“With the majority of companies’ that develop new products, time is certainly one of the most critical business issues. Anything that can speed up a products entry into a marketplace can create significant competitive advantage, enabling companies to retain higher margin and sell over a greater length of time” said Innova Systems Managing Director, Mark Bradford
Dresser are one of the world’s leading providers of innovative, reliable and affordable equipment and services in global energy and has streamlined development cycles for its pressure regulators by utilising SOLIDWORKS 3D design software in conjunction with SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation integrated analysis software. Saving time is exactly the benefit that Dresser has experienced since its implementation of SOLIDWORKS.
Any time that a liquid or gas is transported via a piping system, whether it’s water, natural gas, crude oil, or caustic chemicals, pressure is exerted on it by the pumping action. So these Water, oil, gas and chemical companies rely on various safety valves and regulators to modulate pressure, avoid pipe bursts and shut down delivery.When you are trying to prevent an emergency, it pays to use pressure regulators from proven experienced manufacturer. That’s why many energy companies and utilities choose Dresser products as their pressure regulator supplier.
Dresser’s Pressure Regulation Group once used 2D design tools to develop its products before migrating to SOLIDWORKS software. Dresser wanted to investigate how they could leverage integrated simulation capabilities and were particularly interested in using flow simulation to gain a better understanding of how fluids move within regulators to show the effects of flow on our products’ performance.
Dresser added integrated SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis software.
The company chose SOLIDWORKS because of its ease of use, integrated simulation tools, and advanced visualisation capabilities and wanted SOLIDWORKS to play a more important role in helping to understand a new design and believed SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation could help to better achieve their design goals
Shortening development cycles supports growth
Since implementing its SOLIDWORKS design solution, the company has compressed its development cycles, implemented more efficient prototyping techniques, and made good use of simulation technology. For example, Dresser was able to reduce the development cycle on its new one-inch slam-shut gas safety valve by 50 percent.
With SOLIDWORKS Dresser are simply faster in terms of the time it takes from concept development through release.
Simulating pressure flows
A primary factor in Dresser’s improved productivity is the ability to simulate pressurised fluid flows directly in the SOLIDWORKS environment. Using SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation software, the company’s designers use flow simulation results to optimize designs. This not only improves product performance, but also reduces the time and cost associated with protracted prototyping and testing requirements. SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation software provides greater insight into what exactly is going on inside the pressure vessels,
Some of the Dresser ranges of surge relief valves are quite large—they weigh as much as three cars—and handle immense pressures.
Other products are quite small by comparison, like the one-inch slam-shut valve. Dresser has great expertise when it comes to knowing how to restrict fluid and gas flows. SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation allows the Designers to know exactly how much will flow through a valve and how design modifications will affect the flow.
The engineers can run a flow simulation in about 15 minutes versus spending a half-day in our testing lab to obtain the same information. Testing is still performed to reinforce the fact that analysis results are accurate; but with this capability, the amount of testing is far less.
Rapid casting, improved visualization
SOLIDWORKS software has also allowed Dresser to improve design visualisation—whether it’s in the form of an actual physical prototype or a photo realistically rendered 3D virtual image. The company creates rapid prototypes from SOLIDWORKS models using a 3D printer, and then glues the 3D print into a mold to create rapid sand castings. Using PhotoView 360 software, designers create lifelike, rendered images, which sales and marketing personnel use to seed the market with new product concepts.
“Once again, Dresser have taken a leap of faith and invested in SOLIDWORKS to help them compress their product development cycles even further. In a tough, price driven marketplace, Dresser continue to outpace their competitiion with outstanding products. It is a lesson to many companies, that unless you have a relentless desire to improve they way you design, you are in danger of getting outpaced”
