Oil and Gas - Special Issue - Article - ANSYS Advantage 2012

32 Pages·2012·5.23 MB·English

AADDVVAANNTTAAGGEE
TM
Excellence in Engineering Simulation
2012
Special Issue:
OIl ANd GAS
oVErViEw
DEsiGN wiTh CoNfiDENCE
Energy companies use ANSYS software to design
equipment and develop new technologies across
the entire oil and gas supply chain.
By Ahmad H. Haidari, Global Industry Director
Energy and Process Industries, ANSYS, Inc.

I
ncreased production and development of new resources in the oil and gas industry are
driven by economic viability and technology breakthroughs. Consequently, investments in
R&D and capital expenditures are growing to support production from old fields, remote
locations and unconventional resources. To accelerate such development, oil and gas
engineering teams leverage high-fidelity engineering simulation solutions combined
with existing practices. Virtual engineering usage has broadened as a result of increasing
project complexity and continual advances in electronics, electromagnetics, fluids, thermal
and structural mechanics simulation technologies.
Simulation-Driven Product Development encourages upfront production, processing, storage, transport and refining. Beyond
modeling and simulation to drive entirely new solutions, eval- providing product and process development tools, simulation
uate multiple design variations and accurately predict perfor- helps an organization to be more productive, making good use
mance in real-life situations. By using engineering simulation of its engineering knowledge and offering efficiency at a time
earlier in the design cycle, R&D teams can perform design opti- when the pool of qualified engineers is shrinking. Furthermore,
mization and parametric analysis using virtual prototyping long engineering simulation combined with data management helps
before manufacture and deployment. The practice can lead to to capture cross-domain, geographically distributed practices.
simple and well-designed equipment that meets quality, dura- A systematic use of these capabilities, especially earlier in the
bility and dependability requirements while shortening project design process, enables collaboration among distributed engi-
time and reducing development cost. neering centers in developing, gaining and managing more via
The oil and gas industry has used simulation for exploration computer resources. The necessary IT infrastructure typically
and reservoir engineering for decades. Today, a growing number includes high-performance computing (to accommodate robust
of companies are taking advantage of the benefits that high- design) and engineering knowledge management (EKM) to ease
fidelity engineering simulation brings to drilling, completion, collaboration, work flow, knowledge capture and dissemination.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
4 11 16
Model+Make Deep Thinking Tracking Down Vibrations
Scott Parent, vice president of ANSYS structural mechanics helps fast with fsi
technology at Baker Hughes, provides save years in designing the first With high-speed iterations between
insight on how a systems engineering steerable conductor for enhanced mechanical and fluids software, fluid –
approach and simulation-driven oil recovery. structure interaction quickly pinpointed
design improve product reliability. the cause of damaging vibrations and
14
assessed new designs for offshore oil and
8
gas equipment.
forecasting Underwater
Making the Connection Noise
18
A challenging offshore oil pipeline Simulation soundly predicts
application leverages simulation to hydro-acoustics during offshore Catch the Next wave
check structural load conditions of pile driving. Hydrodynamic simulation helps to deliver
an inline sled. two- to three-times wave power efficiency
improvement.
4 ANSYS Advantage | 2012
As installation and operation intensify in the Arctic, in deeper applications. The full portfolio enables oil and gas leaders to
waters and at more remote sites, engineering challenges become engineer their entire system across disciplines and within the
more complex since equipment needs to be highly sophisticated full range of engineering complexity.
and operate reliably — and often remotely. Much oil and gas This special issue of ANSYS Advantage includes many
equipment is increasingly intelligent, driving a complicated customer case studies to inspire you to maximize your own
composition of hardware, electronics and software. A new use of engineering simulation. Follow their examples to master
systems-level approach is required to manage the shift from the complex challenges you face today.
single-component and single-physics design to multicomponent, In “Model+Make,” Scott Parent at Baker Hughes describes how
multiphysics engineering. Advanced simulation solutions from a collaborative, system-level approach is driving substantial
ANSYS are meeting these emerging industry requirements. gains by improving reliability, accelerating product development
Energy engineers can simulate across various physics domains, and reducing risk.
