CO-LaN welcomes the initiative of adding GAMS to the list of modellers suitable to create a CAPE-OPEN Unit Operation.
The link goes through Microsoft Excel and Visual Basic in a rather complex exchange of files. The easiest step in the linkage could well be the creation of a CAPE-OPEN Unit Operation in Visual Basic, using the Wizard provided by CO-LaN.
Compared to other links to modellers (gPROMS, Scilab, Microsoft Excel, MOSAIC, Matlab), the sequence may look more complicated. The authors recognize that a mix of computer science and process engineering skills is necessary in their case. They state that “the generalized automation is practically unfeasible because there are a lot of diverse individual cases“.
CO-LaN is less pessimistic. Much depends on what is meant by “general automation“. Experiences with models of Unit Operations developed in MATLAB are steadily growing in numbers, either starting from scratch or re-using an existing MATLAB model of a stand-alone Unit Operation. If the move from a MATLAB stand-alone model to a Unit Operation embedded in a process simulator requires some analysis and modifications of the model, no really complex situations have been reported.