frequently asked questions about chemcad

7/23/2019 Frequently Asked Questions About CHEMCAD

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Frequently asked questions about CHEMCADAnswers to your general and technical questions about CHEMCAD. If you have

questions on secific software features! lease see our full feature list

What is the best use of simulation software?

How much financial benefit can I expect to gain from CHEMCAD? Can I run CHEMCAD on a network?

Is CHEMCAD a client-serer t!pe application?

Is it eas! to share work with other users?

How long "oes it take to learn CHEMCAD?

How man! components #chemicals$ ma! I hae in a flowsheet?

Can I a"" m! own unit operations% thermo"!namic metho"s% or other routines to CHEMCAD?

Can CHEMCAD mo"el "!namic processes?

Can I a"" m! own chemicals to CHEMCAD?

Does CHEMCAD hae e&uipment costing functions?

What t!pe of printouts% plots% an" reports can I get from CHEMCAD? What engineering units "oes CHEMCAD work in?

Can I e"it the "ata in the CHEMCAD ph!sical propert! "atabase?

Will CHEMCAD tell me which thermo"!namic option applies to m! chemical s!stem?

What t!pe of flowsheet conergence "oes CHEMCAD use?

Do I hae to run m! entire flowsheet% or can I 'ust run sections?

Can I make a ()D #(rocess )low Diagram$ in CHEMCAD?

Can I make a (*I #(iping * Instrumentation$ "iagram in CHEMCAD?

Does CHEMCAD use an! in"ustr! stan"ar" for "ata exchange?

What language is CHEMCAD programme" in?

Can CHEMCAD simulate m! process? Does CHEMCAD hae helpful error messages?

How is CHEMCAD "istribute"?

How is the software up"ate"?

Does Chemstations "o mo"eling% simulation% or consulting for its customers?

". #hat is the best use of si$ulation software%

A+ ,his &uestion has "ifferent answers if the user works for a chemical compan!% refiner!% engineering firm%

pharmaceutical compan!% etc+ In general% the best uses of a simulator are as follows #.$ Inestigating a

new process b! simulating arious alternaties to "etermine the feasibilit! of each/ #0$ 1imulating an

existing process to "etermine optimal con"itions% bottlenecks% or sensitiit! to process changes/ #2$

1imulating an existing process to "etermine control schemes% "!namic behaior% etc+/ #3$ Da!-to-"a!

engineering work #e+g+ bubble4"ew points% flui" properties% e&uipment si5ing$+

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". How $uch financial benefit can I e&ect to gain fro$ CHEMCAD%

A+ Well% the answer is reall! up to !ou8 7ecause CHEMCAD is a pro"uctiit! tool% it simpl! allows !ou to "o

far more than !ou can with other tools #honestl!% if !ou ha" a lifetime or two to sole all the e&uations that

CHEMCAD "oes% !ou coul" get the same answers with a pencil an" paper$+ ,his means that an engineer

can be as much as .99 times more pro"uctie with CHEMCAD+ :biousl!% without computer simulation

tools% man! shortcut metho"s are emplo!e" to spee" up calculations% !et the! are limite" b! their lack of

rigor+ ,his is where the a""itional benefit of simulation comes into pla!+ :nce !our thermo"!namics are

erifie"% !ou can achiee answers to a far greater "egree of accurac! than with other tools+ Accurac! of

!our mo"el allows more intelligent "ecision-making% an" in turn% greater economic benefit+

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". Can I run CHEMCAD on a network%A+ ;es% !ou can run CHEMCAD on a network+ ,he software is protecte" using a "ongle har"ware ke! b!

