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Selecting incorrect fluid properties, equipment specifications, or modelling assumptions can lead to inaccurate hydraulic analyses, design revisions, and increased project costs. Designing reliable piping systems requires accurate simulation of fluid behaviour under real operating conditions. If calculation errors are not identified during the design phase, they can affect system performance, equipment sizing, and overall project efficiency.
Process engineers rely on accurate hydraulic modelling to specify pumps, compressors, and control valves with confidence. Selecting the appropriate flow simulation software helps engineers evaluate system performance and make informed design decisions.
This guide compares Datacor Fathom and Datacor Arrow to help engineers determine which software is best suited to their piping system application. It will help engineers select the most appropriate software for reliable piping system design and analysis.
Selecting the right tool begins with understanding how your flow properties evolve throughout the pipeline network. Understanding the physical properties of the fluid is the first step in selecting the appropriate simulation software.
Your flow medium dictates your software choice. Datacor Fathom is designed to solve incompressible flow dynamics, and Datacor Arrow will simulate complex compressible gas and steam environments.
A common question among process engineers is which software is best suited to their application. It depends on your working fluid's thermodynamic properties.
Neither software is better than the other. They are both better suited for a specific physical regime. Engineering teams designing incompressible liquid systems typically use Datacor Fathom.
Datacor Arrow is the preferred choice for systems involving gas expansion, pressure changes, and variable fluid density. Using an unsuitable solver can produce inaccurate simulation results and may affect equipment or pipeline sizing decisions.
Process engineers need a tool that can calculate pressure loss in liquid networks to simplify the design of intricate hydraulic systems.
Datacor Fathom is widely used for steady-state analysis of incompressible piping systems. The software was created by Applied Flow Technology (now Datacor) to enable design teams to model steady-state piping networks.
Engineers can use the software to analyse pump performance, set control valve sizes, and estimate pressure loss in pipes.
Although Datacor Fathom features an intuitive graphical interface, it is built on robust hydraulic calculation methods. The software performs complex hydraulic calculations using established numerical methods to solve the governing equations of fluid mechanics simultaneously.
To handle complicated pipe networks, the software uses Newton-Raphson matrix iteration to solve hydraulic networks. It also calculates hydrostatic and stagnation pressures using Bernoulli's equation, and it uses the Reynolds number and Moody diagram to determine friction losses.
The solver maintains mass and energy conservation throughout the piping network, ensuring consistent flow balance at every junction.
Datacor Fathom is typically used to analyse steady-state liquid piping systems across a range of specified operating conditions. Typical applications include:
Compressible flow introduces additional thermodynamic considerations that require specialised simulation tools capable of modelling changing fluid properties in gas and steam systems.
Datacor Arrow is professional-grade gas piping analysis software and a compressible flow tool that calculates and predicts how your piping networks handle pressure loss, temperature fluctuations, and velocities for gases and steam.
The software enables engineers to evaluate gas system performance while accounting for pressure, temperature, and density changes.
These coupled compressible flow equations can get very intricate. Datacor Arrow uses advanced numerical methods to model compressible flow while accounting for changing pressure, temperature, and density. The software's marching methods track density and temperature changes through the piping by accounting for real-gas effects (i.e., state equations like Redlich-Kwong or Peng-Robinson) and computing gas choking when it reaches sonic velocity. These calculations support engineers in evaluating pressure relief device performance under choked-flow conditions.
High-velocity gas systems require specialised analysis tools to support safe and reliable engineering design. Use your gas dynamics software if you face the following:
The Datacor Arrow software is the right choice for:
Although both products analyse piping systems, they are designed for different fluid behaviours. Their solvers, component libraries, and thermal models reflect these differences. The most significant difference between the two is how they handle density.
Fathom works with a fixed fluid density, which simplifies the hydraulic equations. In contrast, density is a thermodynamic variable related to pressure and temperature in the Arrow solver. Datacor Fathom includes an extensive pump library, while Datacor Arrow provides component libraries for compressors, fans, and gas-specific equipment.
The number of options for thermal modelling goes from eleven different heat transfer settings in Fathom up to twelve models in Arrow that include what's required for high-velocity gas expansion.
