Understand Flow Network Model translation

When uploading a Flow Network model from AVEVA Process Simulation (APS) into AVEVA Pipeline Operations for Liquids, the import process translates some aspects of the original model to adapt to the requirements of the Flow Network application in AVEVA Pipeline Operations for Liquids. The following translations are expected to occur:

Check Valves

When uploading a Flow Network model from APS into AVEVA Pipeline Operations for Liquids, the import process takes each check valve, the segment directly upstream of it, and the segment directly downstream of it and translates all three objects into a single segment with a fixed direction of flow. The name of the new segment will take the format: upstream segment name_downstream segment name. If the name length exceeds the maximum of 31 characters, the name will become truncated.

In the following example, the check valve C1 and the segments S1 and S2 produce a single segment S1_S2 with the direction of flow going from i1 to n1 (left to right):

Flow Network Model in APS

Equivalent Flow Network Model in AVEVA Pipeline Operations for Liquids

Pumps and Valves

A valve or pump in APS acts like a node in that it connects to an upstream segment and a downstream segment. Whereas in AVEVA Pipeline Operations for Liquids, a pump/valve is attached to a single segment. When uploading a Flow Network model from APS into AVEVA Pipeline Operations for Liquids, the import process merges the upstream and downstream segments into a single segment and attaches the valve/pump device to the newly generated segment. The name of the new segment will take the format: upstream segment name_downstream segment name. If the name length exceeds the maximum of 31 characters, the name will become truncated.

In the following example, the valve V1 connects segments S2 and S3 in the original model. When translated, the two segments are merged into a single segment called S2_S3, and the valve is attached to the new segment.

In the same example, the check valve C1 and the segments S1 and S2 produce a single segment S1_S2 with the direction of flow going from i1 to V1 (left to right). To connect the two segments S1_S2 and S2_S3, a new node N_1 is generated.

Flow Network Model in APS

Equivalent Flow Network Model in AVEVA Pipeline Operations for Liquids

The import process retains the original names of pump, valve, and Point of Interest (POI) devices. If the name length exceeds the maximum of 31 characters, the name will become truncated.

Nodes

When uploading a Flow Network model from APS into AVEVA Pipeline Operations for Liquids, the import process retains the names of nodes that exist in the original APS model. If the name length exceeds the maximum of 31 characters, the name will become truncated.

In some cases, the import process generates additional nodes to connect segments (see the example in the previous section). Automatically generated nodes use the pattern “N_*” where * is an incremental number starting from 1.

Segments

When uploading a Flow Network model from APS into AVEVA Pipeline Operations for Liquids, the import process retains the names of segments that exist in the original APS model and did not go through a merge operation. If the name length exceeds the maximum of 31 characters, the name will become truncated.

Interconnections

When uploading a Flow Network model from APS into AVEVA Pipeline Operations for Liquids, the import process looks for interconnect sequences. An Interconnect sequence consists of either a Delivery Pattern or an Injection Pattern.

Delivery Pattern

The Delivery Pattern consists of the following four elements in this specific order:

1. Check Valve.

2. Node.

3. Manual Valve.

4. InjectDeliver (with Node Type set to NetworkConnection and Direction set to Delivery).

Note: The system considers this an Interconnect Pattern even if other objects exist between the four elements of this pattern.

Injection Pattern

The Injection Pattern consists of the following four elements in this specific order:

5. InjectDeliver (with Node Type set to NetworkConnection and Direction set to Injection).

6. Manual Valve.

7. Node.

8. Check Valve.

Note: The system considers this an Interconnect Pattern even if other objects exist between the four elements of this pattern.

If the import process detects one of the patterns above (for example, the Delivery Pattern), it converts all objects contained within this pattern into a single Interconnect object that takes the name of the InjectDeliver device. The following example illustrates how the import process translates a delivery pattern into an Interconnect object:

Flow Network Model in APS

Equivalent Flow Network Model in AVEVA Pipeline Operations for Liquids

When another Flow Network is uploaded from APS into the RTDB and the system detects the opposite pattern (for example, the Injection Pattern) with an InjectDeliver device that has the same name as the InjectDeliver device found earlier, the system knows to reuse the previously created Interconnect object to connect the two Flow Networks into one Mega Flow Network. In the above example, note how the Delivery Pattern and the Injection Pattern both have an InjectDeliver device with the same name InjectDeliverXtoY.

Note: An InjectDeliver device can only be used to connect one pair of Flow Networks. Attempting to use the same InjectDeliver device in multiple connections will result in an error when loading the model.

Other Types

Devices of type Boundary, Station Inlet, and Station Outlet are expected to be used in APS when building a Flow Network model. When uploading a Flow Network model from APS into AVEVA Pipeline Operations for Liquids, the import process prefixes the names of these objects with their corresponding station name in order to prevent duplicate names in the target RealTime database (RTDB). For example, the inlet i1 in station Station1 will be renamed to Station1_i1.

Flow Network Model Translation Example

The following example shows a full station design in APS and its equivalence in AVEVA Pipeline Operations for Liquids and it illustrates the model translations described above:

Flow Network Model in APS

Equivalent Flow Network Model in AVEVA Pipeline Operations for Liquids