Dynsim Tutorial

What You'll Learn In This Tutorial

We will show you how to accomplish these tasks as described below:
1. Starting Dynsim.
2. Creating a New Simulation.
3. Setting up a Simulation.
4. Executing the Simulation.
5. Interpret the results generated during this simulation.

Starting Dynsim
After you install the program, a Dynsim starter icon is displayed on your
desktop. You may use this icon to start the program or follow the steps given
below:
1. Start Dynsim by clicking on Start/ Programs/SIMSCI and selecting the
Dynsim icon.

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2. This brings up the Dynsim splash screen. Youll be prompted for a

Username and Password. Use simsci for both the username and
password and launch the application by clicking on Login.

Dynsim Login Screen

Creating a New Simulation

Once the user has logged into the Dynsim session, you now need to create a
new simulation. The steps are as follows:
1. Under the File menu select New and Simulation. The New Simulation
dialog box will appear and prompt the user for a simulation name.

New Simulation Dialog Box

2. Use ReverseFlow as the simulation name and Click OK.

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The simulation name must not contain spaces or symbols

3. The simulation will be created in a default user directory (C:\Documents
and Settings\<User Name> \My Documents\SIM4ME40\ Reverse
Flow.s4m).

Data Input Conventions

The Dynsim Graphical User Interface distinguishes the input data as follows:
Required

The user must enter data in order to run the simulation. Without a
valid entry, the input for the simulation is incomplete and an error
message will be displayed if the simulation is executed. The default
color for this type is red.

Default

The default value is usually a good estimate and a value that is

commonly used for that parameter. The value may be overridden if
desired. The default color for this type is green.

Caution

Indicates a value that is not realistic and might produce erroneous

results. The default color for this type is yellow.

Optional

Data, which is not explicitly required by Dynsim for its execution.

A Colorless cell is used for this type of data.
A Colorless cell also means that the required or default data has been
modified.

Tab Status Indication

Any data in the data fields of the DEW of an individual object is validated and the
status is indicated for the individual tabs. The DEW uses the following to indicate the
status of input data, as follows:
Valid Data

Entry of valid data in all the data fields of an individual tab of a

DEW. Any default data (green data field) or optional data
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(colorless data field) are also considered as valid and the status is
indicated by .
Invalid Data

Any required data (red data field) or data, which is not realistic
(yellow data field) in any of the cells of a DEW, is considered
invalid and the status is indicated by

Setting up a Simulation
The Dynsim interface has been designed to incorporate many of the features
that are built in the PRO/II GUI. Hence, similar to a PRO/II simulation, the user
can follow a series of steps to setup a simulation.
They are detailed as below:
1. Define the Units of Measure (UOM).
2. Select components and define component slates.
3. Specify a thermodynamic method.
4. Configure the flow sheet objects.
5. Connect the objects through relevant streams.
Once the above steps are accomplished the user will run the simulation and
monitor the dynamic behavior of the process under study; specifically on how
to model reverse flow through a valve. This simple example illustrates the fact
the Dynsim is well equipped with a state of the art pressure-flow solver, critical
for modeling more complex unit operations such a distillation columns with
precision.
The steps to fix up the parameters are enumerated below.

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Step 1: Define the Units of Measure (UOM)

1. Click on the UOM icon
box as indicated below.

, which will display the Units of Measure dialog

UOM Dialog Box

2. The user has the option to either chose from the predefined UOM list.
3. Alternatively, you have also got the flexibility to define a custom UOM by
clicking on the New Slate button. Hence, for any specific class the user can
define a custom unit of measure or utilize the default unit available. For
this particular example we will be using the SI UOM list. Click OK once the
option has been selected.

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Step 2: Select Components and define Component Slates

In this step you will be defining the specific components to be used in the
simulation. There is a significant change in approach employed in SIMSCIEsscors related products like PRO/II and ROMeo. In PRO/II, the user selects
the components and in doing so defines a single component slate that is used
for all of the process units and streams in the simulation. In ROMeo, the user
has the ability to create multiple component slates to be used by individual
process units as applicable. In contrast, Dynsim employs the more flexible
approach to ensure that the computational problem is defined as efficiently as
possible.
1. Bring up the Dynsim thermodynamic GUI by clicking on the

in the toolbar. Notice that both components and

Component icon
thermodynamics are displayed in this window.
2. The first tab is titled Library and allows the user to add any of the
pure or library components. The user can enter a component by typing
the technical name, alias or the chemical formula in the Add Library
Component cell and clicking on Add.
3. The user can selectively display components based on the Component
Full Name, Alias Name or Formula by clicking on the appropriate sort
column and entering characters in the Filter box at the lower right.

By default, only the most commonly used components are listed.

Additional components can be exhibited by selecting a different Component
Family (located above the filter box).