Software selection should be based on the physical characteristics of the system being analysed. The appropriate software depends on the fluid properties and operating conditions of the system being analysed.
Evaluate the fluid properties, operating pressures, and flow velocities to determine the most appropriate software. For incompressible liquids or low-velocity gas flows, Datacor Fathom is generally the appropriate choice.
If your system carries steam, high-velocity gas, or gases under high pressure, use Datacor Arrow, which is designed to account for compressible-flow effects.
For liquid systems and gas systems where incompressible-flow assumptions are appropriate, Fathom may be suitable. For gas and steam systems where compressibility significantly affects pressure, density, temperature, or velocity, Arrow is generally the appropriate choice.
Datacor Impulse is specifically used to analyze pressure surges and water hammer in liquid piping systems.
The following examples illustrate typical engineering applications for each software package at industrial sites. These examples demonstrate how each solution can be applied to different piping system designs.
When a university in Melbourne expanded its facilities, they looked to confirm the existing chilled water loop was functioning correctly. The engineering team, using Datacor Fathom, created a steady-state model of their chilled water loop. Using pump curves and control valve positions to review hydraulic imbalances, they reduced pumping energy consumption by 15%.
An equipment manufacturer was planning a new process line that required a high-pressure natural gas distribution header. The team used Datacor Arrow to analyse pressure losses, flow velocities, and the risk of sonic choking at peak operating conditions, showing that their planned pipe size would limit flow at peak demand and leading to the design of a larger header. They then used Datacor Arrow to confirm the design.
A petrochemical facility integrated Datacor Fathom and Datacor Arrow to model both liquid and gas sides of a heat recovery system. For the heat recovery system they designed, hot exhaust gas passes through a heat exchanger to heat a liquid glycol stream.
The engineering team simulated the gas side using Datacor Arrow while the liquid side was simulated using Datacor Fathom. They then coupled the models together using the novel Heat Exchanger Linking tool to dynamically run Fathom and Arrow in tandem, ensuring an energy balance over the entire system - without any manual computation.
Selecting the appropriate hydraulic modelling software helps engineers improve design accuracy, operational efficiency, and system reliability. Whether your models include incompressible liquids or high-speed gases, our engineering team can help organisations evaluate, implement, and optimise Datacor simulation software.
As a leading engineering software solution provider, Cortex Software Australia can set up and optimise you for Datacor Fathom, and Datacor Arrow. Plus, you can connect your hydraulic models into the Cortex design review software to efficiently manage compliance reviews.
Looking to improve confidence in your piping system design and analysis? Get in touch with our team at Cortex Software Australia to discuss the most suitable solution for your engineering requirements. Request a personalised demo of our software!
The primary differentiating characteristic is compressibility. Datacor Fathom models incompressible liquid systems in which fluid density doesn't change. Datacor Arrow models compressible gas and steam systems and accounts for variable densities, temperatures, and fluid velocities during high-speed movement.
You might think Datacor Fathom is all about liquids - and it is! But you can also apply it to slow-moving gas systems, provided those density variations stay within a 10% range. If the pressure changes aren't dramatic, Datacor Fathom can accurately model low-velocity gas systems provided density variations remain within incompressible flow assumptions.
Datacor Arrow is specifically designed for compressible gas and steam flow analysis. It can simulate gas and steam network flows at high speeds when pressures vary over a wide range, causing air temperature, density, and flow rate to be inconsistent. It predicts phenomena like sonic choking when speeds approach the speed of sound. Datacor Arrow predicts sonic choking when flow conditions approach the local speed of sound.
Datacor Fathom can model low-velocity gas flows under incompressible assumptions. Still, Datacor Arrow is recommended whenever compressibility significantly influences system behaviour.
If you're dealing with gases for compressor and fan analysis, it accounts for compressible gas behaviour during operation. If you're dealing with gases and steam, it requires the solvers that come with the system. The Datacor Fathom is for liquid pumps, but for compressor modelling, the Datacor Arrow comes with specific tools that help determine gas density, volumetric flow rates, and temperatures when compressing gases.
