The Greenfield South Power Plant in Mississauga, Ontario delivers power to greater Toronto and provides a clean, efficient means of producing energy from fossil fuel. The 280 MW facility is a combined cycle natural gas plant that nets extra efficiency by using a steam turbine to convert waste heat from combustion into additional energy. Developer Eastern Power Limited is one of an estimated 1,700 engineering organizations using SolidWorks software for plant design.
Exterior rendering of Greenfield Power plant currently under construction in the city of Mississauga in southern Ontario, Canada.
Eastern Power selected the software to introduce 3D design into its development process. According to Orando Linero, Eastern Power plant designer, “It’s painful to work with piping in 2D. For the Greenfield project, we needed to find a better way to develop every facet of the plant – the structural steel, piping systems, and turbines. We needed faster and better 3D tools for creating, simulating, and communicating designs.”
After evaluating several 3D CAD systems, Linero and his team selected SolidWorks because of its integrated design, piping, structural, simulation, and documentation capabilities. He says, “Using the product, we can see, analyze, and document every design detail right in the 3D model and coordinate design activities for a complex project without translating data to other programs.”
Eastern Power chose SolidWorks to introduce 3D design into its development process, a capability demanded by the scope and sophistication of the project.
Linero says that by using SolidWorks, Eastern Power has compressed design cycles by 50% and reduced development costs by 60%. In addition to designing the structure and the equipment inside, teams are using the 3D software to lay out equipment, generate documentation, and produce detailed construction/manufacturing drawings. They can also simulate stresses, fluid flows, and thermal dynamics.
Using SolidWorks, Eastern Power compressed design cycles by 60%.
On another note, ten engineering organizations that use SolidWorks have formed a SolidWorks Plant Design Advisory Board to share best practices on plant design and help guide SolidWorks product direction. At an initial meeting in October 2009, the panel explored modular design approaches that involve designing standardized, ready-made systems into their projects, saving original and innovative design work for differentiated uses. For more information on using SolidWorks in plant design, visit www.solidworks.com/energy-process-plan.
SolidWorks
www.solidworks.com
Greenfield South Power Plant
www.powerauthority.on.ca
::Design World::
Source: :: Design World ::