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Components & Thermodynamics Slate Dialog Box

Similar to PRO/II, if you wish to define a Petro component, a minimum of two
physical properties among the listed parameters below must be defined:

Boiling Point

Density

Molecular Weight

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Defining Petro Component Properties

The next stage is to define the component slates. A component slate can consist
of a few select components (e.g. in the case of a cooling water stream there
might only be one - water). The primary objective is that when Dynsim
performs property or equilibrium calculations, for instance a drum or separator,
it only needs to consider those components defined in the component slate and
not all the components defined for the entire simulation. This will enable faster
computational speed, especially for simulations containing a large number of
components.
1. Click on the Slate tab wherein the New Component Slate box appears at the
left-hand corner of the application. The screen appears as shown below.

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Fixing up a Component Slate

2. Create a new component slate by typing PROCESS in the above box and
then click the Add button.
3. Drag and drop Ethane, Ethylene, isoButane and Propane from the Selected
Components list to the Components in Slate list.
4. Users have the flexibility to define as many slates as per their requirements.
However, you must first define a component in the Selected Components
list before it can be added to any given slate.

Since the interface applications are configured in Java, it will be

possible for the user to drag and drop multiple components by selecting
marginally outside the icon of one of the selected components.

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Step 3: Define a Thermodynamic Method

Once the component slate is defined, the next step is to specify a suitable
thermodynamic method. The sequence of operation is as follows:
1. Click on the Method tab. In the New Method Slate cell, enter SRK and
click Add.
2. Now expand the Thermodynamic Data tree against SRK created by you
and observe the available methods for equilibrium, enthalpy, entropy,
and density calculations by right clicking with the mouse.

Selection of a Thermodynamic Method

3. Choose the appropriate equation of state method as per the simulation
requirements. For this particular simulation, the components selected
comprise of light hydrocarbons and hence an equation of state method
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such as Soave-Redlich-Kwong or Peng-Robinson would be suitable.

Once the selection is made, click OK to save and Close the Component
and Thermodynamic Data Entry Window.

Step 4: Lay Down Models

Once the above step has been completed in all aspects the user is now faced
with a blank canvas. To start configuring the flow sheet, the user needs to select
the appropriate models. You have the option to choose from one of two
methods for adding objects to the flow sheet.

. This appears
1. The first method is through selecting the Palette icon
on the main toolbar and can also be accessed by clicking on the View
menu and selecting it there. Upon selection, a floating Icon Palette
similar to the PFD Palette found in PRO/II appears. You can now
select streams, equipment models, or other configurations to lay down
on the flow sheet.
2. Alternatively, the user can select the Types tree on the bottom left hand
corner of the screen. The Types tree contains a complete list of the
entire model Libraries in Dynsim including Primitives, Widgets,
References, Connectors, Points, Base Equipment, Controls, Electrical
Grid, and utilities.

The Icon Palette contains only a subset of the most common

models present in Dynsim. If a particular unit operation is not listed on
the icon palette the user is instructed to locate the same in the Types
tree.
3. From the Icon Palette, select a Source and fix it on the Flow sheet.
4. Now Double Click on the source icon or Right click and select Data
Entry
. This will exhibit a Data Entry window through which the
user can configure the source.

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The default action on a double click depends on the state of the flow
sheet. For example, when running a simulation, double clicking on a valve
brings up a slider, which allows you to manipulate the valve position. All
options are always available through the right mouse click menu.

Configuring a Flow Sheet

Remember that if you select the Edit
option, the Object Editor Viewer
(OEV) window pops-up. This window contains a comprehensive set of all the
parameters associated with this model.

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Normally it is expected that only expert users will configure models using the
OEV interface.
Enter the following data:

Elevation:
Pressure:
Temperature:

6.096 m
3350 kPa
395 K

Until you select the Thermo tab and select the Process slate, the
Boundary Condition tab will display all the components selected for the
simulation. After you have selected the PROCESS slate and fixed SRK as
the thermodynamic method, go back to the Boundary Condition tab.
Enter the following data:

Ethane:
Ethylene:
iButane:
Propane:

2
3
2
4

kg-mol
kg-mol
kg-mol
kg-mol

Now you will observe that the Process slate composition is displayed. Notice
that this data is pertaining to the composition data and that you are entering
values, which will be normalized to determine the stream composition. The
flow is a calculated value, which is dependant on the pressure network.

