BOSpulse Release Notes

December 17, 2024

BOSpulse 5.2.3
• Change in the calculation method for the API 618 6th edition allowable pressure pulsation
limit for low-pressure conditions. The API 618 standard states that the allowable limit for
absolute pressures below 3.5 bara should be multiplied with sqrt( PL /3.5 ) (using SI units).
However, this is incorrect; the allowable limit should be multiplied with sqrt( 3.5/PL ).
• Bug fix in the structural solver interface: an error was raised for some model configurations
with rigid pipes.
• Bug fix in the API Pressure Drop report: the total and static pressure were reported incor-
rectly when using the harmonic solution method.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: an internal error could be raised when viewing a transient
force data set if a user-defined force pair involved a PSD element; changing the type of mul-
tiple elements, nodes or analyses could result in an invalid item; and changing an allowable
limit definition could in some cases result in an invalid database file.
• Improvement to the ANSYS file interface: changed the definition of the ‘U.S. Customary
Units’ file export option to the more consistent definition of ANSYS (in, lbf · s2 /in, s, ◦ F ).

BOSpulse 5.2.2
• Bug fix in the harmonic flow solver: an incorrect flow rate was sometimes calculated for
non-pipe elements that have almost no friction.
• Bug fix in the steady state solution report: the solver printed an incorrect header row in the
minor loss coefficients table for tee junctions.
• Bug fix in the acoustic modal solver: some low-frequency modes were not always found for
some (large) models.
• Bug fix in the BOSview file interface: the element pipe sizes and pipe schedules were not
exported properly to the BOSview file.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: an internal error could be raised when saving a model after
changing a custom allowable limit associated with an element; some analyses were not
shown in the Analyses tab page after an undo and redo action; the PSD assembly editor
could raise an internal error when the ruler tool was used to measure a distance; the fields
viewer showed duplicate entries after changing the type of elements or nodes; and in rare
situations a simulation case could be incorrectly marked as being up to date.

BOSpulse 5.2.1
• Bug fixes in the user interface: the Scenarios window incorrectly showed that a change of the
description of the main scenario would be applied to all other scenarios; a fatal error could
be raised when generating a Cases Plot; and the piping model was not rendered correctly
by some types of graphical processing units.
 • Bug fix in the transient flow solver: in very rare cases the maximum pressure data set con-
tained a near infinite pressure at the last output time step. Note that this did not affect the
harmonic results.
• Bug fix in the CAESAR II file interface: when exporting to CAESAR II, an incorrect temper-
ature was set for materials other than steel.

BOSpulse 5.2
• Addition of an Ariel Compressor assembly type that enables you to import a compressor
configuration, including the (pressure) boundary conditions, fluid definitions, and oper-
ating cases, from an XML file generated by the Ariel Performance Program (Ariel7). The
cylinders specified in the compressor configuration are represented by reciprocating com-
pressor elements in the corresponding BOSpulse assembly. The packages and (operating)
cases defined in the compressor configuration are represented by scenarios.

• Addition of an Acoustic Modal analysis type that yields the natural acoustic frequencies
and modes of a piping model. These modes play an important role in acoustic resonance
phenomena as they can be excited by periodic flow and pressure boundary conditions with
a frequency that is close to one of the natural acoustic frequencies.

• Significant improvement of the accuracy of the harmonic flow solver. The harmonic solver
now involves a non-linear solution method that calculates a mean flow rate in such a way
that the friction losses in the frequency domain are equivalent to the friction losses in the
time domain. As a result, the results calculated by the harmonic solver tend to differ only a
few percent from the results calculated by the time transient solver. Because the harmonic
solver is still much faster, it is now the default solver in API 618 and API 674 analyses.

• Support for the API 618 standard 6th (2024) edition. This is now also the default edition that
is used to assess the results in an API 618 analysis. If desired, you can select the previous
edition in the analysis settings.
• Support for specifying custom allowable limits, both for an entire analysis and for specific
pipe elements, flange nodes and pulsation suppression devices. All allowable limits, in-
cluding the limits specified by the API 618 and API 674 standards, are now implemented as
user-defined functions in the components database. You can add your own allowable limits
to the database and apply them in an API analysis. Note that the field “Exclude from API”
associated with pipe elements has been removed; you can now use the new “Allowable
Limits” field to exclude a pipe element from any allowable limits. Also note that the pre-
defined allowable limits now include the vibration guidelines from “VDI 3842 Vibrations in
piping systems (June 2004)”.
• Improved scenario management. The Scenarios tab page has been extended with support
for managing scenarios and for editing multiple scenarios simultaneously. The Scenarios
window has been completely revised and now displays the differences between scenarios in
a table. The table rows are associated with the scenarios and the table columns are associated
with model parameters that are different in one or more scenarios. The Scenarios window
also supports editing most of these parameters.
• Extension of the components database with support for storing element and node defini-
tions. This enables you to share the specifications of flow equipment, including valves and
pumps, between multiple projects and with your colleagues.
The components database now also provides support for defining custom pipe schedules,
in addition to the built-in ANSI and ISO schedules. New input fields in the Model and
Scenarios tab enable you to select a pipe schedule and then enter a pipe size identifier. The
outer diameter and wall thickness will then automatically be entered in the associated input
fields.

2
• Addition of a preferences dialog box for setting program-wide configuration parameters,
including the number format and the default node number increment. This new dialog
box also enables you to select which aspects of a piping model are to be visible in the user
interface.

• Change in the harmonic flow rate and pressure boundary condition types: the amplitude is
now specified as an absolute value instead of a percentage of the mean flow rate or pressure.
• Change in the way that “Dead End” flow boundary conditions are handled: warnings about
implicit dead end boundary conditions are no longer issued for the end points of PSD ele-
ments. The model viewer configuration window also provides an option to not show dead
end boundary conditions in the model viewer.
• Extension of and changes to the reciprocating element types: addition of new harmonic data
sets related to the flow conditions within the cylinders; the default value for the “Transient
Valves” option has been changed from true to false; and the suction and discharge tem-
perature fields must be specified when a reciprocating element is connected to suction or
discharge piping, respectively. The latter reduces the probability that an incorrect tempera-
ture is used to calculate the gas or liquid properties.
• Improvements to the reciprocating equipment configuration window: addition of a new
“Pressure Plot” that shows the pressure in the cylinder as a function of the crank angle; and
addition of two input parameters for assessing a specific failure condition of the reciprocat-
ing equipment.
• Extension of the “Force”, “Flow Rate”, and “Zero-Peak Pulsation” harmonic data sets with
the average value. These average values are stored as the zeroth harmonic. The recon-
structed time signal in the Time History plot is now centered around the correct average
when the zeroth harmonic is included. Note that the last data set has been renamed to bet-
ter differentiate between the peak-to-peak pulsation and pulsation amplitude (zero-peak)
data sets.
• Improved performance when running multiple simulation cases on multiple processor cores.
A new scheduling algorithm ensures that all available processor cores are used during and
after the transition of one case to another.

• Improved accuracy of the steady state solver for gas-filled piping system. The solver now
automatically divides long, gas-filled pipe elements into smaller elements to increase the
accuracy of the calculated gas properties, the pressure drop and the flow rate.
• Improvement to the PCF import interface: more types of PCF components are translated to
BOSpulse elements. This reduces the need for manually adjusting an imported model.

• Improvements to the structural solver interface: support for ASME B31.3 piping code ver-
sions 2018, 2020 and 2022; and support for ANSYS versions 2024 R1 and 2024 R2.
• Extended coverage of internal quality testing procedures in order to verify whether all
types of graphs (plots) contain the expected contents, including labels and data point lo-
cations. This reduces the probability that an error (including programming errors) leads to
the wrong data being displayed in a graph.
• Extended support for selecting and grouping nodes on the basis of restraint properties, and
for displaying restraint properties in the model. The latter feature is accessible by means of
the “eye” icon above the model viewer area.

• Improvement to the model verifier: an error will be issued if an incompatible fluid type is
specified for an element for which API conformance checks are to be performed.
• Change in the PSD assembly implementation: choke tubes are now excluded from the struc-
tural model. The mass of the choke tubes is added as an Additional Mass to the connecting
nodes.

3
 • Extension of the Bend node type with support for specifying the bend type. This is used to
determine the bend radius.
• Addition of an new Drag Reduction parameter to the definition of liquids. This parameter
reduces the wall friction factor in the turbulent regime, and can be used to simulate the
effects of drag reducing agents.
• Improvements to the user interface: extension of the “ruler tool” with a standing wave cal-
culator that shows the quarter-wave and half-wave frequencies for a selected piping section;
support for highlighting the local maxima in a plot; support for specifying the resolution of
snapshots of the model viewer; improved rendering of unit labels; improved selection of
harmonics in the Results tab page; extension of the version update notification window
with update information; and explicit distinction between isotropic and orthotropic materi-
als.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: when flipping a beam element its rotation angle would not
be reversed so that its geometry would not remain the same; the model viewer was, in some
situations, not properly updated when switching between scenarios after having deleted a
scenario; and a fatal error could in some occasions be raised when exporting a plot to a text
or CSV data file.
• Bug fix in the CAESAR II file interface: when exporting to CAESAR II, the correct pipe
thickness is exported for valves and similar types of elements.

