Methods & Tools SIG re-commissioned

CO-LaN Management Board has decided today to re-commissioned the Methods & Tools Special Interest Group (SIG).

Dr Bill Barrett from US Environmental Protection Agency has been designated as leader for this SIG. Bill, recipient of the CAPE-OPEN Award 2008, has been active in CO-LaN for several years now, as software developer as well as instructor of CAPE-OPEN related courses in the US and Europe. Representatives from SimSci-Esscor, ProSim SA, AmsterCHEM and University of Trieste (Italy) have expressed their interest in participating to the SIG activities.

The Methods & Tools SIG generally aims at improving the integration and at expanding utilization of Computer-Aided Process Engineering (CAPE) applications within the enterprise through identification and resolution of existing cross-cutting issues with the CAPE-OPEN platform, develop mechanisms for use of CAPE within other application domains, and incorporate advances in information technology into the CAPE-OPEN platform.

The key responsibilities of the Methods & Tools SIG are:

• to resolve issues with the CAPE-OPEN common interface specifications
• to develop and maintain standards and protocols for incorporating advances in information technology within the CAPE-OPEN standards
• to identify novel uses of CAPE and to provide CAPE-OPEN standards for utilizing CAPE within these applications

The Methods & Tools SIG deliverables for 2010 are:

• Parameters: minimum level of parameter support in Process Modelling Environments and expansion of dimensionality concept
• Thermo version support: provide a means for Process Modelling Components and Process Modelling Environments to expose which version(s) of CAPE-OPEN Thermodynamic interfaces are supported
• Flowsheet Monitoring: review, revise and publish a specification document and prototypes for the CAPE-OPEN Flowsheet Monitoring interfaces

These actions should clean up some issues with existing interfaces as well as develop flowsheet monitoring.