including structural mechanics, fluids, thermal and electro- Other articles in this special edition demonstrate the range of
magnetics. Single users and teams can focus on individual engineering problems that can be solved, and provide examples
components, subsystems or an entire product system, sharing of how simulation accelerates engineering design processes and
results and collaborating seamlessly. increases product reliability. Sophisticated products and com-
The breadth of capabilities and the extent to which complex plex applications push the limits of engineering and advanced
problems can be modeled in an integrated environment make it simulation technologies help to meet those challenges.
appear as if these solutions are targeted for use by highly techni- In these pages, you’ll learn firsthand how well-established
cal scientists in R&D labs. Though analyst usage continues to design processes, upfront simulation and validation continue to
grow, simulation is increasingly being used to drive more value create greater confidence in even the most groundbreaking inno-
out of existing engineering teams across all departments. ANSYS vations — enabling oil and gas companies to gain insight and
helps to achieve broader deployment of engineering simulation manage risk so that these organizations can invest in complex
through a unified collaboration and simulation platform called projects.
ANSYS Workbench. This environment helps companies to work With a global presence, industry-specific experience and
efficiently, using simple tools to define and manage work comprehensive multiphysics portfolio, ANSYS helps energy com-
processes via drag-and-drop workflow and customization. panies engineer an entire system across multiple disciplines,
Connections with other CAE and CAD tools enable engineers to geographic locations, and product components and subsystems
work in heterogeneous PLM/IT environments. — preparing them for the continued engineering challenges the
ANSYS is unique in that it provides engineering simulation future will surely bring.
software for the entire range of the oil and gas supply
chain’s design and analysis requirements. Solutions include
hydrodynamic, fluids, structural, electromagnetics (low- and
high-frequency), electronic cooling, code check and sea-keeping
21 24 29
Don’t rock the float! Churning wind into Power Designing safe and
Fluid–structure interaction Systems engineering can aid in reliable ships
allows designers to assess designing an efficient generator. Marine engineers use upfront
impact of waves on freshwater simulation to reduce vibration.
26
and offshore systems.
Predicting wear 30
23
in radial seals staying Cool with
Getting Connected Finite element analysis accounts for ANsYs icepak
ANSYS EKM helps engineering material wear-off. Thermal management solution
teams improve productivity by predicts air flow and heat transfer in
27
organizing simulation data electronic designs so engineers can
locally and worldwide. separating the streams protect heat-sensitive components.
Multiphase simulation can improve
performance of separation equipment.
ANSYS.COM SPECIAl ISSUE: OIl ANd GAS 5
oiL AND GAs
Model

Make
By ANSYS Advantage Staff
Scott Parent, vice president of technology at Baker Hughes,
provides insight on how a systems engineering approach
and simulation-driven design improve product reliability.
Baker Hughes is one of the world’s electrical and mechanical engineering. Baker Hughes is currently working
largest oilfield services companies. It Parent has spent more than 20 years in on include drone tools, manless rigs,
provides products and services to inter- product R&D in automation and robotics, and sophisticated sensors for high-
national oil companies (IOCs), national oil manufacturing, real-time optimization, temperature formation and fluid
companies (NOCs), and independents aircraft engine design and reliability mod- evaluation. These highly engineered
both large and small. Baker Hughes also eling, clean coal technology, and, most products require a systems engineering
manages more than 3,000 drilling and recently, products and services for the approach, rather than the silo one tra-
production rigs, providing consultation, energy and oil and gas industries. Having ditional to our industry.
expertise, equipment and planning. used ANSYS products throughout his
Scott Parent, vice president of tech- career, he talked with ANSYS Advantage IS THIS mOvE AWAY fROm SILO
nology at Baker Hughes, leads more about the importance of engineering ENGINEERING SImILAR TO WHAT
than a thousand engineering and sci- simulation in the oil and gas industry. HAppENED IN THE TELECOm-
ence professionals in three major tech- mUNICATIONS mARKET?
