A Brief Tutorial (and supplement to training and online documentation) Shelby Hegy, Product Marketing, Aspen Technology, Inc. Joshua Glagola, Product Management, Aspen Technology, Inc. Dave Tremblay, Product Management, Aspen Technology, Inc. Dan McCarthy, Product Management, Aspen Technology, Inc.
Table of Contents Introduction..................................................................................................... 1 The Activated Economics Workflow............................................................................... 1 Activated Economic Analysis..................................................................................... 2 Setting up Costing Options.................................................................................. 2 Setting up Utilities.......................................................................................... 3 Accessing Activated Economic Analysis.......................................................................... 4 Mapping Unit Operations and Sizing and Evaluating Equipment..................................................... 7 Delving into Activated Economics Analysis........................................................................ 9 Additional Resources........................................................................................... 11 CVb
Introduction Activated Analysis is the latest innovation from AspenTech to streamline the process engineering workflow. It allows users to optimize for energy, economics, and heat exchanger performance without leaving Aspen HYSYS or Aspen Plus. This guide will give users a jump start on learning how to use Activated Economic Analysis in Aspen HYSYS V8.4. If you are an Aspen Plus user, please see the analogous guide for Aspen Plus. This is not meant to be used as a stand-alone reference document. We recommend that a range of other resources be called upon to give the new user a comprehensive view of how to use Activated Economic Analysis. These include: AspenTech support website (support.aspentech.com) AspenTech courseware available in online and in-person versions AspenTech business consultants This document covers Activated Economic Analysis in Aspen HYSYS. This guide assumes that the user has Aspen HYSYS V8.4 or higher installed on his or her computer. The Activated Economics Workflow Activation is a concept that was released in version 8.0 of Aspen Plus & Aspen HYSYS simulation software to streamline the engineering workflow across industries. With Activated Economics, it is possible to run complimentary process cost evaluation in the background while building a model with Aspen HYSYS or Aspen Plus. Activated Economic Analysis runs concurrently with the user simulation, updating whenever the model is changed. This allows the user to immediately view the impact of design changes for faster and more efficient process modeling. Activated Economic Analysis gives process engineers insight into the capital and operating costs associated with their models throughout the design process, keeping them on track with the most economically feasible designs before they send the plans to the estimating department. By using Activated Economics during design, process engineers gain the advantage of pre-screening their own models before sending them off to other departments for thorough analysis minimizing the time lost by working on simulations with inefficient or overly expensive equipment. Ultimately, the workflow of iterating through models based on feedback from other departments becomes streamlined, allowing everyone on the team (from process engineers to equipment and estimating specialists) to spend more time working on higher-quality design cases. The sections below highlight how to use the key features of Activated Economic Analysis. 1
Activated Economic Analysis Activated Economic Analysis calls upon Aspen Process Economic Analyzer to generate relative capital and utility cost estimates throughout the design process. Setting up Costing Options In order to use Activated Economic Analysis to estimate the relative capital and utility costs, it is important to properly set up costing options. First, open the Costing Options form by clicking the Cost Options button in the Prepare group on the Economics tab, shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: The Cost Options button The default template for Process Economic Analyzer Options is US_IP (United States, Inch-Pound basis). To select a different template, click Browse. Next, specify a name to identify the scenario. You also have the option of adding a description and making detailed specifications, such as the operating life of the plant (Figure 2). Figure 2: Select a Process Economic Analyzer Template 2013 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenone, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenone logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.11-4030-0913 11-4567-1113 2