• Bug fix in the transient flow solver: the solver could incorrectly state that it had failed to
calculate the liquid level within a tank with the desired accuracy.

BOSpulse 5.1.10
• Bug fix in the user interface: an incorrect conversion factor was used for the 2nd Moment
of Area and Torsion Constant fields of a Beam element if they were specified as inch4 .
As a result, the 2nd moment of area and the torsion constant were higher they should
be. This could affect structural analyses involving beam elements, and models exported
to CAESAR II Structural and ANSYS files.

BOSpulse 5.1.9
• Bug fix in the transient flow solver: an invalid internal check could raise an error in rare
occasions when running on multiple processor cores.
• Bug fix in the Pipe Profile file interface: an error was raised when an Insulation Material
other than steel was specified.

BOSpulse 5.1.8
• Improvement to the way a model is built: when adding a new element, its length will be
adjusted when attaching one of its end points to an existing node in a disjoint model part.
Note that this only works if global coordinates have been specified for the two disjoint
model parts that are connected by the new element.
• Bug fix in the user interface: the PSD general scenario data were not updated in sub-
scenarios when updating a PSD assembly.

BOSpulse 5.1.7
• Extension of the CAESAR II file interface with support for CAESAR II version 14.0 (2023).

4
 • Bug fixes in the user interface: some element configurations resulted in a fatal error when
displaying the transient Force data set; and a memory error could occur in some cases when
saving changes to a model from a dialog box.
• Bug fix in the CAESAR II file export interface: SIF/Tee node numbers were not correctly
exported to CAESAR II.

BOSpulse 5.1.6
• Bug fixes in the harmonic flow solver: the suction-side flow rate at reciprocating elements
was erroneously shifted 180 degrees; and the wrong flow rate phase angle was used to
calculate the pipe wall friction contribution to the shaking forces. Because the effects of both
errors tend to be small in practice, they have gone unnoticed until now. The first error could
affect the calculated results in interstage systems as the first-stage discharge flow interacts
with the second-stage stage suction flow. The second error is minor because the wall friction
contribution tends to be much smaller than the pressure difference contribution.
• Bug fixes in the transient flow solver: an error could be raised for specific configurations
in which multiple non-pipe elements are connected to the same node; and a very slightly
wrong diameter profile could be used in the reducer model.
• Bug fix in the steady state flow solver: the steady state solution report stated an incorrect
friction factor for reducers.
• Bug fix in the user interface: a fatal error could in some occasions be raised when updating
a PSD assembly.
• Improvement to the steady flow solver: an AGA-8 Gas is allowed to be in a supercritical
state.

BOSpulse 5.1.5
• Bug fixes in the user interface: results for a Structural Harmonic analysis were not available
in some situations; and a baffle plate could not be selected in the PSD assembly editor by
means of a mouse click on the baffle plate in the preview window.
• Improvement to the steady flow solver: some combinations of boundary conditions could
still result in an invalid fluid phase when using an AGA-8 Gas fluid definition.
• Improvement of the Custom Gas implementation: more accurate interpolation and extrap-
olation of the density by incorporating the ideal gas law into the interpolation scheme.
• Improvements to the user interface: support for exporting an AGA-8 Gas definition as tab-
ular data that can be used, among others, to define a Custom Gas; an error will be raised
when trying to execute a case for which the pressure is not defined in part of the piping
system; steady state output data are marked as “unstable” when the steady state solver has
not found a converged solution; and the model viewer shows the positive flow direction of
reciprocating compressor and pump elements.

BOSpulse 5.1.4
• Bug fix in the structural solver interface: the Total Stress and Total Displacement element
data sets were calculated incorrectly. The error tends to be small, especially when a single
harmonic component is dominant.
• Bug fix in the user interface: the complex Force data set was always zero for PSD elements.
Note that this has no effect on the assessment of the shaking forces according to the API
allowable limit.

5
 • Improvement of the “Update Geometry” function when importing a model. BOSpulse will
retain more model parameters, including flow boundary conditions, when updating the
geometry of the piping model.

BOSpulse 5.1.3
• Bug fix in the user interface: a critical error could be raised when creating a Harmonic Plot
for cases involving the variation of two or more symbolic parameters.

BOSpulse 5.1.2
• Bug fixes in the user interface: a model could become invalid after modifying first the Out-
put Data selection and then the type of an analysis; the user interface could erroneously
mark a model as being valid when a Long Pipe boundary condition was specified at a non-
pipe element; a fatal error could occur when saving a user-defined unit set; and symbolic
parameters with a feet-inch length unit were displayed in inches only.
• Improvement to the steady flow solver: some combinations of boundary conditions could
result in an invalid fluid phase (liquid instead of gas) when using an AGA-8 Gas fluid defi-
nition.
• Bug fix in the harmonic flow solver: the harmonic output data contained (incorrect) results
for reciprocating elements.
• Improvement to the PCF import interface: the import dialog box now shows all nominal
pipe sizes that are specified in the selected Piping Component Files. The dialog box also
shows the default mapping of nominal pipe sizes to combinations of an outer diameter and
pipe wall thickness.
• Extension of the CAESAR II file interface with support for CAESAR II version 5.0 (2006).
This simplifies importing and exporting Bentley AutoPIPE models by means of the CAE-
SAR II neutral file format.

• Improvement to the user interface: improved cancellation of running simulation cases.

BOSpulse 5.1.1
• Improvement of the documentation: modification of the Compressor Flanges section in the
manual to better convey the changes in BOSpulse 5.1.
• Bug fixes in the flow solver: a heat exchanger with a rated condition as the flow resistance
model could sometimes lead to a fatal error in the flow solver; and in some cases a wrong
frequency limit could be used to warn for the occurrence of 3-D pressure waves when using
the transient solver.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: the computed results could not be exported to a BOSview file
after importing a model; merging of adjacent pipe elements could yield an invalid model;
data sets representing allowable limits were not shown in a Harmonics Plot when only one
harmonic was selected or was available; a Profile Plot could be shown when one or more
data sets were not available for one or more elements within the selected path; an error could
be raised when running a case with a non-default output data selection; the model viewer
could focus on the wrong location after inserting or altering an element; a crash could occur
when the undeformed model had been shown after a structural analysis; a crash could also
occur when inserting an element while the Show Field window was active; and the acoustic
length shown in the distance measurement tool and Show Field window did not include
the length correction for bends when an Acoustic Length was specified.

6
BOSpulse 5.1
• Improvement of the performance of the harmonic and transient solution methods. Depend-
ing on the model and the analysis setup, the execution time of an API 618 or API 674 analysis
may be halved.
• Addition of a new Continuation flow boundary condition. This boundary condition can be
used to introduce a geometrical discontinuity in the structural model, without introducing
a similar discontinuity in the flow model.
• Addition of so-called “virtual simulation cases” that make it possible to combine the results
from multiple scenarios in various ways. This can be used, among others, to determine the
response of complex systems involving multiple operating conditions.
• Addition of a new Custom Gas fluid type that enables you to specify the gas properties as a
function of both the temperature and the pressure.
• Addition of a so-called “PSD Assembly” that enables you to model Pulsation Suppression
Devices by specifying only the essential data describing the geometry, topology and prop-
erties of the PSD. BOSpulse will automatically generate the elements representing the PSD
in the piping model.
• Addition of new steady state data sets for non-pipe elements, including the pressure ratio
and pressure drop.
• Extension of the reciprocating equipment models with support for regulated valve operat-
ing modes. This makes it possible to completely specify the opening curve of a reciprocating
valve as function of the crank angle. The reciprocating compressor model now uses the isen-
tropic exponent associated with a gas when the polytropic exponent has not been specified
explicitly. If the isentropic exponent is not available, then the ratio of specific heats is used
instead.
• Support for displaying the nominal pipe size, the pipe schedule, the inner pipe diameter,
force pairs, acoustic element lengths, node elevations, and other node properties in the
model viewer. This feature is accessible by means of the “eye” icon above the model viewer
area.
• Extension of the model viewer with support for specifying the node and element label den-
sity; for adding captions to snapshots of the viewer; and for saving snapshots to image files.
• Addition of a new “Cases Plot” type that shows results as a function of the simulation cases
and/or parameter variations.
• Addition of new file interfaces for exporting BOSpulse models to formatted text files and to
STL files. The former produces files that are similar to the “Input Echo” report.
• Support for embedded dialog boxes. That is, some dialog boxes for entering model param-
eters are now embedded in the main BOSpulse window instead of being shown in separate
windows. This makes it possible to interact with the model viewer while the dialog box is
active.
• Improvement of the AGA-8 equation of state for gases: the AGA Report No. 8 Part 1 equa-
tion of state has been replaced by the AGA Report No. 8 Part 2 equation of state. The latter
involves the GERG-2008 method that covers a larger range of pressures and temperatures.
Moreover, the GERG-2008 has no restrictions on gas compositions and can therefore also be
used for single-component gases.
• Improvement of the wave speed calculation. The assumption that pipes have a thin wall in
comparison to their inner diameter has been dropped. Instead, a thick-walled formulation
is now used for calculating the effective wave speed within a pipe. The Heat Exchanger
element has been extended with support for the specification of a restraint type that is taken
into account when calculating the wave speed.

