AFT Fathom Features Simplify Complex Model: Power Station Cooling Water System Redesigned
AFT Fathom™ Case Study
Kiewit Power Engineers | Cooling Water System | Power Generation
“We were able to show the owner that during outages,
we would be able to supply sufficient flow to all coolers.”
– Andy Fazel, Lead Mechanical Engineer
PROBLEM
- Redesign 4 cooling water systems into 1 common system
- Reduce number of operating pumps
- Make sure standby pumps can provide enough water during power outages
ANALYSIS
- AFT Fathom was used to model the proposed changes
- Features such as annotations, colors, and notes helped organize the 4 different systems
SOLUTION
- System increased cooling capacity with only 2 out of the original 9 pumps in operation
- Showed owner that during outages, standby pumps will supply sufficient flow
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Problem Explained
Andy Fazel, lead mechanical engineer at Kiewit Power Engineers, used AFT Fathom to revise and redesign four separate cooling water systems into one common system for the auxiliary plant heat exchangers in the Brayton Point Generating Station, Somerset, Massachusetts, USA.
Tools & Analysis
An existing service water system contained 9 pumps, each at different flow rates and pressures to supply cooling water to 13 heat exchangers in 4 different coal power units.
The system was redesigned to supply more cooling water using only 4 new pumps (2 operating with 2 in standby), while retaining the ability to use the existing pumps during outages in the new system. To make sure that these pumps would still be able to supply adequate flow to the system, 5 of the existing pumps were modeled. The piping was about 60% existing and 40% new.
Solutions & Benefits
Multiple converging new and old systems made the model a bit messy, but Fazel changed pipe colors and used annotations to denote which pipes supplied which systems, and which pipes were old and new (see Figure 1). The Notes field feature was used to keep track of drawing numbers, field collected roughness data, and loss components included. Valve throttling was used to adjust flow to different coolers.
AFT Fathom model of service water system at Brayton Point Generating
Station in the northeast USA
Pump Motors and Discharge Pipe