AixCAPE e.V.
Contact
Tel: +49 (241) 8097716
Fax: +49 (241) 8092325
Intzestr. 1
52072 Aachen
Germany
Project description: AixCAPE Shortcut Unit Operation
The objective of the project is to provide a distillation shortcut algorithm for non-ideal mixtures as a CAPE-OPEN compliant unit operation in order to simplify the
assessment of distillation sequences. The shortcut algorithms employed simplify the determination of feasibility and minimum energy demand of mixtures exhibiting non-ideal
behavior and were developed at the Chair for Process Systems Engineering at Aachen University. This project is carried out as a collaboration of AixCAPE together with
Atofina, BASF, and Degussa in order to assess the status of the shortcut algorithms developed at the university against industrially relevant problems and to provide the
algorithms in a form that allows their use as part of the daily work of an engineer.
A benefit of the CAPE-OPEN integration for the user is that manual data transfer is minimized by integrating the shortcut algorithms into the flowsheet of a CAPE-OPEN
compliant simulator. The simulator automatically iterates the mass balances including recycles as they usually occur in the distillation of mixtures exhibiting azeotropic
behavior. The definition of each separation step in a sequence is supported by the shortcut toolbox algorithms by providing a list of azeotropes occurring in the mixture
and determining the feasibility of the separation task.
Project description: IK-CAPE with CAPE-OPEN interfaces
In the late eighties, a consortium of German companies called IK-CAPE developed a specification of routines to calculate thermophysical properties in FORTRAN. An
implementation according to this specification was also developed and used in several in-house simulation codes and academic research projects. In a joint project
with Bayer Technology Services, AixCAPE has equipped this IK-CAPE package with a CAPE-OPEN thermodynamic interface to permit the use of the existing property data input
files in state-of-the-art simulation environments. Successful tests have been made with Aspen Plus, Pro/II, COCO, gPROMS, and Simulis Thermodynamics.
Benefits achieved
CAPE-OPEN provides an ideal basis for the projects described as it allows the algorithms to be used within a software environment that is widely available in chemical
engineering companies. Engineers can continue to work with the tools they are accustomed to, instead of having to be trained on new software. Further, the integration of
existing thermodynamic data and models is greatly simplified.
Other information
More information is available upon request.
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