7
• Improvements to the structural solver interface: addition of new data sets and a new stan-
dard report for the assessment of the API 618 design vibration criteria; and the deformed
and undeformed model can now be shown simultaneously.
• Addition of new standard reports: the Fluid Properties report lists the calculated fluid prop-
erties per element; and the Reciprocating Power report lists the power required to drive
reciprocating equipment.
• Improvements to the user interface: support for file names and text containing non-Latin
characters; support for searching within report windows; extension of the Export Harmonic
Forces dialog box with support for selecting the force pairs for which the forces are to be ex-
ported; new dialog box for editing force pairs; shaking forces can be decomposed along the
global X, Y and Z axes when exporting to text data files and spreadsheets; the compressor
cylinder flange section of the compliance report is now also available as a separate standard
report; fields that refer to an element or node can be edited by selecting an element or node
in the model viewer; the element/node selection is retained when switching between the
Model and Scenarios tab pages; tee junctions can now be selected via the Select Nodes di-
alog; support for specifying nominal pipe diameters for symbolic parameters that are used
in the “Diameter” field; support for specifying the number format when generating a Cus-
tom Report; force data are no longer shown for PSDs for which no force calculation table
has been specified; improved navigation with the “tab” key when editing element or node
fields; multiple CAESAR II structural files can be imported simultaneously and together
with a CAESAR II neutral file; the Export Forces window only lists and exports force pairs
that exist in the structural model; and the orientation of pipe elements, and the direction of
flow data sets can be indicated by arrows in the model viewer. This can be enabled/disabled
through the model viewer settings window and the toolbar buttons in the Results tab page.
• Improvements to the flow solver: a more accurate calculation of the Darcy-Weisbach friction
factor in the transition regime between laminar and turbulent flow; and the steady state
solver will issue an error when the steady state conditions can not be determined.
• Extension of the steady state flow solver results: the density and wave speed results are
now available as data sets.
• Removal of the Compressor Flange section from the Harmonic Components dialog box. You
can now use several new data sets to assess the pressure pulsations at compressor cylinder
flanges.
• The Cavitation Index data set has been replaced by the Cavitation Coefficient data set that is
the reciprocal of the former. This data set is an optional data set for API 674 analyses using
the transient solution method.
• Addition of a cross-sectional flow area input parameter for PSD elements. This parameter
can be used, for instance, to adjust the internal volume to account for choke tubes within
the PSD.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: model parameters with a feet-inch length unit could not be
entered as symbolic parameters; the settings of a graph could be reset when zooming in
or out; the width of C-Beams was incorrectly rendered in the viewer; the time slider in a
Time History plot could be shown in a wrong style if the style of one of the data sets in the
plot was changed; large model coordinate offsets no longer result in rendering inaccuracies;
a fatal error could be raised when undoing a change in a model that involved symbolic
parameters in a fluid definition; and the label of a data set could mention a wrong scale
factor when exporting a plot to a data file.
• Bug fixes in the flow solver: the Terminal Point boundary condition type could not handle
negative gauge pressures; and an error could be raised in some rare occasions when the
element at a boundary was not a pipe element.
• Bug fix in the structural solver interface: series of elements of type Link were not handled
correctly, resulting in an error.

8
 • Retired support for the OpenGL 1.1 render pipeline.
• Retired support for the “Integrated Flow Rates” report.

BOSpulse 5.0.7
• Improvement to the structural solver interface: support for ANSYS version 2023 R2.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: a fatal error was raised in some rare occasions when undoing
a canceled action; the user interface could become unresponsive sometimes when editing a
large number of elements or nodes simultaneously; and saving a model after editing multi-
ple elements or nodes of different types with the option Show All Fields enabled sometimes
resulted in an invalid model file.

BOSpulse 5.0.6
• More robust handling of the results database. The database is opened in read/write mode
only while saving results. This reduces the chance that the database becomes corrupt.
• Bug fix in the flow solver: an error could be raised when a reciprocating element was con-
nected to multiple pipe elements, and when that reciprocating element was part of an inter-
stage system.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: opening another job using the Recent Files menu entry did
not offer the option to save any unsaved changes in the current job; the wrong material or
fluid properties were used in some rare occasions; specifying the speed of sound of a liquid
could change the bulk modulus definition; a model with custom defined fluids or materials
could in some rare occasions not be imported from a BOSpulse Script file; and exporting a
model to a CAESAR II file could create anchor restraints for Link elements in the original
model.

BOSpulse 5.0.5
• Improvement to the structural solver interface: support for ANSYS version 2023 R1.
• Bug fixes in the flow solver: an incorrect wave speed was calculated for some Pipe Restraint
types when an anisotropic pipe wall material was specified; and an incorrect wave speed
was calculated for Heat Exchanger elements when the Shell Side was selected.
• Bug fix in the API 674 compliance check: a wrong relief valve pressure could be used if the
relief valve pressure was defined as a symbolic parameter and if that parameter was varied
during an API 674 analysis.

• Bug fixes in the user interface: the buttons for showing and exporting reports in the Saved
Reports window could not be activated in most cases; and a fatal error could be raised on
rare occasions when generating custom reports.

BOSpulse 5.0.4
• A slight change in the calculation method for the API 618 allowable pressure pulsation
limit for low-pressure conditions. Previously a minimum absolute pressure of 3.5 bara was
only applied in the calculation of the fractional limit that was multiplied with the actual
average line pressure to obtain the absolute allowable limit. The new method calculates the
fractional limit in the same way but sets the average absolute line pressure to a minimum
of 3.5 bara in order to obtain the absolute allowable limit. This means that the new method
calculates an allowable pulsation limit that is higher than the limit that was calculated by the

9
 previous method for low-pressure conditions. The new method is thought to better reflect
the phrasing in the API 618 standard.
• Bug fix in the user interface: a fatal error could be raised in some rare occasions when
starting a flow/pulsation analysis.

• Bug fixes in the structural solver interface: an (incorrect) error could be raised for models
including heat exchangers and valves without an explicitly specified bore.

BOSpulse 5.0.3
• Change in the shaking force calculation method: the new method accounts for the wall
friction and pressure from the midpoint on a bend to the mid point on the opposite bend,
while the previous method covered the piping section from the end of a bend to the start
of the opposite bend. The new method is more accurate for bends with a large radius.
Note that the new calculation method may yield shaking forces that differ from the forces
calculated with the previous method, especially for short piping segments.
• Bug fixes in the structural solver interface: a fatal error could be raised when a beam element
was connected to a Cap node; and the Maximum Displacements data set was calculated
incorrectly if only a single harmonic was requested.

• Bug fixes in the user interface: the displacements in the model viewer were not updated
if the colors were disabled; a fatal error could be raised when using the TAB key to select
some types of input fields or when copying data into a non-editable table; the adjustment of
the acoustic length due to Cap nodes was not shown when using the distance measurement
tool; and the acoustic length for an element connected to a Cap node was still adjusted, even
if the acoustic length was explicitly specified.

• Improvement of the documentation: rephrase the Maximum Allowable Pressure Drop para-
graph in the manual to better convey the API 618 definition.

BOSpulse 5.0.2
• Bug fixes in the user interface: harmonic data set information did not always show the
current and global extrema of the selected data sets; and changes to an analysis containing
symbolic parameters where not applied properly.

• Extension of the CAESAR II file interface with support for CAESAR II version 13 (2022).

BOSpulse 5.0.1
• Bug fix in the transient and harmonic flow solvers: when using the ISO 5167 orifice cal-
culation method, an incorrect discharge coefficient could be used in a harmonic pulsation
analysis. Note that the steady state flow solver was not affected by this problem.
• Bug fix in the user interface: an incorrect error was raised when using the ISO 5167 orifice
calculation method and when explicitly specifying the inner pipe diameter.

BOSpulse 5.0
• New setup of the first two top-level tab pages in the user interface. The first tab page is now
titled “Model” and can be used to build and edit the piping model, including the boundary
conditions. This tab page implicitly operates on the main scenario. The second tab page is
still titled “Scenarios” but can no longer be used to edit the main scenario. This tab page
can be ignored when only the main scenario needs to be defined.

