FCRIBulletin

A RESOURCE FOR INDUSTRY VOL: 16 ISSUE: APRIL 2014

FLUID CONTROL RESEARCH INSTITUTE NABL Accredited ISO 9001Certified Establishment

(Under Ministry of Heavy Industries and & Public Enterprises, Govt. of India)

Kanjikode West, Palakkad – 678623, Kerala, India

Tel: +91-491-2566120/206/2569009/2569135; Fax: +91-491-2566326

MESSAGE FROM DIRECTOR Dear Readers,

With great pleasure FCRI re-launched the publication of FCRI bulletin from 2014 January issue. Bulletin

highlights the activities of the institute in the area of flow measurement and control. FCRI team

Welcomes Readers valuable support this and succeeding issues of the bulletin.

India was lagging behind

advanced nations in terms of

developing & pioneering

technologies in the field of fluid

flow metering and control. Also it is

acknowledged that one of the

greatest challenges facing the

Indian industry is the skill shortage, and with the

increasing activity in the process industry domain,

the impact of this shortage has been more critical

all around. With the launch of Fluid Control

Research Institute (FCRI), by the Ministry of Heavy

Industries and Public Enterprises, the scenario was

altered and considerable progress has been made

since then. Establishment of water, air and oil flow

measurement facilities and supporting standards

laboratories have contributed to massive savings for

Indian flow product and related industries in terms

of foreign exchange towards test/calibration

charges. It has also helped to improve the product

quality and confidence of end users of these flow

elements. A national level skill strategy is being

implemented by FCRI through training program.

With the re-launch of FCRI e-bulletin, it is intended to

showcase and make accessible various facilities

available at FCRI so that the resources can be fully

exploited by the Indian industry. This issue of the

bulletin focuses on the existing test resources and

also on the test facility recently added for

Environmental testing of Nuclear Power plant

elements and tests / calibrations performed in

various laboratories during October – December

2013. Environmental test facility for nuclear valves

has been specially calibrated to perform LOCA

(Loss of Coolant Accident) and MSLB (Main Steam

Line Break) tests apart from thermal aging tests

specified in ASME/ QME Standards. The capacity of

multi viscous facility has been enhanced from 300

lpm to1200 lpm. A sophisticated level test facility

upto 5 m and an online densitometer calibration

facility were also added during last year.

Dr. JACOB CHANDAPILLAI

Director

IN THIS ISSUE

International Participants for Course on

“Quality System Certification (ISO 9001) & Six Sigma

Practices For Organisations/Laboratories(Testing/

Calibration)”,February 03 – March 31, 2014

No. of Participants:17, Nominating Countries:

Bolivia, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, South Sudan,

Sri Lanka, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia

1. General Highlights

2. LOCA/MSLB Test Facility

3. Thermal Aging Test Facility

4. Water Flow and Large Water Flow Lab.

5. Airflow Laboratory / CNG / CLATF

6. Oil Flow Laboratory

7. Physical Standards Laboratory

8. Environmental Qualification Laboratory

9. Electro Technical Laboratory

10. Training Department

11. Computational Fluid Dynamics

12. Data Acquisition System

13. General Purpose Laboratory

14. Centre for Water Management

1. GENERAL HIGHLIGHTS

Started commercial calibration in Large Water Flow Test Facility with a maximum Line Size of 2 mtrs.

Received an order from M/s .MCGM for Consultancy services for setting up of SCADA system for

measurement and display of sewage flow, sewage levels and various electrical parameters at

sewage pumping stations.

Received a Major Order for the Calibration of Mass Flow meters from M/s. Endresss and Hauser (India)

Pvt. Ltd.

Received an order for Consultancy Services towards setting up of Airflow Test Rig from M/s. Tata

Motors, Pune.

Performed the Model Approval of a CNG Dispenser belonging to M/s. Parker Hannifin at its newly

established CNG Facility.

Undertaken the calibration of a 900mm EMF belonging to M/s. Chennai Water Desalination Limited in

Large Water Flow Lab.

