SEICOMB

Predictive Thermodynamics for Processes

Most processes in the petroleum, chemical and materials processing industries require the use of thermodynamic prediction for design purposes.In plant design, thermodynamics packages usually appear as components of simulation programs which allow the engineer to calculate heat and mass balances for the various units in the plant. This approach usually implies that the engineer has to place total reliance on the integrity of the simulator design. The basic correctness, accuracy and limitations of the thermodynamic treatment at the heart of the simulator may not be transparent and open to question, but these are often the main factors which limit the performance of the simulator.It is important that the engineer makes the effort to penetrate the ‘black box’ core of the simulator and critically evaluate the thermodynamic treatment he finds there in the context of its applicability to the process unit he is trying to model.

Seicomb provides expertise in the applicability to real process problems of thermodynamic prediction methods for the properties of real gas mixtures, multicomponent vapour-liquid equilibria and gas/liquid/solid behaviour. Thermodynamic methods for prediction include packages based on the following equations of state:

Reaction equilibria prediction is also of paramount importance for reactor-based processes in the chemical manufacture industry. Seicomb provides expertise and program capabilities for gas-phase reaction equilibria, gas-liquid reactions and gas-solid reactions. Databases available include JANAF and similar compilations for wide ranges of organic reactants and products.