Congratulations 2016/2017 Platinum Pipe Award Winners!

AFT received many excellent submissions to the Platinum Pipe Award for 2016/2017, making this year one of the most difficult to judge in the history of the contest. Congratulations to the winners!

Use of Software Features and Model Creativity - Denis Escobar (CB&I) - Denis used several features well to model an increase in flow rate from an existing LNG plant to the connecting pipeline. He was able to calculate transient forces that were used by another CB&I group to assess the existing pipe and supports. Other notable features would be the use of design alerts, the graph list manager, Chempak mixtures, scenario manager, and an isometric drawing convention using the AFT Impulse grid.

• Honorable Mention: James Yang (Access Pipeline) - James Yang was able to model sophisticated pump trip logic by using a logical sub-model. This sub-model would force the pump to trip if any one of four events was met. These events were a high remote pressure, a low local flowrate, a low suction pressure, and a high discharge pressure at the pump.
• Honorable Mention: Matt Thomas (Sargent & Lundy) - Matt Thomas used Fathom XTS to model the circulating water system for a power plant. He used finite tanks with constant and variable cross-sectional area to model the pumps long term operational changes and reservoir heights over time. He was also able to use pressure based event logic to determine when overflow events in certain tanks would be triggered.

Correlation to Test/Field Data - Rory Heim (Swanson Rink) - Rory was able to use AFT Fathom to evaluate and compare to a good degree of certainty an increase in cooling demand for a commercial HVAC system. By using AFT Fathom, he was able to insure that the flow rates and pressure rises across the system's fans were sufficient for the required cooling needs. His Fathom model was able to predict the fans' flow rates within 5 to 10 percent of the final system's real-world operating point.

Operational Benefits and Sustainability - Brandon Cole Smith (TME) - Brandon, with Wei Guo, was able to create an impressive model of the existing chilled water and steam system at University of Alabama at Birmingham that encompasses 48 buildings. The model had over 1100 pipes and 900 junctions! By locating the most hydraulically distant building and adding booster pumps at this location they were able to save the university upwards of $60,000 a year at very little investment cost. They were also able to model proposed expansions to the university to insure they will be operating efficiently well into the future.

• Honorable Mention: Phil Sneeringer (Flowserve) - Phil Sneeringer was able to use AFT Fathom to improve the reliability of a Raw Brine Injection System. Before the reliability study there had been 41 repairs on the system in 5 years. By evaluating multiple operating conditions and valve closures he was able prevent pumps with differing hydraulic characteristics from competing against each other. This was able to bring operating point in the pumps from an average of 35% of BEP to an average of 75% of BEP.

Look for case studies of all winners and honorable mentions in the upcoming issues of the AFT Pipeline. You can read summaries of the honorable mentions on the AFT Blog. Do you have what it takes to win AFT's Platinum Pipe Award? It's never too early to start planning for 2018! Find details and rules at www.aft.com/platinum-pipe-award.