Engineering Procedure
SAEP-363 26 July 2020
Pipeline Simulation Model Development and Support
Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee
Previous Issue: 1 January 2018 Next Planned Update: 26 July 2025
Page 1 of 10
Contact: Arun, Jain (JAINAX) on phone +966-13-8809461
©Saudi Aramco 2020. All rights reserved.
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-363
Issue Date: 26 July 2020
Next Planned Update: 26 July 2025 Pipeline Simulation Model Development and Support
Contents
Summary of Changes .................................................................................................................... 3
1 Scope ...................................................................................................................................... 4
2 Conflict and Deviation ............................................................................................................ 4
3 Applicable Documents ........................................................................................................... 4
4 Instructions............................................................................................................................. 5
5 Responsibilities....................................................................................................................... 9
Revision Summary....................................................................................................................... 10
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Page 2 of 10
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-363
Issue Date: 6 June 2020
Next Planned Update: 6 June 2023 Pipeline Simulation Model Development and Support
Summary of Changes
Paragraph Number Change Type
(Addition, Modification, Technical Change(s)
Previous Revision Current Revision Deletion)
(6 – 6- 2017) (07 – 26 – 2020)
2. Conflict and Deviation
Any conflict between this document and other
applicable Mandatory Saudi Aramco Engineering
N/A
2 Addition Requirements (MSAERs) shall be addressed to the
EK&RD Coordinator. Any deviation from the
requirements herein shall follow internal company
procedure SAEP-302.
3.1.4 4.1.4 Modification 3.1.4 has been edited for clarity.
3.1.5 has been removed since it is covered in
3.1.5 NA Deletion
Section 4.
This section has been edited for clarity. In addition,
3.2.4 4.2.4 Modification
the approval has been removed.
4 5 Modification This section has been edited for clarity.
Added SAES-L-620 - Design of Reinforced
Thermosetting Resins (RTR) Piping in
Hydrocarbon and Water Injection Systems.
References Refernce Addition
Added SAES-A-133 - Internal Corrosion Protection
Requirements
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Page 3 of 10
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-363
Issue Date: 26 July 2020
Next Planned Update: 26 July 2025 Pipeline Simulation Model Development and Support
1 Scope
This procedure establishes general guidelines governing development and support of:
1) Pipelines simulation models;
2) Associated hydraulic analysis studies; and
3) Technical reviews of models developed by Saudi Aramco engineers and
engineering design contractors.
It provides Saudi Aramco engineers and engineering design contractors with guidelines
describing the minimum requirements to develop and document pipelines simulation
models for existing, modified and new facilities.
2 Conflict and Deviation
Any conflict between this document and other applicable Mandatory Saudi Aramco
Engineering Requirements (MSAERs) shall be addressed to the EK&RD Coordinator.
Any deviation from the requirements herein shall follow internal company procedure
SAEP-302.
3 Applicable Documents
To ensure compliance with the appropriate Saudi Aramco and International Codes and
Standards for pipelines, the following Engineering Standards shall be reviewed during
model development. These Standards encompass hydraulic analysis, surge analysis,
over pressure protection of pipelines, design pressure, materials, operating conditions,
maximum allowable operating pressure, and maximum allowable surge pressure. All
referenced specifications, standards, codes and similar material shall be of the latest
issue (including all revisions, addenda, and supplements) unless stated otherwise.
3.1 Saudi Aramco References
Saudi Aramco Engineering Procedures
SAEP-27 Pipeline Surge Analysis and Flow Assurance
SAEP-302 Waiver of a Mandatory Saudi Aramco Engineering
Requirement
SAEP-364 Process Simulation Model Development and
Support
SAEP-1610 Preparation of Functional Specification Documents
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Page 4 of 10
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-363
Issue Date: 6 June 2020
Next Planned Update: 6 June 2023 Pipeline Simulation Model Development and Support
Saudi Aramco Engineering Standards
SAES-L-100 Applicable Codes and Standards for Pressure
Piping Systems
SAES-L-132 Material Selection of Pipelines, Piping, and Process
Equipment
SAES-A-133 Internal Corrosion Protection Requirement
SAES-L-310 Design of Plant Piping
SAES-L-410 Design of Pipelines
SAES-L-620 Design of Reinforced Thermosetting Resins (RTR)
Piping in Hydrocarbon and Water Injection
Systems
SAES-J-600 Pressure Relief Devices
SAES-J-605 Surge Relief Protection Systems
3.2 International Codes and Standards
ASME B16.5 Pipe Flanges and Flanged Fittings: NPS 1/2
Through NPS 24 Metric/Inch Standard
ASME B31.3 Process Piping
ASME B31.4 Pipeline Transportation Systems for Liquids and
Slurries
ASME B31.8 Gas Transmission and Distribution Piping Systems
4 Instructions
4.1 General Requirements
4.1.1 SAPMT (Saudi Aramco Project Management Team) shall provide a
copy of this Engineering Procedure to the engineering design contractor,
involved in the development of pipeline simulation models, and notify
him that he shall comply with the requirements.
