Moffat 2000 designs and manufactures subsea pipeline products including stab connectors for flushing or pig-driving operations. Wilde was asked to characterise the pressure-flow relation of various sizes and orientations.
Moffat2000, based in the North East of England, design and manufacture Subsea Pipeline Products and Skid Mounted Assemblies, with the company’s specialist Subsea and Offshore expertise playing an ever increasing part in its success (www.moffat2000.com)
The project was to determine loss coefficient for different size connectors and to establish dependence on orientation of the connector in the line.
Methodology & Solution
A model of each unit was generated in ANSYS DesignModeler by cleaning up an imported CAD file supplied by the client. Meshes were generated with ANSYS CFX-Mesh and CFD simulations conducted using ANSYS CFX V11 . The model consisted of the internal passages of the connector and a downstream length of pipe, representing the unit under test. Post-processing identified the chief source of losses and design improvement recommendations under ambient pressure test conditions.
Business Benefits
The project generated confidence in CFD to evaluate designs and replace expensive high flow rate prototype testing.
“Wilde have given a first-rate service enabling us to prove and improve critical design features of the MoffatSubseaStab Connector”
Moffat2000