The aim of this work was to develop an experimental tool to perform flow-sheeting tasks throughout the course of chemical process design. Such design proceeds in a hierarchical manner increasing the amount of detail in the description of the plant, and, correspondingly, in the mathematical models used to describe the plant. The models range from the simplest overall mass balance to rigorous unit models, and the calculations required in the course of a design may include the modelling of the complete plant or any of its constituent parts at any level of detail between these two extremes. Object oriented programming has been used to represent the hierarchy of units required throughout a hierarchical design. A flexible modelling tool requires that models compatible with both the designer's intention and the context of the design are created. Sets of equations are defined in a generic form independent of process units with their selection as part of a model being dependent on the function and context of the unit being modelled. The expansion of the generic equation descriptions is achieved with reference to the structure of the unit, e.g. number of inlets and outlets, while the context of an equation determines the form of the equation to be applied, e.g. ideal or non-ideal behaviour. Equations are, therefore, represented as relations between a process item and its structural and contextual properties. An increase in modelling flexibility is obtained by allowing the designer to interact with generated models. Different sets of equations can be selected within constraints imposed by the system. At a lower level, terms in individual equations can be modified for particular applications. In chemical process design, many different analyses are performed. To demonstrate the application of different tools to a central model, the modelling system has been incorporated within a process synthesis framework. The application of the system to simple design case studies is described.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:652775 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Hutton, Douglas |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/15084 |
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