4.1.2 The engineering design contractor shall use the recommended pipeline
simulation software as adopted by P&CSD/Flow Assurance Applications
Unit (FAAU).
4.2 Model Fidelity
The following are considered to be minimum requirements to develop pipeline
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Page 5 of 10
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-363
Issue Date: 26 July 2020
Next Planned Update: 26 July 2025 Pipeline Simulation Model Development and Support
simulation models.
4.2.1 Model Objective
The objective of the model will determine the extent of the pipeline
system to be modeled and the accuracy of data required during model
development and validation steps. The following categories represent a
summary of the main objectives considered when developing pipeline
simulation models.
(a) Models for Design of Pipeline Systems – Models are developed to
support design and construction of new pipeline systems. These
models shall be constructed using established equipment and
pipeline design data, fluid property data, and soil thermal properties.
The models shall be updated with new data as and when available,
especially when the project advances to next phase. (b) Models for
Operational Analysis – New developed models or existing models
for existing pipelines systems are used to study specific operational
problems. These models, depending on the nature of the study,
could be used without modification. Alternatively, the models
could be modified to support:
1) re-validation of the model following acquisition of new
pipeline operating data;
2) an expansion to the pipeline system; or
3) a change to the operating philosophy.
4.2.2 Model Scope
The model shall include all major equipment. Transient models must
include major control systems, where it may impact the outcome of the
study. Model boundaries shall be established such that boundary
constraints do not affect the accuracy of the solution. Models shall be
developed in line with pipeline/facility operating philosophy to support:
1) steady state analysis;
2) transient analysis;
4) thermal analysis.
4.2.3 Data Requirement
The following list identifies data that shall be collected before a steady
state model or a transient model is developed:
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Page 6 of 10
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-363
Issue Date: 6 June 2020
Next Planned Update: 6 June 2023 Pipeline Simulation Model Development and Support
(a) Bulk parameters for fluid physical properties data: density,
viscosity, true vapor pressure, bulk modulus, compressibility.
Alternatively, for compositional analysis, the fluid composition
shall be defined.
(b) Pipeline data: pipeline elevation profile, length, diameter, wall
thickness, and pipe roughness.
(c) Equipment performance sheets for valves, pumps and compressors,
open/close times for valves, start/stop times for pumps and
compressors.
(d) Ambient conditions (summer/winter temperatures), thermal
conductivities for pipeline and soil and/or the overall heat transfer
coefficient between pipeline and soil.
(e) Operating conditions: pipeline inlet pressure and temperature,
arrival pressure, maximum and minimum flow rates.
(f) Units of measurements must be consistent.
All the collected design data shall be presented in a Basis of Design
(BOD) document.
Modeling and hydraulic analysis shall ensure compliance with the
appropriate Saudi Aramco Standards as specified in SAEP-27, SAEP-
364, SAEP-1610, SAES-A-133, SAES-L-100, SAES-L-132, SAES-L-
310, SAES-L-410, SAES-L-620, SAES-J-600, SAES-J-605, and
International Standards and Codes ASME B31.3, ASME B31.4, ASME
B31.8, or ASME B16.5 for over pressure protection of pipelines and
process piping.
4.2.4 Model Validation
Where plant and pipeline operating data is available, the model shall be
validated against a set of operating data within the known constraints of:
1) accuracy of plant measurements; and
2) tolerance and convergence limitations within the simulator.
Before the data can be applied to the model, it shall be necessary to
evaluate the quality of the measurements caused by faulty instruments.
If available, a software package shall be used to evaluate all elements of
the data and reconcile the data to identify faulty instruments and to
eliminate or reduce measurement errors.
