Current Release: Version 5.2
VISUAL FLOW provides engineers with a state-of-the-art tool for designing, documenting, and modeling safety systems, pressure relief networks, and general plant fluid-flow systems. Get fast, reliable, and accurate answers to the toughest problems, from the rating of complex relief systems to highly looped cooling water systems.
• Safer designs and operation
• Faster regulatory documentation and compliance
• More efficient flare network modeling
• Reduced capital cost
• Reduced operating cost
• Typical savings 5-20% of capital cost
VISUAL FLOW handles the toughest single and multiphase fluid-flow systems by using point-by-point thermodynamics and pressure drop calculations. Applications include relief networks, systems containing any configuration of multiple flares, relief valves, knock-out drums, and loops. VISUAL FLOW automatically checks for critical flow at all junctions and expansion points within relief systems. Rigorous flow models of utility networks ensure reduced capital costs and improved plant operation. VISUAL FLOW calculates fluid equilibria and physical properties using the industry standard thermodynamic package with comprehensive pure component databanks. Additional component data can also be input for non-ideal chemical systems, including binary interaction parameters. Petroleum refiners can input petroleum pseudo-components and assay curves to characterize even the most complex streams.
VISUAL FLOW uses industry-standard multiphase methods to calculate pressure drops, such as Beggs and Brill or Lockhart and Martinelli. It incorporates special modifications of the Beggs and Brill method for high-velocity calculations at or near critical flow and has the capability to size single and multiphase relief valves based on commercially available technology databases.
Integration with PHAST-FX
A partnership with DNV software yielded a link between SimSci-Esscor’s VISUAL FLOW and DNV Software’s PHAST-FX. PHAST-FX is a subset of PHAST and contains the major flammable and explosion models including jet flame, pool fire, and boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE). The link between PHAST-FX and VISUAL FLOW allows users to pass stream information at the base of the flare to PHAST-FX for initializing one of PHAST-FX’s jet flame routines. Additionally, users can make estimations for other flammable scenarios including pool fire or BLEVE, or for the calculation of various vapor cloud explosion scenarios.
Ease of Use
VISUAL FLOW provides an easy-to-use environment for managing your entire plant piping system, from relief systems to cooling water networks. Because VISUAL FLOW utilizes a standard Microsoft® Windows® interface, simulation models are easy to set up and solve. Using the comprehensive GUI, a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) enables you to open and run several different simulations simultaneously. A simple flow diagram describes the overall system structure with point-and-click access to data entry menus. Defaults can be defined for system components or any units of measure for input or output data. By pointing and clicking the mouse, complex piping isometrics can be defined using the interactive drawing tool. Pipe fittings such as elbows, tees, and expansions are automatically inserted by the program and then drawn to the screen. At any point in the process, on-line help is readily available. VISUAL FLOW also provides a complete case study manager. Simply select the "Create Case" option and you can add a new case using any previously defined case as the base. This feature makes the creation and management of complex case scenarios as easy as point-and-click. Data can be easily copied between simulations or other applications using the Windows Clipboard. Simply select one or more objects in the document, copy, then select the destination document and paste the objects into the destination application. Graphical data or tabular data can be exported to spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel or a word processor such as Microsoft Word. Reports can be printed or exported at any time from any open simulation document, and all reports can then be customized to meet your specific needs.
Customizability
VISUAL FLOW has a unique modular structure that provides you with unlimited extensibility and customizability. Using an OLE compatible architecture, it is easy to add private functionality to the program through the development of proprietary calculation objects. The program then automatically uses the objects at run time without the need to re-link the proprietary code. Customizable areas of the VISUAL FLOW program include single and multiphase pressure drop routines, thermodynamics, and relief valve sizing calculations. Custom reports can be generated using Crystal Reports and then accessed through the report manager. Using the component database manager, new pure and pseudo-components can be defined and used within phase equilibria and physical property calculations.
Safety and Regulatory Compliance
The process industries are being challenged by regulatory agencies such as OSHA or HSE to check the safe operation of their plants. A standard requirement of this assessment is often a comprehensive model of flare relief systems of the plant with full documentation of network structure, control systems/strategy, and maximum relief rates capacity. VISUAL FLOW is designed to address this need and improves the productivity of teams assigned to complete this task either as part of a new design, a plant revamp, or an on-going operation. The case management capabilities provide an efficient means to ensure that a full analysis is completed for all scenarios from a limited number of base cases. The program has been successfully used by major oil/gas, refining and petrochemical companies to help meet regulatory compliance requirements and hence improve the safety of operating plants.
