Aspen Crash Course In the first two tutorials, we will go through the basics of Aspen and everything there is to know. This is needed to start the assignments of General Process Equipment/Process Design Equipment. This document contains basic information for Aspen, along with some minor assignments and will often refer to the Aspen introduction videos, which are available on the Brightspace page. The Aspen introduction video was made using an older version of Aspen, so the interface will be slightly different. Most of the changes are noted on this document. This crash course document will go through the following subjects: Starting up Aspen and saving data (and working from home), Creating your own unit set, Clarification of the general layout in properties environment, Pure property analysis, • Binary property analysis, · Clarification of the general layout simulation environment, Building basic flowsheets in Aspen, including specific unit blocks and streams. As an example, we will study a process where carbon-monoxide and water react to CO2 and H2, also known as the water-gas shift reaction: CO (g) + H₂O(g) CO2(g) + H2(g) All students should individually hand in an Aspen file (Wgshift.bkp) and a word file. Throughout this crash course document, you find several questions (in green), and a small assignment at the end. The word file should include the answers to the questions in Assignment 1 and 2 along with your name and student number. The accompanying Aspen backup file (Wgshift_student number.bkp) should minimally include the elements you are asked to carry out (in green). The report does not need to follow any format, but please make sure that all the answers to the questions are there. Starting up Aspen and saving data (and working from home) Aspen plus can be started up directly on a university computer if it is installed. If not, it will install automatically once you try to start the program (this may take a while). Alternatively, you can access the program via uwp.rug.nl (menu: Educational & Practicals > Chemistry > Aspen Plus). Aspen can be opened via a remote workspace desktop, so you can work like you would on the university computer. Aspen can also be started up immediately in the "Apps" tab, once logged in to uwp.rug.nl. Watch Aspen introduction video 1 Video 1 explains how to setup your Aspen file. For the assignments, we like you to get accustomed to giving a proper description to your file. Here, you specify your name, date, and a small description of the process that is to be simulated in the file. Creating your own unit set Aspen introduction video 2 will guide you in creating your own unit set in Aspen. Follow the instructions in Aspen introduction video 2 and create your own unit set. Subsequently save your file as a template file. This will function as the start-up file for every assignment and is very useful for follow-up courses! The screenshot of the new Aspen interface is available in the Appendix of this document. Clarification of the general layout of Aspen Once you have prepared your template file, we will prepare the file for the simulation of the water-gas shift reaction. The left side of the screen is used to navigate through the program. On the left bottom, one of the four environments is highlighted, which is in this case the property environment. In the properties environment you are able to collect data from the quite impressive properties database that Aspen plus gives you access to. If you are unsure what is required in an empty box, or if you have questions about one of the entries in the drop-down menu, you can always hover with your mouse above the box or entry, and you will see some text that clarifies the point. Alternatively, you can always press the help button in the upper right corner (small question mark). Here is a short overview of all the useful tabs that we will use during this course. Setup - Specifications Here you can give a title and description to your file. Setup - Unit sets For modify and selecting unit sets. Components - Specifications The active one is visible in the top left corner, or you can select this in the specifications tab Select in this tab the components that need to be included in the simulation (that is, both reactants and products). Press find and fill the rows with compounds that you want to use, by pressing "add selected compounds". There is also an option to select components which have a molecular weight or boiling points within a specified range. Also explained in Aspen introduction video 3. Methods - specifications Analysis For selecting a proper ' Base method' for your simulation. This is explained in Aspen introduction video 3. Mostly we use NRTL (following ideal gas law equations), but for higher pressure systems we may want to switch to another method. Use the methods assistant to select a method that is suitable for your process. For now, we ignore the rest in this tab. Here you can find back all the analysis tabs you created from pure and binary analysis, discussed in the next sections All other tabs are not particularly useful for this course, and therefore we will not discuss them here. For setting up an Aspen file for the assignments, you will have to do the following: Give a proper description, select the Engineer unit set and insert correct compounds in the specifications tab (check description). Make sure your components are given a proper name (Example: Metha-1 ☐ change to Methane or CH4) and double check whether you selected the correct compound. In the methods tab, select a proper base method On the left, you will see where some input is missing by the red/white circles being on the item. Press "Next" in the top bar. You will automatically go to one of these tabs by pressing the next button. So if you do not know what to do next, press the next button! The next tab Aspen will fill the table with parameters that are collected for your selected compounds. You don't have to do anything here, so you can just press next. If all marks are blue on the left side, you are able to press the run button in the properties environment. Pressing again will ask you to run the system. All the data for your compounds is now extracted from the database and ready to be used. Part 0: Insert the compounds needed to make a simulation for the water-gas shift reaction and follow the steps above (this includes products!). Save your file as "Wgshift.bkp". For one of the subquestion of this assignment, please also add ethanol. The tabs shown in the videos are shown with the red arrow tabs below, you can head to those tabs manually. Setup - Specifications Binary Interaction - NRTL-1 (T-DEPENDENT)×+ Properties All Items Input Databanks Comments ENG ENGINEER Parameter NRTL Help Data set 1 Swap Enter Dechema Format MET Temperature-dependent binary parameters METCBAR Component i T Component j T Source Temperature units AIJ SI Report Options ETHANOL WATER APV110 VLE-IG C -0,8009 Components Specifications ▷ Molecular Structure D Assay/Blend Light End Properties Petro Characterization Pseudocomponents Component Attributes Henry Comps UNIFAC Groups ▷ Polymers Methods Specifications Selected Methods Parameters Pure Components Binary Interaction OANDKIJ-1 OANDMIJ-1 OHENRY-1 MLQKIJ-1 OMUKIJ-1 OMULIJ-1 NRTL-1 RKTKIJ-1 Electrolyte Pair Electrolyte Ternary Pure Analysis Watch Aspen introduction video 3, starting from 5:00 minutes. As explained in the video, you can select a property for the compounds that are inserted and you are presented a graph in Aspen. For the assignments, it is required that you will present your own graphs, so you have to extract the data in the form of a table. To do so, go back to the Pure-1 input tab and press the results tab (indicated by the red arrow): Pure Analysis Diagnostics Results Comments Property method NRTL Property Property type Thermodynamic Status -Components Available components Selected components ETHANOL CARBDI WATER Property RHO Units Phase ✓ Vapor ✓ Liquid ✓ Solid Temperature Units C Equidistant Logarithmic List of values Start point -30 End point 120 Number of intervals Increment 50 Pressure 1,01325 bar Run Analysis You can select the entire table and copy/paste it directly to excel. In the first assignment, you are asked to present along with a report some graphs that are constructed in excel. You may want to combine a few property graphs in one figure. Another tip: You can see the datapoints better by using the crosshair in the data view. You can turn it on by pressing right click> Show tracker. This will show you the x and y point of that specific location in the graph. Redraw → Zoom In QZoom Out Zoom Full AAdd Text ✓ Display Legend Edit Legend Y Axis Map ✓ Show Tracker Copy Part 1 Question 1: Find the constant volume heat capacity and constant pressure heat capacity (CP & CV) for CO2 at 1.0 bar and between 0 and 100 °C. Provide a diagram of the Cp and Cv. What do Cp and Cv represent? How do the two values compare? Question 2: Check the density (change to RHO in the property tab, with kg/m³ as the unit) for water in liquid,solid and vapor state, in the range of -30°C up to 120°C at 1 bar. Create a separate diagram for each phase. What do you observe? Does it match with your assumptions? Binary analysis Watch Aspen introduction video 4