ASPEN industrial processes

To conclude our examples of Aspen Dynamics simulation of tubular reactor systems, we study a very important industrial process for the production of methanol from synthesis... 

An indepth evaluation of the fFeld was afforded by the ASPEN project at MIT sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy. The project was started June 1, 1976 and is entitled, "Computer-Aided Industrial Process Modeling". Its quarterly and annual reports are available from the National Technical Information Service ( ). 

ASPEN Advanced Capabilities for Modeling and Simulation of Industrial Processes... 

The paper concludes by presenting an example problem showing how ASPEN is used to model a typical industrial process. 

AspenTech has developed and applied quantitative cost-benefit analysis for engineering systems, including applied thermodynamics. The analysis, provided by Aspen Value Process (AVP), is a collaborative process yielding multi-level, broad commitment for business process changes enabled by software solutions. A key outcome of AVP is the customers validation of the estimated value. The financial information is highly sensitive and consequently there are no published cases available. Here, we present the basic approach and give typical quantitative assessment results. One could either carry out an extrapolation of this analysis to assess the industry-wide benefits (as is done below), or, alternatively, carry out a series of these assessments with specific producers. 

ASPEN Project—a large computer program developed with DOE support as a tool to simulate proposed or existing Industrial processes. Firms (48 so far) commit 15,000- 25,000 at MIT over two years, for which MIT trains their personnel In the use of ASPEN and make available the MIT computer to work real problems of the firm, and to assist In Installing ASPEN on an in-house computer if desired. 

Regarding the potential commercial use of millistructured reactors, one of the main aspects to be considered is its possible integration in industrial processes. In this context, not only the design of the reactor but also the way in which it interacts with the different equipment linked to it in terms of mass and heat balances should be taken into account. For the latter purpose, process simulation software such as Aspen HYSYS, Aspen Plus, PROMAX, UNISIM, and/or... 

Four detailed case studies of realistically complex industrial-scale processes are discussed in this book. Models of three of these have been developed by Aspen Technology and Hyprotech in their commercial simulators and are available directly from the vendors. These models may be obtained electronically from the Web sites www.aspentec.com and www.hyprotech.com. We appreciate the efforts expended by these companies in making these case studies available to students and engineers. The methods developed in this book are independent of the simulation software used to model the plant. 

In this study the feasibility of implementing ceramic membranes on an industrial scale in the styrene production process is treated. Therefore, a model has been set up in the flowsheeting package ASPEN PLUS , which describes a styrene process production plant. Some modelling has been done with different types of membrane reactors in different reactor section configurations to investigate the influence on the performance of the production of styrene. 

In another industrial cooperation with the German company Schwermetall [956], we realized an integrator that collects data from automation systems of production processes in a centralized repository. The data are grouped in a way that for each product leaving the factory its production history is clearly visible. As central repository, Aspen Batch.21 [514] is used. Data sources include different databases, such as those of the process information management system (PIMS) Aspen InfoPlus.21 [515] and some proprietary automation solutions. 

Six major process simulators are widely used in the chemical process industries today. These are ASPEN PLUS, BATCH PLUS and HYSYS.Plant (Aspen Technology, Inc.), PRO/n (Simulation Sciences, Inc.), CHEMCAD (ChemStations, Inc.), and SUPERPRO DESIGNER (Intelligen, Inc.). In this book and the associated multimedia CD-ROM, coverage is provided of ASPEN PLUS and HYSYS.Plant, which are the two most widely used process simulators. It should be mentioned that once the principles of process simulation are understood, it is a relatively easy matter to switch from one simulator to another. 

Widely distributed software packages like ASPEN+ [75] and SPEEDUP [76] make stationary and instationary process simulations available for many engineers. An extensive summary of this subject is given in a book edited by Schuler [77]. A pioneering book about process flowsheeting has been written by Westerberg et al. [78]. In Germany the DIVA [77, 79] simulator for instationary simulation of complete chemical plants is in industrial use. 

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