Aspen Plus

Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1

Version Number: Aspen Plus® 12.1
June 2003

Copyright (c) 1981-2003 by Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.

Aspen Plus®, Aspen Properties®, Aspen Engineering Suite, AspenTech®, ModelManager, the aspen leaf logo and Plantelligence
are trademarks or registered trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc., Cambridge, MA.

BATCHFRAC and RATEFRAC are trademarks of Koch Engineering Company, Inc.

All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

This manual is intended as a guide to using AspenTech's software. This documentation contains AspenTech proprietary and
confidential information and may not be disclosed, used, or copied without the prior consent of AspenTech or as set forth in the
applicable license agreement. Users are solely responsible for the proper use of the software and the application of the results
obtained.

Although AspenTech has tested the software and reviewed the documentation, the sole warranty for the software may be found in
the applicable license agreement between AspenTech and the user. ASPENTECH MAKES NO WARRANTY OR
REPRESENTATION, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THIS DOCUMENTATION, ITS
QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Corporate
Aspen Technology, Inc.
Ten Canal Park
Cambridge, MA 02141-2201
USA
Phone: (1) (617) 949-1021
Toll Free: (1) (888) 996-7001
Fax: (1) (617) 949-1724
URL: http://www.aspentech.com

Division
Design, Simulation and Optimization Systems
Aspen Technology, Inc.
Ten Canal Park
Cambridge, MA 02141-2201
USA
Phone: (617) 949-1000
Fax: (617) 949-1030
 Contents
About This Input Language Guide
For More Information ...................................................................................................xiii
Technical Support ......................................................................................................... xiv
Online Technical Support Center .......................................................................... xiv
Contacting Customer Support ................................................................................ xv
Hours ........................................................................................................................ xv
Phone ....................................................................................................................... xvi
Fax .......................................................................................................................... xvii
E-mail ..................................................................................................................... xvii

1 Aspen Plus Input Language

Input Language Elements ............................................................................................ 1-2
Rules for Using Aspen Plus Input Language .............................................................. 1-4
Rules for Writing an Aspen Plus Input File................................................................ 1-5

2 Running Aspen Plus

The ASPEN Run Command ......................................................................................... 2-2
Choosing the Simulation Environment ....................................................................... 2-2
Working in the Interactive Environment .................................................................... 2-3

3 Units
Specifying Units ............................................................................................................ 3-2
Custom Units of Measure ............................................................................................. 3-7

4 Components
Conventional Components............................................................................................ 4-2
Nonconventional Components...................................................................................... 4-3
Hypothetical Liquid Component .................................................................................. 4-4
Component Attributes .................................................................................................. 4-4
Component Groups........................................................................................................ 4-5

5 Chemistry and Electrolytes

Solution Chemistry ....................................................................................................... 5-2
Pitzer Ternary Parameters........................................................................................... 5-4
Accessing Variables in CHEMISTRY .......................................................................... 5-5

6 Reactions
Defining Reactions for Distillation Models.................................................................. 6-2

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 Defining Power-Law and Equilibrium Reactions for Reactors and Pressure Relief
Systems ..........................................................................................................................6-8
Defining LHHW Reactions for Reactors and Pressure Relief Systems ...................6-12
Defining User-Kinetic and Equilibrium Reactions for Reactors, Distillation Models,
and Pressure Relief Systems ......................................................................................6-18
Accessing Variables in REACTIONS .........................................................................6-22

7 Petroleum Assays and Pseudocomponents

Specifying Assay Analysis Options ..............................................................................7-2
Entering Assay Data for Petroleum Streams..............................................................7-4
Defining a New Petroleum Property ............................................................................7-8
Blending Assays ............................................................................................................7-9
Generating Pseudocomponents from Assays and Blends .........................................7-10
Defining Individual Pseudocomponents ....................................................................7-13
Defining and Modifying Pseudocomponent Property Correlation Option Sets.......7-14
Entering Properties for Pseudocomponents ..............................................................7-17
Entering Petroleum Properties for Light End Components.....................................7-18

8 Properties
Physical Property Methods ...........................................................................................8-2
Specifying Property Option Sets............................................................................8-2
Modifying Option Sets ............................................................................................8-4
Using Special Property Models ..............................................................................8-8
Physical Property Data ...............................................................................................8-11
Databanks .............................................................................................................8-11
Built-in Equation-of-State Parameters ...............................................................8-14
Entering Physical Property Data.........................................................................8-15
Tabular and Polynomial Models and Data..........................................................8-18
UNIFAC.................................................................................................................8-25
Property Parameter Estimation .................................................................................8-27
Specifying Parameters to be Estimated ..............................................................8-27
Defining Molecular Structure ..............................................................................8-29
Entering Experimental Data ...............................................................................8-32
Report Options ......................................................................................................8-33
Defining User Property Parameters....................................................................8-34
CAPE-OPEN Property Packages................................................................................8-35

9 Flowsheet and Hierarchy

FLOWSHEET Paragraph .............................................................................................9-2
HIERARCHY Paragraph ..............................................................................................9-3
Hierarchical Input Language.................................................................................9-4
Hierarchical Input Paragraphs..............................................................................9-6

10 Streams
Specifying Conventional Material Streams...............................................................10-2
Defining General Material Stream Classes...............................................................10-4
Specifying General Material Streams........................................................................10-6

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 Specifying Heat And Work Streams .......................................................................... 10-9
Specifying Stream Names......................................................................................... 10-10

11 Block Data
BLOCK Paragraphs .................................................................................................... 11-2
Heating and Cooling Curve ........................................................................................ 11-9

12 Mixers and Splitters

Accessing Variables in MIXER ............................................................................ 12-3
Accessing Variables in FSPLIT ........................................................................... 12-6
Accessing Variables in SSPLIT ........................................................................... 12-8
Accessing Variables in SEP ............................................................................... 12-11
Accessing Variables in SEP2 ............................................................................. 12-15

13 Flashes, Heaters, and Heat Exchangers

Accessing Variables in HEATER......................................................................... 13-4
Accessing Variables in FLASH2 .......................................................................... 13-6
Accessing Variables in FLASH3 .......................................................................... 13-9
Accessing Variables in DECANTER ................................................................. 13-13
Accessing Variables in HEATX.......................................................................... 13-32
Accessing Variables in MHEATX ...................................................................... 13-42
Accessing Variables in HXFLUX....................................................................... 13-45
Accessing Variables in HETRAN ......................................................................13-51
Accessing Variables in AEROTRAN ................................................................. 13-57
Accessing Variables in HTRIXIST .................................................................... 13-63

14 Shortcut Distillation
Accessing Variables in DSTWU........................................................................... 14-4
Accessing Variables in DISTL ............................................................................. 14-6
Accessing Variables in SCFRAC........................................................................ 14-11

15 Rigorous Distillation
Accessing Variables in RADFRAC .................................................................... 15-34
Column Specification Combinations for Two-Phase and Three-Phase Calculations
............................................................................................................................. 15-37
Accessing Variables in MULTIFRAC................................................................ 15-59
Column Specification Combinations for Column 1 and Other Columns ........ 15-61
Accessing Variables in PETROFRAC................................................................ 15-87
Valid COL-SPECS Combinations......................................................................15-89

16 Column Design and Rating

RADFRAC, MULTIFRAC and PETROFRAC ........................................................... 16-2
Accessing Variables in RADFRAC .................................................................... 16-32
Accessing Variables in MULTIFRAC................................................................ 16-36
Accessing Variables in PETROFRAC................................................................ 16-40
Unit Conversion Options.................................................................................... 16-48

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 Reference Tables .................................................................................................16-48

17 Rate-Based Distillation
Column Specification Combinations..................................................................17-33
Packing Specifications ........................................................................................17-34
Accessing Variables in RATEFRAC ..................................................................17-36

18 Liquid-Liquid Extraction
Accessing Variables in EXTRACT .......................................................................18-8

19 Batch Distillation
Column Specification Combinations..................................................................19-18
Accessing Variables in BATCHFRAC ...............................................................19-19

20 Reactors
Accessing Variables in RSTOIC...........................................................................20-5
Accessing Variables in RYIELD ........................................................................20-11
Accessing Variables in REQUIL ........................................................................20-14
Accessing Variables in RGIBBS.........................................................................20-20
Accessing Variables in RCSTR ..........................................................................20-27
Accessing Variables in RPLUG..........................................................................20-38
Accessing Variables in RBATCH .......................................................................20-49

21 Pumps and Compressors

Accessing Variables in PUMP............................................................................21-12
Accessing Variables in COMPR .........................................................................21-29
Accessing Variables in MCOMPR......................................................................21-46

22 Pipes and Valves

Accessing Variables in PIPELINE.....................................................................22-11
Accessing Variables in PIPE ..............................................................................22-22
Accessing Variables in VALVE ..........................................................................22-27

23 Crystallizer
Accessing Variables in CRYSTALLIZER ............................................................23-6

24 Crushers and Screens

Accessing Variables in CRUSHER ......................................................................24-3
Accessing Variables in SCREEN .........................................................................24-5

25 Gas-Solid Separators
Accessing Variables in FABFL ............................................................................25-3
Accessing Variables in CYCLONE ......................................................................25-7
Accessing Variables in VSCRUB .........................................................................25-9
Accessing Variables in ESP................................................................................25-12

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 26 Liquid-Solid Separators
Accessing Variables in HYCYC ........................................................................... 26-4
Accessing Variables in CFUGE ........................................................................... 26-6
Accessing Variables in FILTER........................................................................... 26-9

27 Solids Washers
Accessing Variables in SWASH ........................................................................... 27-3
Accessing Variables in CCD................................................................................. 27-6

28 Stream Manipulators
Accessing Variables in MULT.............................................................................. 28-2
Accessing Variables in SELECTOR .................................................................... 28-4
Accessing Variables in ANALYZER .................................................................... 28-6

29 User Unit Operation Models

Accessing Variables in USER and USER2 ......................................................... 29-5
Accessing Variables in USER3 .......................................................................... 29-12

30 Accessing Flowsheet Variables

Accessing Scalar Stream Variables............................................................................ 30-2
Accessing Stream Vectors........................................................................................... 30-3
Accessing Substream Vectors..................................................................................... 30-4
Accessing Unit Operation Block Variables................................................................ 30-4
Accessing Unit Operation Block Vectors ................................................................... 30-5
Accessing Component Attribute Variables................................................................ 30-6
Accessing Component Attribute Vectors ................................................................... 30-6
Accessing Substream Attribute Variables................................................................. 30-7
Accessing Substream Attribute Vectors .................................................................... 30-7
Accessing Chemistry and Reaction Variables ........................................................... 30-8
Accessing Balance Block Variables............................................................................ 30-9
Accessing Pressure Relief Block Variables.............................................................. 30-10
Accessing Unary Physical Property Parameters .................................................... 30-11
Accessing Binary Physical Properties...................................................................... 30-12
Accessing Non-Conventional Component Parameter Variables ............................ 30-13
Accessing Indirect Variables .................................................................................... 30-14

31 Design Specifications
DESIGN-SPEC Paragraph ......................................................................................... 31-2

32 Calculator Blocks
Calculator Block Paragraph ....................................................................................... 32-2

33 Optimization
CONSTRAINT and OPTIMIZATION Paragraphs ................................................... 33-2

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 34 Transfer Blocks
TRANSFER Block Paragraph ....................................................................................34-2

35 Balance Blocks
BALANCE Block .........................................................................................................35-2
Accessing Variables in BALANCE.......................................................................35-7

36 Sensitivity Blocks
SENSITIVITY Block Paragraph ................................................................................36-2

37 Case-Study Blocks
CASE-STUDY Block Paragraph.................................................................................37-2

38 Flowsheet Convergence
User-Specified Convergence Options .........................................................................38-2
User-Selected Tear Streams .......................................................................................38-6
User-Generated Convergence Blocks .........................................................................38-7
WEGSTEIN Method .............................................................................................38-8
DIRECT Method .................................................................................................38-10
SECANT Method ................................................................................................38-12
BROYDEN Method .............................................................................................38-14
NEWTON Method...............................................................................................38-17
COMPLEX Method .............................................................................................38-21
SQP Method ........................................................................................................38-23
CONV-ORDER Paragraph .................................................................................38-26
Convergence Plots .....................................................................................................38-27
User-Supplied Calculation Sequence .......................................................................38-29

39 Fitting a Simulation Model to Data

DATA-SET Paragraph ................................................................................................39-2
PROFILE-DATA Paragraph.......................................................................................39-3
Accessing Variables in RBATCH and RPLUG....................................................39-5
REGRESSION Paragraph ..........................................................................................39-6

40 Pressure Relief
PRES-RELIEF Block...................................................................................................40-2
Accessing Variables in PRES-RELIEF..............................................................40-21

41 Physical Property Tables

Property Tables ...........................................................................................................41-2
Flashcurve Tables .......................................................................................................41-5
PT Envelope Tables.....................................................................................................41-9
Residue Curves ..........................................................................................................41-11

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 42 Defining Property Sets
Defining Property Sets................................................................................................ 42-2
Defining User PROP-SET Properties ........................................................................ 42-4

43 Regressing Property Data

PARAMETERS Paragraph......................................................................................... 43-2
DATA-GROUP Paragraph.......................................................................................... 43-4
CASE Paragraph .......................................................................................................43-10
TABULATE Paragraph ............................................................................................ 43-15

44 Stream Libraries
Creating or Modifying a Stream Library with STRLIB ........................................... 44-2
STRLIB Commands.............................................................................................. 44-2
Description of STRLIB Commands ..................................................................... 44-4
Running STRLIB .................................................................................................. 44-7
Retrieving Data from a Stream Library in Aspen Plus............................................ 44-9
Using a Stream Library in an Aspen Plus Run ...................................................... 44-10

45 Insert Libraries
Writing Inserts ............................................................................................................ 45-2
Referencing Inserts in Aspen Plus............................................................................. 45-4
Building an Insert Library with MAKEINS.............................................................. 45-4
Using an Insert Library in an Aspen Plus Run ........................................................ 45-5

46 Simulation Options, Limits, and Diagnostics

Simulation Options ..................................................................................................... 46-2
Time and Error Limits................................................................................................ 46-6
Diagnostic Levels and Print Limits ........................................................................... 46-7
System Options ........................................................................................................... 46-9
Accounting Information ............................................................................................ 46-10
Deactivating Simulation Objects .............................................................................46-10

47 Report Options
Tailoring the Report File ............................................................................................ 47-2
Batch Stream Report .................................................................................................. 47-7
Report Scaling ............................................................................................................. 47-7
Print-Plots.................................................................................................................... 47-9

48 Modifying and Restarting Simulations

Creating an Edit Run Input File................................................................................ 48-2
FLOWSHEET Paragraph .................................................................................... 48-4
SIM-OPTIONS Paragraph ................................................................................... 48-4
DELETE Paragraph ............................................................................................. 48-8
SIMULATE and NOSIMULATE Paragraphs .................................................. 48-10
Running an Edit Run Input File .............................................................................. 48-11

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Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 49 Equation-Oriented Simulation
EO-OPTIONS Paragraph ...........................................................................................49-2
INIT-VAR-ATTR Paragraph.......................................................................................49-7
EO-PORT Paragraph ..................................................................................................49-8
SPECGROUPS Paragraph .........................................................................................49-9
EOSENSITIVITY Paragraph ...................................................................................49-10
LOCALSCRIPT Paragraph.......................................................................................49-11
GLOBALSCRIPT Paragraph....................................................................................49-11
SCRIPTMETHOD Paragraph ..................................................................................49-12
EO-CONV-OPTI Paragraph .....................................................................................49-13
SOLVE Paragraph.....................................................................................................49-25

50 Measurement Blocks
MEASUREMENT Block .............................................................................................50-2

51 Utility Blocks
UTILITY Block ............................................................................................................51-2
Accessing Variables in UTILITY .........................................................................51-4

x Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 List of Figures and
Tables
2 Running Aspen Plus
Table 2.1 Interactive Commands.............................................................................. 2-3
Table 2.2 Interactive Command Characteristics ..................................................... 2-6
Table 2.3 Aspen Plus Paragraphs for Interactive Runs........................................ 2-13

3 Units
Table 3.1 Units Options ............................................................................................. 3-2

7 Petroleum Assays and Pseudocomponents

Table 7.1 Petroleum Properties ................................................................................ 7-7
Table 7.2 Pseudocomponent Correlation Option Set............................................. 7-12
Table 7.3 Pseudocomponent Correlations .............................................................. 7-14

8 Properties
Table 8.1 Nonconventional Property Models ........................................................... 8-4
Table 8.2 TABPOLY Properties .............................................................................. 8-19
Table 8.3 UNIFAC Models in Aspen Plus .............................................................. 8-25
Table 8.4 Group-Contribution Methods and Estimated Parameters ................... 8-31

10 Streams
Table 10.1 Built-In Substream Classes.................................................................. 10-5
Table 10.2 Built-In Material Stream Classes ........................................................ 10-5
Table 10.3 Types of Substreams ............................................................................. 10-8

11 Block Data
Table 11.1 Unit Operation Models.......................................................................... 11-8

13 Flashes, Heaters, and Heat Exchangers

Table 13.1 Heat Exchanger Tube Materials ........................................................ 13-31

15 Rigorous Distillation
Table 15.1 Column Specification Combinations for Two-Phase Calculations ... 15-37
Table 15.2 Column Specification Combinations for Three-Phase Calculations 15-38
Table 15.3 Column Specification Combinations for Column 1 ........................... 15-61
Table 15.4 Column Specification Combinations for Other Columns.................. 15-61

Input Language Guide xi

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Table 15.5 Column Specification Combinations ..................................................15-89

17 Rate-Based Distillation
Figure 17.1 Schematic Representation of the Keyword Feed-Conv ...................17-14
Table 17.1 Valid Column Specification Combinations ........................................17-33

22 Pipes and Valves

Table 22.1 Beggs and Brill Liquid Holdup Correlation Parameters ..................22-11

43 Regressing Property Data

Table 43.1 Pure Component Properties..................................................................43-7
Table 43.2 Mixture Properties ................................................................................43-8
Table 43.3 Component (Partial) Properties in Mixtures .......................................43-8
Table 43.4 State Specifications for Phase Equilibrium Data................................43-9
Table 43.5 Phase Equilibrium Specifications for PHASE-EQ Sentence ..............43-9
Table 43.6 Valid Properties for Tabulation ..........................................................43-17

44 Stream Libraries
Table 44.1 STRLIB Commands...............................................................................44-2

46 Simulation Options, Limits, and Diagnostics

Table 46.1 Overriding Defaults for NPHASE and PHASE ...................................46-5
Table 46.2 Message Levels ......................................................................................46-6

48 Modifying and Restarting Simulations

Table 48.1 Paragraphs Used in Edit Runs.............................................................48-2
Table 48.2 Overriding Defaults for NPHASE and PHASE ...................................48-7

xii Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 About This
Input Language Guide
The Aspen Plus Input Language Guide lists and describes the input language for
all Aspen Plus capabilities except costing. This guide supplements the
documentation set for Aspen Plus, and is intended for experienced Aspen Plus
users who choose not to use the Aspen Plus graphical user interface for certain
modeling projects.

For More Information

Online Help Aspen Plus has a complete system of online help and
context-sensitive prompts. The help system contains both context-sensitive help
and reference information. For more information about using Aspen Plus help,
see the Aspen Plus User Guide, Chapter 3.
Aspen Plus application examples A suite of sample online Aspen Plus
simulations illustrating specific processes is delivered with Aspen Plus.
Aspen Plus Installation Guide for Windows This guide provides instructions on
installation of Aspen Plus.
Aspen Plus Getting Started Guides Each guide in this set of six tutorials
includes several hands-on sessions to familiarize you with certain features of
Aspen Plus. The guides take you step-by-step to learn the full power and scope of
Aspen Plus.
Aspen Plus User Guide The Aspen Plus User Guide provides step-by-step
procedures for developing and using an Aspen Plus process simulation model. The
guide is task-oriented to help you accomplish the engineering work you need to
do, using the powerful capabilities of Aspen Plus.

Input Language Guide xiii

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Aspen Plus reference manual series Aspen Plus reference manuals provide
detailed technical reference information. These manuals include background
information about the unit operation models available in Aspen Plus, and a wide
range of other reference information. The set comprises:
• Unit Operation Models
• User Models
• System Management
• Summary File Toolkit
• Input Language Guide
• OOMF Script Language
Aspen Physical Property System reference manuals These reference manuals
provide detailed technical reference information about the physical properties,
methods, and models available in Aspen Plus, tables of databank parameters,
group contribution method functional groups, and other reference information.
The set comprises:
• Physical Property Methods and Models
• Physical Property Data
The Aspen Plus manuals are delivered in Adobe portable document format (PDF)
on the Aspen Plus Documentation CD.

Technical Support

Online Technical Support Center

AspenTech customers with a valid license and software maintenance agreement
can register to access the Online Technical Support Center at:
http://support.aspentech.com

This web support site allows you to:

• Access current product documentation
• Search for tech tips, solutions and frequently asked questions (FAQs)
• Search for and download application examples
• Search for and download service packs and product updates
• Submit and track technical issues
• Search for and review known limitations

xiv Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 • Send suggestions
Registered users can also subscribe to our Technical Support
e-Bulletins. These e-Bulletins are used to proactively alert users to important
technical support information such as:
• Technical advisories
• Product updates
• Service Pack announcements
• Product release announcements

Contacting Customer Support

Customer support is also available by phone, fax, and email for customers with a
current support contract for this product. For the most up-to-date phone listings,
please see the Online Technical Support Center at
http://support.aspentech.com.

Hours
Support Centers Operating Hours (Monday-Friday)

North America 8:00 – 20:00 Eastern Time

South America 9:00 – 17:00 Local time
Europe 8:30 – 18:00 Central European time
Asia and Pacific Region 9:00 – 17:30 Local time

Input Language Guide xv

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Phone
Support Phone Numbers
Centers

North 1-888-996-7100 Toll-free from U.S., Canada, Mexico

America 1-281-584-4357 North America Support Center
(52) (55) 5536-2809 Mexico Support Center
South (54) (11) 4361-7220 Argentina Support Center
America (55) (11) 5012-0321 Brazil Support Center
(0800) 333-0125 Toll-free to U.S. from Argentina
(000) (814) 550-4084 Toll-free to U.S. from Brazil
(0800) 100-2410 Toll-free to U.S. from Venezuela
Europe and (32) (2) 701-95-55 European Support Center
Africa Country specific toll-free numbers:
Austria (0800) 111-900
Belgium (0800) 40-687
Denmark 8088-3652
Finland (0) (800) 1-19127
France (0805) 11-0054
Germany (0800) 101-0068
Ireland (1) (800) 930-024
Italy (800) 905-826
Netherlands (0800) 023-2511
Norway (800) 13817
South Africa (0800) 996-852
Spain (900) 951846
Sweden (0200) 895-284
Switzerland (0800) 111-470
UK (0800) 376-7903
Asia and (65) 6395-39-00 Singapore
Pacific (81) (3) 3262-1743 Tokyo
Region

xvi Input Language Guide

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Fax
Support Fax Numbers
Centers

North 1-281-504-3999
America
South (54) (11) 4361-7220 (Argentina)
America (55) (11) 5012-4442 (Brazil)
Europe (32) (2) 701-94-45
Asia and (65) 6395-39-50 (Singapore)
Pacific (81) (3) 3262-1744 (Tokyo)
Region

E-mail
Support Centers E-mail

North America [email protected] (Engineering Suite)

[email protected] (Hyprotech products)
[email protected] (Aspen ICARUS products)
[email protected] (Aspen MIMI products)
[email protected] (Aspen PIMS products)
[email protected] (Aspen Retail products)
[email protected] (Advanced Control products)
[email protected] (Manufacturing Suite)
[email protected] (Mexico)
South America [email protected]
[email protected] (Argentina)
Europe [email protected] (Engineering Suite)
[email protected] (Hyprotech products)
[email protected] (CIMVIEW products)
[email protected] (Metals products)
[email protected] (All other suites)
Asia and Pacific [email protected] (Singapore: Engineering Suite)
Region [email protected] (Hyprotech products)
[email protected] (Singapore: Aspen MIMI)
[email protected] (Singapore: Aspen
Retail)
[email protected] (Singapore: All other suites)
[email protected] (Tokyo: Engineering Suite)
[email protected] (Tokyo: All other suites)
❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

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Aspen Plus Version 12.1
xviii Input Language Guide
Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 1

1 Aspen Plus
Input Language
This chapter describes:
• Input language elements
• Rules for using input language
• Rules for writing an input language file

Input Language Guide 1-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Aspen Plus
Input
Language

Input Language Elements

The Aspen Plus input language consists of:
• Paragraphs
• Sentences
• Data entry
Corresponding to this hierarchy are three levels of keywords: primary, secondary,
and tertiary. In addition, an input file can contain comments and inline
FORTRAN statements.

Paragraphs
A paragraph is a logical group of input data, such as the data describing a stream
or a unit operation block. All paragraphs begin with a primary keyword. The
following paragraph describes a unit operation block that models a reactor. The
primary keyword is BLOCK:
BLOCK REACT RSTOIC
PARAM TEMP=400 PRES=-15
STOIC 1 MIXED BZ -1 / H2 -3 / CH 1
CONV 1 MIXED BZ 0.998

Sentences
A sentence is a free format string of entries beginning with a secondary keyword.
The paragraph in the previous example has three sentences: PARAM, STOIC,
and CONV. The PARAM sentence contains data concerning the reactor outlet
conditions. The STOIC sentence describes reaction stoichiometry, and the CONV
sentence describes the conversion of benzene.

1-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 1

Data Entry
You can enter sentence data either by position or by tertiary keyword. Sentence
data entered by tertiary keywords can appear in any order. The PARAM sentence
in the previous example uses the TEMP and PRES tertiary keywords for data
entry. The STOIC and CONV sentences use positional input.

A data entry can be a number or a character string. When entering a number, use
any valid FORTRAN constant, either integer or real. Aspen Plus automatically
makes the appropriate conversion. Character strings are made up of the following
characters:
A-Z 0-9 $ , : + – _

The first character must be alphabetic or numeric. The character string must be
enclosed in quotes, if the following special characters are used:
(Blank) ; / = * . & () [] {} <>
The following example shows input language for the RSTOIC model:
BLOCK blockid RSTOIC
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC DUTY
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE SERIES MAXIT TOL

STOIC reacno ssid cid coef / cid coef / . . .

EXTENT reacno extent / . . .
CONV reacno ssid key-cid conv / . . .
COMP-ATTR entryno ssid cattrname (value-list)
SUBS-ATTR entryno ssid psdid (value-list)

Input Language Guide 1-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Aspen Plus
Input
Language

Rules for Using Aspen Plus Input

Language
You must observe the following rules when using this guide:
• Enter capitalized names and keywords, verbatim. Lowercase letters indicate
user-supplied quantities.
• Brackets [ ] indicate that a positional keyword is optional. Tertiary keywords
are listed as either required or optional.
• Ellipsis dots (. . .) indicate repeated entries.
• Braces { } indicate that you are to enter one of the options enclosed within the
braces.
• Substitute MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL for the lowercase word basis,
depending on whether your data are on a mole, mass, or standard-liquid-
volume basis.

The following table describes rules that relate to lowercase words:

If a lowercase word ends in You can enter

no An integer value that Aspen Plus uses as an identifier

name or type A name selected from a specified list of built-in names (for example, the name of an Aspen Plus
model)
list A list of entries
id A character string of up to eight characters

Aspen Plus uses the character string as an identifier (ID). You can use any
character string. You cannot use the dollar sign as the first character, because it
is reserved for system-generated IDs. The following list contains abbreviations for
IDs used in this manual:
ID Description

cid Component ID
gid UNIFAC group ID
optid Optimization ID
pcid Pseudocomponent ID
seqid Sequence ID
sid Stream ID
specid Design-spec ID

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Rules for Writing an Aspen Plus Input

File
Follow these rules when writing an input file:
• The length of an input line is 80 characters.
• Blanks are used to separate entries. When the following special characters are
used, blanks are not needed: semicolon, slash (/), left or right parenthesis, left
or right square bracket, equal sign, ampersand, and single or double quotes.
• Primary keywords start in column one. Secondary keywords can start in any
column except column one.
• Paragraphs can be entered in any order.
• An ampersand (&) is used to continue a sentence on more than one line. Place
the ampersand at the end of the line to be continued. You do not need the
ampersand when the line to be continued ends in a slash, or when a quoted
string is continued on more than one line. The second and subsequent lines
must have blanks in column one.
• Anything after a semicolon (;), and on the same line, is treated as a comment.
• The names ALL, NONE, and MISSING are reserved names. They should not
be used for any block IDs, component IDs, and so on.

See the Aspen Plus User Guide, Volume 2, Chapter 19, for rules relating to inline
FORTRAN.

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2 Running Aspen Plus

Aspen Plus simulations can run both interactively and non-interactively, using
input language. In the interactive environment you can communicate directly
with Aspen Plus to perform actions. Actions include executing part or all of the
simulation, viewing simulation results, and making input changes. In the non-
interactive environment, you cannot communicate with Aspen Plus. The non-
interactive environment only allows you to enter Aspen Plus commands; it lets
the simulation engine complete the work.
This chapter describes the ASPEN run command. It also includes information
about using interactive simulation capabilities.

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The ASPEN Run Command

The ASPEN run command invokes Aspen Plus to process your input file and
perform the specified simulation. You must enter the ASPEN command and its
qualifiers in lowercase for UNIX operating systems, unless otherwise specified.
For Windows operating systems, the ASPEN command is not case sensitive. This
section describes only the basic usage of the ASPEN command.
Operating System Command
Windows ASPEN input_file [runid]

Where:
input_file = A file written in Aspen Plus input language that defines
theproblem to be simulated. The default file type is .inp. You
do not need to include it in the command line.
runid = The identifier for the current simulation for single ID runs.
The runid parameter must always be specified for EDIT runs. For non-EDIT
runs, if the runid is not specified, the runid defaults to the input_file value,
stripped of the directory specification. The runid is limited to eight characters,
and Aspen Plus truncates it if necessary. It is used to generate files needed
during the simulation. Files generated by Aspen Plus will have the runid as the
file name, followed by a three-character file type descriptor.
For information about advanced use of the ASPEN command, run it with no input
file specified.

Choosing the Simulation Environment

To run the simulation interactively, you must include the following paragraph in
your Aspen Plus input file:
SIMULATE INTERACTIVE=YES

Otherwise Aspen Plus assumes that your simulation runs non-interactively.

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Working in the Interactive Environment

When running Aspen Plus interactively, you can communicate with Aspen Plus
by:
• Using interactive commands to perform actions (for example, executing part
or all of the simulation or displaying results). You enter commands at the
Aspen Plus prompt (A+>). See Interactive Commands, this chapter, for more
information.
• Viewing simulation results and making input changes in your computer
system's text editor. See Simulation Results, this chapter, for more
information.

Interactive Commands
You can use the interactive commands in Table 2.1. To get a menu of all available
commands, type a question mark (?) at the Aspen Plus prompt. To get online help
on these commands, type HELP. Descriptions of the commands follow in
Table 2.2.

Table 2.1 Interactive Commands

Command Description

ADVENT Generates interface information for ADVENT.

CANCEL STOP Cancels one or all stop points. See CANCEL STOP Command, this chapter.
DISPLAY Displays current results of the simulation. For example, you can display blocks, streams,
material, and energy balance. See DISPLAY Command, this chapter.
EDIT Lets you view or modify specifications for the simulation. See EDIT Command, this chapter.
END Ends the simulation. The problem data file and the input file are updated with any changes you
have made. The END and EXIT commands are synonymous. Use the QUIT command to
terminate the simulation without updating the problem data file and input file, and without
incorporating your changes to the simulation.
EXIT Ends the simulation. The problem data file and the input file are updated with any changes you
have made. The EXIT and END commands are synonymous. Use the QUIT command to
terminate the simulation without updating the problem data file and input file, and without
incorporating your changes to the simulation.
FEDIT Invokes your computer system editor so that you can edit a file. FEDIT can be useful if you need
to view another file during a simulation. For example, you may want to view the input file for
another problem or case. Any changes you make to the file do not affect the simulation. You
cannot use FEDIT to view the history or report file for the current simulation. Use the DISPLAY
command to view these files.

continued

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Table 2.1 Interactive Commands (continued)

Command Description

GO Begins or continues execution of the simulation. The simulation will proceed until one of the
following occurs:
• A stop point is encountered.
• You press the hot key.
• The end of the calculation sequence is reached.
If you are at the end of the calculation sequence (all blocks have been executed),
GO generates a report.
HELP Invokes the interactive simulation help facility to display information about an interactive
command or topic
MOVETO Moves to another block in the calculation sequence. The block that you move to is the first block
that is executed when you type GO, NEXT, or RUN. See MOVETO Command, this chapter.
NEWNAME Creates a new case, opens a new file; closes the current report file, ADVENT interface file,
summary file, and plot file. You can specify a report title that appears at the top of every page in
the report, replacing the title specified in the TITLE paragraph in the input file. The new case
name can be up to 8 characters long. The report title can be up to 64 characters long.
NEXT Executes the next block in the calculation sequence.
PRINT Prints the results you reviewed with the most recent DISPLAY command. You can specify
printer options (such as print queue) in the Aspen Plus initialization file, ap.ini. You can override
the options from the initialization file by specifying the operating system print command as an
option in the PRINT command. If your computer system requires that you specify print options
after the file name, use an asterisk (*) for the file name.
QUIT Terminates the simulation. The problem data file and the input file are not updated with any
changes you have made. Use the END or EXIT commands to end the simulation and update the
problem data file and input file, incorporating changes you have made.
REINIT Reinitializes unit operation blocks, convergence blocks, regression blocks, or streams to their
default values. See REINIT Command, this chapter.
REPORT Generates an Aspen Plus report file, summary file, or XML file. You can also provide a report
heading that appears in the table of contents for the report. The heading can be up to 64
characters long. You can use the DISPLAY REPORT command to view the report. See
REPORT Command, this chapter.
RUN Continues the simulation ignoring all stop points. Aspen Plus completes the simulation,
generates a report, and exits. You can regain control at any point during the simulation by
pressing the hot key.
SHOW Shows specified information about the simulation, such as the list of blocks or the calculation
sequence. The information is written to your terminal. Use the DISPLAY command to view
results of the simulation. See SHOW Command, this chapter.
SPAWN Creates an operating system shell (subprocess), from which you can execute operating system
commands. See SPAWN Command, this chapter.

continued

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Table 2.1 Interactive Commands (continued)

Command Description

STOP Sets a stop point. You can identify the stop point as being either before or after a block, or after a
warning or error has occurred. A stop point after a convergence block causes the simulation to
stop at the beginning of each iteration of the block, and after the block has terminated.
Aspen Plus assigns a number to each stop point. (The first stop you enter is stop 1.)
You can display a list of stop points with the SHOW STOPS command. To display stop points in
the calculation sequence, use the SHOW SEQUENCE command.
SYNCEO Synchronize the equation-oriented simulation based on the current sequential modular
simulation.
TOEO Start accepting commands for equation-oriented simulation. See the OOMF Script Language
Reference Manual for more information. To return to the sequential modular command
processor, type QUIT.

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Table 2.2 Interactive Command Characteristics

Characteristics Description

Case Sensitivity Aspen Plus is not case sensitive. You can type your commands in either uppercase or
lowercase.
Partial Matching of Commands You can abbreviate interactive commands. You only need to type enough letters to make the
command unique. If the command you have typed is not unique, Aspen Plus gives you a list of
the commands that begin with the letters you typed. For example, if you type the command S and
there is more than one command that starts with S, Aspen Plus lists all commands that start with
S.
Incomplete Commands If you do not complete a command, or if a word cannot be recognized, Aspen Plus recognizes as
much of the command as possible and gives you a menu of items to complete the command. For
example, if you enter the command DISPLAY, Aspen Plus displays the list of items that can be
displayed. If you then type the item BLOCK, Aspen Plus gives you a list of blocks. At each point,
the prompt includes as much of the command as is complete. You can build up a command one
word at a time, with Aspen Plus prompting you for each word to complete the command.
Canceling Commands When building a command one item at a time (see Incomplete Commands), you can use the less
than character ( < ) to cancel one item of the command. For example, if you enter the command
DISPLAY BLOCK, Aspen Plus displays a list of blocks . It also displays the partial command
DISPLAY BLOCK in the prompt. If you want to display a stream instead, you can enter < to
cancel BLOCK. Aspen Plus displays the partial command DISPLAY in the prompt. You can then
type STREAM to display a stream.
Viewing Results When you use the DISPLAY command to view results, Aspen Plus writes the results to a
temporary file. Then it invokes the text editor for your computer system to view the file. You can
use all the features of your editor, including searching for text strings, scrolling, and writing the file
to disk for later use. When you are finished viewing the results, quit from the editor (leave the
editor without updating the file). After leaving the editor, you can use the PRINT command (at the
Aspen Plus prompt) to print the file you just viewed.
Making Input Changes When you use the EDIT INPUT command to make changes, Aspen Plus invokes the text editor
for your computer system with your input file.
When you use the EDIT BLOCK or EDIT STREAM commands, Aspen Plus extracts the
appropriate paragraph from your input file and invokes your editor containing that paragraph.
When you are finished making your changes, exit from the editor (leave the editor and update the
file). If you quit from the editor, or if you exit without making changes to the file, no change is
made to the simulation.
When you edit the input file, Aspen Plus detects which paragraphs have been added, modified,
or deleted, and updates the simulation accordingly. (Table 2.3 summarizes the paragraphs that
can be added, modified, or deleted.)

continued

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Table 2.2 Interactive Command Characteristics (continued)

Characteristics Description

Adding and Modifying Input You can add most Aspen Plus paragraphs to your input file. You can add blocks to your
flowsheet by adding a BLOCK sentence to the FLOWSHEET paragraph and adding the BLOCK
paragraph.
You cannot add paragraphs related to properties. (See Table 2.3 for a list of the paragraphs you
can add, modify, or delete in interactive mode.)
Most paragraphs that can be added can also be modified. An important exception is the PROP-
SET paragraph. You can add a PROP-SET paragraph, but you cannot modify it.
Deleting To delete blocks from the simulation, delete the BLOCK paragraph from your input file and
delete the corresponding BLOCK sentence from the FLOWSHEET paragraph. You can delete
DESIGN-SPEC paragraphs, CONVERGENCE blocks, and many other items the same way.
Some paragraphs can be added and modified but not deleted, such as paragraphs for report
options. To delete the effect of these paragraphs, you must modify the paragraph so that it has
default values.
Note: Do not use the Aspen Plus DELETE paragraph in your input file.
Input Errors If you make errors when modifying the input, Aspen Plus writes the error messages to the
terminal. Then Aspen Plus returns to your input file, so you can correct the errors. The messages
are also written to the top of the input file. If you quit from the editor or exit without fixing the
errors, Aspen Plus does not allow you to continue the simulation.
Hot Key You can regain control of the simulation at any point by pressing the hot key. Aspen Plus
completes the block currently executing, then returns to the Aspen Plus prompt. If the current
block is RADFRAC, MULTIFRAC, PETROFRAC, RATEFRAC, or EXTRACT, Aspen Plus stops
at the end of the current iteration and returns to the interactive prompt. If the current block is
BATCHFRAC, RPLUG, RBATCH, or PRES-RELIEF, Aspen Plus stops at the end of the current
iteration of the current integration step.

The designation of the hot key on your machine depends on the computer and
operating system you use:
For this operating system Use this command as the hot key
Windows Ctrl+BREAK or Ctrl+C

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CANCEL STOP Command

When you use the STOP command to set a stop point, Aspen Plus assigns a
number to the stop point. You must use this number to cancel that stop point.
You can review the stop numbers by using the SHOW STOPS command. Stops
are also shown in the calculation sequence, which you can display using the
SHOW SEQUENCE command. When you cancel a stop point, Aspen Plus
renumbers all remaining stop points.
If you choose this option Aspen Plus cancels

stopno Stop stopno

ALL All stop points

DISPLAY Command
The following table describes the options you can choose when you use the
DISPLAY command:
If you choose this option Aspen Plus displays

BALANCE Material and energy balances for the flowsheet

BBLOCK balanceid Balance block balanceid
BLOCK blockid Unit operations block blockid
CALCULATOR cblockid CALCULATOR block cblockid
CONNSTREAM blockid Connecting streams for block blockid
CONSTRAINT conid Constraint conid
CONVERGENCE cvblockid Convergence block cvblockid
DESIGN-SPEC specid DESIGN-SPEC specid
HISTORY History file
OPTIMIZATION oblockid Optimization block oblockid
PRES-RELIEF pblockid Pressure relief block pblockid
PROP-TABLE tableid PROP-TABLE tableid
REGRESSION rblockid Regression block rblockid
REPORT Report file
SENSITIVITY sblockid Sensitivity block sblockid
STATUS Convergence status summary
STREAMS sid-list The listed streams. Enter ALL for sid-list to display all streams.
TOC Table of contents for report
TRANSFER tblockid Transfer block tblockid

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The DISPLAY command allows you to view results using the default text editor
for your computer system. (You can change the default text editors for interactive
Aspen Plus in the initialization file, ap.ini.)

EDIT Command
You can edit an individual block paragraph, an individual stream paragraph, or
the entire input file. Aspen Plus invokes your computer system's editor to make
your changes to the paragraph or the input file. If you quit from your editor
(without saving your changes), no changes are made to the simulation. When you
exit the editor (saving your changes), Aspen Plus updates the simulation problem.
(You can change the default text editors for interactive Aspen Plus in the
initialization file, ap.ini.)
When you edit the input file, Aspen Plus detects which paragraphs you have
added, modified, or deleted, and updates the simulation accordingly. The
paragraphs that can be added, modified, or deleted during an Aspen Plus
interactive simulation appear in Table 2.2.
If you choose this option Aspen Plus edits

INPUT Input file

BLOCK blockid Block paragraph for block blockid
STREAM sid Stream paragraph for stream sid

MOVETO Command
The following table describes the options you can choose when you use the
MOVETO command:
If you choose this option Aspen Plus moves to

BBLOCK balanceid Balance block balanceid

BLOCK blockid Unit operations block blockid
CALCULATOR cblockid CALCULATOR block cblockid
CONVERGENCE cvblockid Convergence block cvblockid
END End of sequence (after the last block)
PRES-RELIEF pblockid Pressure relief block pblockid
REGRESSION rblockid Regression block rblockid
SENSITIVITY sblockid Sensitivity block sblockid
START First block in sequence
TRANSFER tblockid Transfer block tblockid

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REINIT Command
Reinitializing a unit operation block, regression block, or a convergence block
causes Aspen Plus to use the initial guess you supplied in the input file. Or
Aspen Plus generates a new initial guess, rather than restarting from the results
of the last block execution. Reinitializing a stream resets the stream composition
flow rate and conditions to those specified in the STREAM paragraph in the input
file. If you do not provide a STREAM paragraph for a stream, the stream is reset
to a flow rate of zero.
If you choose this option Aspen Plus reinitializes

ALL All unit operation blocks, convergence blocks, and streams

BLOCKS block-list The listed unit operation blocks. Enter ALL for block-list to reinitialize all unit operation blocks.
CONVERGENCE cvblock-list The listed convergence blocks. Enter ALL for cvblock-list to reinitialize all convergence blocks.
REGRESSION rblock-list The listed regression blocks. Enter ALL for rblock-list to reinitialize all regression blocks.
STREAMS sid-list The listed streams. Enter ALL for sid-list to reinitialize all streams.

REPORT Command
The following table describes the options you can choose when you use the
REPORT command:
If you choose this option Aspen Plus reports the results of the run in

SUMMARY A summary file

REPORT A report file
BOTH Both a summary file and a report file
XML A summary file in XML format

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SHOW Command
The following table describes the options you can choose when you use the SHOW
command:
If you choose this option Aspen Plus shows

BLOCKS All blocks (unit operation, convergence) and their status

CASES Name and status of all cases created with the NEWNAME command
FLOWSHEET Flowsheet connectivity by blocks
SEQUENCE Calculation sequence
STOPS Stop points you have set
STREAMS All streams with source and destination

SPAWN Command
The SPAWN command creates a new system process. You can use it, for example,
to read your mail without exiting from the simulation. You can also create a shell
to print a report file. First you must use the REPORT command to generate the
report and the NEWNAME command to close the report.
You can specify an optional operating system command that executes
immediately. If you do not enter an operating system command as an option in
the shell command, you must enter the appropriate command for your computer
and operating system to return to Aspen Plus:
For this operating system Use this command to return to Aspen Plus
Windows EXIT

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Simulation Results
Aspen Plus produces the following files:
This file Contains

HISTORY Information about the status of your simulation run

REPORT Simulation results

When you issue a command to display results, Aspen Plus writes the results to a
temporary file and places you in your editor viewing that file. You can scroll,
search for strings, or use any of the other features of your editor. Similarly, when
you issue a command to change the input specifications, Aspen Plus places you in
your editor with your input file, or part of your input file.

HISTORY File
Whenever you use the EDIT command to change your input specifications, the
changed paragraphs are written to the history file. You can browse through the
history file at any point during an interactive run, using the command DISPLAY
HISTORY.

REPORT File
When you use the REPORT command to generate a report, the report is written
to two files. The table of contents is written to one file, and the actual report to
another file. You can view the table of contents with the command DISPLAY
TOC. You can view the report with the command DISPLAY REPORT.
If you use the REPORT command more than once in a simulation, Aspen Plus, by
default, writes all reports to the same file. The second report is appended to the
first as an additional case, and so on. You can specify an optional heading for a
case in the REPORT command. This heading will be written into the table of
contents for reports after the first report. Alternatively, you can use the
NEWNAME command to:
• Close the current report file, ADVENT interface file, plot file, and summary
file
• Open new files with different names
You can also specify a title in the NEWNAME command. Aspen Plus writes this
title to the top of every page of the report, replacing the title specified in the
TITLE paragraph of your input file.

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Interactive Changes and Input File

The following table describes what happens to the input specifications when you
use these commands:
If you enter Aspen Plus does the following to your input file
EDIT Updates a copy of it
END Adds your changes
EXIT Adds your changes
QUIT Does not add changes

Aspen Plus always makes a copy of your original input file. The copy is called
runid.in0.
Table 2.3 lists the Aspen Plus paragraphs that can appear in an Aspen Plus input
file. The table indicates whether they can be added, modified, or deleted in an
interactive simulation:

Table 2.3 Aspen Plus Paragraphs for Interactive Runs

Paragraph Added Modified Deleted

ADA-REPORT Yes Yes No

ADVENT Yes Yes No
BALANCE Yes Yes No
BLOCK Yes Yes Yes
BLOCK-REPORT Yes Yes No
CALCULATOR Yes Yes Yes
CASE-STUDY Yes Yes Yes
COMP-GROUP Yes Yes No
CONSTRAINT Yes Yes Yes
CONVERGENCE Yes Yes Yes
CONV-OPTIONS Yes Yes No
CONV-ORDER Yes Yes Yes
DATA-SET Yes Yes Yes
DEBUG Yes Yes No
DEF-STREAMS Yes No No
DEF-STREAM-ATTR Yes No No

continued

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Table 2.3 Aspen Plus Paragraphs for Interactive Runs (continued)

Paragraph Added Modified Deleted

DEF-STREAM-CLASS Yes No No
DEF-SUBS Yes No No
DEF-SUBS-ATTR Yes No No
DEF-SUBS-CLASS Yes No No
DELETE Yes Yes No
DESCRIPTION Yes Yes No
DESIGN-SPEC Yes Yes Yes
DIAGNOSTICS Yes Yes No
FLOWSHEET Yes Yes Yes
FLOWSHEET-REPORT Yes Yes No
IN-UNITS Yes Yes No
NOSIMULATE Yes Yes No
OPTIMIZATION Yes Yes Yes
OUT-UNITS Yes Yes No
PLOT-OPTIONS Yes Yes No
PRES-RELIEF Yes Yes Yes
PROFILE-DATA Yes Yes Yes
PROPERTY-REPORT Yes Yes No
PROP-SET Yes No No
PROP-TABLE Yes Yes Yes
REACTIONS Yes Yes Yes
REGRESSION Yes Yes Yes
REPORT Yes Yes No
REPORT-SCALE Yes Yes Yes
RUN-CONTROL Yes Yes No
SENSITIVITY Yes Yes Yes
SEQUENCE Yes Yes Yes
SIM-OPTIONS Yes Yes No
STREAM Yes Yes Yes
STREAM-REPORT Yes Yes No

continued

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Table 2.3 Aspen Plus Paragraphs for Interactive Runs (continued)

Paragraph Added Modified Deleted

SUMMARY Yes Yes No

SYS-OPTIONS Yes Yes No
TEAR Yes Yes Yes
TITLE Yes Yes No
TRANSFER Yes Yes Yes
USER-PROPERTY Yes Yes No

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3 Units
This chapter describes the input language for specifying units in Aspen Plus.
Aspen Plus has three built-in units sets:
• English Engineering (ENG)
• International System (SI)
• Metric Engineering (MET)
The English Engineering set is the default. You can override the built-in units for
individual units type. You can also create your own units for an existing physical
quantity type with the CUSTOM-UOM paragraph.

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 Units

Specifying Units
You can specify input units globally, for a paragraph, or for an individual data item:
To specify You must

Input units globally Use an IN-UNITS paragraph

Input units for data in a particular paragraph Use an IN-UNITS sentence at the beginning of a paragraph
A units option for an individual data value Follow the value by the desired option, enclosed in [ ], { }, or < >

You can use the OUT-UNITS paragraph to specify units for the report file (see
Chapter 47). If no OUT-UNITS paragraph is given, Aspen Plus uses the
IN-UNITS global specification. All values printed in the history file are in
SI units (see Chapter 46).

Input Language for IN-UNITS

IN-UNITS set keyword=option
OUT-UNITS set keyword=option

Input Language Description for IN-UNITS

set ................................... ENG, SI, or MET (Default=ENG)
keyword .......................... Units keyword. (See Table 3.1.)
option.............................. Units option. (See Table 3.1.) This specification overrides the corresponding
units option contained in the specified set.

Table 3.1 Units Options

Units type SI set ENG set MET set Other units options

ANGLE RAD DEG DEG

AREA SQM SQFT SQM SQCM SQIN SQMILE
BOND-WORK-INDEX J/KG KWHR/TON KWHR/TON KJ/KG
CONTENTS FRACTION PERCENT FRACTION PPM
DELTA-T K F K C R
DIFFUSIVITY SQM/SEC SQFT/HR SQCM/SEC CS
DIPOLEMOMENT (J*CUM)**.5 (BTU*CUFT)**.5 DEBYE (KJ*CUM)**.5

continued

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Table 3.1 Units Options (continued)

Units type SI set ENG set MET set Other units options

ELEC-POWER WATT KW KW
ENTHALPY-FLOW WATT BTU/HR CAL/SEC J/SEC GJ/HR KCAL/HR
MMKCAL/HR† MMKCAL/DAY† PCU/HR†
MMPCU/HR† MMBTU/HR† MMBTU/DAY†
KJ/SEC KW
FILTER-RESISTANCE 1/M 1/FT 1/M 1/CM 1/IN
FORCE NEWTON LBF DYNE
FREQUENCY HZ RPM RPM RAD/SEC
HEAD J/KG FT-LBF/LB M-KGF/KG SQM/SQSEC INCH FT
METER KJ/KG
HEAT J BTU CAL KCAL MMKCAL† MMBTU†
PCU† MMPCU† KJ
GJ
HEAT-TRANS-COEF WATT/SQM-K BTU/HR-SQFT-R CAL/SEC-SQCM-K KCAL/SEC-SQM-K KCAL/HR-SQM-K PCU/HR-SQFT-K†
KW/SQM-K J/SEC-SQM-K KJ/SEC-SQM-K
MMBTU/HR-SQFT-R†

INVERSE-AREA 1/SQM 1/SQFT 1/SQM

INVERSE-HT-C SQM-K/WATT HR-SQFT-R/BTU SEC-SQCM-K/CAL SEC-SQM-K/KCAL HR-SQFT-K/PCU† HR-SQM-K/KCAL
SQM-K/KW SEC-SQM-K/J SEC-SQM-K/KJ
INVERSE-LENGTH 1/M 1/FT 1/CM 1/IN 1/MM
LENGTH METER FT METER CM IN MU
MM MILE KM
MASS KG LB KG GM TON MLB†
TONNE†
MASS-CONC KG/CUM LB/CUFT GM/L GM/CC MG/L MG/CC
MASS-DENSITY KG/CUM LB/CUFT GM/CC LB/GAL
MASS-ENTHALPY J/KG BTU/LB CAL/GM KCAL/KG KJ/KG MMKCAL/KG†
MMBTU/LB† PCU/LB† MMPCU/LB†
MASS-ENTROPY J/KG-K BTU/LB-R CAL/GM-K KCAL/KG-K KJ/KG-K
MASS-FLOW KG/SEC LB/HR KG/HR LB/SEC LB/DAY MLB/HR†
TONS/DAY TONS/HR TONS/YEAR
GM/SEC KG/DAY TONNE/HR†
MASS-HEAT-CAPACITY J/KG-K BTU/LB-R CAL/GM-K KCAL/GM-K PCU/LB-K† KJ/KG-K
MASS-TRANS-COEF KG/S-SQM-KG/CUM LB/HR-SQF-LB/CUF GM/S-SQCM-GM/C
C
MOLE-CONC KMOL/CUM LBMOL/CUFT MOL/CC MOL/L MMOL/CC MMOL/L

† See Label Definitions, this chapter.

continued

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 Units

Table 3.1 Units Options (continued)

Units type SI set ENG set MET set Other units options

MOLE-DENSITY KMOL/CUM LBMOL/CUFT MOL/CC LBMOL/GAL MOL/L

MOLE-ENTHALPY J/KMOL BTU/LBMOL CAL/MOL KCAL/MOL MMKCAL/MOL† MMBTU/LBMOL†
PCU/LBMOL† MMPCU/LBMOL† KJ/KMOL
GJ/KMOL
MOLE-ENTROPY J/KMOL-K BTU/LBMOL-R CAL/MOL-K KCAL/MOL-K KJ/KMOL-K TCAL/MOL-K
MOLE-FLOW KMOL/SEC LBMOL/HR KMOL/HR MOL/SEC LBMOL/SEC LBMOL/DAY
KMOL/DAY SCMH† MMSCMH†
MMSCFH† MMSCFD† SCFM†
MSCFD†
MOLE-HEAT-CAPACITY J/KMOL-K BTU/LBMOL-R CAL/MOL-K KCAL/MOL-K TCAL/MOL-K PCU/LBMOL-K†
KJ/KMOL-K
MOLE-VOLUME CUM/KMOL CUFT/LBMOL CC/MOL
MOLES KMOL LBMOL KMOL SCM MMSCM† MSCF†
MMSCF†
PACK-FACTOR 1/M 1/FT 1/M
POP-DENSITY NO/M/CUM NO/FT/CUFT NO/M/L NO/MM/L NO/MU/CC NO/IN/CUIN
POWER WATT HP KW FT-LBF/SEC BTU/HR CAL/SEC
PRESSURE†† N/SQM PSI ATM LBF/SQFT BAR TORR
IN-WATER KG/SQCM MMHG
KPA MM-WATER MBAR
PSIG† ATMG† BARG†
KG/SQCMG†
PDROP N/SQM PSI ATM LBF/SQFT BAR TORR
IN-WATER KG/SQCM MMHG
KPA MM-WATER MBAR
PDROP-PER-HT N/CUM IN-WATER/FT MM-WATER/M MBAR/M MMHG/FT
SOLUPARAM (J/CUM)**.5 (BTU/CUFT)**.5 (CAL/CC)**.5 (KCAL/CUM)**.5 (KJ/CUM)**.5
SPEC-FLT-RESISTANCE M/KG FT/LB M/KG CM/GM
SURFACE-TENSION N/M DYNE/CM DYNE/CM LBF/FT MN/M†
TEMPERATURE K F K C R
THERMAL-CONDUCTIVITY WATT/M-K BTU-FT/HR-SQFT-R KCAL-M/HR-SQM-K BTU-IN/HR-SQFT-R C-CM/SEC-SQCM-K CAL-CM/SEC-SQCM-K
KW/M-K
TIME SEC HR HR DAY MIN YEAR
VELOCITY M/SEC FT/SEC M/SEC MILE/HR KM/HR

† See Label Definitions, this chapter.

†† Absolute and gauge pressure

continued

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 Chapter 3

Table 3.1 Units Options (continued)

Units type SI set ENG set MET set Other units options

VFLOW-LENGTH SQM/SEC GPM/F SQCM/SEC SQM/HR SQF/MIN

VISCOSITY N-SEC/SQM CP CP LB/FT-HR MN-SEC/SQM†
VOLUME CUM CUFT L CUIN GAL BBL
CC
VOL-HEAT-CAPACITY J/CUM-K BTU/CUFT-R CAL/CC-K KCAL/CUM-K KJ/CUM-K
VOLUME-FLOW CUM/SEC CUFT/HR L/MIN GAL/MIN GAL/HR BBL/HR
BBL/DAY CUM/HR CUM/DAY
CUM/YEAR CUM/MIN CUFT/MIN
CUFT/SEC L/HR L/SEC
L/DAY KBBL/DAY MMCUFT/HR
MMCUFT/DAY MCUFT/DAY
WORK J HP-HR KW-HR FT-LBF KJ

† See Label Definitions, this chapter.

Label Definitions
The following table describes abbreviations used in Table 3.1:
Abbreviation Description

ATMG Atmosphere, gauge

BARG Bar, gauge
KG/SQCMG Kilogram per square centimeter, gauge
MLB Thousand pounds
MMBTU Million BTU
MMKCAL Million kcal
MMSCF Million standard cubic feet. Standard conditions are ideal gas at 14.696 psi and 60ºF.
MMSCFD Million standard cubic feet/day. Standard conditions are ideal gas at 14.696 psi and 60ºF.
MMSCFH Million standard cubic feet/hour. Standard conditions are ideal gas at 14.696 psi and 60ºF.
MMSCM Million standard cubic meters. Standard conditions are ideal gas at 1 atm and 0ºC.
MMSCMH Million standard cubic meters/hour. Standard conditions are ideal gas at 1 atm and 0ºC.
MN MilliNewtons
MSCFD Thousand standard cubic feet/day. Standard conditions are ideal gas at 14.696 psi and 60°F.
MSCF Thousand standard cubic feet. Standard conditions are ideal gas at 14.696 psi and 60°F
PCU Pound centigrade unit
PSIG Pound per square inch, gauge
SCFM Standard cubic feet/minute. Standard conditions are ideal gas at 14.696 psi and 60ºF.
SCM Standard cubic meters. Standard conditions are ideal gas at 1 atm and 0ºC.
SCMH Standard cubic meters/hour. Standard conditions are ideal gas at 1 atm and 0ºC.
TONNE Metric ton (1000 kg)

Input Language Guide 3-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Units

Rules for Entering Units

You must put single quotes (') around units with slashes (/), because the slash is a
special character in Aspen Plus.

Units specified for one units keyword have no effect on other units keywords. For
example, TIME may be in seconds, while MOLE-FLOW is in moles per hour.
You cannot enter units options using brackets or braces in the following cases:
• Vector input
• Inline FORTRAN statements or expressions
• PROP-DATA (see Chapter 8), DESIGN-SPEC (see Chapter 31),
SENSITIVITY (see Chapter 36), CASE-STUDY (see Chapter 37),
REPORT-SCALE (see Chapter 47), PROP-TABLE (see Chapter 41) or
PROP-SET (see Chapter 42) paragraphs
• HCURVE sentences of BLOCK paragraphs (see Chapter 11)
• SPEC and VARY sentences of RADFRAC, MULTIFRAC, PETROFRAC
(see Chapter 15) and RATEFRAC BLOCK paragraphs (see Chapter 17)
• STOP-CRIT sentences of BATCHFRAC (see Chapter 19)
You must enter the pre-exponential factor and temperature exponent of the power
law kinetics model in SI units, regardless of the IN-UNITS specification (see
Chapters 6 and 20).

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 Chapter 3

Custom Units of Measure

Use the CUSTOM-UOM paragraph to define custom units of measurement. You
can define additional units for any of the physical quantity types in Aspen Plus.

For each unit you define, specify:

• The physical quantity type
• A name for the unit
• The base units, another unit of measurement of the same type. The new unit
is defined with respect to this unit.
• A multiplier value
• An offset value
The multiplier and offset are the quantities needed to make this equation true:

1 custom unit = multiplier * base units + offset

For instance, if you wanted to define a foot in terms of inches, you would specify
the base unit inch, multiplier 12, and offset 0.

Input Language for CUSTOM-UOM

CUSTOM-UOM
DEFINE-UOM keyword=value

Keywords:
PHYS-QTY CUSTOM-UNIT BASE-UNIT MULTIPLIER
OFFSET

Input Language Description for CUSTOM-UOM

DEFINE-UOM Enter a DEFINE-UOM sentence for each custom unit of measurement.
PHYS-QTY....................... Physical quantity for custom units, such as LENGTH or
TEMPERATURE. (Any of the Units types from table 3.1.)
CUSTOM-UNIT ................ Custom units. Alphanumeric string up to 20 characters
BASE-UNIT...................... Base units for the selected Physical Quantity, such as INCH or F.
MULTIPLIER ................... Multiplier in the equation: Quantity in Custom Units = Quantity in Base
Units * Multiplier + Offset
OFFSET........................... Use sparingly! Offset in the equation: Quantity in Custom Units =
Quantity in Base Units * Multiplier + Offset

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

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 Units

3-8 Input Language Guide

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 Chapter 4

4 Components
This chapter describes the input language for specifying components in a
simulation. The paragraphs are:
Use this paragraph To specify

COMPONENTS Conventional components

FORMULA Chemical formula for non-databank components
NC-COMPS Component attributes for nonconventional components
HYPO-LIQ Hypothetical liquid components
ATTR-COMPS Component attributes for conventional components
COMP-GROUP Component groups for plot and tear stream specification

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 Components

Conventional Components

Input Language for COMPONENTS

COMPONENTS cid [cname] [outid] / . . .

Input Language Description for COMPONENTS

Use the COMPONENTS paragraph to identify all components to include in a
simulation. At least one component must be present in a simulation.
cid ................................... Component ID. You cannot use THRU as a component ID.
cname ............................. Name or alias used for the component in a databank. (See Aspen Plus
Physical Property Data, Chapter 1.) Do not enter cname if component
data are not to be retrieved from a databank, or if the component is not in
a databank. When entering non-databank components, you may also
want to use FORMULA (below) and STRUCTURES and PROP-DATA
(see chapter 8).
outid ................................ Eight-character name used for the component in reports. If you want to
enter outid but not cname for a component, place an asterisk (*) in the
cname position. (Default=cid)

Input Language for FORMULA

FORMULA cid formula / . . .

Input Language Description for FORMULA

Use the FORMULA paragraph to specify chemical formulas for non-databank
components. These formulas are only used for display purposes or as identifiers
for components. To specify molecular formula, enter data for ATOMNO and
NOATOM in a PROP-DATA paragraph (see chapter 8). To enter structural
formulas, use a STRUCTURES paragraph (see chapter 8).
cid ................................... Component ID. You cannot use THRU as a component ID.
formula............................ Chemical formula for non-databank component.

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 Chapter 4

Nonconventional Components

Input Language for NC-COMPS

NC-COMPS cid cattrname-list

Input Language Description for NC-COMPS

Use the NC-COMPS paragraph to specify component attributes for
nonconventional components.
cid.................................... Component ID. You cannot use THRU as a component ID.
cattrname-list.................. List of component attributes for a nonconventional component. (See
Table 4.1.)

Table 4.1 Component Attributes

Use this attribute To

GENANAL Define general constituent analysis for a compound. Its elements are analyzed in weight percent.
PROXANAL Define the proximate analysis for coal. Its elements are analyzed in weight percent.
ULTANAL Define the ultimate analysis for a compound on a dry basis. Its elements are analyzed in weight
percent.
SULFANAL Define the forms of sulfur analysis for coal on a dry basis. Its elements are analyzed in weight
percent.
CAUSR1, CAUSR2, CAUSR3, Enter user-supplied component attribute information, for use in user models. The elements of this
CAUSR4, CAUSR5 attribute type can correspond to whatever quantities you want.
BIOCOMP Define the composition of a biomaterial. Its elements are analyzed in weight percent.
BIOSTATE Define fraction of cell mass that is viable or dead
MACROSTATE Describe the state of the component, such as protein

Input Language Guide 4-3

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 Components

Hypothetical Liquid Component

Input Language for HYPO-LIQ

HYPO-LIQ cid-list

Input Language Description for HYPO-LIQ

Use the HYPO-LIQ paragraph to specify solid components to use as reference
state materials in a liquid solution. Aspen Plus generates liquid data sets for
these components, based on solid data sets.
cid-list ............................. List of component IDs

Component Attributes

Input Language for ATTR-COMPS

ATTR-COMPS cid cattrname-list

Input Language Description for ATTR-COMPS

Use the ATTR-COMPS paragraph to identify conventional components that you
want to assign associated component attributes. In most cases, the conventional
components you assign attributes to will be solids. You can assign attributes to
non-solid conventional components, but Aspen Plus will not use these attributes
in calculations.
cid ................................... Component ID. You cannot use THRU as a component ID.
cattrname-list ................. List of component attributes for a conventional component. (See
Table 4.1.)

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 Chapter 4

Component Groups

Input Language for COMP-GROUP

COMP-GROUP groupid SUBSTREAM=ssid COMPS=cid-list

Input Language Description for COMP-GROUP

Use the COMP-GROUP paragraph to specify component groups. A component
group definition can consist of a list of components, a range of components from
the COMPONENTS paragraph, or a combination of component lists and ranges.
A component can appear in more than one group.
groupid............................ Component group ID. The group ID must not be the same as a component
ID.
ssid.................................. Substream ID
cid-list ............................. List of component IDs or component ranges, cid1 THRU cid2

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

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 Components

4-6 Input Language Guide

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 Chapter 5

5 Chemistry and
Electrolytes
This chapter describes the input language used to:
• Specify solution chemistry for electrolyte applications
• Enter ternary parameters for the Pitzer property model
• Access variables in CHEMISTRY

Input Language Guide 5-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chemistry and
Electrolytes

Solution Chemistry

Input Language for CHEMISTRY

CHEMISTRY chemid
DESCRIPTION "a chemistry description - up to 64 characters in quotes"
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
KBASIS TAPP

CALC-OPTIONS keyword=value

Keywords:
HYDRATE-CHECK

DISS electrolyteid cid coef / cid coef / . . .

STOIC reacno cid coef / cid coef / . . .
K-STOIC reacno a b c d
SALT saltid cid coef / cid coef / . . .
K-SALT saltid a b c d

Input Language Description for CHEMISTRY

Solution chemistry can include the complete dissociation of strong electrolytes,
partial dissociation of weak electrolytes, ionic reactions between or among ionic or
molecular species, and precipitation of salts. Optionally, you can enter chemical
equilibrium constants.
chemid ............................ Chemistry ID
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the CHEMISTRY paragraph report.
PARAM Use to specify the concentration scale of chemical-equilibrium constants and temperature approach
for all reactions. The equilibrium constants are entered using the K-STOIC and K-SALT sentences.
KBASIS ........................... KBASIS=MOLEFRAC .............. Mole fraction scale (Default)
KBASIS=MOLAL...................... Molality scale
TAPP ............................... Number of degrees of temperature approach to equilibrium. Aspen Plus
calculates the chemical equilibrium constants at the system temperature
plus TAPP. (Default=0)

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 Chapter 5

CALC-OPTIONS Use to specify calculation options.

HYDRATE-CHECK .......... HYDRATE-CHECK=................. Use a rigorous method to determine which
RIGOROUS hydrate to precipitate if multiple hydrates,
including the anhydrous form, have been
specified as salt precipitation reactions for any
salt. Aspen Plus uses Gibbs free energy
minimization when selecting the hydrate.
HYDRATE-CHECK=................. Use an approximate method to determine the
APPROXIMATE hydrate. The hydrate selection is based on the
lowest solubility product value at the system
temperature.
DISS Use to enter the complete dissociation reaction stoichiometry for strong electrolytes that dissociate
completely. Salt dissociation/precipitation equilibrium is not considered for these electrolytes.
electrolyteid .................... Component ID of dissociating strong electrolytes
cid.................................... Component ID of a product of strong electrolytes dissociation
coef.................................. Stoichiometric coefficient (positive for products; negative for reactants
other than dissociating strong electrolytes)
STOIC Use to enter chemical-equilibrium ionic reaction stoichiometry.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
cid.................................... Component ID
coef.................................. Stoichiometric coefficient (positive for products; negative for reactants)
K-STOIC Use to enter the coefficients for the liquid-phase chemical-equilibrium constant expression for
equilibrium reactions. If you do not use K-STOIC, Aspen Plus calculates chemical-equilibrium
constants from the reference state free energies of the participating components. You must enter K-
STOIC and STOIC sentences in the same order.
reacno ............................. Reaction number used to identify the STOIC reaction
a,b,c,d.............................. Coefficients for equilibrium constant expression, which is defined as
ln(K) = a + b/T + c*ln(T) + d*T
Where:
K = Equilibrium constant
T = Temperature in Kelvin
SALT Use to enter reaction stoichiometry for salt dissolution/precipitation, for salts that precipitate out of
liquid solution.
saltid................................ Component ID of the precipitating salt
cid.................................... Component ID of a product of salt dissolution
coef.................................. Stoichiometric coefficient (positive for products; negative for reactants
other than the dissoluting salt)
K-SALT Use to enter the coefficients for the salt dissolution, chemical-equilibrium constant (solubility
product) expression for equilibrium reactions. If you do not use K-SALT, Aspen Plus calculates
chemical-equilibrium constants from the reference state free energies of the participating
components.
saltid................................ Salt ID used to identify the SALT reaction

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 Chemistry and
Electrolytes

a,b,c,d ............................. Coefficients for equilibrium constant expression, which is defined as:
ln(K) = a + b/T + c*ln(T) + d*T
Where:
K = Equilibrium constant
T = Temperature in Kelvin

Pitzer Ternary Parameters

The Pitzer model requires ternary parameter Ψ. (See Aspen Plus Physical
Property Methods and Models, Chapter 3 and Appendix C.) To enter parameter
values for the ternary parameter Ψ (GMPTPS), use the standard PROP-DATA
paragraph and BPVAL sentences with multiple elements (see Chapter 8). BPVAL
provides entries for two component IDs. The element number provides another
entry for the third component. You can determine the element number to use for
a component from the component order in the COMPONENTS paragraph.

For example, enter Ψcac' = .595 and Ψcaa' = .3049, for the following components:
COMPONENTS H20 H20 / c c / a a / c' c' / a' a'

Because component c' is the fourth component in the COMPONENTS paragraph,

the value for Ψcac' is entered as the fourth element in the BPVAL sentence.
Component a' is the fifth component in the COMPONENTS paragraph, therefore
the value for Ψcaa' is entered as the fifth element in the BPVAL sentence. An
asterisk (*) is used as a place holder for the first, second, and third elements.
PROP-DATA
PROP-LIST GMPTPS
BPVAL c a * * * .595 .3049

5-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 5

Accessing Variables in CHEMISTRY

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change chemistry variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following table lists variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2
PARAM TAPP — —
STOIC COEF reacno cid
K-STOIC A, B, C, D reacno —
SALT COEF saltid cid
K-SALT A, B, C, D saltid —
DISS COEF electrolyteid cid

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

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 Chemistry and
Electrolytes

5-6 Input Language Guide

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 Chapter 6

6 Reactions
This chapter describes the input language for defining reactions and entering
reaction data for use in distillation models, reactor models, and pressure relief
systems. Reaction data include:
• Reaction stoichiometry
• Reaction type
• Parameters for kinetic and equilibrium constant expressions
Four reactions paragraph types are available for defining reactions. The reaction
paragraph types are:
Type Purpose Use

REAC-DIST Define reactions for distillation models. Reactions Referenced by distillation models RADFRAC, RATEFRAC,
can be equilibrium, rate-controlled, or fixed and BATCHFRAC
conversion type.
POWERLAW Define power-law and equilibrium reactions for Referenced by reactor models RCSTR, RPLUG, RBATCH,
reactor models and pressure relief systems and PRES-RELIEF paragraph
LHHW Define Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson Referenced by reactor models RCSTR, RPLUG, RBATCH,
reactions for reactor models and pressure relief and PRES-RELIEF paragraph
systems
USER Define user kinetic and equilibrium reactions for Referenced by reactor models RCSTR, RPLUG, and
reactor models, distillation models, and pressure RBATCH; distillation models RADFRAC and RATEFRAC; and
relief systems PRES-RELIEF paragraph

Input Language Guide 6-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactions

Defining Reactions for Distillation

Models

Input Language for REAC-DIST

REACTIONS reacid REAC-DIST
DESCRIPTION "a reaction description - up to 64 characters long"
REAC-DATA reacno [reactype] keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PHASE DELT KBASIS CBASIS CONV-TYPE

STOIC reacno cid coef / cid coef / . . .

