According to Accutech Principal Graeme Ashford the engineering design environment has changed beyond recognition over the last 25 years.

“My first pumping design program was DOS-based, could handle only single pipes and Newtonian fluids.

“Now we have software capable of modelling complex pipe networks with friction loss correlations for incompressible and compressible fluids, slurries, non-Newtonian liquids such as Bingham Plastics and Power Law fluids, and two-phase liquid/gas flows,” Mr Ashford said.

As the software has changed, so too have the applications.

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“The evolving coal seam gas industry, with its dependence on piping large quantities of water and gas, is a big user of our software, both for steady-state pipe flow design and for waterhammer analysis.”

In the past 25 years, Accutech has accumulated a considerable amount of experience in the use of pipe flow design software and in the particular software programs it handles. Apart from developing comprehensive training courses for its software programs, Accutech has written a number of design and modelling guides to assist software users. These guides range from the basics of modelling the head loss across pipe junctions – bends, tees and wyes – to how best to handle a pipe system where a pipe may flow partially full.

Accutech has placed these design guides plus evaluation versions of all its software, comprehensive user guides, example designs and descriptive brochures onto a single CD. An accompanying booklet gives a brief description of each program.