Submitted a proposal for the supply of water meter test bench for Ministry of Industry and Trade, FIJI.

Silver Jubilee was Celebrated on 18th April, 2014.

FLUID CONTROL RESEARCH INSTITUTE VOL: 16 ISSUE: APRIL 2014

2. LOCA / MSLB CHAMBER

Fluid Control Research Institute (FCRI) specialists has qualified thousands of safety-related electrical and mechanical

components, including valves, cables, actuators, switches, relays, breakers, transmitters and transducers. FCRI recently

upgraded the valve test facility to perform Steam Event Simulation for Loss of Coolant Accident and Main Stream Line Break

(LOCA/MSLB) testing services meeting IEEE 323 requirements using qualified test facilities which enable testing for the new,

advanced reactor designs. MSLB/LOCA chamber simulates the harsh environment resulting due to LOCA/MSLB. This, tests the

ability of the equipment to perform its required safety function while being subjected to the pressure, temperature, and

humidity effects associated with the environment of a design basis accident. MSLB test on Cable and Terminal JB from were

Performed .The testing was conducted on the test items placed in MSLB chamber and required Temperature- pressure profile

was generated. During the test the test, Insulation Resistance values of the test items were monitored with insulation tester. Brief

Specification of the LOCA/MSLB test facility is as under:

Overall Dimension of chamber : 1000 mm dia and 1 meter depth

Inside dimension of Chamber : 950mm dia and 1 meter depth

Heating capacity : Ambient to 200°C

Heater Rating : 9 KW

LOCA / MSLB Chamber

3. THERMAL AGING CHAMBER

FCRI recently upgraded its test facility to perform Long term

thermal aging testing to monitor degradation of the Test

components using qualified test facilities which enable testing

for the new, advanced designs. Thermal degradation refers to

the change in chemical and physical properties of a material

that occur at elevated temperatures. Increased temperature

accelerates most of the degradation processes. It involves

aging the proposed component at three or more elevated

temperatures. After each heat cycle, samples are also

subjected to a repeated series of environmental exposures, such

as cold shock, mechanical stress and humidity.

Thermocouples and electronic

temperature controllers are used

to the test facility to maintain the

specified thermal aging

temperature. Temperatures are

maintained within +1°C of the

specified thermal aging

temperature.

Redundant Controllers are used to prevent overheating of the test samples in the event of a malfunction of the main

controller. Brief Specification of the Thermal Ageing test facility is as under:

Chamber Size : 32”×32”×32”

Chamber Size : High temperature

Temperature range : Ambient to 700°C

Heater Rating : 21KW

4. WATER FLOW LABORATORY

Cv Testing of 30” Control

Valve

Large Size Valves

Cv testing of large size valves

upto 30” size were tested for

M/s. Instrumentation Ltd., and

M/s. Severn Glocon (I) Pvt. Ltd.

Cv Testing of 30” Control Valve

Domestic meter regulator

2 nos. of domestic regulators

were tested for flow and

pressure loss for Ms. Nirmal

Industrial Controls Pvt. Ltd.,

Maharashtra.

Butterfly Valve

Torque test, Operation test

and actuator test were

carried out on a 14 inch

butterfly valve for Korea

Unicom Valve Co. Ltd.,

Korea.

Calibration of 30” Venturimeter

Venturimeters of size up to 30”

was calibrated for coefficient

of discharge and performance

was evaluated for various

Reynolds number for M/s.

Minco India Ltd., Goa.

Coefficient of discharge of the

venturimeter was determined

up to a flow rate of 4500 m3/h.

Calibration of 30”

Venturimeter

Calibration of 750 mm anubar

Calibration of annubars of sizes

600 mm and 750 mm were

carried out for M/s Emerson

Process Management, Navi

Mumbai.

6 Way Double Change Over Valve

6-way double change over

valve

Pressure drop test on a 6 way

double change over valve of

sixe 10” x 8” was done for M/s

Hawa Valves (I) Pvt. Ltd.,

Bangalore. Pressure drop

across the valve at various

opening were measured at

specific flow rates.

