A multi-agent system to facilitate component-based process modeling and design

Component-based software technology and software interfaces standardization initiatives, such as CAPE–OPEN, have made it possible to model chemical processes and to perform model-based engineering tasks by combining components of process modeling software from different sources, hence providing the potential of exploiting the “best of breed” offered by the CAPE community. In this context, software component libraries, possibly located on a local computer, on the intranet of an organization, or on the Internet, have to be searched to find the most suitable components for a particular engineering task at hand to be integrated into the engineers’ computing environment. This paper proposes to address this issue through a multi-agent software system which facilitates the engineers to find and to integrate software components and aims at reducing the engineers’ effort to the minimum. Within this system, a directory facilitator serves as the “yellow pages” such that an undetermined set of software component libraries located anywhere may be registered with the system. A matchmaker is used to match the specification of a desired software component with the potential candidates in the relevant libraries. The integration of a matching component into the computing environment is handled by an integration manager. A prototype of such a system, called COGents, has been developed employing an existing multi-agent platform. The ontology OntoCAPE defines the chemical engineering and modeling concepts required for specifying desired software components and for characterizing existing ones. OntoCAPE also provides a shared semantic basis for communication between the software agents. Details of the implementation of COGents are presented and the re-usability of the parts of the COGents system is discussed. Three successful demonstrative applications of COGents are reported, each dealing with different types of tasks, specifically flowsheeting, detailed modeling and process design.     

A Multi-layer Information Integration Platform for Chemical Process Operation Systems

In the process industry, automation and process control systems are widely implemented, information integration is however far away from satisfactory. It remains a hard job for senior managers to make decisions based on the plant-wide real-time integrated information. This paper proposes a multi-layer information integration platform. In the data integration level, the standard for the exchange of product (STEP) and the extensible markup language (XML) are used to unify these data of the chemical process. In the model integration level, the models are integrated by using the neutral model repository and CAPE-OPEN. In the integration of process task, the common object request broker architecture (CORBA) is used as the communication mediator. The XML is taken as the data standard. A uniform information platform is thus constructed and realized. The proposed information integration platform is satisfactorily implemented to solve the Tennessee Eastman (TE) problem.     

一个化工过程运行系统的多层信息集成平台

In the process industry, automation and process control systems are widely implemented, information integration is however far away from satisfactory. It remains a hard job for senior managers to make decisions based on the plant-wide real-time integrated information. This paper proposes a multi-layer information integration platform. In the data integration level, the standard for the exchange of product (STEP) and the extensible markup language (XML) are used to unify these data of the chemical process. In the model integration level, the models are integrated by using the neutral model repository and CAPE-OPEN. In the integration of process task, the common object request broker architecture (CORBA) is used as the communication mediator. The XML is taken as the data standard. A uniform information platform is thus constructed and realized. The proposed information integration platform is satisfactorily implemented to solve the Tennessee Eastman (TE) problem.     

Von der Prozeßsimulation zur Lebenszyklusmodellierung

From Process Simulation to Lifecycle Modeling Process simulation is an established technology to support the design and operation of chemical processes. Since this technology has reached a mature state, an obvious question concerns emerging technologies which may succeed process simulation in the future. This contribution attempts to answer this question. The increasing capabilities of mathematical modeling and simulation on various levels of detail increasingly ask for the integration of available but independently developed and applied technologies across the process design lifecycle. Novel computer-based design support environments are required for this purpose. Such environments need to integrate existing modeling and simulation tools in a workflow oriented manner in order to provide context specific support during the whole design process.     

Integrierte Informationsverarbeitung im Anlagenbau

Integrated information processing in plant design. Characteristic for plant design is the cooperation of quite different engineering disciplines. The quality of the engineering therefore is influenced mainly by technical coordination and flow of information between these disciplines. Software applications for plant design are very often individually written systems. It is the aim of data integration to increase the quality of engineering besides the rationalization of work. Depending on existing software, individual solutions for data integration are predominant. These solutions have to correspond to iterative procedures during plant engineering. Object-oriented CAD systems instead of only graphics-oriented CAD software are an important condition for further data integration. However, in order to utilize these advantages for exchanging electronically stored documentation between different companies, all interfaces and data structures have to be publicly available.     

三维模型软件PDS在化工设计中的应用

当前,化工企业的规模不断扩大,与之配套的设备也越来越多,这也决定着化工设计任务的繁重。同CAD设计软件相比,新近出现三维模型PDS软件在化工设计领域中的应用日益广泛。通过介绍PDS软件的主要功能模块的内容以及通过具体操作实例,说明该类软件的材料数据库具有强大的兼容性和可操作性。最后简要说明了借助PDS软件进行化工三维模型设计的基本流程和优势。     

A systematic methodology for the environomic design and synthesis of energy systems combining process integration,Life Cycle Assessment and industrial ecology

This paper presents a systematic methodology for sustainable process systems design, combining the principles of industrial ecology, process design and process integration, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and multi-objective optimization (MOO). The superstructure considers an extended decision perimeter and embeds models based either on flowsheeting software or average market technologies, for which energy and material flows are extracted from the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database. Therefore, the overall supply chain can be synthesized within a given action system and the systematic recyclings identified. The methodology can be used to design eco-industrial parks or urban systems, to identify the best conversion pathways of resources or waste, or to fix the optimal value of environmental taxes. It is illustrated by an application to the environomic design of an urban energy system. This case study considers multiple energy services to be supplied and waste to be treated, with their seasonal variations, indigenous and imported resources, as well as different candidate conversion technologies. Results demonstrate that integrating an environmental objective in the design procedure leads to consider different system configurations than if only economic aspects are considered. The problematic of the optimal value of a CO₂ tax is as well addressed.     

