Fast-Track Development of New Pump-Turbine Energy Recovery Unit with Stringent Efficiency Requirements

Fluid Equipment Development Company (FEDCO) is a leading designer and manufacturer of advanced high-speed liquid-driven turbochargers and centrifugal pumps for reverse osmosis desalination services. FEDCO competes on a global basis against some of the largest pump manufacturers in the world. The company's main market is the supply of high-pressure pump and energy recovery equipment for seawater desalination. FEDCO's products are crucial in addressing water shortages and managing growing energy costs, which has spurred rapid market growth and attracted major international competitors.

FEDCO, a leading designer and manufacturer of advanced high-speed liquid-driven turbochargers and centrifugal pumps for reverse osmosis desalination services, was facing a significant challenge. The company's main market is the supply of high-pressure pump and energy recovery equipment for seawater desalination. With water shortages and growing energy costs, the market was growing rapidly, attracting major international competitors. To sustain its growing market share, FEDCO needed to develop larger and more efficient models of its established hydraulic energy recovery units. However, the expense and time involved in building and testing large prototypes were not acceptable. The company had less than four weeks to develop a highly optimized fluid design before committing to final pattern and casting designs. The main challenge was that FEDCO had just one chance to get the hydraulic and casting design right, so every resource was devoted to that objective.

FEDCO turned to ANSYS technology to overcome this challenge. The ANSYS Workbench platform was mastered by the existing engineering team in a matter of several weeks, and ANSYS CFX software was used to evaluate the hydraulic performance of many prototype designs. ANSYS Workbench smoothly integrated with solid models developed in SolidWorks CAD software as well as FEDCO proprietary hydraulic design software. FEDCO verified the accuracy of the ANSYS CFX analysis by comparing predicted performance of existing designs with actual performance. The rapid utilization of ANSYS technology was made possible by excellent on-site training tailored to FEDCO’s specific objectives. This solution allowed FEDCO to meet efficiency requirements, which exceed extrapolated values of existing designs by approximately 6 percent.

• The use of ANSYS technology not only helped FEDCO to meet its stringent efficiency requirements but also brought about several other operational benefits. The integration of ANSYS Workbench with SolidWorks CAD software and FEDCO's proprietary hydraulic design software streamlined the design process, increasing automation and reducing the time and resources required. The ability to accurately predict the performance of designs before committing to final pattern and casting designs significantly reduced the risk of costly design errors. Furthermore, the ongoing use of ANSYS CFX for analysis across the entire FEDCO product line has led to consistent efficiency gains. A notable side benefit was a substantial reduction in operating noise levels, improving the user experience.

• The entire process increased automation.
• Hydraulic design improvements developed within Workbench allowed FEDCO to meet efficiency requirements, which exceed extrapolated values of existing designs by approximately 6 percent.
• Ongoing analysis using ANSYS CFX has been applied to the entire FEDCO product line, resulting in efficiency gains ranging from 4 percent to 7 percent.