AFT Fathom™ 12
Steady State Pipe Flow Modeling Software
AFT Fathom is a fluid dynamic simulation software for engineers, used to calculate pressure drop and pipe flow distribution in liquid and low-velocity gas piping and ducting systems.
- Accurately simulate individual system components and interaction
- Tightly integrates equipment characteristics, analysis and output with your system’s schematic representation
- Provides a wide array of features without sacrificing your need for a short learning curve
- Frees you to focus on your system, not the mechanics of software manipulation
- Significantly improves the quality of systems engineering you can achieve, leading to less costly, more efficient and more reliable piping systems
Experiment with operating conditions and scenarios
- Easily change system input data, including valve positions, pump operation, control set points, pressures, temperatures, and more
- Model a wide range of system components for both design and operational cases
- Vary your system line-up: open/close pipes and valves, turn pumps on or off, set control valves to fail position
- Specify design alerts that automatically highlight output values that are out of range for flow, pressure, velocity, pump efficiency, and more
- Find pump data from online manufacturer catalogs
- Compile libraries of your frequently used piping components and select them from a drop-down list
- Address the viscosity and frictional changes associated with pumping non-settling slurries and a variety of other non-Newtonian fluids
- Evaluate codes and industry standards applied in the model
- Calculate the cost of system pipes and components as well as energy cost
- Import piping layouts from:
- CAESAR II® Neutral files supported by AutoPIPE®, ROHR2, TRIFLEX®, etc.
- PCF Files supported by AutoCAD Plant 3D®, SmartPlant®, CADWorx®, and other GIS shapefiles supported by ArcGis, etc.
- Import and export files in EPANET format
- Clearly import Excel data into multiple scenarios and export with the Excel Export Manager
- Export data to evaluate Flow Induced Vibration (FIV) according to Energy Institute Standards
AFT Fathom is designed for steady state fluid systems containing the below fluids and more:
Water
Refined Products & Chemicals
Cryogens & Refrigerants
Low velocity gases
Typical Applications
- Pipe and Duct Sizing
- Relief valve sizing and system calculations
- Compressor and Fan sizing and Selection
- Control Valve sizing and Selection
- Simulating System operation and component interaction
- Choked Flow calculations
- Evaluating pipe insulation and heat transfer in pipes and heat exchangers
- Troubleshooting existing systems to determine the cause of operational problems
Primary Features of AFT Fathom 12
- Track all your design variants and potential operating conditions in a single file with Scenario Manager
- Use integrated, customizable graphing and reporting to make analysis visually intuitive
- Evaluate Pump and System curve interaction including composite head and efficiency curve
- Calculate the capital costs of pipes and components as well as operating energy expenses
- Leverage built-in libraries of fluids and fittings to build your own database upon
- Consider viscosity and frictional effects from non-Newtonian viscosity models or non-settling slurries
- Model your centrifugal and positive displacement pumps to account for
- Shifting performance curves through variable speed control and impeller trimming
- Viscosity corrections using standards from the Hydraulic Institute
- Wire-to-water efficiency including pump, motor and variable frequency drive efficiencies, used to size motors and evaluate power usage
- Acceleration head loss for positive displacement pumps
- NPSH evaluation
- Size motors and evaluate power usage by considering wire-to-water efficiency (including pump, motor and VFD efficiencies)
- Account for heat transfer effects in pipes and heat exchangers
- Ensure a design adheres to industry standards such as API 526, ANSI/HI 9.6.3, API 610, or NFPA Standards
- Import piping layouts from CAESAR II® Neutral files, PCF Files, and GIS shapefiles regardless of source
- Integrate with Excel to import model data and export output data
- Built-in libraries of fluids (including NIST REFPROP and ASME Steam Tables) and fittings which can be extended and customized
- Optional Chempak add-on utility provides a thermophysical database of almost 700 fluids
How does it work?
AFT Fathom’s hydraulic solution engine uses the Newton-Raphson matrix iteration method plus proprietary methods developed by AFT to solve pipe flow and duct flow applications. AFT Fathom uses the Bernoulli’s Equation and Reynolds Number-based relationships for pipe friction calculation.
AFT Fathom Add-On Modules
With these software extension tools, you can quickly and efficiently
complete projects. Modules can work individually or together within
AFT Fathom and with your existing AFT Fathom models.
complete projects. Modules can work individually or together within
AFT Fathom and with your existing AFT Fathom models.
Settling
Slurry
Models the effects of pumping fluids containing settling solids using the Wilson/GIW method
Goal Seek
and Control
Identifies input parameters that yield desired output values and simulates control functions
Extended Time Simulation
Models dynamic system behavior and how critical system parameters vary over time