nology centers in the United States and WHAT ARE YOUR KEY Yes, this is a great opportunity for us to
Germany. He also coordinates efforts at TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS develop new methods and engineering
two research and engineering organiza- CHALLENGES? tools. We need to build new infrastructure,
tions in India and Russia. The innova- Baker Hughes’ major efforts are fairly and, clearly, more upfront planning and
tive tools and systems these groups straightforward: satisfying our customers’ simulation will help. Baker Hughes has
develop incorporate a broad array of needs — including risk mitigation — and an incredible amount of science knowl-
fundamental science — including mate- developing new products. As a result, we edge and homegrown simulations across
rials, nuclear, resistivity, acoustics, make significant investments in tech- engineers’ and scientists’ desks, includ-
resonance imaging, ballistics and frac- nology development, looking for ing nuclear, ballistics, electromagnetics,
ture mechanics — as well as traditional advanced solutions. Some innovations acoustics, imaging, automation, vibration,
6 ANSYS Advantage | 2012
Model

Make
electronics, mechanics, thermal and engineers. In contrast, chemical engi-
resistivity. My commitment is to bring neers seem more likely to have this
activities at all of our facilities together by systems-thinking skill set, possibly due to
applying toolsets and improving design the amount of formal proc-
standardization methods. Specifically, we ess engineering education
The software and other
have created several new analysis teams they receive in undergradu-
that bridge multiple product lines. ate and graduate school.
measures we have put
Historically, these products operated Great simulations are well
together as a final product in our custom- planned, and with the right
in place have helped us
ers’ wells, but their subsystems were systems-thinking team on
rarely modeled together — until now. In task, these larger simula-
to improve reliability
the first six months of integrated simu- tions can be performed
lations, our team has directly improved successfully.
and reduced our drilling
operating reliability of legacy products For our simulation proc-
and impacted the successful launch of a ess, we use design for six
systems nonproductive
new product. sigma methodology, which
includes modeling, testing
time by 25 percent
WHAT ARE THE SUCCESS and analyzing. We start with
fACTORS fOR pRODUCT a systems model and then
globally in the past
DEvELOpmENT? flow down the requirements.
Successful product development requires As we step up the process, we
18 months.
numerous things: good project manage- become more reliant on
ment, talented systems-level thinkers, increased computing power,
complex modeling, robust simulation which we can, thankfully,
processes and enough computing power accomplish at a relatively
to handle it all. low cost. Boosting computing power has
I think our education system trains become the backbone for complex mod-
engineers in a focused way, but we need eling. It enables us to engage in more
electrical engineers, in particular, to simulation-driven product develop-
think more broadly — more like systems ment. Currently, we are partnering with
ANSYS.COM SPECIAl ISSUE: OIl ANd GAS 7
Microsoft® to explore the benefits of cloud the physics of the design before you build something we’ve already solved? What
computing. Some of the first platforms the circuit and test it, for example. As we is my goal — to do something new or to
we plan to integrate are ANSYS soft- use field data to validate complex models make it better? To make something last
ware. We use ANSYS CFD with the high- created with ANSYS products, correct- longer? It’s important to realize that
performance computing option, allowing ing for missing items or calibrating for you don’t always start with a former
expedited solution time. issues, we create a record of knowledge, product. In many cases, it doesn’t save
a record of the application’s physics. us any time. Instead, we can design a
WHAT OTHER ANSYS pRODUCTS This is our definition of a multigenera- new platform using a new set of tools.
