Help Finding Pipe Flow Software

[SOCALWATER]

Can anyone recommend easy to use and intuitive pipe flow software. I am looking for something capable of calculating flow in small networks(less than 50 pipes) that includes some basic graphics (i.e. click on nodes, draw in pipes, assign data to pipes, solve for flow,velocity, pressure). I have tried a demo version of kypipe which seems quite useful but am looking for other options. I don't need the ability to interface with CAD or GIS. Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[PUMPDESIGNER]

Pipeflo is useful.
If you play with pumps much Pipeflo can be very useful because many pump manufacturers provide data files for Pipeflo to use directly in the system, just insert the pump, watch the results.

Pump data catalogues can also be used directly in a separate module included (I think) in Pipeflo, allowing you to play around with pump configurations, (impeller trim, stages, drivers, etc.)

PUMPDESIGNER

 

[semo]

There are several programs out there. Two I know about are:

Haestad methods has a really good program (Watercad/Cybernet); but, the larger pipe quantities also cost considerably. What good design program doesn't anymore. They have a small 25 pipe version that runs about $100 with a design manual. I used this for a while until we needed a larger network. You can simplify many small networks to give you the information you need with it.

EPA also has a program called EPANET that will calculate systems. I've not used it since I have haestads; but, several do.

 

[johnhan76]

watercad is great - i recommend it for small systems ( i have designed subdivisions from 10-400 houses_

 

[RWF7437]

Many people worldwide use EPANET. It is available FREE from the US Environmental Protection Agency.

good luck

 

[fvincent]

I'd like to suggest FNESS, a software my company has released sometime ago. It is based on finite element scheme and is quite fast for large multi-loop networks. You can find an operational demo in the site

http://www.figener.com.br

The demo can handle problems with up to 6 nodes, but if you need a demo with higher capacity just let me know by writing to figener@figener.com.br

regards

fvincent

 

[hydrae]

I use EPAnet. It is free at

http://www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/wswrd/epanet.html

Version 2 has an easy to use interface. There is no limit on size of system. There a many features that can be enabled to match the complexity of the system

Hydrae

 

[jporter26]

I have what appears to be over simple in answer, but it mayt be of some use and I would gladly share it. It is a Excel spsread sheet with inputs of pipe size and pressure that then provides the flows in fps for the various pipes of steel or copper. I use this mostly for calculating the flows through copper pipe to design for no errosion.

If you are interested I can send as an e-mail attachment.

Jim Porter. jporter26@mac.com

 

[CloudStrife]

We use Eagle Point Software at my office and that can handle huge networks, and intagrates with Autocad. I did a map of the current storm water network of our town which has 30,000+ people and it worked great. The program is easy to get lost in though if you don't keep it organized, and it costs about $500 a liscence... so its not cheap. It's worth every penny though if you do alot of road, storm, and sanitary design.

 

[Sharyn]

Further to others responses on this post, there are many tools out there which will meet your needs, ranging from free-ware to rather expensive software. I always like to remind myself when selecting modelling software that the most appropriate tool for the task at hand is the one which i should select - ie fitness for purpose. If you do not need advanced graphics and data/graphic import/export capabilities and do not have a large complex network which require bulk data import, then an expensive piece of software is not necessarily required.

I work for a consulting firm where we hold licences for numerous water modelling packages but am keen to echo the sentiments of many others on this post - that EPANET is a great tool for simple applications, has good on-line help and technical reference manual, and a robust hydraulic engine. It may not have the 'wow' factor in data import and results presentation, but i find that import/export from and to an excel spreadsheet provides adequate data presentation.

EPANET V2.0 (which i believe someone has provided the link to on this post) is useful because it also provides scenario managment abilities, which allows you to run various trial pipe networks or various demand scenarios.

Regards
Sharyn

 

[gramya]

Try to use the PlantFLOW software by Bentley. You may visit

http://www.bentley.com

and see the list of software under plant engineering analysis. I have used this software extensively for similar work and for analysing fire water system of big process plant. My interest was also sizing the suitable pipe, calculate flow distribution in the different network, pressure distribution at points of interest when an incident occurs.


Narendra K. Roy
Gramya Research Analysis Institute,
PO box 4016, Vadodara 390015, India
Website:

http://www.gramya.com

;

http://www.charismaglobal.com