CAPEC

Mission

CAPEC was founded in 1997 under Professors Sten Bay Jorgensen (Emeritus) and Rafiqul Gani and as at 2012 the center has been in existence for 15 years. The mission of CAPEC is as follows:

Focus Areas

CAPEC's research areas in the area of CAPE and PSE are focused on the continued development of computer-aided systems for the chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, agrochemical, food and biochemical industries as follows:

More specifically the outcome of the research carried out at CAPEC can be classified as:

1. Computational Tools: Property estimation methods, mathematical models, numerical solvers, process simulators, process-product synthesis/design toolbox, process control toolbox etc
2. Technology: Methodologies for process-product synthesis, design, analysis and control/operation, simulation strategies, solvent selection/design, pollution prevention, sustainable process-product alternatives etc
3. Application: Industrial case studies, tutorial case studies, technology transfer studies and consulting

Research Structure

Research in CAPEC is organized into seven (7) research programs. At the inner most level exists fundamental research and at the outer most level, applied research. In the intermediate levels, methods and tools are developed that are based on the results from the inner level and that are needed for applied research in the outer level. Research programs at the inner level deal with modelling and it should be noted that all research programs need numerical tools and databases, which is integral to all levels.

The inner levels of the research program deals with modelling of properties (phenomena) and with modelling and identification of processes, operations and phenomena not covered in the former. Based these models, algorithms, methods and computer-aided tools for synthesis, design and analysis of processes, products and operations are developed. Simultaneously, the developed models provide the basis for research in process operation and control. These results then provide the foundation for research in areas related to process and tools integration and safety and hazards, which is now referred to as sustainable process and tools integration.

Software

Since its creation, CAPEC has been involved in developing an Integrated Computer Aided System, ICAS. As at 2012, ICAS is in its 15th year with ICAS version 15.0. ICAS combines various tools which are integrated in order to fulfill the following objectives:

1. To obtain consistent methods and data for process and product development
2. To help solve process engineering problems more efficiently
3. To improve productivity of users by allowing sharing of common knowledge between different groups of people (using different tools within the integrated system) and finally
4. To promote simultaneous solving and learning

ICAS combines computer-aided tools for modeling, simulation (including property prediction), synthesis/design, control and analysis into a single integrated system. These tools are present in ICAS as toolboxes. During the solution of a problem, the user may move from one toolbox to another to solve problems requiring more than one tool. For example, in process synthesis, one option is to define the feed stream, then analyze the mixture (analysis and utility toolbox), then generate a flowsheet (synthesis toolbox), then optimize the flowsheet (design toolbox), and finally verify the design (analysis toolbox). From any toolbox it is possible to invoke the simulation engine to perform steady state and/or dynamic simulation for batch and/or continuous process operations. From the synthesis toolbox, it is possible to invoke the solvent design tool (in design toolbox) if a solvent is needed for a specific separation task. There is also a utility toolbox, which determines properties, phase diagrams, etc., which can be used by the other toolboxes or by the user to analyze.