Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization (WFGD) Slurry Spray Header Design System

The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) has developed a rule-driven design (RDD) computer application to speed the design of its wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) slurry spray header system including support steel. The application, written using the RuleStream RDD system, captures the talents of the many people involved in the spray system’s design, including those involved in process engineering, design engineering technology, structural mechanics, and technical design. B&W’s design standards and best practices are blended with fabricator capabilities and industry standards to form the application rules. Third-party software (for example CAESAR II) and proprietary computer programs are leveraged by the application courtesy of the RuleStream RDD architecture. The application seeks to automate the routine first 80% of the design, while providing interfaces to complete the design or explore “what-if” situations. Interfaces allow the evaluation of spray coverage, pipe velocities, pressure drop, physical clearances, weights, and stresses. The application generates drawings, a solid model, and a bill of material for fabrication. Using the application, repeatable, consistent results are achieved. There is a higher confidence in the generated design and a reduction in design cycle time. This saved time may be allocated to exploring alternative designs, pursuing fabricator quotes, performing contract level analysis in the proposal phase, or may be applied to other areas of the WFGD design.