10
• A flow boundary condition is now an input parameter of a node instead of a node type.
You can also specify the color with which boundary conditions and restraints are rendered
in the 3-D viewer.
• Improvement of the Long Pipe flow boundary condition. It is now closer to a true anechoic
boundary condition and more stable than its previous implementation.
• Extension of the steady state analysis type with support for parameter studies. This enables
you to study how the steady state flow conditions are affected by varying one or more model
parameters.
• Addition of a new data set named Cavitation Time that indicates the maximum fraction of
time that the pressure is lower than the vapor pressure in each (pipe) element. Note that
this data set is only available for API 674 analyses.
• Addition of a new Cap node type. Nodes of this type adjust the acoustic length and volume
of the piping system according to the specified cap type and its geometry. In addition, Cap
nodes add mass to the system in structural analyses.
• Addition of a new Heat Exchanger element type that models the flow through shell and
tube heat exchangers. This element type can be used to model both the flow through the
shell and the flow through the tubes.
• Extension of the Orifice element with support for the ISO 5167 (2003) calculation method
and for multi-hole orifice plates.
• Improvements to the structural solver interface: addition of new data sets, including sev-
eral stress-related data sets, and a per-harmonic Vibration Speed RMS data set; the struc-
tural harmonic analysis type has been extended with a load case schedule that provides
more control over which combinations of API parameter variations, harmonics and struc-
tural frequencies are to be used in the analysis; support for specifying the output reduction
method to be used in harmonic analyses; the “Maximum Stress Report” has been renamed
to “Output Reduction Report” and now shows the maximum values and their locations for
each combination of API parameter variation and structural frequency variation; support
for specifying an additional mass at a node; support for specifying which data sets are to be
saved to the results database; and support for ANSYS version 2022 R2.
• Improvement to the pipe profile interface: support for specifying the length unit associated
with the pipe profile data.
• Improved the interaction between model changes and the results: structural results are no
longer invalidated by changing model parameters that only affect the flow model. Con-
versely, flow results are no longer invalidated by changing model parameters that only af-
fect the structural model.
• Improvements to the user interface: support for specifying multi-linear parameter sched-
ules; support for specifying an arbitrary area profile for a tank element; support for speci-
fying a gas pressure for a surge vessel element; support for specifying a minor loss or zeta
coefficient for valves; a new function for reversing the order of elements and nodes (replac-
ing the flip element function); addition of a Symbolic Parameters dialog box that enables
you to view and edit all symbolic parameters that have been defined in the model; the Run
tab page shows the progress of each simulation case in a graphical way; the number format
of the color palette is now configurable; support for quick access to recently opened model
files; support for specifying negative gauge pressures; fields of elements and nodes can be
copied in the Model and Scenarios tab pages; the New Job dialog box makes it possible
to specify more model parameters when creating a new model; addition of a new valve
configuration dialog box; and the export of models to BOSview has been improved.
• Improvements to the Profile Plot type: a profile plot can now show the locations of named
elements; more than three nodes can be specified to select a path; and the path finding
algorithm has been improved, as an incorrect path was found in some specific situations.

11
 • Addition of a new configuration window for reciprocating pumps. This window shows a
preview of the flow and the crank shaft torque, and is similar to the reciprocating compres-
sor configuration window.
• Addition of a reflection coefficient input parameter for Cap nodes. This coefficient can be
used to adjust the magnitude of the pressure waves that are reflected by a cap.
• Change in the reciprocating element types: these element types no longer support an av-
erage discharge pressure that is lower than the average suction pressure. This change im-
proves the robustness of the steady state flow solver.

• Bug fixes in the flow solver: Dead End flow boundary conditions can no longer be specified
at junction nodes (they can only be specified at nodes that are attached to a single element);
and the “Speed of Sound” input parameter of an AGA-8 gas definition was ignored.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: special characters, like < or >, used in entity names or
comments, could be displayed incorrectly and could break the format of reports; the Input
Echo report was not created for structural analyses; some fields and symbolic parameters
were not shown properly in the Input Echo report; activating the Escape or Enter key did not
cancel or apply changes in some situations; duplicated elements are offset along the vertical
axis rather than along the y-axis; the rotation angle of beam elements was not adjusted by a
transform (rotate, mirror) operation; and switching between OpenGL versions could break
some functions of the model viewer.

• Addition of an automatic, online check for available software updates. This check can be
performed manually through a new entry in the top-level Help menu.

BOSpulse 4.2.7
• Improved robustness of the steady state flow solver for models containing reciprocating
elements.

BOSpulse 4.2.6
• Bug fix in the flow solver: properties of bends could be inconsistently calculated when their
two legs did not have the same properties.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: the “Exclude from API” option associated with pipe elements
was not always taken into account when a custom report was generated; and an invalid tee
junction configuration could slip through the model check that is performed before running
an analysis.
• Bug fix in the structural solver interface: restraints with a zero stiffness of were applied as
rigid restraints instead of being ignored.

• Improvement to the structural solver interface: support for ANSYS version 2022 R1.

BOSpulse 4.2.5
• Bug fix in the structural solver interface: forces from different force pairs acting on the same
node could override each other if the direction of the force did not coincide with one of the
global axes.
• Bug fix in the PCF interface: an error could be raised when processing a Piping Component
File with a name containing non-alphabetic characters.

12
BOSpulse 4.2.4
• Changes to the CAESAR II file interface: elements are no longer reordered to avoid in-
consistencies between BOSpulse and CAESAR II models. A warning is now raised when
exporting a model with a topology that can not be handled by the CAESAR II structural
solver.
• Bug fix in the user interface: the results in a custom modal report could, in some cases, not
be sorted in the correct way.

BOSpulse 4.2.3
• Bug fixes in the CAESAR II file interface: bends specified on nodes with only one attached
pipe element could cause an error during the creation of a CAESAR II neutral file; and the
dynamic analysis setup file was not created when exporting the shaking forces to CAE-
SAR II.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: symbolic parameters could remain visible even when they
were no longer being used in a model; a negative crank angle offset could not be handled
correctly when showing the P-V and torque curves in the compressor configuration win-
dow; a fatal error could be raised in rare occasions when creating a min/max plot due to
the use of an uninitialized variable; and empty node names could be generated when break-
ing an element in a model with only non-numeric node names.

BOSpulse 4.2.2
• Bug fix in the structural solver interface: an incorrect total displacement could be calculated
for an analysis involving a sweep over the structural frequency.

BOSpulse 4.2.1
• Improvement to the PCF interface: an invalid component will no longer cause the entire
PCF to be skipped; only the component will be skipped. The PCF interface also reports
more detailed information about invalid components.
• Improvement to the user interface: the compressor configuration window will calculate
the Polytropic Exponent from the fluid properties if that exponent has not been specified
explicitly.

BOSpulse 4.2
• Bug fix in the structural solver interface: when multiple scenarios where associated with the
same structural, harmonic analysis, then the results could be erroneously marked as being
outdated.
• Improved robustness of the steady state solver by handling very small pipe elements in a
different way.
• Support for arbitrary, multi-dimensional parameter studies. This makes it possible to spec-
ify arbitrary values for selected symbolic parameters for each parameter variation. A new
configuration window simplifies the specification of the parameter values and provides vi-
sual feedback about the way that the symbolic parameters are varied.
• Improvements to the structural solver interface: support for ANSYS version 2021 R2; more
robust and efficient handling of ANSYS output files; a structural model may comprise mul-
tiple, disconnected parts provided that they are sufficiently restrained; flexibility factors

13
 associated with miter bends are now taken into account by the ANSYS solver; support
for specifying additional geometry fields for tee junctions; support for specifying the ax-
ial stiffness and stress intensification factor of the header and branch of a tee junction; a new
configuration window to specify and view the geometry fields, stiffnesses and stress inten-
sification factors associated with a tee junction; a new standard report named “Flexibility
and SSI Report” lists the flexibility factors, stiffnesses and sustained stress indices that have
been used in a structural analysis; and the “Maximum Stress Report” now also shows the
location where the maximum stresses and displacements occur.
• Extension of the reciprocating equipment models. The compressor element and bound-
ary condition model have gained support for stepless suction valve control. This makes it
possible to specify the flow capacity for a reciprocating compressor. The compressor and
pump element types have gained support for specifying different suction and discharge
valve properties. A new configuration window for reciprocating compressors can show a
preview of the flow, P-V diagram and crank shaft torque. This window replaces the P-V
diagram preview window.

• The Compressor Flange node type has been removed. Compressor flange nodes can now
be specified in the general scenario data input section. The target pressure associated with
a Compressor Flange node has been moved to the Terminal Node type.
• Support for rigid pipe elements. It is now possible to mark a pipe as being rigid in structural
analyses. It is also possible to specify the mass of a pipe element. The Flange element
type has been removed; elements of this type will be replaced by rigid pipe elements when
loading an older model file.
• Support for specifying a custom pressure pulsation limit when performing an API 618 or
API 674 analysis. In addition to the limit specified by the API standard, you can specify a
fixed limit of a limit equal to a fraction of the mean line pressure.

• Extension of the periodic flow and pressure boundary conditions with support for specify-
ing an optional phase shift.
• Improvements to the PCF interface: improved PCF import dialog box that provides a better
overview of the imported PCF files, and that provides better support for specifying pip-
ing specifications; support for importing tap connections; improved merging of adjacent
elements; and better support for importing components that are not explicitly recognised.
• Improvements to the CAESAR II file interface: when exporting a model, and when nec-
essary, elements are reordered to avoid element configurations at bends that can not be
handled by CAESAR II; support for importing hangers as vertical restraints; and improved
merging of adjacent elements.

• A new collection of validation cases that compare results computed by BOSpulsewith re-
sults obtained from various external sources. The validation models and results are de-
scribed in a validation report, accessible through the Help menu.
• The properties of the fluid types Gas, Ideal Gas, and Liquid Gas Mixture are now specified
at an absolute pressure instead of a gauge pressure.
• Improvements to the user interface: revised layout of the Piping tab page; support for built-
in element and node groups based on their fields; unspecified fields are now explicitly
shown when displaying element properties in the 3-D viewer; support for creating multiple
copies of a selected set of elements; support for showing the current cloud license key and
the current number of active users; support for defining steady state targets for elements
in addition to nodes; shaking forces are listed for force pairs instead of elements in custom
reports and in the Harmonic Components Window; support for updating the coordinates
of nodes connected by a restraint; and support for a new Rest restraint.

