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Chemical Engineering vocabulary · Scale-Up and Process Development

Process simulation

Meaning in chemical engineering, with examples

nounCommon term

In chemical engineering, process simulation means: Using software to build a computer model of a process, with its equipment, streams and thermodynamics, in order to calculate balances, size equipment and test changes.

In Turkish: proses simülasyonu, proses benzetimi

How it is used

Used in design, debottlenecking, optimization and training. Common tools include Aspen Plus, Aspen HYSYS, CHEMCAD and the free DWSIM. Engineers build, run, converge and validate a simulation against plant data. Steady-state and dynamic simulations are both common.

Example sentences

  1. The process simulation predicts 99.2% purity, but the plant only reaches 98.5%.

  2. Before buying a new exchanger, let's test the idea in the process simulation.

Common collocations

  • steady-state simulation
  • dynamic simulation
  • simulation model
  • the simulation won't converge
  • validate the model
  • design basisThe agreed set of data and assumptions that a plant design is based on, such as capacity, feed and product specifications, site conditions and design margins.
  • vapor-liquid equilibriumThe state in which a liquid and its vapor exist together with no net change, each with a fixed composition. It is the basis for designing distillation and flash separations.
  • mass balanceA calculation based on the rule that mass is not created or destroyed: everything that goes into a system must come out, react or build up inside it.
  • debottleneckingIncreasing a plant's capacity by finding and removing the equipment limits that stop it from producing more, instead of building a completely new unit.
  • steady stateThe condition in which temperatures, pressures, flows and compositions at every point in a process stay constant over time.

More terms: Scale-Up and Process Development

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