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CAPE-OPEN UPDATE, Volume 9
CAPE-OPEN UPDATE is a publication of the CAPE-OPEN Laboratories Network (CO-LaN), a non-profit consortium for the development of
the CAPE-OPEN interface standard.
STAFF LISTING:
Kerry Irons, Editor
Editorial Board: Peter Banks, Bertrand Braunschweig, Celeste Colantonio, Ronald-Alexander Klein,Werner Merk, Hans Pingen, Michel Pons
Technical Support: Jens Schmidt
CONTENTS
Editorial
Latest News
Conferences and Meetings
-
ESCAPE 15 Conference - reserve your spot now!
-
CO-LaN Meeting in Como, Italy, 17-18 February, 2005
-
PSE 2006/ESCAPE 16 Conference - call for papers
Technical Article
CO-LaN BOD Meeting Minutes
-
Update on the Inner Workings of CO-LaN Leadership
User tips and current issues
=======================================================
EDITORIAL
Can You Believe It? Ten years of CAPE-OPEN!
Yes, it's been 10 years since the CAPE-OPEN concept was but a glimmer in the eyes of the likes
of Hans-Horst Mayer (BASF) and Peter Banks (BP). They met in 1994 in Snowmass, Colorado, USA
at a FOCAPD meeting. Peter Banks recalls that key people at BP had been thinking for some time about the value of having a plug and
play standard for process simulation. Peter thought that FOCAPD seemed like a good place
to discuss this concept with the process simulation community.
Unfortunately, it didn’t raise much interest at that time, but, as it turned out, it did raise
just enough. Hans-Horst, and by extension BASF, stood up and strongly supported it!
BP got support from the EU project PRIMA to submit a plug and play proposal to the EU’s Framework IV. At the same time,
the German IK-CAPE consortium was proposing to submit a very similar proposal as a result of Hans-Horst’s persuasion and
persistence in that organization. Both proposals were merged and after much
struggle, which was led by Siegfried Nagel of Bayer, eventually became known as
CAPE-OPEN. The leadership role passed to IFP and Bertrand Braunschweig in 1996. This was at a critical point in the campaign
to get the project approved by the EU, which culminated in the inauguration of EU CAPE-OPEN project in 1997.
By the end of the European CAPE-OPEN project in mid-1999, there had been a lot of progress,
though to many that progress did not seem nearly enough. Some
would claim that the only result of the effort was the "semi-interoperable"
mixer-splitter demo that AspenTech and Hyprotech produced and that was first demonstrated in public during the ESCAPE-9
conference in Budapest. In fact, RWTH Aachen, INPT Toulouse, Imperial College/PSE and IFP put
together a distributed process model with CheOps (RWTH), a gPROMS solver, a SMST package (INPT)
and a unit operations model from IFP. In addition, and of central importance, Version 0.9 of the CO standard was released -
a draft standard, but with key elements in place. So the doubters were wrong in the first instance, but
history would prove them wrong in spades. In fact there were three other huge results from the CAPE-OPEN project:
-
The Global CAPE-OPEN (GCO) project, which continued the efforts to develop a functional CAPE-OPEN standard, providing the 0.90
standard that was commercially implemented in Aspen Plus and HYSYS in late 1999 and early 2000. The work in CAPE-OPEN
showed those who believed that indeed, CO was possible.
-
The extensive groundwork done by the various work packages that prepared the way for the full implementation of the CO
standard in HYSYS and AspenPlus. This body of technical information continues to produce dividends even today.
-
Undeniable proof that a broad consortium of users, software developers, and academics could work together in common cause,
sort out their differences, and get something done!
The Global CAPE-OPEN project, running from July,1999 to March 2002,
funded by the European Commission and again led by IFP and Bertrand, iced the cake. Standing on the shoulders of the work done in
CAPE-OPEN and expanding to include participants from Japan and North America, GCO also delivered. Version 1.0 of the CO
standard, continued cooperation among all the players, and the CAPE-OPEN Laboratories Network (CO-LaN) all showed the challenge
had been met.