14
BOSpulse 4.1.4
• Bug fix in the transient flow solver: the initial flow rate associated with non-pipe elements
could be assigned the wrong sign in some very rare cases.
• Bug fix in all flow solvers: an error would be raised for units containing a spaces in their
label.
• Bug fix in the user interface: the groups “Pipes Included in API” and “PSDs Included in
API” were swapped in the Generate Custom Harmonics Report.
• Improvement of the structural solver interface: support for more ANSYS license types.
• Improvements to the user interface and documentation: report the shaking forces on a PSD
basis instead of an element basis when generating a custom report for the “PSDs Included in
API” group and when displaying the shaking forces in the Harmonic Components window;
improve the documentation related to shaking forces in general, and shaking forces asso-
ciated with PSDs in particular; and improve the documentation of the model parameters
associated with the PSD pressure drop calculation.
• Improvement to the 3-D viewer: pipe elements with a zero acoustic length are rendered
transparently when viewing harmonic data in the Results tab page.

BOSpulse 4.1.3
• Bug fix in the steady state and transient flow solvers: an incorrect pressure drop could be
computed at tee junctions for certain specific element and flow configurations.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: the Piping tab page could grab the focus when an element
group or a node group was deleted from the Scenarios tab page; a fatal error was raised
when the type of multiple analyses were changed; the force export settings were not prop-
erly saved to the model file, making it necessary to enter the same settings multiple times;
and (miter) bends connected to reducers were not rendered correctly when a non-unit di-
ameter multiplier was specified.
• Improvements to the structural solver interface: verification of ANSYS versions 2018 R19.0
to 2021 R1; and handling of a flipping issue of bending moments in the ELBOW290 element
in ANSYS versions before 2021 R1.

BOSpulse 4.1.2
• Bug fix in the harmonic solver: incorrect data could be displayed for lumped and very small
elements next to a dead end.
• Bug fix in the steady state solver: an error could be raised for compressor interstage models
involving closed valves.
• Bug fixes in the structural solver interface: an error was raised because the insulation prop-
erties where not properly copied from the adjacent pipe element when preparing a vessel
for a structural analysis; and a model could be marked as being made up of two or more
disconnected parts when those parts are joined by a “cnode” associated with restraints of
type Guide, Axial Stop, V or RV.
• Bug fixes in the CAESAR II file interface: when importing a neutral file, restraints with an
infinite stiffness could be assigned a very large stiffness instead of being marked as infinitely
stiff; and the correct unit conversion could in some cases not be applied to rotational stiffness
values.

15
 • Bug fixes in the user interface: node numbers with leading zeroes could be generated in rare
situations; the description of a simulation case was not updated when the description of the
associated scenario was modified; and some data sets were not rendered correctly at miter
bends.

• Improvement of the structural solver interface: reduce the size of the intermediate ANSYS
output file and speed up structural analyses with ANSYS; and improve some warning and
error messages.
• Improvement in the user interface: active elements are selected before overlapping inactive
elements in the 3-D viewer.

• New tutorial explaining the use of reciprocating elements in a compressor interstage system.

BOSpulse 4.1.1
• Bug fixes in the transient solver: the average node pressure was not computed correctly for
series of lumped elements; the flow rate direction was not set correctly in some cases; the av-
erage density instead of the discharge/suction density was used to compute the volumetric
flow rate when saving results for a reciprocating compressor element; and the orientation of
a pipe element was, in rare cases, not correctly taken into account during the computation
of the harmonic forces.

BOSpulse 4.1
• Bug fixes in the solver: improved calculation of the average gas density for surge vessels
and tanks in the case that the fluid in the piping system is a gas; a wrong pressure unit label
(gauge pressure instead of pressure) could be written to some solver reports; a node con-
nected to two non-pipe elements and at least one other element could, in some cases, result
in a flow grid with a different topology than the original model; and the minor losses associ-
ated with reducers were related to the average diameter instead of the minimum diameter.
The latter error could have a very small but detectable effect on the calculated pressure drop
over a reducer.
• Bug fix in the harmonic solver: it could use the wrong fluid density (suction instead of
discharge density, or the other way around) when converting the volumetric flow rate as-
sociated with a reciprocating pump or compressor element to a mass flow rate. This only
happened when the Transient Valve option was disabled.
• Bug fixes in the ANSYS structural solver interface: small numeric errors could lead to a set
of conflicting restraints saved to the ANSYS input file; and reducers could be divided into
smaller elements with slightly incorrect diameters.
• Bug fix in the CAESAR II file interface: the weight associated with a rigid element could be
converted to a mass in an incorrect way.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: an incorrect acoustic length could be calculated for tee junc-
tions with a specific topology; wrong minimum and maximum values could be stated in a
custom harmonic report; renumbering of nodes could sometimes confuse the user interface
so that some nodes seemed to be missing; the background color of the 3-D viewer was not
always set correctly; the 3-D viewer could raise a fatal memory error when rendering bends
in very rare occasions; a fatal error could be raised in some specific situations when the
creation of an element was undone; undo operations could lead to erroneous duplication
of symbolic parameters; and only half of the shaking force would be applied to a force pair
when exporting the shaking forces and when one of the nodes was not part of the structural
model. BOSpulse will now apply the total shaking force to the remaining node.

16
• The transient flow solver has been made substantially faster by applying a novel grid coars-
ening method. This means that the flow grid point spacing and the time step size are no
longer constant throughout the entire piping model; a larger grid point spacing and a larger
time step size are used for long pipeline sections, while a smaller grid point spacing and
time step size are used for smaller and more detailed pipeline sections. This can signifi-
cantly reduce the analysis time for models involving both small pipe elements and (very)
long pipe elements, and for models involving reducers.
• Support for the ASME B31J piping code in addition to the ASME B31.3 piping code. The
B31J piping code is increasingly used to calculate more accurate flexibility factors, sustain-
able stress indices and stress intensification factors for branch connections and specific types
of piping components and geometries. For additional flexibility BOSpulse makes it possi-
ble to specify the flexibility factors and stress intensification factors manually on a branch-
specific basis.
• Improved and extended structural analysis interface with support for defining insulation
layers; for specifying the stiffness of restraints; for specifying the finite element mesh re-
finement factor on an element-wise basis; and support for specifying the piping code to be
used when calculating flexibility factors and stress intensification factors. The structural
analysis interface has also become more efficient, especially when used in combination with
the ANSYS structural solver as BOSpulse is able to read the binary ANSYS results database
directly; there is no longer a need to use intermediate text output files. BOSpulse will now
issue a warning when an untested ANSYS version is being used.
• Improved reciprocating equipment models. The Phase Shift parameter has been renamed
to Crank Angle Offset. Flange nodes and Pulsation Suppression Devices can now refer to
both reciprocating compressor boundary nodes and elements. This makes it more straight-
forward to replace a reciprocating node (boundary condition) by an element.

• Automatic steady state tuning when the pressure is known at a compressor flange node but
not at the boundary of the piping system. You can now specify a target pressure for a com-
pressor flange node. When you do that, you also must add a so-called terminal point node
to the piping model. BOSpulse will then automatically determine the required pressure at
the terminal point node in such a way that the steady state pressure at the compressor flange
node matches the specified target pressure.

• Improvements to the CAESAR II file interface, including support for exporting the ambi-
ent temperature and fluid density to a neutral file; for exporting and importing insulation
layer data (material and thickness); for specifying the element type that is to be associated
with rigid elements when importing a neutral file; support for preserving CNODEs when
importing a neutral file; and support for the 2020 version of CAESAR II.

• Extension of the Piping Component File (PCF) interface with the ability to import restraints.
• More consistent model parameters for Flange elements. When no acoustic length is speci-
fied, the length of the element itself will be used. Previously the acoustic length would be
set to zero. The documentation of the Flange element type has also been improved.
More robust handling of Flange elements when preparing a model for a solver. Some warn-
ings have become errors, but this can be overruled by means of the new Lenient Checks
option. This option is enabled for existing models.
• More robust handling of very small and lumped elements in the harmonic flow solver. This
makes it less likely that the harmonic solver is not able to solve the harmonic flow equations.

• Improvement of the way in which the type of a node or element is changed in the main
scenario. When changing the type, BOSpulse now only propagates the modified fields to
the sub-scenarios. Fields that have not been modified remain the same in the sub-scenarios.
In previous versions BOSpulse would propagate all fields from the main scenario to the
sub-scenarios.

17
 • Many additional new features and improvements, including: support for exporting plots
containing data sets with different lengths; better organization of element, node and anal-
ysis types; more efficient color updates in the 3-D viewer; improved compatibility with
BOSfluids and BOSview; preservation of the node coordinates when saving a model con-
sisting of multiple, disconnected parts; support for showing a description of the selected
data set when using the Info button on the Results tab page; support for extracting all eigen-
modes within a specified frequency range when performing a modal analysis; and removal
of the Fluid parameter associated with surge vessels as the fluid properties are now obtained
from the adjacent (pipe) element.