K-STOIC reacno a b c d
RATE-CON reacno pre-exp act-energy [temp-exponent] [t-ref]
POWLAW-EXP reacno cid exponent
CONV reacno key-cid conva convb convc convd
SALT-DATA salt-cid keyword=value / . . .

Optional keywords:
DELT KBASIS

SALT salt-cid cid coef / . . .

K-SALT salt-cid consta constb constc constd / . . .
PARAM keyword=value
INT value-list
REAL value-list

Keywords:
SUBROUTINE NINT NREAL

Input Language Description for REAC-DIST

Use REAC-DIST to specify reactions to be considered within the RADFRAC,
RATEFRAC, and BATCHFRAC models. Use the reaction ID to associate these
reactions with segments of a distillation model. The following types of reactions
are allowed for the distillation models:

Distillation model Reaction type

RADFRAC Equilibrium, rate-controlled, conversion, and salt dissociation
RATEFRAC Equilibrium and rate-controlled
BATCHFRAC Equilibrium and rate-controlled (liquid phase only)

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 Chapter 6

reacid .............................. Reaction ID

DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the REACTIONS paragraph report.
REAC-DATA Use to indicate the type of reaction and the phase in which the reaction occurs. You can also define
the basis for the built-in equilibrium constant expression, the concentration basis for the built-in
power-law kinetic expression, or the basis for the built-in fractional conversion expression.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
reactype .......................... Reaction type:
EQUIL ....................................... Equilibrium reaction (Default)
KINETIC.................................... Rate-controlled reaction
CONV........................................ Fractional conversion
PHASE............................. Phase where reaction occurs:
PHASE=L ................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=L1 ............................... Liquid1
PHASE=L2 ............................... Liquid2
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
DELT................................ Number of degrees of temperature approach to equilibrium. Use for
equilibrium reactions only. The equilibrium constant for the reaction is
computed at the stage temperature + DELT. (Default=0)
KBASIS............................ Basis of equilibrium constant expression. All properties are for the phase
specified in the REAC-DATA sentence. KBASIS is used only if K-STOIC
is entered and reactype is EQUIL.
KBASIS=MOLE-GAMMA......... K = π ( xi γ i )υi (Liquid phase only) (Default)
KBASIS=MOLAL-GAMMA ...... K = π (Cimγ i )υi (Electrolytes liquid phase only)
KBASIS=MOLEFRAC .............. K = π ( x i )υ i
KBASIS=MASSFRAC .............. K = π ( xim )υi
KBASIS=MOLARITY................ K = π (Ci )υi
KBASIS=MOLALITY ................ K = π (Cim )υi (Electrolytes liquid phase only)
KBASIS=FUGACITY................ K = π ( f i )υ i
KBASIS=PARTIALPRES......... K = π ( Pi )υi (Vapor phase only)
KBASIS=MASSCONC ............. K = π (C m,i )υi
Where:
K = Equilibrium constant
x = Component mole fraction
xm = Component mass fraction
C = Molarity, (kgmole/m3)

Input Language Guide 6-3

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 Reactions

Cm = Molality (kgmole/kg-H2O)
Cm = Mass concentration (kg/m3)
γ = Activity coefficient
f = Component fugacity (N/m2)
P = Partial pressure (N/m2)
υ = Stoichiometric coefficient
i = Component index
π = Product operator
CBASIS ........................... Concentration basis for power-law expression. Use for rate-controlled
reactions only. CBASIS is used only if the power-law model is used and
reactype is KINETIC or CONV.
CBASIS = MOLEFRAC ............
r = k (T / To ) n e − ( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π ( xi )α i
CBASIS = MASSFRAC ............
( )α
r = k (T / To ) n e −( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π xim
i

CBASIS = MOLARITY..............
r = k (T / To ) n e −( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π (Ci )α i
(Default)
CBASIS = MOLALITY ..............
( )α
r = k (T / To ) n e −( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π Cim
i

(Electrolytes liquid phase only)

CBASIS=MASSCONC .............
r = k (T / To ) n e − ( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π (C m,i )α i
CBASIS=PARTIALPRES .........
r = k (T / To ) n e − ( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π (Pi )α i
Where:
r = Reaction rate
k = Pre-exponential factor
T = Temperature in Kelvin
To = Reference temperature in Kelvin
n = Temperature exponent
E = Activation energy
R = Universal gas law constant
x = Mole fraction
xm = Mass fraction
C = Molarity (kgmole/m3)
Cm = Molality (kgmole/kg-H2O)
Cm = Mass concentration (kg/m3)
P = Partial pressure (N/m2)
α = Exponent

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 Chapter 6

i = Component index
π = Product operator
CONV-TYPE .................... Fractional conversion type. You must specify reactype as CONV.
CONV-TYPE=SIMULT.............. Simultaneous (Default)
CONV-TYPE=SERIES.............. Series
STOIC Use to enter the stoichiometric coefficients for each reaction.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
cid.................................... Component ID
coef.................................. Stoichiometric coefficient (positive for products; negative for reactants)
K-STOIC Use to enter the coefficients for the equilibrium constant expression for equilibrium reactions. If
you do not enter a K-STOIC sentence for a reaction, equilibrium constants are calculated from
reference state free energies.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
a,b,c,d.............................. Coefficients for equilibrium constant expression, which is defined as:
.........................................ln(K) = a + b/T + c*ln(T) + d*T
Where:
K = Equilibrium constant
T = Temperature in Kelvin
RATE-CON Use to enter parameters for the power-law expression for rate-controlled reactions. You must
specify reactype as KINETIC.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
pre-exp ............................ Pre-exponential factor. Units must be in SI. (See the Aspen Plus User
Guide, Volume 2, Chapter 13.)
act-energy ....................... Activation energy. Units keyword is MOLE-ENTHALPY.
temp-exponent ............... Temperature exponent for temperature in Kelvin (Default=0)
t-ref .................................. Reference temperature in Kelvin
POWLAW-EXP Use to enter the component exponents for the power-law expression for rate-controlled reactions. If
the order of the reaction with respect to a component is zero, you do not need to enter that
component. You must also specify RATE-CON.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
cid.................................... Component ID
exponent ......................... Exponent. Does not need to be an integer.
CONV Use to enter specifications for conversion-based reactions. You must specify the key component. You
must also specify reactype as CONV in the REAC-DATA sentence. Specify either SERIES or
SIMULTANEOUS for CONV-TYPE in the REAC-DATA sentence. When you specify multiple
conversion reactions, they must have the same CONV-TYPE.
key-cid............................. Key component ID

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 Reactions

conva, convb, ................. Coefficients for fractional conversion expression, which is defined as:
convc, convd
CONV = (conva) + (convb)/T + (convc)*ln T + (convd)*T
Where:
CONV = Fractional conversion of key component
T = Temperature in Kelvin
SALT-DATA Use to enter basis of user-defined equilibrium constants. You can also specify the temperature
approach to equilibrium.
salt-cid ............................ Component ID of precipitating salt
DELT ............................... Number of degrees of temperature approach to equilibrium. The
equilibrium constant for the reaction is computed at the stage
temperature + DELT. (Default=0)
KBASIS ........................... Basis of user-defined equilibrium constants. You must also specify K-
SALT.
KBASIS=MOLE-GAMMA......... K = π ( x i γ i )υ i (Default)
KBASIS=MOLAL-GAMMA ...... K = π (Cimγ i )υi
KBASIS=MOLEFRAC .............. K = π ( x i )υ i
KBASIS=MASSFRAC .............. K = π ( xim )υi
KBASIS=MOLARITY................ K = π (Ci )υi
KBASIS=MOLALITY ................ K = π (Cim )υi
Where:
K = Equilibrium constant
x = Component mole fraction
xm = Component mass fraction
C = Molarity (kgmole/m3)
Cm = Molality (kgmole/kg-H2O)
γ = Activity coefficient
υ = Stoichiometric coefficient
i = Component index
π = Product operator
SALT Use to define the stoichiometry for the salt precipitation/dissociation reactions.
salt-cid ............................ Component ID of precipitating salt
cid ................................... Component ID of components participating in the salt precipitation
reaction
coef ................................. Stoichiometric coefficient
K-SALT Use to enter the coefficients for the salt dissociation equilibrium constant expression. If you do not
enter the K-SALT sentence for a reaction, equilibrium constants are calculated from the reference
state free energies.
salt-cid ............................ Component ID of precipitating salt

6-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 6

consta, constb................ Coefficients for salt dissolution equilibrium constant expression, which is
constc, constd defined as:
ln(K) = consta + constb/T + constc*ln(T) + constd*T
Where:
K = Equilibrium constant
T = Temperature in Kelvin
PARAM Use to enter user-supplied kinetics subroutine name for reactive distillation calculations. For
details on writing user-supplied kinetics subroutine, see Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 11.
SUBROUTINE ................. User-supplied FORTRAN kinetics subroutine name
NINT................................. Length of integer parameter array
NREAL............................. Length of real parameter array
INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied kinetics subroutine.
value-list.......................... List of integer values
REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied kinetics subroutine.
value-list.......................... List of real values

Input Language Guide 6-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactions

Defining Power-Law and Equilibrium

Reactions for Reactors and Pressure
Relief Systems

Input Language for POWERLAW

REACTIONS reacid POWERLAW
DESCRIPTION "a reaction description - up to 64 characters long"
REAC-DATA reacno [reactype] keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PHASE DELT KBASIS CBASIS SBASIS PH-BASIS-L PH-BASIS-S

STOIC reacno ssid cid coef / cid coef / . . .

K-STOIC reacno a b c d
RATE-CON reacno pre-exp act-energy [temp-exponent] [t-ref]
POWLAW-EXP reacno ssid cid exponent

Input Language Description for POWERLAW

Use POWERLAW to specify reactions parameters to be used with RCSTR,
RPLUG, RBATCH, and PRES-RELIEF systems. Reactions can be equilibrium or
rate-controlled, and can occur in the liquid or vapor phase.
reacid .............................. Reaction ID
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the REACTIONS paragraph report.
REAC-DATA Use to indicate the type of reaction and the phase in which the reaction occurs. You can also define
the basis for the built-in equilibrium constant expression or the concentration basis for the built-in
power-law kinetic expression. If solids are present in the system, use the SBASIS, PH-BASIS-L,
and PH-BASIS-S keywords to provide information on how component concentrations are to be
calculated.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
reactype .......................... Reaction type:
EQUIL ....................................... Equilibrium reaction
KINETIC.................................... Rate-controlled reaction (Default)
PHASE ............................ Phase in which reaction occurs:
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=L1................................ Liquid1
PHASE=L2................................ Liquid2

6-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 6

PHASE=LS ............................... Liquid and solid

PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
DELT................................ Number of degrees of temperature approach to equilibrium. Use for
equilibrium reactions only. The equilibrium constant for the reaction is
computed at the reactor temperature + DELT. DELT is allowed only
when reactype is EQUIL. (Default=0)
KBASIS............................ Basis of equilibrium constant expression. All properties are for the phase
specified in the REAC-DATA sentence. KBASIS is used only if K-STOIC
is entered, and reactype is EQUIL.
KBASIS=MOLE-GAMMA......... K = π ( xi γ i )υi (Liquid phase only) (Default)
KBASIS=MOLAL-GAMMA ...... K = π (Cimγ i )υi (Electrolytes liquid phase only)
KBASIS=MOLEFRAC .............. K = π ( x i )υ i
KBASIS=MASSFRAC .............. K = π ( xim )υi
KBASIS=MOLARITY................ K = π (Ci )υi
KBASIS=MOLALITY ................ K = π (Cim )υi (Electrolytes liquid phase only)
KBASIS=FUGACITY................ K = π ( f i )υ i
KBASIS=PARTIALPRES......... K = π ( Pi )υi (Vapor phase only)
KBASIS=MASSCONC ............. K = π (C m,i )υi
Where:
K = Equilibrium constant
x = Component mole fraction
xm = Component mass fraction
C = Molarity (kgmole/m3)
Cm = Molality (kgmole/kg-H2O)
Cm = Mass concentration (kg/m3)
γ = Activity coefficient
f = Component fugacity (N/m2)
P = Partial pressure (N/m2)
υ = Stoichiometric coefficient
i = Component index
π = Product operator
CBASIS............................ Concentration basis for power-law expression. Use for rate-controlled
reactions only. CBASIS is used only if reactype is KINETIC.
CBASIS = MOLEFRAC ............
r = k (T / To ) n e − ( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π ( xi )α i

Input Language Guide 6-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactions

CBASIS = MASSFRAC ............

( )α
r = k (T / To ) n e −( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π xim
i

CBASIS = MOLARITY..............
r = k (T / To ) n e −( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π (Ci )α i
(Default)
CBASIS = MOLALITY ..............
( )α
r = k (T / To ) n e −( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π Cim
i

(Electrolytes liquid phase only)

CBASIS=MASSCONC .............
r = k (T / To ) n e − ( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π (C m,i )α i
CBASIS=PARTIALPRES .........
r = k (T / To ) n e − ( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π (Pi )α i
(Vapor phase only)
Where:
r = Reaction rate
k = Pre-exponential factor
T = Temperature in Kelvin
To = Reference temperature in Kelvin
n = Temperature exponent
E = Activation energy
R = Universal gas law constant
x = Mole fraction
xm = Mass fraction
C = Molarity (kgmole/m3)
Cm = Molality (kgmole/kg-H2O)
Cm = Mass concentration (kg/m3)
α = Exponent
P = Partial pressure (N/m2)
i = Component index
π = Product operator
SBASIS ........................... Basis for solid property calculations:
SBASIS=LOCAL ...................... Solid property calculations are based on
substream in which the component is present
SBASIS=GLOBAL ................... Solid property calculations are based on all
solid substreams present (Default)
PH-BASIS-L .................... Liquid concentration basis:
PH-BASIS-L=L ......................... Liquid phase calculations are based on liquid
phase only (Default)
PH-BASIS-L=LS....................... Liquid phase calculations are based on liquid
and solid phase

6-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 6

PH-BASIS-S .................... Solid concentration basis:

PH-BASIS-S=LS....................... Solid phase calculations are based on liquid and
solid phase
PH-BASIS-S=S......................... Solid phase calculations are based on solid
phase only (Default)
STOIC Use to enter the stoichiometric coefficients for each reaction.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
ssid.................................. Substream ID
cid.................................... Component ID
coef.................................. Stoichiometric coefficient (positive for products; negative for reactants)
K-STOIC Use to enter the coefficients for the equilibrium constant expression for equilibrium reactions. You
must specify reactype as EQUIL. If you do not enter a K-STOIC sentence for a reaction, equilibrium
constants are calculated from reference state free energies.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
a,b,c,d.............................. Coefficients for the equilibrium constant expression, which is defined as:
ln(K) = a + b/T + c*ln(T) + d*T
Where:
K = Equilibrium constant
T = Temperature in Kelvin
RATE-CON Use to enter parameters for the power-law expression for rate-controlled reactions. You must
specify reactype as KINETIC.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
pre-exp ............................ Pre-exponential factor. Units must be in SI. (See the Aspen Plus User
Guide, Volume 2, Chapter 13.)
act-energy ....................... Activation energy. Units keyword is MOLE-ENTHALPY.
temp-exponent ............... Temperature exponent for temperature in Kelvin (Default=0)
t-ref .................................. Reference temperature in Kelvin
POWLAW-EXP Use to enter the component exponents for the power-law expression for rate-controlled reactions. If
the order of the reaction with respect to a component is zero, that component need not be entered.
You must also specify RATE-CON.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
ssid.................................. Substream ID
cid.................................... Component ID
exponent ......................... Exponent. Does not have to be an integer.

Input Language Guide 6-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactions

Defining LHHW Reactions for Reactors

and Pressure Relief Systems

Input Language for LHHW

REACTIONS reacid LHHW
DESCRIPTIONS "a reaction description - up to 64 characters long"
PARAM keyword=value

Keyword:
NTERM-ADS

REAC-DATA reacno [reactype] keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PHASE DELT KBASIS CBASIS SBASIS PH-BASIS-L PH-BASIS-S

STOIC reacno ssid cid coef / cid coef / . . .

K-STOIC reacno a b c d
RATE-CON reacno pre-exp act-energy [temp-exponent] [t-ref]
ADSORP-EXP keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
REACNO CID SSID EXPONENT

ADSORP-EQTER reacno term a b c d / ...

ADSORP-POW keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
REACNO EXPONENT

DFORCE-EXP-1 reacno ssid cid coef / ssid cid coef / . . .

DFORCE-EXP-2 reacno ssid cid coef / ssid cid coef / . . .
DFORCE-EQ-1 reacno a b c d
DFORCE-EQ-2 reacno a b c d

Input Language Description for LHHW

Use LHHW to specify reaction parameters used with RCSTR, RPLUG, RBATCH,
and PRES-RELIEF systems. Reactions can be equilibrium or rate-controlled, and
can occur in the liquid or vapor phase. Kinetic reactions in this model follow the
generalized Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson model. By appropriate
choice of the various model parameters, this model can be used to simulate other
reaction rate forms such as Michaelis-Menten, Monod, or Powerlaw.

6-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 6

reacid .............................. Reaction ID

DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the REACTIONS paragraph report.
PARAM Use to enter adsorption term parameters to specify optional kinetic data.
NTERM-ADS.................... Number of adsorption term parameters
REAC-DATA Use to indicate the type of reaction and the phase in which the reaction occurs. You can also define
the basis for the built-in equilibrium constant expression or the concentration basis for the built-in
power-law kinetic expression. If solids are present in the system, use the SBASIS, PH-BASIS-L,
and PH-BASIS-S keywords to provide information on how component concentrations are to be
calculated.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
reactype .......................... Reaction type:
EQUIL ....................................... Equilibrium reaction
KINETIC.................................... Rate-controlled reaction (Default)
PHASE............................. Phase in which reaction occurs:
PHASE=L ................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=L1 ............................... Liquid1
PHASE=L2 ............................... Liquid2
PHASE=LS ............................... Liquid and solid
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
DELT................................ Number of degrees of temperature approach to equilibrium. Use for
equilibrium reactions only. The equilibrium constant for the reaction is
computed at the reactor temperature + DELT. DELT is allowed only
when reactype is EQUIL. (Default=0)
KBASIS............................ Basis of equilibrium constant expression. All properties are for the phase
specified in the REAC-DATA sentence. Use KBASIS only when K-STOIC
is entered and reactype is EQUIL.
KBASIS=MOLE-GAMMA......... K = π ( xi γ i )υi (Liquid phase only) (Default)
KBASIS=MOLAL-GAMMA ...... K = π (Cimγ i )υi (Electrolytes liquid phase only)
KBASIS=MOLEFRAC .............. K = π ( x i )υ i
KBASIS=MASSFRAC .............. K = π ( xim )υi
KBASIS=MOLARITY................ K = π (Ci )υi
KBASIS=MOLALITY ................ K = π (Cim )υi (Electrolytes liquid phase only)
KBASIS=FUGACITY................ K = π ( f i )υ i
KBASIS=PARTIALPRES......... K = π ( Pi )υi (Vapor phase only)
KBASIS=MASSCONC ............. K = π (C m,i )υi

Input Language Guide 6-13

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactions

Where:
K = Equilibrium constant
x = Component mole fraction
xm = Component mass fraction
C = Molarity (kgmole/m3)
Cm = Molality (kgmole/kg-H2O)
Cm = Mass concentration (kg/m3)
γ = Activity coefficient
f = Component fugacity (N/m2)
P = Partial pressure (N/m2)
υ = Stoichiometric coefficient
i = Component index
π = Product operator
CBASIS ........................... Concentration basis for power-law expression. Use for rate-controlled
reactions only. CBASIS is used only if reactype is KINETIC.
CBASIS = MOLEFRAC ............
r = k (T / To ) n e − ( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π ( xi )α i
CBASIS = MASSFRAC ............
( )α
r = k (T / To ) n e −( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π xim
i

CBASIS = MOLARITY..............
r = k (T / To ) n e −( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π (Ci )α i
(Default)
CBASIS = MOLALITY ..............
( )α
r = k (T / To ) n e −( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π Cim
i

(Electrolytes liquid phase only)

CBASIS=MASSCONC .............
r = k (T / To ) n e − ( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π (C m,i )α i
CBASIS=PARTIALPRES .........
r = k (T / To ) n e − ( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]π (Pi )α i
(Vapor phase only)
Where:
r = Reaction rate
k = Pre-exponential factor
T = Temperature in Kelvin
To = Reference temperature in Kelvin
n = Temperature exponent
E = Activation energy
R = Universal gas law constant
x = Mole fraction
xm = Mass fraction

6-14 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 6

C = Molarity (kgmole/m3)
Cm = Molality (kgmole/kg-H2O)
Cm = Mass concentration (kg/m3)
α = Exponent
P = Partial pressure (N/m2)
i = Component index
π = Product operator
SBASIS............................ Basis for solid property calculations:
SBASIS=LOCAL ...................... Solid property calculations are based on
substream in which the component is present
SBASIS=GLOBAL ................... Solid property calculations are based on all
solid substreams present (Default)
PH-BASIS-L..................... Liquid concentration basis:
PH-BASIS-L=L ......................... Liquid phase calculations are based on liquid
phase only (Default)
PH-BASIS-L=LS....................... Liquid phase calculations are based on liquid
and solid phase
PH-BASIS-S .................... Solid concentration basis:
PH-BASIS-S=S......................... Solid phase calculations are based on solid
phase only (Default)
PH-BASIS-S=LS....................... Solid phase calculations are based on liquid and
solid phase
STOIC Use to enter the stoichiometric coefficients for each reaction.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
ssid.................................. Substream ID
cid.................................... Component ID
coef.................................. Stoichiometric coefficient (positive for products; negative for reactants)
K-STOIC Use to enter the coefficients for the equilibrium constant expression for equilibrium reactions. You
must specify reactype as EQUIL. If you do not enter a K-STOIC sentence for a reaction, equilibrium
constants are calculated from reference state free energies.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
a,b,c,d.............................. Coefficients for equilibrium constant expression, which is defined as:
ln(K) = a + b/T + c*ln(T) + d*T
Where:
K = Equilibrium constant
T = Temperature in Kelvin
RATE-CON Use to enter parameters for the power-law expression for rate-controlled reactions. You must
specify reactype as KINETIC.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
pre-exp ............................ Pre-exponential factor. Units must be in SI. (See the Aspen Plus User

Input Language Guide 6-15

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactions

Guide, Volume 2, Chapter 13.)

act-energy....................... Activation energy. Units keyword is MOLE-ENTHALPY.
temp-exponent ............... Temperature exponent for temperature in Kelvin (Default=0)
t-ref.................................. Reference temperature in Kelvin
ADSORP-EXP Use to enter exponents in adsorption expression terms. You must also specify ADSORP-EQTER and
ADSORP-POW.
REACNO ......................... Reaction number
CID .................................. Component ID
SSID ................................ Substream ID
EXPONENT ..................... List of exponents for each concentration term in the adsorption
expression. The number of values for EXPONENT must be equal to
NTERM-ADS for at least one concentration term.
ADSORP-EQTER Use to enter constant parameters in adsorption expression terms. You must also specify ADSORP-
EXP and ADSORP-POW.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
term ................................. Term number. The number of values for TERM must be equal to NTERM-
ADS specified in the PARAM sentence.
a, b, c, d .......................... Coefficients for adsorption expression, which is defined as:
ln(K) = a + b/T + c*ln(T) + d*T
Where:
K = Adsorption term constant
T = Temperature in Kelvin
Enter asterisk (*) for missing value.
ADSORP-POW Use to enter adsorption term overall exponent. You must also specify ADSORP-EXP and ADSORP-
EQTER.
REACNO ......................... Reaction number
EXPONENT ..................... Adsorption term overall exponent
DFORCE-EXP-1, Use to enter optional driving force exponents for reactants and products.
DFORCE-EXP-2
reacno ............................. Reaction number
ssid ................................. Substream ID
cid ................................... Component ID
coef ................................. Exponent for the component in either the first or the second driving force
expression. (See Note 1.)
DFORCE-EQ-1, Use to enter coefficients for calculating the driving force constants for the first and second driving
DFORCE-EQ-2 force expressions defined in DFORCE-EXP-1 and DFORCE-EXP-2.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
a, b, c, d .......................... Parameters in the first and second driving force term. The expression is
defined as:
ln (K) = a + b/T + c*ln (T) + d*T
Where:
K = Adsorption term constant

6-16 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 6

T = Temperature in Kelvin

Note
1. The general LHHW expression is:
(kinetic factor)(driving force expression)
r=
(adsorption term)
kinetic factor = k (T / To ) n e −( E / R )[1 / T −1 / To ]

 N   N β 
driving force expression = K1  ∏ Ciα i  − K 2  ∏ C j j 
 j =1 
 i =1   
m
M  N ν 
adsorption term = ∑ K i  ∏ C j j  
 i =1  j =1 

Where:
r = Reaction rate
k = Pre-exponential factor
T = Absolute temperature
To = Reference temperature in Kelvin
n = Temperature exponent
m = Adsorption term exponent
E = Activation energy
R = Gas constant
K = Constant
K1 = Constant obtained from the driving force constants in
DFORCE-EQ-1
K2 = Constant obtained from the driving force constants in
DFORCE-EQ-2
N = Number of components
M = Number of terms in adsorption expression (NTERM-ADS)
i, j = Indices
αi = Exponent for the component in the first term in the driving
force expression
βi = Exponent for the component in the second term in the driving
force expression

Input Language Guide 6-17

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactions

ν = Term exponent for each component

Π = Product operator

Defining User-Kinetic and Equilibrium

Reactions for Reactors, Distillation
Models, and Pressure Relief Systems

Input Language for USER

REACTIONS reacid USER
DESCRIPTIONS "a reaction description - up to 64 characters long"
REAC-DATA reacno [reactype] keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PHASE DELT KBASIS SBASIS PH-BASIS-L PH-BASIS-S

STOIC reacno ssid cid coef / cid coef / . . .

K-STOIC reacno a b c d
PARAM keyword=value
INT value-list
REAL value-list

Keywords:
SUBROUTINE NINT NREAL NIWORK NWORK

Input Language Description for USER

Use the USER model to specify reaction parameters to be used with reactor
models RCSTR, RPLUG, and RBATCH; distillation models RADFRAC and
RATEFRAC; and PRES-RELIEF systems. Reactions can be equilibrium or rate-
controlled, and can occur in the liquid or vapor phase. The reaction rates in this
model are calculated in a user-supplied subroutine.
reacid .............................. Reaction ID
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the REACTIONS paragraph report.
REAC-DATA Use to indicate the type of reaction and the phase in which the reaction occurs. You can also define
the basis for the built-in equilibrium constant expression, or the concentration basis for the built-in
power-law kinetic expression. If solids are present in the system, use the SBASIS, PH-BASIS-L,
and PH-BASIS-S keywords to provide information on how component concentrations are to be
calculated.

6-18 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 6

reacno ............................. Reaction number

reactype .......................... Reaction type:
EQUIL ....................................... Equilibrium reaction
KINETIC.................................... Rate-controlled reaction (Default)
PHASE............................. Phase in which reaction occurs:
PHASE=L ................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=L1 ............................... Liquid1
PHASE=L2 ............................... Liquid2
PHASE=LS ............................... Liquid and solid
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
DELT................................ Number of degrees of temperature approach to equilibrium. Use for
equilibrium reactions only. The equilibrium constant for the reaction is
computed at the reactor temperature + DELT. DELT is allowed only
when reactype is EQUIL. (Default=0)
KBASIS............................ Basis of equilibrium constant expression. All properties are for the phase
specified in the REAC-DATA sentence. KBASIS is used only if K-STOIC
is entered and reactype is EQUIL.
KBASIS=MOLE-GAMMA......... K = π ( xi γ i )υi (Liquid phase only) (Default)
KBASIS=MOLAL-GAMMA ...... K = π (Cimγ i )υi (Electrolytes liquid phase only)
KBASIS=MOLEFRAC .............. K = π ( x i )υ i
KBASIS=MASSFRAC .............. K = π ( xim )υi
KBASIS=MOLARITY................ K = π (Ci )υi
KBASIS=MOLALITY ................ K = π (Cim )υi (Electrolytes liquid phase only)
KBASIS=FUGACITY................ K = π ( f i )υ i
KBASIS=PARTIALPRES......... K = π ( Pi )υi (Vapor phase only)
KBASIS=MASSCONC ............. K = π (C m,i )υi
Where:
K = Equilibrium constant
x = Component mole fraction
xm = Component mass fraction
C = Molarity (kgmole/m3)
Cm = Molality (kgmole/kg-H2O)
Cm = Mass concentration (kg/m3)
γ = Activity coefficient
f = Component fugacity (N/m2)

Input Language Guide 6-19

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactions

P = Partial pressure (N/m2)

υ = Stoichiometric coefficient
i = Component index
π = Product operator
SBASIS ........................... Basis for solid property calculations:
SBASIS=LOCAL ...................... Solid property calculations are based on
substream in which the component is present
SBASIS=GLOBAL ................... Solid property calculations are based on all
solid substreams present (Default)
PH-BASIS-L .................... Liquid concentration basis:
.........................................
PH-BASIS-L=L ......................... Liquid phase calculations are based on liquid
phase only (Default)
PH-BASIS-L=LS....................... Liquid phase calculations are based on liquid
and solid phase
PH-BASIS-S .................... Solid concentration basis:
PH-BASIS-S=S......................... Solid phase calculations are based on solid
phase only (Default)
PH-BASIS-S=LS....................... Solid phase calculations are based on liquid and
solid phase
STOIC Use to enter the stoichiometric coefficients for each reaction.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
ssid ................................. Substream ID
cid ................................... Component ID
coef ................................. Stoichiometric coefficient (positive for products; negative for reactants)
K-STOIC Use to enter the coefficients for equilibrium constant expression for equilibrium reactions. If a K-
STOIC sentence is not entered for a reaction, equilibrium constants are calculated from reference
state free energies.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
a,b,c,d ............................. Coefficients for equilibrium constant expression, which is defined as:
ln(K) = a + b/T + c*ln(T) + d*T
Where:
K = Equilibrium constant
T = Temperature in Kelvin
PARAM Use to specify user-supplied kinetics subroutine. For details on writing user-supplied kinetics
subroutine, see Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 11.
SUBROUTINE ................. User-supplied FORTRAN kinetics subroutine name
ORIGIN ............................ Type of argument list used by Aspen Plus in calling the user-supplied
Fortran kinetics subroutine.
ORIGIN=SYSTEM .................... New argument list compatible for reactors,
separation, and pressure relief blocks

6-20 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 6

ORIGIN=RBATCH .................... Old argument list compatible for RBATCH

blocks only
ORIGIN=RPLUG....................... Old argument list compatible for RPLUG blocks
only
ORIGIN=RCSTR....................... Old argument list compatible for RCSTR blocks
only
The argument list for ORIGIN=SYSTEM is described in Aspen Plus User
Models, Chapter 11. Do not use ORIGIN=RCSTR, RBATCH, or RPLUG
for new simulations. They are available only to provide upward
compatibility with pre-Version 10 simulations that specified the user
kinetics subroutine as part of the block input specifications.
NINT................................. Length of integer parameter array
NREAL............................. Length of real parameter array
NIWORK .......................... Length of integer workspace array
NWORK ........................... Length of real workspace array
INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the the user-supplied kinetics subroutine.
value-list.......................... List of integer values
REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied kinetics subroutine.
value-list.......................... List of real values

Input Language Guide 6-21

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactions

Accessing Variables in REACTIONS

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change reaction variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following table lists variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3 Element
REAC-DATA DELT reacno — — —
STOIC COEF reacno † †† —
K-STOIC a, b, c, d reacno — — —
CONV conva, convb, convc, convd reacno — — —
RATE-CON PRE-EXP, ACT-ENERGY, reacno — — —
TEMP-EXPONENT
POWLAW-EXP EXPONENT reacno ††† †† —
K-SALT consta, constb constc, constd saltid — — —
DFORCE-EXP-1 DF1-EXP reacno ssid cid —
DFORCE-EXP-2 DF2-EXP reacno ssid cid —
DFORCE-EQ-1 DF1-A, DF1-B, DF1-C, DF1-D reacno — — —
DFORCE-EQ-2 DF2-A, DF2-B, DF2-C, DF2-D reacno — — —
ADSORP-EXP ADS-EXPONENT reacno cid ssid ♦

ADSORP-EQTER ADS-A, ADS-B ADS-C, ADS-D reacno termno — —

ADSORP-POW ADS-PW-EXP reacno — — —
INT VALUE-LIST — — — ♦

REAL VALUE-LIST — — — ♦

† Use cid for REAC-DIST; use ssid for POWERLAW, LHHW, and USER.

†† Use cid for POWERLAW, LHHW, and USER.

††† Use cid for REAC-DIST; use ssid for POWERLAW.

♦ Position of a value in the ADSORP-EXP, INT, or REAL value-list

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

6-22 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 7

7 Petroleum Assays and

Pseudocomponents
This chapter describes the input language for:
• Specifying assay analysis options
• Entering assay data for petroleum streams
• Defining a new petroleum property
• Blending assays
• Generating pseudocomponents from assays and blends
• Defining individual pseudocomponents
• Defining and modifying pseudocomponent property correlation option sets
• Entering properties for pseudocomponents

Input Language Guide 7-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Petroleum
Assays and
Pseudocompo
nents

Specifying Assay Analysis Options

Input Language for ADA-SETUP

ADA-SETUP keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PROCEDURE D86-METH D2887-METH D1160-METH MW-INTGR-H
EXTRAP-METH IBP EP SPLINE-FIT

Input Language Description for ADA-SETUP

ADA-SETUP Use to specify assay analysis options. You must enter PROCEDURE=REL9 to modify the options.
PROCEDURE.................. Assay analysis procedure:
PROCEDURE=REL9................ Uses Release 9 procedures. These procedures
provide a more accurate representation for
distillation curves. You must use the REL9
procedure if you are entering D2887 distillation
curve or PROP-CURVE sentences in the
ASSAY paragraph. (Default)
PROCEDURE=PRE-REL9 ....... Uses pre-Release 9 procedures
D86-METH....................... Procedure for converting D86 distillation curve to TBP basis:
D86-METH=EDMISTER ........... Uses the Edmister conversion procedure
(Default)
D86-METH=ED-OK .................. Uses the Edmister-Okamato conversion
procedure
D86-METH=API94 .................... Uses the conversion procedure from the 1994
API Technical Data Book
D86-METH=API92 .................... Uses the conversion procedure from the 1992
API Technical Data Book
D86-METH=PML....................... Uses the conversion procedure developed by
AspenTech. It is similar to the API method, but
uses its own conversion correlation.
D2887-METH................... Procedure for converting D2887 distillation curve to TBP basis:
D2887-METH=API87 ................ Uses the conversion procedure from the 1987
API Technical Data Book
D2887-METH=API94 ................ Uses the conversion procedure from the 1994
API Technical Data Book (Default)
D2887-METH=TBPWT ............. The D2887 data entered are treated as True
boiling point data based on weight percent

7-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 7

D1160-METH ................... Procedure for converting D1160 distillation curve to TBP basis:
D1160-METH=API63 ................ Uses the conversion procedure from the 1963
API Technical Data Book (Default)
D1160-METH=PML .................. Uses the conversion procedure developed by
AspenTech. It is similar to the API method, but
uses its own conversion correlation.
MW-INTGR-H .................. Minimum step size for molecular weight curve integration. (Default=0.1)
EXTRAP-METH ............... Distillation curve extrapolation method:
EXTRAP-METH= ...................... Extrapolates distillation curve using normal
PROBABILITY probability distribution function. (Default)
EXTRAP-METH= ...................... Extrapolates distillation curve using a
QUADRATIC quadratic fit of the last three points.
IBP ................................... Initial boiling point. Use for distillation curve extrapolation. (Default=0.5)
EP .................................... Final boiling point. Use for distillation curve extrapolation. (Default=99.0)
SPLINE-FIT ..................... Method used for curve fitting
HARWELL ................................ Use Harwell cubic splines (Default)
HERMITE .................................. Use Hermite cubic splines
LINEAR..................................... Use linear method

Input Language Guide 7-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Petroleum
Assays and
Pseudocompo
nents

Entering Assay Data for Petroleum

Streams

Input Language for ASSAY

ASSAY assayid
ASSAY-DATA keyword=value

Optional keywords:
GRAV API VACPRES LE-FRAC MW CRACK-OPT MATCH-LTENDS

DIST-CURVE disttype pct-dist temp / pct-dist temp / . . .

GRAV-CURVE gravtype mid-pct grav / mid-pct grav / . . .
UOPK-CURVE mid-pct uopk / mid-pct uopk / . . .
MW-CURVE mid-pct mw / mid-pct mw / . . .
LE-basis-FRAC cid frac [grav] [mw] / . . .
CONVERT disttype-list
PROP-CURVE propname mid-pct propvalue / mid-pct propvalue / . . .
BULK-PROP propname propvalue
VISC-CURVE temp mid-pct visc / . . .
KVISC-CURVE temp mid-pct visc / . . .

Input Language Description for ASSAY

Use the ASSAY paragraph to enter assay data, including the amount of any light
end component identified in the mixture. ASSAY-DATA and DIST-CURVE are
required; all other sentences are optional.
assayid............................ Assay ID. This keyword cannot be the same as a component ID.
ASSAY-DATA Use to enter optional parameters that apply to the entire assay. If you do not enter the GRAV-
CURVE sentence. You must enter either GRAV or API. For the proper use of LE-FRAC and MW,
see LE-basis-FRAC.
GRAV .............................. Specific gravity
API................................... API gravity
VACPRES ....................... Distillation pressure. Use this keyword if disttype is D1160, VACLV, or
VACWT. (Default=10 mm Hg)
LE-FRAC ......................... Light end fraction
MW .................................. Molecular weight

7-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 7

CRACK-OPT.................... Cracking correction code for D86 distillation data:

CRACK-OPT=YES ................... Standard API cracking correction is applied to
the temperature that you enter using DIST-
CURVE
CRACK-OPT=NO ..................... No correction is applied (Default)
MATCH-LTENDS............. Specifies whether to adjust the distillation curve to match light-ends
analysis data.
MATCH-LTENDS=YES ............ Adjusts distillation curve
MATCH-LTENDS=NO .............. Does not adjust distillation curve (Default)
DIST-CURVE Use to enter distillation temperatures versus percent distilled. A minimum of four points in
ascending order is required. If you do not enter a temperature for the 100 percent point, Aspen Plus
extrapolates the data to 100 percent. If you do not want extrapolation, normalize the data.
Aspen Plus extrapolates or interpolates the data to a percentage equal to the amount of light end
components specified.
disttype ........................... D86............................................ ASTM D86
D1160........................................ ASTM D1160
TBPLV ...................................... True boiling point (liquid volume basis)
TBPWT ..................................... True boiling point (weight basis)
VACLV ...................................... Vacuum (liquid volume basis)
VACWT ..................................... Vacuum (weight basis)
D2887........................................ ASTM D2887
pct-dist ............................ Percent distilled
temp ................................ Temperature
GRAV-CURVE Use to enter gravity data. Gravities supplied in the GRAV-CURVE sentence are normalized to
match the API or GRAV value given in the ASSAY-DATA sentence. A minimum of four points is
required.
gravtype .......................... GRAV........................................ Specific gravity
API ............................................ API gravity
mid-pct ............................ Mid-percent distilled. Aspen Plus uses the same basis as that used for
distillation data (for example, volume or weight).
grav ................................. Gravity
UOPK-CURVE Use to enter Watson UOP K data. If you enter GRAV-CURVE, you do not need to enter UOPK-
CURVE. A minimum of four points is required. If disttype is TBPWT, VACWT, or D2887, you
cannot enter UOPK-CURVE.
mid-pct ............................ Mid-percent distilled on a volume basis. Aspen Plus uses the same basis
as that used for distillation data (for example, volume or weight).
uopk ................................ Watson UOP K
MW-CURVE Use to enter molecular weight data. If you enter MW in the ASSAY-DATA sentence, Aspen Plus
normalizes the values supplied in the MW-CURVE sentence. A minimum of four points is required.
mid-pct ............................ Mid-percent distilled. Aspen Plus uses the same basis as that used for
distillation data (for example, volume or weight).
mw ................................... Molecular weight

Input Language Guide 7-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Petroleum
Assays and
Pseudocompo
nents

LE-basis-FRAC Use to enter a light end analysis on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL (standard-liquid- volume) basis.
cid ................................... Component ID
frac .................................. If you enter LE-FRAC in the ASSAY-DATA sentence, Aspen Plus
normalizes the frac values. If you do not enter LE-FRAC, Aspen Plus
treats the frac values as fractions of the entire assay mixture. You must
enter the molecular weight (MW) of the assay in the ASSAY-DATA
sentence if you use LE-MOLE-FRAC.
grav ................................. Specific gravity (Default=databank value)
mw................................... Molecular weight (Default=databank value)
CONVERT Use to request conversion of the distillation data to other bases for report purpose only. Distillation
curves on a TBP basis and the basis used for DIST-CURVE input are always reported.
disttype-list..................... One or more of the following: D86, D1160, VACLV
PROP-CURVE Use to enter any number of property curves for the assay. A variety of built-in curve types are
allowed. You can also define a new property using the PETRO-PROP paragraph. Based on these
curves, property values are assigned to individual pseudocomponents in the simulation.
propname ....................... Property name from Table 7.1 or as defined in a PETRO-PROP paragraph
mid-pct............................ Mid-percent distilled on a standard-liquid-volume basis
propvalue........................ Property value
BULK-PROP Use to enter the bulk value for property curves. Aspen Plus uses this value to normalize individual
curve values specified in the PROP-CURVE sentence.
propname ....................... Property name from Table 7.1 or as defined in a PETRO-PROP paragraph
propvalue........................ Bulk value for property curve
VISC-CURVE Use to enter optional absolute viscosity curves as a function of percent distilled for an assay. You
can enter the curves at different temperatures. Based on these curves, Aspen Plus assigns viscosity
to the pseudocomponents generated for the assay. You cannot use VISC-CURVE if you specify
KVISC-CURVE.
temp ................................ Temperature for viscosity curve
mid-pct............................ Mid-percent distilled on a standard-liquid-volume basis
visc.................................. Absolute viscosity value

KVISC-CURVE Use to enter optional kinematic viscosity curves as a function of percent distilled for an assay. You
can enter the curves at different temperatures. Based on these curves, Aspen Plus assigns viscosity
to the pseudocomponents generated for the assay. You cannot use KVISC-CURVE if you specify
VISC-CURVE.
temp ................................ Temperature for viscosity curve
mid-pct............................ Mid-percent distilled on a standard-liquid-volume basis
visc.................................. Kinematic viscosity value

Table 7.1 Petroleum Properties

Property Description Default Blending Method

7-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 7

ANILPT Aniline point MASS

AROMATIC Aromatic content STDVOL
ASPHALTE Asphaltene content MASS
BASIC-N2 Basic nitrogen content MASS
BROMINE Bromine number MASS
CARBON Carbon residue MASS
CETANE Cetane number MASS
CLOUDPT Cloud point MASS
COCARBON Conradson carbon MASS
FLASHPT Flash point MASS
FREEZEPT Freeze point MASS
HYDROGEN Hydrogen content STDVOL
IRON Iron content MASS
KNOCKIDX Antiknock index MASS
KVISC Kinematic viscosity MASS
LUMI-NO Luminometer number STDVOL
MERCAPTA Mercaptan content MASS
METAL Metal content STDVOL
MOC-NO Motor octane number STDVOL
NAPHTHEN Naphthene content MASS
NICKEL Nickel content MASS
OLEFIN Olefin content STDVOL
OXYGEN Oxygen content STDVOL
PARAFFIN Paraffin content MASS
POURPT Pour point MASS
REFINDEX Refractive index MASS
ROC-NO Research octane number STDVOL
RVP Reid vapor pressure MASS
SMOKEPT Smoke point MASS
SULFUR Sulfur content MASS
TOTAL-N2 Total nitrogen content MASS
VANADIUM Vanadium content MASS
VISC Viscosity MASS
VLOCKIDX Vapor lock index MASS
WARMIDX Warm-up index MASS

Input Language Guide 7-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Petroleum
Assays and
Pseudocompo
nents

Defining a New Petroleum Property

Input Language for PETRO-PROP

PETRO-PROP propname keyword=value

Keywords:
BLEND-METHOD BLEND-OPTION EXTRAPOLATE

Input Language Description for PETRO-PROP

Use the PETRO-PROP paragraph to define a new petroleum property, or to
modify the calculation options of a built-in petroleum property. The calculation
options are:
propname ....................... Property name. Specify a new property name, or a built-in property from
Table 7.1.
BLEND-METHOD............ Blending method. The available methods are MOLE, MASS, STDVOL,
and USER. Table 7.1 describes the defaults.
BLEND-OPTION ............. Option code for use in the user blending subroutine if BLEND-
METHOD=USER is specified. The code is passed unchanged to the user-
blending routine through the argument list.
EXTRAPOLATE .............. Curve extrapolation code:
EXTRAPOLATE=YES .............. Extrapolates property curve, if it does not
encompass the entire composition range
(Default)
EXTRAPOLATE=NO................ Does not extrapolate property curve

7-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 7

Blending Assays

Input Language for BLEND

BLEND blendid
basis-FRAC assayid frac / . . .
CONVERT disttype-list

Input Language Description for BLEND

Use the BLEND paragraph to request that two or more assays blend to create a
new assay. An assay generated by blending, can itself be blended.
blendid ............................ Blend ID. The blend ID cannot be the same as a component ID.
basis-FRAC Use to enter the fractions of each assay in the blend on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis.
assayid ............................ Assay ID
frac .................................. Mole, mass, or standard-liquid-volume fraction
CONVERT Use to request conversion of the distillation data to other bases for report purposes only. Distillation
curves on a TBP basis and the basis used for DIST-CURVE input are always reported.
disttype-list ..................... One or more of the following: D86, D1160, VACLV

Input Language Guide 7-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Petroleum
Assays and
Pseudocompo
nents

Generating Pseudocomponents from

Assays and Blends

Input Language for PC-CALC

PC-CALC
PC-SET assayid [wf] / . . .
LIST = value − list
CUTS  NINC = ninc  / UTEMP = utemp NINC = ninc /. . .
INCR = incr  INCR = incr  
 LTEMP = ltemp UTEMP = utemp     
PROPS pcopsetname
NOPROPS pcopsetname
PC-IDS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
OPTION LIST FIRST-NO

Input Language Description for PC-CALC

Use the PC-CALC paragraph to generate a set of pseudocomponents from assay
data. Use a separate PC-CALC paragraph for each set of components generated.
All sentences of PC-CALC are optional. If you do not enter PC-CALC paragraphs,
Aspen Plus generates an average set of pseudocomponents for all assays present.
PC-SET Use to enter a list of assays to include when generating a pseudocomponent set. If you do not enter
PC-SET, all assays are included with equal weight.
assayid............................ Assay ID
wf..................................... Weighting factors for each assay (Default=1)
CUTS Use to enter the temperature cut points to use in generating pseudocomponents. You can indicate
the cuts as a list of values. Or you can indicate the cuts as the number of increments or size of
increments within a given temperature range. If you do not enter CUTS, Aspen Plus uses the
following default cut points:

TBP Range °F Number of Cuts Increments °F

100- 800 28 25
800-1200 8 50
1200-1600 4 100

LIST ................................. List of cut points

7-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 7

LTEMP, UTEMP .............. Lower and upper temperatures of a range divided into increments. (When
more than one range is provided, the lower temperature is assumed to
equal the upper temperature of the previous range.)
NINC ................................ Number of increments
INCR ................................ Size of increments
PROPS Use to specify the correlation option set for estimating pseudocomponent properties. Specify one of
the five built-in correlation option sets (see Table 7.2) or a pcopsetname defined in a PC-PROP-OPT
paragraph.
pcopsetname .................. PC correlation option set name (Default=ASPEN)
NOPROPS Use to request that pseudocomponent properties not be calculated. Aspen Plus uses the molecular
weight correlation when properties are not calculated. So you must use pcopsetname with
NOPROPS. See PROPS for pcopsetname options.
PC-IDS Use to specify component IDs for the system-generated pseudocomponents. The component ID is
the number preceded by the characters PC except when OPTION=LIST.
OPTION ........................... Naming option:
OPTION=LIST .......................... IDs specified by LIST keyword
OPTION=NBP........................... Average boiling point (Default)
OPTION=NUMBERED ............. Sequential numbers starting with the value
specified by FIRST-NO
OPTION=ROUND-UP............... Upper cut temperature
OPTION=ROUND-DOWN ........ Lower cut temperature
LIST ................................. List of component IDs, required when OPTION=LIST
FIRST-NO ........................ Number used in ID of first pseudocomponent. Use this number when
OPTION=NUMBERED. (Default=1)

Input Language Guide 7-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Petroleum
Assays and
Pseudocompo
nents

Table 7.2 Pseudocomponent Correlation Option Set

PC Correlation Option Set

Property API-METH COAL-LIQ ASPEN LK API-TWU

Model Model Model Model Model

Molecular weight MWHS MWHS HS-ASPEN MWKL HS-ASP

Critical temperature TCRZI TCASPN TCRZI TCKL TCTWU
Critical pressure PCRZI PCASPN PCRZI PCKL PCTWU
Critical volume VCRDL VCRDL VCRDL VCRDL VCTWU
Vapor pressure PLMB PLSWAP BK-10 PLKL BK-10
Ideal gas heat capacity CPIGKL CPMM CPIGKL CPIGKL CPIGKL
Liquid molar volume VLRKT VLRKT VLRKT VLRKT VLRKT
Enthalpy of vaporization DHVLVET DHVLVET DHVLVET DHVLVET DHVLVET
Acentric factor OMEGAKL OMEGAKL KL-ASPEN OMEGAKL KL-ASPEN
Viscosity MULWAT MULWAT MULWAT MULWAT MULWAT
BWR orientation parameter GMASTAR GMASTAR GMASTAR GMASTAR GMASTAR
BWR critical temperature TCSTAR TCSTAR TCSTAR TCSTAR TCSTAR
BWR critical volume VCSTAR VCSTAR VCSTAR VCSTAR VCSTAR
Standard enthalpy of formation DHFMZERO DHFMZERO DHFMONT DHFMONT DHFMONT
Standard free energy of DGFMZERO DGFMZERO DGFMONT DGFMONT DGFMONT
formation
RKS interaction parameters API78 API78 API78 API78 API78
Water solubility WSOLASPN WSOLASPN WSOLASPN WSOLASPN KEROSENE

7-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 7

Defining Individual Pseudocomponents

Input Language for PC-USER

PC-USER
PC-DEF pcopsetname pcid keyword=value

Keywords:
NBP API GRAV LDEN MW

Input Language Description for PC-USER

Use the PC-USER paragraph to enter user-defined pseudocomponents. Enter one
PC-DEF sentence for each user-defined pseudocomponent. You must enter user-
defined pseudocomponent IDs as component IDs in the COMPONENTS
paragraph.
PC-DEF Use to enter user-defined pseudocomponents. You must supply at least two of the following
properties: normal boiling point, gravity (or density), and molecular weight. To enter additional
property data for user-defined pseudocomponents, use the PC-PROP-DATA paragraph (this
chapter) or the PROP-DATA paragraph (see Chapter 8). Required property parameters not entered
in these paragraphs are estimated.
pcopsetname .................. PC correlation option set name. Specify one of the five built-in option sets
(see Table 7.2) or a new PC option set defined using the PC-PROP-OPT
paragraph. (Default=ASPEN)
pcid.................................. Pseudocomponent ID
NBP ................................. Normal boiling point
API ................................... API gravity
GRAV............................... Specific gravity
LDEN ............................... Standard liquid density
MW................................... Molecular weight

Input Language Guide 7-13

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Petroleum
Assays and
Pseudocompo
nents

Defining and Modifying

Pseudocomponent Property Correlation
Option Sets

Input Language for PC-PROP-OPT

PC-PROP-OPT pcopsetname base-pcopsetname propkeyword model / &
propkeyword model / . . .

Input Language Description for PC-PROP-OPT

Use the PC-PROP-OPT paragraph to construct a new pseudocomponent
correlation option set from a base option set and to construct built-in correlations.
(See Table 7.3 for the complete list of built-in correlations.)
pcopsetname.................. User-assigned name for new PC option set
base-pcopsetname ........ Base option set name. Use any of the five built-in option sets from
Table 7.2.
propkeyword .................. Keyword for property from Table 7.3
model .............................. Name of correlation for property from Table 7.3

Table 7.3 Pseudocomponent Correlations

Property Propkeyword Model Model Description

Molecular weight MW MWRZI Riazi (1980)

MWASPN Tsang-ASPEN (1978)
MWSTAR Brule et al. (1982)
MWKL Kesler, Lee (1976)
MWHS Hariu, Sage (1969)
MWUSR User routine PCMWU
MWRZAPI5 Riazi (1986)
MWRZH Riazi (1986), heavy petroleum
HS-ASP Hariu, Sage-ASPEN

continued

7-14 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 7

Table 7.3 Pseudocomponent Correlations (continued)

Property Propkeyword Model Model Description

Critical temperature TC TCRZI Riazi (1980)

TCASPN Tsang-ASPEN (1978)
TCSTAR Brule et al. (1982)
TCCAVT Cavett (1962)
TCKL Kesler, Lee (1976)
TCUSR User routine PCTCU
TCRZAPI5 Riazi (1986)
TCTWU Twu (1984)
TCPR Robinson-Peng (1978)
TCWINN Winn correlation
Critical pressure PC PCRZI Riazi (1980)
PCASPN Tsang-ASPEN (1978)
PCCAVT Cavett (1962)
PCKL Kesler, Lee (1976)
PCUSR User routine PCPCU
PCRZAPI5 Riazi (1986)
PCTWU Twu (1984)
PCPR Robinson-Peng (1981)
PCWINN Winn correlation
Critical volume VC VCRDL Reidel (1954)
VCSTAR Brule et al. (1982)
VCUSR User routine PCVCU
VCTWU Twu (1984)
VCEDMIS Edmister (1988)
VCKL Kesler, Lee (1976)
Vapor pressure PL PLMB Maxwell, Bonnell (1955)
PLSWAP Tsang-SWAP (1978)
PLKL Kesler, Lee (1980)
PLUSR User routine PCPLU
BK-10 BK-10 model
Ideal gas heat capacity CPIG CPIGKL Kesler, Lee (1976)
CPIGASPN Tsang-ASPEN (1978)
CPIGSTAR Brule et al. (1982)
CPIGCAVT Cavett (1962)
CPMM Mathias, Monks (1982)
CPIGUSR User routine PCCPGU
CPIGAPI API hybrid
CPIGSKL Simplified Kesler Lee
Liquid molar volume VL VLRKT Rackett (Spencer, 1972)
VLCAVT Cavett
VLUSR User routine PCVOLU
Enthalpy of vaporization DHVL DHVLVET Vetere (1973)
DHVLUSR User routine PCDHVU
DHVLKIST Kistiakowsky (1923)

continued

Input Language Guide 7-15

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Petroleum
Assays and
Pseudocompo
nents

Table 7.3 Pseudocomponent Correlations (continued)

Property Propkeyword Model Model Description

Acentric factor OMEGA OMEGADEF Defining relation

OMEGAKL Kesler, Lee (1976)
OMEGAUSR User routine PCOMGU
OMEGAPR Robinson-Peng (1981)
KL-ASPEN Lee-Kesler, ASPEN
OMGEDMIS Edmister (1988)
Viscosity MUL MULWAT Watson (1935)
MULUSR User routine PCMULU
BWR orientation parameter BWRGMA GMASTAR Brule et al. (1982)
GMAUSR User routine PCBWRU
BWR critical temperature TCBWR TCSTAR Brule et al. (1982)
TCBWUSR User routine PCBWRU
BWR critical volume VCBWR VCSTAR Brule et al. (1982)
VCBWUSR User routine PCBWRU
Standard enthalpy DHFORM DHFMZERO Defaults to zero
of formation DHFMONT Edmister (1988)
DHFMUSR User routine PCDHFU
DHFMAPI Edmister/API (1988)
Standard free energy DGFORM DGFMZERO Defaults to zero
of formation DGFMUSR User routine PCDGFU
DGFMONT Edmister
RKS interaction parameters RKSKIJ API78 API, 3rd Ed.
API87 API, 5th Ed.
KIJUSR User routine PCRKIU
Water solubility WATSOL WSOLASPN ASPEN model
KEROSENE API, Kerosene line
WSOLUSR User routine PCWSLU
WSOLAPI API, procedure 9A1.5

7-16 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 7

Entering Properties for

Pseudocomponents

Input Language for PC-PROP-DATA

PC-PROP-DATA
VAPOR-PRES pcid temp vp / temp vp / . . .
VISCOSITY pcid temp visc / temp visc / . . .
MOLE-SOLU pcid temp wsol / temp wsol / . . .

Input Language Description for PC-PROP-DATA

Use the PC-PROP-DATA paragraph to enter vapor pressure, viscosity, and water
solubility data for the user-defined pseudocomponents. Aspen Plus estimates
these properties if they are not entered.
VAPOR-PRES Use to enter vapor pressure data for the user-defined pseudocomponent. Aspen Plus estimates
vapor pressure, if it is not specified.
pcid.................................. Pseudocomponent ID
temp ................................ Temperature
vp..................................... Vapor pressure
VISCOSITY Use to enter viscosity data for the user-defined pseudocomponent. Aspen Plus estimates viscosity, if
it is not specified.
pcid.................................. Pseudocomponent ID
temp ................................ Temperature
visc .................................. Viscosity
MOLE-SOLU Use to enter water solubility data for the user-defined pseudocomponent. Aspen Plus estimates
water solubility, if it is not specified.
pcid.................................. Pseudocomponent ID
temp ................................ Temperature
wsol ................................. Water solubility in mole fraction of water

Input Language Guide 7-17

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Petroleum
Assays and
Pseudocompo
nents

Entering Petroleum Properties for Light

End Components

Input Language for LE-PROP-DATA

LE-PROP-DATA
LE-PROP propname cid value / cid value / . . .

Input Language Description for LE-PROP-DATA

Use the LE-PROP-DATA paragraph to enter petroleum properties for light end
components.
LE-PROP Use to petroleum properties for light end components.
propname ....................... Name of the petroleum property (Table 7.1)
cid ................................... Component ID
value................................ Value of the petroleum property for the component

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

7-18 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

8 Properties
This chapter discusses:
• Physical property methods
• Physical property data
• Property parameter estimation
• CAPE-OPEN property packages

Input Language Guide 8-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

Physical Property Methods

This section describes the input language used for specifying physical property
methods. It discusses how to:
• Specify property option sets
• Modify option sets
• Use special property models

Specifying Property Option Sets

Input Language for PROPERTIES

PROPERTIES opsetname keyword=value /
opsetname [sectionid-list] keyword=value / . . .

Optional keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS CHEMISTRY TRUE-COMPS

HENRY-COMPS henryid cid-list

NC-PROPS cid propname modelname [option-list] / . . .

Input Language Description for PROPERTIES

Use the PROPERTIES paragraph to specify option sets including free-water
phase option sets, water solubility options, Henry's law component list IDs,
chemistry IDs, and electrolyte simulation approach. You must enter at least one
set of PROPERTIES specifications. The first set you enter becomes the default set
for the entire flowsheet. Subsequent sets are optional and replace the default set
for the sections that you list. You must also enter any option set used only at the
individual block level.
opsetname...................... Primary option set name
sectionid-list................... List of flowsheet section IDs
FREE-WATER ................. Free-water phase option set name (Default=STEAM-TA)
SOLU-WATER................. Method for calculating the K-value of water in the organic phase. Use in
conjunction with free-water calculations.
(See Chapter 46.)
SOLU-WATER=0...................... Water solubility correlation is used. Vapor
phase fugacity for water is calculated by the
free-water phase option set.

8-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

SOLU-WATER=1...................... Water solubility correlation is used. Vapor

phase fugacity for water is calculated by the
primary option set.
SOLU-WATER=2...................... Water solubility correlation is used with a
correction for unsaturated systems. Vapor
phase fugacity for water is calculated by the
primary option set.
SOLU-WATER=3...................... Primary option set is used. This method is
required for rigorous three-phase calculations.
This method is not recommended for water-
hydrocarbon systems unless water-hydrocarbon
interaction parameters are available. (Default)
SOLU-WATER=4...................... Same as SOLU-WATER=2, except water
solubility limit is 1. Intended for VLE systems
where the liquid phase is predominantly water.
HENRY-COMPS .............. Henry's law component list ID
CHEMISTRY .................... Chemistry ID. (See Chapter 5.)
TRUE-COMPS ................. True or apparent component approach. Use in electrolyte simulation.
TRUE-COMPS=YES................. True component approach (Default)
TRUE-COMPS=NO .................. Apparent component approach. Chemistry ID is
required.

Input Language Description for HENRY-COMPS

Use the HENRY-COMPS paragraph to identify lists of components that use
Henry's law and infinite dilution normalization. You can have any number of
HENRY-COMPS paragraphs, because different lists can apply to different blocks
or flowsheet sections.
henryid ............................ Henry's law component list ID
cid-list ............................. List of component IDs

Input Language Description for NC-PROPS

Use the NC-PROPS paragraph to specify the physical property models and
method options for each nonconventional component. You cannot change the
specification for different sections or blocks.
cid.................................... Nonconventional component ID defined in NC-COMPS paragraph. (See
Chapter 4.)
propname........................ Property name (ENTHALPY or DENSITY)
modelname ..................... Physical property model name. (See Table 8.1.)
option-list........................ List of option codes corresponding to the calculation steps in the physical
property model. Use only for special coal models. (See Aspen Plus
Physical Property Methods and Models, Chapter 3.)

Input Language Guide 8-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

Table 8.1 Nonconventional Property Models

Property Name Model Name Parameter Attribute
Requirements Requirements
†
General Models
ENTHALPY ENTHGEN [DHFGEN] GENANAL
DENSITY DNSTYGEN DENGEN GENANAL
†
Special Models for Coal and Coal-Drived Materials
ENTHALPY HCOALGEN [BOIEC], [DLNGC], [GMLDC], ULTANAL, PROXANAL, SULFANAL
[HCOMB], [HFC], [CP1C], [CP2C]
DENSITY DCOALIGT [DENIGT] ULTANAL, SULFANAL
DCHARIGT [DENIGT] ULTANAL, SULFANAL
†
See Aspen Plus Physical Property Methods and Models, Chapter 3, for detailed descriptions.

Modifying Option Sets

This section discusses:
• Using PROP-REPLACE to create or modify option sets
• Using MP-ROUTE and SP-ROUTE to build your own routines
• Using PROP-OPTIONS to create or modify option sets

Using PROP-REPLACE to Create or Modify Option Sets

Input Language for PROP-REPLACE

To modify all option sets in a simulation:
PROP-REPLACE
PROP propname routeid
MODEL modelname [setno] [OPCODES=opcode-list]

To modify a specified option set:

PROP-REPLACE opsetname
PROP propname routeid
MODEL modelname [setno] [OPCODES=opcode-list]

To create a new option set:

PROP-REPLACE new-opsetname base-opsetname
PROP propname routeid
MODEL modelname [setno] [OPCODES=opcode-list]

8-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

Input Language Description for PROP-REPLACE

opsetname ...................... Name of the option set that is to be modified. Do not modify SYSOP0
because it is used to initialize many unit operations based on Raoult's
Law. Create a new option set instead.
new-opsetname.............. Name selected for the new option set
base-opsetname............. Name of the option set to which the changes are applied
PROP Use to enter the physical property name and route ID.
propname........................ Physical property name. Obtain from Aspen Plus Physical Property
Methods and Models, Tables 4.1 and 4.2 for major and subordinate
properties.
routeid............................. System route ID or route ID of a route you built using MP-ROUTE or SP-
ROUTE
MODEL Use to enter the new physical property model name, parameter data set number, and the model
option code.
modelname ..................... Physical property model name. Obtain model names from Aspen Plus
Physical Property Methods and Models, Tables 4.21 and 4.22, or from the
user physical property model name in Aspen Plus User Models, Volume 6,
Chapter 6.
(See Note 1.)
setno ............................... Parameter data set number. The model descriptions in Aspen Plus
Physical Property Methods and Models, Chapter 3, indicate which model
parameters can have multiple sets of data. (Default=1) (See Note 2.)
opcode-list...................... List of model option codes. (See Aspen Plus Physical Property Methods
and Models, Chapter 3.)

Notes
1. Property models in Aspen Plus are divided into two categories:
• Equation-of-state models
• Non-equation-of-state models

If you specify this model type The model will be used for all properties that were calculated by
in PROP-REPLACE

Equation-of-state An equation-of-state model in the base option set

Non-equation-of-state A non-equation-of-state model in the base option set

An equation-of-state has different model names for mixture and pure

component properties. When you replace an equation-of-state model, enter
both names.

Input Language Guide 8-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

2. When you enter a setno greater than 1 for a model, Aspen Plus creates a new
data set for all parameters for that model that can take more than one data
set. These parameters are indicated with an X in the Multiple Data Set (MDS)
column. (See Aspen Plus Physical Property Methods and Models, Chapter 3.)
Then you can use PROP-DATA paragraphs to specify parameter values for the
data set. Any unspecified parameters default to the values for the previous
data set number. For example, values for data set 2 default to the values
established for data set 1.

Using MP-ROUTE and SP-ROUTE to Build Your Own

Routes

Input Language for MP-ROUTE and SP-ROUTE

To build major property routes:
MP-ROUTE new-routeid propname methodcode base-routeid
MODEL modelname [setno] [OPCODES=opcode-list]
MPROP propname routeid
SPROP propname routeid
OPCODES method-opcode-list

To build subordinate property routes:

SP-ROUTE new-routeid propname methodcode base-routeid
MODEL modelname [setno] [OPCODES=opcode-list]
MPROP propname routeid
SPROP propname routeid
OPCODES method-opcode-list

Input Language Description for MP-ROUTE and SP-ROUTE

new-routeid .................... New route ID. An 8-character route identifier.
propname ....................... Name of the major or subordinate property. Obtain from Aspen Plus
Physical Property Methods and Models, Tables 4.1 and 4.2.
methodcode ................... Method to use in the property calculation. See the route structure in
Aspen Plus Physical Property Methods and Models, Tables 4.4 through
4.20, for appropriate method code.
base-routeid ................... Base route ID. If you specify a base route ID, it will be modified using the
information you give in the MODEL, MPROP, SPROP, or OPCODES
sentences. If you specify an asterisk (*), Aspen Plus will build the entire
route. The base route can be either a system built-in route, or a route you
create using another MP-ROUTE or SP-ROUTE paragraph.

8-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

MODEL Use to specify the physical property model name, parameter data set number, and model option
code.
modelname ..................... Physical property model name. Obtain from Aspen Plus Physical Property
Methods and Models, Tables 4.21 and 4.22.
setno ............................... Optional data set number (Default=1)
OPCODES ....................... List of model option codes. (See Aspen Plus Physical Property Methods
and Models, Chapter 3.)
MPROP Use to specify the property name and route ID of other major properties used in building the new
route. The route can be a system built-in route, or a route you created in another MP-ROUTE
paragraph.
propname........................ Name of major property. Obtain from Aspen Plus Physical Property
Methods and Models, Table 4.1.
routeid............................. Route ID
SPROP Use to specify the property name and route ID of other subordinate properties to be used in building
the new route. The route specified using SPROP can be a system built-in route or a route you
created in another SP-ROUTE paragraph.
propname........................ Name of subordinate property. Obtained from Aspen Plus Physical
Property Methods and Models, Table 4.2.
routeid............................. Route ID
OPCODES Use to enter method option codes. The only application of these codes is for specifying the number of
integration points for numerical integration of volume with respect to pressure. For example, this is
used in calculating subordinate property PHILPC. See the route structure in Aspen Plus Physical
Property Methods and Models, Tables 4.4 through 4.20. The integration uses a Gaussian
quadrature formula with up to five points. The default (one point) is satisfactory unless the
pressure is very high.
method-opcode-list........ List of method option codes

Using PROP-OPTIONS to Create or Modify Option Sets

Input Language for PROP-OPTIONS

To create a new option set:
PROP-OPTIONS new-opsetname * propname routeid / . . .

To create a new option set by modifying an existing option set:

PROP-OPTIONS new-opsetname base-opsetname propname routeid / . . .

Input Language Description for PROP-OPTIONS

new-opsetname.............. Name selected for the new option set
base-opsetname............. Name of the option set to which the changes are applied

Input Language Guide 8-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

propname ....................... Name of the major property. Obtain from Aspen Plus Physical Property
Methods and Models, Table 4.1.
routeid............................. Route ID of the major property. The route ID can be either a built-in
major property route, or a major property route you created using an MP-
ROUTE paragraph.

Using Special Property Models

Use the physical property models discussed in this section for certain special
applications instead of the built-in models.

This section describes the special models for:

• Petroleum mixtures
• Transport property
• Liquid density

Special Petroleum Mixtures Models

The following table describes physical property models, based on API-
recommended procedures.
Use this model To calculate

VL2API Liquid molar volume

MUL2API Liquid viscosity
SIG2API Liquid surface tension

See Aspen Plus Physical Property Methods and Models, Chapter 3, for more
information.

To use these models, enter the INSERT paragraph:

Input Language
INSERT * API [opsetname]

Input Language Description

opsetname...................... Name of the option set in which the special models are used. If you do not
enter opsetname, Aspen Plus uses the special models in all option sets in
the simulation.

8-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

By default, Aspen Plus uses these models in option sets: PENG-ROB, RK-SOAVE,
LK-PLOCK, BK10, BWR-LS, CHAO-SEA, and GRAYSON.

Special Transport Property Models

The physical property models MUL2TRAP, MUL0TRAP, MUV2TRAP,
MUV0TRAP, KL2TRAP, KL0TRAP, KV2TRAP and KV0TRAP described in
Aspen Plus Physical Property Methods and Models, Chapter 3, are recommended
for calculating viscosity and thermal conductivity for gas-hydrocarbon mixtures.
You can use these models for both vapor and liquid-phase properties. The mixture
should contain only hydrocarbons and light gases such as carbon-dioxide. These
models are not applicable to polar and associating components.

These models, known as TRAPP, are based on the methods recommended by NBS
(Ely, J. F. and H. J. M. Hanley, Ind. Eng. Chem. Fundam, 20, 323 (1981); ibid.,
22, 90 (1983)). The authors reported the accuracy of the viscosity models to be
8.4% and 7.0% for pure component and binary mixtures, respectively. For thermal
conductivity, the reported accuracy is 6.6% and 6.8%.

To use these models, enter the INSERT paragraph:

Input Language
INSERT * TRAPP [opsetname]

Input Language Description

opsetname ...................... Name of the option set in which the special models are used. If you do not
enter opsetname, Aspen Plus uses the special models in all option sets in
the simulation.

By default Aspen Plus uses the TRAPP models in option sets PR-BM and RKS-
BM.

Input Language Guide 8-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

Special Liquid Density Model

The physical property models VLMX22 and VL06 are recommended for
calculating saturated and compressed liquid volumes for organic mixtures and
certain inorganic gases such as hydrogen sulfide. (See Aspen Plus Physical
Property Methods and Models, Chapter 3.) Hankinson and Thomson (AIChE J.,
25, 653 (1979)) and Thomson et al. (ibid, 28, 671 (1982)) developed the COSTALD
method. The authors reported parameters for over 400 compounds. (See Reid et
al., The Properties of Gases and Liquids, 4th Edition, Chapter 3, 1987.) The
COSTALD method is an improvement over the Rackett method, which is used in
all the activity-coefficient-based option sets. In addition, the COSTALD method is
applicable to the compressed liquid states.

To use the COSTALD model, enter the INSERT paragraph:

Input Language
INSERT * COSTLD [opsetname]

Input Language Description

opsetname...................... Name of the option set in which the special models are used. If you do not
enter opsetname, Aspen Plus uses the special models in all option sets in
the simulation.

8-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

Physical Property Data

This section discusses:
• Databanks
• Built-in equation-of-state parameters
• Entering physical property data
• Tabular and polynomial models and data
• UNIFAC models

Databanks
This section describes how to:
• Retrieve data from the databanks
• Control the databank search order

Retrieving Data from Aspen Plus System Databanks

Input Language for DATABANKS

DATABANKS password / . . .

Input Language Description for DATABANKS

password ........................ Databank password. Obtain password from Aspen Plus Physical Property
Data, Table 1.1. The order in which you enter the password does not
determine the order in which the data are retrieved. Use the PROP-
SOURCES paragraph to specify the order of data retrieval.

