Oilfield and Petrochemical      Nuclear Power Generation     Aerospace and Defense  

Our Clients
Kalsi Engineering has a diversified client base that includes equipment manufacturers, oilfield service and petrochemical companies, nuclear power plants, aerospace engineering companies, architect/engineers, industry research organizations, and government agencies. In addition to serving individual clients, we have successfully completed many multiple-client and joint-industry group-sponsored projects.

Oilfield and Petrochemical
To produce oil & gas and supply the end products to customers as efficiently and cheaply as possible, the petroleum industry relies heavily on continuing technological advances. Kalsi Engineering has made significant contributions towards the accomplishment of these advances by providing state-of-the-art analysis and testing services, and by developing innovative designs for a variety of mechanical equipment used in the oilfield and petrochemical industries. This includes downhole tools, wellhead and drilling equipment, pressure vessels and piping components, reactor vessels, heat exchangers, valves, and pumps.

Examples

• Innovative bearing and rotary seal designs for drill bits, downhole drilling motors, advanced rotary steerable systems, and high pressure rotary blowout preventers

• Measurement-while-drilling mud pulse telemetry valves, turbines, and sensors

• High pressure, high speed washpipes used in drilling and coring swivels

• JarPro™, a jarring analysis software, to optimize jarring tool placement

• Hydraulic pressure pulse transmission software (PulsTran)

• Analysis and performance testing of API rotary shouldered, casing, and tubular connections

• Development of a novel thread form and connection geometry for a high fatigue strength tool joint

• Analysis and elimination of leakage problems in heat exchanger flanges due to mechanical and thermal distortions under piping loads and moments

• Stress analysis of reactor pressure vessels and flanges; buckling analysis of elliptical heads under external pressure to increase operating pressure limits

• FEA and CFD analyses of valves and piping in high temperature flue gas and catalytic converter applications to eliminate disc binding and erosion life problems

Downhole turbine impellers were designed and optimized by an analytical model to provide desired speed, torque, and erosion characteristics.

Nuclear Power Generation
Reliable and predictable performance of equipment is critical to the safety and economical operation of nuclear power plants. Mechanical equipment problems and failures are a leading contributor to unscheduled shutdowns, safety concerns, and high maintenance cost. Kalsi Engineering has achieved industry-wide recognition due to our technical excellence while serving individual utilities, multiple-utility groups, NSSS Owners' groups, and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and their Nuclear Maintenance Application Center (NMAC) on projects of major industry significance.
 

Capabilities

• Structural, fluid, and thermal analysis
• Laboratory and flow loop testing
• Root-cause analysis
• Design modifications
• Plant-wide reviews; development and implementation of programs to address generic issues
• Training and seminars
• Independent review and assistance in utility self-assessment programs
• AOV/MOV Services

Analyses and tests were performed to evaluate structural capability, fatigue life, and performance of electric motor-powered worm gear actuators. This multi-utility sponsored project provided a generic increase in actuator ratings, saving the industry millions of dollars.

Examples

• Development of motor-operated valve performance prediction models and application guides for gate, globe, butterfly, and check valves for EPRI and NMAC

• Pressure locking and thermal binding methodologies and software

• Air-operated and hydraulically operated actuator stability and sizing methodology

• Failure investigation of an auxiliary feedwater pump steam turbine by overspeeding

• Independent review and improvement of a mechanical model for reactor core rod cluster control assembly insertion to predict force margins and prevent sticking

• Tilting pad thrust bearing hydrodynamic lubrication analysis and performance prediction under a temperature transient exceeding the manufacturer's normal limits

• Reactor coolant pump seal modifications and testing under accident conditions to improve reliability under plant transients

• Transient thermal analysis of electric motor bearing operation under high temperature, high speed accident conditions

• Development of an MOV Actuator Test Stand to evaluate actuator performance characteristics

• Cvap®, a validated program to predict wear/fatigue of valve internals and to prioritize check valve maintenance

• KVAPÔ, a state-of-the-art computer program for evaluating all common types of valves and actuators used in AOV applications

Aerospace and Defense
Kalsi Engineering personnel have expertise in stress and thermofluid analysis of mechanical and structural equipment, hardware qualification, and the development of analytical models as well as in the design and testing of hardware for the aerospace and defense industries. We have provided services to NASA, aerospace engineering firms, the Department of Defense, and other government agencies. Our staff has been involved in the Space Station, Space Shuttle, Saturn, and Skylab projects.

Examples

• Design and detailed fabrication drawings for space station mock-up hardware

• Design of a new gaseous cryogenic pressure relief valve with modulating pressure control characteristics to eliminate impact problems for NASA ground support facilities

• Design of a miniature high temperature, high pressure, low noise throttle valve for underwater propulsion systems in defense applications

• Conceptual and detailed design, analysis, prototype development, manufacturing, and testing of unique thermal enclosure systems, heat exchangers, and refrigerator/ incubator modules used in the space shuttle

• Development of analytical models to predict the performance of a spacecraft thermal control system, aero-thermodynamics of reentry vehicles, space shuttle thermal protection system, and ground support equipment

• Test support for wind tunnel, plasma arc chamber, and thermal/vacuum chamber testing

Kalsi Engineering, Inc.   745 Park Two Drive   Sugar Land, Texas  77478-2885  Tel: (281) 240-6500    Fax: (281) 240-0255

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