The CO interface standard is now the way to do interoperability in process simulation. A recent issue of Chemical Processing magazine has
highlighted the progress and the future. Progress continues as the CO-LaN Special Interest Groups (SIGs) address the needs
for improvement and expansion of the standard. More and more process software is CO compliant, so the value creation prospect
continues to expand. The CO-LaN continues to look after the maintenance and extension of the standard, with leadership passing
from IFP to Dow and Werner Merk in 2004.
As always, we owe a lot to those who have gone before. The summary above does not identify the many technical experts in the
software vendor companies, operating companies, and academic institutions, without whose expertise, cooperation and
considerable efforts none of this progress would have been possible. Their names are to be found on the specifications and
other technical documents listed on the CO-LaN website. Fortunately, many of these folks continue to contribute to "the
cause." The next time you get a chance, give them a hearty "thank you" for bringing us literally into the 21st century!
Kerry Irons, Editor
=======================================================
LATEST NEWS
DIPPR 801 Database Ready to Release CO Compliant Version
The first version of the CO compliant interface for the DIPPR 801 pure component database was
released for DIPPR internal testing on September 1st 2004. The DIPPR 801 compliant software
interface was produced by Virtual Materials Group based on the Open Interface Specification -
Physical Property Data Banks (PPDB), 22nd November 2001 and includes the following software interfaces.
*ICapePpdbRegister
This register knows the DIPPR 801 database and tells the clients that the database is accessible.
It is managed by the system administrator, not the client users.
*ICapePpdb
Used to explore the 801 database by finding compounds, dictionaries, database structure,
and bibliography.
*ICapePpdbTables
Used to extract data table topology and actual data from the 801 database using the CAPE-OPEN
defined tabular format.
*ICapePpdbModels
Used to extract information about models used in the 801 database as well as model
description and model parameters.
The interface was written in Microsoft Visual C++ Version 6.0 and it is COM compliant. The full
source code was released to DIPPR as well as the user's manual and a complete set of examples
showing how to use the interface using Visual Basic.
Marco Satyro, Virtual Materials Group, is a
key contact on this development effort.
Contact Ashok Dewan, the new
DIPPR executive director for more
details (ashok.dewan@shell.com).
============================================================================
ProSim Releases Simulis® Thermodynamics
- a CAPE-OPEN compliant thermophysical calculation server
Toulouse, France, November 25, 2004
ProSim, the French simulation and optimization software provider, announces the release of Simulis®
Thermodynamics, a unique thermophysical calculation server used to enhance the quality and
the reliability of simulation calculations.
Simulis® Thermodynamics enables engineers to easily access ProSim’s thermodynamic package,
widely recognized as one of the most reliable and complete. It includes over 300 functions to
calculate transfer, thermodynamic and equilibrium properties, a large number of proven models and
a standard database of over 1700 pure components. Additional private models and component
databases can also be integrated. Simulis® Thermodynamics also provides useful features such as
graphical visualization of properties, experimental data regression, phase envelope curve
plotting, petroleum cut properties estimations, etc.
Simulis® Thermodynamics architecture follows a component-oriented approach and
is based on the Microsoft® COM/DCOM middleware. It can be easily integrated into any application
that supports this technology (MS Excel®, Matlab®, C++, Delphi (Pascal Object), Fortran…).
Also complying with the CAPE-OPEN standard through the thermodynamic plug and thermodynamic socket, Simulis®
Thermodynamics provides complete integration capabilities with third-party simulation software
that respect the CAPE-OPEN standard. Furthermore, any application that integrates Simulis® Thermodynamics
automatically inherits its CAPE-OPEN compliance.
The user can create "Property Packages" that include these interoperability and integration
capabilities. This ensures that expertise will be reliably disseminated throughout the
company and that engineers will use consistent data to run calculation.
Simulis® Thermodynamics can be purchased online from ProSim's web site
(
http://www.prosim.net).
For more information please visit:
http://www.prosim.net.