Input Language Guide 8-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

Retrieving Data from In-House Databanks

Input Language for IN-HOUSE-DATA

 PCD 
 SOLIDS  YES 
IN-HOUSE-DATA AQUEOUS =  NO 
   
 BINARY 

Input Language Description for IN-HOUSE-DATA

PCD Search the in-house PCD databank. An operating system error will occur if you specify PCD=YES,
and an in-house PCD databank is not installed.
PCD=YES........................ Searches the in-house pure component databank
PCD=NO.......................... Does not search the in-house pure component databank
SOLIDS Search the in-house SOLIDS databank. An operating system error will occur if you specify
SOLIDS=YES, and an in-house SOLIDS databank is not installed. You must specify the Aspen Plus
system SOLIDS databank in the DATABANKS paragraph to retrieve data from the in-house
SOLIDS databank.
SOLIDS=YES .................. Searches the in-house SOLIDS databank before the Aspen Plus system
SOLIDS databank
SOLIDS=NO .................... Does not search the in-house SOLIDS databank
AQUEOUS Search the in-house AQUEOUS databank. An operating system error will occur if you specify
AQUEOUS=YES, and an in-house AQUEOUS databank is not installed. You must specify the
Aspen Plus system AQUEOUS databank in the DATABANKS paragraph to retrieve data from the
in-house AQUEOUS databank.
AQUEOUS=YES ............. Searches the in-house AQUEOUS databank before the Aspen Plus system
AQUEOUS databank
AQUEOUS=NO ............... Does not search the in-house AQUEOUS databank
BINARY Search the in-house BINARY databank. An operating system error will occur if you specify
BINARY=YES, and an in-house BINARY databank is not installed. You must specify the
Aspen Plus system BINARY databank in the DATABANKS paragraph to retrieve data from the in-
house BINARY databank.
BINARY=YES.................. Searches the in-house BINARY databank before the Aspen Plus system
BINARY databank
BINARY=NO.................... Does not search the in-house BINARY databank

8-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

Using PROP-SOURCES to Control Databank Search

Order

Input Language for PROP-SOURCES

To specify a global search order:
PROP-SOURCES
GLOBAL password [COMPS=cid-list] [PAIRS=pairid-list] / . . .

To override global search order:

PROP-SOURCES
GLOBAL password [COMPS=cid-list] [PAIRS=pairid-list] / . . .
LOCAL password [COMPS=cid-list] [PAIRS=pairid-list] / . . .
RETRIEVE paramname / . . .

Input Language Description for PROP-SOURCES

GLOBAL Used to define the global search order for the data retrieval, unless the LOCAL and RETRIEVE
sentences override it for individual properties. If you do not specify the GLOBAL sentence,
Aspen Plus searches the system databanks in the following order: ASPENPCD, FLOWTRAN,
SOLIDS, AQUEOUS, BINARY, COMBUST, PURECOMP, and INORGANIC.

The in-house databanks will be searched before the Aspen Plus databanks, if you
do not specify the GLOBAL sentence. In this case the search order is: in-house
PCD (INHSPCD), in-house SOLIDS (INHSSOL), in-house AQUEOUS
(INHSAQUS), in-house binary (INHSBIN), ASPENPCD, SOLIDS, AQUEOUS,
and BINARY.
You must enter either the GLOBAL sentence or the LOCAL and RETRIEVE
sentences for user's databanks.
password ........................ Password assigned when the databank was created. The search order for
data retrieval will be the order in which the passwords are specified.
cid-list ............................. List of component IDs (Default=ALL)
pairid-list......................... List of component pair IDs of the form (C1 C2) (C2 C4) . . .
(Default=ALL pairs)
LOCAL, You must enter the LOCAL and RETRIEVE sentences as a pair. They specify exceptions to the
RETRIEVE GLOBAL sentences for properties listed in the RETRIEVE sentence and for components listed in
the corresponding LOCAL sentence.
password ........................ Password assigned when the databank was created. The search order for
data retrieval will be the order in which the passwords are specified.
cid-list ............................. List of component IDs (Default=ALL)
pairid-list......................... List of component pair IDs of the form (C1 C2) (C2 C4) . . .
(Default=ALL pairs)

Input Language Guide 8-13

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

paramname..................... Parameter name

Built-in Equation-of-State Parameters

Input Language for MODEL-PARAMETER

To search model parameter tables that are not searched automatically:
MODEL-PARAMETER tablename [setno] / . . .

To suppress search of model parameter tables:

MODEL-PARAMETER NOtablename

Input Language Description for MODEL-PARAMETER

tablename ....................... Name of table containing model parameters. Table names and retrieved
parameters for each equation-of-state model are listed in the following
table.
setno ............................... Data set number to which data retrieved from the table are assigned
(Default=1)
NOtablename.................. Name of table that is not to be searched, prefixed by NO

Table name Equation-of-state Option set Retrieved parameters

APIRKS Redlich-Kwong-Soave RKS-BM RKSKIJ†

ESCSTBWR BWR-Lee-Starling BWR-LS BWRKV††, BWRKT††, TCBWR, VCBWR,
BWRGMA
ESHOC††† Hayden O'Connell WILS-HOC, NRTL-HOC, HOCETA
UNIQ-HOC, UNIF-HOC
ESLKP Lee-Kesler-Plöcker LK-PLOCK LKPKIJ††, TCLKP, PCLKP, VCLKP,
OMGLKP
ESPR Peng-Robinson, Boston-Mathias PR-BM PRKIJ††, TCPR, PCPR, OMGPR
alpha function
ESPRSTD††† Peng-Robinson, standard PENG-ROB PRKIJ††, TCPRS, PCPRS, OMGPRS
literature version
ESRKS Redlich-Kwong-Soave, Boston- RKS-BM RKSKIJ††, TCRKS, PCRKS, OMGRKS
Mathias alpha function
ESRKSTD††† Redlich-Kwong-Soave, standard RK-SOAVE RKSKIJ††, TCRKSS, PCRKSS, OMRKSS
literature version
† Binary parameters recommended by API.

8-14 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

†† Binary parameters. Other parameters are pure component parameters from the same data source for consistency.

††† The table is searched by default.

Input Language Guide 8-15

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

Entering Physical Property Data

Input Language for PROP-DATA

PROP-DATA
PROP-LIST paramname [setno] / . . .
PVAL cid value-list / value-list / . . .

PROP-LIST paramname [setno] / . . .

BPVAL cid1 cid2 value-list / value-list / . . .

COMP-LIST cid-list
CVAL paramname setno 1 value-list

COMP-LIST cid-list
BCVAL paramname setno 1 cid1 value-list / 1 cid1 value-list / . . .

Input Language Description for PROP-DATA

PROP-LIST Use to enter parameter names and data set numbers. (See Notes 1 and 2.)
paramname..................... Parameter name (See Note 3.)
setno ............................... Data set number (default is 1). For setno > 1, see Note 4.
PVAL Use to enter PROP-LIST parameter values.
cid ................................... Component ID
value-list ......................... List of parameter values. Enter one value for each property element. (See
Note 5.)
BPVAL Use to enter PROP-LIST binary parameter values.
cid1 ................................. Component ID of first component of binary pair
cid2 ................................. Component ID of second component of binary pair
value-list ......................... List of parameter values. Enter one value for each property element. (See
Note 5.)
COMP-LIST Use to enter component IDs. (See Note 1.)
cid-list ............................. List of component IDs
CVAL Use to enter COMP-LIST parameter values.
paramname..................... Parameter name (See Note 3.)
setno ............................... Data set number (required). For setno > 1, see Note 4.
value-list ......................... List of parameter values. Enter one value for each component in the cid-
list. (See Note 5.)
BCVAL Use to enter COMP-LIST binary parameter values.
paramname..................... Parameter name (See Note 3.)
setno ............................... Data set number (required). For setno > 1, see Note 4.

8-16 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

cid1.................................. Component ID of first component of binary pair

cid2.................................. Component ID of second component of binary pair
value-list.......................... List of parameter values. Enter one value for each component in the cid-
list. (See Note 5.)

Notes
1. Any number of PVAL or BPVAL statements can follow an associated PROP-
LIST statement. Any number of CVAL or BCVAL statements can follow an
associated COMP-LIST statement.

2. If a parameter consists of a vector of values, you must use the PROP-LIST

form to enter them. You can truncate the vector when entering values.
Defaults will be used for the truncated values.
3. The allowed parameters are ones defined by the models in the property
methods declared in the simulation. The model descriptions in Physical
Property Methods and Models, Chapter 3 show the parameters for each model.
In addition, certain parameters may always be specified and are useful for
specifying non-databank components or augmenting the data available in
databanks. These parameters are listed in the table below.

4. For setno > 1, you must also specify the data set number in a new option set
defined using the PROP-REPLACE paragraph, or in new routes defined using
the MP-ROUTE and SP-ROUTE paragraphs. (See Using PROP-REPLACE to
Create or Modify Option Sets, this chapter.)
5. You can include an IN-UNITS sentence as the first sentence of a PROP-DATA
paragraph. (See Chapter 3.) The model descriptions in Physical Property
Methods and Models, Chapter 3 show the required units keywords for each
parameter. For certain parameters, the temperature units are always
absolute. In these cases, Aspen Plus assumes Rankine or Kelvin temperature
units, even if Fahrenheit or Centigrade units are in effect for the PROP-DATA
paragraph. The table below shows the units for other parameters which can
be used in PROP-DATA.

Input Language Guide 8-17

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

Parameters Always Allowed in PROP-DATA

Propname Description Units keyword

API Standard API gravity at 60°F —

ATOMNO Vector of atomic numbers of atoms in a molecule † —
CHARGE Ionic charge —
CPIG Ideal gas heat capacity coefficients ††
CPIGDP DIPPR ideal gas heat capacity coefficients ††

DHFORM Standard heat of formation; ideal gas at 25°C MOLE-ENTHALPY

DHVLWT Watson heat of vaporization parameters ††
DGFORM Standard Gibbs free energy of formation; ideal gas at 25°C MOLE-ENTHALPY
MW Molecular weight —
NOATOM Vector of numbers of atoms of each type in a molecule † —
OMEGA Pitzer acentric factor —
PC Critical pressure PRESSURE
PLXANT Extended Antoine vapor pressure coefficients ††
S025E Sum of absolute entropy of the elements of a compound at 25°C MOLE-ENTROPY
SG Standard specific gravity at 60°F —
TB Normal boiling point TEMPERATURE
TC Critical temperature TEMPERATURE
TFP Normal freezing point TEMPERATURE
VLSTD Standard liquid volume at 60°F MOLE-VOLUME
WATSOL Water solubility correlation coefficients ††

ZC Critical compressibility factor —

† Use ATOMNO and NOATOM to define the chemical formula of a molecule. These are used to compute molecular weight,
and in RGibbs.

†† See Ideal Gas Heat Capacity/DIPPR in chapter 3 of Physical Property Methods and Models for details on the meaning and
units of CPIG and CPIGDP.
See Watson Equation in chapter 3 of Physical Property Methods and Models for details on the meaning and units of
DHVLWT.
See Extended Antoine/Wagner/IK-CAPE in chapter 3 of Physical Property Methods and Models for details on the meaning
and units of PLXANT.
See Water Solubility in chapter 3 of Physical Property Methods and Models for details on the meaning and units of
WATSOL.

8-18 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

Tabular and Polynomial Models and Data

This section describes the input language for:
• Specifying tabular and polynomial models
• Entering tabular and polynomial data

TABPOLY Models
To use tabular data or polynomial coefficients for any property listed in Table 8.2,
you must use the PROP-REPLACE paragraph. Aspen Plus then calculates these
properties, using the tabular data or the polynomial coefficients you entered. (See
Entering TABPOLY Data, this chapter.) If you do not provide data for some
components, Aspen Plus will use the property models for the ideal option set,
SYSOP0, for those components. Aspen Plus calculates mixture properties using
mole-fraction average ideal mixing expressions.
The polynomial expression used for all the properties in Table 8.2 is:

 propname  2 3 a5 a 6 a
  = a1 + a 2T + a3T + a 4T + + 2 + 7 + a8 ln T
ln( propname) T T T

Input Language
PROP-REPLACE [opsetname] / . . .
TABPOLY-MODEL propname / . . .

Input Language Description

opsetname ...................... Name of option set to be modified (Default=all option sets)
propname........................ Name of property whose calculation method will be replaced by a
TABPOLY model. (See Table 8.2.)

Input Language Guide 8-19

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

Table 8.2 TABPOLY Properties

Propname Description Polynomial Units keyword
paramname

PHIV† Pure component vapor fugacity coefficient PHIVPY —

PHIL† Pure component liquid fugacity coefficient PHILPY —
PHIVMX† Vapor fugacity coefficient for a component in a mixture PHVMPY —
PHILMX† Liquid fugacity coefficient for a component in a mixture PHLMPY —
PL† Vapor pressure PLPY PRESSURE
KVL† Vapor-liquid K-value KVLPY —
VV Vapor volume VVPY MOLE-VOLUME††
VL Liquid volume VLPY MOLE-VOLUME††
MUV Vapor viscosity MUVPY VISCOSITY
MUL† Liquid viscosity MULPY VISCOSITY
KV Vapor thermal conductivity KVPY THERMAL-
KL Liquid thermal conductivity KLPY CONDUCTIVITY
DVMX Vapor diffusion coefficient DVMXPY THERMAL-
DLMX Liquid diffusion coefficient DLMXPY CONDUCTIVITY
SIGL Surface tension SIGLPY DIFFUSIVITY
DIFFUSIVITY
SURFACE-TENSION
HNRY† Henry's constant HNRYPY PRESSURE
HIG Ideal gas enthalpy HIGPY MOLE-ENTHALPY††
HV Vapor enthalpy HVPY MOLE-ENTHALPY††
DHV Vapor enthalpy departure DHVPY MOLE-ENTHALPY††
HL Liquid enthalpy HLPY MOLE-ENTHALPY††
DHL Liquid enthalpy departure DHLPY MOLE-ENTHALPY††
DHVL Enthalpy of vaporization DHVLPY MOLE-ENTHALPY††
SIG††† Ideal gas entropy — MOLE-ENTROPY††
SV Vapor entropy SVPY MOLE-ENTROPY††
DSV Vapor entropy departure DSVPY MOLE-ENTROPY††
SL Liquid entropy SLPY MOLE-ENTROPY††
DSL Liquid entropy departure DSLPY MOLE-ENTROPY††
GIG††† Ideal gas free energy — MOLE-ENTHALPY††
GV Vapor free energy GVPY MOLE-ENTHALPY††
DGV Vapor free energy departure DGVPY MOLE-ENTHALPY††
GL Liquid free energy GLPY MOLE-ENTHALPY††
DGL Liquid free energy departure DGLPY MOLE-ENTHALPY††
† The tabular model uses the logarithmic transformation of the property to interpolate; the polynomial model is the logarithmic
form of the equation.

†† See Note 6.

††† Valid for REF-DATA sentences only.

8-20 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

Entering TABPOLY Data

In the PROP-DATA paragraph you must enter a TABPOLY-DATA sentence for
every TABPOLY model, except entropy and Gibbs free energy. (See Note 1.)
Use these sentences To enter

TABVAL Tabular data for a component

PROP-LIST and PVAL Polynomial coefficients
REF-DATA and REF-PRES Optional reference data

Aspen Plus uses SYSOP0 physical property models for the components for which
neither tabular nor polynomial data are entered.

Input Language
PROP-DATA
TABPOLY-DATA propname [keyword=value]

Keywords for tabular data:

TAB-BASIS TAB-REF
Keywords for polynomial coefficients:
POLY-BASIS POLY-REF

TABVAL cid 1 temp value / temp value / . . .

PROP-LIST paramname
PVAL cid values

REF-DATA propname 1 cid temp value / cid temp value / . . .

REF-PRES propname 1 cid pres / cid pres / . . .

Input Language Description

TABPOLY-DATA Identifies the name of the property and specifies whether the data are on a mass or mole basis, and
whether the data will be adjusted. Use TAB-BASIS and TAB-REF when entering tabular data. For
polynomial coefficients, use POLY-BASIS and POLY-REF.
propname........................ Property name. (See Table 8.2.)
TAB-BASIS...................... Basis for tabular data. You can use only one basis for all tabular data for
a given property.
TAB-BASIS=MOLE .................. Mole basis (Default)
TAB-BASIS=MASS .................. Mass basis (See Note 6.)

Input Language Guide 8-21

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

TAB-REF ......................... Thermodynamic reference state for enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs free
energy. (See Note 1.) If you do not provide the reference state in the REF-
DATA sentence for TAB-REF=1 and TAB-REF=2, the Aspen Plus
reference state will be used. (See Note 2.) TAB-REF values can be
different for different components.
TAB-REF=0 .............................. Tabular data are used as you entered them.
They are not adjusted to any reference state. If
you enter tabular data for both vapor and liquid
enthalpies, make sure they are based on the
same reference state. (Default)
TAB-REF=1 .............................. Tabular data are adjusted to the reference state
given in the REF-DATA sentence.
TAB-REF=2 ............................. The same as TAB-REF=1, except that heat
capacity data are entered instead of enthalpy
data.
POLY-BASIS ................... Basis for polynomial data. You can use only one basis for all polynomial
data for a given property.
POLY-BASIS=MOLE................ Mole basis (Default)
POLY-BASIS=MASS................ Mass basis (See Note 6.)
POLY-REF....................... POLY-REF is similar to TAB-REF, except only one value of POLY-REF
can be used for a given property for all components. Use POLY-REF for
polynomial coefficients.
TABVAL Use to enter tabular data. Any number of TABVAL sentences can follow their associated
TABPOLY-DATA sentence. You must enter the values in ascending order of temperature.
cid ................................... Component ID
temp ................................ Temperature (in ascending order)
value................................ Property value
PROP-LIST Use to enter the polynomial parameter name.
paramname..................... Polynomial parameter name (See Table 8.2.)
PVAL Use to enter polynomial parameter values. Any number of PVAL statements can follow an
associated PROP-LIST statement.
cid ................................... Component ID
values.............................. Polynomial coefficient values. (See Note 5.) If you truncate the vector,
defaults will be used for the truncated values.
REF-DATA Use to define the thermodynamic reference state. Applies to enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs free
energy only. (See Note 2.) The reference values must be at the same temperature in a given phase.
propname ....................... Property name (See Table 8.2.)
cid ................................... Component ID
temp ................................ Reference temperature
value................................ Reference property value
REF-PRES Use to specify reference pressures for vapor-liquid K-values, Gibbs free energies, or entropies.
Calculated values are adjusted to the actual pressure. (See Note 3.)
propname ....................... Property name (See Table 8.2.)

8-22 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

cid.................................... Component ID
pres ................................. Reference pressure (pressure of the data)

Notes
1. If you enter vapor enthalpy data (HV), you should also enter ideal gas
enthalpy data (HIG), to ensure consistency. If you enter enthalpy, entropy and
Gibbs free energy, make sure they are consistent (G = H - TS). If you specify
your own reference state, TAB-REF=1 or 2, or POLY-REF=1 or 2, and enter
the reference values using REF-DATA, you must enter reference values for
two of the three properties. If you do not supply reference values, the
Aspen Plus reference state of elements in their standard state at 25ºC and 1
atm will be used.

If you entered only the enthalpy data (or equivalently, the heat capacity data)
and specified the name of the additional properties to be generated using the
PROP-REPLACE paragraph, Aspen Plus calculates entropy and Gibbs free
energy automatically. For example, if you want Aspen Plus to generate liquid
entropy from liquid enthalpy data, use:
PROP-REPLACE
TABPOLY-MODEL HL / SL

In this case, you cannot use TAB-REF=0 or POLY-REF=0.

In order for Aspen Plus to generate entropy and Gibbs free energy from
enthalpy data, the reference values for two of the three properties must be
known. They can be obtained by either:
• System default, which uses the Aspen Plus reference state. The parameter
values for DHFORM, DGFORM, PLXANT, and DHVLWT (or DHVLDP)
must be available in the databanks or must be supplied. The REF-DATA
sentence is not used.
• Using REF-DATA sentences to specify the reference values for two of the
three properties. The reference values must be at the same temperature in
a given phase.

2. For simulations with no chemical reaction, you can choose the reference states
arbitrarily. For simulations with chemical reaction, the reference states must
include the standard heat of formation for all components undergoing
reaction. For simulations with equilibrium reactions, the reference states
must include the standard Gibbs free energy of formation for all components
undergoing reaction. Equilibrium reactions are modeled by the:
• REQUIL and RGIBBS reactor models. (See Chapter 20.)
• RADFRAC, RATEFRAC, and BATCHFRAC distillation models using the
REACTIONS paragraph. (See Chapters 6, 15, 17, and 19.)

Input Language Guide 8-23

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

3. Aspen Plus adjusts vapor-liquid K-values, Gibbs free energies, and entropies
for the effect of pressure using the following relationships:
K(T, P) = (Pref/P) K(T, Pref)

s(T, P) = s(T, Pref) - R ln (P/Pref)

g(T, P) = g(T, Pref) + RT ln (P/Pref)

Where:
Pref = Reference pressure
P = Actual pressure
T = Temperature
K(T, Pref) = K-value that you entered at the reference pressure
s(T, Pref) = Entropy that you entered at the reference pressure
g(T, Pref) = Gibbs free energy that you entered at the reference pressure

For K-value, Aspen Plus does not adjust for the pressure effect unless you
supply the reference pressure in a REF-PRES sentence. The only time it is
valid to enter no reference pressure is when the pressure range of the
simulation matches that of the data.
If you use the Aspen Plus thermodynamic reference state for entropy and
Gibbs free energy, Aspen Plus always performs an adjustment for the
pressure effect using Pref=101325 N/m2. If you do not use the Aspen Plus
reference state, Aspen Plus adjusts for the pressure effect only if you supply
the reference pressure in a REF-PRES sentence.
4. You can include an IN-UNITS sentence as the first sentence of a PROP-DATA
paragraph for both tabular and polynomial data. See Chapter 3. Table 8.2
shows the units keyword for each property.
5. The polynomial model has the form:

 propname  2 3 a5 a 6 a
  = a1 + a 2T + a3T + a 4T + + 2 + 7 + a8 ln T
ln( propname) T T T

Where a9 and a10 are the lower and upper temperature limits respectively for
the correlation. Linear extrapolation is performed outside this range. The
coefficients a2 through a8 default to zero. The lower limit a9 defaults to 0 K.
The upper limit a10 defaults to 1000 K. The units keywords used to convert
the coefficients are TEMPERATURE and the units keyword given for each
property in Table 8.2. If a5, a6, a7, or a8 is non-zero, Aspen Plus assumes
absolute temperature units for all parameters except a9 and a10.

8-24 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

6. If your data are on a mass basis, use the MOLE form of the units keyword, as
shown in Table 8.2. Also use a TAB-BASIS=MASS or POLY-BASIS=MASS
specification in the TABPOLY-DATA sentence. For example, if tabular
enthalpy data will be entered as cal/gm, then:
• The IN-UNITS specification should include MOLE-
ENTHALPY=CAL/MOL
• The TABPOLY-DATA specification should include TAB-BASIS=MASS

Input Language Guide 8-25

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

UNIFAC
This section describes the input language for using UNIFAC models. Aspen Plus
contains five UNIFAC models, as shown in Table 8.3.

Table 8.3 UNIFAC Models in Aspen Plus

Model Name Used in Option Sets Parameter Name for Structure Parameter Name for
Information Group Area/Volume/
Binary Parameter

UNIFAC, Revision 5 UNIFAC, UNIF-LL, UNIF-HOC, UFGRP GMUFR, GMUFQ, GMUFB

SR-POLAR
UNIFAC, Revision 4 — UFGRP GMUFR, GMUFQ,
GMUFB4
UNIFAC, Revision 3 — UFGRP GMUFR, GMUFQ, GMUFB
Modified UNIFAC, Dortmund UNIF-DMD UFGRPD GMUFDR, GMUFDQ,
UNIFDM
Modified UNIFAC, Lyngby UNIF-LBY UFGRPL GMUFLR, GMUFLQ,
UNIFLB

The following input language is shown for the UNIFAC model, Revision 5. The
input language for other UNIFAC models is analogous.

Input Language
To supply structural information for components:
PROP-DATA
PROP-LIST UFGRP
PVAL cid groupno noccur groupno noccur . . .

To identify groups or to introduce new functional groups:

GROUPS gid groupno / . . .

8-26 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

To enter vapor-liquid group parameters, for option sets UNIFAC, UNIF-HOC,

and SR-POLAR:
PROP-DATA
PROP-LIST GMUFQ / GMUFR
PVAL gid value / value

PROP-LIST GMUFB
BPVAL gid1 gid2 value

To enter liquid-liquid group parameters, for UNIF-LL:

PROP-DATA
PROP-LIST GMUFQ 2 / GMUFR 2
PVAL gid value / value

PROP-LIST GMUFB 2
BPVAL gid1 gid2 value

Input Language Description

cid.................................... Component ID
groupno .......................... Group number. The group numbers for built-in groups are listed in
Aspen Plus Physical Property Data, Tables 3.12 and 3.13. A user-defined
group can use any groupno not listed in these tables. GMUFQ and
GMUFR must be supplied or estimated for user-defined groups. If a user-
defined group number falls within a built-in main group, the interaction
parameters GMUFB will default to liquid-liquid main group values, if
available, for UNIF-LL, and to vapor-liquid main group values for
UNIFAC, UNIF-HOC, and SR-POLAR.
noccur ............................. Number of occurrences of a group in the molecular structure of a
component. There is a limit of six groupno-noccur pairs for each
component.
gid.................................... Group ID
value................................ Parameter value
gid1.................................. Group ID of first group of group pair
gid2.................................. Group ID of second group of group pair

Input Language Guide 8-27

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

Property Parameter Estimation

This section describes the input language used for property parameter
estimation. It discusses how to:
• Specify parameters to be estimated
• Define molecular structure
• Enter experimental data
• Use report options
• Define user property parameters

Specifying Parameters to be Estimated

Input Language for ESTIMATE

ESTIMATE [option]

To estimate pure component constants:

propname cid method-name / [cid] method-name / . . .

To estimate temperature-dependent property correlation parameters:

propname cid method-name keyword=value

Optional keywords:
TLOWER TUPPER DATA WEIGHT

To estimate binary parameters:

propname cid1 cid2 method-name [TEMP=value-list]

To estimate UNIFAC group parameters:

propname gid method-name / gid method-name / . . .

8-28 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

Input Language Description for ESTIMATE

option .............................. ALL ........................................... Estimates all missing parameters (Default)
ONLY ........................................ Estimates only parameters specified using
propname sentences
propname Property from the table in Aspen Plus User Guide, Chapter 30, "What Property Parameters can
Aspen Plus Estimate" for which parameters are to be estimated. When option=ALL, Aspen Plus will
use default methods for properties and components not listed in propname sentences.
cid.................................... Component ID
ALL ........................................... All components
method-name.................. Method from Aspen Plus User Guide, Chapter 30, to be used in estimating
parameters.
TLOWER ......................... Lower temperature limit for temperature-dependent property
correlations. (Default=TB for liquid properties, 298 K for vapor
properties)
TUPPER .......................... Upper temperature limit for temperature-dependent property
correlations. (Default=TC for liquid properties, 1100 K for vapor
properties)
DATA ............................... Indicates whether experimental data should be used. (See Entering
Experimental Data, this chapter.) Not used when method-name=DATA.
To determine parameters from experimental data alone, specify method-
name=DATA.
DATA=YES............................... Aspen Plus combines experimental data entered
in PCES-PROP-DATA paragraphs with
estimated values to determine the best
correlation parameters
DATA=NO................................. Experimental data are not used (Default)
WEIGHT........................... Weighting factor for experimental data. Use when DATA=YES. The
weighting factor for the estimated values is set to 1.0. Do not use when
method-name=DATA. (Default=2.0)
cid1.................................. Component ID of first component in binary pair
ALL ........................................... All components
cid2.................................. Component ID of second component in binary pair
ALL ........................................... All components
TEMP ............................... List of temperatures for which infinite dilution activity coefficients are
estimated (Default=25°C)
gid.................................... UNIFAC group ID defined in GROUPS paragraph

Input Language Guide 8-29

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

Defining Molecular Structure

Input Language for STRUCTURES

STRUCTURES
STRUCTURES cid atom1 atom2 bond / [atom1] atom2 bond / . . .
method-name cid groupno noccur / groupno noccur / . . .

Input Language Description for STRUCTURES

STRUCTURES Use when you choose the generalized method of defining molecular structure.
cid ................................... Component ID
atom1, atom2.................. Identifiers for a pair of atoms in the structure. An identifier is formed by
the type of atom and the number assigned to it. For example, if the fifth
atom in the structure is nitrogen, its identifier is N5. When atom1 is the
same as atom2 of the previous pair, you can omit atom1. The atom types
are:
C................................................ Carbon
O ............................................... Oxygen
N................................................ Nitrogen
S................................................ Sulfur
B................................................ Boron
SI............................................... Silicon
F ................................................ Fluorine
CL ............................................. Chlorine
BR ............................................. Bromine
I ................................................. Iodine
AL ............................................. Aluminum
AS ............................................. Arsenic
BI............................................... Bismuth
CD ............................................. Cadmium
GA............................................. Germanium
GE ............................................. Gallium
HG............................................. Mercury
P................................................ Phosphorus
PB ............................................. Lead
SB ............................................. Antimony
SN ............................................. Tin

8-30 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

ZN ............................................. Zinc
bond ................................ Type of bond that connects the atoms. To simplify the task of entering the
structure of common ring compounds and saturated hydrocarbons, these
special bond types have been defined:
S................................................ Single bond
D................................................ Double bond
T ................................................ Triple bond
B................................................ Benzene ring
CYC5......................................... Saturated 5-membered ring
CYC6......................................... Saturated 6-membered ring
CYC7......................................... Saturated 7-membered ring
SATC ........................................ Saturated hydrocarbon chain
When you use the special bond types, B, CYC5, CYC6, CYC7, and SATC,
the atom numbers assigned to the members of the carbon ring or chain
must be consecutive.
method-name Group contribution method from Table 8.4. These sentences are used to enter the group numbers
and number of occurrences of each group when you choose the group method of defining molecular
structure. Enter one method-name sentence for each group contribution method used. You can enter
an unlimited number of pairs of groupno and noccur, except for the UNIFAC, UNIF-LL, UNIF-
DMD, UNIF-LBY, AND UNIF-R4 methods, for which the limit is six.
cid.................................... Component ID
groupno .......................... Group number. Obtain from Aspen Plus Physical Property Data, Tables
3.1 through 3.13.
noccur ............................. Number of occurrences of the group in the molecular structure of the
component

Input Language Guide 8-31

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

Table 8.4 Group-Contribution Methods and Estimated Parameters

Method-Name Property Parameters Estimated by This Method

AMBROSE TC, PC, VC

BENSON DHFORM, CPIG, DGFORM
BONDI GMUFR, GMUFQ, GMUQR, GMUQQ
DUCROS DHVLWT
GANI TB, TC, PC, VC, DHFORM, DGFORM, DHVLWT
JOBACK TB, TC, PC, VC, DHFORM, DGFORM, CPIG
LEBAS RKTZRA
LI-MA PLXANT, DHVLWT, SIGDIP
LYDERSEN TC, PC, VC
MOSTAFA DHSFRM, DGSFRM, CPSP01
OGATA-TSUCHIDA TB
ORRICK-ERBAR MULAND
PARACHOR PARC
REICHENBERG MUVDIP
RUZICKA CPLDIP
UNIFAC WILSON/2, NRTL/2, UNIQ/2, [WILSON/1], [NRTL/1], [UNIQ/1]
UNIF-LL WILSON/2, NRTL/2, UNIQ/2, [WILSON/1], [NRTL/1], [UNIQ/1]
UNIF-DMD WILSON/2, NRTL/2, UNIQ/2, [WILSON/1], [NRTL/1], [UNIQ/1]
UNIF-LBY WILSON/2, NRTL/2, UNIQ/2, [WILSON/1], [NRTL/1], [UNIQ/1]
UNIF-R4 WILSON/2, NRTL/2, UNIQ/2, [WILSON/1], [NRTL/1], [UNIQ/1]

8-32 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

Entering Experimental Data

Input Language for PCES-PROP-DATA

PCES-PROP-DATA
propname cid temp value / temp value / . . .
GAMINF cid1 cid2 temp1 value1 temp2 value2 /
temp1 value1 temp2 value2 / . . .

Input Language Description for PCES-PROP-DATA

propname Name of the temperature-dependent property.
PL .................................... Vapor pressure
VL .................................... Liquid molar volume
DHVL ............................... Molar heat of vaporization
CPIG ................................ Molar ideal gas heat capacity
CPL.................................. Molar liquid heat capacity
CPS.................................. Molar solid heat capacity
MUV ................................. Vapor viscosity
MUL ................................. Liquid viscosity
KV .................................... Vapor thermal conductivity
KL .................................... Liquid thermal conductivity
SIGMA ............................. Surface tension
GAMINF Use to enter infinite-dilution activity coefficients. If one infinite-dilution activity coefficient is not
available, enter an asterisk (*) for both the temperature and value. In that case, Aspen Plus will use
the UNIFAC method to estimate the missing infinite-dilution activity coefficient. If you enter
several sets of data at different temperatures, Aspen Plus will determine both the first and second
elements for the activity coefficient model (WILSON/1 and WILSON/2 parameters for the WILSON
model).
cid, cid1, cid2 ................. Component IDs
temp ................................ Temperature
value................................ Property value
temp1 .............................. Temperature for value1
value1 .............................. Infinite-dilution activity coefficient of cid1
temp2 .............................. Temperature for value2
value2 .............................. Infinite-dilution activity coefficient of cid2

Input Language Guide 8-33

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

Note
1. Using PCES-PROP-DATA is similar to, but much easier than, using the
Aspen Plus Data Regression System (DRS) to regress pure component
temperature-dependent property data or infinite-dilution activity coefficient
data.

PCES-PROP-DATA:
• Can be used in a simulation, TGS or ADA run
• Does not require you to identify the parameters to be regressed
• Does not require parameter initial guesses and limits
• Does not require you to specify data standard deviations
DRS provides unlimited flexibility. For example, with DRS you can:
• Mix VLE and pure component data
• Regress any parameter, such as an equation-of-state parameter
• Specify regression for only certain parameters in a correlation
• Provide standard deviations (weightings) for individual variables and data
points
See Chapter 43 for a complete discussion of the Aspen Plus Data Regression
System.

Report Options

Input Language for COMPARE

For comparing estimated versus experimental data:
COMPARE cid / . . .

For comparing two components:

COMPARE cid1 cid2 / . . .

Input Language Description for COMPARE

cid, cid1, cid2 ................. Component IDs

8-34 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 8

Defining User Property Parameters

This section describes the input language for defining user property parameters
for user property models.

Input Language for USER-PROPS

USER-PROPS paramname [nset] [paramtype] [nel] / . . .

Input Language Description for USER-PROPS

Use the USER-PROPS paragraph to define additional parameters for your user
property model.
paramname ..................... Name of user-defined parameter to be used in user property model
nset.................................. Maximum number of data sets allowed for this parameter
paramtype ....................... Type of parameter:
1 ................................................ Unary parameters for conventional components
(Default)
2 ................................................ Binary parameters for conventional components
3 ................................................ Unary parameters for nonconventional
components
4 ................................................ Binary parameters for nonconventional
components
5 ................................................ Unary parameters for UNIFAC groups
6 ................................................ Binary parameters for UNIFAC groups
8 ................................................ Pair parameters for electrolytes
nel.................................... Number of elements for the parameter (Default=1)

Input Language Guide 8-35

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Properties

CAPE-OPEN Property Packages

This section describes the input language for referencing CAPE-OPEN property
packages.

Input Language for CO-PACKAGE

CO-PACKAGE pkgid
PARAM [PACKAGENAME=value] PROG-ID=value BASE-METHOD=value
COMPONENTS APNAME=value CONAME=value CASNUMBER=value / . . .

Input Language Description for CO-PACKAGE

Use the CO-PACKAGE paragraph to reference a CAPE-OPEN property package
for use in Aspen Plus.
pkgid ............................... An ID identifying the package. You may use any number of CO-
PACKAGE paragraphs, but the pkgid for each one must be unique.
PARAM Use to specify parameters identifying the CAPE-OPEN Property Package used.
PACKAGENAME............. The name of the package, according to the CAPE-OPEN thermo system
component. Optional.
PROG-ID ......................... The prog-id of the CAPE-OPEN thermo system component to use.
BASE-METHOD .............. Base property method. This method is used as a fallback when the CAPE-
OPEN method does not support a requested property.
COMPONENTS Use to a list of components and their mapping between Aspen Plus and the CAPE-OPEN package.
APNAME ......................... The Aspen Plus component ID for the component.
CONAME......................... The name of the component in the CAPE-OPEN property package.
CASNUMBER.................. Chemical Abstract Services registry number for the component.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

8-36 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 9

9 Flowsheet and
Hierarchy
This chapter describes the input language for using the FLOWSHEET and
HIERARCHY paragraphs.

You can use the FLOWSHEET paragraph to:

• Specify the flowsheet connectivity
• Order the outlet streams for certain unit operation blocks

You can use the HIERARCHY paragraph to:

• Organize large flowsheets better
• Use a hierarchical system of naming blocks and streams

Input Language Guide 9-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet

FLOWSHEET Paragraph

Input Language for FLOWSHEET

FLOWSHEET [sectionid]
BLOCK blockid IN=sid-list OUT=sid-list
HIERARCHY hierid
CONNECT conid IN=sid OUT=sid

Input Language Description for FLOWSHEET

sectionid ......................... Flowsheet section ID. This ID is required only when a flowsheet is
sectioned. You can section a flowsheet by including multiple
FLOWSHEET paragraphs, one for each section. You can divide a
flowsheet into sections to simplify the association of physical properties
specifications with groups of blocks, or for clarity.
BLOCK Use to specify the blocks in the flowsheet and the streams entering and leaving them.
blockid ............................ Unit operation block ID
sid-list ............................. List of stream IDs. Heat and work streams must be listed after the
material streams.
HIERARCHY Use to specify the Hierarchy blocks in the flowsheet. A Hierarchy block must be mentioned in a
HIERARCHY sentence of a FLOWSHEET paragraph of the Hierarchy block’s parent hierarchy
level.
hierid ............................... Hierarchy block ID
CONNECT Use to specify stream connections into and out of Hierarchy blocks. One of the streams specified by
IN and OUT must be at the current level of hierarchy, and the other must be in a Hierarchy block
contained within this level of hierarchy.
conid ............................... Connect ID
sid ................................... Stream ID. The stream ID of the stream in the inner Hierarchy block
must be specified hierarchically. For example: HB1.S1

9-2 Input Language Guide

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 Chapter 9

HIERARCHY Paragraph

Input Language for HIERARCHY

HIERARCHY hierid
FLOWSHEET [sectionid]
[flowsheet paragraph input language]
BLOCK blockid blocktype
[block input language]

[other paragraphs]

ENDHIERARCHY hierid

Input Language Description for HIERARCHY

HIERARCHY Use to specify the beginning of input for a hierarchy block. All hierarchical input paragraphs until
the corresponding ENDHIERARCHY statement are specified relative to this hierarchy block.
Certain input paragraphs are not hierarchical; these are always treated as belonging to the top
level of hierarchy, regardless of where they are located. See Table 9.1.
You can nest HIERARCHY blocks, but you must end inner ones before outer ones.
You can specify the contents of a HIERARCHY block in different sections of an input file, by
specifying multiple HIERARCHY paragraphs at the same level of hierarchy with the same ID. See
Example of Hierarchy Input Language.
The HIERARCHY and ENDHIERARCHY statements must begin in column one of an input line.
hierid ............................... Hierarchy block ID. Can be up to 8 characters in length and cannot
contain a period (.).
FLOWSHEET Use to specify flowsheet connectivity within the Hierarchy block. Identical to the top-level
FLOWSHEET paragraph described in this chapter, except for its placement in the hierarchy.
blockid ............................ Unit operation block ID
BLOCK Use to specify input for a block within the Hierarchy block. Identical to the BLOCK paragraph
described in chapter 11, except for its placement in the hierarchy.
blockid ............................ Unit operation block ID
blocktype ........................ Unit operation block type
other paragraphs Most other input language can also be used within a Hierarchy block. See Table 9.1 for a list of
input language paragraphs which are treated hierarchically.
ENDHIERARCHY Use to specify the end of input for a hierarchy block.
hierid ............................... Hierarchy block ID. Must match the hierid of the most recent unclosed
HIERARCHY paragraph.

Input Language Guide 9-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet

Hierarchical Input Language

A hierarchy block is a container for other Aspen Plus simulation objects (such as
unit operation models, convergence blocks, and design specifications) and
hierarchy blocks. The top level Aspen Plus flowsheet is a hierarchy block with no
name, while other hierarchy blocks have names that uniquely identify these
blocks.

In the hierarchy representation, normal and hierarchy blocks are organized into a
tree. The top node of the tree is the hierarchy block that represents the whole
flowsheet. Intermediate hierarchy block nodes represent sections of the flowsheet.
Leaf nodes that have no children represent other Aspen Plus blocks. Consider, the
following flowsheet hierarchy:

Top Level

HB1 B2 HB3

C1 B1 HB3 B1 B3

B1 B2

The four hierarchy blocks are Top Level (no name), HB1, HB1.HB3, and HB3.
The normal Aspen Plus blocks are HB1.C1, HB1.B1, HB1.HB3.B1, HB1.HB3.B2,
B2, HB3.B1, and HB3.B3. Note that these names are fully-qualified hierarchy
object names. Also note that there are several B1 blocks that have different fully
qualified names.

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Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 9

Example of Hierarchy Input Language

The following example illustrates the use of the input language for Hierarchy blocks.

The input not enclosed within HIERARCHY..ENDHIERARCHY belongs to the top level
hierarchy.

IN-UNITS ...
FLOWSHEET
BLOCK B2 IN=B2IN OUT=B2OUT
HIERARCHY HB1
HIERARCHY HB3
CONNECT CNN1 IN=HB1.B1OUT OUT=B2IN

HIERARCHY HB1

The input here belongs to the HB1 hierarchy.

FLOWSHEET
BLOCK B1 IN=B1IN OUT=B1OUT
HIERARCHY HB3
BLOCK B1 FLASH2
...
The input here is for block HB1.B1
HIERARCHY HB3
The hierarchy context is now HB1.HB3
FLOWSHEET
BLOCK B1 MIXER
The input here is for block HB1.HB3.B1
BLOCK B2 FLASH2
The input here is for block HB1.HB3.B2
ENDHIERARCHY HB3

The hierarchy context is back to HB1

CALCULATOR C1
DEFINE TEMP BLOCK-VAR BLOCK=HB3.B1 ...
Note that HB3.B1 specifies block HB1.HB3.B1 because the current hierarchy context is HB1
ENDHIERARCHY HB1
The hierarchy context is back to the top level. HIERARCHY and ENDHIERARCHY are
nested. Always end the last pending hierarchy first
BLOCK B2 ...
The input here is for block B2
HIERARCHY HB1

The input here belongs to the HB1 hierarchy. It is OK to split input for hierarchy HB1 into
several segments.
PROP-DATA DATA1 ...
Even though PROP-DATA is specified here, the data is still processed as if it is specified in
the top level because PROP-DATA (like many other paragraph types) always belongs to the
top level hierarchy.
HIERARCHY HB3

Input Language Guide 9-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet

The hierarchy context is now HB1.HB3

FLOWSHEET
...
ENDHIERARCHY HB3
ENDHIERARCHY HB1

The hierarchy context is now top level hierarchy.

Hierarchical Input Paragraphs

Most Aspen Plus input language is hierarchical. In such input language, block
and streams names are interpreted to be relative to the Hierarchy block
containing it. For instance, within Hierarchy block HB1.HB2, a block that
connects to stream S3 connects to the stream which is identified at the top level
as HB1.HB2.S3. Some input language, such as COMPONENTS and
CASE-STUDY, is not hierarchical, but instead is always treated as part of the top
level, regardless where it appears in the input file. Table 9.1 lists the paragraphs
which are hierarchical.

Table 9.1 Hierarchical Input Paragraphs

EO-ALIAS DATA-SET INIT-VAR-ATTR RENAME
BALANCE DEF-STREAMS MEASUREMENT SCRIPTMETHOD
BLOCK DELETE OBJECTIVE SENSITIVITY
BLOCK-REPORT DESIGN-SPEC OPTIMIZATION SEQUENCE
BYPRODUCT EO-CONV-OPTI PPTABLES SOLVE
CALCULATOR EO-OPTIONS PRES-RELIEF SPECGROUPS
CONNECTIONS EO-PORT PRODUCT STREAM
CONSTRAINT LOCALSCRIPT PROFILE-DATA STREAM-NAMES
CONVERGENCE EOSENSITIVIT PROPERTIES STREAM-REPOR
COST-BLOCK FLOWSHEET PROP-TABLE TRANSFER
CBLOCK-REPORT FORTRAN RAW-MATERIAL UNIT-REPORT
UNIT HIERARCHY REGRESSION WASTE

9-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 9

In hierarchical input language, HB1.HB3.B1 refers to the block B1 in Hierarchy

block HB3 which is in Hierarchy block HB1 of the top level hierarchy. The same
block is referenced as B1, HB3.B1, or HB1.HB3.B1 when mentioned in the input
for HB1.HB3, HB1, and top level hierarchy respectively. Use proper names when
accessing an object in lower level hierarchies in DEFINE, VARY, and
SEQUENCE statements. To keep hierarchies self-contained, an object can only be
accessed from its containing hierarchies. For example, HB1.HB3.B1 can be
accessed from top level, HB1, and HB1.HB3 hierarchies but it cannot be accessed
from the HB3 hierarchy. Due to this restriction it may be necessary to move some
objects (such as CALCULATOR or DESIGN-SPEC) up the flowsheet hierarchy
tree to access variables belong to other objects.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 9-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet

9-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 10

10 Streams
This chapter describes the input language used to:
• Specify conventional material streams
• Define and modify general material streams (stream classes, substream
classes, and substream attributes)
• Specify general material streams (consisting of any combination of MIXED,
CISOLID, and NC substreams, and substream attributes)
• Specify heat and work streams

Input Language Guide 10-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Streams

Specifying Conventional Material

Streams

Input Language for STREAM

STREAM sid keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC basis-FLOW
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE SOLVENT FREE-WATER MAXIT TOL FLASH-OPTION
VOL-TREF CONC-TREF

basis–FLOW cid flow / . . .

basis–FRAC cid frac / . . .
basis-CONC cid conc / . . .

Input Language Description for STREAM

Use STREAM paragraphs to define the flow rates, composition, and
thermodynamic condition of each process feed stream. Optionally, STREAM
paragraphs can provide initial guesses for tear streams.
sid ................................... Stream ID
TEMP............................... Temperature
PRES ............................... Pressure
VFRAC ............................ Molar vapor fraction
basis–FLOW ................... Flow rate on a MOLE, MASS, STDVOL (standard-liquid volume) or
VOLUME basis
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid
PHASE=S ................................. Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
SOLVENT........................ Component ID of solvent. Use only when basis-CONC is specified.
FREE–WATER ................ Use to override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS
h (S Ch 46 )

10-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 10

paragraph. (See Chapter 46.)

FREE–WATER=NO.................. Does not perform free-water calculations
(Default)
FREE–WATER=YES ................ Performs free-water calculations
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
FLASH–OPTION ............. FLASH-OPTION= ..................... Suppresses the flash calculation
NOFLASH (Default=performs flash calculations)
VOL-TREF ....................... Reference temperature for volume flows
CONC-TREF .................... Reference temperature for component concentrations
basis-FLOW Use to enter component flows on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis. If you specify component flows,
the total flow is also specified. The component flows are then normalized.
cid.................................... Component ID (or an assay ID). (See Chapter 7.)
flow.................................. Component MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL flow rate
basis-FRAC Use to enter component fractions on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis. You must also specify the
total flow using the basis-FLOW tertiary keyword.
cid.................................... Component ID (or an assay ID). (See Chapter 7.)
frac .................................. Component MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL fraction
basis-CONC Use to enter component concentration on a MOLE or MASS basis. You must also specify
SOLVENT.
cid.................................... Component ID
conc................................. Component concentration

Input Language Guide 10-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Streams

Defining General Material Stream Classes

Input Language
DEF-STREAM-CLASS sclass ssid-list
DEF-SUBS ssclass ssid
DEF-SUBS-CLASS ssclass
DEF keyword=value

Keywords:
TYPE ATTR

DEF-SUBS-ATTR psdid PSD

INTERVALS n
SIZE-LIMITS limit1 / . . . / . . . limit n+1

Input Language Description for DEF-STREAM-CLASS

Use the DEF-STREAM-CLASS paragraph to define new stream classes that are
not built into the system. (See Table 10.1 for built-in substream classes.)
sclass.............................. Stream class. (See Table 10.2.)
ssid-list ........................... Substream ID list. MIXED must be the first substream ID.

Input Language Description for DEF-SUBS

Use the DEF-SUBS paragraph to assign a substream ID to a substream class.
ssclass............................ Substream class
ssid ................................. Substream ID

Input Language Description for DEF-SUBS-CLASS

Use the DEF-SUBS-CLASS paragraph to create a new substream class (that is, to
associate a substream type with a particle size distribution).
ssclass............................ Substream class
TYPE ............................... Substream type (CISOLID or NC)
ATTR ............................... Particle size distribution ID

10-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 10

Input Language Description for DEF-SUBS-ATTR

Use the DEF-SUBS-ATTR paragraph to specify size limits for the particle size
distribution (PSD). This paragraph is used only with stream classes MIXCIPSD
or MIXNCPSD.
psdid ............................... Particle size distribution ID
INTERVALS Use to specify the number of discrete intervals in which to divide the particle size distribution
n....................................... Number of intervals
SIZE-LIMITS Use to specify size limits for the discrete intervals. You must enter n+1 values, in ascending order,
and separated by slashes.
limit.................................. Size limit

Table 10.1 Built-In Substream Classes

Substream class Substream ID Substream type Substream attribute ID

MIXED MIXED MIXED —

CISOLID CISOLID CISOLID —
NC NC NC —
NCPSD NCPSD NC PSD
CIPSD CIPSD CISOLID PSD

Table 10.2 Built-In Material Stream Classes

Stream class Number of substreams Substream type(s) Substream ID(s)

CONVEN 1 MIXED MIXED

MIXCISLD 2 MIXED, CISOLID MIXED, CISOLID
MIXNC 2 MIXED, NC MIXED, NC
MIXCINC 3 MIXED, CISOLID, NC MIXED, CISOLID, NC
MIXCIPSD 2 MIXED, CISOLID MIXED, CIPSD
MIXNCPSD 2 MIXED, NC MIXED, NCPSD
MCINCPSD 3 MIXED, CISOLID, NC MIXED, CIPSD, NCPSD

Input Language Guide 10-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Streams

Specifying General Material Streams

Input Language

 ALL 
 
DEF-STREAMS sclass secid − list 
 sid − list 
STREAM sid
SUBSTREAM ssid keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC basis-FLOW
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE SOLVENT FREE-WATER MAXIT TOL FLASH-OPTION

basis-FLOW cid flow / . . .

basis–FRAC cid frac / . . .
basis-CONC cid conc / . . .
COMP-ATTR cid cattrname (value-list)
SUBS-ATTR psdid (value-list)

Input Language Description for DEF-STREAMS

Use the DEF-STREAMS paragraph to assign a stream class to a list of streams or
to all the streams within flowsheet sections. (See Chapter 9.) There can be any
number of DEF-STREAMS paragraphs. If you enter more than one DEF-
STREAMS paragraph, the more general specifications should precede the more
specific specifications. If you specify ALL, it must be in the first DEF-STREAMS
paragraph for any streams in that section.
sclass.............................. Stream class. (See Table 10.2.)
ALL.................................. All streams in the flowsheet that are assigned to a specified stream class
secid-list ......................... List of flowsheet section IDs
sid-list ............................. List of stream IDs

Input Language Description for STREAM

Use the STREAM paragraph to specify inlet streams and initial guesses for tear
streams.
sid ................................... Stream ID

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Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 10

SUBSTREAM Use to enter state and flash specifications for substreams. For solid substreams, you must specify
TEMP and PRES. The pressure of all substreams must be the same. For most applications the
temperature of all substreams should be the same. RPLUG is the only Aspen Plus unit operation
model that can treat a stream with substreams at different temperatures. Specify NPHASE and
PHASE for the MIXED substream only. (See Table 10.3 for built-in substreams.)
ssid.................................. Substream ID
TEMP ............................... Temperature
PRES ............................... Pressure
VFRAC............................. Molar vapor fraction (for MIXED substreams only)
basis-FLOW .................... Flow rate on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
NPHASE .......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE............................. Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
PHASE=L ................................. Liquid
PHASE=S ................................. Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
SOLVENT ........................ Component ID of solvent. Use only when basis-CONC is specified.
FREE–WATER ................ Use to override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph. (See Chapter 46.)
FREE–WATER=NO.................. Does not perform free-water calculations
(Default)
FREE–WATER=YES ................ Performs free-water calculations
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
FLASH-OPTION .............. FLASH-OPTION= ..................... Suppresses the flash calculation
NOFLASH (Default=performs flash calculations)
basis-FLOW Use to enter component flow rates on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis. For substreams of type
NC, only MASS basis is allowed. For substream of type CISOLID, only MOLE or MASS basis are
allowed. If the basis-FLOW tertiary keyword is specified, the component flows are normalized.
cid.................................... Component ID
flow.................................. Component flow rate
basis-FRAC Use to enter component fractions on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis. For substreams of type NC,
only MASS basis is allowed. For substream of type CISOLID, only MOLE or MASS basis are
allowed. You must specify the total flow using the basis-FLOW tertiary keyword.
cid.................................... Component ID
frac .................................. Component fraction

Input Language Guide 10-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Streams

basis-CONC Use to enter component concentration on a MOLE or MASS basis. For substreams of type NC, only
MASS basis is allowed.
cid ................................... Component ID
conc ................................ Component concentration
COMP-ATTR Use to enter component attributes for substreams of type NC. There should be one COMP-ATTR
sentence for each component attribute specified.
cid ................................... Component ID
cattrname........................ Component attribute name
value-list ......................... List of attribute values. You should enter all values for the attribute, even
if zero.
SUBS-ATTR Use to enter particle size distribution values for substreams that have a particle size distribution
attribute.
psdid ............................... Particle size distribution ID
value-list ......................... List of substream weight fractions that lie within each particle size
distribution interval

Table 10.3 Types of Substreams

This substream type Handles
MIXED Conventional components that participate in vapor-liquid-solid phase equilibrium
CISOLID Conventional components that appear in the solid phase but do not participate in phase
(Conventional inert solids) equilibrium
NC (Nonconventional) Nonconventional components

10-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 10

Specifying Heat And Work Streams

Input Language
DEF-STREAMS HEAT sid-list
DEF-STREAMS WORK sid-list
STREAM sid
INFO HEAT keyword=value

Keywords:
DUTY TEMP TEND

STREAM sid
INFO LOAD TVEC=t1 t2 t3 t4 QVEC=q1 q2 q3 q4
STREAM sid
INFO WORK POWER=power

Input Language Description

Use the DEF-STREAMS paragraph to define streams to be heat streams or work
streams. Use the STREAM paragraph to enter the heat and work loads. Heat
streams allow heat duties to pass from one process to another. Load streams are
heat streams which include vectors describing the temperatures at which the
heat was transferred. Work streams are similar to heat streams, except work
streams carry information about power.
sid-list ............................. List of all heat or work streams used in a simulation
sid.................................... Heat or work stream ID
DUTY ............................... Enthalpy flow rate
TEMP ............................... Starting temperature of a heat or load stream
TEND ............................... Ending temperature of a heat or load stream
t1, t2, t3, t4 ...................... Temperature vector of a load stream
q1, q2, q3, q4 .................. Duty vector of a load stream
POWER ........................... Power

Input Language Guide 10-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Streams

Specifying Stream Names

Input Language for STREAM-NAMES

STREAM-NAMES
NAMES sid text

Input Language Description

Use the STREAM-NAMES paragraph to specify description for streams.
sid ................................... Stream id
text .................................. A string of any length enclosed in quotes. The description is printed under
the Stream ID (up to 3 lines, each line is a maximum of 10 chars wide) in
the STREAM-REPORT.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

10-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 11

11 Block Data
This chapter describes the input language for general options of unit operation
blocks. This chapter discusses:
• Block paragraphs
• Heating and cooling curves

It also includes information about properties, diagnostic levels, simulation

options, and report options.

Input Language Guide 11-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Block Data

BLOCK Paragraphs

Input Language for BLOCK

BLOCK blockid modelname
DESCRIPTION "a block description - up to 64 characters in quotes"
PROPERTIES opsetname keyword=value

Optional keywords:
HENRY-COMPS CHEMISTRY FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER TRUE-COMPS

BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
SIM-LEVEL PROP-LEVEL STREAM-LEVEL TERM-LEVEL ENERGY-BAL
RESTART FREE-WATER

REPORT reportopt-list

Reportopts:
NOREPORT NEWPAGE NOTOTBAL NOINPUT COMPBAL NORESULTS

EO-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
COMPS EO-FORM SPARSITY LIGHT-KEY
HEAVY-KEY DEP-COMPS DERIV-METHOD SOLVE-METHOD
CHECK-FREE-W NEG-COMP-CHK NEG-FLOW-CHK INLET-PHASE

INIT-ATTR vname keyword=value

Optional keywords:
VALUE LOWER UPPER STEP BOUND-TYPE SBWEIGHT
PHYS-QTY UOM SCALE

EO-PORT portid keyword=value

Optional keywords:
VAR VALUE TYPE COMPONENTS THRU PHASE PHYS-QTY
UOM

SPEC-GROUP specgroupid keyword=value

Optional keywords:
ENABLED COMMENT

SPEC-CHANGE specgroupid keyword=value

11-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 11

Optional keywords:
VAR SPEC

EO-VAR keyword=value

Optional keywords:
SENTENCE VARIABLE ELEMENT ID1 ID2 ID3

EO-VEC keyword=value

Optional keywords:
SENTENCE VARIABLE

SCRIPTS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
METHOD TYPE LOCALSCRIPT GLOBALSCRIPT FILE

Input Language Description for BLOCK

You must enter one BLOCK paragraph for each unit operation block in the
simulation. A simulation must contain at least one unit operation block.
blockid ............................ Block ID
modelname ..................... Unit operation model name. (See Table 11.1.)
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the block
report.
PROPERTIES Use to replace the flowsheet or section property specifications. Any option set name you enter here
must also be named in the PROPERTIES paragraph. (See Chapter 8.)
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels, established by the DIAGNOSTICS paragraph. (See
Chapter 46.) It also overrides simulation options established by the SIM-OPTIONS paragraph. (See
Chapter 46.) Table 11.1 lists the free-water and three-phase options available for each unit
operation model.
REPORT Use to suppress the block report, or to replace the report options established in the BLOCK-
REPORT paragraph. (See Chapter 47.)
EO-OPTIONS Use to specify equation-oriented options for the block.
COMPS............................ Component group for a list of components which can be active in this
block.
EO-FORM ........................ Equation-oriented formulation.
EO-FORM=STANDARD........... Standard formulation. Compositions in terms of
mole fractions. Stream variables named using
Aspen Plus stream names.(Default)
EO-FORM=EOPML .................. For RT-Opt 10.0 / DMO compatibility.
Compositions in terms of mole fractions. Stream
variables named using PML convention.

Input Language Guide 11-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Block Data

EO-FORM=MOLEFRAC........... For RT-Opt 10.0 compatibility. Compositions in

terms of molar fractions. Stream variables
named using PML convention. Some reduced
functionality.
EO-FORM-MOLEFLOW........... For RT-Opt 3.0 compatibility. Compositions in
terms of molar flows. Stream variables named
using Aspen Plus stream names.
SPARSITY....................... Used to set the dependence of thermodynamic properties on state
variables and compositions while evaluating derivatives.
SPARSITY=FULL..................... Temperature, pressure and composition
dependence.
SPARSITY=COMP-INDEP ....... Temperature and pressure dependence.
SPARSITY=WATER-SOLU...... Temperature, pressure and composition
dependence for water, temperature and
pressure dependence for all other components.
LIGHT-KEY ..................... Component ID of the lightest distributing component.
HEAVY-KEY .................... Component ID of the heaviest distributing component.
DEP-COMPS ................... Component group of components for which fugacities are composition
dependent. Pure component fugacities are used for all other components.
DERIV-METHOD ............. Preferred derivatives method, Analytic or Numeric. Update methods
should not be used for Degree of Freedom run modes (Optimization or
Reconciliation).
DERIV-METHOD = Model derivatives (Jacobian) are determined
ANALYTICAL ........................... from coded analytic expressions. Generally the
preferred method. (Default)
DERIV-METHOD = Alternate method for calculating Jacobian.
NUMERICAL............................. Useful when there is concern that analytic
derivatives are causing convergence difficulties.
Usually slower than analytic derivatives, more
subject to precision issues.
DERIV-METHOD = Use Schubert method for updating Jacobian.
UPDATE-ANALY...................... Base Jacobian via analytic derivatives. Use
when Jacobian calculation is rate limiting step.
May result in more iterations and be less robust
than calculated derivatives.
DERIV-METHOD = Use Schubert method for updating Jacobian.
UPDATE-NUMER ..................... Base Jacobian via numerical derivatives. Use
when Jacobian calculation is rate limiting step.
May result in more iterations and be less robust
than calculated derivatives.
SOLVE-METHOD............ EO solution method. Specifies if open, closed, or neither method should be
used with desired action and message level on failure.
SOLVE-METHOD = Open solution method; on failure use
OPEN-PERT-IN ........................ Perturbation with information messages.
(Default)
SOLVE-METHOD = Open solution method; on failure use
OPEN-PERT-WA ...................... Perturbation with warning messages.

11-4 Input Language Guide

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Chapter 11

SOLVE-METHOD = Open solution method; on failure stop with

OPEN-NOPERT........................ error messages.
SOLVE-METHOD= Closed solution method; use Perturbation layer
PERTURBATION ..................... around closed model.
SOLVE-METHOD= Ignore during EO solution.
DO-NOT-CREAT ......................
CHECK-FREE-W ............. Check if only water appears in a stream when Free-Water=Yes. If so, turn
off Free-Water in VLE calculations, and do not consider the existence of
any other components.
CHECK-FREE-W = YES........... Check for presence of only water. (Default)
CHECK-FREE-W = NO ............ Do not check for presence of only water.
NEG-COMP-CHK ............ Negative composition check/Value used to check for negative mole
fractions and issue warnings during the report phase. (Default=-1x10-8)
NEG-FLOW-CHK............. Negative flow check/Value used to check for negative mole flow and issue
warnings during the report phase. (Default=0.0)
INLET-PHASE ................. Phase for the Material port. If unspecified, the phase will be obtained
from the upstream conditions.
INLET-PHASE = V.................... Vapor only.
INLET-PHASE = L.................... Liquid only
INLET-PHASE = MIXED........... Vapor-Liquid or Vapor-Liquid-FreeWater,
depending on the block’s free-water option.
INIT-ATTR Use to specify the attributes of open variables.
vname.............................. Name of the variable. (Required)
VALUE ............................. Current value of the variable.
LOWER............................ Lower bound.
UPPER............................. Upper bound.
STEP................................ Step bound.
BOUND-TYPE ................. Bound type.
BOUND-TYPE = HARD............ Do not violate the upper and/or lower bounds
when solving a non-square (optimization or
data regression) problem.
BOUND-TYPE = RELAXED..... Relax upper and/or lower bound. If the initial
value is outside the bound, set the bound to the
initial value.
BOUND-TYPE = SOFT............. Same as relaxed but add a penalty term to the
objective to try to drive the value back to the
bound.
SBWEIGHT...................... Soft bound weight.
PHYS-QTY....................... The physical quantity that the variable represents, for example, mole
flow, temperature, or pressure. These types correspond to the standard
Aspen Plus types.
UOM................................. Units of measure (standard Aspen Plus units), based on the physical type
of the variable. Internally, all values are stored in SI units.

Input Language Guide 11-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Block Data

SCALE............................. Scale factor used by the solver.

EO-PORT Use this sentence to define the variables that make up a port. A port is an arbitrary collection of
variables. Ports can make connecting groups of variables easier.
portid .............................. Name of the port. (Required)
VAR ................................. Open variable name.
VALUE............................. Initial value.
TYPE ............................... Type of port.
TYPE = MOLE-FLOW .............. Material stream (flow basis).
TYPE = MOLE-FRAC ............... Material stream (fraction basis).
TYPE = HEAT........................... Heat stream.
TYPE = WORK ......................... Work stream.
TYPE = GENERIC .................... Generic collection.
COMPONENTS ............... Comp-Group ID. Correction for the component list if the global component
list is not being used.
THRU............................... Specifies whether to include all variables from VAR in this EO-PORT
sentence through VAR in the next EO-PORT sentence.
THRU = YES............................. Include all variables.
THRU = NO............................... Do not include all variables. (Default)
PHASE ............................ Phase for the material port. If unspecified, the phase will be obtained
from the upstream conditions.
PHASE = V ............................... Vapor only.
PHASE = L................................ Liquid only.
PHASE = VL ............................. Vapor and Liquid.
PHASE = VLW.......................... Vapor, Liquid, and Free-Water.
PHYS-QTY ...................... The physical quantity that the variable represents, for example, mole
flow, temperature, or pressure. These types correspond to the standard
Aspen Plus types.
UOM ................................ Units of measure (standard Aspen Plus units), based on the physical type
of the variable. Internally, all values are stored in SI units.
SPEC-GROUP Use this sentence to override default variable specifications. Each spec group must not change the
net specification of the problem.
specgroupid ................... Spec group name. (Required)
ENABLED ....................... Whether the spec group is enabled or disabled.
ENABLED = YES ..................... Spec group is enabled. (Default)
ENABLED = NO ....................... Spec group is disabled.
COMMENT ...................... Optional comment associated with the spec group.
SPEC-CHANGE Use the sentence to add a variable to a spec group.
specgroupid ................... Spec group name. (Required)
VAR ................................. Open variable name.

11-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 11

SPEC ............................... Change applied by the user to change the initial specification.
SPEC = CALC .......................... Calculated.
SPEC = CONST........................ Constant.
SPEC = INDEP ......................... Independent
SPEC = MEAS.......................... Measured.
SPEC = PARAM ....................... Parameterized
SPEC = OPTIM......................... Optimized.
SPEC = RECON ....................... Reconciled.
EO-VAR Use the sentence to specify scalar sequential-modular variables to be exposed as equation-oriented
variables when the block is being run via the perturbation layer.
SENTENCE ..................... Sentence name.
VARIABLE....................... Closed variable name.
ELEMENT........................ Element number for array variable.
ID1 ................................... First ID.
ID2 ................................... Second ID.
ID3 ................................... Third ID.
EO-VEC Use the sentence to specify vector sequential-modular variables to be exposed as equation-oriented
variables when the block is being run via the perturbation layer.
SENTENCE ..................... Sentence name.
VARIABLE....................... Closed variable name.
SCRIPTS Use this sentence to specify scripts for a block.
METHOD ......................... Script method. Blocks support default script methods of SETUP and
INIT. User may define other methods. (Required)
TYPE................................ Type of script (Required)
TYPE = LOCALSCRIPT........... Local Script
TYPE = GLOBALSCRIPT ........ Global Script
TYPE = FILE............................. File
LOCALSCRIPT................ ID of a LOCAL SCRIPT paragraph
GLOBALSCRIPT............. ID of a GLOBAL SCRIPT paragraph
FILE ................................. Name of a file

Input Language Guide 11-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Block Data

Table 11.1 Unit Operation Models

Heating and Water Rigorous
cooling Free-water decanter three-phase
Model Description curves calculations streams calculations Chapter

MIXER Stream mixer No Yes Yes Yes 12

FSPLIT Stream splitter No Yes No Yes 12
SSPLIT Substream splitter No Yes No Yes 12
SEP Component separator No Yes No Yes 12
SEP2 Two outlet component separator No Yes No Yes 12
HEATER Heater/cooler Yes Yes Yes Yes 13
FLASH2 Two outlet flash Yes Yes Yes Yes 13
FLASH3 Three outlet flash Yes No No Yes 13
DECANTER Liquid-liquid decanter Yes Yes No Yes 13
HEATX Two stream heat exchanger Yes Yes Yes Yes 13
MHEATX Multistream heat exchanger Yes Yes Yes Yes 13
HXFLUX Heat transfer calculation No No No No 13
HETRAN Shell and tube heat exchanger No Yes Yes Yes 13
AEROTRAN Air-cooled heat exchanger No Yes Yes Yes 13
HTRIXIST Shell and tube heat exchanger No Yes Yes Yes 13
DSTWU Shortcut distillation design No Yes† Yes No†† 14
DISTL Shortcut distillation rating No Yes† Yes No†† 14
SCFRAC Shortcut distillation for petroleum No Yes† No No†† 14
RADFRAC Rigorous distillation Yes Yes Yes Yes 15
MULTIFRAC Rigorous distillation for complex columns Yes Yes Yes No†† 15
PETROFRAC Rigorous distillation for petroleum Yes Yes Yes No 15
RATEFRAC††† Rate-based distillation Yes Yes† No No 17
EXTRACT Rigorous liquid-liquid extractor No No No — 18
BATCHFRAC††† Rigorous batch distillation No Yes† No Yes 19
RSTOIC Stoichiometric reactor No Yes Yes Yes 20
RYIELD Yield reactor No Yes Yes Yes 20
REQUIL Equilibrium reactor No No No No 20
RGIBBS Equilibrium reactor No No No Yes♦ 20
RCSTR Continuous stirred tank reactor No Yes No Yes 20
RPLUG Plug flow reactor No Yes No Yes 20
RBATCH Batch reactor No Yes No Yes 20
PUMP Pump/hydraulic turbine No Yes Yes Yes 21
COMPR Compressor/turbine No Yes Yes Yes 21
MCOMPR Multistage compressor/turbine Yes Yes Yes Yes 21
† Rigorous liquid-liquid equilibrium calculations
†† Condenser only
††† RATEFRAC and BATCHFRAC require a separate license. They can only be used by customers who have purchased
the right to use them through specific license agreements with Aspen Technology, Inc.
♦ RGIBBS handles any number of phases rigorously

continued

11-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 11

Table 11.1 Unit Operation Models (continued)

Heating and Water Rigorous
cooling Free-water decanter three-phase
Model Description curves calculations streams calculations Chapter
PIPELINE Pipe pressure drop (multiple segments) No Yes No Yes 22
PIPE Pipe pressure drop (single segment) No Yes No Yes 22
VALVE Valve No Yes No Yes 22
CRYSTALLIZER Mixed-suspension, mixed-product removal No No No No 23
crystallizer
CRUSHER Solids crusher No Yes No No 24
SCREEN Solids separator No Yes No No 24
FABFL Fabric filter No Yes No No 25
CYCLONE Cyclone separator No Yes No No 25
VSCRUB Venturi scrubber No Yes No No 25
ESP Electrostatic precipitator No Yes No No 25
HYCYC Hydrocyclone No Yes No No 26
CFUGE Centrifuge filter No Yes No No 26
FILTER Rotary vacuum filter No Yes No No 26
SWASH Single-stage solids washer No Yes No No 27
CCD Counter-current decanter No Yes No No 27
MULT Stream multiplier No — — — 28
DUPL Stream duplicator No — — — 28
CLCHNG Stream class changer No — — — 28
SELECTOR Stream selector No — — — 28
QTVEC Load stream manipulator No — — — 28
ANALYZER Stream calculator No — — — 28
USER User-supplied unit operation model No Yes No Yes 29
USER2 User-supplied unit operation model No Yes No Yes 29
USER3 User-supplied unit operation model No Yes No Yes 29

Heating and Cooling Curve

Input Language for HCURVE

HCURVE curveno keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INDEP-VAR LIST NPOINT INCR HEADING PROPERTIES PRES-PROFILE
PDROP PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES X-SCALE Y-SCALE
WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

Input Language Guide 11-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Block Data

Input Language Description for HCURVE

HCURVE Use to enter all specifications for a single heating or cooling curve table or plot. Aspen Plus
generates one table for each HCURVE sentence you enter. Multiple tables are generated by
entering multiple HCURVE sentences, each with a different curve number. You can use only one of
the keywords (LIST, NPOINT, or INCR) in an HCURVE sentence. The default is NPOINT=10. See
Table 11.1 for more information about unit operation models.
curveno........................... Curve number
INDEP-VAR ..................... Independent variable used to generate intermediate points:
INDEP-VAR=TEMP .................. Temperature
INDEP-VAR=VFRAC................ Vapor fraction
INDEP-VAR=DUTY .................. Heat duty (Default)
LIST ................................. List of independent variable point values. This list can extend beyond the
inlet and outlet values.
NPOINT ........................... Number of intermediate point values (Default=10)
INCR ................................ Increment size for the independent variable between intermediate points
HEADING ........................ String of up to 60 characters in quotes
PROPERTIES.................. List of property set IDs. (See Chapter 42.)
PRES-PROFILE .............. Pressure profile option (Default=CONSTANT)

If the PRES-PROFILE is The first point is The last point is

CONSTANT Outlet Pressure Outlet Pressure

LINEAR Inlet Pressure – PDROP Outlet Pressure
LINEAR2 Inlet Pressure Inlet Pressure – PDROP
LINEAR3 Outlet Pressure + PDROP Outlet Pressure
OUTLET Outlet Pressure Outlet Pressure
INLET Inlet Pressure Inlet Pressure
MID-POINT (Outlet + Inlet)/2 (Outlet + Inlet)/2

PDROP ............................ Pressure drop used in calculating the pressure profile (Default=0)
PRINT-PLOT ................... PRINT-PLOT=YES ................... Produces print-plots of all tabular values
(except pressure) versus the independent
variable
PRINT-PLOT=NO ..................... Does not produce print-plots (Default)
HIGH-PRECISION........... HIGH-PRECISION=YES........... Prints seven significant digits in tables
HIGH-PRECISION=NO............. Prints five significant digits in tables (Default)
LINES .............................. Number of rows of values to print in tables before printing a grid line. If
LINES=0, no grid lines are printed. The number must be between 0 and
35. (Default=5)
X-SCALE ......................... X-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on horizontal axis of plots
(Default)
X-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on horizontal axis of plots

11-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 11

Y-SCALE ......................... Y-SCALE=STANDARD............ Uses linear scale on vertical axis of plots

(Default)
Y-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on vertical axis of plots
Y-SCALE=LOG ........................ Uses logarithmic scale on vertical axis of plots
WIDE, GRID,.................... Plot options. Use to override defaults established by the PLOT-OPTIONS
INTERPOLATE paragraph. (See Chapter 47.)