DO BAKER HUGHES’ TEAmS USE? tional model. When a model has been Now I am working to encourage our
In addition to ANSYS CFD (ANSYS Fluent validated and then proven in this indus- teams to use simulation earlier in the
and ANSYS CFX), we use the ANSYS try, it becomes a valuable asset — a process. For example, it isn’t optimal to
structural mechanics suite. These pro- company jewel. Today, we track our test a noisy motor to find out what the
grams enable structural and more- models manually, but we are looking at problem is. It is far less expensive in
sophisticated analyses all in the same tools to manage this process for us. time and money to model the motor
environment, providing the oppor- For example, we are considering the before building it and avoid the noise
tunity to improve technical communi- ANSYS EKM tool to help us index, manage in the first place. Validated models
cation across all levels of engineering and track our engineering models. What enable us to improve first-pass reliabil-
and design. This integrated approach is we like about EKM is its capability to ity and reduce total time to market.
unique and offers a full-service, soup- quickly search past and current simula-
to-nuts approach that is important in tions to find appropriate files and extract
testing our solutions in the complex knowledge in an efficient manner. With
and rapidly changing environment in EKM, we would not have to repeat a simu-
which we find ourselves working today. lation if someone has done it in the past. How do we
We also use ANSYS software for electro- When an engineer leaves the project, the
magnetics. We’ll soon expand into ANSYS software stores a copy of all of the simu-
Maxwell and ANSYS Simplorer for low- lations, making the files accessible to reduce risk?
frequency applications, ANSYS HFSS and other team members around the globe.
Ansoft Designer for high-frequency appli-
cations, and ANSYS Icepak and ANSYS HOW HAS pRODUCT DESIGN We calculate
SIwave for electronic thermal manage- CHANGED AT BAKER HUGHES?
ment. With Simplorer and its capabilities Three years ago, our testing processes
to cosimulate with Fluent, HFSS, Maxwell consisted primarily of field testing. We it up front in
and ANSYS Mechanical, we can build designed it, we built it, and we took both
high-fidelity systems-level simulations new products and systems into the field
that make physics and engineering con- with less attention paid to lab testing simulation
siderations explicit. Because of the seam- or validating of upfront models.
less connection between ANSYS products, But in reality, our products must oper-
we plan to use ANSYS DesignXplorer and ate with other systems and tools. Before stages at both
ANSYS nCode DesignLife to ensure reli- we begin design, we need to understand
ability, sensitivity and six sigma design, the operating or application environ-
as well as to estimate the life of the simu- ment, how our products integrate with systems and
lated tool or component. other products, and the physics of final
deployment. We must look beyond a
HOW DO ANSYS pRODUCTS HELp single tool and develop a much better component
YOUR mULTIGENERATIONAL systems design up front.
mODELING EffORT? At Baker Hughes, we have restruc-
Now that we can prove the importance tured into cross-disciplinary teams that levels.
of validation, verification and model mat- work together to consider submodels,
uration to our colleagues and the industry, integration and parametric methods.
everyone is beginning to recognize the When a team begins to develop a new
importance of upfront analysis and product or solve an engineering prob-
systems validation. lem, they ask questions such as: Do I
Validation means that you understand have something new, or am I doing
8 ANSYS Advantage | 2012
ANSYS allows us to try it before we build it.
CAN YOU SHARE AN ExAmpLE
Of A RECENT DESIGN?
One task was to create complex simula-
tions involving the bore hole (down-
hole environment) in drilling systems
deployment. The drilling environment
exposes our tools to high-temperature
and high-vibration conditions. We needed
to better understand how these condi-
tions might change tool performance,
and specifically how they contributed to
catastrophic failure of embedded elec-
tronic circuit boards.
Accessing data collected around
root-cause electronics failure (primarily
high vibration and temperatures for
extended periods), we then used ANSYS
products to simulate tools and compo-
nents in this down-hole environment.
Our aim was to improve survivability
of the printed circuit board assemblies.
By analyzing component mounts, elec-
tronics packaging and board mounting
scheme in the down-hole tools, we
reduced the failure rates of these critical
subsystems significantly.
HOW DO YOU ADDRESS
RELIABILITY?