Prototyp eines wissensbasierten Programmsystems für die Systemsimulation

Prototype of a Knowledge-Based Program System for System Simulation. The present article describes a new approach for merging numeric simulation techniques and knowledge-based methods for process simulation. In a first step the potential of such a combined technology is outlined, concerning both knowledge-based user support in handling and application of simulation codes as well as the support of the engineering task for chemical process development. An analysis of implementation techniques outlines, how an adequate integration of numeric and knowledge-based software modules can be achieved by adoption of the object oriented programming paradigm. The resulting requirements for the modelling of knowledge and the corresponding inference mechanisms are explained and a software prototype is presented by which this knowledge-based simulation technology is currently being evaluated and refined using a case study from aerospace domain.     

石油化工流程模拟软件现状与发展趋势

流程模拟软件是石油化工行业的核心研发设计软件,其应用已贯穿于技术研发、工程设计、生产优化等全生命周期业务环节。我国石油化工行业使用的商业流程模拟软件90%为国外产品,基本被国外垄断。本文从商业软件的角度,首先对化工流程模拟技术和早期的软件发展进行了回顾,分析了近年来跨国流程工业巨头收购兼并案例和启示。在对石油化工企业和软件供应商调研的基础上,分析了国内流程模拟软件的市场应用情况和自主流程模拟软件的成熟度,阐述了流程模拟软件技术发展的五大趋势：遵循CAPE-OPEN软件接口规范、基于分子级表征和反应动力学建模、数据驱动与工艺机理联合建模、三大集成建模和数字孪生应用等。石化产业需求和市场规模以及科研基础是发展自主流程模拟软件的有利条件,但构建工业软件政产学研用产业生态链,形成产品化和市场化为导向的健康产业环境尤为关键。     

Tools for consistency management between design products

Consistency between different design documents is most important, as these documents are usually elaborated by different persons. Consistency means that structures within different documents “match” each other and also the values of corresponding attributes. Interactive and incremental tools for building up and maintaining consistency - so-called integrators - install fine-grained relations (semantic links) between objects of these documents. Such integrators have been investigated for some time in different application domains (Nagl, 1996).This paper deals with two extensions of integrators ( [K?rtgen, 2009a] and [K?rtgen, 2009b]). Both are devoted to speed up the (re-)integration process. The first extension makes use of the still valuable information of links damaged due to changes of documents. The second reuses consistent documents of past projects, to find out big and suitable related parts of design documents or of corresponding underlying knowledge. This paper is written for a chemical engineer and, therefore, emphasizes the tool functionality side.     

Möglichkeiten computergestützter Konstruktion im Chemieanlagenbau

Computer aided design of chemical plant. The effort necessary for computing and design of a chemical plant as well as the preparation of documentation has increased. This is a result of the growing complexity of process design in order to satisfy economic criteria and more stringent safety and environmental requirements. The available time is limited. CAD is one of the tools that assists the plant designer by solving all these requirements. Even at the very beginning of the development of digital computers, their possibilities in graphics electronic data processing were recognized. Since the 1970s, CAD has been utilized in plant design. The use of two-dimensional or three-dimensional CAD software is possible. In most cases this is done by using self-contained dedicated solutions. The integration of the applications promises an increase of productivity. To reach this aim a database management system (DBMS) may be useful. DBMS is also useful as an interface to other computing tools like FEM- or process flowsheeting programs. The development of the soft- and hardware domain has reached a level of sophistication which makes the economic utilization of CAD possible. Nevertheless, much work still remains to be done.     

集成化工过程模拟系统的建立和应用

集成化工模拟系统的意义在于使化工过程的概念设计(包括摸拟、控制、设备估计、经济分析和评价等)实现一体化,这就要求系统在结构上更具有通用性和灵敏性。本文首先对集成模拟系统软件设计进行了描述,给出了系统的数据结构及框架;其次,介绍了这样一个集成模拟系统的模型软件及其应用;最后,讨论了今后该模型系统在几个主要方面的发展前景。     

面向逻辑集成的PDM系统研究

通过归纳与总结PDM系统中信息集成方面的技术特点,提出了过程数据与应用数据的概念,定义了其在信息集成领域中的逻辑关系;针对PDM系统中过程集成方面的技术特点,从过程开展的角度对其生命周期进行了阶段划分。在此基础上,构造了一个面向数据逻辑与应用逻辑集成的PDM系统框架结构,分析了该框架结构的关键技术,并给出了相关的应用实例。     