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 11-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Block Data

11-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 12

12 Mixers and Splitters

This chapter describes the input language for models that mix and split streams.
The models are:
Model Description Purpose Use

MIXER Stream mixer Combine streams into one Mixing tees; stream mixing operations;
stream adding heat streams; adding work streams
FSPLIT Stream splitter Split stream flows Stream splitters; bleed valves
SSPLIT Substream splitter Divide inlet streams into Stream splitters; perfect fluid-solid separators
component substreams
SEP Component separator Separate inlet stream Component separation operations (such as
components into outlet streams distillation and absorption), when the details
of the separation are unknown or
unimportant
SEP2 Two-outlet component Separate inlet stream Component separation operations (such as
separation components into two outlet distillation and absorption), when the details
streams of the separation are unknown or
unimportant

Input Language Guide 12-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Mixers and
Splitters

MIXER
Stream Mixer

Input Language for MIXER

BLOCK blockid MIXER
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PRES NPHASE PHASE MAXIT TOL T-EST

Input Language Description for MIXER

PARAM Use to specify the outlet conditions. If you do not specify the outlet pressure, it defaults to the
minimum pressure of the inlet streams.
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0 .................................. Pressure drop (Default=0)
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE = 1 ............................. One-phase calculation
NPHASE = 2 ............................. Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE = 3 ............................. Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Specifies phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE = V ............................... Vapor (Default)
PHASE = L................................ Liquid
PHASE = S ............................... Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
T-EST .............................. Temperature estimate. Use to aid convergence.

12-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 12

Accessing Variables in MIXER

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following table lists variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables

PARAM PRES, MAXIT, TOL, T-EST

FSPLIT
Stream Splitter

Input Language for FSPLIT

BLOCK blockid FSPLIT
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PRES NPHASE PHASE MAXIT TOL

FRAC sid frac / . . .

basis-FLOW sid flow [keyno] / . . .
VOL-FLOW sid flow / . . .
basis-LIMIT sid flow / . . .
VOL-LIMIT sid flow / . . .
basis-C-LIM sid flow / . . .
VOL-C-LIM sid flow / . . .
R-FRAC sid frac / . . .
STREAM-ORDER sid order / . . .
DEF-KEY KEYNO=keyno SUBSTREAM=ssid COMPS=cid-list / &
SUBSTREAM=ssid COMPS=cid-list / . . .

Input Language Guide 12-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Mixers and
Splitters

Input Language Description for FSPLIT

PARAM Use to specify outlet conditions. If you do not specify the pressure, it defaults to the minimum
pressure of the inlet streams.
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0 .................................. Pressure drop (Default=0)
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE = 1 ............................. One-phase calculation
NPHASE = 2 ............................. Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE = 3 ............................. Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE = V ............................... Vapor (Default)
PHASE = L................................ Liquid
PHASE=S ................................. Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
FRAC Use to specify the fraction of the inlet stream going to an outlet stream.
sid ................................... Outlet stream ID
frac .................................. Split fraction
basis-FLOW Use to specify the flow rate on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis of an outlet stream. If a key is
given, use to specify the flow rate of a subset of components in an outlet stream. You cannot use
STDVOL basis if any solid substreams are present. You can use only MASS basis if a substream
type NC is present.
sid ................................... Outlet stream ID
flow ................................. Flow rate
keyno .............................. Key number
VOL-FLOW Use to specify the actual volumetric flow rate of an outlet stream.
sid ................................... Outlet stream ID
flow ................................. Actual volumetric flow rate
basis-LIMIT Use to specify the limit flow rate on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis of an outlet stream. You
cannot use STDVOL basis if any solid substreams are present. You can use only MASS basis if a
substream of type NC is present.
sid ................................... Outlet stream ID
flow ................................. Limit flow rate
VOL-LIMIT Use to specify the actual volumetric limit flow rate of an outlet stream.
sid ................................... Outlet stream ID
flow ................................. Actual volumetric limit flow rate

12-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 12

basis-C-LIM Use to specify the cumulative limit flow rate on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis of an outlet
stream. You cannot use STDVOL basis if any solid substreams are present. You can use only MASS
basis if a substream type NC is present.
sid.................................... Outlet stream ID
flow.................................. Cumulative limit flow rate
VOL-C-LIM Use to specify the actual volumetric cumulative limit flow rate of an outlet stream.
sid.................................... Outlet stream ID
flow.................................. Actual volumetric cumulative limit flow rate
R-FRAC Similar to FRAC, except use to specify the fraction of the residue going into an outlet stream. In
this case, the residue is the flow of the inlet remaining after all other specifications (FRAC, basis-
FLOW, VOL-FLOW, basis-LIMIT, VOL-LIMIT, basis-C-LIM, and VOL-C-LIM) are satisfied.
sid.................................... Outlet stream ID
frac .................................. Split fraction
STREAM-ORDER Use to specify order of flow split calculation for outlet streams.
sid.................................... Outlet stream ID
order................................ Order of flow split calculation for outlet streams. Use numbers 1 to the
number of outlet streams to specify the order.
DEF-KEY Use to define the keys by associating a component or a group of components with a key number.
One DEF-KEY statement is required for each key defined.
keyno............................... Key number
ssid.................................. Substream ID (Default=MIXED)
cid-list ............................. List of component IDs

Input Language Guide 12-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Mixers and
Splitters

Accessing Variables in FSPLIT

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following table lists variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1

PARAM PRES, MAXIT, TOL —

FRAC FRAC sid
basis-FLOW FLOW sid
VOL-FLOW FLOW sid
basis-LIMIT FLOW sid
VOL-LIMIT FLOW sid
basis-C-LIM FLOW sid
VOL-C-LIM FLOW sid
R-FRAC FRAC sid

12-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 12

SSPLIT
Substream Splitter

Input Language for SSPLIT

BLOCK blockid SSPLIT
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PRES NPHASE PHASE MAXIT TOL

FRAC ssid sid frac / sid frac / . . .

basis-FLOW ssid sid flow keyno / sid flow keyno / . . .
DEF-KEY KEYNO=keyno COMPS=cid-list

Input Language Description for SSPLIT

PARAM Use to specify outlet conditions. If you do not specify the pressure, it defaults to the minimum
pressure of the inlet streams.
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0.................................. Pressure drop (Default=0)
NPHASE .......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE = 1 ............................. One-phase calculation
NPHASE = 2 ............................. Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE = 3 ............................. Three-phase flash
PHASE............................. Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE = V ............................... Vapor (Default)
PHASE = L ............................... Liquid
PHASE = S ............................... Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
FRAC Use to specify the fraction of the inlet stream going to an outlet stream.
ssid.................................. Substream ID
sid.................................... Outlet stream ID
frac .................................. Split fraction

Input Language Guide 12-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Mixers and
Splitters

basis-FLOW Use to specify the flow rate on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis of an outlet stream. If a key is
given, use to specify flow rate of a subset of components in an outlet stream. You cannot use
STDVOL basis if any solid substreams are present. You can use only MASS basis if a substream
type NC is present.
ssid ................................. Substream ID
sid ................................... Outlet stream ID
flow ................................. Flow rate
keyno .............................. Key number (allowed only when basis-FLOW is in MOLE or MASS basis)
DEF-KEY Use to define the keys by associating a component or a group of components with a key number.
One DEF-KEY statement is required for each key defined.
keyno .............................. Key number
cid-list ............................. List of component IDs

Accessing Variables in SSPLIT

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following table lists variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2

PARAM PRES, MAXIT, TOL — —

FRAC FRAC ssid sid
basis-FLOW FLOW ssid sid

12-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 12

SEP
Component Separator

Input Language for SEP

BLOCK blockid SEP
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PRES NPHASE PHASE MAXIT TOL

FRAC SUBSTREAM=ssid STREAM=sid COMPS=cid-list FRACS=frac-list

basis-FLOW SUBSTREAM=ssid STREAM=sid COMPS=cid-list FLOWS=flow-list
FLASH-SPECS sid keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES DELT VFRAC
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE FREE-WATER MAXIT TOL KODE T-EST P-EST

UTILITY UTILITY-ID=utilityid

Input Language Description for SEP

PARAM Use to specify block pressure and inlet flash options. If you do not specify the pressure, it defaults to
the minimum pressure of the inlet streams. If an outlet stream pressure is different from the block
pressure, use the FLASH-SPECS sentence to specify the outlet pressure.
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0.................................. Pressure drop (Default=0)
NPHASE .......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE = 1 ............................. One-phase calculation
NPHASE = 2 ............................. Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE = 3 ............................. Three-phase flash
PHASE............................. Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE = V ............................... Vapor (Default)
PHASE = L ............................... Liquid
PHASE = S ............................... Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)

Input Language Guide 12-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Mixers and
Splitters

FRAC Use to specify the fraction of components in the inlet going to an outlet stream.
sid ................................... Outlet stream ID
ssid ................................. Substream ID (Default=MIXED)
cid-list ............................. List of component IDs
frac-list............................ List of split fractions corresponding to cid-list
basis-FLOW Use to specify the flow rate of components in an outlet stream on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL
basis. For substreams of type NC, only MASS basis is allowed. For substream of type CISOLID,
only MOLE and MASS basis are allowed.
sid ................................... Outlet stream ID
ssid ................................. Substream ID (Default=MIXED)
cid-list ............................. List of component IDs
flow-list ........................... List of component flow rates corresponding to cid-list
FLASH-SPECS Use to specify the conditions of the outlet streams. The default is a TP flash using the block
pressure and temperature.
sid ................................... Stream ID
TEMP............................... Temperature
PRES ............................... Pressure
DELT ............................... Temperature difference
VFRAC ............................ Molar vapor fraction. Enter 0.0 for bubble point, 1.0 for dew point. For
subcooled liquid or superheated vapor, use TEMP and PRES
specifications.
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE = 1 ............................. One-phase calculation
NPHASE = 2 ............................. Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE = 3 ............................. Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE = V ............................... Vapor (Default)
PHASE = L................................ Liquid
PHASE = S ............................... Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
FREE-WATER ................. Use to override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph. (See Chapter 46.) Or use to override the BLOCK-OPTIONS
sentence of the block paragraph. (See Chapter 11.)
FREE-WATER = NO................. Does not perform free-water calculations.
FREE-WATER = YES............... Performs free-water calculations.
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)

12-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 12

KODE............................... KODE=NOFLASH .................... Suppresses flash calculations

(Default=performs flash calculations)
T-EST............................... Temperature estimate for outlet stream. Use to aid convergence when
PRES and VFRAC are specified.
P-EST .............................. Pressure estimate for outlet stream. Use to aid convergence when TEMP
and VFRAC are specified.
UTILITY Use to specify an optional utility to provide heating or cooling duty.
UTILITY-ID....................... Utility ID.

Accessing Variables in SEP

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following table lists variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 Element

PARAM PRES, MAXIT, TOL — — —

FRAC FRACS ssid sid †

basis-FLOW FLOWS ssid sid †

FLASH-SPECS TEMP, PRES, DELT, VFRAC, T-EST, P-EST, sid — —

MAXIT, TOL
† Component number of a component in the COMPS cid-list

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Heat duty RESULTS QCALC

Input Language Guide 12-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Mixers and
Splitters

SEP2
Two-Outlet Component Separator

Input Language for SEP2

BLOCK blockid SEP2
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PRES NPHASE PHASE MAXIT TOL

STREAM-FRAC ssid sid frac / . . .

STREAM-MOLE-FLOW ssid sid flow / . . .
STREAM-MASS-FLOW ssid sid flow / . . .
STREAM-STDVOL-FLOW [MIXED] sid flow / . . .
FRAC [SUBSTREAM=ssid] STREAM=sid COMPS=cid-list FRACS=frac-list
basis-FLOW [SUBSTREAM=ssid] STREAM=sid COMPS=cid-list FLOWS=flow-list
MOLE-FRAC [SUBSTREAM=ssid] STREAM=sid COMPS=cid-list FRACS=frac-list
MASS-FRAC [SUBSTREAM=ssid] STREAM=sid COMPS=cid-list FRACS=frac-list
FLASH-SPECS sid keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES DELT VFRAC
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE FREE-WATER MAXIT TOL KODE T-EST P-EST

UTILITY UTILITY-ID=utilityid

Input Language Description for SEP2

PARAM Use to specify the block pressure and inlet flash options. If you do not specify the pressure, it
defaults to the minimum pressure of the inlet streams. If an outlet stream pressure is different
from the block pressure, use the FLASH-SPECS sentence to specify the outlet pressure.
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0 .................................. Pressure drop (Default=0)
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE = 1 ............................. One-phase calculation
NPHASE = 2 ............................. Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE = 3 ............................. Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE = V ............................... Vapor (Default)
PHASE = L................................ Liquid

12-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 12

PHASE = S ............................... Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.

MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
STREAM-FRAC Use to specify the fraction of the inlet stream going to an outlet stream. For a substream of type
MIXED or CISOLID, the basis is assumed to be MOLE. For a substream of type NC, the basis is
assumed to be MASS.
ssid.................................. Substream ID (Default=MIXED)
sid.................................... Outlet stream ID
frac .................................. Split fraction
STREAM-MOLE-FLOW Use to specify the molar flow rate of an outlet stream. You cannot use this specification for a
substream of type NC.
ssid.................................. Substream ID (Default=MIXED)
sid.................................... Outlet stream ID
flow.................................. Molar flow rate
STREAM-MASS-FLOW Use to specify the mass flow rate of an outlet stream. You can use this specification for any type of
substream.
ssid.................................. Substream ID (Default=MIXED)
sid.................................... Outlet stream ID
flow.................................. Mass flow rate
STREAM-STDVOL-FLOW Use to specify the standard liquid-volume flow rate of an outlet stream. You can only use this
specification for substreams of type MIXED.
sid.................................... Outlet stream ID
flow.................................. Standard liquid-volume flow rate
FRAC Use to specify the fraction of components in the inlet stream going to an outlet stream.
ssid.................................. Substream ID (Default=MIXED)
sid.................................... Outlet stream ID
cid-list ............................. List of component IDs
frac-list ............................ List of split fractions corresponding to cid-list
basis-FLOW Use to specify the flow rates of components in an outlet stream on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL
basis. For substreams of type NC, only MASS basis is allowed. For substreams of type CISOLID,
only MOLE and MASS bases are allowed.
ssid.................................. Substream ID (Default=MIXED)
sid.................................... Outlet stream ID
cid-list ............................. List of component IDs
flow-list ........................... List of component flow rates corresponding to cid-list
MOLE-FRAC Use to specify the mole fractions of components in an outlet stream. You cannot use this
specification for a substream of type NC.
ssid.................................. Substream ID (Default=MIXED)

Input Language Guide 12-13

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Mixers and
Splitters

sid ................................... Outlet stream ID

cid-list ............................. List of component IDs
frac-list............................ List of component mole fractions corresponding to cid-list
MASS-FRAC Use to specify the mass fractions of components in a substream of an outlet stream. You can use
this specification for any type of substream.
ssid ................................. Substream ID (Default=MIXED)
sid ................................... Outlet stream ID
cid-list ............................. List of component IDs
frac-list............................ List of component mass fractions corresponding to cid-list
FLASH-SPECS Use to specify the conditions of the outlet streams. The default is a TP flash using the block
pressure and temperature.
sid ................................... Stream ID
TEMP............................... Temperature
PRES ............................... Pressure
DELT ............................... Temperature difference
VFRAC ............................ Molar vapor fraction. Enter 0.0 for bubble point, 1.0 for dew point. For
subcooled liquid or superheated vapor, use TEMP and PRES
specifications.
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE = 1 ............................. One-phase calculation
NPHASE = 2 ............................. Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE = 3 ............................. Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE = V ............................... Vapor (Default)
PHASE = L................................ Liquid
PHASE = S ............................... Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
FREE-WATER ................. Use to override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph. (See Chapter 46.) Or use it to override the BLOCK-OPTIONS
sentence of the BLOCK paragraph. (See Chapter 11.)
FREE-WATER = NO................. Does not perform free-water calculations
FREE-WATER = YES............... Performs free-water calculations
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
KODE .............................. KODE=NOFLASH .................... Suppresses flash calculations
(Default=performs flash calculations)
T-EST .............................. Temperature estimate for the outlet stream. Use to aid convergence when
PRES and VFRAC are specified.

12-14 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 12

P-EST .............................. Pressure estimate for the outlet stream. Use to aid convergence when
TEMP and VFRAC are specified.
UTILITY Use to specify an optional utility to provide heating or cooling duty.
UTILITY-ID....................... Utility ID.

Accessing Variables in SEP2

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following table lists variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 Element

PARAM PRES, MAXIT, TOL — — —

STREAM-FRAC FRAC ssid sid —
STREAM- MOLE-FLOW FLOW ssid sid —
STREAM- MASS-FLOW FLOW ssid sid —
STREAM- STDVOL-FLOW FLOW MIXED sid —
FRAC FRACS ssid sid †

basis-FLOW FLOWS ssid sid †

MOLE-FRAC FRACS ssid sid †

MASS-FRAC FRACS ssid sid †

FLASH-SPECS TEMP, PRES, DELT, VFRAC, T-EST, P-EST, sid — —

MAXIT, TOL
† Position of a component in the COMPS cid-list

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Heat duty RESULTS QCALC

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 12-15

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Mixers and
Splitters

12-16 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

13 Flashes, Heaters, and

Heat Exchangers
This chapter describes the input language for models that simulate flash and
heat exchange operations, including models you can use as interfaces to the
B-JAC thermal design programs and the HTRI IST program. You can generate
heating or cooling curve tables for all models described in this chapter. The
models are:
Model Description Purpose Use

HEATER Heater or Determines thermal and phase Heaters, coolers, valves. Pumps and compressors, when
cooler conditions work-related results are not needed. One or two outlet
material streams (second for optional water decant stream).
FLASH2 Two-outlet Determines thermal and phase Flashes, evaporators, knockout drums, and single stage
flash conditions separators. Two or three outlet material streams (first for
vapor, second for liquid, third for optional water decant
stream).
FLASH3 Three-outlet Determines thermal and phase Decanters, single-stage separators with two liquid phases.
flash conditions Three outlet material streams (first for vapor, second for first-
liquid, third for second-liquid).
DECANTER Liquid-liquid Determines thermal and phase Decanters, single-stage separators with two liquid phases and
decanter conditions no vapor phase
HEATX Two-stream Exchange heat between two Two-stream heat exchangers. Rating shell and tube heat
heat streams exchangers when geometry is known.
exchanger
MHEATX Multi-stream Exchange heat between any Multiple hot and cold stream heat exchangers. Two-stream
heat number of streams heat exchangers. LNG exchangers.
exchanger

continued

Input Language Guide 13-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

Flashes, Heaters, and Heat Exchanger Models (continued)

Model Description Purpose Use

HXFLUX Heat transfer calculation using Perform heat transfer Two single-sided heat exchangers
convective heat transfer calculations between a heat
source and a heat sink
HETRAN Shell and tube heat exchanger Provides interface to the B-JAC Shell and tube heat exchangers, including
Hetran shell and tube heat kettle reboilers
exchanger program
AEROTRAN Air-cooled heat exchanger Provides interface to the B-JAC Cross-flow heat exchangers, including air
Aerotran air-cooled heat coolers
exchanger program
HTRIXIST Shell and tube heat exchanger Provides interface to HTRI's Shell and tube heat exchangers, including
XIST shell and tube heat kettle reboilers
exchanger program

13-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

HEATER
Heater/Cooler

Input Language for HEATER

BLOCK blockid HEATER
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC DUTY DELT DEGSUB DEGSUP
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE MAXIT TOL T-EST P-EST

HCURVE curveno keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INDEP-VAR LIST NPOINT INCR HEADING PROPERTIES PRES-PROFILE
PDROP PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES X-SCALE Y-SCALE
WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

UTILITY UTILITY-ID=utilityid

Input Language Description for HEATER

PARAM Use to specify outlet conditions of the heater.
TEMP ............................... Temperature
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0.................................. Pressure drop (Default=0)
VFRAC............................. Molar vapor fraction. Enter 0.0 for bubble point, 1.0 for dew point. For
subcooled or superheated vapor use TEMP, DEGSUB, or DEGSUP
specifications. VFRAC is allowed only when NPHASE >1.
DUTY ............................... Heat duty
DELT................................ Temperature change
DEGSUB.......................... Degrees of subcooling
DEGSUP.......................... Degrees of superheat
NPHASE .......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 .............................. Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash

Input Language Guide 13-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:

PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid
PHASE=S ................................. Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
T-EST .............................. Temperature estimate. Use to aid convergence when PRES and either
VFRAC or DUTY are specified.
P-EST .............................. Pressure estimate. Use to aid convergence when temperature (one of
TEMP, DELT, DEGSUB, or DEGSUP) and either VFRAC or DUTY are
specified.
HCURVE Use to generate heating or cooling curve tables and plots. See Chapter 11 for a description of the
input keywords.
UTILITY Use to specify an optional utility to provide heating or cooling duty.
UTILITY-ID ...................... Utility ID.

Accessing Variables in HEATER

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1

PARAM TEMP, PRES, VFRAC, DUTY, DELT, DEGSUB, DEGSUP, MAXIT, TOL, T-EST, P-EST —
HCURVE NPOINT, INCR, PDROP curveno

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Heat duty PARAM QCALC

Net heat duty RESULTS NET-DUTY

13-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

FLASH2
Two-Outlet Flash

Input Language for FLASH2

BLOCK blockid FLASH2
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC DUTY
Optional keywords:
NPHASE ENTRN MAXIT TOL T-EST P-EST

FRAC ssid frac

HCURVE curveno keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INDEP-VAR LIST NPOINT INCR HEADING PROPERTIES PRES-PROFILE
PDROP PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES X-SCALE Y-SCALE
WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

UTILITY UTILITY-ID=utilityid

Input Language Description for FLASH2

PARAM Use to specify outlet conditions of the flash. You must supply two of the following variables:
temperature, pressure, vapor fraction, or heat duty. FLASH2 accepts any combination, except vapor
fraction and heat duty.
TEMP ............................... Temperature
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0.................................. Pressure drop (Default=0)
VFRAC............................. Molar vapor fraction. Enter 0.0 for bubble point, 1.0 for dew point. For
subcooled liquid or superheated vapor, use TEMP and PRES
specifications.
DUTY ............................... Heat duty
NPHASE .......................... NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
ENTRN............................. Fraction of liquid entrained in vapor stream (Default=0)
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.)
(See Chapter 46.)

Input Language Guide 13-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-

OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
T-EST .............................. Temperature estimate. Use to aid convergence when PRES and either
VFRAC or DUTY are specified.
P-EST .............................. Pressure estimate. Use to aid convergence when TEMP and either
VFRAC or DUTY are specified.
FRAC Use to specify solid entrainment in vapor stream for each substream.
ssid ................................. Substream ID
frac .................................. Fraction of total inlet solids in the specified substream, placed into the
corresponding substream of the vapor outlet stream
HCURVE Use to generate heating or cooling curve tables and plots. See Chapter 11 for a description of the
input keywords.
UTILITY Use to specify an optional utility to provide heating or cooling duty.
UTILITY-ID ...................... Utility ID.

Accessing Variables in FLASH2

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1

PARAM TEMP, PRES, VFRAC, DUTY, ENTRN, MAXIT, TOL, T-EST, P-EST —
FRAC FRAC ssid
HCURVE NPOINT, INCR, PDROP curveno

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Heat duty PARAM QCALC

Net heat duty PARAM NET-DUTY

13-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

FLASH3
Three-Outlet Flash

Input Language for FLASH3

BLOCK blockid FLASH3
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC DUTY
Optional keywords:
L2-COMP MAXIT TOL T-EST P-EST

ENTRN liqno entrn / . . .

FRAC ssid keyword=value

Keywords:
VAPOR LIQUID1

HCURVE curveno keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INDEP-VAR LIST NPOINT INCR HEADING PROPERTIES PRES-PROFILE
PDROP PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES X-SCALE Y-SCALE
WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

UTILITY UTILITY-ID=utilityid

Input Language Description for FLASH3

PARAM Use to specify outlet conditions of the flash. You must specify two of the following variables:
temperature, pressure, vapor fraction, or heat duty. FLASH3 accepts any combination, except vapor
fraction and heat duty. You can differentiate the two liquid streams by defining a key component.
TEMP ............................... Temperature
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0.................................. Pressure drop (Default=0)
VFRAC............................. Molar vapor fraction. Enter 0.0 for bubble point, 1.0 for dew point. For
subcooled liquid or superheated vapor, use TEMP and PRES
specifications.
DUTY ............................... Heat duty

Input Language Guide 13-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

L2-COMP......................... Key component ID. The liquid phase with the larger mole fraction of the
key component is placed in the second-liquid stream. If you do not specify
a key component, the liquid phase with the higher density is placed in the
second-liquid stream. If only one liquid phase exists, it is placed in the
first-liquid stream.
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.)
(See Chapter 46.)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
T-EST .............................. Temperature estimate. Use to aid convergence when PRES and either
VFRAC or DUTY are specified.
P-EST .............................. Pressure estimate. Use to aid convergence when TEMP and either
VFRAC or DUTY are specified.
ENTRN Use to specify the fraction of each liquid phase that is entrained in the vapor.
liqno ................................ 1 ................................................ First-liquid phase
2 ................................................ Second-liquid phase
entrn................................ Fraction of the liquid phase entrained in the vapor stream
FRAC Use to specify solid entrainment in vapor and liquid streams for each substream.
ssid ................................. Substream ID
VAPOR ............................ Fraction of total inlet solids in the specified substream, placed in the
corresponding substream of the vapor outlet stream
LIQUID1........................... Fraction of total inlet solids in the specified substream, placed in the
corresponding substream of the first-liquid outlet stream
HCURVE Use to generate heating or cooling curve tables and plots. See Chapter 11 for a description of the
input keywords.
UTILITY Use to specify an optional utility to provide heating or cooling duty.
UTILITY-ID ...................... Utility ID.

13-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

Accessing Variables in FLASH3

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1

PARAM TEMP, PRES, VFRAC, DUTY, MAXIT, TOL, T-EST, P-EST —

ENTRN ENTRN liqno
FRAC VAPOR, LIQUID1 ssid
HCURVE NPOINT, INCR, PDROP curveno

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Heat duty PARAM QCALC

Net heat duty PARAM NET-DUTY

Input Language Guide 13-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

DECANTER
Liquid-Liquid Decanter

Input Language for DECANTER

BLOCK blockid DECANTER
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
PRES TEMP DUTY L2-COMPS
Optional keywords:
L2-CUTOFF KLL-CORR BASIS LL-METH MAXIT TOL

COEF-KLL cid coeffa coeffb coeffc coeffd / . . .

SEP-EFF cid eff / . . .
SOLID-FRAC sid frac / . . .
PHASE-PROPS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
L1OPSET L1SOLU-WATER L1HENRY-COMP L1CHEMISTRY
L2OPSET L2SOLU-WATER L2HENRY-COMP L2CHEMISTRY

HCURVE curveno keyword=value

Option keywords:
INDEP-VAR LIST NPOINT INCR HEADING PROPERTIES
PRES-PROFILE PDROP PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES
X-SCALE Y-SCALE WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

SUBROUTINE subrname
USER-VEC keyword=value

Keywords:
NINT NREAL NIWORK NWORK KLL-INT KLL-REAL

UTILITY UTILITY-ID=utilityid

Input Language Description for DECANTER

PARAM Use to specify decanter outlet conditions. You must specify pressure. You must specify either
temperature or duty. You can differentiate the two outlet liquid streams by specifying the key
components in the second-liquid phase. You can also specify the phase-splitting calculation method
and convergence parameters.
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0 .................................. Pressure drop (Default=0)

13-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

TEMP ............................... Temperature

DUTY ............................... Heat duty
L2-COMPS ...................... Key component IDs. The liquid phase with the larger sum of mole
fractions of the key components is placed in the second-liquid stream. If
you do not specify L2-COMPS, the liquid phase with the higher density is
placed in the second-liquid stream. If only one liquid phase exists, the L2-
CUTOFF value determines into which stream the single-outlet liquid
phase is placed.
L2-CUTOFF ..................... Use only if L2-COMPS is specified, and only one liquid phase is present.
It determines into which stream the single-outlet liquid phase is placed. If
the sum of mole fractions of components specified as L2-COMPS is larger
than the L2-CUTOFF value, the liquid is placed in the second outlet
stream. (Default=0.5)
KLL-CORR ...................... Correlation for distribution coefficients (KLL=X2/X1). If you do not specify
KLL-CORR, KLL is computed from the property option set specified for
the block.
KLL-CORR=SUBROUTINE ..... Uses user-supplied FORTRAN subroutine
KLL-CORR=POLYNOMIAL ..... Uses built-in logarithmic polynomial in terms of
temperature. The BASIS keyword defines the
basis of the computed KLL values.
BASIS .............................. Basis of distribution coefficient (KLL) when KLL-CORR=POLYNOMIAL:
BASIS=MOLE........................... Mole basis (Default)
BASIS=MASS........................... Mass basis
LL-METH ......................... Phase-splitting calculation method:
LL-METH=EQ-SOLVE.............. Equates liquid fugacities (Default)
LL-METH=GIBBS..................... Gibbs free-energy minimization
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of iterations (Default=30)
TOL.................................. Convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-4)
COEF-KLL Use to specify coefficients for the built-in polynomial KLL expression. COEF-KLL is only allowed
when KLL-CORR=POLYNOMIAL.
cid.................................... Component ID
coeffa, coeffb,................. Coefficients of the KLL expression, which is defined as:
coeffc, coeffd coeffb
ln( KLL ) = coeffa + + coeffc × ln(T ) + coeffd × T
T
Where:
KLL = Liquid-liquid equilibrium K-value
T = Temperature in Kelvin
Enter an asterisk (*) if value is missing

Input Language Guide 13-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

SEP-EFF Use to enter values for separation efficiency by component. The following expression defines
efficiency: X iL2 = (eff ) i KLLi X iL1
Where:
KLL = Liquid-liquid equilibrium K-value
L1 = Liquid1 mole fraction
X
X L2 = Liquid2 mole fraction

i = Component index
cid ................................... Component ID
eff .................................... Efficiency (Default=1.0)
SOLID-FRAC Use to specify solid entrainment in the first outlet liquid phase.
sid ................................... Substream ID
frac .................................. Fraction of total inlet solids in the specified substream. This fraction is
placed into the corresponding substream of the first-liquid outlet stream.
(Default=0)
PHASE-PROPS Use to override property options for each of the two outlet streams.
L1OPSET ........................ Option set name for the first-liquid phase
L1SOLU-WATER ............ Method for calculating K-value of water. (See Chapter 8.)
L1HENRY-COMP ............ Henry's law component list ID for the first-liquid phase. (See Chapter 8.)
L1CHEMISTRY ............... Chemistry ID for the first-liquid phase. (See Chapter 5.)
L2OPSET ........................ Option set name for the second-liquid phase
L2SOLU-WATER ............ Method for calculating K-value of water for the second-liquid phase.
(See Chapter 8.)
L2HENRY-COMP ............ Henry's law component list ID for the second-liquid phase.
(See Chapter 8.)
L2CHEMISTRY ............... Chemistry ID for the second-liquid phase. (See Chapter 5.)
HCURVE Use to generate heating or cooling curve tables and plots for decanter. See Chapter 11 for a
description of input keywords.
Note: INDEP-VAR=VFRAC is not allowed for DECANTER.
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied KLL subroutine. SUBROUTINE is only allowed when
KLL-CORR=SUBROUTINE. For details on writing a user-supplied KLL subroutine, see Aspen Plus
User Models, Chapter 16.
subrname........................ User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name
USER-VEC Use to define the length of arrays for the user-supplied KLL subroutine.
NINT ................................ Length of integer parameter array
NREAL ............................ Length of real parameter array
NIWORK.......................... Length of integer workspace array
NWORK........................... Length of real workspace array
KLL-INT........................... List of integer values for integer parameter array
KLL-REAL ....................... List of real values for real parameter array

13-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

UTILITY Use to specify an optional utility to provide heating or cooling duty.

UTILITY-ID....................... Utility ID.

Accessing Variables in DECANTER

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1

PARAM PRES, TEMP, DUTY, L2-CUTOFF, MAXIT, TOL —

COEF-KLL COEFFA, COEFFB, COEFFC, COEFFD cid
SOLID-FRAC FRAC sid
HCURVE NPOINT, INCR, PDROP curveno

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Outlet temperature SCAL-RESULTS TCALC

Duty SCAL-RESULTS QCALC
Net heat duty SCAL-RESULTS NET-DUTY

Input Language Guide 13-13

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

HEATX
Two-Stream Heat Exchanger

Input Language for HEATX

BLOCK blockid HEATX
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
CALC-METHOD CALC-TYPE T-HOT T-COLD DUTY AREA
DELT-HOT DELT-COLD DEGSUB-HOT DEGSUP-COLD
VFRAC-HOT VFRAC-COLD DECR-HOT INCR-COLD MIN-OUT-TAPP
Optional keywords:
TYPE NUM-SHELLS U-OPTION USER-SUBR-OPT F-OPTION FT-MIN
LMTD-CORRECT PRES-HOT PRES-COLD TUBE-DP-FCORR TUBE-DP-HCORR
P-UPDATE NPOINTS ALLOW-TCROSS MAXIT ALGORITHM Q-ESTIMATE
TEMP-TOL PRES-TOL AREA-TOL MIN-TAPP SILVER-GHALY
MAX-NSHELLS MIN-FLS-PTS MIN-HRC-PTS SCUT-INTVLS CALC-NSHELLS
USE-OLD-NTU FC-USE-AVTD UA

FEEDS HOT=sid COLD=sid

PRODUCTS HOT=sid COLD=sid
DECANT-STREAMS [HOT=sid] [COLD=sid]
REFERENCE utilityside=utilityid

Utility side specifications:

HOT-UTIL COLD-UTIL

HEAT-TR-COEF keyword=value

Optional keywords:
U SCALE REF-SIDE FLOW-BASIS REF-VALUE EXPONENT
basis-RFLOW L-L B-L V-L L-B B-B V-B L-V B-V V-V

HOT-SIDE keyword=value
COLD-SIDE keyword=value

Keywords:
SHELL-TUBE H-OPTION DP-OPTION
Optional keywords:
H-SCALE FLOW-BASIS REF-VALUE EXPONENT basis-RFLOW H H-L H-
B H-V MAX-DP DP-SCALE FOUL-FACTOR

CROSSFLOW keyword=value

Optional keywords:
TUBE-MIXED SHELL-MIXED

13-14 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

EQUIP-SPECS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
TUBE-NPASS TEMA-TYPE BAFFLE-TYPE ORIENTATION TUBE-FLOW
SHELL-DIAM SHELL-BND-SP

TUBES keyword=value

Keywords:
TOTAL-NUMBER NUMBER-ROWS TUBE-TYPE LENGTH INSIDE-DIAM
OUTSIDE-DIAM
Optional keywords:
NOMINAL-SIZE BWG WALL-THICK PITCH PATTERN MATERIAL TCOND

NOZZLES keyword=value

Optional keywords:
SNOZ-INDIAM SNOZ-OUTDIAM TNOZ-INDIAM TNOZ-OUTDIAM

SEGB-SHELL keyword=value

Optional keywords:
NBAFFLE NSEAL-STRIP TUBES-IN-WIN BAFFLE-CUT SHELL-BFL-SP TUBE-
BFL-SP MID-BFL-SP IN-BFL-SP OUT-BFL-SP

RODB-SHELL keyword=value

Optional keywords:
NBAFFLE MID-BFL-SP RING-INDIAM RING-OUTDIAM ROD-DIAM
ROD-LENGTH

FINS keyword=value

Keywords:
AREA-RATIO EFFICIENCY
Optional keywords:
ROOT-DIAM NPER-LENGTH THICKNESS HEIGHT

HETRAN-PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
INPUT-FILE
Optional keywords:
SAV-HOT-STRM SAV-CLD-STRM SAV-DSG-PARM SAV-ANA-PARM

HOT-PCURVE keyword=value

Optional keywords:
GENERATE UPDATE INDP-DEV TYPE

Input Language Guide 13-15

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

COLD-PCURVE keyword=value

Optional keywords:
GENERATE UPDATE INDP-DEV TYPE

BJAC-INPUTS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
HOT-FOULING HOT-FILM HOT-PFACTOR HOT-FFACTOR HOT-MAX-DP
COLD-FOULING COLD-FILM COLD-PFACTOR COLD-FFACTOR COLD-MAX-DP
FOUL-OPTION FOUL-RATIO

PROPERTIES opsetname keyword=value [ / opsetname keyword=value ]

Optional keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS

FLASH-SPECS sid keyword=value

Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE FREE-WATER MAXIT TOL

HOT-HCURVE curveno keyword=value

COLD-HCURVE curveno keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INDEP-VAR LIST NPOINT INCR HEADING PROPERTIES PRES-PROFILE
PDROP PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES X-SCALE Y-SCALE WIDE
GRID INTERPOLATE

REPORT PROFILE
SUBROUTINE keyword=value

Optional keywords:
HEAT-TR-COEF LMTD-CORRECT TUBE-DP-HLDP TUBE-DP-PDRP

USER-VECS

Optional keywords:
NINTU NREALU NIWRKU NWRKU NINTF NREALF NIWRKF NWRKF
NINTH NREALH NIWRKH NWRKH NINTT NREALT NIWRKT NWRKT

USER-INT-U value-list
USER-REAL-U value-list
USER-INT-F value-list
USER-REAL-F value-list
USER-INT-H value-list
USER-REAL-H value-list
USER-INT-T value-list
USER-REAL-T value-list

13-16 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

Input Language Description for HEATX

blockid ............................ Block ID
PARAM Use to enter the heat exchanger calculation specifications and convergence parameters.
CALC-METHOD .............. Method of modeling of heat exchanger
CALC-METHOD = SHORTCUT Perform shortcut design calculations (Default)
CALC-METHOD = DETAILED . Perform rigorous rating calculations for the
specified shell-and-tube heat exchanger. You
must specify exchanger geometry (EQUIP-
SPECS, TUBES, NOZZLES, and SEGB-
SHELL, RODB-SHELL, or FINS when
appropriate) when using this option.
CALC-METHOD = Perform rigorous design, rating, or simulation
HETRAN/TASC-RIG................. calculations using Aspen Hetran or HTFS
TASC.
CALC-METHOD = Perform rigorous design, rating, or simulation
AEROTRAN-RIG ...................... calculations using Aspen Aerotran.
CALC-TYPE..................... Type of heat exchanger calculation.
CALC-TYPE = DESIGN............ Select the geometry based on process conditions
CALC-TYPE = RATING............ Determine if exchanger is over or under-
surfaced based on the given geometry
CALC-TYPE = SIMULATION... Determine outlet conditions assuming surface
area is fully utilized
T-HOT .............................. Outlet temperature of the hot stream
T-COLD ........................... Outlet temperature of the cold stream
DUTY ............................... Exchanger heat duty
AREA ............................... Heat transfer area
UA.................................... User-specified UA value
DELT-HOT....................... Temperature approach at the hot stream outlet
DELT-COLD .................... Temperature approach at the cold stream outlet
DEGSUB-HOT ................. Degrees of subcooling of hot stream outlet
DEGSUP-COLD............... Degrees of superheat of cold stream outlet
VFRAC-HOT .................... Vapor fraction of hot stream outlet
VFRAC-COLD ................. Vapor fraction of cold stream outlet
DECR-HOT ...................... Temperature decrease of the hot stream
INCR-COLD ..................... Temperature increase of the cold stream
MIN-OUT-TAPP ............... Hot/cold outlet temperature approach
TYPE................................ Overall direction of flow in the exchanger:
TYPE=....................................... Countercurrent heat exchanger (Default)
COUNTERCURRENT
TYPE=COCURRENT................ Cocurrent heat exchanger

Input Language Guide 13-17

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

TYPE=MULTIPASS.................. Multiple tube passes. Simulates a system of

identical one-shell-pass, multiple-tube-pass
heat exchangers in series.
NUM-SHELLS Number of heat exchangers in series. Allowed only when
TYPE=MULTIPASS. (Default=1)
U-OPTION ....................... Overall heat transfer coefficient (U) calculation option:
U-OPTION=CONSTANT .......... Uses user-specified value for heat transfer
coefficient (Default)
U-OPTION=PHASE .................. Uses user-specified phase-based values for heat
transfer coefficient
U-OPTION=POWER-LAW ....... Uses power-law expression to calculate heat
transfer coefficient
U-OPTION=FILM-COEF........... Calculates heat transfer coefficient from film
coefficients
U-OPTION=GEOMETRY.......... Calculates heat transfer coefficient from the
user-supplied exchanger geometry
U-OPTION=USER-SUBR ......... Uses heat transfer coefficient returned by a
user-supplied subroutine
USER-SUBR-OPT ........... Calculation option for user heat transfer coefficient user-supplied
subroutine:
USER-SUBR-OPT= .................. Calculates a single heat transfer coefficient at
SINGLE the average stream conditions (Default)
USER-SUBR-OPT= .................. Calculates heat transfer coefficients for each
POINTWISE point in the area integration
F-OPTION........................ Calculation option for Log-Mean Temperature Difference (LMTD)
correction factor:
F-OPTION=CONSTANT........... Uses a user-specified value for the LMTD
correction factor (Default)
F-OPTION=GEOMETRY .......... Calculates the LMTD correction factor from the
exchanger flow configuration and stream
conditions
F-OPTION=USER-SUBR ......... Uses a user-supplied subroutine to calculate the
LMTD correction factor
F-OPTION=CALCULATED ...... Calculates the LMTD correction factor for a
system of identical one-shell-pass, multiple-
tube-pass exchangers in series. Required for
and allowed only when TYPE=MULTIPASS.
FT-MIN Minimum allowed value of the LMTD correction factor for
TYPE=MULTIPASS. If specified, and the calculated LMTD correction
factor is less than FT-MIN, HEATX issues a warning.
LMTD-CORRECT ............ User-specified LMTD correction factor (Default=1.0)
PRES-HOT ...................... PRES-HOT > 0 ......................... Outlet pressure of hot stream
PRES-HOT ≤ 0 ......................... Pressure drop of hot stream
(Default=0 N/m2)

13-18 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

PRES-COLD .................... PRES-COLD > 0....................... Outlet pressure of cold stream

PRES-COLD ≤ 0 ...................... Pressure drop of cold stream
(Default=0 N/m2)
TUBE-DP-FCORR ........... Tube-side frictional pressure-drop correlation:
TUBE-DP-FCORR=AWR ......... Angel-Welchon-Ros correlation
TUBE-DP-FCORR= .................. Beggs-Brill correlation (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
TUBE-DP-FCORR= .................. Darcy's law
DARCY
TUBE-DP-FCORR= .................. Dukler correlation
DUKLER
TUBE-DP-FCORR= .................. Hagedorn-Brown correlation
H-BROWN
TUBE-DP-FCORR= .................. Lockhart-Martinelli correlation
LOCK-MART
TUBE-DP-FCORR=ORKI......... Orkiszewski correlation
TUBE-DP-FCORR=SLACK ..... Slack correlation
TUBE-DP-FCORR= .................. Uses a user-supplied subroutine to calculate
USER-SUBR pressure-drop in two-phase flow
TUBE-DP-HCORR........... Tube-side holdup pressure-drop correlation:
TUBE-DP-HCORR=AWR......... Angel-Welchon-Ros correlation
TUBE-DP-HCORR=.................. Beggs-Brill correlation (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
TUBE-DP-HCORR=EATON..... Eaton correlation
TUBE-DP-HCORR=.................. Flanigan correlation
FLANIGAN
TUBE-DP-HCORR=H-.............. Hagedorn-Brown correlation
BROWN
TUBE-DP-HCORR=HOOG ...... Hoogendorn correlation
TUBE-DP-HCORR=HUGH....... Hughmark correlation
TUBE-DP-HCORR=.................. Lockhart-Martinelli correlation
LOCK-MART
TUBE-DP-HCORR=ORKI ........ Orkiszewski correlation
TUBE-DP-HCORR=SLACK ..... Slack correlation
TUBE-DP-HCORR=.................. Uses a user-supplied subroutine to calculate
USER-SUBR liquid holdup in two-phase flow
P-UPDATE....................... Flag to control pressure convergence:
P-UPDATE=YES ...................... Converges shellside and tube-side pressure
drops (Default)
P-UPDATE=NO ........................ Calculates pressure drops only once. Does not
apply calculated pressure drops to outlet
streams.

Input Language Guide 13-19

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

NPOINTS......................... The number of intervals per heat transfer zone for area integration
(Default=1)
ALLOW-TCROSS............ Flag to control model behavior when a temperature crossover is detected:
ALLOW-TCROSS=YES ........... Takes no special action if a temperature
crossover occurs
ALLOW-TCROSS=NO ............. Does not allow a temperature crossover. If a
temperature crossover occurs, HEATX changes
the specification to a temperature approach
using the minimum approach temperature and
recomputes the block. (Default)
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of iterations for the block convergence (Default=20)
ALGORITHM ................... Algorithm used to converge the heat exchanger calculations:
ALGORITHM=NEWTON .......... Uses the Newton method to converge all
variables simultaneously
ALGORITHM=BROYDEN ........ Uses a tearing approach with a subset of
variables converged by the Broyden method
(Default)
Q-ESTIMATE................... Initial estimate of duty for area convergence
TEMP-TOL ...................... Temperature error tolerance (Default=1x10-2 K)
PRES-TOL....................... Pressure error tolerance (Default=100 N/m2)
AREA-TOL ...................... Area error tolerance (Default=1x10-2 m2)
MIN-TAPP ....................... Minimum approach temperature (Default=1.0 K)
SILVER-GHALY .............. Flag to correct for the presence of non-condensable components:
SILVER-GHALY=YES .............. Uses the Silver-Ghaly method to correct for the
presence of non-condensable components
(Default)
SILVER-GHALY=NO................ Does not correct for the presence of non-
condensable components
MAX-NSHELLS ............... Maximum number of multipass exchangers in series
MIN-FLS-PTS .................. Minimum number of flash points used to determine the temperature/heat
load profiles
MIN-HRC-PTS ................. The number of intervals between flash points
SCUT-INTVLS ................. Whether to use shortcut LMTD interval analysis which divides the hot
and cold side temperature/heat profile into intervals and provides more
accurate overall LMTD, heat transfer coefficient, and required area
results.
SCUT-INTVLS=YES ................. Use shortcut LMTD interval analysis
SCUT-INTVLS=NO................... Do not use shortcut LMTD interval (Default)
CALC-NSHELLS ............. Whether to determine the number of exchangers in series required to
meet a specified minimum LMTD correction factor. Allowed only when
TYPE=MULTIPASS.
CALC-NSHELLS=YES............. Determine number of exchangers in series

13-20 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

CALC-NSHELLS=NO............... Do not determine number of exchangers in

series (Default)
USE-OLD-NTU ................ Correlation to use for computing FT for TEMA E shells.
USE-OLD-NTU=YES................ Use old correlation
USE-OLD-NTU=NO.................. Use new correlation (Default)
FC-USE-AVTD................. Method to determine MTD when film coefficients are computed.
FC-USE-AVTD=YES ................ Use local midpoints of each interval
FC-USE-AVTD=NO .................. Use terminal points of each interval (Default)
FEEDS, PRODUCTS, Use to identify inlet and outlet streams. You must identify hot and cold inlets and outlets and any
DECANT-STREAMS water decant streams. Exception: When a utility is specified for one side of the exchanger in the
REFERENCE sentence, do not specify inlet and outlet streams for that side.
HOT ................................. Stream ID for the hot-side
COLD............................... Stream ID for the cold-side
REFERENCE Use to specify a utility for one side of the heat exchanger. Specify only one keyword and do not
specify inlets and outlets for that side in the FEEDS and PRODUCTS sentences.
HOT-UTIL ........................ Utility ID for the hot side
COLD-UTIL...................... Utility ID for the cold side
HEAT-TR-COEF Use to specify the heat transfer coefficient.
U ...................................... User-supplied heat transfer coefficient
(Default=850.0 W/m2-K)
SCALE ............................. Correction factor to be applied to the rigorously computed heat transfer
coefficient (Default=1.0)
REF-SIDE ........................ Stream side (hot or cold) where flow will be used as the reference flow in
the power-law expression for U (Default=HOT)
FLOW-BASIS .................. Flow basis for reference flow in power-law expression for U:
FLOW-BASIS=MOLE............... Molar basis (Default)
FLOW-BASIS=MASS............... Mass basis
FLOW-BASIS=STDVOL........... Standard-liquid-volume basis
REF-VALUE..................... Factor in a power-law expression for U of the form:
U=REF-VALUE*(flow/REF-FLOW)**EXPONENT
(Default=850.0 W/m2-K)
EXPONENT ..................... Exponent in the power-law expression for U (Default=1.0)
basis-RFLOW ................. Reference flow for power-law expression in MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL
basis
L-L ................................... Phase-based heat transfer coefficient used when both the hot stream and
cold streams are liquid (Default=850 W/m2-K)
B-L ................................... Phase-based heat transfer coefficient used when the hot stream is two-
phase and the cold stream is liquid
(Default=850 W/m2-K)

Input Language Guide 13-21

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

V-L ................................... Phase-based heat transfer coefficient used when the hot stream is vapor
and the cold stream is liquid
(Default=850 W/m2-K)
L-B................................... Phase-based heat transfer coefficient used when the hot stream is liquid
and the cold stream is two-phase
(Default=850 W/m2-K)
B-B .................................. Phase-based heat transfer coefficient used when both the hot and cold
streams are two-phase (Default=850 W/m2-K)
V-B .................................. Phase-based heat transfer coefficient used when the hot stream is vapor
and the cold stream is two-phase
(Default=850 W/m2-K)
L-V................................... Phase-based heat transfer coefficient used when the hot stream is liquid
and the cold stream is vapor
(Default=850 W/m2-K)
B-V .................................. Phase-based heat transfer coefficient used when the hot stream is two-
phase and the cold stream is vapor
(Default=850 W/m2-K)
V-V................................... Phase-based heat transfer coefficient used when both the hot and cold
streams are vapor (Default=850 W/m2-K)
HOT-SIDE, Use to enter the film coefficients, the shell and tube allocation of streams, and the fouling factors.
COLD-SIDE
SHELL-TUBE .................. Side of the exchanger for the hot stream (Applies only to HOT-SIDE;
Default=SHELL)
H-OPTION ....................... Film coefficient (H) calculation flag:
H-OPTION=CONSTANT .......... Uses constant value for film coefficient
(Default)
H-OPTION=PHASE .................. Uses phase-based coefficients for film coefficient
H-OPTION=POWER-LAW ....... Uses power-law expression for film coefficient
H-OPTION=GEOMETRY.......... Calculates film coefficient from exchanger
geometry
DP-OPTION..................... Pressure drop calculation flag:
DP-OPTION=CONSTANT........ Uses constant value for pressure drop (Default)
DP-OPTION=GEOMETRY ....... Calculates pressure drop from exchanger
geometry
H-SCALE......................... Correction factor to apply to the rigorously computed film coefficient
(Default=1.0)
FLOW-BASIS .................. Flow basis for reference flow:
FLOW-BASIS=MOLE............... Uses molar flow for basis in power-law
expression for H (Default)
FLOW-BASIS=MASS............... Uses mass flow for basis in power-law
expression for H
FLOW-BASIS=STDVOL........... Uses standard liquid volume flow for basis in
power-law expression for H
REF-VALUE .................... Factor in a power-law expression for H of the form:

13-22 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

H=REF-VALUE*(flow/REF-FLOW)**EXPONENT.
Allowed only when H-OPTION=POWER-LAW.
(Default=1700.0 W/m2-K)
EXPONENT ..................... Exponent in the power-law expression for H. Allowed only when H-
OPTION=POWER-LAW. (Default=1.0)
basis-RFLOW ................. Reference flow for power-law expression in MASS, MOLE, or STDVOL
basis. Allowed only when H-OPTION=POWER-LAW.
H ...................................... User-supplied film coefficient. Allowed only when H-
OPTION=CONSTANT. (Default=1700.0 W/m2-K)
H-L ................................... Phase-based film coefficient used when the stream is liquid. Allowed only
when H-OPTION=PHASE. (Default=1700.0 W/m2-K)
H-B................................... Phase-based film coefficient used when the stream is two-phase. Allowed
only when H-OPTION=PHASE. (Default=1700.0 W/m2-K)
H-V................................... Phase-based film coefficient used when the stream is vapor. Allowed only
when H-OPTION=PHASE. (Default=1700.0 W/m2-K)
MAX-DP ........................... Maximum pressure drop expressed as a fraction of the input pressure.
Allowed only when H-OPTION=GEOMETRY. (Default=0.4)
DP-SCALE....................... Correction factor to apply to the rigorously computed pressure drop.
Allowed only when H-OPTION=GEOMETRY. (Default=1.0)
FOUL-FACTOR Fouling factor. Allowed only when H-OPTION=GEOMETRY.
(Default=0.0)
CROSSFLOW Use to specify flow patterns for crossflow exchangers.
TUBE-MIXED................... Flag indicating how the stream is mixed during flow through the tubes:
TUBE-MIXED=UNMIXED ......... Shell stream is radially unmixed during flow
through the shell. (Default)
TUBE-MIXED=.......................... Tube stream is radially mixed throughout
THROUGHOUT during flow through the tubes.
SHELL-MIXED................. Flag indicating how the stream is mixed in the exchanger:
SHELL-MIXED=UNMIXED ....... Shell stream is radially unmixed during flow
through the shell. (Default)
SHELL-MIXED=........................ Shell stream is radially mixed throughout
THROUGHOUT during flow through the shell.
EQUIP-SPECS Use to specify number of shells, number of passes, TEMA shell type, and other general physical
exchanger parameters.
TUBE-NPASS.................. Number of tube passes (Default=1)
TEMA-TYPE .................... Standard TEMA shell type:
TEMA-TYPE=E......................... TEMA E Shell (Default)
TEMA-TYPE=F ......................... TEMA F Shell
TEMA-TYPE=G ........................ TEMA G Shell
TEMA-TYPE=H......................... TEMA H Shell
TEMA-TYPE=J ......................... TEMA J Shell
TEMA-TYPE=X......................... TEMA X Shell

Input Language Guide 13-23

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

BAFFLE-TYPE ................ Type of shell baffle:

BAFFLE-TYPE= ....................... Segmental baffles (Default)
SEGMENTAL
BAFFLE-TYPE=ROD ............... ROD baffles
ORIENTATION ................ Exchanger physical orientation:
ORIENTATION= ....................... Shell is mounted horizontally (Default)
HORIZONTAL
ORIENTATION=VERTICAL ..... Shell is mounted vertically
TUBE-FLOW ................... Direction of tube-side flow for vertical exchangers:
TUBE-FLOW=UP ..................... Tube-side stream enters from the bottom of the
exchanger (Default)
TUBE-FLOW=DOWN ............... Tube-side stream enters from the top of the
exchanger
SHELL-DIAM................... Inside shell diameter (Default is calculated)
SHELL-BND-SP .............. Space between the shell and the tube bundle (Default is calculated)
TUBES Use to specify dimensions of the tube bundle.
TOTAL-NUMBER ............ Total number of tubes (Default is calculated)
NUMBER-ROWS............. Number of tube rows (Default is calculated)
TUBE-TYPE .................... Type of tube:
TYPE=BARE ............................ The tubes are bare (Default)
TYPE=FINNED ......................... The tubes are finned
LENGTH .......................... Tube length between the tubesheets (Default is calculated)
INSIDE-DIAM................... Tube inside diameter (Default is calculated)
OUTSIDE-DIAM............... Tube outside diameter (Default is calculated)
NOMINAL-SIZE ............... Outside diameter of the tubes in standard sizes:
NOMINAL-SIZE="0.25IN" ........ 1/4 inch standard tubes
NOMINAL-SIZE="0.375IN" ...... 3/8 inch standard tubes
NOMINAL-SIZE="0.5IN" .......... 1/2 inch standard tubes
NOMINAL-SIZE="0.625IN" ...... 5/8 inch standard tubes
NOMINAL-SIZE="0.75IN" ........ 3/4 inch standard tubes
NOMINAL-SIZE="0.875IN" ...... 7/8 inch standard tubes
NOMINAL-SIZE="1.0IN" .......... 1 inch standard tubes (Default)
NOMINAL-SIZE="1.25IN" ........ 1 1/4 inch standard tubes
NOMINAL-SIZE="1.5IN" .......... 1 1/2 inch standard tubes
NOMINAL-SIZE="2.0IN" .......... 2 inch standard tubes
NOMINAL-SIZE="2.5IN" .......... 2 1/2 inch standard tubes

13-24 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

BWG ................................ Birmingham wire gauge. Use to specify the thickness of the tube wall in
standard amounts. The available BWG values depend on the choice of
NOMINAL-SIZE. You cannot enter BWG if you specified WALL-THICK.
BWG=7 ..................................... 0.180 inch wall thickness
BWG=8 ..................................... 0.165 inch wall thickness
BWG=9 ..................................... 0.150 inch wall thickness
BWG=10 ................................... 0.134 inch wall thickness
BWG=11 ................................... 0.120 inch wall thickness
BWG=12 ................................... 0.109 inch wall thickness
BWG=13 ................................... 0.095 inch wall thickness
BWG=14 ................................... 0.083 inch wall thickness
BWG=15 ................................... 0.072 inch wall thickness
BWG=16 ................................... 0.065 inch wall thickness (Default)
BWG=17 ................................... 0.058 inch wall thickness
BWG=18 ................................... 0.049 inch wall thickness
BWG=19 ................................... 0.042 inch wall thickness
BWG=20 ................................... 0.035 inch wall thickness
BWG=21 ................................... 0.032 inch wall thickness
BWG=22 ................................... 0.028 inch wall thickness
BWG=23 ................................... 0.025 inch wall thickness
BWG=24 ................................... 0.022 inch wall thickness
BWG=25 ................................... 0.020 inch wall thickness
BWG=26 ................................... 0.018 inch wall thickness
BWG=27 ................................... 0.016 inch wall thickness
WALL-THICK................... Thickness of the tube wall. You cannot enter WALL-THICK if you
specified BWG.
PITCH .............................. Center-to-center distance between adjacent tubes (Default is calculated)
PATTERN ........................ Tube bank layout pattern perpendicular to shell-side fluid flow:
PATTERN=SQUARE................ (90º pitch angle) (Default)
PATTERN= ............................... (60º pitch angle)
ROT-TRIANGLE
PATTERN=ROT-SQUARE....... (45º pitch angle)
PATTERN=TRIANGLE............. (30º pitch angle)
MATERIAL....................... Tube material. See Table 13.1 for a list of tube materials.
(Default=CARBON-STEEL)
TCOND ............................ Tube thermal conductivity

Input Language Guide 13-25

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

NOZZLES Use to specify dimensions of the exchanger nozzles.

SNOZ-INDIAM ................. Diameter of the shell inlet nozzle (Default is calculated)
SNOZ-OUTDIAM ............. Diameter of the shell outlet nozzle (Default is calculated)
TNOZ-INDIAM ................. Diameter of the tube inlet nozzle (Default is calculated)
TNOZ-OUTDIAM ............. Diameter of the tube outlet nozzle (Default is calculated)
SEGB-SHELL Use to specify dimensions of segmental baffle shells. Allowed only when BAFFLE-
TYPE=SEGMENTAL.
NBAFFLE ........................ Total number of baffles in the shell (excluding flow dividers) (Default=2)
NSEAL-STRIP ................. Number of sealing strip pairs (Default=0)
TUBES-IN-WIN................ Flag for tubes present in the baffle window: YES or NO (Default=YES)
BAFFLE-CUT .................. Baffle window height as a fraction of shell inside diameter (Default=0.25)
SHELL-BFL-SP............... Space between the shell and the baffles (Default is calculated)
TUBE-BFL-SP................. Space between the tube holes and the baffle (Default is calculated)
MID-BFL-SP .................... Spacing between baffles (Default is calculated)
IN-BFL-SP ....................... Spacing between the tube-sheet and first baffle (Default is calculated)
OUT-BFL-SP ................... Spacing between the tube-sheet and last baffle (Default is calculated)
RODB-SHELL Use to specify dimensions of ROD baffle shells. Allowed only when BAFFLE-TYPE=ROD.
NBAFFLE ........................ Total number of baffles in the shell (excluding flow dividers) (Default=2)
MID-BFL-SP .................... Spacing between baffles in the shell (Default is calculated)
RING-INDIAM .................. Inside diameter of the baffle ring (Default is calculated)
RING-OUTDIAM .............. Outside diameter of the baffle ring (Default is calculated)
ROD-DIAM ...................... Diameter of the support rods (Default is calculated)
ROD-LENGTH................. Length of all support rods in a single baffle (Default is calculated)
FINS Use to specify the dimensions of tube fins. Allowed only when TUBE-TYPE=FINNED.
AREA-RATIO................... Ratio of the total outside area of the finned tube to the inside tube area
(Default is calculated)
EFFICIENCY ................... Efficiency of the finned tube (Default is calculated)
ROOT-DIAM .................... Finned tube root diameter (Default is calculated)
NPER-LENGTH............... Number of fins per unit length (Default is calculated)
THICKNESS .................... Thickness of the fins (Default is calculated)
HEIGHT ........................... Height of the fins (Default is calculated)
HETRAN-PARAM Use to enter the B-JAC or HTFS TASC file name and data saving options. Use only with PARAM
CALC-METHOD=HETRAN/TASC-RIG or CALC-METHOD=AEROTRAN-RIG .
INPUT-FILE ..................... Name of Aspen Hetran/Aerotran (*.bjt) or HTFS TASC (*.tai) input file
SAV-HOT-STRM ............. Whether to save Aspen Plus hot stream and curve data in the B-JAC or
HTFS TASC input file.
SAV-HOT-STRM=YES ............. Save data in input file (Default)
SAV-HOT-STRM=NO ............... Do not save data in input file

13-26 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

SAV-CLD-STRM.............. Whether to save Aspen Plus cold stream and curve data in the B-JAC or
HTFS TASC input file.
SAV-CLD-STRM=YES ............. Save data in input file (Default)
SAV-CLD-STRM=NO ............... Do not save data in input file
SAV-DSG-PARM ............. Whether to save final geometry information from design in the B-JAC
input file. This option is only available when using Hetran or Aerotran.
SAV-DSG-PARM=YES............. Save data in input file (Default)
SAV-DSG-PARM=NO .............. Do not save data in input file
SAV-ANA-PARM ............. Whether to save Hetran parameters from the simulation in the B-JAC or
HTFS TASC input file.
SAV-ANA-PARM=YES............. Save data in input file (Default)
SAV-ANA-PARM=NO .............. Do not save data in input file
HOT-PCURVE, Use to set parameters to control the generation of property curves for the heat exchanger program
COLD-PCURVE specified in HETRAN-PARAM. Use only with PARAM CALC-METHOD=HETRAN-RIG or
AEROTRAN-RIG.
GENERATE ..................... Determines which program generates property curves:
GENERATE=YES..................... Aspen Plus generates property curves using
parameters supplied by the B-JAC or HTFS
program. (Default)
GENERATE=-NO ..................... Property curves are read from the B-JAC or
HTFS input file.
UPDATE .......................... Controls how often Aspen Plus generates property curves:
UPDATE=ALWAYS.................. Calculates property curves at every block
execution (Default)
UPDATE=NEVER..................... Calculates property curves only at the first
block execution
UPDATE=AS-NEEDED............ Calculates property curves if the range of the
curve or the ends deviate by more than INDP-
DEV from the previous execution
INDP-DEV........................ Controls the percent deviation Aspen Plus tolerates in the independent
variable, before Aspen Plus recalculates the property curve
TYPE................................ Type of curve Aspen Plus generates
TYPE=ISOBARIC ..................... Generate an isobaric property curve for B-JAC
or HTFS program (Default)
TYPE=NON-ISOBARIC............ Generate a non-isobaric property curve for
B-JAC or HTFS program
TYPE=MULTI-ISOBAR ............ Generate three isobaric property curves for
B-JAC or HTFS program
BJAC-INPUTS Use to set B-JAC or HTFS input values. These values can be used in Aspen Plus simulation tools
such as sensitivity, design-specs, and data fit.
Use only with PARAM CALC-METHOD=HETRAN-RIG or AEROTRAN-RIG .
HOT-FOULING ................ Fouling factor for hot-side stream
HOT-FILM........................ Film coefficient for hot-side stream

Input Language Guide 13-27

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

HOT-PFACTOR............... Correction factor applied to the calculated hot-side pressure drop

HOT-FFACTOR ............... Correction factor applied to the calculated hot-side film coefficient
HOT-MAX-DP .................. Maximum allowable pressure drop to the hot-side stream
COLD-FOULING ............. Fouling factor for cold-side stream
COLD-FILM ..................... Film coefficient for cold-side stream
COLD-PFACTOR ............ Correction factor applied to the calculated cold-side pressure drop
COLD-FFACTOR ............ Correction factor applied to the calculated cold-side film coefficient
COLD-MAX-DP ............... Maximum allowable pressure drop to the cold-side stream
FOUL-OPTION ................ Method for determining maximum fouling on each side (available to
Hetran-rigorous method only)
FOUL-OPTION = PROGRAM .. Adjust hot/cold-side fouling based on actual
hot/cold fouling ratio (Default)
FOUL-OPTION = Adjust hot/cold-side fouling based on specified
ADJ-HOT-COLD....................... fouling ratio
FOUL-OPTION = Adjust hot-side fouling only
ADJ-HOT-ONLY.......................
FOUL-OPTION = Adjust cold-side fouling only
ADJ-COLD-ONLY ....................
FOUL-RATIO................... Hot/cold-side fouling ratio. (Default = 1.0) (available to Hetran-rigorous
method only)
PROPERTIES Use to override the global or flowsheet section property specifications. You can use different
physical property option sets for the hot and cold sides of the heat exchanger. If you supply one set
of property specifications, it will be used for both the hot-side and cold-side calculations. If you
supply two sets, the first will be used for the hot-side, the second for the cold-side. Any option set
name entered here must also be named in the PROPERTIES paragraph. (See Chapter 8.)
FLASH-SPECS Use to specify the flash options for the hot or cold-side of the heat exchanger. For each side of the
heat exchanger, you can specify vapor phase, liquid phase, two-phase flash, or three-phase flash
calculations.
sid ................................... Outlet stream ID. Flash specifications for the outlet stream will apply to
all flash calculations on that side of the heat exchanger.
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid
PHASE=S ................................. Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
FREE-WATER ................. Use to override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph (see Chapter 46) or the BLOCK-OPTIONS sentence of the
BLOCK paragraph (see Chapter 11).
FREE-WATER=NO................... Does not perform free-water calculations

13-28 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

FREE-WATER=YES................. Performs free-water calculations

MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
HOT-HCURVE Use to generate cooling curve tables and plots for the hot-side of the heat exchanger. See
Chapter 11 for a description of the input keywords.
COLD-HCURVE Use to generate heating curve tables and plots for the cold-side of the heat exchanger. See
Chapter 11 for a description of the input keywords.
REPORT Use to override the default report options. You can use the standard REPORT options for use
within a block (see Chapter 11) for HEATX.
reportopt ......................... Standard block report options (see Chapter 11) in addition to the
following:
PROFILE................................... Reports internal zone profiles
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied subroutines for calculating the heat transfer coefficient, LMTD
correction factor, liquid holdup, and/or pressure drop on the tube side. See Aspen Plus User Models,
Chapter 18, for a description on writing user-supplied subroutines for heat transfer coefficients and
LMTD, and Chapter 17 for liquid holdup and pressure-drop subroutines.
HEAT-TR-COEF .............. Name of user-supplied FORTRAN subroutine for heat transfer coefficient
calculations
LMTD-CORRECT ............ Name of user-supplied FORTRAN subroutine for log-mean temperature
difference correction factor calculations
TUBE-DP-HLDP .............. Name of user-supplied FORTRAN subroutine to calculate liquid holdup in
two-phase flow
TUBE-DP-PDRP .............. Name of user-supplied FORTRAN subroutine to calculate pressure-drop
in two-phase flow
USER-VECS Use to define the length of arrays for user-supplied heat transfer coefficient, LMTD, and tube-side
pressure-drop subroutines.
NINTU .............................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied heat transfer
coefficient subroutine
NREALU .......................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied heat transfer
coefficient subroutine
NIWRKU .......................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied heat transfer
coefficient subroutine
NWRKU ........................... Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied heat transfer
coefficient subroutine
NINTF .............................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied LMTD
subroutine
NREALF........................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
NIWRKF........................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied LMTD
subroutine
NWRKF............................ Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied LMTD subroutine

Input Language Guide 13-29

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

NINTH.............................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied liquid holdup
subroutine
NREALH.......................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied liquid holdup
subroutine
NIWRKH .......................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied liquid holdup
subroutine
NWRKH ........................... Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied liquid holdup
subroutine
NINTT .............................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
NREALT .......................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
NIWRKT .......................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
NWRKT ........................... Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
USER-INT-U Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user heat transfer coefficient subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of integer values
USER-REAL-U Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user heat transfer coefficient subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of real values
USER-INT-F Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user LMTD correction factor subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of integer values
USER-REAL-F Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user LMTD correction factor subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of real values
USER-INT-H Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user subroutine for tube-side liquid
holdup.
value-list ......................... List of integer values
USER-REAL-H Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user subroutine for tube-side liquid holdup.
value-list ......................... List of real values
USER-INT-T Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user subroutine for tube-side pressure
drop.
value-list ......................... List of integer values
USER-REAL-T Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user subroutine for tube-side pressure drop.
value-list ......................... List of real values

13-30 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

Table 13.1 Heat Exchanger Tube Materials

Keyword Value Material†

CARBON-STEEL Carbon Steel

C-H-MO-STEEL C-1/2 Molybdenum Steel
1-CR-H-MO 1 Cr-1/2 Mo & 1-1/4 Cr-1/2 Mo
2-Q-CR-1-MO 2-1/4 Cr-1 Mo
5-CR-H-MO 5 Cr-1/2 Mo
7-CR-H-MO 7 Cr-1/2 Mo
9-CR-1-MO 9 Cr-1 Mo
3-H-NICKEL 3-1/2 Nickel
13-CR 13 Cr
15-CR 15 Cr
17-CR 17 Cr
TP-304-SS TP 304 Stainless Steel
TP-316-SS TP 316 Stainless Steel
TP-317-SS TP 317 Stainless Steel
TP-321-SS TP 321 Stainless Steel
TP-347-SS TP 347 Stainless Steel
TP-310-SS TP 310 Stainless Steel
NICKEL-200 Nickel 200
NI-CU-400 Ni-Cu Alloy 400
NI-CR-FE-600 Ni-Cr-Fe Alloy 600
NI-FE-CR-800 Ni-Fe-Cr Alloy 800
NI-FE-CR-MO-CU-825 Ni-Fe-Cr-Mo-Cu Alloy 825
NI-MO-B Ni-Mo Alloy B
NI-MO-CR-C276 Ni-Mo-Cr Alloy C-276
ALUM-3003 Aluminum Alloy 3003
ALUM-6061 Aluminum Alloy 6061
TITANIUM Titanium
ADMIRALTY Admiralty Brass
NAVAL-BRASS Naval Brass
COPPER Copper
90-10-CU-NI 90-10 Copper/Nickel
70-30-CU-NI 70-30 Copper/Nickel
† HEATX uses standard construction materials defined in Standards of the Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association,
Seventh Edition, 1988.

