In industry complicated problems are often not solved by hand for two reasons: human error and time constraints. There are many different simulation programs used in industry depending on the field, application, and desired simulation products (entire process unit, one piece of equipment, etc.). When used to its full capabilities, Aspen can be a very powerful tool for a Chemical Engineer in a variety of fields including oil and gas production, refining, chemical processing, environmental studies, and power generation to name a few.

Over the course of these tutorials, you will be introduced to some of the basic features of Aspen as we build a simulation of an acetone/water extraction-distillation process. This problem is based very loosely on Example Problem 4.4-2 in Elementary Principles of Chemical Process by Felder and Rousseau. Because we will build on our existing simulation with each tutorial, it is highly recommended that you save your work every week so you do not have to start from scratch each time. The homework problems will emphasize one particular feature of Aspen that is covered in the tutorial for that week.

Continue reading the tutorial —-> Aspen_Tutorial_Unit_1