Computer models have been used for pipeline simulation since the late 1960’s, and if you consider how pipeline simulation as evolved since then you may be surprised at just how little has changed.

Compared to other sectors like mobile phones, the internet, or television where using 45-year-old technology today would be incomprehensible, in the pipeline simulation business many companies persist with the agony of building pipeline models using text files and running them on a Fortran code base. The equivalent of asking your secretary to type a letter and FAX it to a supplier (and don’t forget the 3 carbon copies).

Fortunately there are alternatives. Here at Atmos, we pride ourselves on being several steps ahead of the competition; providing pipeline simulation tools that not only produce accurate results but are modern and easy to use. Atmos puts the power of simulation in the hands of the pipeline engineer, rather than the boffins in the dusty old office that is ‘The Simulation Department’.

Making a SIM model build in Atmos SIM is a fast, intuitive, and efficient process. You build an Atmos SIM model graphically by dragging and dropping GUI components from the extensive library of different schedules of pipe, pipeline equipment, pumps, compressors, and fluids. In Atmos SIM you simply drag a Schedule 20 12” carbon steel pipe out of the library and bury it in 36” of sand, in contrast to competing products that ask for parameters such as the Young’s Modulus, density, wall thickness, and heat transfer coefficient. This wall of mathematics is the point in building a model where many users either guess, or just give up altogether. It certainly takes all the fun out of it.

The ease of model building is only one of the benefits from the evolution of Atmos SIM. Dedicated applications to produce multiple surge analysis reports automatically with a single click, a tuning assistant to take the guess work out of model tuning, and the ability to build and maintain a single configuration for offline and online use are just some of the many features that make Atmos SIM the best simulation tool for the 21st century.

Of course, you don’t need to change with the times; but this old mobile phone is reminder of where we would be if we didn’t.

Categories: Industry news

By: Atmos International
Date: 15 April 2019