Input Language Guide 13-31

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

Accessing Variables in HEATX

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables

PARAM T-HOT, T-COLD, DUTY, AREA, UA, DELT-HOT, DELT-COLD, DEGSUB-HOT,

DEGSUP-COLD, VFRAC-HOT, VFRAC-COLD, DECR-HOT, INCR-COLD, LMTD-CORRECT,
PRES-HOT, PRES-COLD, MIN-TAPP, MIN-OUT-TAPP
HEAT-TR-COEF U, SCALE, REF-VALUE, EXPONENT, MOLE-RFLOW, MASS-RFLOW, STDVOL-RFLOW,
L-L, B-L, V-L, L-B, B-B, V-B, L-V, B-V, V-V, UA
HOT-SIDE H-SCALE, REF-VALUE, EXPONENT, MOLE-RFLOW, MASS-RFLOW, STDVOL-RFLOW,
H, H-L, H-B, H-V, DP-SCALE, FOUL-FACTOR
COLD-SIDE H-SCALE, REF-VALUE, EXPONENT, MASS-RFLOW, MOLE-RFLOW, STDVOL-RFLOW,
H, H-L, H-B, H-V, DP-SCALE, FOUL-FACTOR
BJAC-INPUTS HOT-FOULING, HOT-FILM, HOT-PFACTOR, HOT-FFACTOR, HOT-MAX-DP,
COLD-FOULING, COLD-FILM, COLD-PFACTOR, COLD-FFACTOR,
COLD-MAX-DP, FOUL-RATIO

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1 †

Exchanger heat duty RESULTS CALC-DUTY —

Heat transfer area RESULTS CALC-AREA —
Shell-side pressure drop RESULTS S-TOTAL-DP —
Tube-side pressure drop RESULTS T-TOTAL-DP —
Number of thermal transfer units RESULTS NTU —
Heat transfer efficiency RESULTS XI —
Log mean temperature difference correction factor RESULTS FMTD —
Overall log mean temperature difference RESULTS DTLM —
Overall area averaged dirty heat transfer coefficient RESULTS UAVD —
Overall area averaged clean heat transfer coefficient RESULTS UAVC —
Heat transfer mechanism for the section SECT-REPORT CONDITION secno
Heat transfer for the section SECT-REPORT DUTY secno

† secno = section number

continued

13-32 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable ID1 †

Area for the section SECT-REPORT AREA secno

Hot stream temperature leaving the section SECT-REPORT THOT secno
Cold stream temperature leaving the section SECT-REPORT TCOLD secno
Log mean temperature difference for the section SECT-REPORT DTLM secno
Area averaged heat transfer coefficient for the section SECT-REPORT UAVG secno
UA SECT-REPORT UAV secno
The side of the unit that has the hot stream RESULTS HOT-SIDE —
Actual heat transfer area calculated from specified exchanger RESULTS ACTUAL-AREA —
geometry
Percentage of excess surface area available when unit is dirty RESULTS OVER-DESIGN —
Percentage of excess surface area available when unit is clean RESULTS OVER-CLEAN —
Number of shells in series (specified, or calculated in design mode) RESULTS NSHLS —
Number of shells in parallel (specified) RESULTS NSHLP —
Whether the unit has a potential vibration damage problem RESULTS VIB-IND —
Whether the unit has an excess rho-v2 problem RESULTS RHOV2-IND —
UA RESULTS UA
Number of flash points FLS-PROFILE NPOINT —
Duty on hot side for a flash point FLS-PROFILE DUTY-HOT ptno
Temperature on hot side for a flash point FLS-PROFILE T-HOT ptno
Vapor fraction on hot side for a flash point FLS-PROFILE VF-HOT ptno
Pressure on hot side for a flash point FLS-PROFILE P-HOT ptno
Duty on cold side for a flash point FLS-PROFILE DUTY-COLD ptno
Temperature on cold side for a flash point FLS-PROFILE T-COLD ptno
Vapor fraction on cold side for a flash point FLS-PROFILE VF-COLD ptno
Pressure on cold side for a flash point FLS-PROFILE P-COLD ptno
The number of the shell EXCH-PROFILE NEXCHS exchno
Cumulative amount of heat transfer EXCH-PROFILE DUTY-CUM exchno
Amount of heat transfer for the exchanger EXCH-PROFILE DUTY-INV exchno
Overall heat transfer coefficient for the exchanger EXCH-PROFILE U-COEF exchno
Area of the exchanger EXCH-PROFILE AREA exchno
Log-mean temperature difference (uncorrected) for the exchanger EXCH-PROFILE LMTD exchno

† secno = section number; ptno = point number; exchno = exchanger number

continued

Input Language Guide 13-33

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable ID1 †

LMTD correction factor for the exchanger EXCH-PROFILE FT-FACTOR exchno

Temperature of the hot stream at exchanger inlet EXCH-PROFILE T-HOT-IN exchno
Temperature of the hot stream at exchanger outlet EXCH-PROFILE T-HOT-OT exchno
Temperature of the cold stream at exchanger inlet EXCH-PROFILE T-CLD-IN exchno
Temperature of the cold stream at exchanger outlet EXCH-PROFILE T-CLD-OT exchno
Mass fraction of vapor of the hot stream at exchanger inlet EXCH-PROFILE VF-HOT-IN exchno
Mass fraction of vapor of the hot stream at exchanger outlet EXCH-PROFILE VF-HOT-OT exchno
Mass fraction of vapor of the cold stream at exchanger inlet EXCH-PROFILE VF-CLD-IN exchno
Mass fraction of vapor of the cold stream at exchanger outlet EXCH-PROFILE VF-CLD-OT exchno
Number of points from hot-side inlet to hot-side outlet ZONE-PROFILE NZONES —
The number of the shell ZONE-PROFILE EXCH-NO zoneno
Total duty to this point ZONE-PROFILE DUTY-CUM zoneno
Total duty for this shell to this point ZONE-PROFILE DUTY-EXC zoneno
Duty for this interval ZONE-PROFILE DUTY zoneno
Hot temperature at this point ZONE-PROFILE T-HOT zoneno
Cold temperature at this point ZONE-PROFILE T-COLD zoneno
Calculated area for this zone ZONE-PROFILE AREA zoneno
Overall heat transfer coefficient for this interval ZONE-PROFILE U-COEF zoneno
Corrected LMTD for this zone ZONE-PROFILE CMTD zoneno
Temperature of the tube wall on the outside of the tube SHELL-RESULT WALL-TEMP —
Average temperature of the fouling layer on the outside of the tube SHELL-RESULT SKIN-TEMP —
Pressure drop for shell-side fluid flow without fouling. Includes SHELL-RESULT CLEAN-DP —
pressure drop through all nozzles.
Pressure drop for shell-side fluid flow with fouling present. Includes SHELL-RESULT DIRTY-DP —
pressure drop through all nozzles.
Pressure drop for shell-side fluide flow through baffle windows SHELL-RESULT WINDOW-DP —
Pressure drop for shell-side fluid flow through the inlet and outlet SHELL-RESULT ENDS-DP —
zones of the exchanger
Pressure-drop for shell-side fluid flow across the bundle SHELL-RESULT CROSSFLOW-DP —
Heat transfer coefficient between the bulk fluid and the fluid film on SHELL-RESULT BULK-COEEF —
the heat transfer surface on the shell side of the exchanger
Heat transfer coefficient at the tube wall on the shell side. SHELL-RESULT WALL-COEF —

† exchno = exchanger number; zoneno = zone number

continued

13-34 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable ID1

Overall thermal resistance on the outside of the tubes. (Inverse of SHELL-RESULT THERM-RESIST —
overall heat transfer coefficient on the shell side.)
Thermal resistance to heat transfer associated with the fouling SHELL-RESULT FOUL-RESIST —
layer on the outside of the tubes
Maximum amount of fouling on shell side under which exchanger SHELL-RESULT MAX-FOUL-RESIST —
can still meet specifications
Correction factor applied to shell-side heat transfer coefficient to SHELL-RESULT FIN-CORR —
reflect the presence of fins on tubes
Nominal velocity of the shell-side fluid that flows across the bundle SHELL-RESULT CROSSFLOW-VL —
Nominal velocity of the shell-side fluid that flows through the baffle SHELL-RESULT WINDOW-VL —
windows
Velocity of fluid that flows across the bundle at a temperature point SHELL-RESULT MIDPOINT-VL —
midway between the inlet and outlet temperatures of the exchanger
The rho-v2 (density x velocity2) for the shell-side fluid as it enters SHELL-RESULT SHL-IN-RHV2 —
the shell
The rho-v2 for the shell-side fluid as it exits the shell SHELL-RESULT SHL-OUT-RHV2 —
The rho-v2 for the shell-side fluid as it enters the bundle SHELL-RESULT BND-IN-RHV2 —
The rho-v2 for the shell-side fluid as it exits the bundle SHELL-RESULT BND-OUT-RHV2 —
Heat transfer efficiency of the additional surface area provided by SHELL-RESULT FIN-EFF —
external fins on the tubes
Percentage of overall thermal resistance to heat transfer SHELL-RESULT FOUL-PERC —
associated with fouling on the outside of the tubes
Percentage of overall resistance to heat transfer associated with SHELL-RESULT FILM-PERC —
shell-side resistance on the outside of the tubes
Temperature of the tube wall on the inside of the tube TUBE-RESULT WALL-TEMP —
Average temperature of the fouling layer on the inside of the tube TUBE-RESULT SKIN-TEMP —
Pressure drop for tube-side fluid flow without fouling. Includes TUBE-RESULT CLEAN-DP —
pressure drop through all nozzles and tubes.
Pressure drop for tube-side fluid flow with fouling present. Fouling TUBE-RESULT DIRTY-DP —
layer reduces the flow area and increases the pressure drop.
Includes pressure drop through all nozzles and tubes.
Heat transfer coefficient between the bulk fluid and the fluid film on TUBE-RESULT BULK-COEF —
the heat transfer surface on the tube side of the exchanger
Heat transfer coefficient at the tube wall on the tube side. TUBE-RESULT WALL-COEF —
Overall thermal resistance on the inside of the tubes. (Inverse of TUBE-RESULT THERM-RESIST —
overall heat transfer coefficient on the tube side.)

continued

Input Language Guide 13-35

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable ID1

Thermal resistance to heat transfer associated with the fouling TUBE-RESULT FOUL-RESIST —
layer on the inside of the tubes
Maximum amount of fouling on tube side under which exchanger TUBE-RESULT MAX-FOUL-RESIST —
can still meet specifications
Velocity of the tube-side fluid as it enters the tubes immediately TUBE-RESULT INLET-VL —
after entering the bundle
Velocity of the tube-side fluid at a temperature point midway TUBE-RESULT MIDPOINT-VL —
between the inlet and outlet temperatures of the exchanger
Velocity of the tube-side fluid as it exits the tubes just prior to TUBE-RESULT OUTLET-VL —
leaving the bundle
Percentage of overall thermal resistance to heat transfer TUBE-RESULT FOUL-PERC —
associated with fouling on the inside of the tubes
Percentage of overall resistance to heat transfer associated with TUBE-RESULT FILM-PERC —
tube-side resistance on the inside of the tubes
Temperature of the tube wall on the outside of the tube OUTSD-RESULT WALL-TEMP —
Average temperature of the fouling layer on the outside of the tube OUTSD-RESULT SKIN-TEMP —
Flow rate of air across the outside surface of the tube bundle(s) OUTSD-RESULT AIR-FLOWRATE —
Pressure drop of the flow of gas on the outside of the exchanger, OUTSD-RESULT CLEAN-DP —
assuming no fouling
Pressure drop of the flow of gas on the outside of the exchanger, OUTSD-RESULT DIRTY-DP ----
on which a fouling layer exists
Pressure drop of the flow of gas across only the tube bundle OUTSD-RESULT BUNDLE-DP
Pressure drop of the flow of gas through the fan OUTSD-RESULT FAN-DP
Pressure drop of the flow of gas through the hail screen OUTSD-RESULT HAIL-SCR-DP
Pressure drop of the flow of gas through the fan guard OUTSD-RESULT FAN-GRD-DP
Pressure drop of the flow of gas through the stealm coil OUTSD-RESULT STM-COIL-DP
Pressure drop of the flow of gas through the louvre OUTSD-RESULT LOUVRE-DP
Pressure drop of the flow of gas to the exchanger, based on the OUTSD-RESULT GROUND-DP
exchanger's relative position to the ground and surrounding
structures
Heat-transfer coefficient between the bulk fluid and the fluid film on OUTSD-RESULT BULK-COEF
the heat-transfer surface on the outside of the tubes
Overall thermal resistance to heat transfer on the outside of the OUTSD-RESULT THERM-RESIST
tubes
Thermal resistance to heat transfer of the fouling layer on the OUTSD-RESULT FOUL-RESIST
outside of the tubes
Thickness of the fouling layer on the outside of the tubes OUTSD-RESULT FOUL-THICK

continued

13-36 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable ID1

Velocity of the gas stream at the inlet to the bundle OUTSD-RESULT BNDL-IN-VL
Velocity of the gas stream at the outlet of the bundle OUTSD-RESULT BNDL-OUT-VL
Velocity of the gas stream through the bundle, at a temperature OUTSD-RESULT MIDPOINT-VL
midway between the inlet and outlet temperatures of the exchanger
Velocity of the gas stream immediately before it enters the bundle OUTSD-RESULT FACE-VL
Heat-transfer efficiency of the additional surface area provided by OUTSD-RESULT FIN-EFF
the external fins on the tubes
Overall required brake power for the fans FAN-RESULT BRAKE-POWER
Fan blade tip speed required to generate the required gas flow rate FAN-RESULT BLADE-SPEED
and static pressure
Noise level associated with the fans at a specific distance from the FAN-RESULT SOUND-PRES
fan
Noise level associated with the operation of the fans FAN-RESULT SOUND-POWER
Overall power efficiency of the fans (the ratio of total air FAN-RESULT FAN-EFF
horsepower output to brake horsepower input)

Input Language Guide 13-37

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

MHEATX
Multistream Heat Exchanger

Input Language for MHEATX

BLOCK blockid MHEATX
HOT-SIDE keyword=value
COLD-SIDE keyword=value

Keywords:
IN OUT
Optional keywords:
DECANT TEMP VFRAC DELT DEGSUP DEGSUB DUTY PRES
NPHASE PHASE FREE-WATER MAXIT TOL Q-EST

PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
NPOINT MAXIT TOL T-UPPER T-LOWER TEST ADD-POINTS QLEAK
QLEAK-FRAC ADAPTIVE-GRID DTTOL MAX-NPOINT FLOW-DIR DTCORR
DTCORR2 TQTAB-NPOINT TQTAB-MAXNPT

STREAM-PROPERTIES inlet-sid opsetname keyword=value / . . .

Optional keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS

TQTAB-SPECS inlet-sid keyword=value / . . .

Optional keywords:
NPOINT DPFRAC-VAP DPFRAC-2PH DPFRAC-LIQ

HCURVE curveno inlet-sid keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INDEP-VAR LIST NPOINT INCR HEADING PROPERTIES PRES-PROFILE
PDROP PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES X-SCALE Y-SCALE
WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

REPORT reportopt-list

Special reportopts:
NOPROFILE STREAMS NOTQTABLES

13-38 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

PLOT plotno plot-list keyword=value

Plots:
TEMP DELT UA-DUTY TEMP-DELT DELT-TEMP UA-DELT UA-TEMP
Optional keywords:
Y-SCALE PLOT-HEADING WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

Input Language Description for MHEATX

HOT-SIDE, Use to enter inlet and outlet stream IDs, outlet specifications, and flash specifications for streams
COLD-SIDE on the hot-side and cold-side of the exchanger, respectively. For each stream in the exchanger, you
can specify vapor phase, liquid phase, two-phase flash, or three-phase flash calculations. You can
also specify the outlet pressure or pressure drop for each stream in the exchanger.
IN ..................................... Inlet stream ID
OUT ................................. Outlet stream ID
DECANT .......................... Water decant stream ID
TEMP ............................... Outlet temperature
VFRAC............................. Outlet vapor fraction
DELT................................ Temperature change from the inlet
DEGSUP.......................... Degrees superheat at the outlet
DEGSUB.......................... Degrees subcooled at the outlet
DUTY ............................... Heat duty for the stream
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Outlet pressure
PRES ≤ 0.................................. Pressure drop (Default=0)
Q-EST .............................. An estimate of the enthalpy change of a stream in the heat exchanger.
Use to set an initial value for the internal heat stream that goes from
(internally generated) heater to (internally generated) mheater. Use when
the internal heat stream is a tear stream. See Aspen Plus Unit Operation
Models, Chapter 2, for information about the computational structure for
MHEATX.
NPHASE .......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE............................. Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
.........................................
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L ................................. Liquid
PHASE=S ................................. Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.

Input Language Guide 13-39

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

FREE-WATER ................. Use to override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph (see Chapter 46) or the BLOCK-OPTIONS sentence of the
BLOCK paragraph (see Chapter 11).
FREE-WATER=NO................... Does not perform free-water calculations
FREE-WATER=YES................. Performs free-water calculations
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
PARAM Use to specify convergence parameters for the calculation to determine the temperature of
unspecified streams. PARAM is also used to enter the number of zones for the internal analysis.
NPOINT ........................... NPOINT ≥ 1 .............................. Number of zones for internal analysis
NPOINT=0................................. Does not perform internal analysis (Default)
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of iterations to find outlet temperature of unspecified
streams (Default=30)
TOL ................................. Energy balance convergence tolerance, defined as a fraction of the heat
transferred from the specified streams to the unspecified streams
(Default=1x10-4)
T-UPPER ......................... Upper limit on temperature (Default=maximum of inlet temperatures +
1000K)
T-LOWER ........................ Lower limit on temperature (Default=100K, or minimum of inlet
temperatures - 1000K, whichever is greater)
TEST ............................... Initial temperature estimate
ADD POINTS................... Specifies whether points should be added to the internal zone analysis for
phase changes and stream additions:
ADD-POINTS=YES .................. Adds points to the zone analysis (Default)
ADD-POINTS=NO .................... Does not add points to the zone analysis
QLEAK ............................ Heat leak to or from the exchanger. A positive value for QLEAK
represents transfer of heat into the exchanger. A negative value
represents transfer of heat from the exchanger. (Default=0)
QLEAK-FRAC ................. Heat leak as a fraction of the heat transferred between the specified side
of the exchanger and the unspecified side of the exchanger. (Default=0)
A positive value for QLEAK-FRAC represents transfer of heat from the
surroundings into the exchanger. A negative value for QLEAK-FRAC
represents transfer of heat from the exchanger to the surroundings.
If you specify the temperature of the hot-side:
QCOLD = QHOT (1 + QLEAK-FRAC)
If you specify the temperature of the cold-side:
QHOT = QCOLD (1 – QLEAK-FRAC)
ADAPTIVE-GRID............. Specifies whether additional grid points will be inserted to account for the
nonlinearity of the zone profile.
ADAPTIVE-GRID=YES ............ Adds grid points to zone analysis
ADAPTIVE-GRID=NO .............. Does not add grid points to zone analysis
(Default)

13-40 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

DTTOL ............................. Threshold value of temperature approach above which additional points
are inserted during ADAPTIVE-GRID calculation. You must also specify
ADAPTIVE-GRID=YES and ADD-POINTS=YES.
MAX-NPOINT .................. Maximum number of points allowed in zone analysis. You must specify
ADAPTIVE-GRID=YES and ADD-POINTS=YES.
FLOW-DIR ....................... Hot-side/cold-side flow direction. Use only in internal analysis.
FLOW-DIR=COCURRENT....... Cocurrent flow
FLOW-DIR= .............................. Countercurrent flow (Default)
COUNTERCURRENT
DTCORR.......................... Threshold value of temperature approach below which a penalty factor is
applied to the calculated area
DTCORR2........................ The penalty factor applied to the calculated area when temperature
approach is less than DTCORR.
TQTAB-NPOINT .............. Number of intervals used in generating T-Q tables
TQTAB-MAXNPT............. Maximum number of intervals used when T-Q tables are generated for
more than one stream. You must specify TQTAB-MAXNPT when you
enter TQTAB-SPECS.
STREAM-PROPERTIES Use to specify property options for an individual stream. You can use different physical property
option sets for each stream in the exchanger. STREAM-PROPERTIES overrides the PROPERTIES
sentence for an individual stream. The input language for STREAM-PROPERTIES is the same as
for the PROPERTIES sentence (see Chapter 11), except that you must specify a stream ID for
STREAM-PROPERTIES. Any option set name entered in a STREAM-PROPERTIES sentence must
also be named in the PROPERTIES paragraph (see Chapter 8).
inlet-sid ........................... Inlet stream ID
TQTAB-SPECS Use to enter T-Q table specifications for internal zone analysis. When you specify a T-Q table for a
stream, MHEATX generates a temperature enthalpy profile for that stream at the beginning of
zone analysis calculations. During zone analysis, MHEATX interpolates the generated profile
instead of performing stream flash calculations. This results in much faster execution times.
MHEATX assumes that pressure drop is proportional to duty during T-Q table generation and zone
analysis. When you specify a T-Q table for a stream, you can also enter the fraction of total pressure
drop (specified in HOT-SIDE or COLD-SIDE sentences) in each phase region.
When the fraction of pressure drop in a phase region is specified, MHEATX calculates the pressure
drop for that region and generates a T-Q table. When generating the table, MHEATX assumes that
pressure drop varies in proportion to duty in that region. You can enter up to two specifications
from DPFRAC-VAP, DPFRAC-2PH, and DPFRAC-LIQ.
inlet-sid ........................... Inlet stream ID
NPOINT ........................... Number of intervals used in generating the T-Q table for a stream.
NPOINT overrides any value given for TQTAB-NPOINT in the PARAM
sentence.
DPFRAC-VAP.................. Fraction of total pressure drop in the vapor region
DPFRAC-2PH .................. Fraction of total pressure drop in the two-phase region
DPFRAC-LIQ ................... Fraction of total pressure drop in the liquid region
HCURVE Use to generate heating or cooling curve tables and plots for a stream in the exchanger. See
Chapter 11 for a description of the input keywords.
inlet-sid ........................... Inlet stream ID

Input Language Guide 13-41

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

REPORT Use to override the default report options. You can use the standard report options (see Chapter 11)
for MHEATX.
reportopt......................... Standard block report options (see Chapter 11) in addition to the
following:
NOPROFILE ............................. Suppresses internal zone profiles
STREAMS................................. Generates stream profiles
NOTQTABLES ......................... Does not report internally generated T-Q tables
PLOT Use to create plots of internal profiles during an internal zone analysis.
plotno.............................. Plot number
plot-list............................ List of plots to be produced:
TEMP ........................................ Hot-side and cold-side temperature versus duty
DELT......................................... Temperature difference versus duty
UA-DUTY .................................. UA versus duty
TEMP-DELT.............................. Hot-side and cold-side temperature versus
temperature difference
DELT-TEMP.............................. Temperature difference versus temperature
UA-DELT .................................. UA versus temperature difference
UA-TEMP.................................. UA versus temperature
Y-SCALE ......................... Y-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on vertical axis of plots
(Default)
Y-SCALE=LOG ........................ Uses logarithmic scale on vertical axis of plots
PLOT-HEADING.............. Heading up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes, printed at the top of the
print-plot
WIDE, GRID, ................... Plot options. Use to override defaults established by PLOT-OPTIONS
INTERPOLATE paragraph. (See Chapter 47.)

Accessing Variables in MHEATX

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

13-42 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2

HOT-SIDE TEMP, VFRAC, DELT, DEGSUP, DEGSUB, DUTY, PRES, MAXIT, TOL inlet-sid —
COLD-SIDE TEMP, VFRAC, DELT, DEGSUP, DEGSUB, DUTY, PRES, MAXIT, TOL inlet-sid —
HCURVE NPOINT, INCR, PDROP curveno inlet-sid
PARAM NPOINT, MAXIT, TOL, T-UPPER, T-LOWER, TEST — —

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1

Heat duty of a hot-side stream HOT-SIDE QCALC inlet-sid

Heat duty of a cold-side stream COLD-SIDE QCALC inlet-sid
Total UA RESULTS UA —
Minimum internal temperature approach† RESULTS MITA —
Average log mean temperature difference† RESULTS LMTD —
Total exchanger duty† RESULTS DUTY —
Cold-side temperature approach† RESULTS CSTA —
Hot-side temperature approach† RESULTS HSTA —
Heat duty PROFILE DUTY pointno††
Hot-side temperature PROFILE THOT pointno††
Cold-side temperature PROFILE TCOLD pointno††
Temperature difference PROFILE DT††† pointno††
Log mean temperature difference PROFILE LMTD pointno††
UA PROFILE UA pointno††
Base-temperature difference BASE-PROFILE DTBASE††† pointno††
† Calculated only when zone analysis is performed.

†† pointno is the sequential number of the zone.

††† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

Input Language Guide 13-43

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

HXFLUX
Heat Transfer Calculation

Input Language for HXFLUX

BLOCK blockid HXFLUX
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
THOT-IN TCOLD-IN HOT-IN COLD-IN
Optional keywords:
FLOW-DIR LMTD-METHOD THOT-OUT TCOLD-OUT HOT-OUT
COLD-OUT DUTY DUTY-SID HEATSTRM-DIR U AREA MAXIT TOL

Input Language Description for HXFLUX

PARAM Use to specify stream temperatures and heat transfer parameters. You must specify inlet hot
stream temperature and inlet cold stream temperature, or their temperatures from referenced
streams. You also need to specify three of outlet hot stream temperature, outlet cold stream
temperature, overall heat transfer coefficient, and heat transfer area. If there is no inlet heat
stream connected in the flowsheet, you also need to specify the duty or referenced heat stream.
THOT-IN .......................... Inlet hot stream temperature
TCOLD-IN........................ Inlet cold stream temperature
HOT-IN ............................ Inlet hot stream ID
COLD-IN.......................... Inlet cold stream ID
FLOW-DIR....................... Flow direction in heat transfer calculation:
FLOW-DIR= .............................. Countercurrent heat transfer (Default)
COUNTERCURRENT
FLOW-DIR=COCURRENT....... Cocurrent heat transfer
LMTD-METHOD .............. Calculation method for log-mean temperature difference (See note 1.):
LMTD-METHOD=RIGOROUS.. Rigorous method (Default)
LMTD-METHOD= ..................... Approximate method
APPROXIMATE
THOT-OUT ...................... Outlet hot stream temperature
TCOLD-OUT.................... Outlet cold stream temperature
HOT-OUT ........................ Outlet hot stream ID
COLD-OUT...................... Outlet cold stream ID
DUTY ............................... Heat duty
DUTY-SID........................ Heat stream ID

13-44 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

HEATSTRM-DIR.............. Heat stream direction

HEATSTRM-DIR=..................... Heat stream is from hot side to cold side (with a
HOT-TO-COLD positive duty value)
HEATSTRM-DIR=..................... Heat stream is from cold side to hot side (with a
COLD-TO-HOT negative duty value)
U ...................................... Overall heat transfer coefficient
AREA ............................... Heat transfer area
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of iterations (Default=20)
TOL.................................. Convergence tolerance (Default=1.D-4)

Accessing Variables in HXFLUX

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables

PARAM THOT-IN, TCOLD-IN, THOT-OUT, TCOLD-OUT, DUTY, U, AREA

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Inlet hot stream temperature RESULTS THOT-INLET

Inlet cold stream temperature RESULTS TCOLD-INLET
Outlet hot stream temperature RESULTS THOT-OUTLET
Outlet cold stream temperature RESULTS TCOLD-OUTLET
Log-mean temperature difference RESULTS LMTD
Overall heat transfer coefficient RESULTS UCALC
Heat transfer area RESULTS AREA-CALC
Heat duty used RESULTS QCALC

Input Language Guide 13-45

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

Notes
1. For convective heat transfer, the model equation is:
Q = U × A × LMTD

If the rigorous method is used,

∆T1 − ∆T2
LMTD = .
 ∆T1 
ln 
 ∆T2 

If the approximate method is used,

3
 ∆T 13 + ∆T 13 
LMTD =  1 2  .
 2 
 

Where:
A = Heat transfer area
∆T1, ∆T2 = Approach temperatures
LMTD = Log-mean temperature difference
Q = Heat duty
U = Overall heat transfer coefficient

13-46 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

HETRAN
Interface to the B-JAC HETRAN Program for Shell and Tube Heat
Exchangers

Input Language for HETRAN

BLOCK blockid HETRAN
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
INPUT-FILE CALC-TYPE T-HOT T-COLD DUTY DELT-HOT DELT-COLD
DEGSUB-HOT DEGSUP-COLD VFRAC-HOT VFRAC-COLD DECR-HOT
INCR-COLD
Optional keywords:
SAV-HOT-STRM SAV-CLD-STRM SAV-DSG-PARM SAV-ANA-PARM

FEEDS HOT=sid COLD=sid

PRODUCTS HOT=sid COLD=sid
DECANT-STREAMS [HOT=sid] [COLD=sid]
HOT-PCURVE keyword=value

Optional keywords:
GENERATE UPDATE INDP-DEV TYPE

COLD-PCURVE keyword=value

Optional keywords:
GENERATE UPDATE INDP-DEV TYPE

BJAC-INPUTS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
HOT-FOULING HOT-FILM HOT-PFACTOR HOT-FFACTOR HOT-MAX-DP
COLD-FOULING COLD-FILM COLD-PFACTOR COLD-FFACTOR COLD-MAX-DP
FOUL-OPTION FOUL-RATIO

PROPERTIES opsetname keyword=value [/ opsetname keyword=value]

Optional keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS

FLASH-SPECS sid keyword=value

Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE FREE-WATER MAXIT TOL

Input Language Guide 13-47

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

Input Language Description for HETRAN

PARAM Use to enter overall parameters for the block.
INPUT-FILE ..................... Name of the B-JAC heat exchanger program input file
CALC-TYPE .................... Type of heat exchanger calculation.
CALC-TYPE = DESIGN............ Select the geometry based on process conditions
CALC-TYPE = RATING............ Determine if exchanger is over or under-
surfaced based on the given geometry
CALC-TYPE = SIMULATION ... Determine outlet conditions assuming surface
area is fully utilized
T-HOT.............................. Outlet temperature of the hot stream
T-COLD ........................... Outlet temperature of the cold stream
DUTY ............................... Exchanger heat duty
DELT-HOT....................... Temperature approach at the hot stream outlet
DELT-COLD .................... Temperature approach at the cold stream outlet
DEGSUB-HOT................. Degrees of subcooling of hot stream outlet
DEGSUP-COLD .............. Degrees of superheat of cold stream outlet
VFRAC-HOT.................... Vapor fraction of hot stream outlet
VFRAC-COLD ................. Vapor fraction of cold stream outlet
DECR-HOT...................... Temperature decrease of the hot stream
INCR-COLD..................... Temperature increase of the cold stream
SAV-HOT-STRM ............. Determines whether to save Aspen Plus hot-stream data in the B-JAC
input file:
SAV-HOT-STRM=YES ............. Writes Aspen Plus hot-stream data to the
B-JAC input file at the end of the simulation
(Default)
SAV-HOT-STRM=NO ............... Does not write Aspen Plus hot-stream data to
the B-JAC input file
SAV-CLD-STRM.............. Determines whether to save Aspen Plus cold-stream data in the B-JAC
input file:
SAV-CLD-STRM=YES ............. Writes Aspen Plus cold-stream data to the
B-JAC input file at the end of the simulation
(Default)
SAV-CLD-STRM=NO ............... Does not write Aspen Plus cold-stream data to
the B-JAC input file
SAV-DSG-PARM ............. Whether to save final geometry information from design in the B-JAC
input file.
SAV-DSG-PARM=YES............. Save data in B-JAC input file (Default)
SAV-DSG-PARM=NO .............. Do not save data in B-JAC input file

13-48 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

SAV-ANA-PARM ............. Whether to save Hetran parameters from the simulation in the B-JAC
input file.
SAV-ANA-PARM=YES............. Save data in B-JAC input file (default)
SAV-ANA-PARM=NO .............. Do not save data in B-JAC input file
FEEDS, PRODUCTS, Use to identify inlet and outlet streams. You must identify hot and cold inlets and outlets, and any
DECANT_STREAMS water decant streams.
HOT-SIDE........................ Stream ID for the hot side
COLD-SIDE ..................... Stream ID for the cold side
HOT-PCURVE, Use to set parameters to control the generation of property curves for the B-JAC heat exchanger
COLD-PCURVE program HETRAN.
GENERATE ..................... Determines which program generates property curves:
GENERATE=YES..................... Aspen Plus generates property curves using
parameters supplied by the B-JAC program.
(Default)
GENERATE=-NO ..................... Property curves are read from the B-JAC input
file.
UPDATE .......................... Controls how often Aspen Plus generates property curves:
UPDATE=ALWAYS.................. Calculates property curves at every block
execution (Default)
UPDATE=NEVER..................... Calculates property curves only at the first
block execution
UPDATE=AS-NEEDED............ Calculates property curves if the range of the
curve or the ends deviate by more than INDP-
DEV from the previous execution
INDP-DEV........................ Controls the percent deviation Aspen Plus tolerates in the independent
variable, before Aspen Plus recalculates the property curve
TYPE................................ Type of curve Aspen Plus generates
TYPE=ISOBARIC ..................... Generate an isobaric property curve for Hetran
program (Default)
TYPE=NON-ISOBARIC............ Generate a non-isobaric property curve for
Hetran program
BJAC-INPUTS Use to set B-JAC input values. These values can be used in Aspen Plus simulation tools such as
sensitivity, design-specs, and datafit.
HOT-FOULING ................ Fouling factor for hot-side stream
HOT-FILM........................ Film coefficient for hot-side stream
HOT-PFACTOR ............... Correction factor applied to the calculated hot-side pressure drop
HOT-FFACTOR ............... Correction factor applied to the calculated hot-side film coefficient
HOT-MAX-DP .................. Maximum allowable pressure drop to the hot-side stream
COLD-FOULING.............. Fouling factor for cold-side stream
COLD-FILM ..................... Film coefficient for cold-side stream
COLD-PFACTOR ............ Correction factor applied to the calculated cold-side pressure drop

Input Language Guide 13-49

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

COLD-FFACTOR ............ Correction factor applied to the calculated cold-side film coefficient
COLD-MAX-DP ............... Maximum allowable pressure drop to the cold-side stream
FOUL-OPTION ................ Method for determining maximum fouling on each side
FOUL-OPTION = PROGRAM .. Adjust hot/cold-side fouling based on actual
hot/cold fouling ratio (Default)
FOUL-OPTION = Adjust hot/cold-side fouling based on specified
ADJ-HOT-COLD....................... fouling ratio
FOUL-OPTION = Adjust hot-side fouling only
ADJ-HOT-ONLY.......................
FOUL-OPTION = Adjust cold-side fouling only
ADJ-COLD-ONLY ....................
FOUL-RATIO................... Hot/cold-side fouling ratio. (Default = 1.0)
PROPERTIES Use to override global or flowsheet section property specifications. You can use different physical
property option sets for the hot and cold sides of the exchanger. If you supply one set of property
specifications, Aspen Plus uses the set for both hot-side and cold-side calculations. If you supply
two sets, Aspen Plus uses the first set for the hot side, and the second set for the cold side. If you
enter an option set name, you must also enter the name in the PROPERTIES paragraph. (See
Chapter 8.)
FLASH-SPECS Use to specify flash options for the hot or cold side of the heat exchanger. For each side of the heat
exchanger, you can specify vapor phase, liquid phase, two-phase flash, or three-phase flash
calculations.
sid ................................... Outlet stream ID. Flash specifications for the outlet stream apply to all
flash calculations on that side of the heat exchanger.
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid
PHASE=S ................................. Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
FREE-WATER ................. Use to override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph. (See Chapter 46.) Or use to override the free-water option
established by the BLOCK-OPTIONS sentence of the BLOCK paragraph.
(See Chapter 11.)
FREE-WATER=NO................... Does not perform free-water calculations
FREE-WATER=YES................. Performs free-water calculations
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph. See Chapter 46.)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph. See chapter 46.)

13-50 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

Accessing Variables in HETRAN

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables

BJAC-INPUTS HOT-FOULING, HOT-FILM, HOT-PFACTOR, HOT-FFACTOR, HOT-MAX-DP,

COLD-FOULING, COLD-FILM, COLD-PFACTOR, COLD-FFACTOR,
COLD-MAX-DP, FOUL-RATIO

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Total heat load transferred between the process streams in the UNIT-RESULT HEAT-DUTY
heat exchanger
Total outside surface area of all tubes in the heat exchanger UNIT-RESULT TOTAL-AREA
Overall rate at which heat is transferred from the hot fluid to the UNIT-RESULT OVERALL-COEF
cold fluid
Effective temperature difference for the entire exchanger UNIT-RESULT EFF-DELTA-T
Correction factor applied to the log-mean temperature difference, to UNIT-RESULT LMTD-CORRECT
correct for flow arrangements that are not true counter-current
The side of the unit that has the hot stream UNIT-RESULT HOT-SIDE
Whether the unit has a potential vibration damage problem UNIT-RESULT VIB-IND
Whether the unit has an excess rho-v2 problem UNIT-RESULT RHOV2-IND
Percentage of excess surface area available when unit is dirty UNIT-RESULT OVER-DESIGN
Percentage of excess surface area available when unit is clean UNIT-RESULT OVER-CLEAN
Calculated average heat transfer coefficient for the entire UNIT-RESULT AVG-U-CLEAN
exchanger in clean service (with fouling factors set to zero)
Calculated average heat transfer coefficient for the entire UNIT-RESULT OVERALL-COEF
exchanger in dirty service (using fouling factors)
Area required to transfer the heat load UNIT-RESULT CALC-AREA
Actual physical exchanger area UNIT-RESULT TOTAL-AREA
Temperature of the tube wall on the outside of the tubes SHELL-RESULT WALL-TEMP
Average temperature of the fouling layer on the outer surface of the SHELL-RESULT SKIN-TEMP
tubes

continued

Input Language Guide 13-51

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable

Pressure drop of the fluid flow on the shell side of the exchanger, SHELL-RESULT CLEAN-DP
without fouling
Pressure drop of the fluid flow on the shell side of the exchanger, SHELL-RESULT DIRTY-DP
with fouling present
Pressure drop of the shell-side fluid flow through the baffle windows SHELL-RESULT WINDOW-DP
Pressure drop of the shell-side fluid flow through the inlet and outlet SHELL-RESULT ENDS-DP
zones of the exchanger
Pressure drop of the flow of the shell-side fluid across the bundle SHELL-RESULT CROSSFLOW-DP
Heat-transfer coefficient between the bulk fluid and the fluid film on SHELL-RESULT BULK-COEF
the heat-transfer surface, for the shell side of the exchanger
Heat-transfer coefficient at the tube wall, for the shell side of the SHELL-RESULT WALL-COEF
exchanger
Overall thermal resistance to heat transfer on the outside of the SHELL-RESULT THERM-RESIST
tubes
Thermal resistance to heat transfer of the fouling layer on the SHELL-RESULT FOUL-RESIST
outside of the tubes
Maximum amount of fouling on shell side under which exchanger SHELL-RESULT MAX-FOUL-RESIST
can still meet specifications
Correction factor applied to the shell-side heat-transfer coefficient, SHELL-RESULT FIN-CORR
to reflect the presence of fins on the tubes
Correction factor applied to the log-mean temperature difference, to SHELL-RESULT LBAF-CORR
account for thermal leakage across the longitudinal baffle on the
shell side of the exchanger
Nominal velocity of that portion of the shell-side fluid that flows SHELL-RESULT CROSSFLOW-VL
across the bundle
Nominal velocity of the shell-side fluid that flows through the baffle SHELL-RESULT WINDOW-VL
windows
Velocity of the shell-side fluid that flows across the bundle, at a SHELL-RESULT MIDPOINT-VL
temperature midway between the inlet and outlet temperatures of
the exchanger
rho-v2 (density x velocity2) for the shell-side fluid, as it enters the SHELL-RESULT SHL-IN-RHV2
shell
rho-v2 for the shell-side fluid, as it exits the shell SHELL-RESULT SHL-OUT-RHV2
rho-v2 for the shell-side fluid, as it enters the bundle SHELL-RESULT BND-IN-RHV2
rho-v2 for the shell-side fluid, as it exits the bundle SHELL-RESULT BND-OUT-RHV2
Heat-transfer efficiency of the additional surface area provided by SHELL-RESULT FIN-EFF
the external fins on the tubes

continued

13-52 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable

Percentage of overall thermal resistance to heat transfer SHELL-RESULT FOUL-PERC

associated with fouling on the outside of the tubes
Percentage of overall resistance to heat transfer associated with SHELL-RESULT FILM-PERC
shell-side resistance on the outside of the tubes
Temperature of the tube wall on the inside of the tubes TUBE-RESULT WALL-TEMP
Temperature of the fouling layer on the inside of the tubes TUBE-RESULT SKIN-TEMP
Pressure drop of the fluid on the inside of the tubes, assuming no TUBE-RESULT CLEAN-DP
fouling is present
Pressure drop of the fluid on the inside of the tubes, assuming TUBE-RESULT DIRTY-DP
fouling is present
Heat-transfer coefficient between the bulk fluid and the fluid film, for TUBE-RESULT BULK-COEF
the tube side of the exchanger
Heat-transfer coefficient at the tube wall on the tube side of the TUBE-RESULT WALL-COEF
exchanger
Thermal resistance to heat transfer for the tube-side fluid TUBE-RESULT THERM-RESIST
Thermal resistance to heat transfer due to fouling on the tube side TUBE-RESULT FOUL-RESIST
of the exchanger
Maximum amount of fouling on tube side under which exchanger TUBE-RESULT MAX-FOUL-RESIST
can still meet specifications
Thickness of fouling layer on the tube side of the exchanger TUBE-RESULT FOUL-THICK
Velocity of the tube-side fluid as it enters the tubes, immediately TUBE-RESULT INLET-VL
after entering the bundle
Velocity of the tube-side fluid as it exits the tubes, prior to leaving TUBE-RESULT OUTLET-VL
the bundle
Velocity of the tube-side fluid, at a temperature midway between TUBE-RESULT MIDPOINT-VL
the inlet and outlet temperatures of the exchanger
Percentage of overall thermal resistance to heat transfer TUBE-RESULT FOUL-PERC
associated with fouling on the inside of the tubes
Percentage of overall resistance to heat transfer associated with TUBE-RESULT FILM-PERC
tube-side resistance on the inside of the tubes

Input Language Guide 13-53

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

AEROTRAN
Interface to the B-JAC AEROTRAN Program for Air Cooled Heat
Exchangers

Input Language for AEROTRAN

BLOCK blockid AEROTRAN
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
INPUT-FILE
Optional keywords:
CREATE-FILE BJAC-UNITS SAV-HOT-STRM SAV-CLD-STRM

FEEDS HOT=sid COLD=sid

PRODUCTS HOT=sid COLD=sid
DECANT-STREAMS [HOT=sid] [COLD=sid]
HOT-PCURVE keyword=value

Optional keywords:
GENERATE UPDATE SAVE-CURVE INDP-DEV TYPE

COLD-PCURVE keyword=value

Optional keywords:
GENERATE UPDATE SAVE-CURVE INDP-DEV TYPE

BJAC-INPUTS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
HOT-FOULING HOT-FILM HOT-PFACTOR
COLD-FOULING COLD-FILM COLD-PFACTOR

PROPERTIES opsetname keyword=value [/ opsetname keyword=value]

Optional keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS

FLASH-SPECS sid keyword=value

Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE FREE-WATER MAXIT TOL

13-54 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

Input Language Description for AEROTRAN

PARAM Use to enter overall parameters for the block.
INPUT-FILE ..................... Name of the B-JAC heat exchanger program input file
CREATE-FILE ................. Determines whether to create the B-JAC input file, if it does not currently
exist:
CREATE-FILE=NO................... Does not create the B-JAC input file.
CREATE-FILE=YES ................. Creates the B-JAC input file at the end of the
simulation, if the file does not exist
BJAC-UNITS ................... Determines which B-JAC unit set will be used when creating a new input
file:
BJAC-UNITS=US ..................... Uses B-JAC US engineering units
BJAC-UNITS=SI....................... Uses B-JAC SI units
BJAC-UNITS=METRIC ............ Uses B-JAC metric units
SAV-HOT-STRM.............. Determines whether to save Aspen Plus hot-stream data in the B-JAC
input file:
SAV-HOT-STRM=NO ............... Does not write Aspen Plus hot-stream data to
the B-JAC input file (Default)
SAV-HOT-STRM=YES ............. Writes Aspen Plus hot-stream data to the
B-JAC input file, at the end of the simulation
SAV-CLD-STRM.............. Determines whether to save Aspen Plus cold-stream data in the B-JAC
input file:
SAV-CLD-STRM=NO ............... Does not write Aspen Plus cold-stream data to
the B-JAC input file (Default)
SAV-CLD-STRM=YES ............. Writes Aspen Plus cold-stream data to the
B-JAC input file, at the end of the simulation
FEEDS, PRODUCTS, Use to identify inlet and outlet streams. You must identify hot and cold inlets and outlets, and any
DECANT_STREAMS water decant streams.
HOT-SIDE........................ Stream ID for the hot side
COLD-SIDE ..................... Stream ID for the cold side
HOT-PCURVE, Use to set parameters to control the generation of property curves for the B-JAC heat exchanger
COLD-PCURVE program AEROTRAN.
GENERATE ..................... Determines which program generates property curves:
GENERATE=YES..................... Aspen Plus generates property curves using
parameters supplied by the B-JAC program.
(Default)
GENERATE=-NO ..................... Property curves are read from the B-JAC input
file.
UPDATE .......................... Controls how often Aspen Plus generates property curves:
UPDATE=ALWAYS.................. Calculates property curves at every block
execution (Default)

Input Language Guide 13-55

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

UPDATE=NEVER..................... Calculates property curves only at the first

block execution
UPDATE=AS-NEEDED ............ Calculates property curves if the range of the
curve or the ends deviate by more than INDP-
DEV from the previous execution
SAVE-CURVE ................. Determines whether to save the Aspen Plus property curve in the B-JAC
input file:
SAVE-CURVE=NO ................... Does not write the property curve to the B-JAC
input file (Default)
SAVE-CURVE=YES ................. Writes the property curve to the B-JAC input
file, at the end of the simulation
INDP-DEV........................ Controls the percent deviation Aspen Plus tolerates in the independent
variable, before Aspen Plus recalculates the property curve
TYPE ............................... Type of curve Aspen Plus generates
TYPE=ISOBARIC ..................... Generate an isobaric property curve for
Aerotran program (Default)
TYPE=NON-ISOBARIC............ Generate a non-isobaric property curve for
Aerotran program
BJAC-INPUTS Use to set B-JAC input values. These values can be used in Aspen Plus simulation tools such as
sensitivity, design-specs, and datafit.
HOT-FOULING................ Fouling factor for the hot-side stream
HOT-FILM........................ Film coefficient for the hot-side stream
HOT-PFACTOR............... Correction factor applied to the calculated hot-side pressure drop
COLD-FOULING ............. Fouling factor for the cold-side stream
COLD-FILM ..................... Film coefficient for the cold-side stream
COLD-PFACTOR ............ Correction factor applied to the calculated cold-side pressure drop
PROPERTIES Use to override global or flowsheet section property specifications. You can use different physical
property option sets for the hot and cold sides of the exchanger. If you supply one set of property
specifications, Aspen Plus uses the set for both hot-side and cold-side calculations. If you supply
two sets, Aspen Plus uses the first set for the hot side, and the second set for the cold side. If you
enter an option set name, you must also enter the name in the PROPERTIES paragraph. (See
Chapter 8.)
FLASH-SPECS Use to specify flash options for the hot or cold side of the heat exchanger. For each side of the heat
exchanger, you can specify vapor phase, liquid phase, two-phase flash, or three-phase flash
calculations.
sid ................................... Outlet stream ID. Flash specifications for the outlet stream apply to all
flash calculations on that side of the heat exchanger.
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)

13-56 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

PHASE=L ................................. Liquid

PHASE=S ................................. Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
FREE-WATER ................. Use to override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph. (See Chapter 46.) Or use to override the free-water option
established by the BLOCK-OPTIONS sentence of the BLOCK paragraph.
(See Chapter 11.)
FREE-WATER=NO................... Does not perform free-water calculations
FREE-WATER=YES................. Performs free-water calculations
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph. See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph. See chapter 46.)

Accessing Variables in AEROTRAN

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables

BJAC-INPUTS HOT-FOULING, HOT-FILM, HOT-PFACTOR, COLD-FOULING, COLD-FILM, COLD-

PFACTOR

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Total heat load transferred between the process streams in the UNIT-RESULT HEAT-DUTY
heat exchanger
Total outside surface area of all tubes in the heat exchanger UNIT-RESULT TOTAL-AREA
Total outside surface area of the tubes that is available for heat UNIT-RESULT EFFECT-AREA
transfer
Overall rate at which heat is transferred from the hot fluid to the UNIT-RESULT OVERALL-COEF
cold fluid
Effective temperature difference for the entire exchanger UNIT-RESULT EFF-DELTA-T
Correction factor applied to the log-mean temperature difference, to UNIT-RESULT LMTD-CORRECT
correct for flow arrangements that are not true counter-current

continued

Input Language Guide 13-57

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable

Temperature of the tube wall on the outside of the tubes OUTSD-RESULT WALL-TEMP
Average temperature of the fouling layer on the outer surface of the OUTSD-RESULT SKIN-TEMP
tubes
Flow rate of air across the outside surface of the tube bundle(s) OUTSD-RESULT AIR-FLOWRATE
Pressure drop of the flow of gas on the outside of the exchanger, OUTSD-RESULT CLEAN-DP
assuming no fouling
Pressure drop of the flow of gas on the outside of the exchanger, OUTSD-RESULT DIRTY-DP
on which a fouling layer exists
Pressure drop of the flow of gas across only the tube bundle OUTSD-RESULT BUNDLE-DP
Pressure drop of the flow of gas through the fan OUTSD-RESULT FAN-DP
Pressure drop of the flow of gas through the hail screen OUTSD-RESULT HAIL-SCR-DP
Pressure drop of the flow of gas through the fan guard OUTSD-RESULT FAN-GRD-DP
Pressure drop of the flow of gas through the stealm coil OUTSD-RESULT STM-COIL-DP
Pressure drop of the flow of gas through the louvre OUTSD-RESULT LOUVRE-DP
Pressure drop of the flow of gas to the exchanger, based on the OUTSD-RESULT GROUND-DP
exchanger's relative position to the ground and surrounding
structures
Heat-transfer coefficient between the bulk fluid and the fluid film on OUTSD-RESULT BULK-COEF
the heat-transfer surface on the outside of the tubes
Overall thermal resistance to heat transfer on the outside of the OUTSD-RESULT THERM-RESIST
tubes
Thermal resistance to heat transfer of the fouling layer on the OUTSD-RESULT FOUL-RESIST
outside of the tubes
Thickness of the fouling layer on the outside of the tubes OUTSD-RESULT FOUL-THICK
Velocity of the gas stream at the inlet to the bundle OUTSD-RESULT BNDL-IN-VL
Velocity of the gas stream at the outlet of the bundle OUTSD-RESULT BNDL-OUT-VL
Velocity of the gas stream through the bundle, at a temperature OUTSD-RESULT MIDPOINT-VL
midway between the inlet and outlet temperatures of the exchanger
Velocity of the gas stream immediately before it enters the bundle OUTSD-RESULT FACE-VL
Heat-transfer efficiency of the additional surface area provided by OUTSD-RESULT FIN-EFF
the external fins on the tubes
Temperature of the tube wall on the inside of the tubes TUBE-RESULT WALL-TEMP
Temperature of the fouling layer on the inside of the tubes TUBE-RESULT SKIN-TEMP
Pressure drop of the fluid on the inside of the tubes, assuming no TUBE-RESULT CLEAN-DP
fouling is present

continued

13-58 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable

Pressure drop of the fluid on the inside of the tubes, assuming TUBE-RESULT DIRTY-DP
fouling is present
Heat-transfer coefficient between the bulk fluid and the fluid film, for TUBE-RESULT BULK-COEF
the tube side of the exchanger
Heat-transfer coefficient at the tube wall on the tube side of the TUBE-RESULT WALL-COEF
exchanger
Thermal resistance to heat transfer for the tube-side fluid TUBE-RESULT THERM-RESIST
Thermal resistance to heat transfer due to fouling on the tube side TUBE-RESULT FOUL-RESIST
of the exchanger
Thickness of fouling layer on the tube side of the exchanger TUBE-RESULT FOUL-THICK
Velocity of the tube-side fluid as it enters the tubes, immediately TUBE-RESULT INLET-VL
after entering the bundle
Velocity of the tube-side fluid as it exits the tubes, prior to leaving TUBE-RESULT OUTLET-VL
the bundle
Velocity of the tube-side fluid, at a temperature midway between TUBE-RESULT MIDPOINT-VL
the inlet and outlet temperatures of the exchanger
Overall required brake power for the fans FAN-RESULT BRAKE-POWER
Fan blade tip speed required to generate the required gas flow rate FAN-RESULT BLADE-SPEED
and static pressure
Noise level associated with the fans at a specific distance from the FAN-RESULT SOUND-PRES
fan
Noise level associated with the operation of the fans FAN-RESULT SOUND-POWER
Overall power efficiency of the fans (the ratio of total air FAN-RESULT FAN-EFF
horsepower output to brake horsepower input)

Input Language Guide 13-59

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

HTRIXIST
Interface to the HTRI XIST Program for Shell and Tube Heat
Exchangers

Input Language for HTRIXIST

BLOCK blockid HTRIXIST
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
INPUT-FILE
Optional keywords:
CREATE-FILE HTRI-UNITS SAV-HOT-STRM SAV-CLD-STRM

FEEDS HOT=sid COLD=sid

PRODUCTS HOT=sid COLD=sid
DECANT-STREAMS [HOT=sid] [COLD=sid]
HOT-PCURVE

Optional keywords:
GENERATE UPDATE SAVE-CURVE INDP-DEV

COLD-PCURVE

Optional keywords:
GENERATE UPDATE SAVE-CURVE INDP-DEV

HTRI-INPUTS

Optional keywords:
HOT-FOULING HOT-FILM HOT-PFACTOR
COLD-FOULING COLD-FILM COLD-PFACTOR

PROPERTIES opsetname keyword=value [/ opsetname keyword=value]

Optional keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS

FLASH-SPECS sid keyword=value

Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE FREE-WATER MAXIT TOL

13-60 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

Input Language Description for HTRIXIST

PARAM Use to enter overall parameters for the block.
INPUT-FILE ..................... Name of the HTRI IST heat exchanger program input file
CREATE-FILE ................. Determines whether to create the HTRI IST input file, if it does not
currently exist:
CREATE-FILE=NO................... Does not create the HTRI IST input file.
CREATE-FILE=YES ................. Creates the HTRI IST input file at the end of
the simulation, if the file does not exist
HTRI-UNITS..................... Determines which HTRI unit set will be used when creating a new input
file:
HTRI-UNITS=US....................... Uses HTRI US engineering units
HTRI-UNITS=SI ........................ Uses HTRI SI units
HTRI-UNITS=METRIC.............. Uses HTRI metric units
SAV-HOT-STRM.............. Determines whether to save Aspen Plus hot-stream data in the HTRI IST
input file:
SAV-HOT-STRM=NO ............... Does not write Aspen Plus hot-stream data to
the HTRI IST input file (Default)
SAV-HOT-STRM=YES ............. Writes Aspen Plus hot-stream data to the
HTRI IST input file, at the end of the
simulation
SAV-CLD-STRM.............. Determines whether to save Aspen Plus cold-stream data in the
HTRI IST input file:
SAV-CLD-STRM=NO ............... Does not write Aspen Plus cold-stream data to
the HTRI IST input file (Default)
SAV-CLD-STRM=YES ............. Writes Aspen Plus cold-stream data to the
HTRI IST input file, at the end of the
simulation
FEEDS, PRODUCTS, Use to identify inlet and outlet streams. You must identify hot and cold inlets and outlets, and any
DECANT_STREAMS water decant streams.
HOT-SIDE........................ Stream ID for the hot side
COLD-SIDE ..................... Stream ID for the cold side
HOT-PCURVE, Use to set parameters to control the generation of property curves for the HTRI heat exchanger
COLD-PCURVE program IST.
GENERATE ..................... Determines which program generates property curves:
GENERATE=YES..................... Aspen Plus generates property curves using
parameters supplied by the HTRI IST program.
(Default)
GENERATE=-NO ..................... Property curves are read from the HTRI IST
input file.

Input Language Guide 13-61

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

UPDATE .......................... Controls how often Aspen Plus generates property curves:
UPDATE=ALWAYS.................. Calculates property curves at every block
execution (Default)
UPDATE=NEVER..................... Calculates property curves only at the first
block execution
UPDATE=AS-NEEDED ............ Calculates property curves if the range of the
curve or the ends deviate by more than INDP-
DEV from the previous execution
SAVE-CURVE ................. Determines whether to save the Aspen Plus property curve in the
HTRI IST input file:
SAVE-CURVE=NO ................... Does not write the property curve to the
HTRI IST input file (Default)
SAVE-CURVE=YES ................. Writes the property curve to the HTRI IST
input file, at the end of the simulation
INDP-DEV........................ Controls the percent deviation Aspen Plus tolerates in the independent
variable, before Aspen Plus recalculates the property curve
HTRI-INPUTS Use to set HTRI input values. These values can be used in Aspen Plus simulation tools such as
sensitivity, design-specs, and datafit.
HOT-FOULING................ Fouling factor for the hot-side stream
HOT-FILM........................ Film coefficient for the hot-side stream
HOT-PFACTOR............... Correction factor applied to the calculated hot-side pressure drop
COLD-FOULING ............. Fouling factor for the cold-side stream
COLD-FILM ..................... Film coefficient for the cold-side stream
COLD-PFACTOR ............ Correction factor applied to the calculated cold-side pressure drop
PROPERTIES Use to override global or flowsheet section property specifications. You can use different physical
property option sets for the hot and cold sides of the exchanger. If you supply one set of property
specifications, Aspen Plus uses the set for both hot-side and cold-side calculations. If you supply
two sets, Aspen Plus uses the first set for the hot side, and the second set for the cold side. If you
enter an option set name, you must also enter the name in the PROPERTIES paragraph.
(See Chapter 8.)
FLASH-SPECS Use to specify flash options for the hot or cold side of the heat exchanger. For each side of the heat
exchanger, you can specify vapor phase, liquid phase, two-phase flash, or three-phase flash
calculations.
sid ................................... Outlet stream ID. Flash specifications for the outlet stream apply to all
flash calculations on that side of the heat exchanger.
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid

13-62 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

PHASE=S ................................. Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.

FREE-WATER ................. Use to override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph. (See Chapter 46.) Or use to override the free-water option
established by the BLOCK-OPTIONS sentence of the BLOCK paragraph.
(See Chapter 11.)
FREE-WATER=NO................... Does not perform free-water calculations
FREE-WATER=YES................. Performs free-water calculations
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph. See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph. See chapter 46.)

Accessing Variables in HTRIXIST

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables

HTRI-INPUTS HOT-FOULING, HOT-FILM, HOT-PFACTOR, COLD-FOULING, COLD-FILM, COLD-

PFACTOR

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Total heat load transferred between the process streams in the UNIT-RESULT HEAT-DUTY
heat exchanger
Total outside surface area of all tubes in the heat exchanger UNIT-RESULT TOTAL-AREA
Total outside surface area of the tubes that is available for heat UNIT-RESULT EFFECT-AREA
transfer
Overall rate at which heat is transferred from the hot fluid to the UNIT-RESULT OVERALL-COEF
cold fluid
Effective temperature difference for the entire exchanger UNIT-RESULT EFF-DELTA-T
Correction factor applied to the log-mean temperature difference, to UNIT-RESULT LMTD-CORRECT
correct for flow arrangements that are not true counter-current

continued

Input Language Guide 13-63

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable

Temperature of the tube wall on the outside of the tubes SHELL-RESULT WALL-TEMP
Average temperature of the fouling layer on the outer surface of the SHELL-RESULT SKIN-TEMP
tubes
Pressure drop of the fluid flow on the shell side of the exchanger, SHELL-RESULT CLEAN-DP
without fouling
Pressure drop of the fluid flow on the shell side of the exchanger, SHELL-RESULT DIRTY-DP
with fouling present
Pressure drop of the shell-side fluid flow through the baffle windows SHELL-RESULT WINDOW-DP
Pressure drop of the shell-side fluid flow through the inlet and outlet SHELL-RESULT ENDS-DP
zones of the exchanger
Pressure drop of the flow of the shell-side fluid across the bundle SHELL-RESULT CROSSFLOW-DP
Heat-transfer coefficient between the bulk fluid and the fluid film on SHELL-RESULT BULK-COEF
the heat-transfer surface, for the shell side of the exchanger
Heat-transfer coefficient at the tube wall, for the shell side of the SHELL-RESULT WALL-COEF
exchanger
Heat-transfer coefficient for the transfer of heat between the shell- SHELL-RESULT LB-BULK-COEF
side fluid passes, across the longitudinal baffle
Overall thermal resistance to heat transfer on the outside of the SHELL-RESULT THERM-RESIST
tubes
Thermal resistance to heat transfer of the fouling layer on the SHELL-RESULT FOUL-RESIST
outside of the tubes
Thickness of the fouling layer on the outside of the tubes SHELL-RESULT FOUL-THICK
Correction factor applied to the shell-side heat-transfer coefficient, SHELL-RESULT FIN-CORR
to reflect the presence of fins on the tubes
Correction factor applied to the log-mean temperature difference, to SHELL-RESULT LBAF-CORR
account for thermal leakage across the longitudinal baffle on the
shell side of the exchanger
Nominal velocity of that portion of the shell-side fluid that flows SHELL-RESULT CROSSFLOW-VL
across the bundle
Nominal velocity of the shell-side fluid that flows through the baffle SHELL-RESULT WINDOW-VL
windows
Velocity of the shell-side fluid that flows across the bundle, at a SHELL-RESULT MIDPOINT-VL
temperature midway between the inlet and outlet temperatures of
the exchanger
rho-v2 (density x velocity2) for the shell-side fluid, as it enters the SHELL-RESULT SHL-IN-RHV2
shell

continued

13-64 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 13

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable

rho-v2 (density x velocity2) for the shell-side fluid, as it exits the SHELL-RESULT SHL-OUT-RHV2
shell
rho-v2 (density x velocity2) for the shell-side fluid, as it enters the SHELL-RESULT BND-IN-RHV2
bundle
rho-v2 (density x velocity2) for the shell-side fluid, as it exits the SHELL-RESULT BND-OUT-RHV2
bundle
Heat-transfer efficiency of the additional surface area provided by SHELL-RESULT FIN-EFF
the external fins on the tubes
Temperature of the tube wall on the inside of the tubes TUBE-RESULT WALL-TEMP
Temperature of the fouling layer on the inside of the tubes TUBE-RESULT SKIN-TEMP
Pressure drop of the fluid on the inside of the tubes, assuming no TUBE-RESULT CLEAN-DP
fouling is present
Pressure drop of the fluid on the inside of the tubes, assuming TUBE-RESULT DIRTY-DP
fouling is present
Heat-transfer coefficient between the bulk fluid and the fluid film, for TUBE-RESULT BULK-COEF
the tube side of the exchanger
Heat-transfer coefficient at the tube wall on the tube side of the TUBE-RESULT WALL-COEF
exchanger
Thermal resistance to heat transfer for the tube-side fluid TUBE-RESULT THERM-RESIST
Thermal resistance to heat transfer due to fouling on the tube side TUBE-RESULT FOUL-RESIST
of the exchanger
Thickness of fouling layer on the tube side of the exchanger TUBE-RESULT FOUL-THICK
Velocity of the tube-side fluid as it enters the tubes, immediately TUBE-RESULT INLET-VL
after entering the bundle
Velocity of the tube-side fluid as it exits the tubes, prior to leaving TUBE-RESULT OUTLET-VL
the bundle
Velocity of the tube-side fluid, at a temperature midway between TUBE-RESULT MIDPOINT-VL
the inlet and outlet temperatures of the exchanger

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 13-65

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flashes,
Heaters, and
Heat
Exchangers

13-66 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 14

14 Shortcut Distillation
This chapter describes the input language for the shortcut distillation models.
The models are:
Model Description Purpose Use

DSTWU Shortcut distillation design Determine minimum reflux ratio, minimum number Columns with one feed and
of stages, and either actual reflux ratio or actual two product streams
number of stages using Winn-Underwood-
Gilliland method
DISTL Shortcut distillation rating Determine separation based on reflux ratio, Columns with one feed and
number of stages, and distillate-to-feed ratio using two product streams
Edmister method
SCFRAC Shortcut distillation for complex Determine product composition and flow, number Complex columns, such as
petroleum fractionation units of stages per section, and heat duty using crude units and vacuum
fractionation indices towers

Input Language Guide 14-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Shortcut
Distillation

DSTWU
Shortcut Distillation Design

Input Language for DSTWU

BLOCK blockid DSTWU
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
LIGHTKEY RECOVL HEAVYKEY RECOVH PTOP PBOT NSTAGE RR
Optional keywords:
RDV PACK-HEIGHT MAXIT FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL TEMP-TOL
K-TOL PLOT

PLOT keyword=value

Optional keywords:
LOWER UPPER INCR NPOINT HIGH-PRECISION LINES WIDE

Input Language Description for DSTWU

PARAM Use to specify the column operating conditions, configuration, and optional convergence
parameters. You must specify the recovery of the light and heavy keys, reboiler and condenser
pressures, and either reflux ratio or number of theoretical stages. You can also specify whether a
plot of reflux ratio versus number of stages is to be produced. Enter plot parameters in the PLOT
sentence.
LIGHTKEY....................... Light key component ID
RECOVL.......................... Recovery of light key component in distillate (moles light key in
distillate/moles light key in feed)
HEAVYKEY ..................... Heavy key component ID
RECOVH ......................... Recovery of heavy key component in distillate (moles heavy key in
distillate/moles heavy key in feed)
PTOP ............................... Condenser pressure
PBOT............................... Reboiler pressure
NSTAGE.......................... Number of theoretical stages, including condenser and reboiler
RR ................................... RR > 0....................................... Desired reflux ratio
RR < -1...................................... Desired reflux ratio is RR times the minimum

reflux ratio.
RDV ................................. Molar vapor fraction of distillate (Default=0)
PACK-HEIGHT ................ Column packing height, used to compute HETP (Height Equivalent of a
Theoretical Plate)

14-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 14

MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of iterations in minimum stages calculation

(Default=50)
FLASH-MAXIT ................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
FLASH-TOL..................... Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TEMP-TOL....................... Tolerance on distillate and bottoms temperature in minimum stages
calculation (Default=0.2K)
K-TOL .............................. Tolerance on light and heavy key component K-values in minimum stages
calculation (Default=0.05)
PLOT ............................... PLOT=YES ............................... Produces print-plots and tables of actual reflux
ratio versus actual number of stages.
PLOT = NO ............................... Does not produce print-plots and tables.
(Default)
You specify print-plot specifications in the PLOT sentence.
PLOT Use to specify the print-plot of actual reflux ratio versus actual number of stages. Use either
NPOINT or INCR.
LOWER............................ Initial stage number for the plot and the tables
(Default=actual number of stages – 5)
UPPER............................. Final stage number for the plot and the tables
(Default=actual number of stages + 5)
INCR ................................ Increment size for number of stages
NPOINT ........................... Number of point values (Default=11)
HIGH-PRECISION ........... HIGH-PRECISION=YES........... Prints seven significant digits in tables
HIGH-PRECISION=NO............. Prints five significant digits in tables (Default)
LINES .............................. Number of rows of values to print in tables before printing a grid line. If
LINES=0, no grid lines are printed. Must be between 0 and 35.
(Default=5)
WIDE................................ Plot width option.
WIDE=YES ............................... Produces wide (132 column) plots.
WIDE=NO ................................. Produces standard (80 column) plots. (Default)

Input Language Guide 14-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Shortcut
Distillation

Accessing Variables in DSTWU

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables

PARAM RECOVL, RECOVH, PTOP, PBOT, RDV, NSTAGE, RR, MAXIT, PACK-HEIGHT,
FLASH-MAXIT, FLASH-TOL, TEMP-TOL, K-TOL

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Minimum reflux ratio RESULTS MIN-REFLUX

Actual reflux ratio RESULTS ACT-REFLUX
Minimum number of stages RESULTS MIN-STAGES
Actual number of stages RESULTS ACT-STAGES
Actual number of stages in rectifying section RESULTS RECT-STAGES
Height equivalent of a theoretical plate RESULTS HETP
Reboiler duty RESULTS REB-DUTY
Condenser duty RESULTS COND-DUTY

14-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 14

DISTL
Shortcut Distillation Rating

Input Language for DISTL

BLOCK blockid DISTL
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
NSTAGE FEED-LOC RR PTOP PBOT D:F
Optional keywords:
COND-TYPE MAXIT FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL TEMP-TOL

Input Language Description for DISTL

PARAM Use to specify column operating conditions, configuration, and optional convergence parameters.
You must specify the number of theoretical stages, feed stage number, reflux ratio, condenser type,
distillate-to-feed ratio, condenser pressure, and reboiler pressure.
NSTAGE .......................... Number of theoretical stages, including condenser and reboiler
FEED-LOC....................... Feed stage location (numbered from the top including the condenser)
RR.................................... Molar reflux ratio
PTOP ............................... Condenser pressure
PBOT ............................... Reboiler pressure
D:F ................................... Moles in distillate/moles in feed
COND-TYPE .................... COND-TYPE=TOTAL............... Total condenser (Default)
COND-TYPE=PARTIAL ........... Partial condenser
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of iterations (Default=60)
FLASH-MAXIT ................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
FLASH-TOL..................... Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TEMP-TOL....................... Tolerance on distillate and bottoms temperature (Default=0.005 K)

Input Language Guide 14-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Shortcut
Distillation

Accessing Variables in DISTL

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables

PARAM NSTAGE, FEED-LOC, RR, PTOP, PBOT, D:F, MAXIT, FLASH-MAXIT, FLASH-TOL,
TEMP-TOL

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Reboiler duty RESULTS REB-DUTY

Condenser duty RESULTS COND-DUTY

14-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 14

SCFRAC
Shortcut Distillation for Complex Columns

Input Language for SCFRAC

BLOCK blockid SCFRAC
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT TOL FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL MAX-FINDEX

CONDENSER keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PRES RDV TEMP DEGSUB

PRODUCTS sid secno keyword=value

Keywords:
TYPE PRES
Optional keywords:
basis-FLOW-EST basis-FEED-FRAC

STEAM sid keyword=value

Keywords:
STEAM:PROD TEMP PRES

SPEC specno spectype value keyword=value

Spectypes:
basis-FRAC basis-RECOV basis-FLOW PROP PROP-DIFF PROP-RATIO
Keywords:
STREAM BASE-STREAM COMPS PROPERTY BASE-PROPERTY FLASH

FINDEX secno findex / . . .

FI-HEAVY secno fi-heavy / . . .
FI-RATIO secno fi-ratio / . . .
FINDEX-EST secno findex-est / . . .

