Chemical Engineering October 2016 - 26

Dassault Systemes Biovia
los, marketing director with Process
Systems Enterprise (PSE; London,
England; www.psenterprise.com).
" The mobile technology world is finally
filtering through to the process
industry, with end users being provided
with capabilities to easily generate
apps that hide the complexity
of the underlying model from users.
Often, the latter are 'non-modeling'
users - operators, operations and
planning, purchasing and R&D personnel
- who simply need to perform
a specific calculation without
worrying about the underlying physics
and chemistry. "
As a result, he says, PSE is working
with major customers to roll
out an app capability that will allow
them to generate an app from any
of gPROMs (the company's modeling
and simulation product) model
- large or small, simple or complex
- for distribution to selected users
within the organization.
And, simulation provider Comsol
(Boston, Mass.; www.comsol.com),
also offers support for custom app
development in the latest version of
its LiveLink for Solidworks software
geometry. The latest release of Comsol
Multiphysics provides simulation
experts with capabilities for building
custom simulation applications. The
software integrates highly productive
model building, app design and the
deployment tools that allow simulation
apps to be easily run by users
anywhere. About 50 new app examples
are included in the Application
Libraries, including membrane dialysis,
water treatment, thermoelectric
cooling, heat exchangers, pressure
vessels and more.
" The offering of apps means that
chemical engineers who want to
make a change to optimize production
can use these simple apps to
look at what happens if they change
this parameter or that one, " explains
Ed Fontes, chief technology officer
with Comsol. " The value comes in
having the tool accessible to perform
quick calculations, check the status,
look at and share the results of potential
changes. "
He continues: " Whether you are
using process simulation software
that can model the whole plant or
packages that are more detailed for
26
FIGURE 3. Materials Studio is a complete modeling and simulation environment designed to allow researchers
in materials science and chemistry to predict and understand the relationships of a material's
atomic and molecular structure with its properties and behavior
the design of a specific process or
process step in the plant, having an
app with a very simple user interface
allows more people to study, understand
and optimize the process. "
Experimenting with parameters
" The ability to easily model and
simulate is essential for quickly optimizing
a plant or process when parameters
must change, " says Comsol's
Fontes. " In many continuous
processes, manufactures have to
change production parameters according
to raw material prices, utility
cost or increases and decreases in
production yield. Simplified modeling
and simulation tools can be
used for that. "
Biovia's Doyle agrees that easierto-use,
integrated modeling and
simulation software allows processors
to experiment with changing
parameters and find and implement
the most efficient scenario before
making actual changes. " For example,
in the [petroleum] refining industry,
the incoming chemical feed may
change dramatically based on oil
prices, availability and quality, which
necessitates changes that may
upset the limits on the chemistry of
the process and the stability of the
process, " he says. However, Doyle
adds, processors can use simulation
tools like Bovia's Materials Studio
(Figure 3) to understand a range
of possible chemistries and possible
reactions that might occur when
something in the process changes. "
Optimizing a process via this type
of modern environment allows processors
to build the best-case scenario
for operating the plant, even
under changing conditions.
More complex capabilities
While improved interfaces, features
and the introduction of apps are putting
simulation tools in the hands of
more personnel in an effort to optimize
the ever-changing chemical facility,
the addition of complex capabilities
also allows processors to perform
more detailed tasks, generating improvements
in operational efficiencies.
First-generation process engineering
simulations were based
upon hand-generated calculations
and Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
that were based upon basic engineering
design and empirical data,
says Ravindra Aglave, director,
chemical process, with CD-adapco
(Melville, N.Y.;
www.cd-adapco.
com). As time progressed, he continues,
the second generation of
process simulation included flow
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Chemical Engineering October 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering October 2016
