Optimize Process Designs for Capital and Operating Costs with Activated Economics Webinar Q&A This document summarizes the responses to questions posed before and during the webinar. Additional questions should be directed to AspenTech Support. Submitted Before the Webinar: Q: Do AspenTech employees work as consultants to evaluate companies capital cost estimates? A: AspenTech does not offer those services at this time. AspenTech can assist with using the software and also with implementation. We do not staff cost estimators, but we do work with several third parties that specialize in cost estimation in an early phase that we can put you in touch with if you’re interested in having external companies check your estimates or implement AspenTech Economic Evaluation products. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: What is the accuracy of cost estimates generated with Activated Economics in Aspen Plus® and Aspen HYSYS®? A: Activated Economics represents a relative feasibility and conceptual design cost for your process. This would be the equivalent of a Stage V estimate. By using other AspenTech Economic Evaluation products, such as Aspen Capital Cost Estimator, users are able to provide very detailed and accurate estimates up to and including Stage II estimates. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: Does the Aspen Economics include estimates for fermentation and purification processes, such as chromatography and ultrafiltration? What is the range of production scales that can be modeled? A: Typically, we do not model small scale processes (pilot scale or bench scale processes) but we do model full size processes. There is a large variety of models available out of the box; however, if a model is missing, users are able to input custom models. For example, a fermentation vessel might have some unique properties; therefore, you could run one of our vessels and adjust it to fit your unique requirements. You can then put that in the mapping dialogue and it will run the model you’ve specified. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: My current version of Aspen Plus is V7.2; will I be able to use most of the functions presented in the webinar? A: You’ll need to upgrade to V8.4 to perform many of the functionalities shown in the demo. If your company has V8.0 or V8.2, you can access some of the functionality but we strongly suggest you upgrade as we’ve made many improvements to Activated Economics in the latest release (V8.4). Submitted During the Webinar: Q: Is there an example file that shows how to approach problems that use equipment blocks that are not standard items in Aspen Plus and Aspen Process Economic Analyzer, for example a membrane module? A: This is a very good suggestion. We don’t have an example file that shows how to approach these problems, but it would certainly be useful to put either a viewlet or a tutorial together for doing that. Typically, you would need a unit operation block in Aspen Plus or Aspen HYSYS that can map to some piece of equipment in our system and then apply this custom model to get to what you want. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: How do you make a complete report out of the data when finished? Are they all exported to Excel one at a time? A: The equipment grid produced by Aspen Plus or Aspen HYSYS (which is already in Excel format) can be exported to Excel or copied and pasted into Excel. Additionally, on the Economics Ribbon, you can generate a detailed report using Aspen Process Economic Analyzer (a standalone cost estimation tool used to develop the estimates given by Activated Economics). Finally, estimates developed with Activated Economics can be exported into Aspen Process Economic Analyzer or Aspen Capital Cost Estimator for additional reports, enabling you to drill down into the various aspects of a project. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: What approach is taken when the model has equipment that is beyond the size/capacity data that is in Aspen Process Economic Analyzer, for example large blowers? A: AspenTech Economic Evaluation products consider the size and capacity limitations of pieces of equipment; therefore, if the system reports that a blower is too large, you may want to look into whether a blower of that size is obtainable from a manufacturer. Our data comes directly from process equipment manufacturers to ensure our cost models match the size and capacity limitations of their product portfolios. If your unit is outside of those bounds, add a rule in the template that says when the turbine gets to a particular size, split it into two units, etc. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: I did not get the methodology of how piping, instrument, civil, foundation, and capital cost can be estimated from standalone equipment without implantation constraint information or soil information? A: AspenTech Economic Evaluation products all use a volumetric modeling approach to cost estimation. Based on the application of the unit operation in question, we select a “virtual” P&ID for that unit, or the user can select one. The unit sizing, weight, dimensions, etc. are developed using the stream data and the given default parameters present within the flowsheet or cost template. Soil constraints are controlled in the costing template, which means it will default to one of our five cost basis areas. Customizing the template will allow you to be as accurate as possible given that you know all of the constraints. Q: How does this functionality work in Aspen HYSYS? A: The functionality works the exact same way in Aspen HYSYS as it does in Aspen Plus (demonstrated in the webinar). For further information on how to use Activated Economics in Aspen Plus or Aspen HYSYS, please view our Computer-Based Training, Jump Start Guides, or viewlets. All of these materials can be found on the AspenTech Support website or from within the product using aspenONE® Exchange. