Process simulation: PROSIM

Process simulation software designs equipment, simulates operations, optimizes a plant’s configuration (heat exchangers network, for example), estimates operating and capital expenses. Simulation tools are increasingly used not only in engineering companies but also in experimental research laboratories. Furthermore, the same software can be used in innovative teaching methodologies with excellent results. The coupling between experimental activity and process simulation allows to identify the best thermodynamic and / or kinetic model for the representation of the studied processes, the cross-check between the experimental data and the calculation result and a significant decrease in the experimental tests necessary for the verification of a theory or for the optimization of a new process. The use of process simulation in experimental research on a laboratory scale opens the possibility of optimizing the bench scale plants that will be used for data collection on which to build new models and new process schemes, and therefore represents the first phase of the modern scale up.