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[contextion]

Can someone please comment on how much this software costs and if there are people available for hire to run a simulation?

[contextion]

Anyone ever get a freelancer?

[Steve McGahey]

Can someone please comment on how much this software costs and if there are people available for hire to run a simulation?

These things are tiered - you pay for a basic license and then you pay for extra features on top of that. Depending on how specalised you want to go, it can cost not a lot, or a heck of a lot.

STEADY STATE PROCESS SIMULATION
AspenTech's HYSYS Process Steady State... I don't really know how much this costs, to be honest. Based on other pricings I've seen around the place, you're probablly looking at about £3k per month. This is quite useful for keeping track of all the flows within a complex (read: over 100 process streams) system. It'll do all your thermodynamics and your phase-determining-flashes, and so forth.

I think I've seen people offering simple (but very specific) simulation packages for just steam based systems for what would probably be a few thousand pounds for a permenant license.

I've also seen steady state things done in EXCEL.

Finally, I've BUILT quite a few small flowsheets (i.e. 10 unit operations) in programming languages like MATLAB and so forth. That was a long time ago, before I got lazy (grin).

The real benefit of paying lots of money for your package is getting the thermo (with lots of components) done for you, and getting a predefined library of models. If you're up to working either of those out, you can save yourself a bit of money.

DYNAMIC PROCESS SIMULATION

Something like AspenTech's HYSYS Dynamics costs a fair wad of money. How much? We're talking in excess of £5k per month.

BUT, this gives you a lot of insight into a process. Heck, if you already knew the answer, you wouldn't need to simulate. These sorts of tools are very useful when you're really walking the sharp edge of what is possible or feasible. "Do we really have to spend a few million dollars on installing a Hot Gas Bypass Valve on this offshore platform", or "Can we use cheaper pipe for this medium-length section of pipeline - or will it burst when something downstream fails shut" or "So this bit of pipework gets cold during blowdown... but HOW cold - do I have to use Duplex?" and so forth.

This also lets you ask detailed "what-if" questions, rather than specify things.

SUPPLIERS OF SERVICES

Finally, you ask about finding people to do this sort of work for you. All I can say is that there are lots of people who do simulation work... but not everyone actually knows what is going on in their models. The size of your work will probably dictate who I'd suggest you use for your services. There are people who do small jobs, and there are groups who do larger jobs. It's against policy (I think) and good taste (I know) to go advertising service providers on the forums. PM me if you'd like a few leads.


CONCLUSIONS

My posting probably doesn't help just where you wanted it to, becuase sadly, I don't know all the prices. However, I hope it gives you a feel for the prices, and a bit of an understanding of why it's "worth" this much. Don't be put off by the high software charges though. The team I'm a part of has saved a lot of people a lot of money by using these simulatino packages to answer questions you would find hard to answer without actually building the plant and running it till it breaks.

Oh... and another thing... simulations often throw up problems with your process that you didn't even REALISE could be an issue. It's an interesting area. Enjoy.