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: Is there a CBT available for Activated Economics? A: Yes, the CBT is available from within the product using aspenONE Exchange if you are running V8.0 or higher. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: Does the formal Aspen Plus and Aspen HYSYS training cover this functionality? A: Yes, though somewhat briefly, so we would suggest using these webinars or the Jump Start Guides and online materials specific to AspenTech Economic Evaluation products and Activated Economics. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: I understand that cost information is updated at the end of each year; are they updated via patches during the year? A: Cost data is updated on a yearly basis using a number of public and private sources. Cost updates represent data from the first quarter of the year and can be obtained by downloading the latest release; it is not a patch. Some companies further index their costs for items that may fluctuate more rapidly and this is demonstrated in this On-Demand Webinar: Calibrating Aspen Capital Cost Estimator for Increased Accuracy featuring Strategic Estimating Systems. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: Can Activated Economics be used for refining applications? A: Yes, the first case study presented in the webinar used Activated Economics for a refining application. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: I joined the presentation very late due to connection problem. Is there going to be a recording of the presentation for later viewing? A: The On-Demand recording of this webinar can be found here: Optimize Process Designs for Capital and Operating Costs with Activated Economics. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: How many different process plants can be compared in one go? A: We don’t have a direct case comparison tool in APEA, but we do offer the ability to export the data in each case to an excel sheet so that you can compare as many cases as you would like through Excel. There is also a webinar by Burns and McDonnell in conjunction with us where they use our product Aspen Simulation Workbook to look at multiple process and economic parameters over a number of different scenarios to do a full optimization. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: Is it also possible to do life cycle emissions along with product life cycle cost? A: You can use the utilities in the simulation to identify emissions factors. Additionally, Aspen Plus and Aspen HYSYS have features incorporated to evaluate and survey emissions data. With Activated Energy in Aspen Plus and Aspen HYSYS, users can easily analyze greenhouse gas emissions and Activated Economics will evaluate potential emission reduction scenarios. Q: I am interested in absolute economics and would like a default custom module for different regions of the world based on AspenTech’s database. I realize labor costs, productivities, etc. are all different but I’d like to see what AspenTech suggests for these values. A: This is accommodated to an extent with our five different country basis, but would need to be customized in the template and data for more specific regions. Activated Economics is really designed to help you hone in on process economics and feasibility for a project; comparing option A against B to see the economic impact of design changes. The more detailed process of defining specific labor rates, hand excavation factors, etc. would be performed using Aspen Capital Cost Estimator. These are not typically important considerations for the early conceptual phase that Activated Economics is useful for. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: Do you use Lang or Power factors in your model building? A: We do not factor anything in our system. We use a volumetric approach, as described in the webinar. Equipment is “built”, sized, and evaluated based on the application, stream data, and any applicable information present in the simulation/template files. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: The air compressor component in ACCE states it has an air filter. What kind of air filter is this and does ACCE include the structural supports as they’re large? A: The air filters are included in the cost of the item, but we do not include the structural members for the support of the filters (we do include the equipment foundation and other bulks). These could be added to a custom model and represented in the mapping that way. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: How automatic is the generation of the equipment list? In other words, what amount of information is necessary to input manually (numbering, designation, etc.)? A: The equipment list is generated based on the default mappings for each piece of equipment. For every unit operation in Aspen Plus or Aspen HYSYS, we have a default mapping and automatically generate a list of equipment. We use the process simulation name to map the equipment to start with, linking it back to the process. You don’t have to manually name or input anything, but you are free to override the defaults if needed. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: Can you specify something other than CS as default material for all equipment, for instance SS 316L? A: CS is the typical default for many of the items in the standard templates, but if you wanted to use SS as a blanket default for the project you can create a custom template and it will choose that material where possible for you. This will work for many items, but there are a few unit operations which only support a small amount of metallurgies. You can also select individual units in the equipment grid and select what materials you want to use for the unit from a large drop-down list. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: Is refractory material included in the MOC options? A: Yes, it is a material of selection for vessels. For example, if you wanted to build a gasifier you could put in abrasive lining materials or firebrick. Q: In relation to revams, how can AspenTech estimate equipment that has some modifications but maintains structural bulks and so on? A: In Activated Economics, you have some control over whether this is part of a revamp project. You have the ability in the equipment grid to declare if something is a spare pump, for example, or to designate if a piece of equipment already exists and you only want to re-pipe it. More detailed functionality is available in Aspen In-Plant Cost Estimator, which is a product designed specifically for applications in the plant, such as revamp projects. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: What is the best way to handle blocks used in the simulation to bridge between units but have no real cost? A: We handle these the same way we handle mixers and splitters. We don’t know based on your simulation if the mixer or splitter is a “T” in the pipe or an actual piece of equipment. We map them to a placeholder, zero-cost item. We recommend you keep these mappings as they are, in case it becomes necessary to remap and define these later on in the process. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: Does ACCE have Double Wall Horizontal Vessels, for example, Internal Vessel 316SS and the Outer Vessel CS? A: We have them present in the system as “multi-walled” vessels. We do not allow you to define different materials for the different walls, but you would be able to specify a lining in this case where the shell was CS and the lining was 316 SS. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: Will automatic, optimal, rule-based material selection be added in the future? A: No, the material selection process is extremely complex. We have been looking at this for years and the fact that small concentration changes can require changes in metallurgy means we can’t allow rulebased designations. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: How many tokens per user are required for Activated Economics? A: On activating economics, the token value for APEA (24 tokens) will be checked out on top of the Aspen Plus or Aspen HYSYS license. Closing Activated Economics will return the tokens. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: What does “Activated” in the product actually refer to? A: Our “Activated” features (Energy, Economics and EDR as of V8.4) are an improvement over the older integrated features. Activated, here, refers to the ability to readily start and stop the product/feature within the simulation environment. In previous “integrated” versions, the capabilities for economics and energy required sharing files between the separate standalone products. With Activation, the simulation environments seamlessly interact with our activated products so that a full range of functionality from those products is present in the simulation, without ever having to leave the simulation environment or open a separate, standalone program or product. Q: Does your model estimate spacing between equipment to see if the unit(s) will be available within the plot plan? A: We do have the capability to estimate area size based on the equipment selected. This is based on the equipment footprint, plus a safety zone based on fire requirements. We do not check whether this will fit within your plot area—that would require manual review. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: Is it possible to add different utility costs for different years or provide a multiplier? A: In Activated Economics, it is not possible to adjust the utility costs for different years. In APEA, there is an advanced Economics module that allows each individual cost to be adjusted by time to see the impact. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: How are costs for control rooms, labs, etc. estimated? A: Estimates for plant requirements, such as control rooms, labs, roads, etc. can be generated with Aspen Capital Cost Estimator (ACCE). In ACCE, there are multiple building models that can be selected for a project. For the purposes of Activated Economics, these are assumed to be the same between the various cases that are being compared. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Q: Will this economic analysis lead to a feasibility decision? A: Activated Economics excels in the early stages of conceptual design and relative process comparison, including process economic feasibility. The investment and process metrics available through Activated Economics provides a summary of key figures which can be used to determine the relative profitability (and therefore the economic feasibility) of a process. Generally, the feasibility decision requires other decisions beyond the scope of Process Economics, such as how raw material and product costs might impact this decision. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Q: Are auxiliary equipment such as piping, insulation, or heat tracing considered for the estimates? A: Auxiliary equipment is included in the equipment mapping for unit operation as “bulks” and is an integral part of the estimate. Our volumetric modeling system allows for building equipment from the ground up—including bulk items like piping—to get a full estimate. Heat tracing is not considered in Activated Economics, but can easily be added when using APEA or ACCE.