DynaChem is a highly flexible dynamic simulation program used to model time-dependent behavior of processes, pilot plants or even aqueous systems in the natural environment. Whether it is control strategy, response to upsets, scheduled waste streams, controller tuning, startup and shutdown, or any other unsteady state condition you want to examine, DynaChem provides an accurate and stable environment for your study.
Success Stories
Neutralization Process Design Tanks
A client was scheduled to build waste treatment plant with a necessarily sophisticated neutralization process. The stoichiometry and the highly acidic nature of the waste streams, along with the variability of the feed flows and compositions, made the design a difficult and risky venture. Using a steady-state process simulator and typical design safety factors, the engineers designed the neutralization process as a three-stage process with three very large tanks of expensive metallurgy. The reagent feed tanks contained decreasing concentrations of neutralization reagent. It was expensive, and probably overdesigned.
The DynaChem model of the process was developed with scheduled feed streams, surge tanks with deadband control and pH Control loops on each neutralization tank. The interactive mode of DynaChem was used to try different control settings, introduce upsets, manually adjust valve settings and change tank dimensions and geometry. In one day, one neutralization tank and one reagent tank were removed from the process and the control loop was designed and initial control parameters determined. The savings to the client in one day's work paid for DynaChem many times over.
Biotreatment Pretreatment Process
Biotreatment offers a unique challenge to the engineer/scientist since life is involved. When a non-biological process experiences an upset the product is discarded or reprocessed, the waste must be specially handled, or the operator merely waits for the upset to pass. In a biological process, an upset can destroy the biomass requiring a complicated and expensive restart. One client was concerned with surges of highly acidic material containing significant concentrations of species such as copper and nickel, toxic in the free cation form. Using DynaChem, a pretreatment process was devised to control the pH of the bioreactor feed at such a level that the microorganisms were safe from pH shock and the cations of copper and nickel were "tied-up" as hydroxide complexes. Only the combination of the OLI aqueous chemistry model, coupled with the OLI biotreatment capability in DynaChem framework made the design and control of the pretreatment process possible. It worked ...and it saved the "bugs."
How DynaChem Works
DynaChem allows multiple process units, which are tied together with process streams and, where applicable, process control to be modeled using the same thermodynamic framework and in-place Databank used by all other OLI programs, including ESP. The difference, of course, is that DynaChem simulates the time-dependent (dynamic) nature of a process with a very stable computational technique.
DynaChem is based upon easy-to-understand, modular process units and nodes. It is generalized to the point that virtually any chemical process, laboratory system or element of the natural environment can be modeled. DynaChem provides the capabilities for
- Tank Units with multiple valved and unvalved exits at any tank level allow phase separation by density
- Pipe Units with multiple exits allowing for physical phase separation into aqueous, organic, solid and vapor with the option of suspended solids, entrained liquids, liquids dissolved in solids and vapor dissolved in liquid
- Entry Units with scheduled or continuous feeds, allowing for initiation and termination at specified times, ramped or step flow changes, specified durations, repeated intervals, controller and valve control
- Manual and automatic valves
- Choice of control algorithm including PID (velocity and positional), switch, multicascade, trim, ratio
- Pump specification and control
- Implicit and explicit dead time
- Scheduled parameter adjustment - virtually any parameter can be set to change at a specified time
- Restart capabilities including Log Node which allows a process to be stored over time and used as an input to another dynamic process or Snapshot which stores the entire process as a specified time
- Operator Mode interactive intervention to allow adjustment of control parameter settings, valve settings, feed stream flow, introduction of system upsets, even equipment sizing and geometry changes
After you complete a steady-state model, you are only half-finished! Most processes require dynamic simulation to study startup, shutdown, upsets, process control, surge tank sizing, and many other design parameters.
Call us today. We can help!
Options to Consider
1. DynaChem can be leased as part of OLI's software ESP. OLI experts can help you answer the question, "can this program model my process?" Also, a two day OLI course on ionic modeling basics, Aqueous Modeling Course and Workshop, is offered as part of the lease price of the software.
OR
2. Let OLI experts formulate and work your dynamic simulation applications. OLI now offers dynamic simulation professional services which include scoping, setting up, running and presenting results of your application.
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