Multi Sensor Ultrasonic Flow

Meter

R & D project of M/s G E, Hyderabad

Special test of multi sensor ultrasonic flow meter

were conducted for GE as a part of their R & D

project. The main focus of the study was to

analyze the stability of the meter when

subjected to continuous flow over a period of

time.

RRSL Test Facility

Established transfer standard flow measurement

facility

Transfer standard flow measurement facilities

have been established at Regional Reference

standards Laboratory (RRSL), Faridabad and

Regional Reference Laboratory, Bangalore. The

entire facility has been designed, fabricated and

erected by FCRI.

Testing of spray nozzle

Spray nozzles of size 1.5” were tested for pressure drop ar various flowrates. The nozzle is screwed onto the holding body with a 1.5”

Class 300 Flange end connection for water entry. Water enters the inner chamber of the nozzle through the flange. Nozzle consists of

3 main parts: a) Nozzle Body with a seat b) Control Plug resting on the body seat c) Spring. In order to maintain constant pressure

inside the nozzle, the plug is loaded by a spring calibrated in function of water-steam diff. pressure. Hence, any load variation in the

water pressure is immediately compensated by the axial movement of plug, thus, changing the orifice section (annular area) of the

nozzle.

Testing of spray nozzle

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FLUID CONTROL RESEARCH INSTITUTE VOL: 16 ISSUE: APRIL 2014

5. AIR FLOW LABORATORY

FCRI has established air flow facilities covering areas related to industrial gases. A full-fledged low pressure calibration facility has been in existence since 1989

operating at near atmospheric pressure with flow rates upto 10000 m3/h. Various types of flow meters of sizes upto 400 mm are evaluated with measurement

uncertainties, which are in par with international institutions.

Model approval tests of Gas regulators

Model approval tests of Gas regulators were

done as per EN 88-1 & EN 334 for M/s. Jetex

carburetors & M/s.Raychem RPG limited, Pune.

Following tests were conducted on Gas

regulators for Model approval tests as per EN 88-

1& EN 334, Leak Tightness Test, Torsion &

Bending, Rated Flow Rate Test, Pressure

Regulator performance, Endurance Test, Lock-

up Pressure test, Lock-up test, Accuracy Test.

Determination of accuracy class lock up

pressure, class of lock up pressure zone, the

maximum accuracy flow rate and the minimum

flow rate related to given range of inlet pressure

& Determination of lock up pressure.

Model Approval tests on Diaphragm gas meters:

A wide range of domestic gas meters were calibrated for various

companies. Samples of diaphragm gas meters used for domestic gas

metering were subjected to Type Approval tests in accordance with

BS 4161 Part 5, 1990 "Gas meters, specification for diaphragm meters

for working pressure up to 7 bar" and BS EN 1359 : 1999, "Gas meters -

Diaphragm gas meters". Model approval test of Diaphragm gas

meters were done as per IS 14439 for M/s. Raychem RPG limited,

Pune. Following tests were conducted on Diaphragm gas meters for

Model approval tests as per IS 14439,General inspection & Initial

Performance test, Durability test (2000 hrs) Final Performance test.

Calibration of Gas Meters

Calibration of Ultrasonic flow meters for M/s.GE

India Industrial Pvt.Ltd,Pune

Calibration of 2 nos of 8” NB Ultrasonic flow meters

were done at AFL for M/S.GE India Industrial

Pvt.Ltd, Pune. Calibration of these Bi directional

flow meters was done at both forward & reverse

conditions. Calibration of ultrasonic Flowmeter

Calibration of 18”NB Annubar, for M/s.

Hydronuematics

Calibration of 18”NB Annubar was carried out

for M/s. Hydronuematics, Goa. This is the largest

flow meter tested in the facilility so far.

Calibration factor was established for the 18”NB

Annubar.

Calibration of 18” NB annubar

6. OIL FLOW LABORATORY

Testing of level measurement probes

Testing of level measurement probes

were done for M/s. Gilbarco Veeder

Root India Ltd, Mumbai and M/s.

Orpak systems India Pvt Ltd., Pune.

