One of the more exciting features of OpenPlant is the addition of a convenient interface for the installation and management of nozzles on equipment. The interface, dubbed nozzle manager, contains all the necessary functionality a user would need to easily manage the nozzles of all equipment in a project. It enables the user not only to place nozzles but to export a nozzle configuration for use on multiple pieces of equipment (i.e. pump skids). This is a general overview of the interface and its features with some tips for maximum productivity.
When the OpenPlant nozzle manager is first launched, the user is immediately prompted to select a piece of equipment. You can select either by clicking on the equipment in the model view, or from the list in the upper left corner of the dialog (A). Once selected, the dialog will automatically populate with all available datums (a pre-defined base point for nozzle location) for the equipment placed (B). For example, a pump may by default have impeller in, out, and center datums in typical nozzle locations. Custom datums can be added as necessary via the Datum manager (C).
Once a datum is selected from the drop down list, nozzle manager will intuitively identify which parameters apply to the selected datum. Unnecessary parameters will be grayed out. There are many helpful display options that can assist users while placing nozzles (D). The Toggle Diagram display option clearly demonstrates how each parameter will influence the nozzle location. Toggle Datum display helps in visualizing the axis' the datum operates along. Toggling Equipment Transparency is helpful as sometimes nozzles end up inside the equipment shell and are invisible without this option enabled.
Once items are entered, changes must be applied in order to take effect in the model (E). Afterward, copy/paste/undo operations are included to ease the burden of manual edits (F).
Once completed, an entire nozzle configuration can be exported for re-use on similar equipment later in the project (G). Equipment imported in from other systems will not always retain the nozzle connections and relationships. To repair these connections, use the Attach Existing Nozzles and Datums tool (H)
In the case that a nozzle is manually moved in the model, it could become out of sync with nozzle manager. The provided tools to recalculate the position of a nozzle can be used to resolve such situations. You can either update the parameter values to accommodate the new position of the nozzle, or force the nozzle back to its positon as defined by the parameters (I).
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