About ProSim
ProSim is an independent company, founded in 1989, with its headquarter in Labège (Toulouse –
France). The company provides state of the art simulation and optimization software that allows
process industries to increase their efficiency and their return on investment. ProSim solutions
are designed for applications in the chemical, the refining, the gas treatment and the specialties
chemical industries as well as in the pharmaceutical, the food processing and the energy
industries. Its activities also comprise engineering process consulting and custom software development.
ProSim solutions are used to improve process design, increase plant efficiency and reduce their
impact on environment. Thanks to long term partnerships with major research centres and to
substantial investment in R&D, ProSim continuously develops innovative software and has
become a recognised player on the international market.
The success of the company comes from the efficiency and the robustness of the solutions and
of the calculation packages it proposes, but also from the quality of the services it
provides.
The expertise and the know-how of ProSim personnel covers vast domains, including thermodynamics, physico-chemical
phenomenon modelling, process simulation, energy integration, optimization techniques, numerical methods, software
architecture, and GUI development.
ProSim is active in 43 countries around the world, with over 450 customers among which major
actors like Air Liquide, Akzo Nobel, Alfa Laval, Atofina, Braskem, Ciba, Cognis, EDF, Linde,
Pharmacia, Praxair, Schering, Sintef, Sanofi-Synthelabo, Technip, Total and Wacker.
Contact : Gilles HAMEURY
ProSim SA
Stratège Bâtiment A
BP 2738
F-31312 LABEGE Cedex
FRANCE
Tél.: +33 (0)5 62 88 24 30
Fax: +33 (0)5 62 88 24 39
e-mail : info@prosim.net
============================================================================
HTRI Releases CO Compliant Xchanger® Suite 4.0
In November of 2004, Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI) released version 4.0 of their
Xchanger Suite® product. In addition to adding modules for fired heaters, jacketed pipe, and
hairpin exchangers, version 4.0 features a CAPE-OPEN 1.0 interface. This interface allows
users of CAPE-OPEN compliant process simulators to embed shell-and-tube, air-cooled, or
plate-and-frame exchanger operations in their flowsheets. At runtime, these embedded unit
operations will access the rigorous calculations of the HTRI exchanger modules. The CAPE-OPEN
interface allows transparent access to the full HTRI Xchanger Suite interface for specification
of exchanger geometry and examination of detailed output reports, graphs, and drawings.
At the time of release, HTRI had successfully tested this interface with Aspen Plus® 12.1
and HYSYS® 3.2. For more information contact HTRI at Support@HTRI.net or visit the
HTRI web site at www.htri-net.
=======================================================
Aspen-Fluent Integration Software Wins 2004 R&D 100 Award
Fluent Inc., the world leader in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), recently won a prestigious
2004 R&D 100 Award for the novel integration of two best-in-class simulation software packages. The integrated
simulation packages, used by many engineers in the process industries, are Aspen Plus®, process flowsheet modeling
software from Aspen Technology, and FLUENT®, CFD modeling software from Fluent Inc. The
primary goal of the integration is to combine high-fidelity equipment modeling with plant-wide process modeling to
enable rapid assessment of innovative new plants involving unique equipment (e.g. fuel cells, gasifiers, complex
reactors). The interface enables a comprehensive assessment of how all equipment items work together
in a process by allowing detailed fluid mechanics models to plug into the overall flowsheet.
Process industries face the challenge of designing chemical, oil/gas, and power plants to operate efficiently and with
near-zero emissions, while performing profitably. The Aspen Plus-FLUENT Integration Toolkit couples process
simulation and computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based equipment models for improved analysis, design, and plant
optimization.
The Toolkit combines two commercial simulation systems by using CAPE-OPEN interfaces: Aspen
Plus, a process modeling software for the chemical, pharmaceutical, and power industries, and FLUENT,
a CFD software for detailed flow analysis of process equipment. Competitive technologies are
based on university software or research-oriented, non-commercial endeavors. The benefits of an
integration based on commercial products include wider breadth of capabilities, and enhanced
product security. Another advantage is the potential to bring the technology more quickly
to market.