The probes were tested in gasoline

and diesel medium. These probes are

used for the automation of level and

temperature measurement in the

storage tank at retail petrol and

diesel outlets.

Level Measurement Probes

Testing of venturimeters for GE, Bangalore

The assembly configuration comprise of

80mm pipe, reference flow meter and a

vertical loop that goes up to a height of

3000mm, followed by Venturimeter ,

followed by a height of around 500mmm

before the bend. The experiment was

conducted with various viscosity oils 2cst,

32cst, 68cst, and 100cst and 200cst oils. On

line data was logged to the Data

Acquisition system continuously.

Testing of Venturi Meter

Calibration of Ultrasonic Flow Meter

Testing of ultrasonic flow meter for GE,

Hyderabad

To study the prototype ultrasonic flow meter

developed by GE, endurance tests were

conducted for 16 hours. Four ultrasonic flow

meters were assembled in series and the

experiment conducted. A special turbine flow

meter used in the helicopter to check the fuel

consumption, available fuel in the storage tank

was tested for its accuracy .The test was for

Aeronautical Development Agency,

Bangalore.

Testing of Turbine Flowmeter

Automobile sector

Positive displacement flow meters

used to verify the fuel consumptions

of medium and heavy vehicles at

test tracks were certified for

companies like ARAI - Pune,

International centre for Automotive

Technology New Delhi, VRDE-

Maharashtra, Automotive test

systems-Chennai, Nissan Ashok

Leyland- Chennai.

Enhancement of the flow capacity of

multi viscous facility

A new multiviscous facility is being

commissioned for a flow upto 1200

lpm. The existing facility is upto

300lpm. The new primary calibration

system works on gravimetric

method. The oils available for

calibration will be 2cst, 15cst, 100cst

and, 220cst up to 1200 lpm and

32cst, 68cst and 460 cst upto 300

lpm. The same facility can be utilized

for the model approval

of PD meters, turbine flow meters,

mass flow meters etc. as

recommended in OIML R117.The

budgeted uncertainty of the

system will be better than +/-0.1%.

It is expected to be

commissioned before 31st March

2014.

New sophisticated level testing facility.

A new facility for testing / calibrating

level measuring probes / instruments

upto a height of five meters is being

commissioned. The level calibration

can be done in petrol, Diesel, Diesel –

water interface l and Petrol –Water

interface as per the client

requirement. The facility can utilized

for the calibration of level,

temperature and density indication of

the probes. The budgeted uncertainty

will be better than 0.1mm for level,

0.1deg.C and 0.1kg/m^3 for density

Density calibration facility.

A new facility for calibrating density meters

and mass flow meters for density is being

commissioned. The facility will be

exclusively for the calibration of mass flow

meters and density meters of various sizes

in different densities ranging from 650kg/m3

to 1000kg/ m3 in fluids like water( 1000kg/

m3) , Exxsol D80 (780 kg/ m3) and ether

(650kg/m3) .The budgeted uncertainty is

better than 0.1kg/m3 of reading.

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FLUID CONTROL RESEARCH INSTITUTE VOL: 16 ISSUE: APRIL 2014

7. PHYSICAL STANDARDS LABORATORY

A lot of 32 pressure transmitters for Reliance Infrastructure, Noida, Provings rings and E2 class Dead Weights for M/s VSSC,

Thiruvananthapuram, a lot of 10 nos. of 500 kg weights for M/s Endress & Hauser, Aurangabad, a lot of 150 glasswares for

M/s Govt. Analyst Lab, Thiruvananthapuram, a lot 70 torque wrenches for M/s VSSC, a lot of pressure, torque, dimensional

and force instruments for M/s Air Force Station, Sulur, a lot of pressure gauges and Dead Weight Tester for M/s NTPC,

Alappuzha, a lot of 5 litre, 20 litre, 50 litre and 100 litre capacity Volume Measures for M/s. Tokheim India (Pvt) Ltd., Mumbai,

a lot each of pressure instruments for M/s BHEL and CINDA Engg., torque and pressure gauges for M/s Air Force Station,

Bidar and a lot 20 precision pressure instruments for M/s HAL, Bangalore.