Input Language Guide 14-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Shortcut
Distillation

Input Language Description for SCFRAC

PARAM Use to enter values for convergence parameters.
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of iterations (Default=50)
TOL ................................. Relative tolerance on the root-mean-square residuals of the product
specifications (Default=1x10-4)
FLASH-MAXIT................. Maximum number of iterations for flash calculations. (Default=value
established by the SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
FLASH-TOL .................... Flash tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
MAX-FINDEX................... Maximum value allowed for fractionation index (Default=10)
CONDENSER Use to enter condenser specifications. You can specify pressure and either RDV (molar vapor
distillate flow/total distillate flow) or temperature. For total condensers (RDV=0), you can specify
the number of degrees the product is subcooled. If you do not use the CONDENSER sentence,
SCFRAC assumes the distillate is vapor and pressure is the top section pressure.
PRES ............................... Condenser pressure (Default=top section pressure)
RDV ................................. Distillate vapor fraction (Default=1)
TEMP............................... Temperature of product stream. You cannot use both TEMP and RDV.
DEGSUB ......................... Number of degrees product is subcooled. You can specify DEGSUB if
RDV=0. (Default=0)
PRODUCTS Use to enter pressure, temperature, and flow estimates for product streams. You must enter flow
rate estimates for all products unless you specify the flow. You can give flow estimates directly or as
a fraction of the feed. For products from the top section, you must enter TYPE to indicate whether
the stream is the overhead (distillate) or the bottoms stream from that section.
sid ................................... Stream ID
secno .............................. Section number
TYPE ............................... Product type for top section:
TYPE=O.................................... Overhead
TYPE=B .................................... Bottoms (Default)
PRES ............................... Pressure
basis-FLOW-EST............ Estimate of stream flow rate on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
basis-FEED-FRAC.......... Estimate of stream flow as a fraction of feed on a MOLE, MASS, or
STDVOL basis
STEAM Use to enter the steam to product flow ratio for all products except the distillate product. Also use to
enter steam temperature and pressure. The sum of all stripping steam flows is stored in the
optional second inlet stream for the block to maintain a mass balance.
sid ................................... Product stream ID
STEAM:PROD................. Steam to product ratio in mass/bbl (Default=2.27 kg/bbl) (Units keyword
is MASS)
TEMP............................... Steam temperature
PRES ............................... Steam pressure

14-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 14

SPEC Use to provide the 2*(n – 1) specifications for the column. Do not impose more than two
specifications on a given product stream. If the number of specifications for a section is insufficient,
use the FINDEX sentence to specify the fractionation index for the section.
specno ............................ Specification number
spectype ......................... Specification type. The following types are available:
basis-FRAC.............................. Purity of a product stream (specified by
STREAM).
FRAC=Σxi
Where:
x = Component fraction, on a MOLE,
MASS, or STDVOL basis
i = Component in the COMPS list
basis-RECOV........................... Component recovery.
RECOV=Σfij/Σfik
Where:
f = Component flow rate, on a MOLE,
MASS, or STDVOL basis
i = Component in the COMPS list
j = Product stream specified by STREAM
k = Feed stream
basis-FLOW ............................. Flow rate on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
of a group of components (specified by COMPS),
in a product stream (specified by STREAM).
The default for COMPS is all components.
PROP ........................................ Property value (specified by PROPERTY) for a
product stream (specified by STREAM)
PROP-DIFF............................... PROPERTY minus BASE-PROPERTY.
PROPERTY is the property of a product stream
(specified by STREAM).
BASE-PROPERTY is the property of a product
stream (specified by BASE-STREAM).
PROP-RATIO............................ PROPERTY divided by BASE-PROPERTY.
PROPERTY and BASE-PROPERTY are as
defined for PROP-DIFF.
value................................ Value of specification
STREAM .......................... Product stream ID
BASE-STREAM ............... Product stream ID
COMPS............................ List of component IDs
PROPERTY ..................... ID of a property set defined by a PROP-SET paragraph consisting of a
single scalar property. (See Chapter 42.)
BASE-PROPERTY .......... ID of a property set defined by a PROP-SET paragraph consisting of a
single scalar property. (See Chapter 42.)

Input Language Guide 14-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Shortcut
Distillation

FLASH............................. FLASH=YES............................. Performs flash calculations at each iteration to

determine stream temperature. This option is
needed only if property for spectype PROP,
PROP-DIFF, or PROP-RATIO is temperature-
dependent.
FLASH=NO............................... Does not perform flash calculations at each
iteration (Default)
FINDEX Use to enter the fractionation index for each column section. Normally, the value applies to all
components. If you enter FI-HEAVY, then the FINDEX value applies only to the light components
for the section.
secno .............................. Section number
findex .............................. Fractionation index (Default=2)
FI-HEAVY Use to enter the fractionation index for heavy components for the section. Do not enter FI-HEAVY
if you specified FI-RATIO.
secno .............................. Section number
fi-heavy ........................... Fraction index for heavy components for the section
FI-RATIO Use to enter the ratio of the fractionization index for heavy components for the section to that for
light components. Do not enter FI-RATIO if you specified FI-HEAVY.
secno .............................. Section number
fi-ratio.............................. Ratio of the fractionization index for heavy components for the section to
that for light components
FINDEX-EST Use to enter an estimate for fractionization index. Applies to light components if you specified FI-
HEAVY or FI-RATIO. As a first approximation, the fractionation index can be estimated as one-half
of the number of theoretical stages, or from the correlation developed by Jakob (1971) for middle-
eastern crude.
secno .............................. Section number
findex-est........................ Estimate of the fractionization index (Default=2)

14-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 14

Accessing Variables in SCFRAC

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1

PARAM MAXIT, TOL, FLASH-MAXIT, FLASH-TOL, MAX-FINDEX —

CONDENSER PRES, RDV, TEMP, DEGSUB —
PRODUCTS PRES, basis-FLOW-EST, basis-FEED-FRAC sid
STEAM STEAM:PROD, TEMP, PRES sid
SPEC VALUE specno
FINDEX FINDEX secno
FINDEX-EST FIEST secno
FI-HEAVY FIHEAVY secno
FI-RATIO FIRATIO secno

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable† ID1

Fractionation index PROFILE FINDEX secno

Number of theoretical stages PROFILE STAGE secno
Duty PROFILE DUTY secno
Steam flow rate PROFILE STEAM-FLOW secno
† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 14-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Shortcut
Distillation

14-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 15

15 Rigorous Distillation
This chapter describes the input language for the rigorous distillation models.
The models are:
Model Description Purpose Use to model

RADFRAC Rigorous Rigorous rating and design Ordinary distillation, absorbers, strippers, extractive and
fractionation calculations for single columns azeotropic distillation, three-phase distillation, and reactive
distillation
MULTIFRAC Rigorous Rigorous rating and design Heat integrated columns, air separation columns,
fractionation for calculations for multiple columns absorber/stripper combinations, ethylene plant primary
complex of any complexity fractionator/quench tower combinations, and petroleum
columns refining applications
PETROFRAC Petroleum Rigorous rating and design Preflash tower, atmospheric crude unit, vacuum unit, catalytic
refining calculations for complex cracker main fractionator, delayed coker main fractionator,
fractionation columns in petroleum refining vacuum lube fractionator, and ethylene plant primary
applications fractionator/ quench tower combinations

Input Language Guide 15-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rigorous
Distillation

RADFRAC
Rigorous Fractionation

Input Language for RADFRAC

BLOCK blockid RADFRAC
SUBOBJECTS PUMPAROUND=paid
PROP-SECTIONS stage1 stage2 opsetname keyword=value

Keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS CHEMISTRY PHASE-EQM

PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
NSTAGE NPA NPHASE
Optional keywords:
ALGORITHM EFF INIT-OPTION SOLID-BAL HYDRAULIC P-UPDATE
P-FIX DAMPING MAXOL TOLOL ABSORBER CMAXNI0 CMAXNI1
DSMETH DTMAX EFF-FLASH FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL FLASH-VFRAC
FMINFAC GAMMA-MODEL HMODEL1 HMODEL2 ILMETH JMETH
KBBMAX KMODEL L2-CUTOFF L2-GAMMA LL-MAXIT LL-METH
MAX-BROY MAX-SIZE MAXIL MAXIP PROD-FLASH QMAXBWIL
QMAXBWOL QMINBWIL QMINBWOL RMSOL0 RMSOL1 RMSOLJ
STOR-FACTOR TOLILFAC TOLILMIN TOLIL0 FLASH-TOLIL PHEQM-FORM
RADIUS-FRAC

COL-CONFIG keyword=value

Keywords:
CONDENSER REBOILER KEY-SELECT

FEEDS sid stage [feed-conv] / . . .

PRODUCTS sid stage [phase] [basis-FLOW=value] / . . .
SDRAW:FEED sid ratio keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
STREAMS COMPS

PSEUDO-STREAM sid stage keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
PHASE MOLE-FLOW PA STATE

15-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 15

P-SPEC stage pres / . . .

COL-SPECS keyword=value

Keywords:
basis-RDV T1 basis-D basis-B D:F B:F basis-D:F basis-B:F
basis-L1 basis-VN basis-RR basis-BR Q1 QN
Optional keywords:
RW DP-STAGE DP-COL DP-COND HTLOSS

PDROP-SEC secno stage1 stage2 pdrop / . . .

DB:F-PARAMS keyword=value

Keywords:
STREAMS COMPS

SC-REFLUX keyword=value

Keywords:
DEGSUB TEMP
Optional keyword:
OPTION

THERMOSYPHON keyword=value

Keywords:
PRES TEMP DELT VFRAC basis-FLOW RETURN-CONV

PUMPAROUND paid stage1 stage2 keyword=value

Keywords:
DRAW-PHASE TYPE basis-FLOW TEMP DELT DUTY VFRAC PRES
NPHASE RETURN-PHASE FEED-CONV QSTREAM-IN QSTREAM-OUT

HEATERS stage duty / . . .

COOLANT stage cid opsetname keyword=value

Keywords:
basis-FLOW UA TEMP PRES PHASE basis-CP

HTLOSS-SEC secno stage1 stage2 heat-loss / . . .

COMP-EFF stage cid eff / . . .
STAGE-EFF stage eff / . . .
STEFF-SEC secno stage1 stage2 eff / . . .
DECANTERS stage keyword=value

Keywords:
L1-SPEC L2-SPEC
Optional keywords:
TEMP DEGSUB DECANT-SOLID

Input Language Guide 15-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rigorous
Distillation

L2-COMPS cid-list
L2-STAGES stage1 stage2 / . . .
L1-RETURN stage1 stage2 l1-rfrac / . . .
L2-RETURN stage1 stage2 l2-rfrac / . . .
L1-COMP-EFF stage cid eff / . . .
L2-COMP-EFF stage cid eff / . . .
L1-STAGE-EFF stage eff / . . .
L2-STAGE-EFF stage eff / . . .
KLL-STAGES kllno stage1 stage2 / . . .
basis-KLL KLL-NO=value KLL-CID=cid KLL-A=value [KLL-B=value] &
[KLL-C=value] [KLL-D=value]
REAC-STAGES stage1 stage2 reacid / . . .
HOLD-UP stage1 stage2 keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
basis-LHLDP basis-VHLDP

RES-TIME stage1 stage2 keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
LTIME VTIME

CONVERSION stage reacno frac

T-EST stage temp / . . .
X-EST stage cid x / . . .
Y-EST stage cid y / . . .
L-EST stage mole-flow / . . .
V-EST stage mole-flow / . . .
VL-EST stage mole-ratio / . . .
REPORT reportopt-list

Special reportopts:
NOPROFILE NOCOMPS NOHYDRAULIC NOENTH NOSPLITS STDVPROF
TARGET HYDANAL EXTHYD

SPC-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
EFF D B RR L1 BR VN Q1 QN L V Q-STAGE WL WV
SPEC SC-REFLUX

SPC-OPTION2 keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PRES FEEDDP FEEDOPEN CS-ALLBASIS SPLIT-ALL

KEY-COMP secno stage1 stage2 LIGHT-KEY=cid-list HEAVY-KEY=cid-list

KEY-TOL keyword=value

Optional keywords:
KVAL-TOL COMP-TOL SPF-LIMIT STG-SPAN EXCLD-KEY EXG-TREF

CONVERGENCE keyword=value

15-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 15

Optional keywords:
MAN-3P-PASS STABLE-ITER STABLE-METH PROP-DERIV

TRAY-REPORT keyword=value

Optional keywords:
TRAY-OPTION FORMAT ORDER PROPERTIES WIDE

TRAY-REPOPT keyword=value

Optional keywords:
FLOW-OPTION

INCL-TRAYS [stage1] [stage2] / . . .

COND-HCURVE curveno keyword=value
REB-HCURVE curveno keyword=value
PA-HCURVE paid curveno keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INDEP-VAR LIST NPOINT INCR HEADING PROPERTIES PRES-PROFILE
PDROP PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES X-SCALE Y-SCALE
WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

VARY varyno vartype lb ub [step] keyword=value

Vartypes:
basis-RDV basis-D basis-B D:F B:F basis-D:F basis-B:F basis-L1
basis-VN basis-RR basis-BR Q1 QN RW basis-LPROD basis-VPROD
DUTY FEED-FLOW HEAT-STREAM MURPHREE TREB DTREB VREB
basis-RFLOW L1-SPEC L2-SPEC basis-PA-FLOW PA-TEMP PA-DELT
PA-DUTY PA-VFRAC SDRAW:FEED
Keywords:
STAGE STREAM STAGE1 STAGE2 COMPS PA

SPEC specno spectype value [scale] [weight] keyword=value

Spectypes:
basis-FRAC basis-RECOV basis-FLOW basis-RATIO TEMP PROP
PROP-DIFF PROP-RATIO basis-D basis-B basis-L1 basis-VN
basis-RR basis-BR Q1 QN
Keywords:
STAGE BASE-STAGE COMPS BASE-COMPS STREAMS
BASE-STREAMS PROPERTY BASE-PROPERTY DEC-STREAM
Optional keywords:
PHASE BASE-PHASE

Input Language Guide 15-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rigorous
Distillation

DIAGNOSTICS keyword=value

Keywords:
MAIN OLVAR1 OLVAR2 CMBAL EMBAL DESIGN TERM TXYEST

PLOT plotno plot-list comp-plot=groupid-list keyword=value

Plot-list options:
TEMP PRES LRATE VRATE VL-RATIO LL-RATIO
Comp-plot options:
X X1 X2 Y KVL KVL1 KVL2 KLL REL-VOL S-PLOT
Optional keywords:
BASE-COMP S-OPTION HEAVY-KEY BASIS ORDER
PLOT-HEADING WIDE

SUBROUTINE KLL=subrname
KLL-USER stage1 stage2 / . . .
KLL-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
NINT NREAL

KLL-INT VALUE-LIST=values
KLL-REAL VALUE-LIST=values
USERK-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
NINT NREAL NIWORK NWORK

USERK-INT VALUE-LIST=values
USERK-REAL VALUE-LIST=values
STG-UTL stage utilityid
PA-UTL pid utilityid
UTILITIES keyword=value

Optional keywords:
COND-UTIL REB-UTIL

Input Language Description for RADFRAC

SUBOBJECTS Use to enter a list of IDs for pumparounds. The IDs are character strings of up to eight characters
long. They are used for referencing pumparounds in other input statements. If you do not enter IDs
using the SUBOBJECTS statement, pumparounds are referenced by sequential integer numbers.
PUMPAROUND............... List of pumparound IDs

15-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 15

PROP-SECTIONS Use to specify property options for a column segment, the thermosyphon reboiler, or a decanter.
PROP-SECTIONS overrides the PROPERTIES sentence for a column segment, the thermosyphon
reboiler, or a decanter. The input language for PROP-SECTIONS is the same as for the
PROPERTIES sentence, except that PROP-SECTIONS requires that you specify the column
segment. See Chapter 11, for more information about the PROPERTIES sentence. Column
initialization calculations are always performed using the specifications in the PROPERTIES
sentence, regardless of the specifications given in the PROP-SECTIONS sentence. Therefore, it is
important that the property option in the PROPERTIES sentence gives reasonable property
representation at the average condition of the column. Any option set name entered in the PROP-
SECTIONS sentence must also be named in the PROPERTIES sentence. (For more information
about specifying an option set, see Chapter 8.)
stage1.............................. For column segment, stage1=starting stage number of column segment;
for decanter, stage1=decanter stage number; for thermosyphon reboiler,
stage1=bottom stage number.
stage2.............................. For column segment, stage2=ending stage number of column segment; for
decanter, enter D in this position; for thermosyphon reboiler, enter R.
opsetname ...................... Property option set used for column segment
PHASE-EQM ................... Phase equilibrium for which property option set specification is to be
used:
PHASE-EQM=VLL ................... Vapor-liquid1-liquid2 equilibrium (Default)
PHASE-EQM=VL1.................... Vapor-liquid1 equilibrium
PHASE-EQM=LL...................... Liquid1-liquid2 equilibrium
PARAM Use to enter configuration and operating specifications for the column. You must enter the number
of stages and pumparounds. You can also specify algorithm option, efficiency type, and optional
parameters.
NSTAGE .......................... Number of stages, including condenser and reboiler. Must be greater than
1. The convention used in RADFRAC is to number the stages from the top
down, starting with the condenser.
NPA ................................. Number of pumparounds
NPHASE .......................... Number of phases to be considered in distillation calculations. Specify 2
for vapor-liquid and 3 for vapor-liquid1-liquid2 calculations. If you specify
FREE-WATER=YES and NPHASE=2, free-water calculation is performed
for the condenser.
ALGORITHM ................... Algorithm convergence options:
ALGORITHM=STANDARD...... Normal algorithm. Recommended for most
applications. (Default)
ALGORITHM=SUM-RATES..... Recommended for petroleum and petrochemical
applications involving wide-boiling mixtures.
Allowed for NPHASE=2 only.
ALGORITHM=NONIDEAL ....... Recommended for highly nonideal columns. You
cannot specify ALGORITHM=NONIDEAL and
FREE-WATER=YES when NPHASE=2.
ALGORITHM=NEWTON .......... Recommended for azeotropic distillation
columns
EFF .................................. Type of efficiency specified using keywords: COMP-EFF, STAGE-EFF,
L1-COMP-EFF, L2-COMP-EFF, L1-STAGE-EFF, or L2-STAGE-EFF
EFF=VAPOR ............................ Vaporization efficiency (Default)

Input Language Guide 15-7

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 Rigorous
Distillation

EFF=MURPHREE..................... Murphree efficiency

EFF=TH-MURPHREE............... Thermal-Murphree efficiency
INIT-OPTION ................... Initialization options:
INIT-OPTION=STANDARD ...... Standard initialization (Default)
INIT-OPTION=CRUDE ............. Special initialization designed for wide-boiling
and multidraw columns
INIT-OPTION=CHEMICAL ....... Special initialization designed for narrow-
boiling chemical systems
INIT-OPTION=AZEOTROPIC... Special initialization designed for azeotropic
distillation columns, such as ethanol
dehydration using benzene as the entrainer
INIT-OPTION=CRYOGENIC .... Special initialization designed for cryogenic
applications, such as air separation
SOLID-BAL ..................... Solids handling options:
SOLID-BAL=STAGE ................ Handles solids rigorously in stage-by-stage
mass and energy balance. All flow specifications
must include solids.
SOLID-BAL=OVERALL ........... Removes solids from feeds and combines them
with liquid bottoms to satisfy overall block mass
and energy balance. Flow specifications must
not include solids. (Default)
HYDRAULIC.................... Flag to specify whether to perform calculations of hydraulic parameters
(for example, flow parameter, reduced vapor throughput, tray loadings,
and various transport properties): YES or NO. (Default=NO)
P-UPDATE ...................... Update pressure profile during column sizing and rating calculations:
YES or NO. (Default=NO)
P-FIX ............................... Pressure update option: TOP or BOTTOM. Keeps pressure at column
top/bottom constant during pressure updating for column sizing and
rating calculations. (Default=TOP)
DAMPING ........................ Damping factor used to stabilize convergence when excessive oscillation is
observed in the convergence behavior:
DAMPING=NONE..................... No damping (Default)
DAMPING=MILD ...................... Mild level of damping
DAMPING=MEDIUM ................ Medium level of damping
DAMPING=SEVERE ................ Severe level of damping. You may need to
increase the maximum number of outside loop
iterations (keyword MAXOL) to achieve
convergence.
MAXOL............................ Maximum number of outside loop iterations (Default=25)
TOLOL ............................ Outside loop convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-4)
ABSORBER .................... ABSORBER=YES .................... Recommended for absorber/stripper columns
when you specify ALGORITHM=STANDARD.
You must specify basis-RDV=1, Q1 and QN in
the COL-SPECS statement.

15-8 Input Language Guide

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 Chapter 15

ABSORBER=NO ...................... Use for all other cases (Default)

CMAXNI0 ......................... Maximum value of local gamma model parameters at infinite dilution.
Use when ALGORITHM=NONIDEAL and GAMMA-
MODEL=MARGULES. (Default=1.5)
CMAXNI1 ......................... Maximum value of local gamma model parameters at mole fraction = 0.5.
Use when ALGORITHM=NONIDEAL and GAMMA-
MODEL=MARGULES. (Default=1.3)
DSMETH.......................... Design specification convergence method, allowed when
ALGORITHM=NEWTON or ILMETH=NEWTON:
DSMETH=SIMULT ................... Simultaneous method (Default when
ALGORITHM=NEWTON)
DSMETH=NESTED .................. Nested-iteration method (Default when
ILMETH=NEWTON)
DTMAX ............................ Maximum allowed change in temperature per inside loop. Use when
ABSORBER=YES or ILMETH=NEWTON. Default is selected based on
column specifications.
EFF-FLASH ..................... Flashes product streams when efficiency is specified: YES or NO.
(Default=NO)
FLASH-MAXIT ................. Maximum number of feed flash iterations (Default=50)
FLASH-TOL..................... Feed flash tolerance (Default=1x10-4)
FLASH-VFRAC................ Vapor fraction of composite feed flash in reactive distillation initialization
calculations. Default is calculated based on column specifications.
FMINFAC ......................... Minimum allowed value for stage flow as a fraction of the total feed.
(Default=1x10-5)
GAMMA-MODEL ............. Local gamma model options. Use when ALGORITHM=NONIDEAL:
GAMMA-MODEL=.................... Uses constant activity coefficient
COMBINED
GAMMA-MODEL=.................... Uses Margules activity coefficient model
MARGULES (Default)
HMODEL1 ....................... Basis for local enthalpy departure model:
HMODEL1=MOLE .................... Molar basis
HMODEL1=MASS .................... Mass basis
HMODEL1=PSEUDO-MASS.... Pseudo-mass basis, using internally generated
molecular weight
(Default is selected based on column specifications)
HMODEL2 ....................... Temperature dependence option for local enthalpy departure model:
HMODEL2=NO-TEMP.............. No temperature dependence
HMODEL2=TEMP .................... Temperature dependence term is computed
initially, and is then kept constant
HMODEL2=UPDATE Temperature dependence term is updated every
iteration
(Default is selected based on column specifications)

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 Rigorous
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ILMETH ........................... Inside loop convergence methods. Do not use when

ALGORITHM=NEWTON:
ILMETH=BROYDEN................. Broyden quasi-Newton method. (Default for all
algorithms except SUM-RATES)
ILMETH=WEGSTEIN ............... Bounded Wegstein method. (Not allowed when
ALGORITHM=SUM-RATES)
ILMETH=NEWTON................... Newton method. (Not allowed when
ALGORITHM=SUM-RATES)
ILMETH=SCHUBERT............... Schubert quasi-Newton method, with Powell's
dogleg stabilization. Allowed when
ALGORITHM=SUM-RATES only. (Default
when ALGORITHM=SUM-RATES)
JMETH............................. Jacobian calculation method used only when ALGORITHM=SUM-
RATES:
JMETH=INIT ............................. Jacobian matrix is computed initially by
numerical perturbation, then updated by the
Broyden method (Default)
JMETH=RMSOL....................... Jacobian matrix is computed by numerical
perturbation until outside loop RMS error is
below RMSOLJ. Then the matrix is updated by
the Broyden method.
KBBMAX ......................... Maximum allowable slope value for local average K-value model (Default
=-500)
KMODEL ......................... Weighting option for local average K-value model:
KMODEL=Y .............................. Vapor mole fraction
KMODEL=X .............................. Liquid mole fraction
KMODEL=K.............................. Vapor fraction/(1+K-value)
(Default is selected based on column specifications)
L2-CUTOFF..................... Mole fraction threshold for second phase key component (L2-COMPS).
When only one-liquid phase is present, the phase is identified as the
second-liquid phase if its mole fraction of L2-COMPS is greater than L2-
CUTOFF. Use when NPHASE=3. (Default=0.5)
L2-GAMMA...................... Local activity coefficient model option for the second-liquid phase, when
NPHASE=3 and ALGORITHM=NONIDEAL:
L2-GAMMA=CONSTANT......... Uses constant activity coefficient
L2-GAMMA=MARGULES ........ Uses Margules activity coefficient model
(Default)
LL-MAXIT ........................ Maximum number of liquid-liquid phase-split calculations in the inside
loop used when NPHASE=3. You can set LL-MAXIT to zero to suppress
calculations in the inside loop. (Default=20)
LL-METH ......................... Liquid-liquid phase splitting method:
LL-METH=GIBBS..................... Gibbs free energy minimization method
(Default)
LL-METH=EQ-SOLVE.............. Equation solving method

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 Chapter 15

LL-METH=HYBRID .................. Combination of Gibbs free energy minimization

and equality of fugacities
MAX-BROY...................... Maximum number of variables converged by the Broyden method in the
outside loop. You should not increase MAX-BROY beyond 500.
(Default=200)
MAX-SIZE ........................ Maximum size for work space (in real words.) Use when
ALGORITHM=NEWTON or ILMETH=NEWTON. (Default=400000)
MAXIL .............................. Maximum number of inside loop iterations per outside loop (Default=10)
MAXIP.............................. Maximum number of initialization calculation passes. Use for
ABSORBER=YES and three-phase calculations. Default is selected based
on column specifications.
PROD-FLASH.................. Flash type for product stream in PROP-SET and recycle stream
convergence calculations:
PROD-FLASH=PV.................... Flash with stream pressure and vapor fraction
as specifications
PROD-FLASH=TP.................... Flash with stream temperature and pressure as
specifications
(Default is selected based on column specifications)
QMAXBWIL ..................... Maximum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for inside
loop convergence (Default=0.5)
QMAXBWOL ................... Maximum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for outside
loop convergence (Default=0.5)
QMINBWIL ...................... Minimum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for inside
loop convergence (Default=0)
QMINBWOL..................... Minimum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for outside
loop convergence (Default=0)
RMSOL0 .......................... Threshold value of outside loop RMS error that must be achieved before
design specification iterations are performed (Default=0.1)
RMSOL1 .......................... Threshold value of outside loop RMS error below which Broyden method
is used for selected variables (Default=0.1)
RMSOLJ .......................... Value of the outside loop error below which the inside loop Jacobian
matrix is updated by the Broyden method. Use when
ALGORITHM=SUM-RATES and JMETH=RMSOL.
STOR-FACTOR ............... Storage multiplier to override the internally calculated workspace
requirement when ALGORITHM=NEWTON or ILMETH=NEWTON
(Default=1.0)
TOLILFAC ....................... Ratio of inside loop tolerance to outside loop RMS error. Default is
calculated based on column specifications.
TOLILMIN ........................ Minimum value of inside loop tolerance. Default is calculated based on
column specifications.
TOLIL0............................. Initial value of inside loop tolerance (Default=0.01)
FLASH-TOLIL.................. Feed flash tolerance for the inside loop. Use for reactive distillation only.
(Default=1x10-7)
PHEQM-FORM ................ Phase equilibrium formulation for Newton-based methods.

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 Rigorous
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PHEQM-FORM=STANDARD... Includes composition derivatives (Default)

PHEQM-FORM=TOTAL-FLOW Includes total flow as a variable
PHEQM-FORM=IDEAL ............ Ignores composition derivatives
RADIUS-FRAC ................ Initial dogleg radius when using dogleg strategy to stabilize Newton's
method (Default=0.1)
COL-CONFIG Use to enter column configuration choices. These include condenser and reboiler configurations and
the method for selecting key-components for column targeting analysis. If you specify the condenser
configuration, you do not need to specify distillate vapor fraction (RDV) in the COL-SPECS
sentence, except for partial condensers with both vapor and liquid distillates.
CONDENSER.................. Condenser configuration
CONDENSER=TOTAL ............. Total condenser with a liquid distillate (RDV=0)
CONDENSER=PARTIAL-V...... Partial condenser with vapor distillate only
(RDV=1)
CONDENSER= ......................... Partial condenser with vapor and liquid
PARTIAL-V-L distillates (0< RDV<1)
CONDENSER=NONE............... No condenser. Reflux is provided by an external
feed or pumparound return to the top stage
(condenser heat duty=0; RDV=1)
REBOILER ...................... Reboiler configuration
REBOILER=KETTLE ............... Kettle type reboiler (Default)
REBOILER= ............................. Thermosyphon reboiler
THERMOSYPHON
REBOILER=NONE ................... No reboiler (reboiler heat duty=0). Boilup is
provided by external feed or pumparound
return to the bottom stage.
KEY-SELECT .................. Method for selection of light and heavy key components for column
targeting analysis. Specify KEY-SELECT if TARGET or HYDANAL
report option is chosen in the REPORT sentence.
KEY-SELECT=USER ............... Use specified light and heavy key components
from KEY-COMP sentence.
KEY-SELECT= ......................... Select the light and heavy key components on
SPLIT-FRACTION the basis of component split-fractions in column
product streams. This method is best suited for
sharp or near-sharp splits.
KEY-SELECT=K-VALUE ......... Select the light and heavy key components on
the basis of component K-values. This method is
best suited for sloppy splits. (Default)
KEY-SELECT= ......................... Select the light and heavy key components on
COMP-PROFILE the basis of composition profiles. In principle,
this method is similar to KEY-SELECT=
K-VALUE. It is best suited for sloppy splits and
it is, in general, inferior to KEY-SELECT=
K-VALUE.
FEEDS Use to enter inlet material and heat stream locations and feed conventions for material streams.
sid ................................... Stream ID

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 Chapter 15

stage................................ Stage number

feed-conv ........................ ABOVE-STAGE........................ Introduces feed between stages, above
designated stage (Default)
ON-STAGE ............................... Introduces feed on designated stage
DECANTER .............................. Introduces feed to decanter attached to
designated stage
PRODUCTS Use to enter outlet material and heat stream locations, phases, and flows. For material streams,
you can enter a phase specification. The phase specification for the distillate must be consistent
with the specified value of RDV. When RDV does not equal zero or unity, or when RDV is a
manipulated variable, two distillate products are required: one vapor, one liquid. If a liquid product
contains two phases, the two phases can be separated into two product streams: one with phase L1
and the other with phase L2 or W (for free-water). The flow rate of a distillate or bottoms stream is
not specified in a PRODUCTS sentence, but is specified in a COL-SPECS sentence, or left as a
calculated value. The flow rate of a decanter product stream is not specified in a PRODUCTS
sentence, but is left as a calculated value.
sid.................................... Stream ID
stage................................ Stage number
phase............................... L ................................................ Total liquid (Default)
V................................................ Vapor
L1 .............................................. First-liquid
L2 .............................................. Second-liquid
W............................................... Free-water
TL.............................................. Total drawoff of stage liquid
TV.............................................. Total drawoff of stage vapor
basis-FLOW .................... Flow rate for side products on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis. When
phase is TL and TV, specified values are treated as initial estimates only.
SDRAW:FEED Use to specify the sidedraw flow rate as a ratio to the feed flow rate.
sid.................................... Side stream ID
ratio ................................. Molar ratio of sidedraw flow rate to feed flow rate S/ΣΣFij
Where:
S=.............................................. Sidedraw flow rate
F=.............................................. Feed flow rate
i = .............................................. Component in the COMPS list
j = .............................................. Stream in the STREAMS list
STREAMS........................ List of feed streams forming the basis for the ratio specification. Default
is all streams.
COMPS............................ List of components forming the basis for the ratio specification. Default is
all components.

Input Language Guide 15-13

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 Rigorous
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PSEUDO-STREAM Use to identify outlet streams as pseudoproduct streams. A pseudostream can be a stage flow,
thermosyphon reboiler flow or pumparound. Enter locations, phases, and flows for stage flows. If no
flow rate specification is given, the net flow (excluding any product withdrawn) of the specified
phase from the specified stage is stored in the pseudoproduct stream.
sid ................................... Stream ID
stage ............................... Stage number required for stage flows and thermosyphon reboiler flows

PHASE ............................ Phase specification required for stage flows and thermosyphon reboiler
flows:
PHASE=L.................................. Total liquid (Default)
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
PHASE=L1................................ First-liquid
PHASE=L2................................ Second-liquid
PHASE=W ................................ Free-water
PHASE=R ................................. Thermosyphon reboiler circulation flow
PHASE=RL............................... Liquid portion of thermosyphon reboiler
circulation flow
PHASE=RV............................... Vapor portion of thermosyphon reboiler
circulation flow
MOLE-FLOW................... Molar flow rate (Default=net flow)
PA.................................... Pumparound ID, required for pumparound
STATE ............................. State condition for pumparound or thermosyphon reboiler circulation
flow:
STATE=OUTLET...................... Outlet state condition is stored (Default)
STATE=INLET.......................... Inlet state condition is stored
P-SPEC Use to specify the column pressure profile. There are three methods for entering column pressure
profile:
• Use P-SPEC to enter the pressure profile.
• Use P-SPEC to enter the top and second stage pressure. Enter pressure drop using the DP-COL
and DP-STAGE keywords in the COL-SPECS sentence.
• Use P-SPEC to enter top stage pressure. Use the PDROP-SEC sentence to enter pressure drop for
column sections.
stage ............................... Stage number
pres ................................. Pressure

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 Chapter 15

COL-SPECS Use to enter the distillate vapor fraction (RDV) or top stage temperature (T1), and up to two
additional column specifications. Tables 15.1 and 15.2 on pages 15-37 and 15-38 list the valid
column specification combinations. When specifying top stage temperature (T1), the temperature
should correspond to a vapor liquid region. If ALGORITHM=STANDARD and FREE-WATER=YES,
COL-SPECS is used to enter the free-water reflux ratio (RW). You can also enter the column
pressure drop, condenser pressure drop, or pressure drop per stage.
For design mode, any quantities specified in a COL-SPECS statement (except DP-STAGE, DP-COL,
and DP-COND) can be treated as manipulated variables, in which case the values given in the
COL-SPECS statement are initial guesses. Inlet heat streams to the top or bottom stage can be
used in place of Q1 or QN. Substitute MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL for the word basis in the following
specifications.
basis-RDV ....................... Distillate vapor fraction (RDV=DV/D)
Where:
DV = Distillate vapor flow rate
D = Total distillate flow rate, excluding any free-water when
NPHASE=2 and FREE-WATER=YES
You cannot enter basis-RDV if you specify T1. You do not need to specify
basis-RDV when CONDENSER=TOTAL, PARTIAL-V or NONE in the
COL-CONFIG sentence.
T1..................................... Condenser temperature, allowed only for partial condenser with both
liquid and vapor distillate products. You cannot enter T1 if basis-RDV is
specified.
basis-D ............................ Total distillate flow rate, excluding any free-water when NPHASE=2 and
FREE-WATER=YES
basis-B ............................ Bottoms flow rate
D:F ................................... Molar ratio of distillate flow rate to feed flow rate (D/ΣΣFij)
B:F ................................... Molar ratio of bottoms flow rate to feed flow rate (B/ΣΣFij)
Where:
F = Feed flow rate
i = Component in the COMPS list of the DB:F-PARAMS sentence
j = Stream in the STREAMS list of the DB:F-PARAMS sentence
basis-D:F......................... Ratio of distillate flow rate to feed flow rate. Use when basis is MASS or
STDVOL.
basis-B:F......................... Ratio of bottoms flow rate to feed flow rate. Use when basis is MASS or
STDVOL.
basis-L1 .......................... Reflux flow rate (or the liquid flow rate from the top stage), excluding any
free-water when NPHASE=2 and FREE-WATER=YES
basis-VN.......................... Boilup flow rate (or the vapor flow rate from the bottom stage)
basis-RR ......................... Reflux ratio (L1/D), excluding any free-water when NPHASE=2 and
FREE-WATER=YES
basis-BR ......................... Boilup ratio (VN/B)
Q1 .................................... Condenser (or top stage) heat duty
QN.................................... Reboiler (or bottom stage) heat duty

Input Language Guide 15-15

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rigorous
Distillation

RW................................... Free-water reflux ratio on a mole basis; RW=LW/DW

Where:
LW = Free-water reflux rate
DW = Free-water distillate rate
(Default=0)
DP-STAGE ...................... Pressure drop per stage
DP-COL ........................... Pressure drop for column
DP-COND ........................ Pressure drop across condenser
HTLOSS .......................... Heat loss for column. A positive value of heat loss corresponds to heat
flow from the tray to the surroundings. The specified value is divided
equally among all stages in the column. You cannot enter HTLOSS if you
specify a HTLOSS-SEC sentence.

DB:F-PARAMS Use to define the basis for the D:F and B:F specifications in the COL-SPECS sentence.
STREAMS ....................... List of feed streams forming the basis for the D:F or B:F specifications
(Default=all feed streams to the block)
COMPS............................ List of components forming the basis for the D:F or B:F specifications
(Default=all components)
SC-REFLUX Use to specify either the degrees subcooling of the reflux, or the reflux temperature. If you do not
enter a SC-REFLUX statement, the reflux is assumed to be a saturated liquid. Subcooled reflux is
not allowed when NPHASE=3. When FREE-WATER=YES, subcooled reflux is allowed only if you
specify ALGORITHM=SUM-RATES and basis-RDV=0.
DEGSUB ......................... Degrees subcooling
TEMP............................... Reflux temperature
OPTION ........................... OPTION=0 ................................ Both reflux and liquid distillate are subcooled
(Default)
OPTION=1 ................................ Only reflux is subcooled
THERMOSYPHON Use to enter pressure and up to two additional specifications for the thermosyphon reboiler. The
thermosyphon reboiler model has five related variables: pressure, circulation rate, temperature,
temperature change, and vapor fraction. Pressure may be specified or defaulted to the bottom stage
pressure. In addition, one of the following specification options must be chosen:
1. Temperature
2. Temperature change
3. Vapor fraction
4. Circulation flow
5. Circulation flow and temperature
6. Circulation flow and temperature change
7. Circulation flow and vapor fraction
Options 5 through 7 are not allowed when NPHASE=3. If options 1 through 4 are chosen, the duty
QN is either specified or left as a calculated value. If option 5, 6 or 7 is specified, QN must be
specified in the COL-SPECS sentence, but is treated as an initial guess.
If no THERMOSYPHON statement is given, the reboiler is assumed to be of the kettle type.
PRES ............................... Reboiler pressure (Default=bottom stage pressure)

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 Chapter 15

TEMP ............................... Temperature of reboiler outlet

DELT................................ Temperature change across reboiler
VFRAC............................. Vapor fraction of reboiler outlet
basis-FLOW .................... Circulation flow on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
RETURN-CONV............... Convention for returning reboiler outlet to column:
RETURN-CONV= ..................... Introduces reboiler outlet between Nstage and
ABOVE-STAGE Nstage–1, with vapor portion going to Nstage–1
and liquid going to Nstage
RETURN-CONV= ..................... Introduces reboiler outlet to Nstage (Default)
ON-STAGE
PUMPAROUND Use to enter pumparound connectivity and heater/cooler specifications. Pumparounds can be total
or partial drawoffs of the stage flow. You must specify the source, and return stage locations for
each pumparound. By default RADFRAC assumes the pumparound does not experience any phase
change at the heater/cooler outlet. However, you can specify NPHASE=2 or 3, and let RADFRAC
determine the return phase condition from the heater/cooler specifications.
paid.................................. Pumparound ID
stage1.............................. Source stage number
stage2.............................. Destination stage number
DRAW-PHASE................. Phase of pumparound stream at the source:
L ................................................ Liquid (Default)
L1 .............................................. First-liquid
L2 .............................................. Second-liquid
V................................................ Vapor
TYPE................................ Pumparound drawoff type:
TYPE=PARTIAL ....................... Partial drawoff. You must specify two of the
following variables: basis-FLOW, DUTY, TEMP
(or DELT), or VFRAC. (Default)
TYPE=TOTAL........................... Total drawoff. You must specify one of the
following variables: TEMP, DELT, VFRAC or
DUTY.
basis-FLOW .................... Pumparound flow rate in MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
TEMP ............................... Temperature of pumparound stream at associated heater/cooler outlet
DELT................................ Change in temperature of pumparound stream across associated
heater/cooler outlet
DUTY ............................... Heat duty for associated heater/cooler. Enter a negative value for cooling,
a positive value for heating, and 0 for no heating or cooling.
VFRAC............................. Vapor fraction of pumparound stream at associated heater/cooler outlet.
VFRAC is not allowed when NPHASE=1.
PRES ............................... Pressure of pumparound stream at associated heater/cooler outlet
(Default=pressure of draw stage)
NPHASE .......................... Number of phases at the associated heater/cooler outlet (Default=1)

Input Language Guide 15-17

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 Rigorous
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RETURN-PHASE ............ Phase of pumparound stream at associated heater/cooler outlet when

NPHASE=1: L or V
FEED-CONV.................... Feed convention for returning pumparound to column:
FEED-CONV=........................... Introduces pumparound above designated stage
ABOVE-STAGE
FEED-CONV=ON-STAGE........ Introduces pumparound to designated stage
(Default)
FEED-CONV=DECANTER....... Introduces pumparound to decanter attached to
designated stage
QSTREAM-IN .................. Stream ID of inlet heat stream for the pumparound
QSTREAM-OUT .............. Stream ID of outlet heat stream for the pumparound
HEATERS Use to enter the heater stage locations and duties. Inlet heat streams can be used in place of
HEATERS specifications.
stage ............................... Stage number
duty ................................. Heat duty
COOLANT Use to define interstage heaters/coolers with UA and coolant specifications. You must specify the
UA and the coolant component, flow rate and inlet temperature. You can specify the heat capacity
directly, or RADFRAC calculates it from a coolant property option set. If the heat capacity is to be
calculated, you must enter the pressure and phase of the coolant. UA calculations assume that no
phase change occurs on the coolant side.
stage ............................... Stage number
cid ................................... Component ID
opsetname...................... Property option set name (Default=property option set for corresponding
stage)
basis-FLOW.................... Coolant flow rate in MOLE, MASS or STDVOL basis
UA.................................... Product of the average heat-transfer coefficient and heat-transfer area
TEMP............................... Coolant inlet temperature
PRES ............................... Coolant pressure
PHASE ............................ Phase of coolant, L or V
basis-CP ......................... Average heat capacity for coolant in MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis.
The basis should be the same as the basis for the coolant flow rate.
HTLOSS-SEC Use to enter heat loss across a section of column. You cannot use HTLOSS-SEC if you specify
HTLOSS in the COL-SPECS sentence.
secno .............................. Section number
stage1 ............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment
heat loss ......................... Heat loss for the column section. A positive value of heat loss corresponds
to heat flow from the tray to the surroundings. The specified value is
divided equally among stages in the column section.

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 Chapter 15

COMP-EFF Use to enter component efficiencies. The type of efficiency is specified by EFF in the PARAM
statement. When NPHASE=3, COMP-EFF applies to both liquid phases. You cannot use COMP-
EFF if you specify STAGE-EFF, STAGE-EFF-SEC, L1-COMP-EFF, L2-COMP-EFF, L1-STAGE-
EFF, or L2-STAGE-EFF.
stage................................ Stage number
cid.................................... Component ID
eff..................................... Efficiency (Default=1)
STAGE-EFF Use to enter stage efficiencies. These efficiencies are applied to each component on the stage. The
type of efficiency is specified by EFF in the PARAM statement. When NPHASE=3, STAGE-EFF
applies to both liquid phases. You cannot use STAGE-EFF if you specify STAGE-EFF-SEC, COMP-
EFF, L1-COMP-EFF, L2-COMP-EFF, L1-STAGE-EFF, or L2-STAGE-EFF.
stage................................ Stage number
eff..................................... Efficiency (Default=1)
STEFF-SEC Use to enter stage efficiencies for a column section. These efficiencies are applied to each component
on each stage in the column section. The type of efficiency is specified by EFF in the PARAM
sentence. When NPHASE=3, STEFF-SEC applies to both liquid phases. You cannot use STEFF-
SEC if you specify COMP-EFF, STAGE-EFF, L1-COMP-EFF, L2-COMP-EFF, L1-STAGE-EFF, or
L2-STAGE-EFF.
secno............................... Section number
stage1.............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2.............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment
eff..................................... Efficiency (Default=1)
DECANTERS Use to enter location and other specifications for decanters when NPHASE=3. For the top stage
decanter you must specify the fraction of at least one of the two phases returned. For all other
decanters, you must specify the fraction of each of the two liquid phases returned. You can specify
temperature or degrees of subcooling.
stage................................ Stage number
L1-SPEC.......................... Fraction of the first-liquid phase returned
L2-SPEC.......................... Fraction of the second-liquid phase returned
TEMP ............................... Temperature of decanter (Default=stage temperature)
DEGSUB.......................... Degrees subcooling (Default=0)
DECANT-SOLID .............. Solids decant option:
DECANT-SOLID=PARTIAL ..... Decant solids partially using L2-SPEC as the
solid return fraction (Default)
DECANT-SOLID=TOTAL......... Decant solids completely
L2-COMPS Use to enter a list of key components that are used to identify the second-liquid phase when
NPHASE=3 and FREE-WATER=NO. The liquid phase with the larger mole fraction of the key
components is designated as the second-liquid phase. If NPHASE=3 and FREE-WATER=YES, the
free-water phase is the second-liquid phase.
cid-list ............................. Key component ID list
L2-STAGES Use to indicate a segment of stages to be tested for the presence of two liquid phases when
NPHASE=3.
stage1.............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment

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 Rigorous
Distillation

stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment. If the segment to be
tested consists only of stage1, enter an asterisk for stage2.
L1-RETURN Use to enter optional decanter return specifications for the first-liquid phase. You can split the first-
liquid phase into any number of streams, each of which goes to a different stage. If you do not
specify L1-RETURN, the first-liquid phase is returned to the stage immediately below the decanter
stage.
stage1 ............................. Stage number of decanter
stage2 ............................. Stage number of stage to which the first-liquid phase of decanter is
returned
l1-rfrac............................. Fraction of decanter liquid1 returned to the return stage

L2-RETURN Use to enter optional decanter return specifications for the second-liquid phase. You can split the
second-liquid phase into any number of streams, each of which goes to a different stage. If you do
not specify L2-RETURN, the second-liquid phase is returned to the stage immediately below the
decanter stage.
stage1 ............................. Stage number of decanter
stage2 ............................. Stage number of stage to which the second-liquid phase of decanter is
returned
l2-rfrac............................. Fraction of decanter liquid2 returned to the return stage
L1-COMP-EFF Use to enter component Murphree or vaporization efficiencies for the first-liquid phase when
NPHASE=3. The type of efficiency is specified by EFF in the PARAM statement. You cannot use
L1-COMP-EFF if you specified L1-STAGE-EFF, L2-STAGE-EFF, STAGE-EFF, STAGE-EFF-SEC,
or COMP-EFF.
stage ............................... Stage number
cid ................................... Component ID
eff .................................... Efficiency (Default=1)
L2-COMP-EFF Use to enter component Murphree or vaporization efficiencies for the second-liquid phase when
NPHASE=3. The efficiency type is specified by EFF in the PARAM statement. You cannot use L2-
COMP-EFF if you specified L1-STAGE-EFF, L2-STAGE-EFF, STAGE-EFF, STAGE-EFF-SEC, or
COMP-EFF.
stage ............................... Stage number
cid ................................... Component ID
eff .................................... Efficiency (Default=1)
L1-STAGE-EFF Use to enter component Murphree or vaporization efficiencies for the first-liquid phase when
NPHASE=3. These efficiencies are applied to each component on the stage. The efficiency type is
specified by EFF in the PARAM statement. You cannot use L1-STAGE-EFF if you specified L1-
COMP-EFF, L2-COMP-EFF, STAGE-EFF or COMP-EFF.
stage ............................... Stage number
eff .................................... Efficiency (Default=1)
L2-STAGE-EFF Use to enter component Murphree or vaporization efficiencies for the second-liquid phase when
NPHASE=3. These efficiencies are applied to each component on the stage. The efficiency type is
specified by EFF in the PARAM statement. You cannot use L2-STAGE-EFF if you specified L1-
COMP-EFF, L2-COMP-EFF, STAGE-EFF or COMP-EFF.
stage ............................... Stage number

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 Chapter 15

eff..................................... Efficiency (Default=1)

KLL-STAGES Use to specify column segment for which the built-in KLL expression is used. You must also specify
basis-KLL and NPHASE=3.
kll-no ............................... KLL dataset number
stage1.............................. Initial stage of a column segment
stage2.............................. Final stage of a column segment
basis-KLL Use to enter coefficients in MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis for the built-in KLL expression. You
must also specify NPHASE=3.
KLL-NO ........................... KLL dataset number
KLL-CID........................... Component ID
KLL-A, KLL-B.................. Coefficients for KLL expression. Which is defined as:
KLL-C, KLL-D
ln(KLL) = (KLL-A) + (KLL-B)/T + (KLL-C) × ln T + (KLL-D) × T
Where:
KLL = Liquid-liquid equilibrium K-value
T = Temperature in Kelvin
You must enter a value for KLL-A. The default values for the other
coefficients are zero.
REAC-STAGES Use to specify the set of chemical reactions occurring in a segment of stages.
stage1.............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2.............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment. If the segment consists
only of stage1, enter an asterisk for stage2.
reactid ............................. REACTIONS or CHEMISTRY paragraph ID. RADFRAC accepts only
REACTIONS types REAC-DIST and USER. (See Chapters 5 and 6.)
HOLD-UP Use to specify liquid and/or vapor holdup for segment(s) of columns in which rate-controlled
reactions occur. You cannot use HOLD-UP if you specified RES-TIME. Substitute MOLE, MASS, or
VOL for the word basis in the following specifications.
stage1.............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2.............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment. If the segment consists
only of stage1, enter an asterisk for stage2.
basis-LHLDP................... Liquid holdup
basis-VHLDP................... Vapor holdup
RES-TIME Use to specify residence time in the liquid and/or vapor phase for segment(s) of columns in which
rate-controlled reactions occur. You cannot use RES-TIME if you specified HOLD-UP.
stage1.............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2.............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment. If the segment consists
only of stage1, enter an asterisk for stage2.
LTIME .............................. Residence time in liquid phase
VTIME .............................. Residence time in vapor phase
CONVERSION Use to override fractional conversion for reactions (based on key components) specified in the
REACTIONS paragraph. (See Chapter 6.)
stage................................ Stage number

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reacno ............................. Reaction number in REACTIONS paragraph

frac .................................. Fractional conversion based on key component
T-EST Use to enter an initial estimate of the column temperature profile. If you do not enter a T-EST
sentence, an initial profile is generated by RADFRAC.
stage ............................... Stage number
temp ................................ Temperature
X-EST, Use to enter an initial estimate of the column composition profiles. X-EST and Y-EST are always
Y-EST used together.
stage ............................... Stage number
cid ................................... Component ID
x....................................... Liquid mole fraction for total liquid phase
y....................................... Vapor mole fraction
L-EST, Use to enter initial flow or flow ratio estimates for the liquid phase (L-EST), vapor phase (V-EST),
V-EST, and the ratio of vapor to liquid (VL-EST) when ABSORBER=YES or ALGORITHM=SUM-RATES.
VL-EST You cannot use L-EST (or V-EST), and VL-EST together. The flows or flow ratios entered refer to
the net flow on a stage, excluding any side product withdrawn.
stage ............................... Stage number
mole-flow ........................ Molar flow rate (for L-EST or V-EST)
mole-ratio ....................... Ratio of vapor mole flow to liquid mole flow (for VL-EST)
REPORT Use to override the default report options. You can use the standard REPORT options for use
within a block (see Chapter 11) for RADFRAC.
reportopt......................... Standard block report options (see Chapter 11), in addition to the
following:
NOPROFILE ............................. Suppress the stagewise profiles of temperature,
operating pressure, flows, enthalpies, and
duties for this block
NOCOMPS................................ Suppress the mole fraction and K-value profiles
for this block
NOHYDRAULIC........................ Suppress the hydraulic parameters reported for
this block
NOENTH ................................... Suppress the enthalpy profile for this block
NOSPLITS ................................ Suppress the summary of component split
fractions among product streams for this block
STDVPROF............................... Include stagewise profiles of standard volume
flows for this block in column profiles.
TARGET ................................... Include column targeting thermal analysis
results
HYDANAL................................. Include column targeting hydraulic analysis
results
EXTHYD.................................... Include extended hydraulic parameter report.
Use only when NOHYDRAULIC report option
is not selected or when HYDRAULIC=YES in
the PARAM sentence.

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SPC-OPTIONS Use to specify additional stage and design-spec variables to include or exclude in EO calculations.
All options can be set to YES or NO. (Default=YES; these variables are included in EO calculations
unless specified otherwise.)
EFF .................................. Whether to include additional efficiency variable
D ...................................... Whether to include additional distillate variable
B ...................................... Whether to include additional bottom flow variable
RR.................................... Whether to include additional reflux ratio variable
L1..................................... Whether to include additional reflux rate variable
BR.................................... Whether to include additional boilup ratio variable
VN .................................... Whether to include additional boilup rate variable
Q1 .................................... Whether to include additional condenser duty variable
QN.................................... Whether to include additional reboiler duty variable
L....................................... Whether to include additional liquid flow variable
V....................................... Whether to include additional vapor flow variable
Q-STAGE......................... Whether to include additional stage duty variable
WL ................................... Whether to include additional liquid side-draw variable
WV ................................... Whether to include additional vapor side-draw variable
SPEC ............................... Whether to include additional design specification variables
SC-REFLUX .................... Whether to include additional reflux sub-cooling variable
SPC-OPTION2 Use to specify additional features to include or exclude in EO calculations. All options can be set to
YES or NO. (Default=YES)
PRES ............................... Whether to include pressure and pressure drops for all stages
FEEDDP .......................... Whether to include feed-to-stage pressure drop
FEEDOPEN ..................... Option for open feed flash. Do not specify when NPHASE=3.
CS-ALLBASIS ................. Whether to include flow rate and ratio specifications in all flow basis
(MOLE, MASS, and STDVOL)
SPLIT-ALL....................... Whether to include second liquid or free-water variables for all stages
that are tested for two liquid phases (Default=NO). Do not specify when
NPHASE=2.
KEY-COMP Use to specify light and heavy key components for column targeting analysis. Use only when
TARGET and/or HYDANAL report option is selected and KEY-SELECT=USER in the
COL-CONFIG sentence.
secno............................... Section number for key component specification
stage1.............................. Stage number for the initial stage of the section
stage2.............................. Stage number for the final stage of the section
LIGHT-KEY...................... List of light key components
HEAVY-KEY .................... List of heavy key components
KEY-TOL Use to specify tolerances and other parameters for light and heavy key component selection
methods other than KEY-SELECT=USER and for exergy loss calculations. Use only when TARGET
and/or HYDANAL report option is selected.

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KVAL-TOL....................... Tolerance on component K-values. Specify when KEY-SELECT=

K-VALUE or SPLIT-FRACTION. (Default=1x10-5)
COMP-TOL...................... Tolerance on component mole-fractions. Specify when KEY-SELECT=
K-VALUE, SPLIT-FRACTION, or COMP-PROFILE. (Default=1x10-6)
SPF-LIMIT ....................... Minimum value of component split-fractions, in the top and the bottom
products of a column section, necessary for key component selection.
Specify when KEY-SELECT=SPLIT-FRACTION. (Default=0.9)
STG-SPAN ...................... Stage span for computing composition profiles. Specify when
KEY-SELECT=COMP-PROFILE. (Default=2)
EXCLD-KEY .................... List of components to be excluded from key component selection. Specify
when KEY-SELECT=K-VALUE, SPLIT-FRACTION, or
COMP-PROFILE.
EXG-TREF....................... Reference temperature for exergy loss calculations (Default=298.15 K)
CONVERGENCE Use to specify advanced convergence parameters.
MAN-3P-PASS ................ Number of initialization passes in which two liquid phases are forced to
be present. Should not exceed 8. (Default=0)
STABLE-ITER ................. Initial number of iterations over which the steps are damped using a
stabilization method. Use when ALGORITHM=NEWTON or when
ILMETH=NEWTON in the PARAM sentence.
STABLE-METH ............... Stabilization method. Use when ALGORITHM=NEWTON or when
ILMETH=NEWTON in the PARAM sentence.
STABLE-METH=DOGLEG....... Powell's dogleg strategy (Default)
STABLE-METH= ...................... One-dimensional line search
LINE-SEARCH
PROP-DERIV .................. Property derivative calculation method for ALGORITHM=NEWTON.
PROP-DERIV=ANALYTICAL... Analytical (Default)
PROP-DERIV=NUMERICAL.... Numerical
TRAY-REPORT Use to specify the format of the report and additional tray properties to be reported (in addition to
the flows, temperatures, pressures, enthalpies, duties, mole fractions, and K-values printed in the
standard report).
TRAY-OPTION ................ Specifies stages included in the report:
TRAY-OPTION=BRIEF ............ Reports the stages that have feeds, products,
heaters, and maximum and minimum flows,
and the stages immediately above and below
those stages (Default)
TRAY-OPTION= ....................... Reports the stages specified in the INCL-
INCL-TRAYS TRAYS statement
TRAY-OPTION= ....................... Reports all stages
ALL-TRAYS
FORMAT ......................... FORMAT=PROFILE ................. Prints tabular column profiles (Default)
FORMAT=STAGE .................... Prints individual stage reports
FORMAT=COMBINED ............. Prints both tabular column profiles and
individual stage reports

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ORDER ............................ Tray numbering order. Use for report only.

ORDER=TOP-DOWN............... Numbers stages from top down (Default)
ORDER=BOTTOM-UP ............. Numbers stages from bottom up
PROPERTIES .................. List of property set IDs
WIDE................................ Report width option
WIDE=YES ............................... Produce wide (132 columns) reports (Default)
WIDE=NO ................................. Produce standard (80 columns) reports
TRAY-REPOPT Use to specify the flow profile option for the block report.
FLOW-OPTION ............... FLOW-OPTION=0 .................... Report flows from a stage including side draws,
side products, and pumparounds (Default)
FLOW-OPTION=1 .................... Report flows from a stage excluding side draws,
side products, and pumparounds
INCL-TRAYS Use to designate stages to be included in the report when TRAY-OPTION=INCL-TRAYS in the
TRAY-REPORT sentence.
stage1.............................. Stage number of initial stage of column segment to be reported
stage2.............................. Stage number of final stage of column segment to be reported
(Default=stage1)
COND-HCURVE Use to generate cooling curve tables for the condenser. If you entered efficiency or reaction
specification for the condenser using COMP-EFF, STAGE-EFF, L1-COMP-EFF, L2-COMP-EFF,
L1-STAGE-EFF, L2-STAGE-EFF, or REAC-STAGES, condenser cooling curves will not be
consistent with column results. See Chapter 11 for a description of input keywords.
REB-HCURVE Use to generate heating curve tables for the reboiler. If you entered efficiency or reaction
specification for the reboiler using COMP-EFF, STAGE-EFF, L1-COMP-EFF, L2-COMP-EFF, L1-
STAGE-EFF, L2-STAGE-EFF, or REAC-STAGES, reboiler heating curves will not be consistent
with column results. See Chapter 11 for a description of input keywords.
PA-HCURVE Use to generate heating/cooling curve tables and plots for pumparound heater/cooler. You must
specify the pumparound ID. See Chapter 11 for a description of input keywords.
paid.................................. Pumparound ID
VARY Use to specify manipulated variables for the design mode. FEED-FLOW and HEAT-STREAM are
initialized in a STREAM paragraph. You must enter initial guesses of the manipulated variables.
For other manipulated variables, enter estimates using the usual rating mode specification
keywords:

Sentence Variables
PRODUCTS basis-LPROD, basis-VPROD
HEATERS DUTY
PUMPAROUND basis-PA-FLOW, PA-TEMP, PA-DELT, PA-DUTY, PA-VFRAC
COMP-EFF or STAGE-EFF MURPHREE
THERMOSYPHON TREB, DTREB, VREB, basis-RFLOW
DECANTERS L1-SPEC, L2-SPEC
COL-SPECS All others

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The initial guesses must be bracketed by the bounds lb and ub. One VARY sentence is entered for
each manipulated variable. Substitute MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL for the word basis.
varyno ............................. Manipulated variable number
vartype ............................ Manipulated variable type:
basis-RDV ................................ Distillate vapor fraction (RDV=DV/D where DV
is the distillate vapor flow rate and D is the
total distillate flow rate, excluding any free-
water when NPHASE=2 and FREE-
WATER=YES)
basis-D ..................................... Total distillate flow rate, excluding any free-
water when NPHASE=2 and FREE-
WATER=YES
basis-B ..................................... Bottoms flow rate
D:F ............................................ Molar ratio of distillate flow rate to feed flow
rate (D/ΣΣFij)
B:F ............................................ Molar ratio of bottoms flow rate to feed flow
rate (B/ΣΣFij)
Where:
F = Feed flow rate
i = Component in the COMPS list of
the DB:F-PARAMS sentence
j = Stream in the STREAMS list of the
DB:F-PARAMS sentence
basis-D:F.................................. Ratio of distillate flow rate to feed flow rate.
Use when basis is MASS or STDVOL.
basis-B:F.................................. Ratio of bottoms flow rate to feed flow rate. Use
when basis is MASS or STDVOL.
basis-L1.................................... Reflux flow rate (or the liquid flow rate from the
top stage), excluding any free-water when
NPHASE=2 and FREE-WATER=YES
basis-VN................................... Boilup flow rate (or the vapor flow rate from the
bottom stage)
basis-RR................................... Reflux ratio (L1/D), excluding any free-water
when NPHASE=2 and FREE-WATER=YES
basis-BR................................... Boilup ratio (VN/B)
Q1 ............................................. Condenser (or top stage) heat duty
QN............................................. Reboiler (or bottom stage) heat duty
RW ............................................ Free-water reflux ratio on a mole basis
(RW=LW/DW)
Where:
LW = Free-water reflux rate
DW = Free-water distillate rate
basis-LPROD ........................... Liquid sidestream product flow from a stage
(specified by STAGE)

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basis-VPROD ........................... Vapor sidestream product flow from a stage

(specified by STAGE)
DUTY ........................................ External heater duty of a stage (specified by
STAGE)
FEED-FLOW............................. Molar flow rate of a feed stream (specified by
STREAM)
HEAT-STREAM........................ Duty of an inlet heat stream (specified by
STREAM)
MURPHREE.............................. Murphree efficiency of a group of components
(specified by COMPS) in a column segment
(specified by STAGE1 and STAGE2). Initial
guess for Murphree efficiency must be the same
for all components and for all stages in the
column segment.
TREB ........................................ Thermosyphon reboiler outlet temperature
DTREB...................................... Temperature change across thermosyphon
reboiler
VREB ........................................ Thermosyphon reboiler outlet vapor fraction
basis-RFLOW........................... Thermosyphon reboiler circulation flow rate
L1-SPEC ................................... Fraction of first-liquid phase returned from
decanter (specified by STAGE)
L2-SPEC ................................... Fraction of second-liquid phase returned from
decanter (specified by STAGE)
basis-PA-FLOW....................... Circulation flow of a pumparound (specified by
PA)
PA-TEMP .................................. Temperature of a pumparound (specified by PA)
at the heater/cooler outlet
PA-DELT................................... Temperature change across the heater/cooler of
a pumparound (specified by PA)
PA-DUTY .................................. Duty of the heater/cooler for a pumparound
(specified by PA)
PA-VFRAC................................ Vapor fraction of a pumparound (specified by
PA) at the heater/cooler outlet
SDRAW:FEED.......................... Molar ratio of sidedraw flow rate to feed flow
rate
lb...................................... Lower bound
ub..................................... Upper bound
step.................................. Maximum step size (Default=0.1*(ub – lb))
STAGE............................. Stage number (required for vartypes LPROD, VPROD, DUTY, L1-SPEC,
and L2-SPEC)
STREAM .......................... Stream ID (required for vartypes FEED-FLOW, SDRAW:FEED, and
HEAT-STREAM)
STAGE1........................... Stage number for initial stage of column segment (required for
vartype MURPHREE)

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STAGE2 .......................... Stage number for final stage of column segment (required for vartype
MURPHREE)
COMPS............................ List of component IDs (required for vartype MURPHREE and
SDRAW:FEED) (Default=all components)
PA.................................... Pumparound ID (required for vartypes PA-FLOW, PA-TEMP, PA-DELT,
PA-DUTY, and PA-VFRAC)
SPEC Use to enter design specifications. Enter one SPEC sentence for each design specification.
Substitute MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL for the word basis.
specno ............................ Design specification number
spectype ......................... Design specification type:
basis-FRAC.............................. Purity of a product stream (specified by
STREAMS), an internal stream (specified by
STAGE and PHASE), or a decanter stream
(specified by STAGE, DEC-STREAM, and
PHASE).
FRAC = Σxi/Σxj
Where:
x = Component fraction
i = Component in the COMPS list
j = Component in the BASE-COMPS list
The default for BASE-COMPS is all components
(Σxj=1).
basis-RECOV ........................... Component recovery.
RECOV = ΣΣfij/ΣΣfik
Where:
f = Component flow rate
i = Component in the COMPS list
j = Product stream in the STREAMS list
k = Feed stream in the BASE-STREAMS list
The default for BASE-STREAMS is all feed
streams.
basis-FLOW ............................. Flow rate of a group of components (specified by
COMPS) in a set of product streams (specified
by STREAMS), an internal stream (specified by
STAGE and PHASE), or a decanter stream
(specified by STAGE, DEC-STREAM, and
PHASE). The default for COMPS is all
components.

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basis-RATIO ............................ RATIO = Σfi1 / Σfj2 (BASE-STAGE specified)

or
Σfi1 / ΣΣfjk (BASE-STREAMS
specified or defaulted)
For basis-RATIO:
i = Component in the COMPS list
j = Component in the BASE-COMPS list
k = Stream in the BASE-STREAMS list
fi1= Component i flow rate in an internal stream specified by STAGE and PHASE
fj2= Component j flow rate in an internal stream specified by BASE-STAGE and BASE-PHASE
fjk= Component j flow rate in a feed or product stream in the BASE-STREAMS list. (The BASE-
STREAMS list cannot mix feed and product streams.)
The default for COMPS and BASE-COMPS is all components. The default for BASE-STREAMS is
all feed streams.
TEMP ........................................ Temperature on a given STAGE
PROP ........................................ Property value, as specified by PROPERTY, for
a product stream (specified by STREAMS) or an
internal stream (specified by STAGE and the
property phase qualifier in the corresponding
PROP-SET paragraph)
PROP-DIFF............................... Property value minus base property value, as
specified by PROPERTY and
BASE-PROPERTY.
PROPERTY is the property of a product stream
(specified by STREAMS) or of an internal
stream (specified by STAGE and the phase
qualifier in the corresponding PROP-SET
paragraph).
BASE-PROPERTY is the property of a product
stream (specified by BASE-STREAMS) or of an
internal stream (specified by BASE-STAGE and
the phase qualifier in the corresponding PROP-
SET paragraph).
PROP-RATIO............................ Ratio of property value to base property value,
as specified by PROPERTY and BASE-
PROPERTY. PROPERTY and BASE-
PROPERTY are as defined above for PROP-
DIFF.
basis-D ..................................... Total distillate flow rate, excluding any free-
water when NPHASE=2 and FREE-
WATER=YES
basis-B ..................................... Bottoms flow rate
basis-L1.................................... Reflux flow rate (or the liquid flow rate from the
top stage), excluding any free-water when
NPHASE=2 and FREE-WATER=YES
basis-VN................................... Boilup flow rate (or the vapor flow rate from the
bottom stage)
basis-RR................................... Reflux ratio (L1/D), excluding any free-water
when NPHASE=2 and FREE-WATER=YES

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basis-BR................................... Boilup ratio (VN/B)

Q1 ............................................. Condenser (or top stage) heat duty
QN............................................. Reboiler (or bottom stage) heat duty
value................................ Desired value of the design specification
scale................................ Scale factor (Default=1)
weight ............................. Weighting factor (Default=1)
STAGE ............................ Stage number
BASE-STAGE ................. Stage number
COMPS............................ List of component IDs
BASE-COMPS................. List of component IDs
STREAMS ....................... List of stream IDs
BASE-STREAMS ............ List of stream IDs
PROPERTY ..................... ID of a property set defined by a PROP-SET paragraph consisting of a
single scalar property. (See Chapter 42.)
BASE-PROPERTY .......... ID of a property set defined by a PROP-SET paragraph consisting of a
single scalar property. (See Chapter 42.)
DEC-STREAM ................. DEC-STREAM=FEED .............. Decanter feed
DEC-STREAM=PRODUCT ...... Decanter product
DEC-STREAM=RETURN ......... Decanter return
You must also specify PHASE=L and decanter stage location.
PHASE ............................ PHASE=L.................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
PHASE=L1................................ First-liquid
PHASE=L2................................ Second-liquid
PHASE=W ................................ Free-water
BASE-PHASE ................. BASE-PHASE=L ...................... Liquid
BASE-PHASE=V ...................... Vapor
BASE-PHASE=L1 .................... First-liquid
BASE-PHASE=L2 .................... Second-liquid
BASE-PHASE=W ..................... Free-water
(Default=value specified for PHASE)
PDROP-SEC Use to enter pressure drop across a section of a column. You must also specify the pressure for
stage1 in the P-SPEC sentence. You cannot use PDROP-SEC if you specify DP-STAGE, DP-COND,
DP-COL, or P-SPEC.
secno .............................. Section number
stage1 ............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment
pdrop .............................. Pressure drop across section

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DIAGNOSTICS Use to control the level of convergence diagnostics in the history and log files. You can enter a level
between 0 and 10. The amount of diagnostics increases with each level.
MAIN ................................ Controls printouts of initial/final profiles, inside/middle/outside loop
iterations, and outside loop variables/functions in the history file
(Default=4)
OLVAR1........................... Controls initial local model parameter diagnostics in the history file
(Default=4)
OLVAR2........................... Controls local model parameter diagnostics for each outside loop in the
history file (Default=4)
CMBAL ............................ Controls component mass balance diagnostics for each inside loop in the
history file (Default=4)
EMBAL ............................ Controls enthalpy balance diagnostics for each inside loop in the history
file (Default=4)
DESIGN ........................... Controls middle loop diagnostics in the history file (Default=4)
TERM............................... Controls printouts of inside/middle/outside loop iterations in the log file
(Default=0)
TXYEST ........................... Controls printouts of temperature and composition profile results in input
estimate formats in the history file (Default=4)
PLOT Use to generate stagewise plots of column profiles. Properties can be reported on a MOLE, MASS,
or STDVOL basis.
plotno .............................. Plot number
plot-list ............................ List of non-component-dependent properties to be plotted:
TEMP ........................................ Temperature
PRES ........................................ Pressure
LRATE ...................................... Liquid flow rate. If two liquid phases are
present, both are plotted, as is the total liquid
flow rate.
VRATE ...................................... Vapor flow rate
VL-RATIO ................................. Vapor flow rate/liquid flow rate. If two liquid
phases are present, the vapor flow rate/total
liquid flow rate is plotted.
LL-RATIO ................................. Second-liquid flow rate/first-liquid flow rate.
Available only when two liquid phases are
present.
comp-plot........................ Keyword for component-dependent property to be plotted:
X, X1, X2, Y............................... Fractions of the components and/or component
groups listed are plotted. X1 and X2 can be used
only when two liquid phases are present.
KVL, KVL1,............................... K-values of the components and/or listed
KVL2, KLL component groups are plotted. KVL1, KVL2,
and KLL cause the ratios y/x1, y/x2 and x2/x1
respectively, to be plotted. They can be used
only when two liquid phases are present. When
two liquid phases are present, KVL is the ratio
of vapor component fraction/total liquid
component fraction.