Setting up Utilities To improve the accuracy of the relative utility cost estimation, you should also set up energy costs for utilities. Aspen HYSYS V8.4 automatically designates default cost specifications to common utilities. To check that these align with your design, open the Process Utilities Manager by clicking the Process Utility Manager button in the Simulation group of the Home tab in the ribbon (Figure 3). Figure 3: The Process Utility Manager button Scroll through the process utilities matrix to view the properties and cost indices assigned to each utility. Any value in blue can be redefined by user input (Figure 4). Figure 4: Change the cost index for a utility 3
Accessing Activated Economic Analysis The tiles governing activation are displayed in their own panel. To open it, click the Activated Analysis button in the Analysis group on the Home tab (Figure 5). Figure 5: The Activated Analysis button The Activation Panel has three tiles; one for energy, one for economics, and one for Exchanger Design & Rating (Figure 6). You can hover over the tiles to identify the one you want. Figure 6: The Activation Panel You can undock the activation panel or move it to another part of the Aspen HYSYS environment by right clicking on it and selecting one of the options that appears (Figure 7). Figure 7: Move or undock the Activation Panel When you click on the Activated Economics tile, a dashboard appears summarizing the estimated relative capital and utility costs for the current simulation. Figure 8 shows a typical view of the Activated Economics dashboard, which displays capital and utility costs across the simulation. 4
Figure 8: The Activated Economics dashboard The stacked buttons on the left of Figure 8 allow you to access three different aspects of Activated Economic Analysis: the Unit Op Equipment Cost Table, the Unit Op Utility Cost Table, and the Economic Overlay Settings Form (from top to bottom, respectively). The Unit Op Equipment Cost Table displays a brief summary of the costs associated with each block or unit operation on the flowsheet meaning that the column will display the sum cost of its constituent equipment parts (condenser, reboiler, etc.) as a single unit in the table (Figure 9). Figure 9: The Unit Op Equipment Cost Table The Unit Op Utility Cost Table, much like the first stacked button, displays a summary of the utility costs for each unit operation or block in the flowsheet. Here, you can quickly relate specific utility types to their appropriate unit operation and obtain the cost per hour (Figure 10). 5
Figure 10: The Unit Op Utility Cost Table Clicking on the Economics Overlay Settings button will bring up a form allowing you to select the highest three to ten unit operations in the model by operating cost, capital cost, installed cost, or weight and identify them visually on the flowsheet with a green circle (Figure 12). The display checkbox in the dialogue form turns the circles on and off. By default, the overlays will appear over the three unit operations with the highest operating cost as soon as Activated Economics is finished evaluating the flowsheet. The functionality of this button is duplicated in the economics ribbon on the far right in the Overlays group (Figure 11). Figure 11: Select the criteria to find your highest cost unit operations Hovering over the green circles on the flowsheet with your mouse will display a summary of costs for the selected unit operation. This is useful for quickly identifying where optimization will be needed to increase cost savings in the process model (Figure 12). 6
Figure 12: Quickly identify and examine high-cost unit operations Mapping Unit Operations and Sizing and Evaluating Equipment The Integrated Economics group on the Economics tab is designed so that the typical user workflow follows the button pattern from left to right. It starts with mapping, which establishes the relationship between unit operations and the equipment they represent. This relationship is not always one-to-one; rather, many unit operations actually model several pieces of equipment. For example, a distillation column block actually represents a column, condenser, reflux drum, reboiler, etc. In order to improve relative costing accuracy, it is important to map unit operations to the correct equipment models. To map unit operations to equipment, first be sure that the Economics Active box in the Economics Solver group is checked. This will enable the economics software which works under the hood to power Activated Economic Analysis. Next, click the Map button in the Integrated Economics group (Figure 13). Figure 13: The Map button: Note that Economics Active must be checked This will bring up the mapping dialogue form. For your initial mapping, use the default mapping option. When the mapping equipment form launches, review and change the default mapping as necessary to appropriately represent your process. When you are done, click OK (Figure 14). 7