Site calibration

Weighing balances at Roots Industries Ltd, Coimbatore,

Governnent Analyst Lab, Kozhikode, Kochi and

Thiruvananthapuram, The State Farming Corpn.of Kerala Ltd,

Punalur, Kollam, SHM Shipcare, Cochin , The Pipettemann -

Micropipette calibration Laboratory, Coimbatore, HLL

Lifecare Limited,TVM , Yamuna Roller Flour Mills Pvt.Ltd,Thrissur,

Scientific And Industrial Testing Research, Coimbatore, Excell

Assay And Hallmarking Centre , Thrissur630mm x 630mm

Surface Plate at Isotech Metrology Solutions, Kanjikode

Altitude Chamber for M/s Goodrich Aerospace Services,

Bangalore, Volume vessel calibration at Steel max Rolling Mills

Ltd., Kanjikode

Calibration of 50l volume Prover

Services to foreign companies

Standard weights for M/s BSMD-

MOIC, Kingdom of Bahrain,

Pressure instruments for M/s Al –

Futtaim Exova LLC- Post Dubai,

Dimensional verification of large

orifice plates for M/s National

Petroleum Construction Co.,

UAE.

Valve actuator test as per UL

1091

8. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALIFICATION LABORATORY

Environmental Qualification Laboratory of FCRI is involved in doing service in the area of Noise& Vibration testing and calibration and strain measurement. It is

serving across the sectors from Transportation, Power engineering to medical instrumentation. It facilitates testing of a very wide range of products including

temperature/ humidity & HVAC equipment, electrical / electronic measuring & indicating instruments, electrical switch-gear / control-gear enclosures, Telemetry/

wireless-communication equipment, audio-visual equipment, new products developed for space / aerospace, military and outdoor applications, etc. Some of

the major assignments conducted during this period are

Railway sector

Customer: Bombardier Transportation

India Ltd., Vadodara

Product : CRW panel

Standard followed: IEC 61373: 2010

"Railway Applications – Rolling stock

equipment – Shock and vibration tests

Type of tests: Simulated long life testing

Functional Random vibration testing

Shock testing

Testing of CRW panel

Aviation sector

Customer: Souriau India Pvt. Ltd.,

Cochin

Product: Connectors

Standard followed: MIL-STD-1344,

method 2005 " Test standard for

electrical connectors"

Type of tests

Random testing - 44 g rms

Sine testing - 20g

Testing of connectors

Testing of grading capacitor

Power sector

Customer: ALSTOM T&D India Ltd., Hosur

Product: Grading capacitor

Standard followed: IEC 62146-1, “Grading

capacitors for high-voltage alternating current

circuit-breakers – Part 1: General"

Type of tests

Resonance search test - Initial Shock testing

Resonance search test - final Testing of connectors

9. ELECTRO TECHNICAL LABORATORY (ETL)

The state of the art electro technical calibration facilities includes Electronic Standard Cells, Standard Resistors, Multifunction Transfer

Standard, Multifunction Calibrators, CRO calibrator, Transconductance standards, AC/DC Current Shunts, LF Power Standard, RLC

Standard , Cesium and Rubidium Frequency Standard, LF & RF Standard Sources etc.

Thermal Calibration Lab

Thermal Calibration lab has facility for Fixed point calibration of SPRTs, HTPRTs and standard thermocouples probe and comparison

calibration of all types of laboratory and industrial grade temperature measuring devices as per ITS-90 . ITS-90 Fixed Point Calibration

(-38.8344°C to 961.78°C).

The state of the art primary

calibration facility includes, DC

Bridge, Standard resistors, DMM-8½

digit, Multichannel scanner, Quartz

sheathed SPRTs & HTSPRTs, TPW

cell, Large sealed Fixed point cells

point cells( Mercury point to Silver

Point) with dedicated

maintenance baths and furnaces,

PC with dedicated software for

the generation of calibration

reports with temperature table.