BOSpulse 4.0.5
• Bug fix in the Reciprocating Pump element model: the fluid bulk modulus was not used cor-
rectly. This could lead to unrealistically large pressure pulsations in the piping system. The
length of a Reciprocating Pump element is no longer added to the attached pipe elements.
The convergence rate of the steady state solver has been improved for models containing
Reciprocating Pump elements.
• Improvement of the Reciprocating Compressor element: instead of specifying a single tem-
perature, you can now specify the suction and discharge temperatures separately; the ratio
of specific heats is now an optional input parameter that is obtained from the fluid prop-
erties if not specified; and the length of a Reciprocating Compressor element is no longer
added to the attached pipe elements.
• Bug fixes and improvements in the user interface: a fatal error could be raised when render-
ing a displacement field in some occasions; the “Show complex values” option did not work
in the harmonic and modal custom report dialog boxes; the resolution of time history plots
for harmonic output data has been improved; and the Polytropic Exponent input parameter
for the Reciprocating Compressor boundary condition is now a required input parameter.

BOSpulse 4.0.4
• Bug fix in the steady state solver: the wrong gas density could be calculated for Reciprocat-
ing Compressor elements that are part of an interstage compression system. The pressure
at the wrong node of the element could be used to update the gas density, resulting in an
incorrect steady state solution. This problem could only occur in interstage models.

• Bug fix in the user interface: an invalid node index could be used after a node had been
deleted, resulting in a fatal error being raised by the user interface.
• Improved convergence of the steady state solver for models involving Reciprocating Pump
elements.
• Improved handling of errors raised in the flow solvers.

BOSpulse 4.0.3
• Bug fix in the user interface: an error could be raised because the reference pressure is
missing for an AGA-8 fluid definition.

BOSpulse 4.0.2
• Bug fixes in the steady state and transient flow solvers: the minor losses associated with tee
junctions could be based on the wrong flow rate; the bend angle and associated minor loss
coefficient could be computed incorrectly at nodes where the element direction is reversed;

18
 and the transient solver could raise an error when a surge vessel is attached to a non-pipe
element.
• Note that the minor losses associated with tee junctions only affect the steady state or mean
flow rate; they do not affect flow and pressure fluctuations as the minor loss models are
based on steady state flow conditions.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: fix an error being raised when trying to create a profile plot
for an empty path; a graphical glitch could cause transformed elements not to be displayed
correctly; the range of an 2-D plot could be calculated incorrectly when the X-axis shows
integral numbers (as in a harmonic plot); the required material definitions where not al-
ways added to the piping model when the model is extended with another one; only the
main scenario could be exported to an ANSYS input file; an incorrect number of parameter
variations could be computed when the upper bound for a parameter is smaller than its
lower bound; the piping model could be rendered with active colors even when multiple
harmonic data sets are selected (it should be rendered inactive); and the specified pipe ma-
terial and fluid definitions where not added to the piping model when importing a pipe
profile file.
• Miscellaneous improvements: add support for specifying the maximum number of proces-
sors to be used per ANSYS job; fix a few small errors in the manual and add information
about mitered bends and tee junctions; and remove the reference pressure parameter from
AGA8 fluid definitions as that parameter is not required.

BOSpulse 4.0.1
• Bug fixes in the user interface: use of a material definition from the components database
for a beam element could result in a fatal error condition; the new reciprocating element
types were not available due to a license error; an error was raised when reading results
for a model including nodes of type tee junction; and add a section about reducers to the
manual.
• Improve the handling of errors in the flow solvers and make the output messages more
consistent.

BOSpulse 4.0
Version 4.0 marks a major update of BOSpulse. It brings many new features and significant im-
provements to existing features. Although not all changes are visible, they will help extending
and improving BOSpulse in the (near) future.

• Bug fix in the solver and user interface: the static and total pressure drop over Pulsation Sup-
pression Devices (PSDs) were not computed correctly when using the time-domain solver
and the harmonic solver, respectively.
• Support for running harmonic, structural analyses directly from BOSpulse using ANSYS as
the structural solver. BOSpulse also supports modeling the structural properties of a piping
model, including restraints and structural steel. This feature can significantly reduce the
total analysis time, reduce the scope for mistakes, and increase the accuracy of the analy-
sis as all parameter variations can automatically be taken into account. Future versions of
BOSpulse aim to add support for other structural solvers than ANSYS.
• New and more accurate and robust time-domain flow solver. BOSpulse 4.0 comes with
a completely rewritten transient solver that features many and significant improvements,
including support for running time-domain simulations on multiple processor cores and a
more accurate method for generating the flow grid.

19
 • Two new element types for modeling reciprocating compressors and pumps. In contrast to
the reciprocating boundary conditions, these element types explicitly model the dynamic
motion of the suction and discharge valves. In particular, they model how the dynamic
valve motion is affected by the pressure pulsations in the piping system. The reciprocating
compressor element make it possible to model interstage compressor systems without the
need for specifying a pressure boundary condition within the interstage system; the pres-
sure only needs to be specified at the inflow and outflow nodes.
• Support for displaying Pressure-Volume (P-V) diagrams associated with reciprocating equip-
ment.

• Support for multiple fluids in one model. Different fluids and/or different fluid properties
can be specified for different parts of a piping model. In particular, the fluid density may
vary throughout the model, and, when the fluid is a gas, the steady state solver uses an
equation of state to adjust the density according to the pressure and temperature.
• Support for reducers/expanders by a model that captures the gradual change in cross-
sectional area and the minor loss caused by flow contraction or expansion. The solvers
also take into account the minor losses associated with mitered bends and tee junctions.
• Decoupled scenarios and analyses; one analysis type can be used with multiple scenarios
and the other way around. Scenarios and analyses can be combined in cases for which
simulations can be run. Results are associated with cases instead of scenarios. Outdated
results are no longer deleted automatically and can still be viewed after making changes to
a model.
• New model selection mechanism. Each element can be explicitly included into or excluded
from the flow model and/or structural model. This replaces the use of elements of type
None.

• More powerful data visualization. The Results tab page has a new, more efficient layout and
provides more possibilities for comparing multiple cases and data sets. Graphs are embed-
ded in the Results tab page and can be popped out when more detail is required. The 3-D
viewer has been extended with support for displaying element properties. Harmonic data
sets for which phase information is available (so-called complex data sets) can de displayed
in the time domain too.
• Components database for managing fluids, materials and unit sets; more categories are to
be added in the future. The database enables re-use of components in different models and
by multiple people. The properties of (built-in) fluids can be displayed graphically.
• New rendering engine for smoother graphics and improved responsiveness of the user in-
terface when handling very large piping models.
• Many additional features and improvements, including: support for selecting the Z-axis
as the vertical axis; support for reversing the orientation of selected elements; support for
cloud license keys in addition to local license keys; improved handling of errors when vali-
dating a license; improved undo/redo operations; more detailed output reports; and many
more small improvements.

BOSpulse 3.1.5
• Bug fixes in the user interface: an error could occur when importing a CAESAR II model
containing expansion joints and the Export Forces feature could save a zero force for auto-
matically generated force pairs when an element of type None was located between a force
pair.
• Bug fixes in the harmonic solver: the minor loss coefficient was not applied correctly for
elements with a length comparable to or larger than the wavelength associated with the

20
 highest harmonic; the effective flow friction of an element with a zero acoustic length was
too low. The first error only has a significant effect if a large minor loss coefficient was
specified for a relatively long element. The second error only has a significant effect if a zero
acoustic length was specified for (very) long elements.

BOSpulse 3.1.4
• Bug fixes in the user interface: when performing a parameter study, the initial value could
not be larger than the final value; and after renumbering nodes with existing numbers,
nodes could temporarily disappear from the node list.
• Bug fix in the transient solver: a harmonic boundary condition with a non-zero phase angle
could result the wrong mean pressure or flow being used.

BOSpulse 3.1.3
• Bug fix in the solver interface: an error in counting the number of non-pipe elements could
lead to an error being thrown by the solver: “Maximum number of non-pipe elements ex-
ceeded”.

BOSpulse 3.1.2
• Report the correct acoustic length when using the distance measurement tool and when the
specified path contains one or more bends. Note that the correct acoustic length was and is
being used in the transient solver and the harmonic solver.
• Fix a crash when changing a node identifier. Also make sure that the bend specification is
properly taken into account when both the node identifier and the bend check status are
modified.

BOSpulse 3.1.1
• Correct the minimum stiffness used in the API 618 allowable shaking force compliance
check. The API 618 document contains a mistake resulting in a wrong unit conversion
factor being used.

BOSpulse 3.1
• Support for undoing (and redoing) changes to a model. This has made the “undelete ele-
ment” function redundant so that it has been removed.
• Support for automatically creating the tables containing the areas and node numbers that
are used to determine the shaking forces acting on Pulsation Suppression Devices (PSDs).
It is also possible to export the shaking forces by specifying a pairs of nodes on which the
shaking forces are to be applied.
• Support for defining gas/liquid properties as a function of the temperature. This is required
to use the correct wave speed in each pipe element if the temperature in a model varies
significantly.
• Support for defining gas properties using the procedure described in the AGA Report No. 8,
Part 1: “Thermodynamic Properties of Natural Gas and Related Gases; DETAIL and GROSS
Equations of State”, third edition, April 2017.

21
 • Support for exporting the shaking forces to Bentley AutoPipe. This makes it possibly to
perform a mechanical response study with AutoPipe using the shaking forces calculated by
BOSpulse.
• Support for a user-defined ambient pressure.