Figure 14: Adjust equipment mapping as necessary Once the equipment is mapped, it must be sized. To do this, click the Size button in the Integrated Economics group, shown in Figure 13. When sizing is complete, click the View Equipment button to open the Results Summary Equipment form. Here, in addition to reviewing the sizing of the equipment, it is important to select the correct metallurgies prior to estimating costs. By default, all equipment will be priced using Carbon Steel as the metallurgy. This, like all mutable user inputs, appears in blue (Figure 15). Figure 15: Select appropriate equipment metallurgies 8
Finally, you must evaluate to determine the relative costs for each piece of equipment and the operating costs. To do so, click the Evaluate button in the Integrated Economics Group. The Integrated Economics workflow is the custom/manual workflow to compliment Activated Economic Analysis, which will go through the mapping, sizing, and evaluation steps automatically based on simulation defaults. Delving into Activated Economics Analysis To learn more about the estimates presented on the dashboard, click on the launchers at the bottom of the fields. The launcher at the lower right of the capital cost field will bring you back to the Results Summary Equipment form. The launcher at the lower right of the Utility Cost field (Figure 16) will bring you to the utilities tab. Figure 16: Launch Utilities Tab Toggle through the tabs on this form to see a summary of information relating to each type of equipment represented in the simulation. It is very important to review the error fields to ensure a successful estimate. If errors are present, the economics dashboard will display a caution sign under the capital cost total (Figure 16). Clicking this will also bring you to the Results Summary Equipment form, where red X s will show which pieces of equipment are in error. Hovering over the red X with your mouse will show the specific error message for more detail (Figure 17). The nametag for each piece of equipment also acts as a hyperlink. Clicking one will bring you to the specific equipment tab for that item where you can enter more detailed information (Figure 15). Figure 17: Evaluation error flagging and The Results Summary Equipment form 9
If you d like to view investment metrics for the process, there is a drop down arrow at the bottom of the economics dashboard. Clicking on this will open a drop-down menu displaying the operating profit, the payout period for the process, and the designated return on investment percentage (Figure 18). Figure 18: View important investment metrics To generate a report, click on the Investment Analysis button in the Economics tab in the ribbon (Figure 19). Once you are satisfied with your results, the information can be handed over to a costing specialist, who can use Aspen Capital Cost Estimator for a more detailed analysis. Figure 19: Export Detailed Investment Analysis 10
Additional Resources Public Website: www.aspentech.com/products/activation Online Training: www.aspentech.com/products/aspen-online-training On-demand Short Presentations: Intro to Activation in Aspen HYSYS https://www.brainshark.com/aspentech1/activated-energy-hysys Intro to Activated Energy in Aspen HYSYS https://www.brainshark.com/aspentech1/activated-energy-hysys Activated Economics in Aspen HYSYS Overview https://www.brainshark.com/aspentech1/activated-econ-hysys-overview AspenTech YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/aspentechnologyinc Activated Analysis in Aspen HYSYS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-gdwpbkbls&list=pl0adeb58fd49c6ebc&index=12 Activated Analysis in Aspen Plus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2lbjv7zk7o&list=pl0adeb58fd49c6ebc&index=11 Jump Start Guides: Jump Start: Activation with Aspen Plus V8.0 http://www.aspentech.com/activationaspenplus/ 11
About AspenTech AspenTech is a leading supplier of software that optimizes process manufacturing for energy, chemicals, engineering and construction, and other industries that manufacture and produce products from a chemical process. With integrated aspenone solutions, process manufacturers can implement best practices for optimizing their engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain operations. As a result, AspenTech customers are better able to increase capacity, improve margins, reduce costs, and become more energy efficient. To see how the world s leading process manufacturers rely on AspenTech to achieve their operational excellence goals, visit www.aspentech.com. Worldwide Headquarters Aspen Technology, Inc. 20 Crosby Drive Bedford, MA 01730 United States phone: +1 781 221 6400 fax: +1 781 221 6410 info@aspentech.com 2013 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenone, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenone logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-4567-1113 Regional Headquarters Houston, TX USA phone: +1 281 584 1000 São Paulo Brazil phone: +55 11 3443 6261 Reading United Kingdom phone: +44 (0) 1189 226400 Singapore Republic of Singapore phone: +65 6395 3900 Manama Bahrain phone: +973 17 50 3000 For a complete list of offices, please visit www.aspentech.com/locations