CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
11 June 2012
Product News
Mentor Graphics Announces Flowmaster Two-Phase Advanced Thermo-Fluid Simulation Software for Power and Energy Markets
Mentor Graphics Corporation today announced the Flowmaster® Power and Energy version for system level thermo-fluid simulation. This new product provides a two-phase solution modeling the phase change from liquid to vapor for steam generation or from vapor to liquid when steam is consumed. This new capability is ideal for the power generation markets, accurately describing industry-specific components that must be developed to meet industry modeling requirements with faster and more accurate analysis.
Built on the Flowmaster Rigorous Energy Balance Solver, the new two-phase capability takes advantage of the enhanced fluid properties plus solver framework from the existing generation of the Flowmaster product. By combining these two technologies, the Flowmaster Power and Energy software tool can now begin modeling the phase change that occurs in both steam and liquid processes. The orientation, temperature and pressure flow patterns of steam and liquid are very different, and each flow pattern has an impact on the pressure drop and heat transfer. The new Flowmaster product recognizes and models each flow pattern accurately. While the physics of two-phase flow are complex and can be difficult to predict, Mentor Graphics® Flowmaster team has conducted extensive research and has incorporated the best correlations available for accurate simulation modeling.
“Enginesoft has been a long-term partner of Flowmaster and has been representing Flowmaster products in our local market since 2009,” stated Marie Cristine Oghly, president of Enginesoft France. “Mentor’s new Flowmaster Power and Energy product is a major advancement for today’s steam and fluid-based applications and is eagerly awaited by the market. Therefore, we look forward to introducing it to our customers.”
“Our newest Flowmaster product addresses the design complexity requirements when dealing with two-phase fluid flow since identifying the flow patterns is difficult to simulate accurately,” stated Erich Buergel, general manager of Mentor Graphics Mechanical Analysis Division. “We are continuously investing in thermal analysis technologies that will advance the design and verification of important power and energy innovations, as required by our valued customers.”
Addressing Market Requirements
Ideally suited for power generation applications, the new Flowmaster product addresses the specific thermo-fluid requirements for power plants (i.e. coal-fired power plants, boiler/steam generators, steam turbines, cooling towers, steam traps), solar energy, and automotive (zero flow heat transfer, advanced heat exchanger) applications.
- Power and Energy: The new Flowmaster software introduces a complete steam/water Rankine Cycle simulation capability for the fossil fuel and solar power markets. The addition of the new functionality, along with industry-specific components such as boilers, steam turbines and condensers, allows the user to model the entire power plant fluid system with a single simulation tool. This includes proper simulation of complicated phenomena such as boiling, condensation, flashing and de-superheating – all of which are critical concerns of power plant engineers.
- Automotive: The new zero flow heat transfer capability provides the option of modeling rapid warm-up cooling strategies where zero coolant flow is present during the engine warm-up process.
Significant Solver License and MATLAB Support
The new Flowmaster product introduces a Solver License, providing users with a full license to perform analyses for pre-built networks where there is no need for use of the GUI. This may be as part of an Enterprise deployment that includes coupled multi-part, multi-disciplinary simulation codes to model the various aspects of a system through a scalable Enterprise simulation platform. For example, an automotive company may use MATLAB in conjunction with Flowmaster Solver by accessing the network through a shared database, and exchanging data through an application-independent interface. A Solver License has further applications in parametric studies when addressing the need for unattended operation of batch run simulations.
The new Flowmaster product has an enhanced interface to MATLAB, allowing engineers to combine Simulink and Flowmaster to run concurrent simulations via a suite of Flowmaster Component Object Model Functions. The Flowmaster product will be available this summer and will support Windows 7 64-bit and Enterprise deployment. For additional Flowmaster product details, visit: www.flowmaster.com.
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