Simulation in place of prototypes: Faster and cheaper development of cooling systems using supercomputers

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Challenge: How to effectively cool steam?

At Valvea, they face a challenging task daily—how to cool overheated steam in steam pipes as efficiently as possible. This is one of the areas of their product portfolio. They supply sophisticated cooling systems to key Czech and foreign partners in the energy, pharmaceutical, chemical, petrochemical, and metallurgical industries.

They use a time-tested method to cool the steam: injecting a fine water mist using specialised equipment. The water evaporates immediately in the hot steam stream, thereby cooling it. For the process to be effective, the droplets must be small enough and evenly dispersed to evaporate at the correct distance from the nozzle.

And here exactly lies the technical challenge.

Partner: VALVEA s.r.o.

Field: manufacturing industry

Experiments are no longer sufficient. This is where simulation comes into play.

Until now, Valve has been fine-tuning the design of its cooling devices experimentally, using a transparent model and real measurements. However, this approach is time-consuming and expensive and does not allow for easy testing of different variants. Therefore, the company decided to explore the possibilities of numerical modelling and simulation using a supercomputer.

Collaboration with experts: From idea to methodology

We connected specialists from Valvea with IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center experts to explore the possible applications of numerical calculations and simulations.

“Based on initial discussions and analysis of the specific technical challenge, we proposed a methodology that precisely meets the company’s needs. It shows how computationally intensive simulations can be used to analyse steam flow and water mist behaviour in pipes,” explains Tomáš Karásek, Head of the National Competence Centre in High-Performance Computing (HPC).

A newly developed methodology using advanced technologies enables:

the simulation of water droplet dispersion in a hot steam stream,
the optimisation of the shape and placement of the nozzle,
the prediction of the exact location of water evaporation,
the minimisation of the risk of condensation and pipe erosion.

From weeks to hours: Development powered by a supercomputer

Thanks to the computing power of a supercomputer, scenarios that would take weeks in real-life operations can be simulated in a matter of hours. This enables the company to quickly test new designs, shorten the development cycle, and reduce prototyping costs.

Result: The path to more efficient cooling

Thanks to this collaboration, Valvea has verified the possibilities offered by using numerical simulations and supercomputer performance in developing cooling systems. They have gained insight into how advanced calculations can be used to analyse flow and optimise device design before a prototype is manufactured. These findings may serve as a basis for further technological development and a more efficient approach to product development in the future.