• Extension of the Periodic Flow and Periodic Pressure boundary conditions in with an op-
tional field that determines the frequency of the periodic boundary condition. This makes it
possible to apply a frequency sweep to a periodic boundary condition.
• Improved input for reciprocating equipment. The parameter Double Acting Factor has been
replaced by the parameter Operating Mode, and the parameter Piston Area has been re-
placed by the parameter Piston Diameter. It is also possible to specify a Rod Diameter and
a Load Condition.
• Support for automatic adjustment of the acoustic length of pipe elements at tee junctions.
The acoustic length is adjusted only if: the pipe is connected to one or two tee junctions;
the other elements connected to the tee junction are pipe elements and form a straight line
(180 degree angle); the other pipe elements have the same inner diameter; the angle between
the pipe and the header is at least 40 degrees; and the pipe protrudes at least one quarter of
its diameter from the header pipe.
• Support for displaying a Bill of Quantity that lists all components making up a pipeline
model.

• Addition of a separate “API 618 Static Pressure Drop Report” to the set of standard reports
to get quicker access to the table reporting the pressure drop over Pulsation Suppression
Devices.
• Improvements to and extensions of the user interface: support for specifying the job name
in a report header; support for viewing the mass flow rate; clarification of the use of the
minimum axial API support stiffness; improved custom reports in the case of a parameter
sweep; support for selecting pre-study allowable limits when performing an API 618 anal-
ysis; new Pipe Parameter report when using the Harmonic solution method; support for
merging elements of type PSD in the same way as elements of type Pipe; improved per-
formance when handling large models; support for saving a snapshot of the 3-D model to
the clipboard; and improved handling of numerical input when the system locale is not an
English language.
• Improvements to the CAESAR II file interface: correct handling of elements connected to
intermediate bend nodes in a CAESAR II model; handling of nozzles to prevent a model
being split into disconnected parts; and more robust handling of “cnodes”.

• Improvements to other file interfaces: reduce the chance that a model imported from a
Piping Component File is composed of disconnected parts; and expand references when
saving a model file as a text file so that one can easier manipulate the model with a text
editor or an external program.
• Bug fix in the user interface: the flow rate for a reciprocating boundary condition could be
computed incorrectly when a Double Acting Factor was specified.
• Bug fix in the harmonic solver: a zero, steady-state flow rate through a valve, orifice or
lumped element (with zero acoustic length) could lead to zero pressure pulsations in dead-
end branches in some situations.

BOSpulse 3.0.5
• Bug fix in the license manager: the license manager prevented some users from using the
harmonic solver.

22
BOSpulse 3.0.4
• Support for importing/exporting neutral files from/to CAESAR II version 10 (2018).
• Improvement in the user interface: the user specified value for the pipe Roughness is
checked before simulations are run to avoid unrealistic entries.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: an error was thrown when the final variation was specified
when exporting the shaking forces.

BOSpulse 3.0.3
• Improvement in the user interface: avoid compatibility problems with some graphics drivers.

BOSpulse 3.0.2
• Bug fix in the solver: the steady state solver could crash because of the use of a negative
array index. This happened only in very rare situations.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: the acoustic length, when set, could not be updated cor-
rectly when merging/breaking elements; bend nodes could be read incorrectly by the Pip-
ing Component File (PCF) interface; the Results tab could, in some cases, not be selected
while output results were available; and element of type None could erroneously be taken
into account when calculating minimum/maximum output values.
• Improvements in the user interface: reduce the time required to modify an element or node
selection when dealing with very large models; change the default file open directory so that
it no longer points to the installation directory; and extend the range of Piping Component
Files that can be imported.
• Improvements to the CAESAR II file interface: be consistent with CAESAR II in the way
that the “z-axis up” option is handled; and improve the way that bends are exported to
CAESAR II.

BOSpulse 3.0.1
• Improvements to the user interface: clarify the use of the minimum axial API support stiff-
ness; redo the model check when changing the selection of scenarios to be run; use the
correct symbols for degrees Celsius and Fahrenheit; and display a more comprehensible
error message when an invalid pipe schedule is specified.
• Improvement to the CAESAR II neutral file interface: more robust handling of “cnodes”.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: when exporting the shaking forces, the selected set of param-
eter variations could, in some cases, not be taken into account in a correct way; and adjacent
elements of type PSD could not be merged.
• Bug fix in the time domain solver: a node of type Long Pipe with a specified flow rate
could in some situations be handled as a Long Pipe with a specified pressure.

BOSpulse 3.0
• Support for a completely new harmonic solution method that calculates the pressure pulsa-
tion amplitudes (and phase angles) directly in the frequency domain. This new method is
dramatically faster than the transient solution method that calculates the pulsation ampli-
tudes in the time domain. Although the harmonic solution method is less accurate when the
pulsation amplitudes are large, it is ideal for a quick scan of a model to identify problematic
pipeline sections and frequencies.

23
 • Support for modeling pulsation suppression devices (PSDs) and additional API compli-
ance checks, including checks for the pressure pulsation amplitudes at compressor flanges;
checks for the maximum pressure drop across PSDs; and checks for shaking forces acting
on PSDs. The pulsation data that form the basis of these checks can be reviewed in graphs
and reports.
• Support for specifying an acoustic length for a pipe element. The lengths of non-pipe ele-
ments, such as valves and orifices, are automatically added to adjacent pipe elements when
calculating the pressure pulsations. This ensures that the calculated pulsations are based on
the correct acoustic lengths of the pipeline sections in a model.
• Support for running multiple scenarios on multiple processor cores. It is now also possi-
ble to view results for a scenario while the another scenario is still being processed. Both
changes significantly reduce the time that is spent waiting for results.
• New external file interfaces. Support has been added for importing pipeline models from
Piping Component Files (PCF) and from comma-separated (CSV) text files. The former can
be created by various CAD tools, and the latter can be created by spreadsheet programs and
geographic information systems, among others. The PCF interface can process a thousand
input files in a matter of seconds and performs some model optimizations and corrections
along the way.
• Improvements to the CAESAR II neutral file interface, including: support for CAESAR II
version 9; non-pipe elements get the same diameter and thickness as the adjacent pipe el-
ements when exporting to a neutral file; and improved handling of “cnodes” that are not
connected to elements when importing from a neutral file.
• Improvements to the user interface, including: layout adjustments so that the user interface
makes better use of the available screen estate, in particular when a model involves long
scenario and/or group names; support for copy/paste operations in tables; support for
changing the order of the scenarios; support for viewing and editing the coordinates of
nodes; and a better layout of API reports.
• Bug fix in the API assessment module: the wrong allowable value could be computed for
the shaking forces.

BOSpulse 2.0
• Support for parameter studies. It is now possible to study the effects of varying one or
more model parameters. Almost any model parameter can be varied. BOSpulse will run
a separate simulation for each parameter variation. To reduce the execution time, multiple
variations are processed in parallel on different processor cores. The Results tab has been
reworked to analyze the data obtained from all parameter variations. The standard API
reports take all variations into account when checking the results against the API allowable
values.
• Support for steady state analyses. It is now possible to define steady state scenarios. The
steady state results can be analyzed in the Results tab.
• Removed support for check valves as they are not used in API analyses, and they could
result in difficult to understand analysis results.
• Support for custom API reports. In addition to the standard API reports, one can create and
save custom API reports containing all or a specific selection of the analysis results. Using
a custom report one can, for instance, export the results to a spread sheet for further post
processing.
• Support for an API shaking force check. BOSpulse enables one to enter the number and
stiffness of the supports per pipe line section. These data are used to calculate the maximum
allowable shaking forces according to the API standard. The shaking forces can be displayed
in the results tab. They can also be saved to custom reports.

24
 • Improved harmonic plots. A harmonic plot shows the pressure pulsations or shaking forces
as function of the frequency for all harmonics and all parameter variations. A harmonic
plot also displays the maximum allowable pressure pulsation or shaking force. One can
save harmonic plots and export multiple plots to multiple image files.
• Coupling of reciprocating frequency to the API base frequency. By default, the operating
speed (frequency) of a reciprocating boundary condition will be equal to the API base fre-
quency.
• Improved model for reciprocating equipment. The model now applies a smoothing algo-
rithm that is based on the typical opening time of a pump/compressor valve. The result is
a more realistic flow curve.
• Better handling of force pairs. It is no longer necessary to define force pairs manually in
order to export the unbalanced forces. It is also not necessary anymore to define a node in
between the two nodes making up a force pair. All force pairs (user-defined and others) are
listed in a new report named “Force Pairs”.
• Support for entering nominal pipe sizes and pipe schedules. In particular, one may specify
a pipe schedule when specifying the thickness of a pipe.
• Improvements in the user interface, including: support for entering the dimensions of an
element by means of its length and its (relative) angles; support for selecting logically con-
nected chains of elements; support for deleting multiple scenarios with one action; more
detailed flow characteristic curves for standard valve types; more options when splitting an
element; and improved handling of the automatic bend radius. The latter is now based on
the nominal pipe size for normal-cast bends.
• Improvements in the CAESAR II file interface, including: better handling of “cnodes”; better
merging of adjacent pipe elements; and improved handling of node numbers.
• Various improvements in the solver, including: faster start-up of the solver; and an im-
proved “Input Echo” report.
• Bug fixes in the solver: a slightly wrong conversion factor could be used to convert between
head and pressure in the case that different temperatures were specified for different pipe
elements; the unbalanced forces could be calculated in a wrong way in some specific and
rare occasions; LongPipe boundary conditions with a specified pressure were not handled
correctly, leading to wrong results; and the minor loss coefficients could be applied in the
wrong way when a minor loss coefficient was specified for multiple, adjacent elements and
mesh optimization was turned on.