This technology breakthrough enables engineers to conduct process simulations with both a
scope and an accuracy never seen before. The toolkit will accelerate innovation, reduce capital costs, improve product
yields, reduce energy consumption and reduce emissions. The Aspen Plus – FLUENT integration toolkit
is expected to have a high impact on a wide variety of industrial applications throughout the
process industries, including power generation, chemicals and polymers.
Fluent Inc. worked closely with Stephen Zitney at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)
in West Virginia under a US Department of Energy cooperative agreement to develop and
demonstrate this integrated piece
of software. The software is now
available commercially. “This
Award is the result of an
unprecedented collaboration
between NETL, ALSTOM Power Plant
Laboratories, Aspen Technology
Inc, K. Joseph Cleetus and Igor
Lapshin at West Virginia
University, and Fluent Inc.,”
says Dr. Madhava Syamlal of
Fluent, the project leader, “We
believe that it paves the way for
more accurate simulations of
complex process / power plants as
hardware and software
technologies grow ever more
powerful in the next 10 years.”
The R&D 100 Awards, hosted by R&D
Magazine, have been running for
over 40 years. The aim of the
Awards is to select the 100 most
technologically significant new
products introduced into the
marketplace during the year from
the many nominations received
from around the world. Previous
winners of the R&D 100 Award have
included Polacolor Film (1963),
the Halogen Lamp (1974), the Fax
Machine (1975), Liquid Crystal
Displays (1980), the Nicoderm
Antismoking Patch (1992) and Lab
on a Chip technologies (1996) to
name a few. An independent
judging panel of consultants and
academics along with the editor
of the magazine chose the winning
entries. Details of this year’s
winners were revealed in the
September edition of the magazine
(www.rdmag.com).
An Awards ceremony was conducted
in Chicago on October 14 th.
Fluent is the world's largest
provider of computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) software and
consulting services. Fluent's
software is used for simulation,
visualization, and analysis of
fluid flow, heat and mass
transfer, and chemical reactions.
It is a vital part of the
computer-aided engineering (CAE)
process for companies around the
world and is deployed in nearly
every manufacturing industry.
Using Fluent's software, product
development, design and research
engineers build virtual
prototypes and simulate the
performance of proposed and
existing designs, allowing them
to improve design quality while
reducing cost and speeding time
to market. Fluent's corporate
headquarters is located in
Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA, with
offices in Belgium, England,
France, Germany, India, Italy,
Japan and Sweden. Its CFD
software is also available around
the world through joint ventures,
partnerships, and distributors in
Korea, Australia, Brazil, China,
Taiwan, the Czech Republic,
Middle East, and most European
countries.
=======================================================
Conferences and Meetings
ESCAPE 15 Conference
The ESCAPE (European Symposium on
Computer Aided Process
Engineering) series brings the
latest innovations and
achievements by leading
professionals from the industrial
and academic communities. The
series serves as a forum for
engineers, scientists/
researchers, managers, and
students from academia and
industry to present and discuss
progress being made in the area
of CAPE. The two latest ESCAPE
symposia were organised in
Finland (2003) and Portugal
(2004).
CAPE refers to computer aided
methods, algorithms, and
techniques related to process and
product engineering. The main
theme for ESCAPE 15 is
Integrated Approaches in CAPE for
Sustainable Development.
