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FlowSync · Flow Simulator · Hydraulics

Steady-state and transient hydraulics, on today’s data.

Flow Simulator runs liquids and gas across gathering, transmission and distribution: steady-state for the questions that come up daily, transient for line pack, blowdown, surge and emergency response. It runs on the model Model Builder maintains and the conditions DataHub is reading now, so the answer describes the system as it is rather than as it was when someone last exported it.
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For Pipeline and Hydraulics Engineers · Engineering Managers · Gas Control and Operations

12 in12 inCity gateRS-1RS-2RS-3NorthMill RoadSouthIndustrialEast58 psig47 psig41 psig27 psig
Illustrative schematic, synthetic values, no geography
2,000+
Miles of pipeline modeled, deployment account
Weeks → minutes
The model build ahead of a study, deployment account
Live
Runs on current DataHub conditions, not a quarterly snapshot
4 wk
Pilot on one network, standard rollout cadence

Part of FlowSyncYou buy FlowSync from WorkSync. Flow Simulator is the hydraulic simulation capability of FlowSync, and it ships with the platform.

What Flow Simulator is

Hydraulics that describe the system you are running today.

Liquids and gas, across gathering, transmission and distribution. Steady-state for the questions that come up daily, transient for the events that decide how the system is designed and operated.

Most hydraulic studies are late for the same reason: the model has to be rebuilt before the question can be answered, and by the time it is rebuilt the operating condition it was built for has moved. Flow Simulator removes that step by running on the model Model Builder maintains and the operating data DataHub is already reading. On a deployment account, that build step went from weeks of manual effort to minutes of verification, across 2,000+ miles of pipeline modeled.

It is not a replacement play. Plenty of operators keep the simulator their team already runs for the deep, once-a-project work and use FlowSync for the model behind it and the questions that come up every week. Both arrangements are normal, and the model is the same either way.

The question
4 examples
ModeThe question
Steady-state
Can this system carry the volume we just signed?Capacity checks, looping and compression studies, pressure profiles, hydraulic bottleneck hunting, new connection and load addition, class location and MAOP checks against the profile you have.
Steady-state
Where is the system giving back pressure we are paying for?Line-by-line pressure drop against measurement, so a restriction shows up as a place on the map rather than a hunch about the trunk line.
Transient
What does the system do in the first hour after that changes?Line pack and drawdown, compressor or pump trip, valve closure and surge, blowdown and repressurization, emergency shutdown sequencing, supply interruption on a distribution network.
Transient
How long do we have before a customer feels it?Pack drawdown timing under a defined loss, which is the number that decides whether an event is an operating problem or a notification.

What it does

6 capabilities that turn your existing stack into action.

  1. 01

    Steady-state for the question you answer today

    Capacity and looping studies, compression and pump checks, pressure profiles, new load and new connection work, bottleneck hunting. The cases that come up weekly, run against the network as it is currently configured.
  2. 02

    Transient for the events that decide the design

    Line pack and drawdown, compressor and pump trips, valve closure and surge, blowdown and repressurization, emergency shutdown sequencing. The behaviour in the first hour, which is where the operating decision actually sits.
  3. 03

    Liquids and gas, gathering through distribution

    Single-phase gas, single-phase liquid, multi-phase gathering, water systems and distribution networks run through the same model-building and simulation loop rather than through a different tool and a different model for each fluid class.
  4. 04

    Runs on live operating conditions

    Boundary conditions, setpoints and current measurement come through DataHub read-only. A case can be run on today, or replayed against a day in the operating history, without anyone exporting anything.
  5. 05

    Reconciled against your own measurement

    Modeled results are placed beside your meters and the difference is attributed per element, so a wrong roughness or a throttled valve shows up as a location rather than disappearing into a global efficiency factor.
  6. 06

    Studies are versioned, not filed

    Inputs, assumptions, the model version and the result are kept together as one record. Reruns are honest comparisons rather than a folder of near-identical files, and the reasoning stays attached to the result.

How a study runs

Four steps, and none of them is a rebuild.

The model is already there and already current, so the engineer's time goes into the case and the interpretation.
  1. 1 · Case

    Start from the live model

    The network comes from Model Builder and is already current, so a study starts at the question rather than at a rebuild. You set the case: the volumes, the boundary conditions, the equipment in or out.
  2. 2 · Run

    On the conditions DataHub is reading now

    Steady-state or transient, on current pressures, flows and temperatures rather than a quarterly snapshot. The same case can be re-run against a different day without rebuilding anything.
  3. 3 · Reconcile

    Compare the model against measurement

    Modeled results sit beside your own meters. Where they part company, the difference is shown per element, which is how a model earns trust and how a bad input gets found.
  4. 4 · Publish

    The study is a versioned record

    Inputs, assumptions, the model version and the result are kept together. The next engineer can see what was run, on what, and why, instead of finding a file named final-v3 and guessing.
  1. Model Builder
    The maintained model

    Topology, equipment and specs, re-read as documents change.

