In a globalized economy where competition between companies is intense, industrial players are placing increasing importance on the rigor of process design.

Environmental and safety constraints must now be considered on the same level as profitability and flexibility requirements. In this continuous search for new processes that are more profitable, safer, cleaner, and more flexible, information technology has taken a central role by providing engineers with the appropriate tools to analyze and identify alternative production pathways more quickly and at lower cost.

 

IN WHICH INDUSTRIES IS SIMULATION USED?

Process simulation is widely used across most industrial sectors:

• chemical industry
• petrochemicals
• refining
• energy and power generation
• natural gas and LNG
• CO₂ capture and utilization
• bioprocesses and green chemistry
• …

It has become an essential tool in research and development phases, as well as in process design and optimization.

 

WHY USE PROCESS SIMULATION?

Using simulation to improve processes provides significant benefits, particularly in terms of cost savings and improved process understanding. These benefits include:

• Reducing costs through process optimization
• Accurately and reliably modelling the physicochemical properties of raw materials, products, and by-products
• Facilitating the transfer of information from laboratory scale to pilot and industrial scale
• Improving the design of industrial units
• Reducing energy consumption
• Enhancing the safety of industrial operations
• …

 

TYPICAL USE CASES

— DISTILLATION OPTIMIZATION

Reduction of column energy consumption.

— DESIGN OF NEW UNITS

Sizing and validation prior to construction.

— PROCESS DECARBONIZATION

Assessment of emission reduction scenarios.

— PLANT-WIDE ENERGY INTEGRATION

Global analysis of heat and energy networks.

 

A simulation tool can be used to represent a simple operation, such as calculating the heat required to raise the temperature of a stream, but it can also be used to analyze an entire production unit.

This involves a graphical representation of the process and the definition of operating parameters provided by the user (flow rates, temperature and pressure of inlet streams, and equipment operating conditions).

From this data, the software calculates the properties of all process streams (flow rate, composition, temperature, pressure, transport properties, etc.) as well as equipment performance and, where applicable, sizing.

With this virtual representation of the plant, it becomes easy to study the impact of changes in operating conditions on production, determine equipment specifications to increase capacity, or identify optimal operating conditions while taking site constraints into account.

 

SOFTWARE EXPERTISE AT THE CORE OF INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES

Through long-term partnerships with leading research centers and continuous investment in R&D, Fives ProSim develops innovative software solutions and has become a key international player in the field.

The company’s success is based not only on the efficiency, robustness, and openness of its software solutions, but also on the quality of the services provided around them.

In addition to its widely used thermodynamic calculation server (Simulis Thermodynamics), which is one of the best thermodynamics calculation tool on the market, and its process simulation software (ProSimPlus), Fives ProSim also offers unique tools dedicated to the simulation of batch chemical reactors (BatchReactor) and batch distillation columns (BatchColumn).