Papers were accepted in
September, 2004 and the final
programme will be announced in
April, 2005. The conference is
in Barcelona, Spain, 29 May
through 1 June, 2005. The
technical programme involves five
main themes dealing with issues
emerging from scientific
developments, integrated
knowledge, and technology
transfer. Industrial case
studies illustrating CAPE
applications are encouraged. The
five themes are:
Computing Methods for CAPE
-
Large Scale Algebraic Systems
-
Differential and DAE Systems
-
PDE/CFD
-
Optimisation Techniques
Modelling and Simulation
-
Molecular Modelling
-
Reaction Kinetics
-
Modelling Frameworks
-
Model
Tuning/Discrimination/Verification
-
Multi-scale Modelling
Process and Product Design
-
Process Synthesis
-
Process Intensification
-
Utility Integration
-
Equipment and Process Design
-
Product Synthesis & Design
Process Operation and Control
-
Constrained Resource Planning &
Scheduling
-
Process Monitoring & Data
Reconciliation
-
Model Based Control
-
Real Time Optimisation
-
Batch and Hybrid Processes
-
Supply Chain Management &
Optimisation
Integrated Approaches in CAPE
-
Integrated Process & Product
Design
-
Life Cycle Modelling
-
Systems Integration
-
Integration in Supply Chain
Management
To register for ESCAPE 15, please
go to http://www.ub.es/escape15/escape15.htm
All accepted papers will be
published, after review, in the
CD-ROM congress proceedings.
Those recommended by the
Scientific Committee and
satisfying all published
requirements (deadlines and
format) would be also included in
a volume of the book series on
Computer Aided Chemical
Engineering, published by
Elsevier Science B.V.
[www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/BS_CCE/description#description]
Selected papers could be
published subsequently in a
special issue of the journal
Computers & Chemical Engineering
[www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/349/description#description
For more information, visit the
ESCAPE 15 web site (http://www.ub.es/escape15/escape15.htm)
or contact the Conference
Secretariat:
Dept. Enginyeria Química.
Facultat de Química
C/ Martí i Franquès, 1. 6ª planta
E08028 Barcelona (SPAIN)
Tf.: +34 93 402 90 13
Fax: +34 93 402 12 91
e-mail:
escape15@angel.qui.ub.es
=======================================================
CO-LaN Annual Meeting - 17-18
February, Como, Italy
The CO-LaN will celebrate the
10th anniversary of CAPE-OPEN
(CO) on February 17th-18th, 2005
during its annual meeting in
Como, Italy. A CAPE-OPEN
interoperability showcase and an
interoperability workshop will
take place on Friday February
18th.
The showcase will provide
demonstrations of leading
interoperable software components
using the CO standard. During
the workshop, developers of
CO-compliant Process Modelling
Environments (PMEs) and of
Process Modelling Components (PMCs)
will have access to the best
world specialists in CO
interfacing technology, including
the set of CO-LaN approved
consultancy providers.
Exchanges will proceed in an
informal way, so as to maximise
time and resources devoted to
technical subjects:
-
implementation tricks
-
remaining interoperability
issues
-
use of testers and wizards
-
middleware and
language-specific aspects (COM,
CORBA, .NET, VB, C++,
Delphi...)
-
etc.
End users will have possibilities
to play around with CO PMCs, PMEs
and development environments in
order to understand what's "under
the hood of CAPE-OPEN"
Join us as a provider or consumer
of CO technology for what
promises to be a very informative
and productive workshop! Provide
us your feedback on this event.
For more information, please
contact CO-LaN President, Werner
Merk at
wmerk@dow.com
Showcase and Workshop Sessions
CAPE-OPEN Interoperability
Showcase (11.00 – 12.30 14.00 -
17.30 Feb 17th)
The objective of the Showcase is
to celebrate the progress that
has been made in achieving
commercial interoperability via
the CAPE-OPEN standard. The
emphasis we want is on
demonstration as well as
presentation and the emphasis in
the demonstration is on
interoperability rather than
functionality. We are also
interested in experiences in
implementing the standard.
The format is to have half hour
slots with additional time (up to
15 minutes) for discussion. A
video projector will be
available.
CAPE-OPEN Interoperability
Workshop (9.00 – 12.30 13.30 –
16.00 Feb 18th)
The objectives of the Workshop
are:
-
To provide the opportunity for
users to try using CO-compliant
components within commercial
PMEs.
-
To provide the opportunity for
developers to try their
CO-compliant components with a
range of commercial PMEs.
-
To provide expert advice on
CO-compliance matters to both
users and developers.
-
To show training material on
the mechanics of achieving
CO-compliance.
PME vendors who wish to
participate should provide
laptops with their PME installed
to allow users/developers to
achieve the above objectives. If
other equipment is needed, prior
arrangements must be made.