Just one way ANSYS structural technology is used at Baker Hughes is to simulate tools
The complex simulations using ANSYS and components in a down-hole environment to improve survivability of the printed
software allow us to improve product circuit board assemblies. This simulation demonstrates high-frequency dynamic
deformation (top) and the integrated FEA mesh (bottom) of a down-hole tool.
reliability. In our industry, nonpro-
ductive time on a rig is measured in
hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is
critical that we continually improve
our design capabilities for reliability
and manufacturability. ANSYS soft- OvERALL, HOW DOES THE USE economically. ANSYS tools — and simula-
ware enables us to consider these Of ANSYS TOOLS ImpACT YOUR tions in general — are helping Baker
features in the context of trading off DESIGN pROCESS? Hughes to take a more aggressive
design features with performance “Model and make vs. build and break” is approach in our design processes. We can
criteria. We use these capabilities what I call our initiative around this. make decisions earlier in that process,
more and more to enhance lifecycle Simply put, ANSYS allows us to try it and, with a broader interdisciplinary tal-
costing, including repair and mainte- before we build it — to try things on the ent pool, design with increased confi-
nance, through robust design and fail- drafting board and exercise component dence. Identifying and resolving issues
ure analysis. The software and other and system models as though they were early in the process helps us to mitigate
measures we have put in place have in the lab or field application. We can risk, save millions of dollars, reduce
helped us to improve reliability and combine multiple scientific and engi- development time, and drive customer
reduced our drilling systems nonpro- neering disciplines earlier in the process, value. Ultimately, this approach dras-
ductive time by 25 percent globally in creating an environment in which tically improves first-time yield of prod-
the past 18 months. development can evolve creatively and ucts coming from R&D.
ANSYS.COM SPECIAl ISSUE: OIl ANd GAS 9
oiL AND GAs
By lee Walden, Engineering Manager, and
Chemin lim (formerly), T-Rex Engineering
& Construction L.C., Houston, U.S.A.
A
challenging offshore oil pipeline
SURvIvING
application leverages simulation CHALLENGING CONDITIONS
The engineering challenge is to design the
to check structural load conditions
ILS so it survives under 7,000 feet of sea-
water, sustains severe environmental
of an inline sled.
loads and resists corrosion — all while
minimizing the high risk of damage to
equipment and hazard to human life dur-
The offshore oil exploration and drilling tie-in to be made quickly and efficiently ing installation. T-Rex Engineering and
industry strives continually to develop on the sea bed. The sled is dropped over Construction conducts studies to fully
new subsea technologies to meet the the end of a vessel’s stinger — a special- understand conditions where subsea
rising demands for petroleum products. ized piece of equipment that is mounted structures will be constructed. The com-
Since most of the “easy” fields have been onboard a ship — along with miles of pany’s work includes fabrication, trans-
tapped, harvesting distant offshore oil piping. The pipelines are welded together portation, installation and operation.
becomes more challenging because the on the stinger to facilitate the process of Based on extensive subsea experience,
pools are situated under thousands of feet subsea installation. the engineering team collects all possible
of water. The ILS comprises a mudmat platform data to simulate the structure in real-
Subsea technology covers a wide range (ILS foundation module) and a frame sys- world conditions. In fact, the organization
of offshore activities. One main subsea tem that supports a wye block (a fitting has 15 years of experience in the develop-
technology is a pipeline system — some- that joins pipelines), branch piping, tran- ment and design of subsea structures, all
times more than several hundred miles sition piping, valves, and an end hub sup- of which are still operating in the subsea
in length — that transfers oil and gas port that is integrated into the pipeline. field. T-Rex holds the world record for
products from the seabed to other destina- The main oil flows from the right (as installing the deepest subsea structure.
tions. The pipeline consists of various shown in Figure 1); the future tie-in oil A subsea structure experiences its
mechanical, electrical and hydraulic flow comes from the hub and joins at the worst load conditions during installation
parts that are supported by several wye block. The valves control the oil flow, because the ILS is subjected to the weight
subsea structures. and the hub is the open connection for of the suspended pipe (flow line) as well
future pipeline connections. A tapered as the floating motion of the vessel. As the
INLINE SLED transition of pipe is installed at each end vessel lays the pipeline over the stinger,
A major component of this subsea system of the sled’s piping system to resist bend- the ILS undergoes severe tension and
is the inline sled (ILS), a pipeline support ing moments caused by the ILS going bending loads at the top and bottom cur-
structure that allows a future pipeline through the stinger. vature of the pipeline (Figure 3a).