  2. DataHub
    Current operating conditions

    Pressures, flows, temperatures and setpoints, read-only.

  3. Flow Simulator
    Steady-state or transient run

    Reconciled against your own measurement.

  4. Outputs
    A versioned study

    Kept with its inputs and assumptions, readable by Taylor, and exportable to the simulator your team already runs.

Nothing in this sequence asks an engineer to re-key a network, and nothing asks you to retire a tool your team depends on.

On calibration

A model you have not checked against measurement is an opinion.

Because the same operating history that feeds the run is stored beside it, a case can be replayed against a day you already have meter data for, and the modeled profile put beside the measured one. Where they disagree, the difference is attributed per element rather than absorbed into a global efficiency factor, so a wrong roughness, a throttled valve or a mis-stated diameter shows up as a place on the map. Calibration becomes part of running the system rather than a project someone schedules.

The rest of FlowSync

Every module reads the same model.

There is one model of your asset, not one per tool. Build it once, and the simulators, the agent and the simulator your team already runs all work from the same verified picture.

What it replaces

Retires the workarounds your team has been stacking for years.

The workaround
4 retired
What it retires
The study that starts by rebuilding the modelThe model is already built and already current. On a deployment account, that build step went from weeks of manual effort to minutes of verification.
Studies run on a snapshot of last quarterA snapshot answers the question the system was asked then. Live conditions answer the one you are asking now, which is usually why the study was requested.
The spreadsheet that approximates a networkA single-line hand calculation cannot see interaction between branches, and it certainly cannot see what happens in the hour after a compressor trips.
Results that live in one engineer’s folderWhen the inputs and assumptions are not stored with the result, the next person reruns the study rather than trusting it. Versioned studies end that.

Works with your existing stack

Reads the systems you already run.

The model
  • FlowSync Model Builder
  • GIS topology and elevation
  • As-builts and MOC history
Operating data
  • WorkSync DataHub
  • AVEVA PI System
  • Proficy Historian
  • SCADA and gas control
Measurement
  • Custody and check meters
  • Pressure and temperature history
  • Allocation and production accounting
Engineering tools
  • The simulator your team already runs
  • Steady-state model export
  • Transient model export
  • Calculation and study files
See all 39 integrations 

Pricing · FlowSync

Scoped to your operation.

Impact Guarantee · license fees only when the metrics move

You buy FlowSync from WorkSync; the tracks beside this are rollout scopes of that one purchase.

Scoped to your well count and systems with our implementation team when you plan your pilot. The pilot runs four weeks on one field, and DataHub is included.

See Your Wells RankedSee How Pricing Works
GOOD
Model Builder + DataHub on one system
BETTER
adds Flow Simulator for steady-state and transient work
BEST
adds Process Simulator and Taylor across the engineering library

Proof

Hydraulic model builds went from weeks of manual effort to minutes of verification, across 2,000+ miles of pipeline modeled.

Deployment account, anonymized. WorkSync Research, Volume V

Read the white paper on automated hydraulic model builds →

Before you ask

Common questions

What is FlowSync Flow Simulator?
Flow Simulator is the FlowSync module that runs hydraulic simulation for liquids and gas across gathering, transmission and distribution systems: steady-state for daily planning and capacity work, transient for line pack, blowdowns, surge and emergency response. It runs against the model Model Builder maintains and the operating conditions DataHub reads, so a study does not start with a model rebuild.
Does it replace the simulator we already run?
Only if you want it to. The common arrangement keeps your existing simulator for the deep, once-a-project work, with FlowSync building and maintaining the model in front of it and handling the questions that come up every week. Your tools and your licences stay where they are; what changes is that nobody rebuilds a network by hand before a study.
Steady-state or transient: which do we actually need?
Both, for different questions. Steady-state answers whether the system can carry a volume and where the pressure is going. Transient answers what the system does in the first minutes and hours after something changes: a trip, a valve closure, a blowdown, a supply interruption. Operators who only run steady-state tend to discover the transient questions during an event.
How current is the data a run uses?
As current as your historian and SCADA are, because DataHub reads them read-only and the run takes its boundary conditions from there. You can also replay a case against a specific day in the operating history, which is how a model gets checked against measurement you already trust.
How do we know the model is calibrated?
Modeled results are compared against your own meters and the difference is attributed per element rather than absorbed into one global factor. That is what turns calibration from a scheduled project into part of running the system, and it is what makes a disagreement actionable: it points at a place, not at the model in general.
What does it cost?
License fees only when the metrics move. Pick the operating metric that matters, most often study turnaround or model freshness. We agree the baseline in week zero and measure at week four. Scope is set with our implementation team when you plan your pilot, and DataHub is included.

Run a real case on your own network.

Bring one system and a study you already ran by hand. We build the model from your documents, run the same case on current conditions, and put the two results beside each other with the differences explained.

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