=======================================================
PSE 2006/ESCAPE 16 Conference -
call for papers
The ESCAPE (European Symposium on
Computer Aided Process
Engineering) series brings the
latest innovations and
achievements by leading
professionals from the industrial
and academic communities. The
series serves as a forum for
engineers, scientists/
researchers, managers, and
students from academia and
industry to present and discuss
progress being made in the area
of CAPE. PSE 2006/ESCAPE 16 is
the second joint event with the
triennial PSE (Process Systems
Engineering) conference series.
The conference will be in
Gramisch-Partenkirchen in the
German Bavarian Alps, 9 July
through 14 July, 2006. The
technical programme involves six
main themes dealing with issues
emerging from scientific
developments, integrated
knowledge, and technology
transfer. Industrial case
studies illustrating CAPE
applications are encouraged. The
six themes are:
-
Modelling and Numerical Methods
-
Product and Process Design
-
Operations and Control
-
Biological Systems
-
Infrastructure Systems
-
Business Decision Support
To submit a one page extended
abstract, please go to http://www.dechema.de/pseescape.
-
July 1, 2005 - extended
abstracts due
-
September 15, 2005 invitations
for full papers issued
-
December 15, 2005 - invited
full papers due
-
March 15, 2006 - paper
acceptance
All accepted papers will be
published in an edited set of
volumes distributed to conference
participants. Extended versions
of selected papers will be
published in a special issue of
Computers and Chemical
Engineering.
The conference is co-chaired by
Wolfgang Marquardt, RWTH Aachen
University and Costas Pantelides,
Process Systems Enterprise Ltd.
and Imperial College London.
For more information, please
visit
http://www.dechema.de/pseescape
or contact the Conference
Secretariat:
DECHEMA e.V.
Ms. Claudia Martz
Theodor-Heuss-Allee 25
60486 Frankfurt a.M./D
Phone: +49-69-7564-129
Fax: +49-69-7564-176
=====================================================
CO-LaN BOD Meeting Minutes
CAPE-OPEN Laboratories Network - Management Board Meeting
28 September 2004. ATOFINA Technical Center, Lyon, France
Management Board members present:Ronald-Alexander Klein, Peter Banks, Werner Merk, Kerry Irons (part-time by phone), Bertrand Braunschweig, Hans Pingen, Michel Pons
- Membership: Protechsoft have applied to become an associate member. This has been endorsed by the Board. Several other companies and organizations are
considering joining the CO-LaN. BOD members are in discussion with them to confirm.
- Consultancy Service: The CO-LaN List of Components to be supported under Consultancy Service Agreements was updated during the meeting.
- Feedback from US EPA Workshop: The session attendance was high (20+) and participant discussions showed that they were better informed about CAPE-OPEN than
anticipated and desired detailed training, rather than just a general introduction to the CO concept. Since detailed training is not the business of CO-LaN, at
the insistence of the vendors, we have to discuss how to facilitate its provision in future CO days. All EPA workshop delegates provided feedback and it is clear
that we have a core of good presentations for future CO days. EPA were pleased with the event and it will encourage them to make their own software compliant.
- Future Dissemination Activities Plans & Proposals:
- ESCAPE 15 – A paper by Michel Pons on the CO-LaN Consultancy Service.
- Modelling of Complex Processes, Houston March 05 – A paper by Michel Pons on CO examples.
- Journals - The first CAPE-OPEN article to be published in a national chemical engineering journal is about to be submitted in the Netherlands by Hans
Pingen. Other articles will be submitted in the UK.
- Training – In view of the experience at the EPA event, a generic framework for CO training is planned. There are two target audiences: software developers
and end users. We need a summary of these objectives as a basis for discussion with approved consultancy providers and other software suppliers.
- SIG Activities
- Thermodynamics - AspenTech’s Type Library installer is substantially complete, but some details remain to be resolved.
- Unit - Pascal Roux has prepared a proposal for a modification to the dynamic extension of the Unit spec.