"efault+ ,his can be attache" to an! (C% networke" or not+ Howeer% to let eer!one on a network #


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Wi"e Area$ hae access to Chemstations= software% !ou must purchase our >etwork Har"ware41oftware

solution+ ,his is either a network-"ongle or software s!stem #"epen"ing on the t!pe of network !ou hae$

that allows users to access the software+ ,he network "ongle or software s!stem can be attache"4installe"

on an! machine on the network+ ,he number of simultaneous users is the number of licenses !ou own+

,hat is% if !ou own two copies4licenses of CHEMCAD% !ou ma! hae two users access CHEMCAD at an!

gien time+ ,he thir" person to tr! to access CHEMCAD will be re'ecte" b! the network securit! s!stem+

(lease contact a Chemstations representatie to ensure that !our network t!pe is supporte"+

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". Is CHEMCAD a client'server tye alication%

A+ >o+ CHEMCAD is a full! integrate" software package+ ,he graphical interface is completel! tie" into the

calculations portion of the program in this wa!+ ,here is no batch-t!pe communication between interface

an" calculational engine to slow the program "own+ It is possible% howeer% to install CHEMCAD on a

network serer an" run the program from client machines+ In this case% the client machine is actuall! "oing

AAMIC1 package+ ,his pro"uct

enables generali5e" "!namic flowsheeting in a""ition to "!namic "istillation4reaction+

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". Can I add $y own che$icals to CHEMCAD%

A+ ;es+ ;ou can hae CHEMCAD pre"ict ph!sical properties base" on chemical structure #if !ou hae no

"ata aailable$% !ou can enter e&uation coefficients for temperature "epen"ent "ata% or !ou can hae

CHEMCAD regress these coefficients from !our temperature-"epen"ent "ata+

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". Does CHEMCAD have equi$ent costing functions%

A+ ;es% CHEMCAD can perform e&uipment costing+ Howeer% as with most costing algorithms% the

answers pro"uce" are far more useful as a first-pass or comparison tool than as an actual bu"geting tool+

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". #hat tye of rintouts! lots! and reorts can I get fro$ CHEMCAD%

A+ CHEMCAD proi"es its own report an" plot "ispla!s for onscreen iewing an" printing/ !ou can also

choose to export !our "ata to Wor"(a"% M1 Wor"% or Excel+ ;ou can print out a flowsheet "irectl! from the

main CHEMCAD win"ow+

raphics can be sent to a printer or plotter using Win"ows print "riers to !our particular printer4plotter+ In

a""ition% graphics can be sent to a +D) file #on "isk$ or a +WM) file #on the clipboar"$+

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". #hat engineering units does CHEMCAD work in%

A+ ;ou can select from pre-built engineering profiles #E> 1I% or ME,FIC$%

or create !our own profile of mixe" units+ ;ou can sae profiles an"4or create "efault profiles to be use"

with eer! new simulation+

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". Can I edit the data in the CHEMCAD hysical roerty database%

A+ ,o presere the integrit! of our built-in component "atabase% we re&uire that !ou clone an" then e"it an

existing component% rather than e"it the original component+

6 7ack to ,op". #ill CHEMCAD tell $e which ther$odyna$ic otion alies to $y che$ical syste$%

A+ ;es an" no+ CHEMCAD has a built-in ,hermo"!namics Wi5ar"% which follows an algorithm base" on

!our chemical components an" !our expecte" temperature an" pressure ranges+ ,his algorithm is fallible%

an" no algorithm can claim to alwa!s fin" the correct metho"+ ,he CHEMCAD Help s!stem contains both

a "escription of the process !ou shoul" follow to choose a metho" an" elaborate "escriptions of each

metho" #inclu"ing e&uations sole"$+ :ften !ou will hae to erif! !our thermo"!namic metho" with fiel" or

laborator! "ata+ Howeer% "o not think of this as a barrier to using simulation/ rather% think of it as an

inestment in !our process+ :nce it=s erifie"% !our mo"el will be infinitel! more aluable than an unerifie"

mo"el+

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". #hat tye of flowsheet convergence does CHEMCAD use%

A+ 7! "efault% CHEMCAD is a se&uential-mo"ular simulator+ ,his means that gien fee" streams an" unitoperation specifications% CHEMCAD will calculate interme"iate an" outlet streams+ CHEMCAD also has a

simultaneous mo"ular mo"e for conergence+

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". Do I have to run $y entire si$ulation! or can I *ust run sections%

