phase. There have been a number of discrepancies between the stability assessment provided by the satellite developer and the launch service provider. When this occurs, the possibility that the satellite will go unstable, enter into a flat spin, and not reach the desired orbit increases. Therefore, launch providers will not launch the satellite when a discrepancy exists. NASA Kennedy Space Flight Center has contracted with SwRI to test bladder fuel tanks in a rotating slosh facility. This facility produces the fundamental data for developing and validating models to resolve these discrepancies.

Tests are being conducted at SwRI to evaluate the performance characteristics of a new class of fluids that will be used during the drilling of oil and gas wells. These fluids are designed to be environmentally friendly and to minimize damage to reservoir rock.

The Institute continues to provide comprehensive environmental testing services for the telecommunications industry. This multidivisional effort provides a full range of testing capabilities at a single site, which sets SwRI apart from its competitors. The Institute performs frame-level compliance testing for extreme conditions such as earthquake, fire, outdoor and indoor gaseous contaminants, temperature and altitude, electromagnetic compatibility, and many other effects. Plans are under way for the construction of a comprehensive test facility that will double the test capacity of the current facility.

Multiphase flow research is performed for the drilling, completion, and production sectors of the oil and gas industry. To support the deepwater production challenges of the oil industry, SwRI has begun operation of a high-pressure multiphase flow facility. This facility accommodates mixtures of natural gas, crude oil, and produced water, and replicates the production conditions experienced in the Gulf of Mexico. Current projects include verification of a method to prevent or remediate hydrate formation in a major subsea pipeline, calibration of subsea wet gas metering techniques, and multiphase pump testing.

An SwRI-developed apparatus allows controlled temperature and vibration testing of automotive catalytic converter mat materials under in-service operating conditions to evaluate the durability of the materials over time.

The Institute's flow component testing program encompasses the testing of valves, packings, and gaskets to improve safety and prevent pollution. Institute staff members perform qualification testing to ensure that these flow components meet industry standards, such as American Petroleum Institute (API) 14A and 6AV1 for surface and subsurface safety valves, respectively, or API 607, 589, or 6F for fire testing.

The Institute is the focal point of the gas industry's flow measurement research program and continues to operate the Gas Technology Institute Metering Research Facility. The major emphasis this year has been in gas sampling and ultrasonic metering. Both these developments will reduce the capital cost of future meter stations and improve measurement accuracy. SwRI's commercial calibration business in ultrasonic meters doubled that of prior years. In addition to work funded by the gas industry, the Department of Energy has provided funding to develop a new energy meter. This meter will combine volumetric flow rate and gas composition measurements to arrive at the energy value required for custody transfer. SwRI engineers have developed a prototype energy meter, and fabrication is under way. The new meter will provide real-time energy measurement readings.

A significant trend in the gas pipeline industry is the increased use of centrifugal compressors. However, while lower in cost, centrifugal compressors do not have the range of operations of reciprocating compressors. To meet industry needs and to increase the efficiency of centrifugal compressors, SwRI has built a new turbomachinery laboratory and initiated an internal research project to study the interaction of the compressors with various phenomena.

The Institute continues to operate the Gas Machinery Research Council (GMRC) Pulsation Control Design Facility for the benefit of the gas industry. Most of the work in the design facility is dominated by the natural gas transmission pipeline industry. Pipeline companies continue to use packaged high-speed reciprocating compressors in gas production and transportation. Some engine and electric motor driven applications of this technology now exceed 8,000 horsepower. The Institute remains at the forefront in helping the gas industry address the significant challenges posed by these compressors, both at the design stage and during facility startup and operation.

This marks the 49th year in which the Institute has conducted the annual GMRC research and development program. The research program this year addresses three topics important to improved compressor performance: torsional response, valve service life, and engine/compressor controls. As compressors increase in size, industry users are faced with new problems associated with the torsional response between the electric motor drive and compressor. SwRI engineers are developing an enhanced torsional model and the necessary guidelines for designing shafts and couplings to minimize these problems. Valves are the largest maintenance item on compressors, representing a substantial repair and replacement cost. Institute researchers are studying ways to improve the service life of these valves. While engine and compressor controls currently operate separately, the Institute is evaluating ways to integrate these two control systems to optimize performance.

Aircraft turbine blades undergo vibration testing on an Institute electromagnetic shaker facility to detect flaws in the blades, helping to ensure aircraft engine reliability.

The plant engineering services program provides worldwide diagnostic services to the oil and gas, refining, petrochemical, and gas transmission industries. The efficient resolution of machinery failures, excess equipment vibration, and identification of conditions leading to imminent failure resulting in production losses are issues driving the need for continuing development of analysis tools, diagnostic equipment, and enhanced modeling capabilities. Operational problems in large turbomachinery, reciprocating compressors, liquid natural gas pumps, and offshore oil production have resulted in SwRI studies conducted across the United States and throughout the world.

The Institute recently was awarded a multi-year contract, jointly funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the GMRC, to help increase the flexibility of the gas transmission pipeline infrastructure by expanding the operating range of centrifugal compressors. This will be accomplished with an incipient surge detector concept that detects local flow reversals at the inlet of the unit prior to the compressor entering into a full surge condition. This direct indication of surge will allow the unit to operate closer to the surge line on the compressor operating map, thus expanding the operating range of the unit.

2001 Annual Report SwRI Home