CPFD Software to Highlight Simulation Software for Gasifiers at GTC's Gasification Technologies Conference in San Francisco

CPFD Software, LLC, the creators of the Barracuda® simulation package for particle-fluid systems, will be exhibiting at the 2011 Gasification Technologies Conference sponsored by the Gasification Technology Council. The conference is in San Francisco, CA, October 9-12, 2011. This is the world’s largest conference focused on gasification technologies and covers topics from coal and biomass gasification to IGCC (integrated gasification combined cycle), CCS (carbon capture and storage), and related topics. Participants gain an updated view of the world’s gasification projects, status, and plans, plus hear about the latest technologies related to gasification. CPFD Software will be exhibiting in Booth #34.

Dr. Chris Guenther, of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (Morgantown, WV) will be presenting CFD simulation work done by NETL that includes some Barracuda results. CPFD Software’s Barracuda CFD package has been employed for the design of gasifiers for years because of its unique capacity to model reacting particle-fluid flows in both dilute and dense-packed regimes simultaneously. Using Barracuda, designers can predict with greater accuracy how their designs will operate. Barracuda can predict fluidization characteristics, flow patterns of solids and gases, hot or cold spots, and local or global chemistry. Since Barracuda has the ability to model particle size distribution (PSD) in detail, it can also calculate and show the effects of particle size changes as, for example, coal or biomass particles are consumed.

Representing CPFD will be Dr. Ken Williams, Co-Founder, and Scott Thibault, Vice President of Sales & Marketing. This is the third year that CPFD Software has attended the conference and their second year exhibiting. “Last year’s conference in Washington, D.C. was outstanding,” said Dr. Williams. “I never would have thought so many thought leaders from the gasification community could be gathered in one place. There are academics, government representatives, equipment suppliers, engineering/procurement/construction contractors, plant operators, and financiers all present and talking together. No one with a strong interest in gasification should miss this conference.”

CPFD Software’s booth will feature videos of gasification simulations for coal and biomass gasifiers with and without chemical reactions. CPFD’s representatives will be available to discuss how CPFD’s clients use Barracuda for a range of needs related to gasification: scaling up to commercial-size units; ensuring proper mixing of gas and particles; design of spargers, solids feeds, heaters, etc.; ensuring proper residence time; and the effects of chemistry on conversion and emissions. The booth will also have information and a technical paper on Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) in which a full CLC rig modeled by NETL was simulated in Barracuda, with simulation and experimental results compared. This paper was presented at the Chemical Looping Combustion Conference in Lyon, France in March 2010. Information on the use of Barracuda for development of Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) technologies will also be available.

Samsung Total Petrochemicals Licenses CPFD's Barracuda Software Package for Modeling Fluidized Systems for Petrochemical Manufacturing

Albuquerque, NM: CPFD Software LLC, the creators of the Barracuda® simulation package for particle-fluid systems, today announced their first commercial client in Korea. Samsung Total Petrochemicals (STC) has agreed to license CPFD Software’s Barracuda package for modeling processes for polyolefin manufacturing and related applications.

Barracuda is used by major oil & gas, chemical, petrochemical, and power equipment manufacturers for simulating, understanding, and optimizing the operation of fluidized systems. Common applications are FCC (fluidized catalytic cracking) reactors and regenerators, fluidized bed reactors (FBRs) for chemical manufacturing, CFB (circulating fluidized bed) boilers in coal-fired power plants, both coal and biomass gasifiers and chemical looping combustion (CLC) units, and fluidized bed reactors for polysilicon production (both TCS hydrogenation reactors and silicon deposition reactors).

Four users from STC attended technical training in Albuquerque, NM, USA, in late January and are already applying Barracuda for understanding and optimizing of their own polyolefin manufacturing processes. “Our recent Barracuda training and technical discussions were outstanding,” said Dr. Sang Joon Oh, Process Development Team/General Manager. “It was very helpful for us to understand how much we can do and how to do it by using Barracuda. We were also very impressed by the passion and capability displayed by the CPFD Software staff.” Scott Thibault, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at CPFD Software, added “We have rarely worked with such a dynamic and hard-working group as recently visited us from Samsung Total. We believe they will quickly make excellent use of our technology to improve many of their key processes. We are thrilled to have Samsung Total Petrochemicals as a client and hope work with them for many years to come.”

CPFD Software has only recently entered the market in Korea, which has one of the largest and most dynamic economies in Asia. Korea is expected to be is a very promising market for Barracuda, which has applications in several key industries, particularly in refining and petrochemicals. Other commercial companies, including other divisions of Samsung, are already evaluating Barracuda as well. Total S.A. (Solaize, France) is already a licensee.

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

CPFD Software LLC is an Albuquerque-based company specializing in solving particle-gas and particle-liquid problems for the power, oil & gas, petrochemical, and chemical industries. Their Barracuda® software provides accurate simulations of lab-scale, pilot plant, and full-scale reacting bed flows with full thermodynamics and chemistry.

