| Main
Projects |
In order to prepare
the products you will get tomorrow, ProSim invests a large part of its
revenues in Research and Development. Apart from its internal R &
D projects, ProSim is also an active partner in the following public projects.
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HYTECH: The search for a long term massive hydrogen production route
The HYTECH project is a European project that involves 6 partners 5 countries: Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (France - Coordinator), ProSim (France), University of Sheffield (United Kingdom), Università degli studi (Italia), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt (Germany), Empresarios Agrupados (Spain).
Today, Hydrogen is mainly produced from fossil resources. In the long term, given the prospect of an increasing energy demand and a lack of fossil resources and limitations on the release of greenhouse gases, only water and biomass are viable, long term candidate raw materials for hydrogen production. The two processes that have the greatest likelihood of successful massive hydrogen production from water are electrolysis and thermo-chemical cycles. The thermo-chemical cycles are processes where water is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen via chemical reactions using intermediate elements which are recycled. As the heat can be directly used, those cycles have the potential of a better efficiency than alkaline electrolysis.
The approach for accomplishing the project objective is multi-faceted. The approach includes: the search for the best basic flow-sheets for S_I and Hybrid Sulfur cycles (H2SO4 and HIx vapour phase modelling from experimentations) and their implementations in the ProSimPlus process simulation software, the study of the decomposition of H2SO4 in a solar furnace at high temperatures (1200C - direct heating and decomposition without catalyst - and 850C - indirect heating at a VHTR temperature) with the support of flow and thermo-mechanical dimensioning of the solar receiver, the experimental measurements of the partial pressures above a mixture of HI, H2O and I2 (use of FTIR, UV-Vis. and RAMAN spectroscopies), the modeling and experimental exploratory research into alternative, low energy separation techniques relevant to the S_I process (membranes - use of CARS spectroscopy), and the industrial scale-up of the S_I cycle to a a nuclear reactor and the Hybrid-Sulfur cycle to a solar and/or a nuclear source (couplings, safety assessments, components sizing and economics).
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AD-CAPE: Automatic Differentiation for Computer Aided Process Engineering (EC
Project: Esprit 24023).
Numerical
methods used in the solution of many CAPE problems require the computation
of derivatives. Already useful in steady-state chemical process simulation,
differentiation is now intensively required with the increasing use of
dynamic simulation or optimization.
AD technology appears as a promising technology that requires to be tested
to find out its suitability to CAPE codes specificity. The general objective
of the project was the testing of the Automatic Differentiation software
OdysséeTM by industrial users on Sequential Modular Simulator codes.
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OPERA: Operators Training Distributed Real-Time Simulation (EC
Project: Esprit HPCN 24950).
OPERA
is a European Commission funded project developing new concepts and technology
with the aim of bringing real-time operator training simulators to all
parts of the chemical industry.
The OPERA Real-time Simulation Platform has received the 3rd price of
the 7th OMG
Object Application Award in the category: "Best Application utilizing
reusable components leveraged from or for us in other projects".
OPERA exploits exciting new computer technologies to reduce the cost of
building and maintaining simulators by orders of magnitude. However, the
most important feature of OPERA is the fact that the design concept is
based on the needs of the trainee and trainer - not on the underlying
technologies. The starting point was a detailed study of the most successful
learning strategies currently in use by the best European technical schools.
They have established the most effective ways to teach the skills required
by process operators, technicians and supervisors in today's highly sophisticated
process industry; an industry that must make substantial improvements
every year in its:
- Safety
performance
- Environmental
Performance
- Productivity
- Quality
in
order to remain competitive. The managerial response to these demands
is to continually upgrade the level of staff qualifications. However,
the tools available for establishing, validating and maintaining this
vital skill base have not kept pace with the changing demands.
OPERA represents a new philosophy in terms of modular and configurable
use of process models and other resources as well as in developing the
technology to attain this and benefit this field from all the recent advances
in software and hardware technologies.
The project partners are from 5 European countries.
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GLOBAL CAPE-OPEN (GCO): Component software and open standard interfaces
in computer-aided process engineering.
Global CAPE-OPEN (GCO) uses
CAPE-OPEN (CO) results and capitalizes on further opportunities that can
be gained from open standard interfaces for process simulation. GCO addresses
and answers the following questions:
- How
will open process simulation technology be integrated into the process
engineering work process?
- How
can industry take better advantage of open architectures and standards?
- What
are the other open standard interfaces needed for CAPE?
- How
must be developed a CAPE-OPEN compliant software ?
- How
will CAPE-OPEN compliant components be certified and labeled as such?
This
will provide the process industries with faster, cheaper, more accurate
process simulation leading to enhanced competitive and environmental performance.
A large new market will be created for specialist simulation vendors,
increasing competition and advancing the state-of-the-art.
The GCO project will:
- Develop
additional open standard interfaces for CAPE components
- Adapt
existing software so that it complies with the COM standard
- Develop
methods, training and support tools for helping users to take advantage
of the availability of CO-compliant components
ProSim
is acting as a subcontractor of Total Fina Elf and follow the project
evolution in order to propose CAPE-OPEN compliant software. This is already
the case of the whole thermodynamic package, which has been integrated
and validated in this environment. Watch
the video showing this interoperability.
ProSim is also a founding member of the CO-LaN (CAPE-OPEN Laboratories
Network).
ProSim is today
one of the very few companies able to supply CO compliant software components,
but also experienced in making existing legacy codes CO compliant. As
there are a number of legacy codes within operating companies (including
company specific thermodynamic or unit operations models) which will require
to be wrapped in order to follow their life within a commercial simulation
environment, ProSim recently decided to integrate this new line of services
to its portfolio. This new service answers a challenge faced by most of
the Chemical Process Industries (either operating companies or engineering
firms). If you think in migrating internal codes to CAPE-OPEN, do not
hesitate in contacting ProSim.
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AHEAD: Development and integration of advanced heat exchangers and process
control for high energy efficient distillation column (EC Project - Energy NNE5 -1999-00208).
This project is dedicated to technologies for the rational use of energy
in the gas and chemical industries. The objectives are to increase the
energy efficiency of distillation columns by using advanced heat exchangers
and to insure higher productivity by adopting dynamic process control.
Therefore better competitiveness of the European gas and chemical industries
will be achieved. For mid-term objectives, adopting advanced heat exchangers
in distillation plants will allow to increase the capacity and the energy
efficiency of existing unit. The goal is a 10% augmentation of the energy
efficiency. For a long-term objective, new process control system using
intermediate boilers should be implemented in the plant. This will consist
in a break with the past, providing higher energy efficiency and better
controllability, therefore higher productivity. The goal is a 30% increase
of the energy efficiency.
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