A+ ;ou can run the entire simulation% certain sections% certain rec!cle loops% or 'ust in"ii"ual unit

operations if !ou like+

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". Can I $ake a +FD (+rocess Flow Diagra$) in CHEMCAD%

A+ ;es+ ;ou can a"" stream "ata boxes% unit operation "ata boxes% text labels an" titles% user-create"

shapes4pictures4lines% an" importe" +7M( files to !our flowsheet+

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". Can I $ake a iing and instru$entation (+,I) diagra$ in CHEMCAD%

A+ In most cases% a CHEMCAD process flow "iagram #()D$ can be use" as a starting point for a (*I

"iagram+ CHEMCAD is not a "rawing program/ rather% it is a simulator with "rawing features+ ,herefore% it

is most t!pical for a ()D from CHEMCAD to be exporte" to a +D) file% then mo"ifie" in a "rawing

program like Auto"esk=s AutoCAD or Intergraph=s 1mart(lant+

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". Does CHEMCAD use any industry standard for data e&change%

A+ We currentl! support :(C% :


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". Can CHEMCAD si$ulate $y rocess%

A+ Almost an! chemical process can be simulate" in CHEMCAD+ We can sa! this simpl! because of the

flexible foun"ation that we proi"e for !ou+ )or example% if !ou are intereste" in tracking flui" properties

that CHEMCAD "oes not calculate% then !ou can write a user-a""e" subroutine to calculate those

properties+ If !ou hae a unit operation that is not in the CHEMCAD unit operation palette% !ou can either

mo"el it from a group of existing unit operations or create it !ourself using an Excel sprea"sheet or a Cprogram+ At the er! least% !ou can emplo! a Bblack boxB t!pe of unit operation+

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". Does CHEMCAD have helful error $essages%

A+ CHEMCAD "ispla!s all error messages in the Errors an" Warnings tab/ these error messages are as

helpful as we can make them+ In most cases% !ou are preente" from entering conflicting specifications%

oerspecif!ing% or un"erspecif!ing% but errors can still result from problematic input+ )or example% if !ou

specif! an unreachable composition in a "istillation column% !ou will either get a mathematical error or a

message that the column B"rie" upB-!ou won=t get a warning before !ou tr! to run the column% an" !ou

won=t get a message sa!ing that !ou specifie" an unreachable composition+ ,he CHEMCAD Help s!stem

offers helpful tips for aoi"ing such outcomes% especiall! where "istillation columns are concerne"+

6 7ack to ,op". How is CHEMCAD distributed%

A+ CHEMCAD is "istribute" on a single CD+ ,he har"ware "ongle% s!stem authori5ation% or network

securit! software "etermines which CHEMCAD pro"ucts an" how man! licenses are actie+

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". How is the software udated%

A+ About once a !ear% Chemstations releases a ma'or upgra"e #numbere" with a tenth or new whole

number% e+g+% +9% +.$+ ,hroughout the !ear% howeer% we are constantl! improing the pro"uct an" a""ing

functionalit!+ sers who are on a current M1 #Maintenance% pgra"es% an" 1upport$ agreement are

a"ise" to watch the Web site for new releases as the! become aailable+ ,hese releases% along with lists

of new features% can be foun" on the Downloa"s page of the Chemstations Web site+

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". Does Che$stations do $odeling! si$ulation! or consulting for its custo$ers%

A+ >o% an" this benefits our clients in the following wa! We are neer tempte" to turn a technical support

issue into a mone!-making opportunit!+ ,here is a point at which technical support cannot continue% as we

cannot "o the work for !ou% but can onl! assist !ou while !ou "o the work+ We are happ! to recommen"

consultants who can "o the work for !ou using CHEMCAD% but our technical support "epartment is not a

gatewa! to a consulting business+

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frequently asked questions about chemcad

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