Energy equipment design and engineering, from specification to fabrication
Process skids, frames, decommissioning tooling and pressure-containing parts designed and drawn for fabrication, with interfaces pinned down early and stress and flow analysis used where the duty demands it.
Energy equipment works hard for a long time. A heat exchanger is stressed every time the plant starts up and shuts down, and offshore equipment has to be lifted, installed and eventually removed in conditions nobody would choose. Unplanned downtime usually costs far more than the part that caused it, so the design has to be right before it reaches the fabrication shop.
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Much of that work starts from incomplete information. On an offshore wellhead decommissioning project, we reverse engineered a legacy wellhead into 3D CAD, resolved more than 15 critical interface and legacy-data uncertainties and compared three removal-tooling concepts in the model before any were manufactured. Every identified critical interface went into the engineering data pack. The prototype green hydrogen production system was a different job: a parametric 3D assembly of frames, process equipment and pipework, laid out to match the process intent in the P&ID and issued as general arrangements, pipe spools, weld maps and assembly details.
Where the duty is severe, analysis sits inside the detail design. FEA shows stress and fatigue in welded frames, flanges and pressure-containing parts, including the thermal stresses of a start-up transient. CFD shows how flow divides through manifolds and where pressure falls in valves and pipework. Results are reported against the code or standard you specify to support your own design approval, and formal conformity assessment stays with your organisation.
Typical equipment: offshore and decommissioning tooling, hydrogen and process skids, heat exchangers, pressure vessels and valves, pumps and fans, and the frames and structures that carry them.
Energy equipment problems we help with
Will the pressure part hold with margin?
Stress in shells, nozzles, flanges and valve bodies under design pressure and external loads, set against the allowables of the pressure equipment code you work to.
What happens to stress during start-up and shutdown?
Transient temperature fields and the thermal stresses they cause in thick sections, tube sheets and nozzles, which often govern life more than steady operation does.
How do we remove equipment nobody has drawings for?
Legacy parts reverse engineered into 3D CAD, from scans or measurements where they exist, so interfaces are known and removal tooling can be designed to fit.
Will the skid fit, and can it be built?
Frames, mounts and pipework laid out in a parametric 3D assembly, with pipes routed for cost and access and drawn as spools, weld maps and general arrangements a fabricator can build from.
Will a valve or pipe run cavitate or erode?
Pressure and velocity through valve trims, bends and tees, showing where local pressure falls towards vapour pressure or where high velocity points to erosion.
How will the structure cope with cyclic wind and wave loads?
Fatigue at welded joints in frames, brackets and access structures under the cyclic loads you supply.
Stages and studies most used in energy
Specification
Duty, interfaces, the code or standard you work to and what the fabrication and installation contractors need, agreed before design starts.
Concept design
Alternative layouts or tooling concepts compared in the model against the specification before any of them is manufactured.
Stress analysis
Pressure parts, flanged and bolted joints and support structures under pressure, thermal and external loads, with bolt preload and flange contact where they matter.
Thermal stress analysis
Steady and transient thermo-structural studies for parts that heat and cool unevenly.
Fatigue analysis
Life of welded structures and machine parts under cyclic wind, wave, pressure or thermal loads.
Valve simulation
Flow coefficient, pressure drop and forces on the closure member across the valve’s opening range.
Engineering Pack
General arrangements, pipe spools, weld maps, assembly details and a bill of materials, ready for fabricators to quote and build from.
Before you start
What to send us
- CAD, general arrangement drawings, P&IDs or scan data
- Design and operating pressures, temperatures and flow rates
- Transient data for start-up, shutdown or trips, where relevant
- External loads such as wind, wave, nozzle or lifting loads
- Materials, and the code or standard you specify
- Site, access and installation constraints
Can you assess existing equipment for a higher duty?
Yes. Given drawings or measurements and the new operating conditions, we can show how stresses, temperatures and flow change and what would need modifying.
Can results support a pressure equipment code assessment?
We report stresses in the terms your chosen code uses, to support your own design approval. Formal conformity assessment stays with your organisation and any independent body involved.
Can you work from a P&ID?
Yes. On the hydrogen prototype system, layouts were matched to the process intent in the P&ID, with frames, equipment and pipework modelled as one parametric assembly.
Do you calculate wave loads yourselves?
Usually we take wave and wind loads from your metocean or load analysis and apply them to the structure. Our studies then cover the stress and fatigue response at the level of individual details.
Can CFD show cavitation risk?
A flow study shows where local pressure falls towards the vapour pressure of the fluid, which is usually enough to compare valve trims or pipe layouts and choose the one with most margin.
Tell us about the equipment and its duty
