Proposal to Improve the Design of a Brake DrumCooling System for a 650 Hp Drawworks ThroughThermal Analysis and Computational FluidDynamics Simulation

The following work presents a proposal to improve the brake drum cooling system of a 650 HP drawworks, which is crucial in oil well workover operations. To achieve this, a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) and thermal analysis was performed using ANSYS Student software, where the current system was modeled and different cooling scenarios were simulated. The behavior of the cooling fluid was evaluated, and a more efficient solution including a heat exchanger was designed. The results indicated that, with an initial drum temperature of 300 °C, the current water cooling system heats the fluid to 56 °C, after which it goes directly to a 30 m3 tank that serves as a thermal buffer, which, due to its large capacity, manages to cool the water to a range between 31 and 32 ºC in a transient state. The proposed improvement, by implementing a heat exchanger, directly reduces the cooling water temperature to 32 °C in a transient state. In addition, the tank volume was improved from 30 m3 to only 6 m3, which considerably reduces water consumption without affecting thermal performance. Finally, it was verified that the centrifugal pump used is adequate to maintain the required pressure throughout the circuit. The following proposal not only improves the efficiency of the system, but also reduces the risk of mechanical failures, saves resources, and improves operative efficiency.