5 replies to this topic

[Pilesar]

I will voluntarily end my professional engineering career next week. With that goes my access to commercial engineering software.

I am still a process engineer even if no one pays me! What free chemical engineering software have you found useful?

 

Have you tried the open-source DWSIM? https://sourceforge....projects/dwsim/

Have you used any of the other 100 plus open-source chemical engineering software projects at https://sourceforge....cal engineering ?

I am not interested in trying every unknown software package so am looking for discussion.

Any recommendations for free/cheap calculation packages or engineering related software for tinkering and exploring?

[breizh]

Hi,

Let you enjoy your retirement!

I installed DWSIM on my computer, using it rarely.

I use time to time Checalc and software (AIoflo and Uconeer) from Katmar .

To be frank I'm not doing much calculation and if needed I will use my own spreadsheets.

Breizh

[latexman]

Congratulations, Pilesar!

[daraj]

it would be good if somebody who has used both DWSIM as well as paid software like aspen plus, list the cons or limitations of DWSIM(or other popular free software) and tip about what to look out for and where to be careful when switching from aspen to DWSIM..thanks

[FRBChemE]

To Pilesar:

Congratulations on Retiring.  I retired about 20 years ago.  I do use and contribute to DWSIM Q&A board on Forge Source. Since most of my experience is in Process Engineering, I cannot answer questions about Programming such as Python.  But DWSIM is actively changing.  Daniel is improving it all the time.  It is now version 9.02.  Also, you might want to investigate DWSIM Pro. It is a commercial version, but it is not very costly. Another fairly low-cost simulator is Design II by Winsim.  

I use Matlab occasionally and renew it every year, about$120.00

Sincerely

Frank R Brown III

[Plantcalckit.forums]

For quick day-to-day checks that don't justify opening a simulator, there's also a set of 41 free browser calculators at plantcalckit.com/tools — no login or install. Coverage includes heat exchanger LMTD/F-factor, NTU and fouling resistance from operating data; pump NPSHa, efficiency and affinity laws; pipe and gas-line pressure drop, control valve Cv, orifice flow and restriction orifice sizing; steam tables, flash steam, boiler efficiency and blowdown; cooling tower water balance and thermal rating; PSV sizing and fire-case relief load.

Disclosure: I'm involved with PlantCalcKit. Alongside DWSIM for simulation and Katmar's tools for hydraulics, it covers most of the routine sanity checks.