Comparison Calibration

(-70°C to 1200°C)

The comparison calibration facility of

thermal lab is well equipped with a

range reference SPRTs, PRTs, TCs and

dedicated digital temperature

indicators. A range of highly stable

heat sources like LN2 comparison

bath, Stirred alcohol & oil baths, dry

block calibrators, thermocouple

calibration furnace, Zero point well

etc. can cover the temperature

range from Boiling point of LN2 to

1200°C.

RH Calibration

(10% to 95% & 5°C to 70°C)

The self contained relative humidity

generator that measures and controls

humidity with high accuracy based on

“two pressure “ generation principle

have a large working volume to

accommodate most of the humidity

probes, chart recorders, humidity-

Loggers /transmitters and higrometers

commercially available in industry for

calibration. ETL has well established

quality system complying with ISO/IEC

17025. The laboratory is accredited by

the National Accreditation Board for

Testing & Calibration Laboratories

(NABL), Department of Science and

technology, Govt. of India. The

reference standards maintained in the

laboratory are traceable to national

standards.

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FLUID CONTROL RESEARCH INSTITUTE VOL: 16 ISSUE: APRIL 2014

10. TRAINING PROGRAMMES

It is now widely recognized that support and involvement from engineering industry can be hugely beneficial for students and young people to equip with the skills

and knowledge relevant to the current demand of engineering business. FCRI in partnership with professional engineering institutions is working to join the dots

through its customized training courses and career inspiration programme for tomorrow’s engineers. By working together, we can take the best of what the

engineering community has to offer and ensure sustained interventions, underpinned by robust career information and resources under one roof. We can apply

meaningful evaluation to the Programme, allowing us to reliably measure the impact of our combined efforts Training Programmes in the area of Flow

measurement & control, Calibration, Testing, Instrumentation engineering and related fields are conducted for Indian and Foreign nationals by FCRI. Training

programmes conducted by FCRI provide a platform for interaction between FCRI engineers and engineers from various fields outside.

Customized training programmes

We conduct national training programmes, Bi-

monthly and Customized Programmes in which

Indian nationals from various technical fields

and organizations Participate. Officials from

Organisations like ONGC, GAIL, Weights &

Measures Dept. (LM), Reliance etc participate

in our customized courses. New Customized

courses for Indian Navy, Emerson, NPCIL etc are

in the pipeline. We have courses for Fresh

Engineering graduates also. For budding

engineers from various universities and colleges,

we allow Industrial Visit and In-plant training to

have R&D / Industrial exposure.

International Training Programmes are conducted

under the aegis of ITEC / SCAAP / Colombo Plan of

the Ministry of External affairs, Govt. of India, and

Under self Financing Scheme. More than 65 Such

International training programmes have been

conducted which benefitted 700 foreign nationals

from 70 countries. We have four such Programmes like

Oil & Gas, Flow Measurement, Digital Library Practices

& IT, Instrumentation and Control & DAS in Fluid Flow,

Quality System Certification & Six Sigma Practices.

Training programme for foreign nationals

Presently two International Training Programmes

namely viz.

(1) Instrumentation & Control and Data Acquisition

System in Fluid Flow in Process and Petroleum

Engineering (Jan 15- Mar 15 2014)

