Experiences on dynamic simulation software in chemical engineering education

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Abstract

Commercial process simulators are increasing interest in the chemical engineer education. In this paper, the use of commercial dynamic simulation software, D-SPICE® and K-Spice®, for three different chemical engineering courses is described and discussed. The courses cover the following topics: basic chemical engineering, operability and safety analysis and process control. User experiences from both teachers and students are presented. The benefits of dynamic simulation as an additional teaching tool are discussed and summarized. The experiences confirm that commercial dynamic simulators provide realistic training and can be successfully integrated into undergraduate and graduate teaching, laboratory courses and research.

Highlights

► Realistic training with commercial simulators. ► Process operation and control. ► Input to HAZOP.

Introduction

Integrating dynamic simulation into the chemical engineering curriculum has aroused considerable interest due to the increasing use of simulators in industry for process design, control, training and operational support. Simple dynamic simulation models, implemented in platforms such as Matlab/Simulink, are widely used, and have been used for decades in research and teaching (Luyben, 1990, Stephanopoulos, 1984). These models are often idealized and are too often focused exclusively on process control. On the other hand, simulation exercises that use realistic, commercial dynamic simulation software allows students to interact with a realistic simulation of an actual process using a user interface that resembles a plant operator interface. Such a system would prepare students better for industrial practice (Edgar et al., 2006, Wankat, 2002).

Edgar et al. (2006) report extensive use of simulation in control education, especially for graduate courses. Various process examples were given, including distillation columns, chemical reactors, pH processes, microelectronics, and as emerging simulation area, biological processes. The preferred platform for the simulation case studies was Matlab/Simulink, but other commercial simulation packages, such as Hysys, were reported. Wankat (2002) describes use of ASPEN PLUS software for a basic chemical engineering course in separation techniques. The simulator was used for the various laboratory exercises according to a modified problem based learning approach. Jimènez et al., 2002, Jimènez et al., 2004 have used Hysys.Plant® software for the simulation tasks of a chemical engineering laboratory course. The main objective of the course was to teach process dynamics and control, start up and shut down operations with examples on a continuous distillation process and a batch fermentation process. Jimènez et al. (2004) conclude that the experimentation not only improves students’ understanding of theory but also promotes development of soft skills, such as team work and problem solving.

During the last decade virtual laboratories, i.e. web-accessed simulators, have become increasingly popular in chemical engineering education. The main advantage of virtual labs is that students can run the simulations independently on their location, whereas many of the commercial simulators lack interactive capabilities and must be used a specific location, i.e. at the university (Martin-Villalba et al., 2008). Klein and Wozny (2006) describe a real laboratory distillation system with a web-based process control system (ABB Freelance 2000™). Fraser et al. (2006) have used web-accessed distillation column model in HYSYS simulation software as an example in the third year chemical engineering course. Rafael et al. (2007) describe a MATLAB-based distillation column model that is used in chemical engineering course for tutorial classes and home studies. In Rasteiro et al. (2009) the future plan of the course on integrating this simulated distillation column with laboratory demonstration column is briefly described. The online functionality is planned with Matlab, Octave and FORTRAN. Martin-Villalba et al. (2008) have combined virtual laboratory platforms Easy Java Simulations and Sysquake with Modelica/Dymola modeling and simulation software. The virtual laboratory was used for control studies on a heat exchanger, a boiler and a batch chemical reactor. Babich and Mavrommatis (2009) discuss the combination of virtual experiments and real laboratory work for an iron-making process course, where the virtual laboratory was implemented using the online Visual simulation Model (VSM) software. A large EU project called Library of Labs (2011) provides various virtual laboratories and remote experiments for physics, mathematics, chemistry, engineering and computer sciences. Chemical engineering virtual laboratories include examples on non-ideal reactors, and process dynamics and control.

The principles and features of commercial dynamic simulators are described in a review by Cameron et al. (2002). Since then, the scale and size of facilities that can be simulated in real-time has grown and realistic simulations of large processing facilities can be run on standard office computers. The commercial simulation tools are characterized by (1) high-fidelity non-ideal models of unit operations, (2) models of the mechanical and thermal dynamics of valves, vessels and piping and (3) detailed emulations of commercial control algorithms. These features allow a modern commercial dynamic simulator to act as a credible replica of a real process. Operating companies routinely use these simulators to train operators and engineers. There is also much to be gained in allowing students to interact with these “virtual plants”, especially when the virtual plant can be related to a real pilot plant.

In this paper integration of a realistic dynamic simulation into three different chemical engineering courses is presented. The simulation tasks and the three different models running on the D-SPICE® and K-Spice® family of products are described in detail. The experiences on the commercial dynamic simulation software including both teachers and students feedback are analyzed and discussed.

Section snippets

Undergraduate coursework: basics in chemical engineering at Oslo University College

The course is the first basic course in chemical engineering for BSc level students, giving 15 ECTS credit points. The topics of the course covers heat transfer, mass transfer and unit operations. Dynamic simulation is used for both binary distillation and three phase separation, in this paper the details of the binary distillation module are described. The formal part of the distillation module consists of classroom lectures (7 h), classroom exercises (7 h), introduction to dynamic simulation (2 

Simulator software and models

The simulation software used for the courses is D-SPICE® and K-Spice®. These are simultaneous-modular dynamic simulation software tools provided by Kongsberg Oil and Gas Technologies (2011). D-SPICE® is a legacy product, whereas K-Spice® is a currently marketed tool that builds on the D-SPICE® technology. Dynamic simulation models were implemented using standard D-SPICE® or K-Spice® modules. All the necessary modules are implemented and combined into a pressure-flow network according to the

Undergraduate coursework: dynamic simulation of distillation

The simulation module was evaluated by 20 students twice, after completed simulation tasks and after completed laboratory experiment. A formal multiple-choice questionnaire including a total of 72 statements was used. Most of the students did not consider themselves very experienced with mathematical tools such as Matlab or Mathematica, although utilization of these tools is part of the mathematics course. Thus, beginning with a simulation tool was new for almost all of the students and after

Undergraduate coursework: dynamic simulation of distillation

The simulation tasks were run on a ready-configured model and required no previous simulation skills. The student evaluations indicate that more time should be spent on the introduction of the dynamic simulator functionalities and interpretation of the simulation results. In future, the first simulation lectures and exercises will be given earlier in the semester, using a basic tutorial model (model 2). The introductory material will be further developed to include more examples on

Conclusions

This paper presents successful integration of dynamic simulation into the chemical engineering curricula in both undergraduate and graduate courses. The experiences on dynamic simulation on the three undergraduate and graduate courses have been positive for both students and teachers.

The simulation tasks were designed to meet the learning goals of the courses using three different models implemented in D-SPICE® and K-Spice® software. Note that these simulation exercises can be given as

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