Pumps are critical components of many industrial processes. Although they vary in size, depending on the application, their operating principles and performance parameters are similar across generic families. Large industrial positive displacement (P.D.) pumps, primarily used in mining, oil and gas industries, deliver significant amounts of flow coupled with very high pressures. However, increasing energy costs and sustainability concerns demand systems re-design to improve their efficiency. Most established forms of PD pumps have duty cycles fixed by the movement of spring loaded valves. One approach to increase their energy efficiency could be to dynamically vary the movement of these valves. To test this hypothesis and quantify any potential benefits a computational model is required. This paper introduces modelling technique used to analytically describe a multi-cylinder positive displacement pump. A hybrid modelling approach is described which incorporates analytical relationships, the results of CFD simulation and experimental values. Results show how different valve actuation responses affect the overall flow rate of the pump. The results presented in the paper clearly indicate future development steps for improved control of positive displacement pumps
The current approach to hydraulic fracturing requires large amounts of industrial hardware to be transported, installed and operated in temporary locations. A significant proportion of this equipment is comprised of the fleet of pumps required to provide the high pressures and flows necessary for well stimulation. Studies have shown that over 90% of the emissions of CO2 and other pollutants that occur during a hydraulic fracturing operation are associated with these pumps. Pollution and transport concerns are of paramount importance for the emerging hydraulic fracturing industry in Europe, and so it is timely to consider these factors when assessing the design of high pressure pumps for the European resources. This paper gives an overview of the industrial plant required to carry out a hydraulic fracturing operation. This is followed by an analysis of the design space of the pump design that could result in improved pump efficiency. We find that reducing the plunge diameter and running the pump at higher speeds can increase the pump efficiency by up to 4.6%. Such changes to the pump’s parameters would results in several environmental benefits beyond the obvious economic gains of lower fuel consumption. The paper concludes with a case study that quantifies these benefits
Recently the world has seen an explosion of available data, gathered from sensors, experiments and direct measurements. The engineering world is shifting from model-centred simulations to the exploitation of large datasets for insights into machine behaviour. In the case of optimisation, where usually a simulation model is provided for the exploration of the parameter space, the new data-driven approach translates into the use of data for quantifying problems and delivering an optimal solution
Positive displacement pumps are critical to applications ranging from drug delivery to water jet cutters. The reciprocating motion of these pumps means that their output inevitably pulses at the rate proportional to the speed of the drive. However, if the constant speed drive, traditionally employed in PD pumps, is replaced by one that can dynamically vary speed and torque the possibility of controlling the form of the output pulses arises. To enable such a system this paper reports the modeling of a drive train connected to a Positive Displacement Pump. The drive train comprises a internal combustion engine to generate rotary power, a gearbox transmission to enable changes in the speed-torque ratio and a hydrodynamic coupling in between the two to accommodate flexible power flow. The behavior of the swept pumping volume is generated from a parametric model derived from a CFD analysis. The result demonstrates that there is a significant difference in the flow predicted by models that use average, rather than instantaneous speeds
A new numerical analysis procedure to estimate the performance of multi-cylinder
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