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REL-VOL .................................. Relative volatilities of the components and/or

component groups listed are plotted. You must
also specify BASE-COMP. When a component
group ID is specified:

Σy i / Σx i
REL − VOL =
( y / x) BASE −COMP
S-PLOT ..................................... Separation factors, defined under S-OPTION
groupid-list ..................... List of component IDs and/or component group IDs
BASE-COMP ................... Component ID of base component for relative volatility calculations. (Use
with the REL-VOL keyword.)
S-OPTION ....................... Definition of separation factor:
S-OPTION=LINEAR ................. Separation factor is defined as:
(yi/xi) / (Σyh/Σxh) if a component ID is specified,
or:
(Σyi/Σxi) / (Σyh/Σxh) if a component group ID is
specified.
S-OPTION=LOG....................... Separation factor is defined as:
ln(xi/Σxh)
if a component ID is specified, or:
ln(Σxi/Σxh)
if a component group ID is specified.
Where:
i = Component or list of components
specified by a component group
h = Heavy-key component specified by
HEAVY-KEY
S-OPTION=COMBINED ........... Both linear and log definition are plotted.
(Default=LOG)
HEAVY-KEY .................... Heavy key component ID or component group ID. (Use with the S-PLOT
keyword.)
BASIS.............................. BASIS=MOLE........................... Plotted values are on a mole basis (Default)
BASIS=MASS........................... Plotted values are on a mass basis
BASIS=STDVOL ...................... Plotted values are on a standard-liquid-volume
basis

ORDER............................ ORDER=TOP-DOWN ............... Numbers stages from top down (Default)

ORDER=BOTTOM-UP ............. Numbers stages from bottom up
PLOT-HEADING.............. Heading up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes, printed at the top of the
print-plot
WIDE ............................... Plot width option. Use to override default established by the PLOT-
OPTIONS paragraph (See Chapter 47).
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied subroutine for KLL. You must also specify NPHASE=3. For details on
writing user-supplied subroutines, see Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 16.
KLL.................................. User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name for KLL calculations

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 Chapter 15

KLL-USER Use to specify column segment for which the user-supplied KLL subroutine is used. You must also
specify NPHASE=3.
stage1.............................. Initial stage of a column segment
stage2.............................. Final stage of a column segment
KLL-VECS Use to define the length of arrays for the user-supplied KLL subroutine. You must also specify
NPHASE=3.
NINT................................. Length of integer parameter
NREAL............................. Length of real parameter
KLL-INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied KLL subroutine. You must
also specify NPHASE=3.
VALUE-LIST .................... List of integer values
KLL-REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied KLL subroutine. You must
also specify NPHASE=3.
VALUE-LIST .................... List of real values
USERK-VECS Use to define the length of arrays for the user-supplied kinetics subroutine.
NINT................................. Length of integer parameter array
NREAL............................. Length of real parameter array
NIWORK .......................... Length of integer workspace array
NWORK ........................... Length of real workspace array
USERK-INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied kinetics subroutine.
VALUE-LIST .................... List of integer values
USERK-REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied kinetics subroutine.
VALUE-LIST .................... List of real values
STG-UTL Use to specify optional utilities to provide heating or cooling duty for stage heaters and coolers.
stage................................ Stage number.
utilityid ............................ Utility ID.
PA-UTL Use to specify optional utilities to provide heating or cooling duty for pumparounds.
pid.................................... Pumparound ID.
utilityid ............................ Utility ID.
UTILITIES Use to specify optional utilities to provide heating or cooling duty for condenser and reboiler.
COND-UTIL ..................... Utility ID for condenser.
REB-UTIL ........................ Utility ID for reboiler.

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Accessing Variables in RADFRAC

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2

PARAM NSTAGE† — —
FEEDS STAGE sid —
PRODUCTS STAGE, basis–FLOW sid —
PSEUDO–STREAM STAGE, MOLE–FLOW sid —
P–SPEC PRES stage —
COL–SPECS basis–RDV, T1, basis–D, basis–B, D:F, B:F, basis-D:F, basis-B:F, — —
basis–L1, basis-VN, basis–RR, basis-BR, Q1, QN, RW, DP–
STAGE, DP–COL, DP-COND, HTLOSS
PDROP-SEC PDROP secno —
DB:F-PARAMS STREAMS, COMPS — —
SC-REFLUX DEGSUB, TEMP, OPTION — —
THERMOSYPHON PRES, TEMP, DELT VFRAC, basis-FLOW — —
HEATERS DUTY stage —
COOLANT basis-FLOW, UA, TEMP, PRES stage —
HTLOSS-SEC HTLOSS-SEC secno —
COMP–EFF EFF stage cid
STAGE–EFF EFF stage —
STAGE-EFF-SEC EFF secno —
DECANTERS L1-SPEC, L2-SPEC, TEMP, DEGSUB stage —
L1-RETURN L1-RFRAC stage1 stage2
L2-RETURN L2-RFRAC stage1 stage2
L1-COMP-EFF EFF stage cid
L2-COMP-EFF EFF stage cid
† NSTAGE cannot be increased from the value in the Block Paragraph, but it can be decreased.

continued

Block Input (continued)

Sentence Variables ID1 ID2

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 Chapter 15

L1-STAGE-EFF EFF stage —

L2-STAGE-EFF EFF stage —
L2-STAGES STAGE2 stage1 —
HOLD-UP†† basis-LHLDP, basis-VHLDP stage1 —
RES-TIME LTIME, VTIME stage1 —
T–EST TEMP stage —
X–EST X stage cid
Y–EST Y stage cid
L–EST MOLE-FLOW stage —
V–EST MOLE-FLOW stage —
VL–EST MOLE-RATIO stage —
COND–HCURVE NPOINT, INCR, PDROP curveno —
REB–HCURVE NPOINT, INCR, PDROP curveno —
VARY††† LB, UB, STEP, STAGE, STAGE1, STAGE2 varyno —
SPEC††† VALUE, SCALE, WEIGHT, STAGE, BASE-STAGE specno —
MOLE-KLL KLL-A, KLL-B, KLL-C, KLL-D kllno cid
PUMPAROUND SOURCE-STAGE, DEST-STAGE, PRES basis-FLOW, TEMP, paid —
DELT, DUTY, VFRAC
†† HOLD-UP is in MOLE, MASS or VOL basis.
††† Accessed variables are in SI units.

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1 ID2

Condenser duty RESULTS COND–DUTY — —

Reboiler duty RESULTS REB–DUTY — —
Subcooled reflux duty RESULTS QSC — —
Subcooled temperature RESULTS TSC — —
Reflux ratio RESULTS RR — —
Boilup ratio RESULTS BR — —
Stage temperature PROFILE TEMP† stage —
Stage pressure PROFILE PRES† stage —
† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

continued

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Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable ID1 ID2
Stage liquid rate PROFILE LRATE† stage —
Stage first liquid rate PROFILE L1RATE† stage —
Stage second liquid rate PROFILE L2RATE† stage —
Stage vapor rate PROFILE VRATE† stage —
Stage heat duty PROFILE DUTY† stage —
Manipulated variables†† MAN–VARS VALUE† varyno —
Liquid compositions COMPS X† cid stage
First liquid compositions COMPS X1† cid stage
Second liquid compositions COMPS X2† cid stage
Vapor compositions COMPS Y† cid stage
Reaction rates REAC-RATES RATE† stage cid
† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.
†† Accessed variables are in SI units.

Thermosyphon reboiler:
Description Sentence Variable ID1 ID2

Pressure REB- PRES — —

RESULTS
Temperature REB- TEMP — —
RESULTS
Vapor fraction REB- VFRAC — —
RESULTS
Flow rate REB- MOLE-FLOW — —
RESULTS
Liquid composition REB-COMP X† cid —
Liquid1 composition REB-COMP X1† cid —
Liquid2 composition REB-COMP X2† cid —
Vapor composition REB-COMP Y† cid —
† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

Pumparound:
Description Sentence Variable ID1 ID2
Temperature PA-RESULTS TEMP paid —

continued

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 Chapter 15

Block Results (Pumparound, continued)

Description Sentence Variable ID1 ID2
Pressure PA-RESULTS PRES paid —
Duty PA-RESULTS DUTY paid —
Vapor fraction PA-RESULTS VFRAC paid —
Beta PA-RESULTS BETA paid —
Molar flow rate PA-RESULTS MOLE-FLOW paid —

Column Specification Combinations for Two-Phase and

Three-Phase Calculations
For rating mode, the column variables that can be specified are variables in the
COL-SPECS sentence, and L1-SPEC and L2-SPEC for the first stage in the
DECANTERS sentence. The number of variables that can be specified and the
allowable combinations of specifications depend on the NPHASE specification in
the PARAM sentence.

When NPHASE=2, you must specify either basis-RDV or T1. (T1 is allowed only
for columns with a partial condenser, and both a vapor and liquid distillate.) In
addition, you must specify two column variables. L1-SPEC and L2-SPEC cannot
be used. The allowable combinations of column variables are indicated with an X
in Table 15.1:

Table 15.1 Column Specification Combinations for Two-Phase Calculations

L1 VN RR BR Q1 QN
D X X X X X X
B X X X X X X
D:F X X X X X X
B:F X X X X X X
L1 X X
VN X X
RR X X X X X
BR X X X X X
Q1 X X X
QN X X X

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When NPHASE=3, the allowable specifications depend on specifications entered

for the top stage decanter. You can choose one of the following specification
options:

1. No top stage decanter is present, or only one of L1-SPEC and L2-SPEC is

specified for the top stage decanter. You must specify two column variables.
The allowable combinations of column variables are indicated with an X in
Table 15.2. You must also specify either RDV or T1. T1 is allowed only if the
column has no top stage decanter, and there is a partial condenser with both
liquid and vapor distillate streams.

2. Both L1-SPEC and L2-SPEC are specified for the top stage decanter. Two
column variables must be specified. The allowable combinations are indicated
with an X in the previous matrix. Both liquid and vapor distillate are assumed
to be present, and RDV is calculated. An initial estimate for RDV is required.

3. Both L1-SPEC and L2-SPEC are specified for the top stage decanter. RDV and
one additional column variable must be chosen from the following: D, B, D:F,
B:F, Q1, QN.

Option 2 is recommended if free-water calculations are performed and a partial

condenser is specified.

Table 15.2 Column Specification Combinations for Three-Phase Calculations

L1 VN RR BR Q1 QN
D X X X X X X
B X X X X X X
D:F X X X X X X
B:F X X X X X X
Q1 X

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 Chapter 15

MULTIFRAC
Rigorous Fractionation for Complex Columns

Input Language for MULTIFRAC

BLOCK blockid MULTIFRAC
PROP-SECTIONS col stage1 stage2 opsetname keyword=value

Keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS CHEMISTRY

PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
NCOL NSTAGE NIC–STREAM
Optional keywords:
ALGORITHM EFF INIT-OPTION HYDRAULIC P-UPDATE P-FIX DAMPING
MAXOL TOLOL DSMETH FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL HMODEL2 ILMETH
JMETH KBBMAX KMODEL MAXIL MAXIP MAXSBI MAX-BROY
PROD-FLASH QMAXBWIL QMAXBWOL QMINBWIL QMINBWOL RMSOL0
RMSOL1 RMSOLJ TOLIL0 TOLILFAC TOLILMIN

COL-CONFIG keyword=value

Keywords:
CONDENSER REBOILER KEY-SELECT

FEEDS sid col stage [feed–conv] / . . .

PRODUCTS sid col stage [PHASE=phase] [basis–FLOW=value] / . . .
PSEUDO–STREAM sid col stage [PHASE=phase] IC–STREAM=ic–stream &
[basis–FLOW=value] / . . .
P–SPEC col stage pres / . . .
COL–SPECS col keyword=value

Keywords:
NSTAGE basis–RDV T1 basis–RR basis–L1 basis–D basis–B Q1 QN
RW
Optional keywords:
RDV–EST DP–STAGE DP–COL

HEATERS col stage duty

COMP–EFF col stage cid eff / . . .
STAGE–EFF col stage eff / . . .

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CONNECT–STREAM ic–stream SOURCE–COL=source-col source–stage &

DEST–COL=dest-col dest–stage keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PHASE basis–FLOW TEMP DELT DUTY QSTREAM–IN QSTREAM–OUT

L–SPEC col stage keyword=value

Keyword:
basis–FLOW
Optional keywords:
Q–COL Q–STAGE IC–STREAM

V–SPEC col stage keyword=value

Keyword:
basis–FLOW
Optional keywords:
Q–COL Q–STAGE IC–STREAM

FLOW–RATIO rationo keyword=value

Keywords:
basis–RATIO COL STAGE
Optional keywords:
PHASE BASE–COL BASE–STAGE BASE–PHASE Q–COL Q–STAGE
IC–STREAM

SC–REFLUX col keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP DEGSUB
Optional keyword:
OPTION

L2-STAGES col [stage1] [stage2] / . . .

T–EST col stage temp / . . .
L–EST col stage flow / . . .
V–EST col stage flow / . . .
X–EST col stage cid x / . . .
Y–EST col stage cid y / . . .
REPORT reportopt-list

Special reportopts:
NOPROFILE NOCOMPS NOHYDRAULIC NOENTH TARGET HYDANAL
EXTHYD

KEY-COMP col secno stage1 stage2 LIGHT-KEY=cid-list HEAVY-KEY=cid-

list

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 Chapter 15

KEY-TOL col keyword=value

Optional keywords:
KVAL-TOL COMP-TOL SPF-LIMIT STG-SPAN EXCLD-KEY EXG-TREF

TRAY–REPORT keyword=value

Optional keywords:
TRAY–OPTION FORMAT ORDER PROPERTIES PRINT–PLOT WIDE

INCL–TRAYS col [stage1] [stage2] / . . .

COND–HCURVE curveno col keyword=value
REB–HCURVE curveno col keyword=value
IC–HTR–HCURVE curveno ic–stream keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INDEP–VAR LIST NPOINT INCR HEADING PROPERTIES
PRES–PROFILE PDROP PRINT–PLOT HIGH–PRECISION LINES X–SCALE
Y–SCALE WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

VARY varyno vartype [lb] [ub] [step] keyword=value

Vartypes:
basis–LPROD basis–VPROD DUTY basis-FEED HEAT–STREAM
basis–RDV basis–RR basis–L1 basis–D basis–B Q1 QN RW
basis–L basis–V basis–RATIO IC–basis–FLOW IC–TEMP IC–DELT
IC–DUTY
Keywords:
COL STAGE STREAM IC–STREAM RATIO–NO

SPEC specno spectype value [scale] [weight] keyword=value

Spectypes:
basis–FRAC basis–RECOV basis–FLOW basis–RATIO TEMP
DUTY DUTY–RATIO PROP PROP–DIFF PROP–RATIO
Keywords:
COL BASE–COL STAGE BASE–STAGE COMPS BASE–COMPS
STREAMS BASE–STREAMS IC–STREAM BASE–IC–STREAM
PROPERTY BASE–PROPERTY
Optional keywords:
PHASE BASE–PHASE

DIAGNOSTICS keyword=value

Keywords:
MAIN OLVAR1 OLVAR2 CMBAL EMBAL DESIGN TERM TXYEST

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PLOT plotno plot–list comp–plot=groupid–list keyword=value

Plot-list options:
TEMP PRES LRATE VRATE VL–RATIO
Comp-plot options:
X Y KVL REL–VOL
Optional keywords:
BASE–COMP BASIS ORDER PLOT–HEADING WIDE

IC-UTL icsid utilityid

COL-UTL column stage utilityid
UTILITIES column keyword=value / cid keyword=value …

Optional keywords:
COND-UTIL REB-UTIL

Input Language Description for MULTIFRAC

PROP-SECTIONS Use to specify property options for a column segment. PROP-SECTIONS overrides the
PROPERTIES sentence for a column segment. The input language for PROP-SECTIONS is the
same as for the PROPERTIES sentence, except that PROP-SECTIONS requires that the column
segment be specified. See Chapter 11 for more information about the PROPERTIES sentence.
Column initialization calculations are always performed using the specifications in the
PROPERTIES sentence, regardless of the specifications given in the PROP-SECTIONS sentence.
Therefore, it is important that the property option in the PROPERTIES sentence gives reasonable
property representation at the average condition of the column. Any option set name entered in the
PROP-SECTIONS sentence must also be named in the PROPERTIES sentence. (See Chapter 8.)
col ................................... Column number
stage1 ............................. Initial stage of the column segment
stage2 ............................. Final stage of the column segment
opsetname...................... Property option set used for column segment
PARAM Use to enter the number of columns, total number of stages, number of interconnecting streams,
efficiency type, algorithm option, and optional convergence parameters.
NCOL............................... Number of columns
NSTAGE.......................... Total number of stages in all columns, including condensers and reboilers.
Must be greater than 1.
NIC-STREAM .................. Number of interconnecting streams. Must be equal to or greater than 1.
ALGORITHM ................... Algorithm convergence options:
ALGORITHM=STANDARD ...... Standard inside-out formulation, recommended
for most applications
ALGORITHM= .......................... Sum-rates formulation, recommended for wide-
SUM–RATES boiling systems
ALGORITHM=NEWTON .......... Newton algorithm, recommended for highly-
nonideal systems.

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 Chapter 15

Default is SUM-RATES when INIT-OPTION=CRUDE; otherwise the

default is STANDARD.
EFF .................................. Type of efficiency specified using COMP-EFF or STAGE-EFF keywords:
EFF=VAPOR ............................ Vaporization efficiency (Default)
EFF=MURPHREE..................... Murphree efficiency

INIT-OPTION ................... Initialization options:

INIT-OPTION=STANDARD...... Constant molal overflow, uniform composition
profiles (Default)
INIT-OPTION=CRUDE ............. Applicable to preflash towers, crude towers,
FCCU main fractionators, coker fractionators,
and vacuum towers
HYDRAULIC .................... Flag to specify whether to perform calculations of hydraulic parameters
(for example, flow parameter, reduced vapor throughput, tray loadings,
and various transport properties): YES or NO. (Default=NO)
P-UPDATE....................... Update pressure profile during column sizing and rating calculations:
YES or NO. (Default=NO)
P-FIX................................ Pressure update option: TOP or BOTTOM. Keeps pressure at column
top/bottom constant during pressure updating for column sizing and
rating calculations. (Default=TOP)
DAMPING ........................ Damping factor. Use to stabilize convergence when excessive oscillation is
observed in the convergence behavior:
DAMPING=NONE..................... No damping (Default)
DAMPING=MILD ...................... Mild level of damping
DAMPING=MEDIUM ................ Medium level of damping
DAMPING=SEVERE ................ Severe level of damping. You may need to
increase the maximum number of outside loop
iterations (keyword MAXOL) to achieve
convergence.
MAXOL ............................ Maximum number of outside loop iterations (Default=25)
TOLOL............................. Outside loop convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-4)
DSMETH.......................... Design specification convergence method only for
ALGORITHM=STANDARD:
DSMETH=SIMULT ................... Simultaneous method
DSMETH=NESTED .................. Nested iteration method (Default)
FLASH-MAXIT ................. Maximum number of feed flash iterations (Default=30)
FLASH-TOL..................... Feed flash tolerance (Default=1x10-4)
HMODEL2 ....................... Temperature dependence option for local enthalpy departure model.
Default selected based on column specifications.
ILMETH............................ Inside loop convergence methods:
ILMETH=BROYDEN................. Broyden quasi-Newton method, for
ALGORITHM=STANDARD or SUM-RATES
(Default for ALGORITHM=STANDARD)

Input Language Guide 15-43

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 Rigorous
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ILMETH=WEGSTEIN ............... Bounded Wegstein method, for

ALGORITHM=STANDARD only
ILMETH=COMBINED ............... Combination of Broyden and Wegstein methods,
for ALGORITHM=STANDARD only
ILMETH=SCHUBERT............... Schubert quasi-Newton method, with Powell's
dogleg stabilization, for ALGORITHM=SUM-
RATES only (Default for ALGORITHM=SUM-
RATES)
JMETH............................. Jacobian calculation method for ALGORITHM=SUM-RATES:
JMETH=INIT ............................. Jacobian matrix is computed initially by
numerical perturbation. Then the matrix is
updated by the Broyden method. (Default)
JMETH=RMSOL....................... Jacobian matrix is computed by numerical
perturbation until outside loop RMS error is
below RMSOLJ. Then the matrix is updated by
the Broyden method.
KBBMAX ......................... Maximum allowable slope value for local average K-value model
(Default=-500)
KMODEL ......................... Weighting option for local average K-value model:
KMODEL=Y .............................. Vapor mole fraction
KMODEL=X .............................. Liquid mole fraction
KMODEL=K.............................. Vapor mole fraction/(1+K-value) (Default)
MAXIL.............................. Maximum number of inside loop iterations per outside loop (Default=10)
MAXIP ............................. Maximum number of initialization calculation passes. Default is selected
based on the nature of the feed and column specifications.
MAXSBI........................... Maximum number of iterations for component mass balance convergence.
Use with ALGORITHM=STANDARD. (Default=10)
MAX-BROY ..................... Maximum number of variables converged by the Broyden method in the
outside loop. You should not increase MAX-BROY beyond 500.
(Default=200)
PROD-FLASH ................. Flash type for product stream in PROP-SET and recycle stream
convergence calculations:
PROD-FLASH=PV.................... Flash with stream pressure and vapor fraction
as specifications
PROD-FLASH=TP.................... Flash with stream temperature and pressure as
specifications
(Default is selected based on column specifications.)
QMAXBWIL ..................... Maximum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for inside
loop (Default=0.5)
QMAXBWOL ................... Maximum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for outside
loop (Default=0.5)
QMINBWIL ...................... Minimum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for inside
loop (Default=0)

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 Chapter 15

QMINBWOL..................... Minimum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for outside

loop (Default=0)
RMSOL0 .......................... Threshold value of outside loop RMS error that must be achieved before
design specification iterations are performed (Default=0.1)
RMSOL1 .......................... Threshold value of outside loop RMS error below which Broyden method
is used for selected variables (Default=0.01)
RMSOLJ .......................... Value of the outside loop error below which the inside loop Jacobian
matrix is updated by the Broyden method. Use with ALGORITHM=SUM-
RATES and JMETH=RMSOL. (Default=0.01)
TOLIL0............................. Initial value of inside loop tolerance (Default=0.01)
TOLILFAC ....................... Ratio of inside loop tolerance to outside loop RMS error (Default=0.05)
TOLILMIN ........................ Minimum value of inside loop tolerance (Default=1x10-6)
COL-CONFIG Use to enter column configuration choices. These include condenser and reboiler configurations and
the method for selecting key-components for column targeting analysis. If you specify the condenser
configuration, you do not need to specify distillate vapor fraction (RDV) in the COL-SPECS
sentence, except for partial condensers with both vapor and liquid distillates. You can choose any of
the four condenser types for the first column. For all other columns, only two types (NONE and
PARTIAL-V) are available.
CONDENSER .................. Condenser configuration
CONDENSER=TOTAL............. Total condenser with a liquid distillate (RDV=0)
CONDENSER=PARTIAL-V...... Partial condenser with vapor distillate only
(RDV=1)
CONDENSER= ......................... Partial condenser with vapor and liquid
PARTIAL-V-L distillates (0<RDV<1)
CONDENSER=NONE............... No condenser. Reflux is provided by an external
feed or pumparound return to the top stage
(condenser heat duty=0; RDV=1)
REBOILER ...................... Reboiler configuration
REBOILER=KETTLE ............... Kettle type reboiler (Default)
REBOILER=NONE................... No reboiler (reboiler heat duty=0). Boilup is
provided by external feed or pumparound
return to the bottom stage.
KEY-SELECT .................. Method for selection of light and heavy key components for column
targeting analysis. Specify KEY-SELECT if TARGET or HYDANAL
report option is selected in the REPORT sentence.
KEY-SELECT=USER ............... Use light and heavy key components specified
in KEY-COMP sentence.
KEY-SELECT= ......................... Select the light and heavy key components on
SPLIT-FRACTION the basis of component split-fractions in column
product streams. This method is best suited for
sharp or near-sharp splits.
KEY-SELECT=K-VALUE ......... Select the light and heavy key components on
the basis of component K-values. This method is
best suited for sloppy splits. (Default)

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KEY-SELECT= ......................... Select the light and heavy key components on

COMP-PROFILE the basis of composition profiles. In principle,
this method is similar to KEY-SELECT=
K-VALUE. It is best suited for sloppy splits and
it is, in general, inferior to KEY-SELECT=
K-VALUE.
FEEDS Use to enter inlet material and heat stream locations, and feed conventions for material streams.
sid ................................... Stream ID
col ................................... Column number
stage ............................... Stage number
feed–conv ....................... ABOVE–STAGE....................... Introduces feed between stages, above
designated stage (Default)
ON–STAGE .............................. Introduces feed on designated stage
PRODUCTS Use to enter stream locations for material and heat outlet streams.
For a material stream, you can enter the phase specification. The phase specification for the
distillate of column 1 must be consistent with the specified value of RDV. When RDV does not equal
zero or unity, or is a manipulated variable, or when T1 is specified in COL-SPECS, two distillate
streams are required: one vapor and one liquid. You can specify a separate product stream for the
free-water distillate from column 1. If you do not specify a separate stream, the free-water distillate
is mixed with the organic liquid distillate phase.
The flow rates of vapor and liquid distillates for column 1, vapor distillate for other columns, and
bottoms of all columns are not specified in the PRODUCTS statement. They are either calculated or
specified in a COL-SPECS, L-SPEC or V-SPEC statement. When L2-STAGES is not specified,
phase=W is allowed for stage1 only. The amount of decant water is determined by RW. When L2-
STAGES is specified, phase=W is allowed for any stage included in L2-STAGES, and corresponds to
the entire free-water phase in the specified stages.
sid ................................... Stream ID
col ................................... Column number
stage ............................... Stage number
PHASE ............................ PHASE=L.................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
PHASE=W ................................ Free-water
PHASE=L1................................ Organic phase
PHASE=TL ............................... Total drawoff of stage liquid
PHASE=TV ............................... Total drawoff of stage vapor
basis-FLOW.................... Flow rate on MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis. Not allowed for phase=W.
When phase is TL and TV, specified value is treated as initial estimate
only.
PSEUDO-STREAM Use to identify an outlet stream as a pseudoproduct stream, and to specify the internal stream or
interconnecting stream whose compositions and conditions are to be represented by the
pseudostream. You must enter either col and stage, or IC-STREAM.
sid ................................... Stream ID
col ................................... Column number
stage ............................... Stage number

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PHASE............................. PHASE=L ................................. Liquid (Default)

PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
PHASE=W ................................ Free-water
PHASE=L1 ............................... Organic phase
PHASE=TL ............................... Total liquid
PHASE=TV ............................... Total vapor
IC-STREAM ..................... Interconnecting stream number. You cannot use IC-STREAM, if you
specified col, stage, or phase.
basis-FLOW .................... Flow rate of pseudoproduct stream on MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis. If
you did not supply a value, the net flow of the internal stream (excluding
any sidedraw) or the interconnecting stream flow rate is used.
P-SPEC Use to enter the column pressure profile. Enter one P-SPEC statement for each column.
col.................................... Column number
stage................................ Stage number
pres ................................. Pressure
COL-SPECS Use to enter the number of stages and additional specifications for each column. Tables 15.3 and
15.4 list the valid column specification combinations. For column 1, COL-SPECS is used to specify
the distillate vapor fraction (RDV), or the top stage temperature (T1), and an initial estimate of
RDV. If free-water calculations are performed, the free-water reflux ratio (RW) is also specified.
You can also enter the column pressure drop or pressure drop per stage. For design mode, any of
the quantities specified in a COL-SPECS statement (with the exception of NSTAGE, T1, RDV-EST,
DP-STAGE, and DP-COL) can be treated as manipulated variables, in which case the values given
in the COL-SPECS statement are initial guesses. An input heat stream to the top or bottom stage of
a column can be used in place of Q1 or QN, respectively. Substitute MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL for
the word basis in the following specifications.
col.................................... Column number
NSTAGE .......................... Number of stages. Must be greater than 1 for column 1.
basis-RDV ....................... Distillate vapor fraction. RDV=DV/D where DV is the distillate vapor flow
rate and D is the total distillate flow rate (excluding free-water). (Use for
column 1 only.)
T1..................................... Temperature of top stage. (Use for column 1 only.)
basis-RR ......................... Reflux ratio (excluding free-water) (L1/D, where L1 is the reflux rate
excluding free-water)
basis-L1 .......................... Top stage liquid flow rate including the liquid distillate (excluding free-
water)
basis-D ............................ Distillate flow rate (excluding free-water). For column 1, D includes both
vapor and liquid distillate flows. For other columns, D includes vapor
distillate only. Liquid distillate flow, if present, is specified in the
PRODUCTS sentence.
basis-B ............................ Bottoms flow rate
Q1 .................................... Condenser (or top stage) heat duty
QN.................................... Reboiler (or bottom stage) heat duty

Input Language Guide 15-47

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 Rigorous
Distillation

RW................................... Free-water reflux ratio. RW=LW'/DW, where LW' is the

free-water reflux rate and DW is the free-water distillate rate.
(Default=0)
RDV-EST ......................... Estimate of the molar distillate vapor fraction. (Use for column 1 only.)
DP-STAGE ...................... Pressure drop per stage
DP-COL ........................... Pressure drop for column
HEATERS Use to enter the heater stage locations and duties. You can use input heat streams instead of a
heater.
col ................................... Column number
stage ............................... Stage number
duty ................................. Heat duty
COMP-EFF Use to enter component efficiency. You cannot use COMP-EFF if you specified STAGE-EFF. The
type of efficiency is specified by EFF in the PARAM statement.
col ................................... Column number
stage ............................... Stage number
cid ................................... Component ID
eff .................................... Efficiency (Default=1)
STAGE-EFF Use to enter stage efficiency. These efficiencies are applied to all components on the stage. You
cannot use STAGE-EFF if you specified COMP-EFF. The type of efficiency is specified by EFF in
the PARAM statement.
col ................................... Column number
stage ............................... Stage number
eff .................................... Efficiency (Default=1)
CONNECT-STREAM Use to enter the source, destination, phase, flow rate, and thermal condition of each interconnecting
stream. There can be any number of interconnecting streams from the same source column, stage,
and phase, and any number with the same destination column and stage. Interconnecting streams
are introduced on the destination stage regardless of their phase (feed-conv=ON-STAGE). Enter one
CONNECT-STREAM statement for each interconnecting stream.
The vapor leaving the top stage of a column and the liquid leaving the bottom stage are referred to
as terminal streams. Each terminal stream can be the source of a product stream and any number
of interconnecting streams. If there is no product stream, at least one interconnecting stream must
have an unspecified flow. Any of the interconnecting streams can have a heater with heat duty,
temperature or temperature change specified.
An internal stream can be the source of any number of interconnecting streams, any of which can
have a heater. If an interconnecting stream does not have an external heater, the flow rate must be
specified directly in the CONNECT-STREAM sentence, or fixed indirectly by an L-SPEC, V-SPEC
or FLOW-RATIO sentence.
If an interconnecting stream has a heater, two of the following variables must be specified: flow
rate, temperature (or temperature change), and heat duty. If you specified heat duty and
temperature (or temperature change), the flow rate is calculated. Temperature change cannot be
zero. Note that if the flow rate is fixed indirectly by an L-SPEC, V-SPEC, or FLOW-RATIO
sentence, only one variable among duty, temperature, or temperature change can be given.
ic-stream......................... Interconnecting stream number; must be sequential starting with 1.
source-col....................... Source column number

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source-stage................... Source stage number

dest-col ........................... Destination column number
dest-stage ....................... Destination stage number
PHASE............................. PHASE=L ................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
basis-FLOW .................... Flow rate on MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
TEMP ............................... Temperature
DELT................................ Change in temperature
DUTY ............................... Heat duty
QSTREAM-IN .................. Inlet heat stream ID
QSTREAM-OUT .............. Outlet heat stream ID
L-SPEC, Use to specify liquid and vapor flows, of terminal streams or internal streams. A specified value can
V-SPEC be zero to model a total drawoff if there is a product or interconnecting stream of the same phase
leaving the stage.
The heat duty associated with the heater of the same stage or another stage (using Q-COL and Q-
STAGE) or the flow rate of an associated interconnecting stream (specified by IC-STREAM) must be
allowed to vary so that enthalpy and mass balances can be satisfied. An initial guess for the
associated heat duty or interconnecting stream flow rate is not needed. The calculated heat duty
can be placed in an outlet heat stream using a PRODUCTS sentence.
For a terminal stream: L-SPEC and V-SPEC refer to the net flow of the stream excluding any
portions withdrawn by interconnecting streams with flow specifications. Flow specifications include
direct specifications and those that are fixed indirectly by the associated heater specifications or
other L-SPEC or V-SPEC statements.
For an internal stream: L-SPEC and V-SPEC refer to the net flow of the stream excluding any
portions withdrawn as products or interconnecting streams.
col.................................... Column number
stage................................ Stage number for specified flow
basis-FLOW .................... Flow rate on MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
Q-COL ............................. Column number for the associated heater (Default=col)
Q-STAGE......................... Stage number for the associated heater (Default=stage)
IC-STREAM ..................... Interconnecting stream number for the associated interconnecting stream
FLOW-RATIO Use to specify the ratio of two flow rates, FLOWI/FLOWJ. The flows can be of different phases and
come from any stage of any column. The flows refer to the net flow from a stage and follow the same
convention as that described for L-SPEC and V-SPEC in handling internal and terminal streams.
When you specify a flow ratio, the heat duty associated with the heater of the same stage or another
stage (using Q-COL and Q-STAGE), or the flow rate of an associated interconnecting stream
(specified by IC-STREAM), must be allowed to vary so that enthalpy and mass balances can be
satisfied. You can place the calculated heat duty in an outlet heat stream using a PRODUCTS
sentence.
rationo............................. Flow ratio number
basis-RATIO.................... Flow ratio on a MOLE, MASS or STDVOL basis
COL ................................. Column number for FLOWI

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STAGE ............................ Stage number for FLOWI

PHASE ............................ Phase code for FLOWI:
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
BASE-COL ...................... Column number for FLOWJ (Default=COL)
BASE-STAGE ................. Stage number for FLOWJ (Default=STAGE+1)
BASE-PHASE ................. Phase code for FLOWJ:
BASE-PHASE=L ...................... Liquid
BASE-PHASE=V ...................... Vapor (Default)
Q-COL ............................. Column number for associated heater (Default=COL)
Q-STAGE ........................ Stage number for associated heater (Default=STAGE+1)
IC-STREAM ..................... Interconnecting stream number for the associated interconnecting stream
SC-REFLUX Use to specify either the degrees subcooling of the reflux or the reflux temperature. If you do not
give an SC-REFLUX statement, the reflux is assumed to be a saturated liquid. SC-REFLUX is
allowed only for column 1.
col ................................... Column number; must be column 1
TEMP............................... Reflux temperature
DEGSUB ......................... Degrees subcooling
OPTION ........................... OPTION=0 ................................ Both reflux and liquid distillate are subcooled
(Default)
OPTION=1 ................................ Only reflux is subcooled
L2-STAGES Use to indicate a segment of stages to be tested for free-water calculations. You must specify FREE-
WATER=YES globally using the SIM-OPTIONS paragraph (see Chapter 46), or locally for the
MULTIFRAC block, using the BLOCK-OPTIONS sentence (see Chapter 11).
col ................................... Column number
stage1 ............................. Initial stage of a column segment for which free-water calculations are
performed
stage2 ............................. Final stage of a column segment for which free-water calculations are
performed
T-EST Use to enter an initial temperature profile for each column. For INIT-OPTION=STANDARD, top
stage and bottom stage estimates are required. For INIT-OPTION=CRUDE, if bottoms flow rates of
all columns are either specified or estimated, no temperature estimate is required. It is
recommended, however, that you provide temperature estimates if available.
col ................................... Column number
stage ............................... Stage number
temp ................................ Temperature
L-EST, Use to enter initial estimates of liquid and vapor mole flow profiles. The flow entered is the total
V-EST flow of the respective phase, including any portions withdrawn as products or interconnecting
streams. L-EST and V-EST are generally not needed. If you specified Q1 and QN for a column, you
should provide an estimate of the liquid flow for the bottom stage unless you specified the liquid
flow in the COL-SPECS or L-SPEC sentence.
col ................................... Column number

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 Chapter 15

stage................................ Stage number

flow.................................. Molar flow rate

X-EST, Use to enter initial estimates of column composition profiles. If you entered X-EST and Y-EST for
Y-EST any column, you must enter them for all columns. X-EST and Y-EST are generally not required, but
can be used as a convergence aid. X-EST and Y-EST are always used together.
col.................................... Column number
stage................................ Stage number
cid.................................... Component ID
x ....................................... Liquid mole fraction
y ....................................... Vapor mole fraction
REPORT Use to override the default report options. You can use the standard REPORT options for use
within a block (see Chapter 11) for MULTIFRAC.
reportopt ......................... Standard block report options (see Chapter 11), in addition to the
following:
NOPROFILE ............................. Suppress the stagewise profiles of temperature,
operating pressure, flows, enthalpies, and
duties for this block
NOCOMPS................................ Suppress the mole fraction and K-value profiles
for this block
NOHYDRAULIC ....................... Suppress the hydraulic parameters reported for
this block
NOENTH ................................... Suppress the enthalpy profile for this block
TARGET ................................... Include column targeting thermal analysis
results
HYDANAL................................. Include column targeting hydraulic analysis
results
EXTHYD.................................... Include extended hydraulic parameter report.
Use only when NOHYDRAULIC report option
is not selected or when HYDRAULIC=YES in
the PARAM sentence.
KEY-COMP Use to specify light and heavy key components for column targeting analysis. Use only when
TARGET and/or HYDANAL report option is selected and KEY-SELECT=USER in the
COL-CONFIG sentence for the column under consideration.
col.................................... Column number
secno............................... Section number for key component specification
stage1.............................. Stage number for the initial stage of the section
stage2.............................. Stage number for the final stage of the section
LIGHT-KEY...................... List of light key components
HEAVY-KEY .................... List of heavy key components
KEY-TOL Use to specify tolerances and other parameters for light and heavy key component selection
methods other than KEY-SELECT=USER and for exergy loss calculations. Use only when TARGET
and/or HYDANAL report option is selected.

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 Rigorous
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col ................................... Column number

KVAL-TOL....................... Tolerance on component K-values. Specify when KEY-SELECT=
K-VALUE or SPLIT-FRACTION. (Default=1x10-5)
COMP-TOL...................... Tolerance on component mole-fractions. Specify when KEY-SELECT=
K-VALUE, SPLIT-FRACTION, or COMP-PROFILE. (Default=1x10-6)
SPF-LIMIT ....................... Minimum value of component split-fractions, in the top and the bottom
products of a column section, necessary for key component selection.
Specify when KEY-SELECT=SPLIT-FRACTION. (Default=0.9)
STG-SPAN ...................... Stage span for computing composition profiles. Specify when
KEY-SELECT=COMP-PROFILE. (Default=2)
EXCLD-KEY .................... List of components to be excluded from key component selection. Specify
when KEY-SELECT=K-VALUE, SPLIT-FRACTION, or
COMP-PROFILE.
EXG-TREF....................... Reference temperature for exergy loss calculations (Default=298.15 K)
TRAY-REPORT Use to specify the format of the report and additional tray properties to be reported (in addition to
the flows, temperatures, pressures, enthalpies, duties, mole fractions, and K-values printed in the
standard report).
TRAY-OPTION ................ Specifies stages included in the report:
TRAY-OPTION=BRIEF ............ Reports the stages that have feeds, products,
heaters, pumparounds, bypasses,
interconnecting streams, and maximum and
minimum flows, and the stages immediately
above and below those stages (Default)
TRAY-OPTION= ....................... Reports the stages specified in the INCL-
INCL–TRAYS TRAYS statement
TRAY-OPTION= ....................... Reports all trays
ALL–TRAYS
FORMAT ......................... FORMAT=PROFILE ................. Prints tabular column profiles (Default)
FORMAT=STAGE .................... Prints individual stage reports
FORMAT=COMBINED ............. Prints both tabular column profiles and
individual stage reports
ORDER............................ Tray numbering order. Use for report only.
ORDER=TOP-DOWN ............... Numbers stages from top down (Default)
ORDER=BOTTOM-UP ............. Numbers stages from bottom up
PROPERTIES.................. List of property set IDs
WIDE ............................... Report width option
WIDE=YES................................ Produces wide (132 columns) reports (Default)
WIDE=NO ................................. Produces standard (80 columns) reports
INCL-TRAYS Use to designate trays to be included in the report when TRAY-OPTION=INCL-TRAYS. One
INCL-TRAYS statement is entered for each column for which tray reports are desired. If you enter
a column number without stage numbers, all stages are reported for that column.
col ................................... Column number
stage1 ............................. Initial stage of column segment to be reported

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 Chapter 15

stage2.............................. Final stage of column segment to be reported (Default=stage1)

COND-HCURVE, REB- Use to generate cooling/heating curve tables for the condenser or reboiler of any column. If you
HCURVE specify efficiency for a condenser (or reboiler) using COMP-EFF or STAGE-EFF, cooling (or
heating) curves calculated for that condenser (or reboiler) will not be consistent with column
results. You must specify the column number. See Chapter 11 for a description of input keywords.
col.................................... Column number
IC-HTR-HCURVE Use to generate heating or cooling curve tables for the external heater associated with any
interconnecting stream, pumparound, or bypass. If you specify efficiency for the source stage of an
interconnecting stream using COMP-EFF or STAGE-EFF, heating and cooling curves calculated for
that interconnecting stream will not be consistent with column results. You must specify the
interconnecting stream number. See Chapter 11 for a description of input keywords.
ic–stream ........................ Interconnecting stream number
VARY Use to specify manipulated variables for the design mode. You must provide initial guesses of the
manipulated variables. basis-FEED and HEAT–STREAM are initialized in a STREAM paragraph.
For all other manipulated variables, enter estimates using the usual rating mode specification
keywords:

Sentence Variables

PRODUCTS LPROD and VPROD

HEATERS DUTY
CONNECT-STREAM IC-FLOW, IC-TEMP, IC-DELT, and IC-DUTY
L-SPEC L
V-SPEC V
FLOW-RATIO RATIO
COL-SPECS All others

For DSMETH=NESTED, you must supply lower and upper bounds (lb and ub) and initial guesses
must be bracketed by the bounds. Enter one VARY statement for each manipulated variable.
Substitute MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL for the word basis.
varyno ............................. Manipulated variable number
vartype ............................ Manipulated variable type:
basis-LPROD ........................... Liquid sidestream product flow rate of a column
(specified by COL) and a stage (specified by
STAGE)
basis-VPROD ........................... Vapor sidestream product flow rate of a column
(specified by COL) and a stage (specified by
STAGE)
DUTY ........................................ External heater duty of a column (specified by
COL) and a stage (specified by STAGE)
basis-FEED .............................. Feed flow rate in MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL
basis (specified by STREAM)
HEAT-STREAM........................ Duty of a feed heat stream (specified by
STREAM)

Input Language Guide 15-53

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basis-RDV ................................ Distillate vapor fraction (RDV=DV/D, where DV

is the distillate vapor flow rate and D is the
total distillate flow rate, excluding any free-
water)
basis-RR................................... Reflux ratio, excluding free-water (L1'/D)
basis-L1.................................... Top stage liquid flow rate (excluding free-water)
basis-D ..................................... Distillate flow rate (excluding free-water). For
column 1, D includes both vapor and liquid
distillate flows. For other columns, D includes
vapor distillate only. Liquid distillate flow (if
present) is specified in the PRODUCTS
statement.
basis-B ..................................... Bottoms flow rate
Q1 ............................................. Condenser (or top stage) heat duty
QN............................................. Reboiler (or bottom stage) heat duty
RW ............................................ Free-water reflux ratio. RW=LW'/DW, where
LW' is the free-water reflux rate and DW is the
free-water distillate rate
basis-L...................................... Liquid flow rate of a column (specified by COL)
and a stage (specified by STAGE)
basis-V ..................................... Vapor flow rate of a column (specified by COL)
and a stage (specified by STAGE)
basis-RATIO............................. Ratio of 2 flows defined by a FLOW-RATIO
sentence (specified by RATIO-NO)
IC-basis-FLOW ........................ Flow rate of an interconnecting stream
(specified by IC-STREAM)
IC-TEMP ................................... Temperature of an interconnecting stream
(specified by IC-STREAM)
IC-DELT .................................... Temperature change of an interconnecting
stream (specified by IC-STREAM)
IC-DUTY.................................... Heat duty of an interconnecting stream
(specified by IC-STREAM)
lb ..................................... Lower bound. Use for DSMETH=NESTED only.
ub .................................... Upper bound. Use for DSMETH=NESTED only.
step ................................. Maximum step size. Use for DSMETH=NESTED only. (Default=0.1*(ub–
lb))
COL ................................. Column number (required for all vartypes) except HEAT-STREAM, basis-
RATIO, basis-IC-FLOW, IC-TEMP, IC-DELT, and DUTY.
STAGE ............................ Stage number (required for vartypes LPROD, VPROD, L, V, and DUTY)
STREAM.......................... Stream ID (required for vartypes basis-FEED and HEAT-STREAM)
IC-STREAM ..................... Interconnecting stream number (required for vartypes IC-basis-FLOW,
IC-TEMP, IC-DELT and IC-DUTY)
RATIO-NO ....................... Flow ratio number (required for vartype RATIO)

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SPEC Use to enter design specifications. Enter one SPEC sentence for each design specification. For
DSMETH=NESTED, the number of SPEC sentences must be greater than or equal to the number
of VARY sentences. For DSMETH=SIMULT, the number of SPEC sentences must be equal to the
number of VARY sentences. Substitute MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL for the word basis.
specno ............................ Design specification number
spectype ......................... Design specification type:
basis-FRAC.............................. Purity of a product stream (specified by
STREAMS) or an internal stream (specified by
COL, STAGE, and PHASE)
FRAC = Σxi/Σxj
Where:
x = Component fraction
i = Component in the COMPS list
j = Component in the BASE–COMPS list
The default for BASE–COMPS is all
components (Σxj=1).
basis-RECOV........................... Component recovery. RECOV =ΣΣfij/ΣΣfik

Where:
f = Component flow rate
i = Component in the COMPS list
j = Product stream in the STREAMS list
k = Feed stream in the BASE-STREAMS
list.
The default for BASE-STREAMS is all feed
streams.
basis-FLOW ............................. Flow rate of a group of components (specified by
COMPS) in a set of product streams (specified
by STREAMS) or an internal stream (specified
by COL, STAGE, and PHASE). The default for
COMPS is all components.
basis-RATIO............................. RATIO=Σfi1/Σfj2 (BASE-STAGE specified)
or
Σfi1/Σfjk (BASE-STREAMS specified
or defaulted)
For basis-RATIO:
i = Component in the COMPS list
j = Component in the BASE-COMPS list
k = Stream in the BASE-STREAMS list
fi1 = Component i flow rate in an internal stream specified by COL, STAGE and PHASE
fj2 = Component j flow rate in an internal stream specified by BASE-COL, BASE-STAGE and
BASE-PHASE
fjk = Component j flow rate in a feed or product stream in the BASE-STREAMS
list. (The BASE-STREAMS list cannot mix feed and product streams.)
The default for COMPS and BASE-COMPS is all components, and the default for BASE-STREAMS
is all feed streams.
TEMP ........................................ Temperature on a given STAGE of a given COL
DUTY ........................................ Heat duty of a stage (specified by COL and
STAGE) or interconnecting stream (specified by
IC–STREAM)

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DUTY-RATIO ............................ Q1 divided by Q2

Where:
Q1 = Heat duty of a stage (specified by COL
and STAGE) or interconnecting stream
(specified by IC-STREAM).
Q2 = Heat duty of a stage (specified by
BASE-COL and BASE-STAGE) or
interconnecting stream (specified by BASE-IC-
STREAM)
PROP ........................................ Property value, as specified by PROPERTY, for
a product stream (specified by STREAMS) or an
internal stream (specified by COL, STAGE, and
the property phase qualifier in the
corresponding PROP-SET paragraph)
PROP-DIFF............................... Property value minus base property value, as
specified by PROPERTY and
BASE-PROPERTY.
PROPERTY is the property of a product stream
(specified by STREAMS) or of an internal
stream (specified by COL, STAGE, and the
phase qualifier in the corresponding PROP-SET
paragraph).
BASE-PROPERTY is the property of a product
stream (specified by BASE-STREAMS) or of an
internal stream (specified by BASE-COL,
BASE-STAGE, and the phase qualifier in the
corresponding PROP-SET paragraph).
PROP–RATIO........................... Ratio of property value to base property value,
as specified by PROPERTY and
BASE-PROPERTY. PROPERTY and
BASE-PROPERTY are as defined for PROP-
DIFF.
value................................ Desired value of the design specification
scale................................ Scale factor (Default=1)
weight ............................. Weighting factor. Use for DSMETH=NESTED only. (Default=1)
COL ................................. Column number
BASE-COL ...................... Column number
STAGE ............................ Stage number
BASE-STAGE ................. Stage number
COMPS............................ List of component IDs
BASE-COMPS................. List of component IDs
STREAMS ....................... List of stream IDs
BASE-STREAMS ............ List of stream IDs
IC-STREAM ..................... Interconnecting stream number
BASE-IC-STREAM .......... Interconnecting stream number

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PROPERTY ..................... ID of a property set defined by a PROP-SET paragraph consisting of a

single scalar property. (See Chapter 42.)
BASE-PROPERTY .......... ID of a property set defined by a PROP-SET paragraph consisting of a
single scalar property. (See Chapter 42.)
PHASE............................. PHASE=L ................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
PHASE=W ................................ Free water
BASE-PHASE.................. BASE-PHASE=L ...................... Liquid
BASE-PHASE=V ...................... Vapor (Default)
BASE-PHASE=W ..................... Free water

DIAGNOSTICS Use to control the level of convergence diagnostics printed in the history and log files. You can enter
a level between 0 and 10. The amount of diagnostics increases with each level.
MAIN ................................ Controls printouts of initial/final profiles, inside/middle/outside loop
iterations, and outside loop variables/functions in the history file
(Default=4)
OLVAR1........................... Controls initial local model parameter diagnostics in the history file
(Default=4)
OLVAR2........................... Controls local model parameter diagnostics for each outside loop in the
history file (Default=4)
CMBAL ............................ Controls component mass balance diagnostics for each inside loop in the
history file (Default=4)
EMBAL ............................ Controls enthalpy balance diagnostics for each inside loop in the history
file (Default=4)
DESIGN ........................... Controls middle loop diagnostics in the history file (Default=4)
TERM............................... Controls printouts of inside/middle/outside loop iterations in the log file
(Default=0)
TXYEST ........................... Controls printing of temperature and composition profile results in input
estimate formats in the history file (Default=4)
PLOT Use to generate stagewise plots of column profiles. Properties can be reported on a MOLE, MASS,
or STDVOL basis.
plotno .............................. Plot number
plot-list ............................ List of non-component-dependent properties to be plotted:
TEMP ........................................ Temperature
PRES ........................................ Pressure
LRATE ...................................... Liquid flow rate
VRATE ...................................... Vapor flow rate
VL-RATIO ................................. Vapor flow rate/liquid flow rate
comp-plot........................ Keyword for component-dependent property to be plotted:
X, Y ........................................... Fractions of the components and/or component
groups listed are plotted.

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KVL ........................................... K-values of the components and/or component

groups listed are plotted.
REL–VOL.................................. Relative volatilities of the components and/or
component groups listed are plotted. You must
also specify BASE-COMP. When a component
group ID is specified,

Σy i / Σx i
REL − VOL =
( y / x) BASE −COMP
groupid-list ..................... List of component IDs and/or component group IDs
BASE-COMP ................... Component ID of base component for relative volatility calculations. (Use
with the REL-VOL keyword.)

BASIS.............................. BASIS=MOLE........................... Plotted results are on a mole basis (Default)

BASIS=MASS........................... Plotted results are on a mass basis
BASIS=STDVOL ...................... Plotted results are on a standard-liquid-volume
basis
ORDER............................ ORDER=TOP-DOWN ............... Numbers stages from top down (Default)
ORDER=BOTTOM-UP ............. Numbers stages from bottom up
PLOT-HEADING.............. Heading up to 64 characters included in quotes, printed at the top of the
print-plot
WIDE ............................... Plot width option. Use to override default established by the PLOT-
OPTIONS paragraph (See Chapter 47).
IC-UTL Use to specify optional utilities to provide heating or cooling duty for interconnecting streams.
icsid ................................ Interconnecting stream ID.
utilityid ............................ Utility ID.
COL-UTL Use to specify optional utilities to provide heating or cooling duty for stage heaters and coolers.
column ............................ Column ID.
stage ............................... Stage number.
utilityid ............................ Utility ID.
UTILITIES Use to specify optional utilities to provide heating or cooling duty for condensers and reboilers.
column ............................ Column ID.
COND-UTIL ..................... Utility ID for condenser.
REB-UTIL ........................ Utility ID for reboiler.

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 Chapter 15

Accessing Variables in MULTIFRAC

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3

PARAM NSTAGE — — —
FEEDS COL, STAGE sid — —
PRODUCTS COL, STAGE, basis–FLOW sid — —
PSEUDO–STREAM COL, STAGE, IC–STREAM, basis–FLOW sid — —
P–SPEC PRES col stage —
COL–SPECS NSTAGE, basis–RDV, T1, basis–RR, basis–L1, basis–D, col — —
basis–B, Q1, QN, RW, RDV–EST, DP–STAGE, DP–COL
HEATERS DUTY col stage —
COMP–EFF EFF col stage cid
STAGE–EFF EFF col stage —
CONNECT– SOURCE–COL, SOURCE–STAGE, DEST–COL, DEST– ic–stream — —
STREAM STAGE, basis–FLOW, TEMP, DELT, DUTY
L–SPEC basis–FLOW, Q–COL, Q–STAGE, IC–STREAM col stage —
V–SPEC basis–FLOW, Q–COL, Q–STAGE, IC–STREAM col stage —
FLOW–RATIO basis–RATIO, COL, STAGE, BASE–COL, BASE–STAGE, rationo — —
Q–COL, Q–STAGE, IC–STREAM
SC–REFLUX TEMP, DEGSUB col — —
T–EST TEMP col stage —
L–EST FLOW col stage —
V–EST FLOW col stage —
X–EST X col stage cid
Y–EST Y col stage cid
COND–HCURVE NPOINT, INCR, PDROP curveno — —
REB–HCURVE NPOINT, INCR, PDROP curveno — —
IC–HTR–HCURVE NPOINT, INCR, PDROP curveno — —

continued

Input Language Guide 15-59

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Block Input (continued)

Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3
VARY† LB, UB, STEP, COL, STAGE, IC–STREAM, RATIO-NO varyno — —

SPEC† VALUE, SCALE, WEIGHT, COL, STAGE, IC–STREAM specno — —

† Accessed variables are in SI units.

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Reflux ratio RESULTS RR col —

Boilup ratio RESULTS BR col —
Condenser duty RESULTS COND–DUTY col —
Reboiler duty RESULTS REB–DUTY col —
Stage temperature PROFILE TEMP stack stage†† —
Stage liquid flow PROFILE LRATE stack stage†† —
Stage vapor flow PROFILE VRATE stack stage†† —
Stage heat duty Q-PROFILE QCAL stack stage†† —
Manipulated variable††† MAN–VARS VALUE — —
Liquid compositions COMPS X stack stage†† cid
Liquid1 compositions COMPS X1 stack stage†† cid
Vapor compositions COMPS Y stack stage†† cid
† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.
†† Stack stage is the stage number if all columns are stacked one on top of another to form one column. For example, if there are
2 columns and both columns have 10 stages, stage 5 in column 2 has a stack stage number of 15.
††† Accessed variables are in SI units.

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 Chapter 15

Column Specification Combinations for

Column 1 and Other Columns
The allowable combinations of column variables are different for column 1 and
the other columns.

Allowable combinations are indicated with an X in the following matrix:

Table 15.3 Column Specification Combinations for Column 1

L1 RR Q1 QN
D X X X X
B X X X X
Q1 X

Allowable combinations are indicated with an X in the following matrix:

Table 15.4 Column Specification Combinations for Other Columns

L1 Q1 QN
D X X X
B X X X
Q1 X

For special cases where the column has only one stage, you must specify only one
of the following variables: D, B, or Q1.

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PETROFRAC
Petroleum Refining Fractionation

Input Language for PETROFRAC

BLOCK blkid PETROFRAC
SUBOBJECTS keyword=value

Keywords:
PUMPAROUND STRIPPER

PROP-SECTIONS stage1 stage2 opsetname keyword=value

Keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS

PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
NSTAGE NPA NSTRIP NSSTRIP
Optional keywords:
EFF HYDRAULIC P-UPDATE P-FIX DAMPING MAXIT TOL METHOD
ALGORITHM THERM-EFF INIT-OPTION DSMETH FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL
FLOW-RF2 HMODEL2 INCL-THEFF KBBMAX KMODEL MAX-BROY MAXIL
MAXIO MAXIP NHOMOTOPY PROD-FLASH QMAXBWIL QMAXBWOL
QMINBWIL QMINBWOL RMSOL0 RMSOL1 STOR-FACTOR TOLIL0
TOLILFAC TOLILMIN JMETH RMSOLJ TOLILO

COL-SPECS keyword=value

Keywords:
CONDENSER REBOILER T1 basis-RR basis-L1 basis-D basis-B
Q-COND Q-REB DEGSUB KEY-SELECT
Optional keywords:
DP-STAGE DP-COL basis-DV:D STEAM STEAM:PROD

FEEDS sid stage [feed-conv] / . . .

PRODUCTS sid stage [phase] [basis-FLOW=value] / . . .
P-SPEC stage pres / . . .
FURNACE keyword=value

Keywords:
MODEL DUTY basis-OVFL TEMP PRES

HEATERS stage duty / . . .

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RUNBACK stage keyword=value

Keywords:
basis-FLOW PA Q-STAGE

STAGE-EFF stage eff / . . .

COMP-EFF stage cid eff / . . .
L2-STAGES stage1 stage2 / . . .
SPEC specno spectype value spec-keyword=value vary-keyword=value

Spectypes:
basis-FRAC basis-RECOV basis-FLOW basis-RATIO TEMP DUTY PROP
PROP-DIFF basis-OVFL TBPT D86T D1160T VACT TBPWT D86WT
D1160WT VACWT TBP-GAP D86-GAP TBPW-GAP
D86W-GAP API RHOLSTD SG FLPT-API PRPT-API REFINDEX RVP-
ASTM WAT
Spec-keywords:
STREAMS BASE-STREAMS STRIPPER STAGE BASE-STAGE PHASE
BASE-PHASE PROPERTY BASE-PROPERTY COMPS
BASE-COMPS PCT
Vary-keywords:
VARYTYPE VARY-STAGE VARY-STRIP VARY-PA VARY-STREAM

T-EST stage temp / . . .

L-EST stage flow / . . .
V-EST stage flow / . . .
PDROP-SEC secno stage1 stage2 pdrop / . . .
STEFF-SEC secno stage1 stage2 eff / . . .
THERM-EFF stage therm-eff / . . .
THEFF-SEC secno stage1 stage2 type therm-eff / . . .
REPORT reportopt-list

Special reportopt-list:
NOPROFILE COMPS NOHYDRAULIC NOENTH TARGET HYDANAL
EXTHYD

KEY-COMP secno stage1 stage2 LIGHT-KEY=cid-list HEAVY-KEY=cid-list

KEY-TOL keyword=value

Optional keywords:
KVAL-TOL COMP-TOL SPF-LIMIT STG-SPAN EXCLD-KEY EXG-TREF

CONVERGENCE keyword=value

Optional keywords:
STABLE-ITER STABLE-METH TEFF-METHOD

TRAY-REPORT keyword=value

Optional keywords:
TRAY-OPTION FORMAT ORDER PROPERTIES WIDE

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INCL-TRAYS stage1 stage2 / . . .

COND-HCURVE curveno keyword=value
REB-HCURVE curveno keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INDEP-VAR LIST NPOINT INCR HEADING PROPERTIES
PRES-PROFILE PDROP PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES
X-SCALE Y-SCALE WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

PSEUDO-STREAM sid stage phase

PLOT plotno plot-list comp-plot=groupid-list keyword=value

Plot list:
TEMP PRES LRATE VRATE VL-RATIO
Optional comp-plots:
X Y KVL REL-VOL
Optional keywords:
BASE-COMPS BASIS ORDER PLOT-HEADING WIDE

DIAGNOSTICS keyword=value

Keywords:
MAIN OLVAR1 OLVAR2 CMBAL EMBAL DESIGN TERM TXYEST

PUMPAROUND paid keyword=value

Keywords:
DRAW RETURN TYPE basis-FLOW DUTY TEMP DELT
QSTREAM-IN QSTREAM-OUT

PA-HCURVE paid curveno keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INDEP-VAR LIST NPOINT INCR HEADING PROPERTIES
PRES-PROFILE PDROP PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES
X-SCALE Y-SCALE WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

PA-PSEUDO-STREAM paid sid STATE=value

STRIPPER stripid keyword=value

Keywords:
NSTAGE LDRAW VRETURN STEAM Q-REB PRODUCT STEAM:PROD
basis-DRAW basis-B KEY-SELECT
Optional keywords:
LRETURN basis-LFLOW LR-DUTY LR-TEMP LR-DELT QREB-IN QREB-
OUT QLR-IN QLR-OUT DP-STAGE DP-COL

STR-PROP-SECTIONS stripid stage1 stage2 opsetname keyword=value

Keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS

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STR-FEEDS stripid stage basis-FLOW=value

STR-P-SPEC stripid stage pres / . . .
STR-COMP-EFF stripid stage cid eff / . . .
STR-STAGE-EFF stripid stage eff / . . .
STR-L2-STAGES stripid stage1 stage2 / . . .
STR-T-EST stripid stage temp / . . .
STR-L-EST stripid stage flow / . . .
STR-V-EST stripid stage flow / . . .
STR-PDROP-SEC stripid secno stage1 stage2 pdrop / . . .
STR-STEFF-SEC stripid secno stage1 stage2 eff / . . .
STR-THERM-EFF stripid stage therm-eff / . . .
STR-THEFF-SEC stripid secno stage1 stage2 type therm-eff / . . .
STR-KEY-COMP stripid secno stage1 stage2 LIGHT-KEY=cid-list &
HEAVY-KEY=cid-list
STR-KEY-TOL stripid keyword=value

Optional keywords:
KVAL-TOL COMP-TOL SPF-LIMIT STG-SPAN EXCLD-KEY EXG-TREF

STR-INCL-TRAYS stripid stage1 stage2 / . . .

STR-REB-HCURVE stripid curveno keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INDEP-VAR LIST NPOINT INCR HEADING PROPERTIES
PRES-PROFILE PDROP PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES
X-SCALE Y-SCALE WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

STR-PSEUDO-STREAM stripid sid keyword=value

Keywords:
SOURCE STAGE PHASE DRAW STATE

STG-UTL stage utilityid

PA-UTL pid utilityid
STRPR-UTL stripid utilityid
UTILITIES keyword=value

Optional keywords:
COND-UTIL REB-UTIL

Input Language Description for PETROFRAC

SUBOBJECTS Use to enter a list of IDs for pumparounds and strippers. The IDs are character strings up to eight
characters long. They are used for referencing pumparounds and strippers in other input
statements. If you do not use the SUBOBJECTS statement, pumparounds and strippers are
referenced by sequential integer numbers.
PUMPAROUND ............... List of pumparound IDs
STRIPPER ....................... List of stripper IDs

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PROP-SECTIONS Use to specify property options for main column segments. PROP-SECTIONS overrides the
PROPERTIES sentence for a column segment. The input language for PROP-SECTIONS is the
same as for the PROPERTIES sentence, except that PROP-SECTIONS requires that you specify
the column segment. (For more information about the PROPERTIES sentence, see Chapter 11.)
Column initialization calculations are always performed using the specifications in the
PROPERTIES sentence, regardless of the specifications given in the PROP-SECTIONS sentence. It
is important that the property option in the PROPERTIES sentence gives reasonable property
representation at the average condition of the column. Any option set name entered in the PROP-
SECTIONS sentence must also be named in the PROPERTIES sentence. (For more information
about specifying an option set, see Chapter 8.)
stage1 ............................. Initial stage of a column segment
stage2 ............................. Final stage of a column segment (Default=stage1)
opsetname...................... Property option set to be used for column segment
PARAM Use to enter configuration and operating specifications for the main column. The number of stages,
pumparounds, and strippers are required. You can specify optional convergence parameters.
NSTAGE.......................... Number of stages in the main column, including condensers and reboilers.
Must be greater than 1.
NPA ................................. Number of pumparounds
NSTRIP............................ Number of strippers
NSSTRIP ......................... Total number of stages in strippers
EFF .................................. Type of efficiency specified using COMP-EFF or STAGE-EFF:
EFF=VAPOR ............................ Vaporization efficiency
EFF=MURPHREE..................... Murphree efficiency (Default)
HYDRAULIC.................... Flag to specify whether to perform calculations of hydraulic parameters
(for example, flow parameter, reduced vapor throughput, tray loadings,
and various transport properties): YES or NO. (Default=NO)
P-UPDATE ...................... Update pressure profile during column sizing and rating calculations:
YES or NO. (Default=NO)
P-FIX ............................... Pressure update option: TOP or BOTTOM. Keep pressure at column
top/bottom constant during pressure updating for column sizing and
rating calculations. (Default=TOP)
DAMPING ........................ Damping factor, used to stabilize convergence when excessive oscillation
is observed in the convergence behavior:
DAMPING=NONE..................... No damping (Default)
DAMPING=MILD ...................... Mild level of damping
DAMPING=MEDIUM ................ Medium level of damping
DAMPING=SEVERE ................ Severe level of damping. You may need to
increase the maximum number of iterations
(keyword MAXIT) to achieve convergence
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of iterations (Default=25)
TOL ................................. Convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-4)

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METHOD ......................... Convergence methods:

METHOD=SCHUBERT ............ Schubert quasi-Newton method with Powell's
dogleg stabilization strategy (Default)
METHOD=BROYDEN .............. Broyden quasi-Newton method
ALGORITHM ................... Algorithm convergence options:
ALGORITHM=STANDARD...... Normal algorithm. Recommended for most two-
phase columns. May also be used to perform
free water calculations in the condenser.
(Default)
ALGORITHM=SUM-RATES..... Recommended for petroleum and petrochemical
applications involving wide-boiling mixtures
and may components and/or design
specifications. Free water calculations are
allowed in the condenser.
THERM-EFF .................... Type of thermal efficiency specified using THERM-EFF or THEFF-SEC
sentences. Thermal efficiencies allow deviation from thermal equilibrium
on a stage.
THERM-EFF=VAPOR .............. Vapor efficiency (Default)
THERM-EFF=LIQUID ............... Liquid efficiency
INIT-OPTION ................... Initialization options:
INIT-OPTION=STANDARD...... Standard initialization using composite feed
flash
INIT-OPTION=CRUDE ............. Special initialization method for petroleum
applications (Default)
DSMETH.......................... Design specification convergence method:
DSMETH=SIMULT ................... Simultaneous method (Default)
DSMETH=NESTED .................. Nested-iteration method
FLASH-MAXIT ................. Maximum number of feed flash iterations (Default=50)
FLASH-TOL..................... Feed flash tolerance (Default=1x10-4)
FLOW-RF2 ...................... Flow fraction to control liquid and vapor flow variable changes during
iterations (Default=1.0)
HMODEL2 ....................... Temperature dependence option for local enthalpy departure model:
HMODEL2=NO-TEMP.............. No temperature dependence
HMODEL2=TEMP .................... Temperature dependence term is computed
initially, and is then kept constant
HMODEL2=UPDATE................ Temperature dependence term is updated every
iteration
(Default is selected based on column specifications)
INCL-THEFF .................... Switch for inclusion of thermal efficiency specifications during sequential
calculation passes
INCL-THEFF=YES.................... Thermal efficiency specifications are honored
for both sequential and equation-oriented
passes (Default)

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INCL-THEFF=NO ..................... Thermal efficiency specifications are ignored

during sequential calculation passes but are
honored during equation-oriented passes
KBBMAX ......................... Maximum allowable slope value for local average K-value model
(Default =-500)
KMODEL ......................... Weighting option for local average K-value model:
KMODEL=Y .............................. Vapor mole fraction
KMODEL=X .............................. Liquid mole fraction
KMODEL=K.............................. Vapor fraction/(1+K-value)
(Default is selected based on column specifications)
MAX-BROY ..................... Maximum number of variables converged by the Broyden method in the
outside loop. You should not increase MAX-BROY beyond 900.
(Default=200)
MAXIL.............................. Maximum number of inside loop iterations per outside loop (Default=10)
MAXIO ............................. Maximum number of inside loop iterations before activating Newton’s
method. Used only when thermal efficiency specifications exist.
MAXIP ............................. Maximum number of initialization calculation passes. Default is selected
based on column specifications.
NHOMOTOPY ................. Number of homotopy steps. Use only when thermal efficiency
specifications exist and are honored during sequential calculation passes.
(Default=1)
PROD-FLASH ................. Flash type for product stream in PROP-SET and recycle stream
convergence calculations:
PROD-FLASH=PV.................... Flash with stream pressure and vapor fraction
as specifications
PROD-FLASH=TP.................... Flash with stream temperature and pressure as
specifications
(Default is selected based on column specifications)
QMAXBWIL ..................... Maximum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for inside
loop convergence (Default=0.5)
QMAXBWOL ................... Maximum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for outside
loop convergence (Default=0.5)
QMINBWIL ...................... Minimum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for inside
loop convergence (Default=0)
QMINBWOL .................... Minimum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for outside
loop convergence (Default=0)
RMSOL0.......................... Threshold value of outside loop RMS error that must be achieved before
design specification iterations are performed (Default=1.0)
RMSOL1.......................... Threshold value of outside loop RMS error below which Broyden method
is used for selected variables (Default=0.01)
STOR-FACTOR............... Storage multiplier to override the internally calculated workspace
requirement when thermal efficiency specifications exist and are honored
during sequential calculation passes (Default=1.0)
TOLIL0 ............................ Initial value of inside loop tolerance (Default=0.01)

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TOLILFAC ....................... Ratio of inside loop tolerance to outside loop RMS error (Default=0.05)
TOLILMIN ........................ Minimum value of inside loop tolerance (Default=3x10-6)
JMETH............................. Jacobian calculation method
JMETH=INIT ............................. Jacobian matrix is computed initially by
numerical perturbation, then updated by the
Broyden method (Default)
JMETH=RMSOL....................... Jacobian matrix is computed by numerical
perturbation until outside loop RMS error is
below RMSOLJ. Then the matrix is updated by
the Broyden method.
RMSOLJ .......................... Value of the outside loop error below which the inside loop Jacobian
matrix is updated by the Broyden method (Default=0.01)
TOLILO............................ Convergence tolerance for initialization iterations. Use only when
thermal efficiency specifications exist. (Default=1x10-3)
COL-SPECS Use to enter configuration and operating specifications for the main column. Substitute MOLE,
MASS, or STDVOL for the word basis in the following specifications. Table 15.5 lists the valid
column specification combinations.
CONDENSER .................. CONDENSER=TOTAL............. Total condenser
CONDENSER= ......................... Subcooled condenser
SUBCOOLED
CONDENSER=PARTIAL-V...... Partial condenser with vapor distillate
CONDENSER= ......................... Partial condenser with both vapor and liquid
PARTIAL-VL distillates
CONDENSER= ......................... No condenser. Reflux is generated by a
NONE-TOPPA pumparound to the top stage.
CONDENSER= ......................... No condenser. Reflux is generated by an
NONE-TOPFEED external feed to the top stage.
REBOILER ..................... REBOILER= ............................. No reboiler. Boilup is provided by an external
NONE-BOTFEED feed to the bottom stage. (Default)
REBOILER=NONE-BOTPA ..... No reboiler. Boilup is provided by a
pumparound to the bottom stage.
REBOILER=KETTLE ............... Kettle reboiler
T1..................................... Condenser temperature. Allowed only when
CONDENSER=SUBCOOLED or PARTIAL-VL.
basis-RR ......................... Reflux ratio, excluding free-water
basis-L1 .......................... Reflux rate, excluding free-water
basis-D ............................ Distillate flow rate, excluding free-water
basis-B ............................ Bottoms flow rate
Q-COND .......................... Condenser (or top stage) duty
Q-REB ............................. Reboiler (or bottom stage) duty
DP-STAGE....................... Pressure drop per stage
DP-COL ........................... Pressure drop for column

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basis-DV:D...................... Distillate vapor fraction. DV:D=DV/D where DV is the distillate vapor

flow rate and D is the total distillate flow rate, excluding any free-water.
STEAM ............................ ID of optional stripping steam feed
STEAM:PROD................. Optional stripping steam to bottom product ratio, entered in mass flow of
steam per barrel of product. If STEAM:PROD is entered, PETROFRAC
will override the flow specification given in the STREAM paragraph.
DEGSUB ......................... Degrees of subcooling in the condenser. Allowed only when
CONDENSER=SUBCOOLED.
KEY-SELECT .................. Method for selection of light and heavy key components for column
targeting analysis. Specify KEY-SELECT if TARGET or HYDANAL
report option is selected in the REPORT sentence.
KEY-SELECT=USER ............... Use light and heavy key components specified
in KEY-COMP sentence.
KEY-SELECT= ......................... Select the light and heavy key components on
SPLIT-FRACTION the basis of component split-fractions in column
product streams. This method is best suited for
sharp or near-sharp splits.
KEY-SELECT=K-VALUE ......... Select the light and heavy key components on
the basis of component K-values. This method is
best suited for sloppy splits. (Default)
KEY-SELECT= ......................... Select the light and heavy key components on
COMP-PROFILE the basis of composition profiles. In principle,
this method is similar to KEY-SELECT=
K-VALUE. It is best suited for sloppy splits and
it is, in general, inferior to KEY-SELECT=
K-VALUE.
FEEDS Use to enter inlet material and heat stream locations, and feed conventions for material streams.
sid ................................... Stream ID
stage ............................... Stage number
feed-conv........................ ABOVE-STAGE........................ Introduces feed between stages, above
designated stage (Default)
ON-STAGE ............................... Introduces feed on designated stage
ON-STAGE-VAP....................... Introduces vapor phase feed on designated
stage
ON-STAGE-LIQ ........................ Introduces liquid phase feed on designated
stage
FURNACE................................. Introduces feed to furnace attached to the
specified stage
PRODUCTS Use to enter outlet stream locations, phases, and flows. When L2-STAGES is not specified,
phase=W is allowed for stage 1 (condenser) only. When L2-STAGES is specified, phase=W is allowed
for any stage included in L2-STAGES.
sid ................................... Stream ID
stage ............................... Stage number
phase .............................. Product phase:
L ................................................ Liquid

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W............................................... Water decant

V................................................ Vapor
TL.............................................. Total drawoff of stage liquid
TV.............................................. Total drawoff of stage vapor
(Default is selected based on the product stream specifications)
basis-FLOW .................... Flow rate for side products on MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis. Not
allowed when phase=W. When phase is TL or TV, specified value is
treated as initial estimate only.
P-SPEC Use to enter the column pressure profile.
stage................................ Stage number
pres ................................. Pressure
FURNACE Use to enter optional feed furnace specifications.
MODEL ............................ MODEL=FLASH ....................... Single-stage flash
MODEL=FLASH-BYPASS....... Single-stage flash with the overflash bypassed
back to the furnace
MODEL=HEATER .................... Stage heat duty on the feed stage (Default)
DUTY ............................... Furnace heat duty
basis-OVFL ..................... Fractional overflash (liquid runback from the stage above the feed
stage/furnace feed flow) on MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
TEMP ............................... Furnace temperature.
PRES ............................... Furnace pressure. Required when MODEL=FLASH or FLASH-BYPASS.
HEATERS Use to enter the heater stage locations and duties. You can use inlet heat streams in place of
HEATERS specifications.
stage................................ Stage number
duty ................................. Heat duty
RUNBACK Use to specify the flow rate of liquid runback from any stage. You must allow the flow of a
pumparound or the duty of a heater to vary to satisfy the flow specification.
stage................................ Stage number for specified flow
basis-FLOW .................... Liquid flow rate
PA .................................... ID of a pumparound whose flow is to be manipulated. You cannot enter
PA if you specified Q-STAGE.
Q-STAGE......................... Stage number of heater whose duty is to be manipulated. You cannot
enter Q-STAGE if you specified PA.
STAGE-EFF Use to enter stage efficiency. These efficiencies are applied to each component on the stage. You
cannot use STAGE-EFF if you specified COMP-EFF or STEFF-SEC. The efficiency type is specified
by keyword EFF in the PARAM statement.
stage................................ Stage number. Enter stage number and efficiency for one or more stages.
Intermediate stage efficiencies are calculated by linear interpolation.
eff..................................... Efficiency (Default=1)

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COMP-EFF Use to enter component efficiency. You cannot use COMP-EFF if you specified STAGE-EFF or
STEFF-SEC. The efficiency type is specified by keyword EFF in the PARAM statement.
stage ............................... Stage number. Enter stage number and efficiency for one or more stages.
Intermediate stage efficiencies are calculated by linear interpolation.
cid ................................... Component ID
eff .................................... Efficiency for an individual component (Default=1)

L2-STAGES Use to indicate a column segment to be tested for water phase, when FREE-WATER=YES is
specified for the block. By default the top stage is tested for a free-water phase.
stage1 ............................. Initial stage of a column segment to be tested for the presence of a free-
water phase
stage2 ............................. Final stage of a column segment to be tested for the presence of a free-
water phase
SPEC Use to enter design specifications. For each design specification, you must define the associated
manipulated variable. The specified value for the manipulated variable is treated as an initial
guess. Substitute MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL for the word basis.
specno ............................ Design specification number
spectype ......................... Design specification type:
basis-FRAC.............................. Purity of a product stream (specified by
STREAMS) or an internal stream (specified by
STAGE and PHASE)
FRAC = Σxi/Σxj
Where:
x = Component fraction
i = Component in the COMPS list
j = Component in the BASE-COMPS list.
The default for BASE-COMPS is all components
Σxj=1.
basis-RECOV ........................... Component recovery :
RECOV = ΣΣfik/ΣΣfij
Where:
f = Component flow rate
i = Component in the COMPS list
j = Product stream in the STREAMS list
k = Feed stream in the BASE-STREAMS list.
The default for BASE-STREAMS is all feed
streams.
basis-FLOW ............................. Flow rate of a group of components (specified by
COMPS) in a set of product streams (specified
by STREAMS) or an internal stream (specified
by STAGE and PHASE). The default for
COMPS is all components.