Samsung Total Petrochemicals is a joint venture between Samsung General Chemicals and the Total Group (France). STC operates a large petrochemical complex, consisting of 13 separate plants, at Daesan, in Korea’s Chungnam Province. Output ranges from olefins to polyolefins (polypropylene, polyethylene, etc.), base petrochemicals (styrene monomer, etc.), byproduct fuels, solvents and other downstream petrochemicals used in everyday life.

CPFD Software Establishes New Distribution Agreement with KyungWon Tech. Inc. for Distribution and Support of Barracuda in Korea

Albuquerque, NM: CPFD Software LLC, the creators of the Barracuda® simulation package for particle-fluid systems, today announced the signing of an International Distribution Agreement with KyungWon Tech. Inc. for the distribution and support of Barracuda in the Republic of Korea.

Barracuda is used by major oil & gas, chemical, petrochemical, and power equipment manufacturers for simulating, understanding, and optimizing the operation of fluidized systems. Common applications are FCC (fluidized catalytic cracking) reactors and regenerators, fluidized bed reactors (FBRs) for chemical manufacturing, CFB (circulating fluidized bed) boilers in coal-fired power plants, both coal and biomass gasifiers and chemical looping combustion (CLC) units, and fluidized bed reactors for polysilicon production (both TCS hydrogenation reactors and silicon deposition reactors).

Korea, with one of the largest and most dynamic economies in Asia, is a very promising market for Barracuda, which has applications in several key industries, particularly in refining and petrochemicals. Korea is a major refined product producer and exporter, with refiners like SK Energy, S-Oil, GS-Caltex, and Hyundai Oil Bank among the largest employers in Korea. Barracuda is a proven solution for design, optimization, and troubleshooting of FCC units, including reactors, regenerators, cyclones, and other components.

Korea also has domestic chemicals manufacturing companies with technology demands for FBRs, an application where Barracuda has demonstrated significant advantages over traditional CFD tools. Barracuda is already used by global chemical companies for the simulation and design of titanium chlorinators, acrylonitrile reactors, and FBRs used in the production of semiconductor-grade and solar-grade polysilicon.

Korea also has companies that manufacture some of the world’s most advanced thermal power plant equipment, with a recent emphasis on clean coal and both coal and biomass gasification. Barracuda has demonstrated strengths in predicting the complex hydrodynamics and chemistry in these units and enables engineers to make informed design decisions.

“We are very happy to be working with CPFD Software to bring Barracuda to Korea,” said Mr. KwangWon Suh, President of KW Tech. “We have already visited many potential users across several industries and are finding very significant interest in this unique CFD technology.” Scott Thibault , Vice President of Sales & Marketing at CPFD Software, added “KW Tech has a long and proud history of introducing unique and innovative CFD technology to Korea. They have the technical skills, sales & marketing experience, and reputation for client training and product support that we need to grow our joint business in Korea.”

CPFD Software releases Barracuda 14.4

CPFD Software LLC, the creators of the Barracuda® simulation package for particle-fluid systems, has announced the release of Barracuda version 14.4. Some of Barracuda 14.4’s enhancements include radiation heat transfer between thermal walls and particles, custom units for output variables, and an easier-to-use grid setup in the GUI. This version has also been provided to CPFD Software’s international distributors.

Barracuda is used by major oil & gas, chemical, petrochemical, and power equipment manufacturers for simulating, understanding, and optimizing the operation of fluidized systems. Common applications are FCC (fluidized catalytic cracking) reactors and regenerators, fluidized bed reactors (FBRs) for chemical manufacturing, CFB (circulating fluidized bed) boilers in coal-fired power plants, and both coal and biomass gasifiers and chemical looping combustion (CLC) units.

The company earlier signed an International Distribution Agreement with CAEZEN Technologies of Bangalore for the distribution and support of Barracuda in India.

India is a very promising market for Barracuda, which has applications in several key industries there, particularly in refining and petrochemicals. India is a major refined product producer and exporter, with refiners like Reliance Petroleum, Indian Oil Company, and Bharat Petroleum among the largest employers in India. Barracuda is a proven solution for design, optimization, and troubleshooting of FCC units, including reactors, regenerators, cyclones, and other components.

India also has domestic chemicals manufacturing companies with technology demands for FBRs, an application where Barracuda has demonstrated significant advantages over traditional CFD tools. Barracuda is already used by global chemical companies for the simulation and design of titanium chlorinators, acrylonitrile reactors, and FBRs used in the production of semiconductor-grade and solar-grade polysilicon.

India is also one of the world’s fastest growing markets for power generation, including thermal power, with a strong thrust on clean coal and both, coal and biomass gasification. Barracuda has demonstrated strengths in predicting the complex hydrodynamics and chemistry in these units and enables engineers to make informed design decisions.

“We are very happy to be working with CPFD Software to bring Barracuda to India,” said Hari Doss, Director at CAEZEN Technologies in Bangalore. “We are already finding very significant interest and expect to have several licenses in place both commercially and in the academic world before the end of FY 2010.” Scott Thibault , Vice President of Sales & Marketing at CPFD Software, added “We are confident that CAEZEN will prove an effective distribution partner for us in India, providing not only sales, training, and post-sales technical support but also related engineering services to our clients in India.”