(2) Quality System Certification (ISO 9001) & Six Sigma

Practices for Organisations/Laboratories

(Testing/Calibration) (Feb 03 – Mar 31 2015) and

One Post Graduate Certificate Programme on

“Fluid Flow, Instrumentation Engineering and DAS

in Process Industries” are going on

Forthcoming National Training Programs for the year 2014

Series Name of the Program Duration Date

150 Principles of Data Acquisition & SCADA 4 Days 11-14 March ‘14

151 Liquid Hydrocarbon Flow Measurement and

Custody Transfer 3 Days 9 - 11 April ‘14

152 Water Transmission & distribution

Engineering 2 Days 5-6 June ‘14

153 On the Job Training for Field Engineers on

Flowmeters & Calibration Techniques 5 Days 7 - 11 July ‘14

154 Basics of Computational Fluid Dynamics 2 Days 17 - 18 July ‘14

155 Metrology, Pressure, Thermal & Electro Technical

Measurements and Calibration 2 Days 7-8 August ‘14

156 Gas flow Measurement/Natural Gas Custody

Transfer as per AGA Standards 3 Days 8-10 October ‘14

157 Control Valves & Actuators 3 Days 10 – 12 December ‘14

Programs Completed 2013-2014

Quarter No. of

courses

No. of participants

National training programs

Quarter I 40 230

Quarter II 32 405

Quarter III 31 227

Sub Total 103 862

International training programs

Quarter I 0 0

Quarter II 1 16

Quarter III 2 29

Sub Total 3 45

Grand Total 106 907

Forthcoming Inter National Training Programs for the year 2014

Sl. No. Title of the Training programme Duration Date of training course

1 Oil, Water and Gas Flow Measurement and Control Techniques &

Standards 12weeks

August 01, 2014 to

October 31, 2014

2 Digital Library Practices and Information Technology Application for

Advanced Knowledge Management 6 weeks

November 20, 2014 to

January 05, 2014

3 Instrumentation & Control and Data Acquisition System in Fluid Flow

in Process & Petroleum Engineering 8 weeks

January 15, 2015 to

March 15, 2015

4 Quality System Certification (ISO 9001) & Six Sigma Practices for

Organizations/Laboratories (Testing/Calibration) 8 weeks

February 03, 2015 to

March 31, 2015

11. COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

Strainers are widely used in the water transmission and distribution systems to filter out particles and prevent

erosion damages to the pipelines and damages to the downstream mechanical equipment like condensers,

heat exchangers, pumps, compressors, meters, etc . Design of these components has to be done such that the

required pressure drop is consistently achieved to minimize operational costs for the operating agency. Design

performance improvements on manufactured strainers have proved to be very costly as their manufacture is

often expensive and time consuming. It is here that the Institute has been able to help the water transmission

and distribution sector by use of CFD software tools on preliminary drawings of the strainers, the performance of

the strainers are evaluated and in case the pressure drop is not within the desired limits, design modifications

tried till the value is within limits.

The finalized design is then manufactured thereby saving considerable amount of time and money for the

manufacturer and the Industry. FCRI has undertaken pressure drop estimation and Improvement of design of

strainers for sizes ranging from 150 mm to 750 mm using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Strainers evaluated

were of straight through Conical and T Type Basket strainers with single and duplex configurations. In some cases

the CFD analysis was carried out, the strainer manufactured and then tested in the water flow laboratory of the

Institute. The result of the CFD analysis and the laboratory tests carried out at the Institute matched very well and

was within 2%.CFD Analysis was done for different conditions like when the strainer is clogged and when it is

clean. The performance of the strainer over various flow rates was also studied.

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FLUID CONTROL RESEARCH INSTITUTE VOL: 16 ISSUE: APRIL 2014

12. CONSULTANCY FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF SCADA SYSTEM FOR MCGM

Consultancy services of FCRI has been availed by M/s.

Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) for

setting up of SCADA system for measurement and display of

sewage flow, sewage levels and other parameters from the

sewage pumping stations and monitoring centrally at two

locations in Mumbai city. There are in all about 50 numbers

of sewage pumping stations which collect and pump

approximately 2750 MLD of sewage. The scope of work

includes site study and survey of pumping stations, design

and implementation of a SCADA system, management of

project execution, validation and training, etc.

Training on Data Acquisition & SCADA

The project is a first of its kind in terms of number of sites

on a SCADA for sewage flow operations, and includes a

large number of technical and other challenges. A four-

day National level Course on “Principles of Data

Acquisition and SCADA” was conducted during 19-22

November 2013 and was attended by well over 30

participants from Industry and Engineering Institutions.

The course was designed specifically considering needs

of Graduate Engineers who wish to understand as well

as apply principles of Data Acquisition systems and

SCADA.