- Interoperability - A Focus Group meeting at BP Sunbury has produced some proposals to improve the interoperability exercises. The main proposal concerns the
development of a dynamic data reporting tool to assist with debugging interoperability problems. The hope is that this tool can be demonstrated in Como.
CAPE-OPEN Laboratories Network Management Board Meeting
17 June 2004. BASF, Ludwigshafen, Germany
- Management Board members present: Ronald-Alexander Klein, Peter Banks, Werner Merk, Kerry Irons (part-time by phone), Bertrand Braunschweig,
Hans Pingen, Celeste Colantonio, Michel Pons
- Membership: Air Liquide has agreed to join as a full member. The Board approved the application. Carnegie Mellon University has already been approved as an
Associate member.
- Contracts/Services: The Consultancy Service Providers contract has been signed and has already been used to assist AixCAPE with their Shortcut Toolbox.
A secrecy agreement was quickly signed between AspenTech and AixCAPE, which can be used as a template for future
applications. It enabled the work to be carried out without a physical meeting being needed.
- Dissemination: The following shows the dissemination activities currently planned:
- ESCAPE 15 – Important to encourage academics to credit CO properly, where appropriate. Celeste Colantonio will contact Prof Marquardt.
- AspenWorld 2004 -
- Michel Pons is preparing a paper in the Open Standards track
- SolidSim is in the Steady-State Users track>
- WCCE 2005 - Bertrand Braunschweig co-ordinating the New Computational & Numerical Strategies track. Celeste Colantonio is proposing a paper
and IFP/RSI are presenting on simulation on a cluster
- US EPA Workshop - being held on 24/25th August in Cincinnati, with a pre-meeting with EPA on 23rd. Bertrand Braunschweig, Michel
Pons, Kerry Irons and Ben Keeping (PSE) conducting the meeting, with AspenTech and SimSci also sending representatives. Notification on the workshop will
be sent out as soon as possible, using AspenTech, CAST and EPA distribution lists. Formal announcement will be made by SAIC.
Key EPA contact is Bill Barrett.
- FOCAPD - Prof. Marquardt is presenting and it would be helpful if he would mention the AixCAPE Shortcut Toolbox. Bertrand Braunschweig will contact him
and Prof. Pantelides, who is also presenting.
- Journals - Articles should be submitted to national chemical engineering journals in an attempt to reach a wider audience. A pilot will be
tried in TCE in the UK. A draft will be circulated to the Board before submission.
- Training - Jean-Pierre Belaud’s course will be run again this year. It would be valuable if other Universities would run similar courses or
summer schools. No actions were agreed on this topic.
- SIG Activities
- Thermodynamics
- Version 1.1 of the Standard has been extended for solids and is being prototyped by Technical University Hamburg-Harburg. Feedback is awaited.
- The Board agreed that version 1.1 should be prepared for issue without the solids extension, since it represented a worthwhile improvement over 1.0.
- The issue of Type Library management was raised. AspenTech have produced a Type Library installer, but this has yet to be agreed by all. The
problem of incompatible implementations is causing interoperability issues and the Thermo SIG agreed to take the lead in resolving it.
- RSI have discovered a multi-threading problem with Multiflash. This is an IT, rather than thermodynamic, problem.
- Unit
- Fantoft is implementing a dynamic unit in D-SPICE, which should be ready by end August.
- RSI has implemented the thermo interface in a dynamic unit.
- Both companies are implementing both PME and PMC facilities.
- PSE will not be implementing a CO dynamic unit in 2004.
- Will use experience with gPROMS to assist RSI with INDISS conversion to CO-compliance.
- VTT want to create an EO dynamic unit
- Save & Restore methods dropped in version 1.0 in favour of COM methods.
- Paper in preparation for 7th World Congress in Chemical Engineering
- Interoperability
- PRO II testing of the version 7.0 beta will be done in Total in mid-July. Reports indicate that it solves many of the problems of the previous
version.
- A problem identified by AixCAPE with Testers again raised the general problem of how to keep the Testers up-to-date. This
will be discussed at the next meeting, as already indicated.