Following data validation, model shall be tuned to ensure model results
are within 2% of the operational data. However, if the model results
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Page 7 of 10
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-363
Issue Date: 26 July 2020
Next Planned Update: 26 July 2025 Pipeline Simulation Model Development and Support
variance is more than 2%, the contractor shall justify the cause of
deviation.
4.3 Documentation Requirements
At the completion of the studies, documentation shall be developed containing,
as a minimum requirement, the following sections:
(a) An Executive summary that shall include a brief description of the
problem under investigation, background, objective, proposed solution;
tool used and concluding remarks.
(b) A system description of the pipeline and processes and study objectives.
(c) A description of the model including a detailed description of the
simulation software components being utilized.
(d) A description of each scenario adopted for the study.
(e) The methodology used to extract, reconcile, and filter the operating data.
(f) Model drawings.
(g) Tabulated results for each scenario.
(h) Graphical results representing time plots and/or profile plots of critical
variables to support conclusions established for each scenario.
The following sections provide a detailed description of requirements for the
documentation:
4.3.1 Model Objective
Describe the purpose of the study and the role that simulation plays in
addressing that purpose. The objective of the simulation must be clearly
stated. The model shall be represented as a tool to help solve specific
problems or answer specific questions rather than as an end product.
The simulation package and version used to build the model shall be
defined.
4.3.2 Work Scope
Describe the system under investigation. The level of detail, model
boundaries, sources of feed…etc. This can be accomplished by
referencing available documents. Major relevant system characteristics
should be summarized in the report that describes the simulation.
4.3.3 Study Assumptions
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Page 8 of 10
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-363
Issue Date: 6 June 2020
Next Planned Update: 6 June 2023 Pipeline Simulation Model Development and Support
In order to understand the model and its limitations, all assumptions shall
be identified. Discuss the limitations of the model's representation of the
actual system and the impact those limitations have on the results and
conclusions presented.
4.3.4 Property Packages
Describe the thermodynamics packages that were utilized to define the
fluid properties. Flow and pressure drop correlations must also be
described.
4.3.5 System Drawings (PFD's, P&ID's and Model Sketches)
Provide the modeled system process flow diagrams and Process
Instrumentation Diagrams. Also, provide the simulation schematic used
to build the model and compare the simulation model with the overview
and actual process to highlight differences.
4.3.6 Model Results Analysis
Present the calibration criteria, procedure, and results. Describe the
source of the observed data to which model results are compared.
Explain the appropriateness of using these data for model comparisons
and the basis for any adjustments made to actual observations when
making the comparisons. It is important to report and use as many types
of data as possible for successful calibration of the model.
4.3.7 Results Analysis Profiles and Trends
Provide results analysis in profiles (specific variable vs. length of pipeline)
and trends (specific variable vs. time) for all the evaluated cases.
5 Responsibilities
5.1 P&CSD provides technical guidance for all hydraulic analysis, surge analysis, or
pipeline control system studies during all phases of a project. Engineering
design contractors shall provide pipeline simulation models for the engineering
and / or modeling work they have contracted to perform.
5.2 At the completion of studies, SAPMT shall submit an electronic copy of the
completed simulation models and supporting documentation to P&CSD.
If permanent changes are made to the existing pipeline simulation models by
entities within Company, it is their responsibility to submit the completed
simulation models and supporting documentation to P&CSD.
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Page 9 of 10
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-363
Issue Date: 26 July 2020
Next Planned Update: 26 July 2025 Pipeline Simulation Model Development and Support
5.3 P&CSD is responsible to maintain a library of pipeline simulation models.
Revision Summary
15 July 2012 Revised the “Next Planned Update.” Reaffirmed the contents of the document, and
reissued with no other changes.
22 December 2015 Editorial revision to change the document responsibility to Flow Assurance Standards
Committee.
6 June 2017 Minor revision to remove Pipeline Simulation Recommended Vendor List, Exhibit I.
1 January 2018 Editorial revision to delete 3.2.4 (item 3), modify paragraphs 4.1 and 4.2.
26 July 2020 Added Section 2 as per SAEP-134, clarifications on model tuning and responsibilities have
been made. Minor editorial revision throughout the document.
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
Page 10 of 10
Saudi Aramco: Company General Use