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Process Slate Composition

5. After clicking OK for the Source, Select a valve and sink and place them on
the flow sheet.
6. To increase the canvas area, select the View menu, Click on Change
Toolbars and choose Abbreviated. Notice that in addition to Abbreviated
there are four other options under Change Toolbars. Each of these options
refers to a specific user profile.
7. Administrator ensures that all Dynsims options are displayed. Operator,
Instructor and Engineer configures the toolbar to suit a specific user profile.
For example, an engineer might need to edit and modify a simulation.
However, it might not be the case for an operator training on a particular
Dynsim simulation. These options indicate that Dynsim is not limited to
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engineering studies alone. Apparently, its also utilized for Operator

Training Applications (OTS) in which the operator, the instructor, and the
engineer use a single integrated modeling environment.
8. Next enter the following information as exhibited in the screen below for
the Valve model. As in the case of the Source, the Thermo method is SRK
and the component slate is Process. For the Sink model, the pressure is
fixed at 200 kPa.

Valve Model Configuration

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Step 5: Connect the Flow sheet Objects Using Appropriate Streams

The next step in building the simulation is to connect the flow sheet objects
using the appropriate streams. For the purpose of simplicity only the process
streams are considered for this example. However, there are other stream types
available in Dynsim as indicated in the table below.
These include:
Stream Type

Description

Process Stream

Used for connecting unit operations from the base

equipment library. Represents compositional streams.

Heat Stream

Used for linking utility exchangers to equipment

models that can have a heat duty associated with
them.
E.g. Distillation Column, Separator, etc.

Mechanical Stream

Used to associate a motor or expander to a pump or

compressor. It can also link to a motor, expander,
pump, and compressor to a shaft so that all
equipment operates at the same speed.

Electrical Stream

Used for interconnecting objects from the electrical

library.

Connectors

Used to connect model parameters to each other, e.g.

a process variable to a controller or a controller
output to a valve open command.
Classification of Streams

In Dynsim as in Pro/II, valid port locations are highlighted in red (required) and
green (optional).

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Connec
ting Flow Sheet Objects and Streams

Step 6: Executing the Simulation

Once the selected simulation is complete in all aspects the user to run the
simulation can adopt the following instructions.
, to initiate the simulation engine. This
1. Click the Start button,
causes Dynsim to start the simulation and leave it in a frozen state.
2. To run the simulation the user should click on the Run button,

Controlling a Simulation
3. Finally with the simulation running the user can begin to examine the
dynamic behavior of the system. For example to monitor the flow rate
through the valve, select a Flow Rate Indicator from the References
library on the Types tree. Place this on the canvas just below the valve.
When prompted for a name, enter the stream name that needs to be
tracked, in this case S2. A green arrow denotes a positive flow rate in
the direction specified by the stream. A red arrow denotes reverse flow.

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Dynamic Simulation Features

4. Double click on the valve flow sheet icon. The Operate Valve window
will pop-up. This allows the user to adjust the valve position using a
Slider. Set the position to 100% open. Notice that the Flow Rate Initiator
indicates a positive flow rate in the direction of flow specified by the
user (green arrow).
Under ideal conditions, you would wish to have the flexibility to
modify the boundary condition of the sink (i.e. its pressure) without
having to edit the parameter in the tabbed dialogue window. Dynsim
allows you to drop a Slider on the canvas and link it to flow sheet
parameters such as a sink pressure. Hence, in this mode you have the
option to easily alter the sink pressure and see how it affects the flow
though the valve.

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5. Select a Slider from the Widgets library on the Types tree. Locate it on
the canvas. Right click with the mouse and select Draw Attributes. For
Point Name, select SNK1.PB, which is the name of the Sink followed
by the parameter you opt to control.
The Maximum /Minimum ranges for the slider are set to 5,000 and 500
kPa respectively, and the orientation is set to vertical.

Modification of Boundary Conditions

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6. Before varying this parameter (Sink Pressure Boundary) remotely, the

user must first change its designation from static to dynamic. To do this
highlight the Sink, right click on it and select, Edit . This exhibits the
OEV interface, which allows the user to edit any variable associated
with this model.

Static To Dynamic Condition Changeover

7. The user can now alter the pressure of the Sink by varying the pointer
on the slider. To track the exact value of the pressure at the sink at a
specific point of time, the user can select a Point from the References
library on the Types tree. Locating the Point on the canvas next to the
Sink, the user is prompted for a name. Now enter the name as
SNK1.PB and observe that the sink pressure appears in blue.
8. Alternatively, try to induce reverse flow in the model. Start increasing
the pressure at the sink (SNK1) by adjusting the position of the pointer
on the vertical slider on the left hand side of the flow sheet. Remember
you have already linked this slider to set the boundary pressure at the
sink. The higher the pressure at the sink, the smaller the flow rate
across the valve. Eventually, a point is reached where the pressure at
the sink is high, that it results in reverse flow.

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Reverse Flow in a Valve

9. To complete the demo, select a Rectangle from the Primitives library on
the Types tree. Draw a rectangle around the slider, right click, select
Draw Attributes and choose a fill color. To summarize, the ultimate step
illustrates the flexibility available to the users to customize the flow
sheet graphics according to their requirements.

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Customization of a Flow Sheet

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