 |  Plant Design and Economics for Chemical Engineers, 5/e Max S. Peters,
University of Colorado
Klaus Timmerhaus,
University of Colorado, Boulder
Ronald E. West,
University of Colorado, Boulder
Software Use in Process Design
Chapter OverviewA
s with all other aspects of engineering as well as those in everyday living,
computer software use and utilization are now an ingrained and indispensable
part of process design and economic evaluation. Computers ease and enhance
the ability of the design engineer to carry out preexisting tasks, allowing for expansion
on previously manual tasks, as well as facilitate previously impossible tasks that have
now become part of the process design and evaluation process.
In the very first steps of the development process, computerized databases, research
results, and electronic versions of traditional publications aid in the selection of
appropriate reactions and raw materials to determine potential chemical processes that
provide the desired product. Computers are also useful whenever experimentation is
required, to plan, run, and analyze the experiments. Software can then be used to generate,
evaluate, and select from the best process flow diagrams. Process simulation
software is then utilized in generating process flow diagrams based on the selected
process flowsheets. These simulations, perhaps the most emphasized aspect of software
use in the design process, allow for very accurate simulation of the process over
a wide range of operating conditions and scenarios. The process simulations for the
candidate chemical processes can then be examined under a wide range of conditions
to ensure safety and operability. The simulations, so accurate that some processes
bypass the traditional pilot-plant stage of process design, can then be used to evaluate
the economics of the process using economic evaluation software. Computerized
optimization of the process is then also possible using either dedicated optimization
software or combinations of non-optimization-specific software. Once the process
components and operating conditions are established, the physical arrangement of the
process can also be evaluated and optimized. Finally, the schematics, drawings, and all the necessary planning aspects for constructing the process can be generated using
computers. All of these aspects of software in process design and evaluation are
displayed in Fig. 5-1.
The use of software also extends to the less obvious parts of process design and
evaluation. These include word processors that greatly ease and enhance all aspects of
writing, communication software that facilitates quick and effective communications,
and any number of mathematical evaluation software programs that aid calculation
and numerical analysis. These types of generic software do not play critical roles in the
process design and evaluation, yet they are in many ways just as integral as the software
specifically intended for process design and development.
Correct understanding, selection, use, and evaluation of software in process and
economic evaluation begins with an examination of the structure of software. This reveals
the major software functions that form the basis for the software, and forms the basis
for the subsequent selection, use, and evaluation of the software. Next, software is selected to assist in carrying out design and economic evaluation tasks. The software is then
implemented. These results are then evaluated for accuracy, including examinations to
ensure that they are the result of proper software use. |
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education