13. GENERAL PURPOSE LABORATORY

Changes in temperatures and pressure in valves and process control elements causes thermal effects specially thermal deformation process elements subjected

to such extreme operating temperature and pressure are normally subjected to an accelerated life test or endurance test before being imparted into service to

validate the design. This is being used to prove the design and analyse the reliability of the components constituting the entire system. These tests are normally

performed in specially designed test rigs as per the international standards and designed for the required operating pressure.

Fugitive emission testing of valves

A control valve was tested in the HPHT

loop which is capable of testing upto

200 bar and 325°C. Endurance testing

was conducted on the valve with a test

pressure of 100 bar and 295°C on the

upstream side. The valve was subjected

to leak test by applying the requisite

pressure and temperature at the

upstream side with downstream side

open to the atmosphere.

Mechanical cycles were

performed and the above valve

was checked for leak tightness at

differential pressures upto 100 bar.

Fugitive emission testing of valves

AON/OFF valve of size 8”x ASME Class

150 with Wafer ends was tested for

fugitive emission at 10 bar operating

pressure at elevated temperature of

177°C using Helium as the Test fluid with

3000 numbers of mechanical cycles and

three thermal cycles under the leak rate

category of 100 ppm as per standard

method for the Evaluation of External

leakage of manual and automated On-

Off valves ANSI/ISA 93.00.01-1999.

Helium mass spectrometer with sniffing

probe method was used to measure the

leakage flow rate from the stem seal and

body bonnet seal. During the test

leakage rate was within allowable limit.

The Valve was tested for the leakage

category of 100 ppm, temperature class

of the valve room temperature to 177°C.

14. CENTRE FOR WATER MANAGEMENT (CWM)

Centre for water management (CWM), a state of the art test

lab for flow product, mainly domestic and bulk water meters,

offer different kinds of services like flow product assessment,

in-situ measurement/calibrations, analysis/design and

consultancy service related to flow problems especially in

water distribution networks, surge etc. In this facility, accurate

measurement of flow in terms of volume is determined by

gravimetric system. A flow rate up to 300 m3/hr, through 150

mm pipeline, can be achieved in the laboratory with overall

uncertainty in volume better than 0.03 %.

Assistance is being offered to different water Utilities

during bulk purchase of water meters. A Model

approval program is launched to help the

manufacturers to improve the quality of their meters.

Details of models passed the endurance test will be

made available in FCRI website. This is expected to help

water boards to verify the models submitted by suppliers

and proceed with quick purchase with acceptance

tests on randomly sampled meters and applying the

prescribed acceptance criteria.

Centre for Water Management has also started a water

metering scheme for delivering good quality water meters to the

customers. Many water boards have made it mandatory to

install water meters, which passed the routine tests, for getting

water supply connection. We often see the meters purchased

from the local markets failing the tests and the customer lose

their money. In order to ensure that the customer gets good

quality meters, FCRI has introduces a water metering scheme.

Under this scheme FCRI supplies water meters, which pass the

testing as per IS/ISO standards, to the user for installing at their

location for a period of 5 years. The risk of losing money in buying

and testing meters directly from the market is eliminated here.

Around 3000 water meters of various sizes are tested at

CWM every year. The test facility is accredited by NABL and

recognized by Bureau of Indian Standards. Testing of water

meters of all sizes are conducted as per Indian and

International standards. Tests include Hydrostatic Pressure

Test, Accuracy Test, Pressure Loss Test, Temperature

suitability Test and Endurance Test (continuous and

discontinuous flow test). Most of the water boards in India

insist endurance tests and acceptance tests at FCRI during

their bulk purchase of meters. This has ensured reasonable

life for meters in the field and has yielded substantial

increase in the revenue of water boards.

CWM Test Facility

FOR FURTHER DETAILS PLEASE CONTACT

DIRECTOR

FLUID CONTROL RESEARCH INSTITUTE (Under Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises)

Kanjikode West, Palakkad – 678 623, Kerala, India

Tel: +91-491-2566120/206/2569009; Fax: +91-491-2566326,

Email: fcri@fcriindia.com, Website: www.fcriindia.com

6 FCRI PUBLICATIONS, FLUID CONTROL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

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