10 ANSYS Advantage | 2012
Wye Block
Flow
direction
Mudmat
Transition Pipes
Figure 1. Inline sled structure
Figure 2. Installation of S-laying pipeline Figure 3. Analysis
T-Rex engineers determine the tension located on the stinger. This global model problems. The local 3-D Workbench
and bending load values to ensure a depicts the pipeline deformation on model comprised 177,991 elements,
robust and safe design that will withstand the stinger. The displacement load was including contact elements. Engi-
the installation process. Analyses are applied at the end of the straight pipe- neers used the sweep method to
performed to predict whether excessive line until the pipeline was in full contact generate the mesh, and then the critical
stresses and deformation in the ILS system with the stinger’s roller boxes. To deter- areas were refined. ANSYS Workbench
arise during the installation process. mine the local model’s load condition — automatically detected the contacting
tension load and moment — reaction areas to generate surface-to-surface con-
SImULATING THE SYSTEm forces and moments were output at the tact elements. Most of the contacting
Simulations determine load conditions on end of the ILS on this global model. regions were defined by bonded contact
the pipeline; they also help engineers The team used Autodesk® Inventor® behavior. The high-quality mesh pro-
design the ILS to handle that specific load. 2010 to generate a detailed (local) 3-D duced in Workbench facilitated the con-
In one application, T-Rex engineers used model and directly imported it into vergence, calculation time and accuracy
ANSYS Mechanical APDL (MAPDL) to ANSYS Workbench. The transition from of results.
analyze a 2-D global model to determine Inventor to Workbench was smooth, and To simulate the roller box contact
these load conditions. They used ANSYS every component was imported without load conditions, frictionless support
Workbench to apply these load conditions
to the local 3-D solid model of the ILS.
This type of systems modeling with ANSYS
tools enables T-Rex to ensure the robust-
ness of the design.
The team used beam elements to com-
plete the 2-D global model of the pipeline
and ILS, as shown in Figure 3c. To deter-
mine the beam element stiffness of the
ILS, a separate 3-D solid model was simu-
lated with ANSYS Workbench (Figure 3b).
For the 2-D global model, contact ele-
ments defined the contact conditions
between the pipeline and the stinger’s
contact points, which are the group
Figure 4. Boundary conditions
of bearing rollers (Figure 3d). Plane ele-
ments were used to model the rollers
ANSYS.COM SPECIAl ISSUE: OIl ANd GAS 11
oiL AND GAs
Using systems modeling with ANSYS tools enables
T-Rex to ensure design robustness.
conditions (load tension/compression)
were applied at both ends of the rail
pipes, and the fixed boundary condition
was applied at the opposite end of the
structure. The load that was collected
from the global MAPDL model was
applied at the opposite end of the struc-
ture, as indicated in Figure 4.
As the design progressed, several
components’ geometries were changed,
based on the stress results. For exam-
ple, the connection between the pipe-
line and the ILS had a huge difference
in stiffness, which caused a high stress
concentration in that area (Figure 5a).
At the end of this process, the new
design reduced the peak stress by over
80 percent compared with the initial
design (Figure 5b).
ACCURACY ENSURES SAfTY
The combination of ANSYS Workbench
and ANSYS MAPDL successfully simu-
Figure 5. Initial model (top) and final model (bottom) of the connection between pipeline and
lated the field pipeline installation load
IlS show stress contour through the inside pipeline. The new design decreased peak stress
conditions on this project. The analysis by over 80 percent.
made it possible to obtain the exact load
conditions for this complex geometry. It
would have been almost impossible to
obtain this level of accuracy required to
improve the design without using ANSYS
software products. This systems simula-
tion procedure provides a wide range of
solutions for pipeline installation proc-
ess analyses. Furthermore, safety is an
important factor. Subsea pipeline systems
must be designed to be safely installed
and maintained during oil production.
The simulations in this application helped
ensure that the subsea structure adhered
to safety requirements.
Figure 6. Von Mises stress contour
12 ANSYS Advantage | 2012