BOSpulse 1.1.3
• Add support for reading models created by ISOtracer, a new tool by DRG that greatly helps
converting iso-geometric drawings into a 3-D piping model. See www.isotracer.com for
more information.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: a floating point underflow exception could occur when read-
ing very small flow rates from the solver; some scenarios could not be deleted after import-
ing a model using the “Update Geometry” action.

BOSpulse 1.1.2
• Support for importing/exporting neutral files from/to CAESAR II version 8.
• Improved algorithm for finding the shortest path between two nodes. The old algorithm
could take a very long time for complicated models, causing BOSpulse to get stuck when
running a simulation.

25
 • Improved rendering of surge vessels in the 3-D viewer.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: the wrong settings could be applied to a saved plot when it
was being displayed; BOSpulse could crash when in a specific situation in which changes
were canceled and no fluid type had been set yet; warnings were issued for bend nodes that
are attached only to elements of type None; elements of type None could not be properly
selected in the 3-D viewer; and the user interface could become out of sync with some
internal data structures after importing a model.

BOSpulse 1.1.1
• Small improvements in the user interface: support for choosing different (default) view
points in the 3-D viewer; improved “add element” function in the Piping tab; automatic
adjustment of the zoom level in the 3-D viewer when adding elements to a model; and
support for running pulsation analyses in batch mode.

• Improved accuracy of the computed pressure pulsation amplitudes.

• Small improvements in the user manual. In particular, the sections about reciprocating
boundary conditions have seen some corrections and clarifications.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: the vapor pressure was not handled correctly in API compli-
ance checks involving liquids; bend elements with a large radius could disappear in the 3-D
viewer; table cells containing multi-line text were not properly updated after being edited;
and non-common material properties were assigned to non-pipe elements when exporting
a model to a CAESAR II neutral file.
• Bug fixes in the solver: user-defined force pairs could be handled incorrectly in some very
specific situations; and a transient pump/valve action could be ignored when multiple ac-
tions were specified at the same time and for the same element.

BOSpulse 1.1
• Change of the main layout. Instead of three, there are now four top-level tabs: Piping,
Scenarios, Solver and Results. The first tab is for building the piping model. The second
tab is for defining scenarios, boundary conditions and analysis properties. The third is for
running simulations, and the fourth is for viewing the computed results. The Scenarios
tab has a new layout to better handle models with many scenarios and scenarios with long
names.
• Extension of the reciprocating compressor boundary condition with support for specifying
the crank and rod length. The dead space volume parameter has been replaced by a clear-
ance volume parameter to better adhere to industry practices.

• Improvement execution time of the solver. Performing an API analysis can be significantly
faster than before due to some optimizations in the implementation of the solver.
• Improved pipe segmentation algorithm that results in a more accurate approximation of the
pipeline model. The pipe segmentation algorithm is an essential part of the flow solver that
affects the accuracy of the computed results. The default minimum element length has also
been reduced.

• Support for exporting the geometry of a model together with the computed results to a
file that can be viewed with BOSview. This is a new, stand-alone application that can be
obtained for free from Dynaflow Research Group and is aimed at improving the exchange
of information between consultants and their clients.

26
• Extension of the Pipe element type with a minor loss coefficient. This makes it possible
to specify an additional friction factor resulting from the specific geometry of the pipe or
connecting pipes. It can be used, for instance, to model the additional pressure loss that
occurs at a point where a pipe is connected to a reservoir.

• Improved valve configuration. It is now possible to specify the valve coefficient as a Cv or

Kv value, in addition to a Cd (discharge coefficient) value.
• Support for saving 2-D plots. All information for creating a 2-D plot can now be saved in
a model file, so that the plot can be quickly re-created after running a new simulation with
different parameters. Multiple plots can be exported to different files with a few actions. It
is also possible to select multiple nodes/elements when creating a 2-D plot, and to plot the
difference between the results at two nodes.
• Improved interaction between the selected element(s) in the Piping tab and the Scenarios
tab. Changing the element selection in the Scenarios tab will change the selected element in
the Piping tab. This also works in the other direction, provided that no element has been
selected in the Scenarios tab.
• Revision of the user manual. Many sections of the manual have been improved and some
parts have be re-written. The manual better reflects how BOSpulse works.
• Improved input and output capabilities. BOSpulse is better able to handle changes in its
model file format. That is, reading a model file that has been created by a newer version
of BOSpulse is less likely to result in an input error. The CAESAR II file interface has been
extended with an option to keep rigid elements instead of merging them with adjacent ele-
ments. It also supports neutral files created by CAESAR II version 7.0.
• Improved 3-D viewer. The viewer has been extended with a new Ruler tool that can be
used to measure the distance between two nodes and to measure the angle between two
elements. The internal implementation of the 3-D viewer has seen significant changes to
make it more efficient and to lay the foundation for advanced rendering techniques that are
viable with contemporary graphics processors. The new implementation has also fixed a
few minor rendering bugs in the viewer.
• Various interface improvements, including support for restoring the default settings of the
3-D viewer and of 2-D graphs; support for using the mouse scroll wheel to zoom into or
out of 2-D graphs; improved scaling of multiple curves in a 2-D plot; better handling of
elements of type None; better management of type-related element groups; and a close loop
function that computes the length of an element so that it closes a loop in the piping system.
The latter function is invoked automatically when creating an element between two nodes
of which the positions are known.

• Various new features and changes, including support for selecting nodes using flexible se-
lection criteria; for selecting multiple elements/nodes by dragging the mouse in the 3-D
viewer when the Scenarios tab is active; for duplicating a group of elements; for storing
additional information about a job, such as a description of the model and the project name;
for excluding pipe elements from an API check; for starting a simulation in any top-level tab
by pressing the F5 shortcut key; and for specifying an intermediate node when setting up a
profile plot. Some English units have been changed to better adhere to industry standards.
In addition, the flow rate unit in the metric system has been changed from m3 /s to m3 /h.
• Better error messages and warnings when running a simulation. All error messages and
warnings issued by the solver are now directly visible in the user interface; it is no longer
necessary to open an output report to figure out why the solver has aborted a simulation.
• Bug fixes in the user interface: the window-changed notification (shown in the window title
bar, among others) was not cleared properly when opening a new job; the units associated
with element, node and analysis parameters were not properly vertically aligned in some
cases; a graph was not scaled properly when it was sent to a printer; reading a table from

27
 a text file did not always work as expected; and the Apply Changes button sometimes was
disabled erroneously when a key was pressed while a table field had been selected.
• More bug fixes in the user interface: the incorrect temperature (zero Kelvin) for none-pipe
elements was saved to CAESAR II neutral files; the incorrect scaling factor could be applied
when saving a 2-D plot to a data file; the 3-D viewer could show gaps in the pipe line
model when the model includes long pipe elements; the 3-D viewer could show incorrect
colors when displaying the computed results; the incorrect element labels could be shown in
the Scenarios tab after renumbering the nodes; the wrong user-defined fluid type could be
shown in a sub-scenario when editing the fluid properties; copying an element in the Piping
tab did not work properly when the original and target element have the same type; and an
incorrect translation was applied after a rotate or mirror operation, leaving the transformed
elements in an unexpected place.
• Bug fix in the handling of force pairs. In some situations the incorrect nodes of a force pair
could be passed to the solver; instead of passing the specified nodes, the nodes before or
after could be passed to the solver.

• Bug fix in the bend radius calculation. For steel pipes, the pipe diameter was always
rounded to an integral number of inches to calculate the bend radius. This has been changed
so that the diameter is only rounded when it is smaller than 14 inch.

BOSpulse 1.0.2
• Support for arbitrary periodic pressure and flow rate boundary conditions. One period of
the pressure or flow rate can be entered as a piece-wise linear function of time.
• Various bug fixes in the user interface: a copied scenario could be rendered incorrectly in
the 3-D viewer when displayed for the first time; and the name of an element could not be
removed once it had a name.
• Bug fix in the model checker: no warning about a dead end was emitted when a node
is connected to an element of type None and a normal element. Note that the solver did
correctly treat the node as a dead end.

BOSpulse 1.0.1
• Better support for high-resolution displays.

• Improved handling of unknown element and node types when importing a model. Ele-
ments and nodes with unknown types are now placed in a group labeled “Unknown” so
that they are easier to identify.
• Bug fix in the analysis settings tab. When an analysis setting was changed in the main
scenario, unrelated analysis settings could be erroneously modified in other scenarios.

• Bug fix in the 3-D viewer: when the font size was changed, only the size of the element and
node labels was affected; the size of other fonts did not change.
• Bug fix in the pipe merge operation: two adjacent pipe elements could be merged even
when a third element was connected to the common node.

BOSpulse 1.0
• The initial version of BOSpulseis a spin-off from BOSfluids 4.6, a proven fluid flow solver
which has been on the market since 1995.

28