- The need for an Interface Reporting Tool has already been identified. A meeting has been arranged at BP with Michael Halloran to produce a draft
functional specification, as a result of his extensive experience in debugging CO components. This draft will be circulated for refinement by the
rest of the SIG. In parallel, AixCAPE have indicated an interest in producing such a tool, after reading about it in the last CO Update.
- Website
- Jörg Köller from Adduce GmbH was unable to attend, but he submitted an estimate for carrying out a variety of maintenance and development
activities on the website.
- Werner Merk has identified an alternative company that appears to offer a more cost-effective web hosting service. A decision will be reached at the next BOD
meeting.
- The current system was chosen because it apparently allowed simple input and editing by all members of the Management Board. However, this has not
happened for various reasons and the alternative of having a single webmaster was discussed.
- A Task Force (Bertrand Braunschweig, Werner Merk & Jens Schmidt) was appointed to look at the best way forward.
- In view of the difficulties of migrating current website content to a new system, it was agreed to extend the Adduce contract to the end of November.
- Werner Merk will request the current content on CD from Adduce and see if the site can be cleaned up as part of the regular maintenance payment.
- Phone Conferences and Next Meetings
The next Management Board meeting is scheduled for Lyon on September 27/28th 2004.
The next phone conference will be on Friday July 16th at 4pm German time.
The next General Meeting, which coincides with the 10th anniversary of the birth of CAPE-OPEN, will be in February 2005 and is currently planned
to be at Lake Como in Italy.
The Board expressed its thanks to BASF for hosting the current meeting in Ludwigshafen.
=======================================================
USER TIPS
Remember to visit the CO-LaN web site (www.colan.org then Standard Specification) to better understand both the method and the opportunity of
implementing CO standards. If you are a CAPE software developer, you will find CO testers and the CO standards documentation. If you are a CAPE software user, you
will find guidance on the use of CAPE tools in a CO-compliant environment. There is a great deal of information on the web site to guide you and offer insight.
Feel free to contact a CO-LaN member to help you focus your activities. These people can answer questions, discuss the philosophy of CO standards, direct you to CO
standards experts, and give you a glimpse of current and future activities.
=======================================================
CURRENT ISSUES
The CO-LaN Special Interest Groups (SIGs), are up and running to refine existing standards, expand them as needed, and define
new standards. The current SIGs, SIG leaders, and current focus areas are:
- INTEROPERABILITY - Peter Banks, BP (peter.banks@which.net). Interoperability Support for testing software interoperability.
- THERMODYNAMICS - Jens Schmidt, Dow (jsschmidt@dow.com). For implementation, maintenance, and management of existing interfaces.
Expansion into polymers and solids.
- UNIT OPERATIONS - Celeste Colantonio, Shell Chemical (celeste.colantonio@shell.com).
For implementation, maintenance, and management of existing interfaces. Expansion into dynamics.
======================================================
BACK ISSUES OF CAPE-OPEN UPDATE
You can view back issues of CAPE-OPEN UPDATE on the CO-LaN web site - please go to
CO Update Issues.
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COMING EVENTS, CO-LaN PRESS RELEASES AND OTHER CURRENT NEWS
Visit http://colan then click News for the latest information!
CO tours are designed to show an organisation's technical professionals and technical leaders how to implement CO standards for their CAPE. Feel
free to request one for your organisation.
Wizards are now developed for Unit Operations and Thermodynamics and are available through AspenTech/Hyprotech, and
through the CO-LaN web site.
The CO COSE (CAPE-OPEN Simulation Executive) tester is now ready and available on the CO-LaN web site.
=======================================================
CAPE-OPEN Update Subscription
If you want to «subscribe» or «unsubscribe» CAPE-OPEN Update, please send an email to
technologyofficer@colan.org with subscribe or unsubscribe as subject, respectively. If you need to contact the CO-LaN about
the distribution list (if you have trouble unsubscribing or have questions about the list itself), please contact
webmaster@colan.org
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