Process intensification aspects for steam methane reforming: An overview

Steam methane reforming (SMR) is the most widely used process in industry for the production of hydrogen, which is considered as the future generation energy carrier. Having been perceived as an important source of H₂, there are abundant incentives for design and development of SMR processes mainly through the consideration of process intensification and multiscale modeling; two areas which are considered as the main focus of the future generation chemical engineering to meet the global energy challenges. This article presents a comprehensive overview of the process integration aspects for SMR, especially the potential for multiscale modeling in this area. The intensification for SMR is achieved by coupling with adsorption and membrane separation technologies, etc., and using the concept of multifunctional reactors and catalysts to overcome the mass transfer, heat transfer, and thermodynamic limitations. In this article, the focus of existing and future research on these emerging areas has been drawn. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009     

变压精馏分离丙酮和环己烷的动态特性

基于丙酮-环己烷共沸体系的压力敏感性，利用Aspen Plus软件，以年度总费用(TAC)最小为目标函数对常规、部分及完全热集成变压精馏工艺进行稳态模拟与优化，并以经济最优的完全热集成变压精馏工艺为基础，借助Aspen Plus Dynamics软件建立多种不同控制结构，通过改变进料流量和进料组成考察了控制结构的有效性，并提出塔底热负荷/进料量比例控制与组成-温度串级控制相结合的改进控制结构。稳态模拟与优化结果表明，常规、部分和完全热集成三种工艺的最小TAC分别为3.64×105, 2.83×105, 2.76×105 $/y，经济最优工艺为完全热集成变压精馏。动态响应结果表明固定回流量/进料量控制结构在响应时间方面优于固定回流比控制结构，但产品纯度未达到设计值99.9wt%；而塔底热负荷/进料量比例控制与组成-温度串级控制相结合的改进控制结构能够有效保证产品纯度在99.9wt%及以上。     

A superstructure-based framework for simultaneous process synthesis,heat integration,and utility plant design

We propose a superstructure optimization framework for process synthesis with simultaneous heat integration and utility plant design. Processing units in the chemical plant can be modeled using rigorous unit models or surrogate models generated from experimental results or off-line calculations. The utility plant subsystem includes multiple steam types with variable temperature and pressure. For the heat integration subsystem, we consider variable heat loads of process streams as well as variable intervals for the utilities. To enhance the solution of the resulting mixed-integer nonlinear programming models, we develop (1) new methods for the calculation of steam properties, (2) algorithms for variable bound calculation, and (3) systematic methods for the generation of redundant constraints. The applicability of our framework is illustrated through a biofuel case study which includes a novel non-enzymatic hydrolysis technology and new separation technologies, both of which are modeled based on experimental results.     

Colour meaning and consumer expectations

Deciding a colour for a product is a significant task for designers to attract consumer attention and communicate brand messages. It requires an initial analysis that explores consumer expectations within the sector, and this information is then used to inform development of a product design. This article discusses the application of the product colour development process during the initial phase of product design. Using a case study approach, one particular product category—a dishwashing liquid product was selected based on the suggestion from a leading U.K. consumer goods manufacturing company that colour is a major design factor for this product category. In the first phase of the study, interviews and an online survey were carried out with consumers (to explore what elements are important when they purchase a washing‐up liquid product). In the second phase of the study, a colour meaning experiment was conducted to explore possible colours for dishwashing liquid packaging using a semantic differential method. The results show that yellowish and bluish green colours evoke positive responses while saturated and dark green colours are perceived more negatively.     

CAE-Systeme für die Prozeßleittechnik

CAE systems for the workings of chemical engineering plant have reached a high level of functionality and system architecture. This also applies to process control systems. What is now needed is the integration of the different systems in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort, data inconsistency, and time wastage. Fortunately, there are various approaches permitting such integration. Starting from the underlying system architecture this paper therefore presents a variety of integration concepts. Some of these are propriety solutions because they are based on various manufacturers' products. However, STEP and CORBA also involve standards-based technologies. The time required for their realisation is better estimated in years.     

Integration of enterprise levels based on an ontological framework

Enterprises are highly complex systems in which one or more organizations share a definite mission, goals and objectives to offer a product or service. In this study, an ontological framework is built as a mechanism for exchanging information and knowledge models for multiple applications and effective integration between hierarchical levels. The potential of the general semantic framework that is developed is demonstrated using a case study concerning the enterprise supply chain network design-planning problem.     

现代信息技术在石化企业的应用——公文电子化及移动办公在石化企业的探索与实践

随着信息技术和移动应用技术的突破性发展,国家"两化"融合发展战略的深入推进,移动互联网、大数据、云计算等新技术不断融入到企业的研发设计、生产制造、经营管理等各个环节,推动企业经营管理水平不断提升。本文以中国石化集团公司探索应用公文无纸化及移动办公为例,介绍了现代信息技术在石化企业的应用。