(114b) Integrating a Proprietary Simulation Tool into a Commercial Process Simulator

Integrating a proprietary simulation tool into
a commercial process simulator

Ralf Notz¹⁾, Torsten Katz¹⁾,
Jens Schwärzli¹⁾, Agnes Dittel¹⁾, Kailee Fujimoto²⁾,
Rafael Rocha³⁾, Aubrey Kelm ³⁾

¹⁾ BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany

²⁾ BASF Corporation, Houston, Texas, United
States of America

³⁾ KBR inc., Houston,
Texas, United States of America

When undertaking the upfront design of a production
plant, data must be shared between multiple engineering tools, typically
manually. Automation which enables data to be effectively transferred between these
tools decreases engineering work hours while increasing quality.

The first step in the design process involves
simulating the plant configuration in a process modeling environment (PME),
wherein numerous unit operations are connected by material streams and/or
energy streams. The result of the process simulation is the heat and material
balance for all material and energy streams, which is the basis of technical
data sheets for equipment. If both steps are carried out within one PME, the
generation of technical datasheets may be partly or fully automated. However, when
simulation models of special unit operations are modeled best by in-house or
proprietary simulation tools, the workflow typically requires manual transfer
of data between these tools and the PME. This procedure is inefficient, due to
the time and resources required to manually transfer the necessary data. It
also introduces risk of transcription error, which can lead to inconsistencies
in the heat and material balance.

This paper illustrates how the CAPE-OPEN
interface can be used to embed a gas treatment model into a PME to facilitate
an engineering workflow. This embedding allows data to flow seamlessly between a
PME and proprietary simulation tool so that the user is able
to produce a complete heat and material balance. In the inevitable case
of changes in operating conditions or design parameters, the connectivity
allows updated data to be automatically reflected in all connected downstream
documents, further enhancing efficiency. The result is a savings in time and effort
and facilitates effective work-sharing between offices worldwide.