Advanced process engineering co-simulation using CFD-based reduced order models

The process and energy industries face the challenge of designing the next generation of plants to operate with unprecedented efficiency and near-zero emissions, while performing profitably amid fluctuations in costs for raw materials, finished products, and energy. To achieve these targets, the designers of future plants are increasingly relying upon modeling and simulation to create virtual plants that allow them to evaluate design concepts without the expense of pilot-scale and demonstration facilities. Two of the more commonly used simulation tools include process simulators for describing the entire plant as a network of simplified equipment models and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) packages for modeling an isolated equipment item in great detail by accounting for complex thermal and fluid flow phenomena. The Advanced Process Engineering Co-Simulator (APECS) sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has been developed to combine process simulation software with CFD-based equipment simulation software so that design engineers can analyze and optimize the coupled fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, and chemical reactions that drive overall plant performance (Zitney et al., 2006). The process/CFD software integration was accomplished using the process-industry standard CAPE-OPEN interfaces.