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basis-RATIO............................. RATIO=
ΣΣfi1/ΣΣfj2 (BASE-STAGE specified)
or
ΣΣfi1/ΣΣfjk (BASE-STREAMS specified or
default)
For basis-RATIO:
i = Component in the COMPS list
j = Component in the BASE-COMPS list
k = Stream in the BASE-STREAMS list
fi1 = Component i flow rate in an internal stream specified by STAGE and PHASE
fj2 = Component j flow rate in an internal stream specified by BASE-STAGE and
BASE-PHASE
fjk = Component j flow rate in a feed or product stream in the BASE-STREAMS
list. (The BASE-STREAMS list cannot mix feed and product streams.)
The default for COMPS and BASE-COMPS is all components, and the default for BASE-STREAMS
is all feed streams.
TEMP ........................................ Temperature on a given STAGE of the column
DUTY ........................................ Heat duty of a stage (specified by STAGE).
PROP ........................................ Property value, as specified by PROPERTY, for
a product stream (specified by STREAMS) or an
internal stream (specified by STAGE and the
property phase qualifier in the corresponding
PROP-SET paragraph).
PROP-DIFF............................... Property value minus base property value, as
specified by PROPERTY and BASE-
PROPERTY.
PROPERTY is the property of a product stream
(specified by STREAMS) or of an internal
stream (specified by STAGE and the phase
qualifier in the corresponding PROP-SET
paragraph).
BASE-PROPERTY is the property of a product
stream (specified by BASE-STREAMS) or of an
internal stream (specified by BASE-STAGE and
the phase qualifier in the corresponding PROP-
SET paragraph).
basis-OVFL .............................. Fractional feed overflash
TBPT......................................... True boiling point temperature (dry, liquid
volume basis) of a product stream (specified by
STREAMS)
D86T ......................................... ASTM D86 temperature (dry, liquid volume
basis) of a product stream (specified by
STREAMS)
D1160T ..................................... ASTM D1160 temperature at 10 mm Hg (dry,
liquid volume basis) of a product stream
(specified by STREAMS)
VACT ........................................ Vacuum temperature at 10 mm Hg (dry, liquid
volume basis) of a product stream (specified by
STREAMS)

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TBPWT ..................................... True boiling point temperature (dry, weight

basis) of a product stream (specified by
STREAMS)
D86WT ...................................... ASTM D86 temperature (dry, weight basis) of a
product stream (specified by STREAMS)
D1160WT .................................. ASTM D1160 temperature at 10 mm Hg (dry,
weight basis) of a product stream (specified by
STREAMS)
VACWT ..................................... Vacuum temperature at 10 mm Hg (dry, weight
basis) of a product stream (specified by
STREAMS)
TBP-GAP .................................. Difference between 5% TBP temperature of a
product stream (STREAMS) and 95% TBP
temperature of a product stream (BASE-
STREAMS) (dry, liquid volume basis)
D86-GAP................................... Difference between 5% D86 temperature of a
product stream (STREAMS) and 95% D86
temperature of a product stream (BASE-
STREAMS) (dry, liquid volume basis)
TBPW-GAP............................... Difference between 5% TBP temperature of a
product stream (STREAMS) and 95% TBP
temperature of a product stream (BASE-
STREAMS) (dry, weight basis)
D86W-GAP ............................... Difference between 5% D86 temperature of a
product stream (STREAMS) and 95% D86
temperature of a product stream (BASE-
STREAMS) (dry, weight basis)
API ............................................ API gravity (dry basis) of a product stream
(specified by STREAMS)
RHOLSTD................................. Standard liquid density (dry basis) of a product
stream (specified by STREAMS)
SG ............................................. Specific gravity (dry basis) of a product stream
(specified by STREAMS)
FLPT-API .................................. Flash point computed from the API correlation
(dry basis) of a product stream (specified by
STREAMS)
PRPT-API ................................. Pour point computed from the API correlation
(dry basis) of a product stream (specified by
STREAMS)
REFINDEX ................................ Refractive index (dry basis) of a product stream
(specified by STREAMS)
RVP-ASTM ............................... Reid vapor pressure computed from ASTM
procedure (dry basis) of a product stream
(specified by STREAMS)
WAT .......................................... Watson UOP K-factor (dry basis) of a product
stream (specified by STREAMS)
value................................ Desired value of the design specification

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STREAMS........................ List of the stream IDs

BASE-STREAMS............. List of streams IDs
STRIPPER ....................... Stripper ID
STAGE............................. Stage number
BASE-STAGE.................. Stage number
PHASE............................. PHASE=L ................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
BASE-PHASE.................. BASE-PHASE=L ...................... Liquid
BASE-PHASE=V ...................... Vapor (Default)
PROPERTY ..................... ID of a property set defined by a PROP-SET paragraph consisting of a
scalar property. (See Chapter 42.)
BASE-PROPERTY .......... ID of a property set defined by a PROP-SET paragraph consisting of a
scalar property. (See Chapter 42.)
COMPS............................ List of component IDs
BASE-COMPS................. List of component IDs (Default=all components)
PCT.................................. Liquid volume percent for spectypes: TBPT, D86T, D1160T, or VACT.
Liquid weight percent for spectypes: TBPWT, D86WT, D1160WT, or
VACWT.
VARYTYPE...................... Manipulated variable type. You must enter the initial estimate in the
corresponding COL-SPECS, STRIPPER, or PUMPAROUND statements:
VARYTYPE=basis-LPROD...... Liquid sidestream product flow rate. You must
also specify STAGE
VARYTYPE=basis-VPROD ..... Vapor sidestream product flow rate. You must
also specify STAGE
VARYTYPE=DUTY................... External heater duty of the column. You must
also specify STAGE
VARYTYPE=basis-D................ Distillate flow, excluding free-water when
FREE-WATER=YES. Distillate flow includes
both vapor and liquid distillates.
VARYTYPE=basis-L1 .............. Reflux rate, excluding free-water if FREE-
WATER=YES
VARYTYPE=basis-B................ Main column or stripper bottoms flow rate
VARYTYPE=basis-RR ............. Reflux ratio (L1/D), excluding free-water when
FREE-WATER=YES
VARYTYPE=Q-COND.............. Condenser (or top stage) heat duty
VARYTYPE=Q-REB ................. Main column or stripper reboiler heat duty
VARYTYPE=............................. Main column stage liquid flow
basis-RUNBACK
VARYTYPE=T1 ........................ Condenser (or top stage) temperature
VARYTYPE=FURN-TEMP ....... Furnace temperature
VARYTYPE=FURN-DUTY........ Furnace heat duty

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VARYTYPE=............................. Pumparound stream flow

basis-PA-FLOW
VARYTYPE=PA-TEMP ............ Pumparound stream temperature
VARYTYPE=PA-DELT ............. Pumparound stream temperature change
VARYTYPE=PA-DUTY............. Pumparound stream duty
VARYTYPE=FEED-FLOW ....... Feed mass flow rate
VARY-STAGE ................. Main column stage number. Required when VARYTYPE=LPROD,
VPROD, and DUTY.
VARY-STRIP .................. Stripper ID (optional when VARYTYPE=B and QN)
VARY-PA......................... Pumparound ID. Required when VARYTYPE=PA-FLOW, PA-TEMP, PA-
DELT, and PA-DUTY.
VARY-STREAM............... Feed stream ID. Required when VARYTYPE=FEED-FLOW.
T-EST Use to enter an initial estimate of the column temperature profile. If you do not give a T-EST
sentence, an initial profile is generated by PETROFRAC.
stage ............................... Stage number
temp ................................ Temperature
L-EST Use to enter initial estimates of liquid and vapor flow profiles. The flow entered is the total flow of
V-EST the respective phase, including any portions withdrawn as products. If you do not give L-EST or V-
EST, an initial profile is generated by PETROFRAC.
stage ............................... Stage number
flow ................................. Molar flow rate
PDROP-SEC Use to enter pressure drop across a section of the column. You must also specify the pressure for
stage1 in the P-SPEC sentence. You cannot use PDROP-SEC if you specify DP-STAGE, DP-COL, or
P-SPEC for any other stage.
secno .............................. Section number
stage1 ............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment
pdrop .............................. Pressure drop across section
STEFF-SEC Use to enter stage Murphree or vaporization efficiencies for a column section. These efficiencies are
applied to each component on each stage of the column section. Specify the efficiency type by using
EFF in the PARAM sentence. You cannot use STEFF-SEC if you specified COMP-EFF or STAGE-
EFF.
secno .............................. Section number
stage1 ............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment
eff .................................... Efficiency (Default=1)
THERM-EFF Use to enter thermal efficiency. These efficiencies allow deviation from thermal equilibrium on a
stage. Specify the type of thermal efficiency by using THERM-EFF in the PARAM sentence. You
cannot use THERM-EFF if you specified THEFF-SEC.
stage ............................... Stage number
therm-eff ......................... Thermal efficiency (Default=1)

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THEFF-SEC Use to enter thermal efficiencies across a section of the column. These efficiencies allow deviation
from thermal equilibrium on column stages. You cannot use THEFF-SEC if you specified THERM-
EFF.
secno............................... Section number
stage1.............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2.............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment
type.................................. Type of thermal efficiency:
VAPOR ..................................... Vapor efficiency
LIQUID ...................................... Liquid efficiency
therm-eff ......................... Thermal efficiency (Default=1)
REPORT Use to override the default report options. You can use the standard REPORT options for use
within a block (see Chapter 11) for PETROFRAC.
reportopt ......................... Standard block report options (see Chapter 11), in addition to the
following:
NOPROFILE ............................. Suppress the stagewise profiles of temperature,
operating pressure, flows, enthalpies, and
duties for this block
COMPS ..................................... Include the mole fraction and K-value profiles
for this block
NOHYDRAULIC ....................... Suppress the hydraulic parameters reported for
this block
NOENTH ................................... Suppress the enthalpy profile for this block
TARGET ................................... Include column targeting thermal analysis
results
HYDANAL................................. Include column targeting hydraulic analysis
results
EXTHYD.................................... Include extended hydraulic parameter report.
Use only when NOHYDRAULIC report option
is not selected or when HYDRAULIC=YES in
the PARAM sentence.
KEY-COMP Use to specify light and heavy key components for column targeting analysis. Use only when
TARGET and/or HYDANAL report option is selected and KEY-SELECT=USER in the COL-SPECS
sentence for the main column.
secno............................... Section number for key component specification
stage1.............................. Stage number for the initial stage of the section
stage2.............................. Stage number for the final stage of the section
LIGHT-KEY...................... List of light key components
HEAVY-KEY .................... List of heavy key components
KEY-TOL Use to specify tolerances and other parameters for light and heavy key component selection
methods other than KEY-SELECT=USER and for exergy loss calculations. Use only when TARGET
and/or HYDANAL report option is selected.
KVAL-TOL ....................... Tolerance on component K-values. Specify when KEY-SELECT=
K-VALUE or SPLIT-FRACTION. (Default=1x10-5)

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COMP-TOL...................... Tolerance on component mole-fractions. Specify when KEY-SELECT=

K-VALUE, SPLIT-FRACTION, or COMP-PROFILE. (Default=1x10-6)
SPF-LIMIT ....................... Minimum value of component split-fractions, in the top and the bottom
products of a column section, necessary for key component selection.
Specify when KEY-SELECT=SPLIT-FRACTION. (Default=0.9)
STG-SPAN ...................... Stage span for computing composition profiles. Specify when
KEY-SELECT=COMP-PROFILE. (Default=2)
EXCLD-KEY .................... List of components to be excluded from key component selection. Specify
when KEY-SELECT=K-VALUE, SPLIT-FRACTION, or
COMP-PROFILE.
EXG-TREF....................... Reference temperature for exergy loss calculations (Default=298.15 K)
CONVERGENCE Use to specify advanced convergence parameters
STABLE-ITER ................. Initial number of iterations over which the steps are damped using a
stabilization method. Use when thermal efficiencies are specified.
STABLE-METH ............... Stabilization method. Use when thermal efficiencies are specified.
STABLE-METH=DOGLEG....... Powell's dogleg strategy
STABLE-METH= ...................... One-dimensional line search (Default)
LINE-SEARCH
TEFF-METHOD ............... Convergence method for thermal efficiency calculations
TEFF-METHOD=NEWTON ...... Newton's method (Default)
TEFF-METHOD=SCHUBERT .. Schubert quasi-Newton method
TRAY-REPORT Use to specify the format of the report and additional tray properties to be reported (in addition to
the flows, temperatures, pressures, enthalpies, and duties printed in the standard report).
TRAY-OPTION ................ TRAY-OPTION=BRIEF ............ Reports the stages that have feeds, products,
heaters, maximum and minimum flows, and the
stages immediately above and below those
stages (Default)
TRAY-OPTION= ....................... Reports the stages specified in the INCL-
INCL-TRAY TRAYS statement
TRAY-OPTION= ....................... Reports all trays in the column
ALL-TRAYS
FORMAT ......................... FORMAT=PROFILE ................. Prints tabular column profiles (Default)
FORMAT=STAGE .................... Prints individual stage reports for each stage
FORMAT=COMBINED ............. Prints both tabular column profiles and
individual stage reports
ORDER............................ Tray numbering order. Use for report only.
ORDER=TOP-DOWN ............... Number of stages from top down in report
(Default)
ORDER=BOTTOM-UP ............. Number of stages from bottom up in report
PROPERTIES.................. List of properties set IDs
WIDE ............................... Report width option
WIDE=YES................................ Produces wide (132 columns) reports (Default)

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WIDE=NO ................................. Produces standard (80 columns) reports

INCL-TRAYS Use to designate trays to be included in the report when TRAY-OPTION=INCL-TRAYS.
stage1.............................. Stage number of initial stage of column segment to be reported
stage2.............................. Stage number of final stage of column segment to be reported
(Default=stage1)
COND-HCURVE, Use to generate heating/cooling curve tables for the condenser or reboiler of the column. If you
REB-HCURVE specify efficiency for a condenser (or reboiler) using COMP-EFF or STAGE-EFF, cooling (or
heating) curves calculated for that condenser (or reboiler) will not be consistent with column
results. See Chapter 11 for a description of input keywords.
PSEUDO-STREAM Use to define outlet streams as pseudostreams and to enter their locations and phases.
sid.................................... Stream ID
stage................................ Stage number
phase............................... L ................................................ Stage liquid excluding any liquid sidedraw
(Default)
V................................................ Stage vapor excluding any vapor sidedraw
TL.............................................. Total stage liquid
TV.............................................. Total stage vapor
PLOT Use to generate stagewise plots of column profiles. You can report properties on a MOLE, MASS, or
STDVOL basis.
plotno .............................. Plot number
plot-list ............................ List of non-component-dependent properties to be plotted:
TEMP ........................................ Temperature
PRES ........................................ Pressure
LRATE ...................................... Liquid flow rate
VRATE ...................................... Vapor flow rate
VL-RATIO ................................. Vapor flow rate/liquid flow rate
comp-plot........................ Keyword for component-dependent property to be plotted:
X,Y ............................................ Fraction of the components and/or component
groups listed are plotted
KVL ........................................... K-values of the components and/or component
groups listed are plotted
REL-VOL .................................. Relative volatilities of the components and/or
component listed are plotted. You must also
specify BASE-COMP. When a component group
ID is specified,

Σy i / Σx i
REL − VOL =
( y / x) BASE −COMP
groupid-list ..................... List of component IDs and/or component group IDs
BASE-COMP ................... Component ID of base component for relative volatility calculations. (Use
with REL-VOL keyword.)

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BASIS.............................. BASIS=MOLE........................... Plotted results are on a mole basis (Default)

BASIS=MASS........................... Plotted results are on a mass basis
BASIS=STDVOL ...................... Plotted results are on a standard-liquid- volume
basis
ORDER............................ ORDER=TOP-DOWN ............... Number of stages from top down in report
(Default)
ORDER=BOTTOM-UP ............. Number of stages from bottom up in report
PLOT-HEADING.............. Heading up to 64 characters included in quotes, printed at the top of the
print-plot
WIDE ............................... Plot width option. Use to override default established by the PLOT-
OPTIONS paragraph (See Chapter 47).
DIAGNOSTICS Use to control the level of convergence diagnostics in the history and log files. You can enter a level
between 0 and 10. The amount of diagnostics increases with each level.
MAIN................................ Controls printouts of initial/final profiles, inside/middle/outside loop
iterations, and outside loop variables/functions in the history file
(Default=4)
OLVAR1 .......................... Controls initial local model parameter diagnostics in the history file
(Default=4)
OLVAR2 .......................... Controls local model parameter diagnostics for each outside loop in the
history file (Default=4)
CMBAL............................ Controls component mass balance diagnostics for each inside loop in the
history file (Default=4)
EMBAL ............................ Controls enthalpy balance diagnostics for each inside loop in the history
file (Default=4)
DESIGN ........................... Controls middle loop diagnostics in the history file (Default=4)
TERM............................... Controls printouts of inside/middle/outside loop iterations in the log file
(Default=0)
TXYEST........................... Controls printouts of temperature and composition profile results in input
estimate formats in the history file (Default=4)
PUMPAROUND Use to enter pumparound connectivity and cooler/heater specifications. Pumparounds are
associated with the main column. They can be total or partial drawoffs of the stage liquid flow. You
must specify the draw and return stage locations for each pumparound.
paid ................................. Pumparound ID
DRAW.............................. Stage number of pumparound draw location. Must be greater than 1
RETURN.......................... Stage number of pumparound return location
TYPE ............................... Pumparound drawoff type:
TYPE=PARTIAL ....................... Two of the following variables must be
specified: basis-FLOW, DUTY, or TEMP
(or DELT). (Default)
TYPE=TOTAL........................... One of the following variables must be specified:
DUTY, TEMP or DELT.
basis-FLOW.................... Pumparound flow rate in MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis

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DUTY ............................... Heat duty for associated cooler/heater. Enter negative value for cooling,
positive value for heating, 0 for no heating or cooling.
TEMP ............................... Temperature of pumparound at associated cooler outlet. No phase change
is assumed.
DELT................................ Temperature change from associated cooler inlet to outlet. Specified value
must be negative.
QSTREAM-IN .................. Stream ID of inlet heat stream for the pumparound
QSTREAM-OUT .............. Stream ID of outlet heat stream for the pumparound
PA-HCURVE Use to generate heating/cooling curve tables and plots for pumparound heater/cooler. You must
specify pumparound ID. See Chapter 11 for a description of input keywords.
paid.................................. Pumparound ID
PA-PSEUDO-STREAM Use to associate a pseudostream with a pumparound. A pseudostream does not affect column
calculations.
paid.................................. Pumparound ID
sid.................................... Stream ID
STATE ............................. State condition for pseudostream:
STATE=OUTLET...................... At the outlet condition of pumparound
heater/cooler (Default)
STATE=INLET.......................... At the inlet condition of pumparound
heater/cooler
STRIPPER Use to enter connectivity and operating specifications for stripper. Substitute MOLE, MASS, or
STDVOL for the word basis. By default the stripper connectivity consists of a liquid draw from the
main column to the top stage of the stripper, and the stripper overhead return to the main column.
Optionally, you can specify that a portion of the stripper bottom liquid returning to a stage in the
main column.
stripid .............................. Stripper ID
NSTAGE .......................... Number of stages, including reboiler. Reboiler, if present, is the bottom
stage
LDRAW............................ Stage number for liquid draw location in main column
VRETURN........................ Stage number of stripper overhead vapor return location in main column
STEAM............................. Stripping steam stream ID. You cannot enter STEAM if you specified Q-
REB.
Q-REB ............................. Reboiler duty. You cannot enter Q-REB if you specified STEAM.
PRODUCT ....................... Bottom product stream ID
STEAM:PROD ................. Mass flow of steam per barrel of product. Use to override flow rate of
steam specified in the STREAM paragraph.
basis-DRAW.................... Draw flow rate. You cannot enter basis-DRAW if you specified basis-B.
basis-B ............................ Bottom product flow rate. You cannot enter basis-B if you specified basis-
DRAW.
LRETURN........................ Stage number of optional stripper bottom liquid return location in main
column
basis-LFLOW .................. Flow rate of optional bottom liquid return stream

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LR-DUTY ......................... Heat duty for associated heater/cooler for optional bottom liquid return
stream. Enter negative value for cooling, positive value for heating, 0 for
no heating or cooling.
LR-TEMP......................... Temperature of optional bottom liquid return stream at heater/cooler
outlet. No phase change is assumed.
LR-DELT ......................... Temperature change of optional bottom liquid return stream across
associated heater/cooler inlet to outlet. Specified value must be negative.
QREB-IN.......................... Stream ID of inlet heat stream at reboiler
QREB-OUT...................... Stream ID of outlet heat stream at reboiler
QLR-IN ............................ Stream ID of inlet heat stream for optional bottom liquid return
QLR-OUT ........................ Stream ID of outlet heat stream for optional bottom liquid return
DP-STAGE ...................... Pressure drop per stage
DP-COL ........................... Pressure drop for column
KEY-SELECT .................. Method for selection of light and heavy key components for column
targeting analysis. Specify KEY-SELECT if TARGET or HYDANAL
report option is selected in the REPORT sentence.
KEY-SELECT=USER ............... Use light and heavy key components specified
in the STR-KEY-COMP sentence.
KEY-SELECT= ......................... Select the light and heavy key components on
SPLIT-FRACTION the basis of component split-fractions in
stripper product streams. This method is best
suited for sharp or near-sharp splits.
KEY-SELECT=K-VALUE ......... Select the light and heavy key components on
the basis of component K-values. This method is
best suited for sloppy splits. (Default)
KEY-SELECT= ......................... Select the light and heavy key components on
COMP-PROFILE the basis of composition profiles. In principle,
this method is similar to KEY-SELECT=
K-VALUE. It is best suited for sloppy splits and
it is, in general, inferior to KEY-SELECT=
K-VALUE.
STR-PROP-SECTIONS Use to enter property specifications for stripper column segments. STR-PROP-SECTIONS overrides
the PROPERTIES sentence for a stripper column segment. The input language for STR-PROP-
SECTIONS is the same as for the PROPERTIES sentence (see Chapter 11), except that STR-PROP-
SECTIONS requires that you specify a stripper segment. Any option set specified in the STR-
PROP-SECTIONS sentence must be named in the PROPERTIES sentence. (For more information
about specifying an option set, see Chapter 8.)
stripid.............................. Stripper ID
stage1 ............................. Initial stage of a column segment using the specified property option set
stage2 ............................. Final stage of a column segment using the specified property option set
(Default=stage1)
opsetname...................... Property option set to be used for stripper segment
STR-FEEDS Use to define optional feeds to the top stage of stripper, in addition to the draw specified in the
STRIPPER sentence. Substitute MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL for the word basis.
stripid.............................. Stripper ID

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stage................................ Stage number of additional liquid draw location in main column

basis-FLOW .................... Draw flow rate
STR-P-SPEC Use to enter the stripper column pressure profile.
stripid .............................. Stripper ID
stage................................ Stage number
pres ................................. Pressure
STR-COMP-EFF Use to enter component efficiency. You cannot use STR-COMP-EFF if you specified
STR-STAGE-EFF or STR-STEFF-SEC. The efficiency type is defined by keyword EFF in the
PARAM statement.
stripid .............................. Stripper ID
stage................................ Stage number. Enter stage number and efficiency for one or more stages.
Intermediate stage efficiencies are calculated by linear interpolation.
cid.................................... Component ID
eff..................................... Efficiency for an individual component (Default=1)
STR-STAGE-EFF Use to enter stage efficiency. You cannot use STR-STAGE-EFF if you specified STR-COMP-EFF or
STR-STEFF-SEC. The efficiency type is defined by keyword EFF in the PARAM statement.
stripid .............................. Stripper ID
stage................................ Stage number. Enter stage number and efficiency for one or more stages.
Intermediate stage efficiencies are calculated by linear interpolation.
eff..................................... Efficiency (Default=1)
STR-L2-STAGES Use to indicate a stripper segment to be tested for the presence of a free-water phase, when FREE-
WATER=YES is specified for the block.
stripid .............................. Stripper ID
stage1.............................. Initial stage of a stripper segment to be tested for the presence of a free-
water phase
stage2.............................. Final stage of a stripper segment to be tested for the presence
of a free-water phase
STR-T-EST Use to enter an initial estimate of the stripper column temperature profile. If you do not give a T-
EST sentence, an initial profile is generated by PETROFRAC.
stripid .............................. Stripper ID
stage................................ Stage number
temp ................................ Temperature

STR-L-EST, Use to enter initial estimates of liquid and vapor flow profiles. The flow entered is the total flow of
STR-V-EST the respective phase, including any portions withdrawn as products.
stripid .............................. Stripper ID
stage................................ Stage number
flow.................................. Flow rate

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STR-PDROP-SEC Use to enter pressure drop across stripper sections. You must also specify the pressure for stage1 in
the STR-P-SPEC sentence. You cannot use STR-PDROP-SEC if you specify DP-STAGE, DP-COL, or
STR-P-SPEC for any other stage.
stripid.............................. Stripper ID
secno .............................. Section number
stage1 ............................. Stage number for initial stage of stripper segment
stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of stripper segment
pdrop .............................. Pressure drop across section
STR-STEFF-SEC Use to enter stage Murphree or vaporization efficiencies for stripper sections. These efficiencies are
applied to each component on each stage of the section. Specify the efficiency type by using EFF in
the PARAM sentence. You cannot use STR-STEFF-SEC if you specified STR-COMP-EFF or STR-
STAGE-EFF.
stripid.............................. Stripper ID
secno .............................. Section number
stage1 ............................. Stage number for initial stage of stripper segment
stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of stripper segment
eff .................................... Efficiency (Default=1)
STR-THERM-EFF Use to enter thermal efficiency. These efficiencies allow deviation from thermal equilibrium on a
stage. Only efficiencies of type VAPOR can be specified using STR-THERM-EFF. You cannot use
STR-THERM-EFF if you specified STR-THEFF-SEC.
stripid.............................. Stripper ID
stage ............................... Stage number
therm-eff ......................... Thermal efficiency (Default=1)
STR-THEFF-SEC Use to enter thermal efficiencies across stripper sections. These efficiencies allow deviation from
thermal equilibrium. You cannot use STR-THEFF-SEC if you specified STR-THERM-EFF.
stripid.............................. Stripper ID
secno .............................. Section number
stage1 ............................. Stage number for initial stage of stripper segment
stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of stripper segment
type ................................. Type of thermal efficiency:
VAPOR ..................................... Vapor efficiency
LIQUID ...................................... Liquid efficiency
therm-eff ......................... Thermal efficiency (Default=1)

STR-KEY-COMP Use to specify light and heavy key components for column targeting analysis. Use only when
TARGET and/or HYDANAL report option is selected and KEY-SELECT=USER in the STRIPPER
sentence for the column under consideration.
stripid.............................. Stripper ID
secno .............................. Section number for key component specification
stage1 ............................. Stage number for the initial stage of the section

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stage2.............................. Stage number for the final stage of the section

LIGHT-KEY...................... List of light key components
HEAVY-KEY .................... List of heavy key components
STR-KEY-TOL Use to specify tolerances and other parameters for light and heavy key component selection
methods other than KEY-SELECT=USER and for exergy loss calculations. Use only when TARGET
and/or HYDANAL report option is selected.
stripid .............................. Stripper ID
KVAL-TOL ....................... Tolerance on component K-values. Specify when KEY-SELECT=
K-VALUE or SPLIT-FRACTION. (Default=1x10-5)
COMP-TOL...................... Tolerance on component mole-fractions. Specify when KEY-SELECT=
K-VALUE, SPLIT-FRACTION, or COMP-PROFILE. (Default=1x10-6)
SPF-LIMIT ....................... Minimum value of component split-fractions, in the top and the bottom
products of a column section, necessary for key component selection.
Specify when KEY-SELECT=SPLIT-FRACTION. (Default=0.9)
STG-SPAN....................... Stage span for computing composition profiles. Specify when
KEY-SELECT=COMP-PROFILE. (Default=2)
EXCLD-KEY .................... List of components to be excluded from key component selection. Specify
when KEY-SELECT=K-VALUE, SPLIT-FRACTION, or
COMP-PROFILE.
EXG-TREF....................... Reference temperature for exergy loss calculations (Default=298.15 K)
STR-INCL-TRAYS Use to designate trays to be included in the report when TRAY-OPTION=INCL-TRAYS. One
STR-INCL-TRAYS statement is entered for each stripper for which tray reports are desired.
stripid .............................. Stripper ID
stage1.............................. Stage number of initial stage of a stripper column segment to be reported
stage2.............................. Stage number of final stage of a stripper column segment to be reported
(Default=stage1)
STR-REB-HCURVE Use to generate cooling curve tables and plots for the stripper reboiler. You must specify stripper
ID. See Chapter 11 for a description of input keywords.
stripid .............................. Stripper ID
STR-PSEUDO-STREAM Use to define pseudo streams for stripper streams.
stripid .............................. Stripper ID
sid.................................... Stream ID
SOURCE.......................... Source for the pseudostream:
SOURCE=OVERHEAD ............ Stripper vapor overhead stream
SOURCE=FEED ....................... Stripper top feed stream
SOURCE=STAGE-FLOW ........ Stripper stage liquid/vapor stream (Default)
SOURCE=L-RETURN .............. Stripper bottom liquid return stream
STAGE............................. Stripper stage number, required if SOURCE=STAGE-FLOW
PHASE............................. Withdrawal phase, required when SOURCE=STAGE-FLOW:
PHASE=L ................................. Stage liquid excluding any liquid sidedraw
(Default)

Input Language Guide 15-85

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rigorous
Distillation

PHASE=V ................................. Stage vapor excluding any vapor sidedraw

PHASE=TL ............................... Total stage liquid
PHASE=TV ............................... Total stage vapor
DRAW.............................. Main column draw stage, required when SOURCE=FEED
STATE ............................. State condition for L-RETURN pseudostream, required when
SOURCE=L-RETURN:
STATE=OUTLET...................... At the outlet condition of heater/cooler (Default)
STATE=INLET.......................... At the inlet condition of heater/cooler
STG-UTL Use to specify optional utilities to provide heating or cooling duty for stage heaters and coolers.
stage ............................... Stage number.
utilityid ............................ Utility ID.
PA-UTL Use to specify optional utilities to provide heating or cooling duty for pumparounds.
pid ................................... Pumparound ID.
utilityid ............................ Utility ID.
STRPR-UTL Use to specify optional utilities to provide heating or cooling duty for strippers.
stripid.............................. Stripper ID.
utilityid ............................ Utility ID.
UTILITIES Use to specify optional utilities to provide heating or cooling duty for condenser and reboiler.
COND-UTIL ..................... Utility ID for condenser.
REB-UTIL ........................ Utility ID for reboiler.

15-86 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 15

Accessing Variables in PETROFRAC

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3

PARAM NPA, NSTRIP, NSSTRIP, NSTAGE — — —

COL-SPECS T1, basis-DV:D,basis-B, basis-D, basis-L1,basis-RR, — — —
Q-COND, Q-REB, STEAM:PROD,DP-STAGE,
DP-COL
FEEDS STAGE sid — —
PRODUCTS STAGE, basis-FLOW sid — —
P-SPEC PRES stage — —
FURNACE DUTY, TEMP, PRES, basis-OVFL — — —
HEATERS DUTY stage — —
RUNBACK basis-FLOW, Q-STAGE,PA stage — —
STAGE-EFF EFF stage — —
COMP-EFF EFF stage cid —
SPEC† VALUE, STAGE, BASE-STAGE, PCT, VARY-STAGE specno — —
T-EST TEMP stage — —
L-EST FLOW stage — —
V-EST FLOW stage — —
COND-HCURVE INCR, NPOINT, PDROP curveno — —
REB-HCURVE INCR, NPOINT, PDROP curveno — —
PSEUDO-STREAM STAGE sid — —
PUMPAROUND DRAW, RETURN, basis-FLOW, TEMP, DELT, DUTY paid — —
STRIPPER NSTAGE, LDRAW, VRETURN, basis-FLOW, stripid — —
basis-DRAW, Q-REB, STEAM:PROD, LRETURN,
basis-LFLOW, LR-TEMP, LR-DELT, LR-DUTY,
DP-STAGE, DP-COL
STR-FEEDS basis-FLOW stripid stage —
† Accessed variables are in SI units.

continued

Input Language Guide 15-87

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rigorous
Distillation

Block Input (continued)

Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3
STR-COMP-EFF EFF stripid stage cid
STR-STAGE-EFF EFF stripid stage —
STR-T-EST TEMP stripid stage —
STR-L-EST FLOW stripid stage —
STR-V-EST FLOW stripid stage —
STR-PSEUDO- STREAM STAGE, DRAW stripid sid —

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1 ID2 ID3

Main column condenser duty RESULTS COND-DUTY — — —

Main column reboiler duty RESULTS REB-DUTY — — —
Reflux ratio RESULTS RR — — —
Boilup ratio RESULTS BR — — —
Main column stage temperature PROFILE TEMP† stage — —
Main column stage pressure PROFILE PRES† stage — —
Main column liquid stage flow rate PROFILE LRATE† stage — —
Main column liquid1 stage flow rate PROFILE L1RATE† stage — —
Main column vapor stage flow rate PROFILE VRATE† stage — —
Main column stage duty PROFILE DUTY† stage — —
Main column liquid composition COMPS X† cid stage —
Main column liquid1 composition COMPS X1† cid stage —
Main column vapor composition COMPS Y† cid stage —
Furnace duty FURNACE-RESULTS DUTY — — —
Furnace temperature FURNACE-RESULTS TEMP — — —
Furnace pressure FURNACE-RESULTS PRES — — —
Furnace liquid flow rate FURNACE-RESULTS LRATE — — —
Furnace vapor flow rate FURNACE-RESULTS VRATE — — —
Furnace liquid composition FURNACE-COMPS X† cid — —
Furnace vapor composition FURNACE-COMPS Y† cid — —
† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

continued

15-88 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 15

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable ID1 ID2 ID3
Manipulated variable†† MAN-VARS VALUE† specno — —
Pumparound temperature PA-RESULTS TEMP paid — —
Pumparound pressure PA-RESULTS PRES paid — —
Pumparound duty PA-RESULTS DUTY paid — —
Pumparound flow PA-RESULTS basis-FLOW paid — —
Stripper stage temperature STR-PROFILE TEMP† stripid stage —
Stripper stage pressure STR-PROFILE PRES† stripid stage —
Stripper stage liquid flow rate STR-PROFILE LRATE† stripid stage —
Stripper stage liquid1 flow rate STR-PROFILE L1RATE† stripid stage —
Stripper stage vapor flow rate STR-PROFILE VRATE† stripid stage —
Stripper stage duty STR-PROFILE DUTY† stripid stage —
Stripper liquid composition STR-COMPS X† cid stage stripid
Stripper liquid1 composition STR-COMPS X1† cid stage stripid
Stripper vapor composition STR-COMPS Y† cid stage stripid
† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.
†† Accessed variables are in SI units.

Valid COL-SPECS Combinations

The allowed COL-SPECS combinations are indicated with an X in the following
matrix:

Table 15.5 Column Specification Combinations

RR L1 Q-COND Q-REB
D X X X X
B X X X X
Q-COND X

If CONDENSER=NONE-TOPPA or NONE-TOPFEED, Q-COND is implicitly

specified, and is used as one specification.

If REBOILER=NONE-BOTFEED or NONE-BOTPA, Q-REB is implicitly

specified, and is used as one specification.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 15-89

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rigorous
Distillation

15-90 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

16 Column Design and

Rating
This chapter describes the input language for the Aspen Plus column design and
rating capabilities in RADFRAC, MULTIFRAC, and PETROFRAC.
The column design and rating capabilities in Aspen Plus allow you to request
sizing, rating, and integrated pressure drop calculations for trayed and packed
columns.

Input Language Guide 16-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

RADFRAC, MULTIFRAC and

PETROFRAC

Input Language for RADFRAC

BLOCK blockid RADFRAC
.
.
.
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords for pressure drop calculations:

P-UPDATE P-FIX

.
.
.
CONVERGENCE keyword=value

Keywords for tray sizing/rating:

KOCH-CORR NUTTER-CORR

TRAY-SIZE secno stage1 stage2 traytype keyword=value

Keywords:
NPASS TRAY-SPACE FLOOD-FAC SYSFAC SLOT-AREA HOLE-AREA
MIN-DIAM MIN-DCAREA OVER-DESIGN FLOOD-METH

TRAY-RATE secno stage1 stage2 traytype keyword=value

Keywords:
NPASS TRAY-SPACE DIAM SYSFAC OVER-DESIGN EFF
FLOOD-METH P-UPDATE DECK-THICK DC-OFC-WALL
Keywords for bubble cap trays:
CAP-DIAM NCAPS NROWS CAP-SPACE SKIRT-HT
Keywords for sieve trays:
HOLE-DIAM HOLE-AREA
Keywords for valve trays:
VALVE-TYPE VALVE-DEN NVALVES
Keywords for ballast trays:
VALVE-MAT VALVE-THICK
Keywords for float valve trays:
VALVE-LIFT DC-RTIME DC-EDGE

16-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Optional keywords:
WEIR-HT-A WEIR-HT-B WEIR-HT-C WEIR-HT-D DC-CLEAR-SIDE
DC-CLEAR-CTR DC-CLEAR-OFC DC-WTOP-SIDE DC-WTOP-CTR
DC-WTOP-OFC DC-WBOT-SIDE DC-WBOT-CTR DC-WBOT-OFC
DC-HT-SIDE DC-HT-CTR DC-HT-OFC

TRAY-RATE1 secno keyword=value

Keywords:
MAX-FLOOD-F MAX-DCBUP-F

PACK-SIZE secno stage1 stage2 packtype keyword=value

Keywords:
PACK-MAT PACK-SIZE VENDOR PACK-FAC SPAREA VOIDFR STICH1
STICH2 STICH3 SYSFAC OVER-DESIGN PACK-HT HETP PACK-THICK
CS-APP CS-FLOOD CS-DESIGN DPMAX-SEC DPMAX-PACK DPMETH
P-UPDATE

PACK-RATE secno stage1 stage2 packtype keyword=value

Keywords:
PACK-MAT PACK-SIZE VENDOR PACK-FAC SPAREA VOIDFR STICH1
STICH2 STICH3 SYSFAC OVER-DESIGN PACK-HT HETP PACK-THICK
DIAM CS-FLOOD DPMETH P-UPDATE

PACK-RATE1 secno MAX-FLOOD-F=value

SUBROUTINE keyword=value

Keywords:
TRAYSR PACKSR

TRSR-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
TRNINT TRNREAL

TRSR-INT VALUE-LIST=values
TRSR-REAL VALUE-LIST=values
PCKSR-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
PCKNINT PCKNREAL

PCKSR-INT VALUE-LIST=values
PCKSR-REAL VALUE-LIST=values

Input Language Guide 16-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Input Language for MULTIFRAC

BLOCK blockid MULTIFRAC
.
.
.
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords for pressure drop calculations:

P-UPDATE P-FIX

.
.
.
CONVERGENCE keyword=value

Keywords for tray sizing/rating:

KOCH-CORR NUTTER-CORR

TRAY-SIZE secno col stage1 stage2 traytype keyword=value

Keywords:
NPASS TRAY-SPACE FLOOD-FAC SYSFAC SLOT-AREA HOLE-AREA
MIN-DIAM MIN-DCAREA OVER-DESIGN FLOOD-METH

TRAY-RATE secno col stage1 stage2 traytype keyword=value

Keywords:
NPASS TRAY-SPACE DIAM SYSFAC OVER-DESIGN EFF FLOOD-METH
P-UPDATE DECK-THICK DC-OFC-WALL
Keywords for bubble cap trays:
CAP-DIAM NCAPS NROWS CAP-SPACE SKIRT-HT
Keywords for sieve trays:
HOLE-DIAM HOLE-AREA
Keywords for valve trays:
VALVE-TYPE VALVE-DEN NVALVES
Keywords for ballast trays:
VALVE-MAT VALVE-THICK
Keywords for float valve trays:
VALVE-LIFT DC-RTIME DC-EDGE
Optional keywords:
WEIR-HT-A WEIR-HT-B WEIR-HT-C WEIR-HT-D DC-CLEAR-SIDE
DC-CLEAR-CTR DC-CLEAR-OFC DC-WTOP-SIDE DC-WTOP-CTR
DC-WTOP-OFC DC-WBOT-SIDE DC-WBOT-CTR DC-WBOT-OFC
DC-HT-SIDE DC-HT-CTR DC-HT-OFC

16-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

TRAY-RATE1 secno keyword=value

Keywords:
MAX-FLOOD-F MAX-DCBUP-F

PACK-SIZE secno col stage1 stage2 packtype keyword=value

Keywords:
PACK-MAT PACK-SIZE VENDOR PACK-FAC SPAREA VOIDFR STICH1
STICH2 STICH3 SYSFAC OVER-DESIGN PACK-HT HETP PACK-THICK
CS-APP CS-FLOOD CS-DESIGN DPMAX-SEC DPMAX-PACK DPMETH
P-UPDATE

PACK-RATE secno col stage1 stage2 packtype keyword=value

Keywords:
PACK-MAT PACK-SIZE VENDOR PACK-FAC SPAREA VOIDFR STICH1
STICH2 STICH3 SYSFAC OVER-DESIGN PACK-HT HETP PACK-THICK
DIAM CS-FLOOD DPMETH P-UPDATE

PACK-RATE1 secno MAX-FLOOD-F=value

SUBROUTINE keyword=value

Keywords:
TRAYSR PACKSR

TRSR-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
TRNINT TRNREAL

TRSR-INT VALUE-LIST=values
TRSR-REAL VALUE-LIST=values
PCKSR-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
PCKNINT PCKNREAL

PCKSR-INT VALUE-LIST=values
PCKSR-REAL VALUE-LIST=values

Input Language Guide 16-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Input Language for PETROFRAC

BLOCK blockid PETROFRAC
.
.
.
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords for pressure drop calculations:

P-UPDATE P-FIX

.
.
.
CONVERGENCE keyword=value

Keywords for tray sizing/rating:

KOCH-CORR NUTTER-CORR

TRAY-SIZE secno stage1 stage2 traytype keyword=value

Keywords:
NPASS TRAY-SPACE FLOOD-FAC SYSFAC SLOT-AREA HOLE-AREA
MIN-DIAM MIN-DCAREA OVER-DESIGN FLOOD-METH

TRAY-RATE secno stage1 stage2 traytype keyword=value

Keywords:
NPASS TRAY-SPACE DIAM SYSFAC OVER-DESIGN EFF FLOOD-METH
P-UPDATE DECK-THICK DC-OFC-WALL
Keywords for bubble cap trays:
CAP-DIAM NCAPS NROWS CAP-SPACE SKIRT-HT
Keywords for sieve trays:
HOLE-DIAM HOLE-AREA
Keywords for valve trays:
VALVE-TYPE VALVE-DEN NVALVES
Keywords for ballast trays:
VALVE-MAT VALVE-THICK
Keywords for float valve trays:
VALVE-LIFT DC-RTIME DC-EDGE
Optional keywords:
WEIR-HT-A WEIR-HT-B WEIR-HT-C WEIR-HT-D DC-CLEAR-SIDE
DC-CLEAR-CTR DC-CLEAR-OFC DC-WTOP-SIDE DC-WTOP-CTR
DC-WTOP-OFC DC-WBOT-SIDE DC-WBOT-CTR DC-WBOT-OFC
DC-HT-SIDE DC-HT-CTR DC-HT-OFC

16-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

TRAY-RATE1 secno keyword=value

Keywords:
MAX-FLOOD-F MAX-DCBUP-F

PACK-SIZE secno stage1 stage2 packtype keyword=value

Keywords:
PACK-MAT PACK-SIZE VENDOR PACK-FAC SPAREA VOIDFR STICH1
STICH2 STICH3 SYSFAC OVER-DESIGN PACK-HT HETP PACK-THICK
CS-APP CS-FLOOD CS-DESIGN DPMAX-SEC DPMAX-PACK DPMETH
P-UPDATE

PACK-RATE secno stage1 stage2 packtype keyword=value

Keywords:
PACK-MAT PACK-SIZE VENDOR PACK-FAC SPAREA VOIDFR STICH1
STICH2 STICH3 SYSFAC OVER-DESIGN PACK-HT HETP PACK-THICK
DIAM CS-FLOOD DPMETH P-UPDATE

PACK-RATE1 secno MAX-FLOOD-F=value

STR-TRAY-SIZE stripid secno stage1 stage2 traytype keyword=value

Keywords:
NPASS TRAY-SPACE FLOOD-FAC SYSFAC SLOT-AREA HOLE-AREA
MIN-DIAM MIN-DCAREA OVER-DESIGN FLOOD-METH

STR-TRAY-RATE stripid secno stage1 stage2 traytype keyword=value

Keywords:
NPASS TRAY-SPACE DIAM SYSFAC OVER-DESIGN EFF FLOOD-METH
P-UPDATE DECK-THICK DC-OFC-WALL
Keywords for bubble cap trays:
CAP-DIAM NCAPS NROWS CAP-SPACE SKIRT-HT
Keywords for sieve trays:
HOLE-DIAM HOLE-AREA
Keywords for valve trays:
VALVE-TYPE VALVE-DEN NVALVES
Keywords for ballast trays:
VALVE-MAT VALVE-THICK
Keywords for float valve trays:
VALVE-LIFT DC-RTIME DC-EDGE
Optional keywords:
WEIR-HT-A WEIR-HT-B WEIR-HT-C WEIR-HT-D DC-CLEAR-SIDE
DC-CLEAR-CTR DC-CLEAR-OFC DC-WTOP-SIDE DC-WTOP-CTR
DC-WTOP-OFC DC-WBOT-SIDE DC-WBOT-CTR DC-WBOT-OFC
DC-HT-SIDE DC-HT-CTR DC-HT-OFC

Input Language Guide 16-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

STR-TRAY-RA1 stripid secno keyword=value

Keywords:
MAX-FLOOD-F MAX-DCBUP-F

STR-PACK-SIZE stripid secno stage1 stage2 packtype keyword=value

Keywords:
PACK-MAT PACK-SIZE VENDOR PACK-FAC SPAREA VOIDFR STICH1
STICH2 STICH3 SYSFAC OVER-DESIGN PACK-HT HETP PACK-THICK
CS-APP CS-FLOOD CS-DESIGN DPMAX-SEC DPMAX-PACK DPMETH
P-UPDATE

STR-PACK-RATE stripid secno stage1 stage2 packtype keyword=value

Keywords:
PACK-MAT PACK-SIZE VENDOR PACK-FAC SPAREA VOIDFR STICH1
STICH2 STICH3 SYSFAC OVER-DESIGN PACK-HT HETP PACK-THICK
DIAM CS-FLOOD DPMETH P-UPDATE

STR-PACK-RA1 stripid secno MAX-FLOOD-F=value

SUBROUTINE keyword=value

Keywords:
TRAYSR PACKSR

TRSR-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
TRNINT TRNREAL

TRSR-INT VALUE-LIST=values
TRSR-REAL VALUE-LIST=values
PCKSR-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
PCKNINT PCKNREAL

PCKSR-INT VALUE-LIST=values
PCKSR-REAL VALUE-LIST=values

16-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Input Language Description

PARAM Use to enter the number of stages and columns, and other parameters for RADFRAC,
MULTIFRAC, and PETROFRAC. See Chapter 15 for keywords and keyword descriptions for the
PARAM sentence.
P-UPDATE and P-FIX are used to invoke integrated pressure drop calculations. If you invoke these
calculations, Aspen Plus uses the pressure drop computed from the hydraulic calculations to update
the column pressure profile. The pressure specifications entered in the P-SPEC statement are used
to initialize the pressure profile, and to fix the top or bottom pressure. Integrated pressure drop
calculations are not allowed for tray sizing calculations.
P-UPDATE....................... P-UPDATE=YES ...................... Pressure profile is to be updated from the
computed pressure drop
P-UPDATE=NO ........................ Pressure profile is not to be updated from the
computed pressure drop (Default)
P-FIX................................ P-FIX=TOP ............................... Pressure at the top of column is kept constant
during pressure updating (Default)
P-FIX=BOTTOM ....................... Pressure at the bottom of column is kept
constant during pressure updating
CONVERGENCE Use to enter flooding method for Koch Flexitray and Nutter Float Valve tray sizing and rating
calculations and other TKWs for RadFrac, PetroFrac, and MultiFrac.
KOCH-CORR................... KOCH-CORR=B960................. Use curves in Bulletin 960 (KochEngineering
Company, Inc.) for Koch Flexitray sizing/rating
calculations. (Default)
KOCH-CORR=B960-1.............. Use curves in Bulletin 960-1 (KochEngineering
Company, Inc.) for Koch Flexitray sizing/rating
calculations.
NUTTER-CORR............... NUTTER-CORR=ASPEN90 ..... Use ASPEN90 version of curve fitting for curves
in Nutter Valve Tray Design Manual for Nutter
Float Valve tray sizing/rating calculations.
NUTTER-CORR=ASPEN96 ..... Use ASPEN96 version of curve fitting for curves
in Nutter Valve Tray Design Manual for Nutter
Float Valve tray sizing/rating calculations.
TRAY-SIZE, Use to enter specifications for tray sizing calculations. Column section diameter is determined from
STR-TRAY-SIZE the specified number of passes, tray spacing, flooding approach, and other tray details. You can
divide a column into any number of sections. Each section can have a different tray type and
diameter. Tray details can vary from one section to another.
stripid .............................. Stripper ID. Use for PETROFRAC only.
secno............................... Column section number. Must be sequential, starting with 1.
col.................................... Column number. Use for MULTIFRAC only.
stage1.............................. Initial stage number of the section. If a condenser is present, stage1
cannot be 1.
stage2.............................. Final stage number of the section. If a kettle reboiler is present, stage2
cannot be NSTAGE.

traytype ........................... Tray type:

Input Language Guide 16-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

CAPS ........................................ Bubble caps trays

SIEVE........................................ Sieve trays
BALLAST ................................. Glitsch ballast trays
FLEXI ........................................ Koch flexitrays
FLOAT ...................................... Nutter float valve trays
NPASS ............................ Number of passes on each tray. Maximum of 4 passes are allowed. See
Figures 16.1 through 16.4 for schematic diagrams.
NPASS=1.................................. One-pass tray (Default)
NPASS=2.................................. Two-pass tray
NPASS=3.................................. Three-pass tray
NPASS=4.................................. Four-pass tray
TRAY-SPACE.................. Tray spacing (Default=24 in. (609.6 mm))
FLOOD-FAC.................... Flooding approach, given as a fraction of flooding (Default=0.8)
SYSFAC .......................... System foaming factor (Default=1.0). Suggested values are:

Ballast Trays
Service SYSFAC

Non-foaming systems 1.00

Fluorine systems 0.90
Moderate foamers (such as oil absorbers, amine, and glycol regenerators) 0.85
Heavy foamers (such as amine and glycol absorbers) 0.73
Severe foamers (such as MEK units) 0.60
Foam stable systems (such as caustic regenerators) 0.30

Flexitrays
Service SYSFAC

Depropanizers 0.85-0.95
Absorbers 0.85
Vacuum towers 0.85
Amine regenerators 0.85
Amine contactors 0.70-0.80
High pressure deethanizers 0.75-0.80
Glycol contactors 0.70-0.75

16-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Float Valve Trays

Service SYSFAC

Non-foaming 1.00
Low-foaming 0.90
Moderate-foaming 0.75
High-foaming 0.60

SLOT-AREA .................... Slot area, given as a fraction of the active area. Use only when traytype is
CAPS and FLOOD-METH=FAIR or USER. (Default=0.12)
HOLE-AREA.................... Hole area, given as a fraction of the active area. Use only when traytype is
SIEVE and FLOOD-METH=FAIR or USER. (Default=0.12)
MIN-DIAM ........................ Minimum column diameter (Default=12 in. (304.8 mm))
MIN-DCAREA .................. Minimum downcomer area, given as a fraction of the total tray cross-
sectional area (Default=0.1)
OVER-DESIGN ................ Over-design factor, a multiplier for the column loading to reflect the
expected maximum or minimum loading for the column. OVER-DESIGN
cannot be used if P-UPDATE=YES. (Default=1.0)
FLOOD-METH ................. Flooding calculation method. When traytype is CAPS, SIEVE, or
BALLAST, use FAIR, GLITSCH, or USER method. The FAIR method
provides a more conservative estimate for flooding approach. When
traytype is FLEXI, use B960 or B960-1. B960-1 is recommended.
FLOOD-METH=FAIR................ Fair method
FLOOD-METH=GLITSCH ........ Glitsch method. Designed for ballast trays. De-
rates the results by 15% for bubble caps and 5%
for sieve trays. (Default)
FLOOD-METH=USER .............. User-supplied method
FLOOD-METH=B960 ............... Use curves in Bulletin 960 (KochEngineering
Company, Inc.) for Koch Flexitray sizing/rating
calculations.
FLOOD-METH=B960-1 ............ Use curves in Bulletin 960-1 (KochEngineering
Company, Inc.) for Koch Flexitray sizing/rating
calculations.
TRAY-RATE, Use to enter column diameter and other tray details for tray rating calculations. Tray performance
STR-TRAY-RATE parameters, such as flooding approach, downcomer backup, and pressure drop are calculated. You
can turn off the pressure updating calculations for a section locally. You can also divide a column
into any number of sections. Each section can have a different tray type and diameter. Tray details
can vary from one section to another.
stripid ............................. Stripper ID. Use for PETROFRAC only.
secno............................... Column section number. Must be sequential, starting with 1.
col.................................... Column number. Use for MULTIFRAC only.
stage1.............................. Initial stage number of the section. If a condenser is present, stage1
cannot be 1.

Input Language Guide 16-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

stage2 ............................. Final stage number of the section. If a kettle reboiler is present, stage2
cannot be NSTAGE.
traytype........................... Tray type:
CAPS ........................................ Bubble caps trays
SIEVE........................................ Sieve trays
BALLAST ................................. Glitsch ballast trays
FLEXI ........................................ Koch flexitrays
FLOAT ...................................... Nutter float valve trays
NPASS ............................ Number of passes on each tray. Maximum of four is allowed. See
Figures 16.1 through 16.4 for schematic diagrams.
NPASS=1.................................. One-pass tray (Default)
NPASS=2.................................. Two-pass tray
NPASS=3.................................. Three-pass tray
NPASS=4.................................. Four-pass tray
TRAY-SPACE.................. Tray spacing (Default=24 in. (609.6 mm))
DIAM................................ Column section diameter
SYSFAC .......................... System foaming factor (Default=1.0). Suggested values are:

Ballast Trays
Service SYSFAC

Non-foaming systems 1.00

Fluorine systems 0.90
Moderate foamers (such as oil absorbers,amine, and glycol regenerators) 0.85
Heavy foamers (such as amine and glycol absorbers) 0.73
Severe foamers (such as MEK units) 0.60
Foam stable systems (such as caustic regenerators) 0.30

Flexitrays
Service SYSFAC

Depropanizers 0.85-0.95
Absorbers 0.85
Vacuum towers 0.85
Amine regenerators 0.85
Amine contactors 0.70-0.80
High pressure deethanizers 0.75-0.80
Glycol contactors 0.70-0.75

16-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Float Valve Trays

Service SYSFAC

Non-foaming 1.00
Low-foaming 0.90
Moderate-foaming 0.75
High-foaming 0.60

OVER-DESIGN ................ Over-design factor. A multiplier for the column loading to reflect the
expected maximum or minimum loading for the column. You cannot use
OVER-DESIGN if P-UPDATE=YES. (Default=1.0)
EFF .................................. Overall efficiency. Defined as the ratio of number of theoretical stages to
number of actual trays. Do not enter EFF if you specified STAGE-EFF,
L1-STAGE-EFF, L2-STAGE-EFF, COMP-EFF, L1-COMP-EFF, L2-
COMP-EFF, STR-STAGE-EFF or STR-COMP-EFF. (See Chapter 15.)
(Default=1.0)
FLOOD-METH ................. Flooding calculation method. When traytype is CAPS, SIEVE, or
BALLAST, use FAIR, GLITSCH, GLITSCH6, or USER method. The
FAIR method provides a more conservative estimate for flooding
approach. When traytype is FLEXI, use B960 or B960-1. When VALVE-
TYPE is S, AO, or TO, B960 must be used. Otherwise, B960-1 is
recommended.
FLOOD-METH=FAIR................ Fair method
FLOOD-METH=GLITSCH ........ Glitsch method. Designed for ballast trays. De-
rates the results by 15% for bubble caps and 5%
for sieve trays. (Default)
FLOOD-METH=GLITSCH6 ...... Glitsch method from Bulletin 4900, Edition 6.
FLOOD-METH=USER .............. User-supplied method
FLOOD-METH=B960 ............... Use curves in Bulletin 960 (KochEngineering
Company, Inc.) for Koch Flexitray sizing/rating
calculations.
FLOOD-METH=B960-1 ............ Use curves in Bulletin 960-1 (KochEngineering
Company, Inc.) for Koch Flexitray sizing/rating
calculations.
P-UPDATE....................... P-UPDATE=YES ...................... Updates pressure profile for the section. You
must also specify P-UPDATE=YES in the
PARAM sentence.
P-UPDATE=NO ........................ Does not update pressure profile for the section
(Default)

Input Language Guide 16-13

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

DECK-THICK .................. Tray deck thickness. Use when traytype is SIEVE, BALLAST, and
FLOAT. Valid entries for deck thickness are:

Gauge Inches Millimeters

3 0.250 6.35
10 0.134 3.40 (Default)
12 0.104 2.64
14 0.074 1.88

Do not enter the values in gauge. They are listed here for reference only.
DC-OFC-WALL ............... Distance between column wall and off-center downcomer (on side near
wall). For three-pass and four-pass trays.
CAP-DIAM ....................... Cap diameter. Use when traytype is CAPS only. Valid entries for cap
diameter are:

Inches Millimeters

3 76.2 (Default)
4 101.6
6 152.4

The cap diameter is used to retrieve cap characteristics based on the

standard cap designs. Table 16.2 gives standard cap designs for the three
cap sizes. The default for cap diameter depends on the column diameter
as follows:
For Column Diameter ≤ 48 in. (1219.2 mm),
Default is CAP-DIAM=3 in. (76.2 mm)
For Column Diameter > 48 in. (1219.2 mm),
Default is CAP-DIAM=4 in. (101.6 mm)
NCAPS ............................ Number of caps per panel. Use when traytype is CAPS only. The first
entry is for panel A, the second for panel B, the third for panel C, and the
fourth for panel D. Enter an asterisk for an entry that has a missing
value. The number of entries depends on the number of flow passes:

For Enter

One-pass tray A single value for panel A

Two-pass tray Up to two values, one for panel A and one for panel B
Three-pass Up to three values, one for each of the three panels (A, B, and C)
tray
Four-pass tray Up to four values, one for each of the four panels (A, B, C, and D)

16-14 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

The value for NCAPS applies for each panel. For two-pass trays, there are
two A panels for tray AA, and two B panels for tray BB. Therefore, the
number of caps per panel is the number of caps per tray divided by two
for two-pass trays. Similar consideration is necessary when you enter
NCAPS for three- and four-pass trays.
If you enter only one value for multi-pass trays, that value applies to all
panels. If you do not supply NCAPS, it is estimated from CAP-SPACE.
NROWS ........................... Number of rows per panel. Use when traytype is CAPS only. The first
entry is for panel A, the second for panel B, the third for panel C, and the
fourth for panel D. Enter an asterisk for an entry that has a missing
value. The number of entries depends on the number of flow passes:

For Enter

One-pass tray A single value for panel A

Two-pass tray Up to two values, one for panel A and one for panel B
Three-pass Up to three values, one for each of the three panels (A, B, and C)
tray
Four-pass tray Up to four values, one for each of the four panels (A, B, C, and D)

The value for NROWS applies for each panel. For two-pass trays, there
are two A panels for tray AA, and two B panels for tray BB. Therefore,
the number of caps per panel is the number of caps per tray divided by
two for two-pass trays. Similar consideration is necessary when you enter
NROWS for three- and four-pass trays.
If you enter only one value for multi-pass trays, that value applies to all
panels. If you do not supply NROWS, it is estimated from CAP-SPACE.
CAP-SPACE .................... Cap spacing measured between the outside diameter of adjacent caps.
Use when traytype is CAPS only. You cannot use CAP-SPACE if you
specified NCAPS and NROWS. (Default=25% of cap diameter)
SKIRT-HT ........................ Skirt height. Use when traytype is CAPS only. Valid skirt heights are:

Inches Millimeters

0.5 12.7
1.0 25.4 (Default)
1.5 38.1

HOLE-DIAM..................... Sieve hole diameter. Use when traytype is SIEVE only.

(Default=0.5 in. (12.7 mm))
HOLE-AREA.................... Sieve hole area given as a fraction of the active area. Use when traytype is
SIEVE only. (Default=0.12)

Input Language Guide 16-15

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

VALVE-TYPE .................. Valve type. Use when traytype is BALLAST, FLEXI, or FLOAT. Valid
valve types are:

Tray Type VALVE-TYPE Default

BALLAST V-1, V-4 V-1

FLEXI A-14, A-16, T-14, T-16, A-18, T-18, K-8, S, AO, TO A-14
FLOAT BDP, BDH BDP

VALVE-DEN .................... Valve density, defined as the number of valves per unit active area. Use
when traytype is BALLAST, FLEXI or FLOAT. You cannot use VALVE-
DEN if you specified NVALVES. See Table 16.1 for unit options.
(Default=13/SQFT (139.92/SQM))
NVALVES........................ Number of valves per panel. Use when traytype is BALLAST, FLEXI, or
FLOAT. The first entry is for panel A, the second for panel B, the third
for panel C, and the fourth for panel D. You cannot use NVALVES if you
specified VALVE-DEN. Enter an asterisk for an entry that has a missing
value. The number of entries depends on the number of flow passes:

For Enter

One-pass tray A single value for panel A

Two-pass tray Up to two values, one for panel A and one for panel B
Three-pass Up to three values, one for each of the three panels (A, B, and C)
tray
Four-pass tray Up to four values, one for each of the four panels (A, B, C, and D)

The value for NVALVES applies for each panel. For two-pass trays, there
are two A panels for tray AA, and two B panels for tray BB. Therefore,
the number of caps per panel is the number of caps per tray divided by
two for two-pass trays. Similar consideration is necessary when you enter
NVALVES for three- and four-pass trays.
If you enter only one value for multi-pass trays, that value applies to all
panels. If you do not supply NVALVES, it is estimated from VALVE-
DEN.
VALVE-MAT .................... Valve material. Use when traytype is BALLAST only.
VALVE-MAT=CS ...................... Carbon steel (Default)
VALVE-MAT=SS ...................... Stainless steel
VALVE-MAT=NI ....................... Nickel
VALVE-MAT=LEAD ................. Lead
VALVE-MAT=TI........................ Titanium
VALVE-MAT=MONEL .............. Monel

16-16 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

VALVE-MAT=HASTELLOY ..... Hastelloy

VALVE-MAT=ALUMINUM ....... Aluminum
VALVE-MAT=COPPER............ Copper
VALVE-THICK ................. Valve thickness. Use when traytype is BALLAST only. Valid valve
thicknesses are:

Gauge Inches Millimeters

10 0.134 3.40
12 0.104 2.64
14 0.074 1.88
16 0.060 1.52 (Default)
18 0.050 1.27
20 0.037 0.94

Do not enter the values in gauge. They are listed here for reference only.
VALVE-LIFT .................... Valve lift. Use when traytype is FLOAT only. Valid valve lift entries are:

Inches Millimeters

0.313 7.95 (Default)

0.375 9.53
0.438 11.13
0.500 12.70

DC-RTIME ....................... Downcomer residence time. Use when traytype is FLOAT only. (Default=4
seconds)
DC-EDGE ........................ Downcomer edge type. Use when traytype is FLOAT only.
DC-EDGE=SHARP................... Sharp downcomer edge (Default)
DC-EDGE=RADIUS.................. Radius downcomer edge
WEIR-HT-A, WEIR-HT-B, Outlet weir height for panel A, panel B, panel C, and panel D,
WEIR-HT-C, WEIR-HT-D respectively. The number of entries depends on the number of flow
passes.

For Enter

One-pass tray A single value for panel A

Two-pass tray Up to two values, one for panel A and one for panel B
Three-pass Up to three values, one for each of the three panels (A, B, and C)
tray

Input Language Guide 16-17

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Four-pass tray Up to four values, one for each of the four panels (A, B, C, and D)

The panel A value defaults to 2 in. (50.8 mm) for valve and sieve trays.
The panel A default for bubble cap trays is a function of cap diameter so
as to provide adequate dynamic seal and minimum skirt clearance. The
defaults are:

Cap diameter Default weir height

Inches Millimeters Inches Millimeters

3 76.2 2.75 69.85

4 101.6 3.00 76.20
6 152.4 3.25 82.55

DC-CLEAR-SIDE,............ Downcomer clearance for side downcomer, center downcomer, and off-
DC-CLEAR-CTR, center downcomer, respectively. The number of entries depends on the
DC-CLEAR-OFC number of flow passes.

For Enter

One-pass tray A single value for the side downcomer

Two-pass tray Up to two values, one for the side downcomer and one for the center
downcomer
Three-pass Up to two values, one for the side downcomer and one for the off-center
tray downcomer
Four-pass tray Up to three values, one for the side downcomer, one for the center downcomer
and one for the off-center downcomer

Values for center and off-center downcomers default to the value for the
side downcomer. The default for side downcomer is calculated by
subtracting 0.5 in. (12.7 mm) from the specified value of WEIR-HT, to
provide the minimum downcomer seal.
DC-WTOP-SIDE, ............. Top downcomer width for side downcomer, center downcomer, and off-
DC-WTOP-CTR, center downcomer, respectively. The number of entries depends on the
DC-WTOP-OFC number of flow passes:

For Enter

One-pass tray A single value for the side downcomer

Two-pass tray Up to two values, one for the side downcomer and one for the center
downcomer
Three-pass Up to two values, one for the side downcomer and one for the off-center
tray downcomer

16-18 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Four-pass tray Up to three values, one for the side downcomer, one for the center downcomer
and one for the off-center downcomer

If you do not specify the top downcomer widths, they are estimated from
the downcomer area as follows:

NPASS Downcomer area/tray cross-sectional area

1 0.10
2 0.12
3 0.15
4 0.20

DC-WBOT-SIDE, ............. Bottom downcomer width for side downcomer, center downcomer, and off-
DC-WBOT-CTR, center downcomer, respectively. The number of entries depends on the
DC-WBOT-OFC number of flow passes:

For Enter

One-pass tray A single value for the side downcomer

Two-pass tray Up to two values, one for the side downcomer and one for the center
downcomer
Three-pass Up to two values, one for the side downcomer and one for the off-center
tray downcomer
Four-pass tray Up to three values, one for the side downcomer, one for the center downcomer
and one for the off-center downcomer

If you do not specify the bottom downcomer widths, the default assumes a
straight downcomer (same width at bottom as at top).
DC-HT-SIDE, .................. Straight height above slope in downcomer, for side downcomer, center
DC-HT-CTR, DC-HT-OFC downcomer, and off-center downcomer, respectively. Use for sloped
downcomer only. The number of entries depends on the number of flow
passes:

For Enter

One-pass tray A single value for the side downcomer

Two-pass tray Up to two values, one for the side downcomer and one for the center
downcomer
Three-pass Up to two values, one for the side downcomer and one for the off-center
tray downcomer
Four-pass tray Up to three values, one for the side downcomer, one for the center downcomer
and one for the off-center downcomer

Input Language Guide 16-19

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

(Default=0)
TRAY-RATE1, Use to enter additional tray rating specifications to be used for column targeting hydraulic analysis
STR-TRAY-RA1 calculations. Specify when the HYDANAL report option is chosen in the REPORT sentence for
RADFRAC, MULTIFRAC, or PETROFRAC.
stripid ............................. Stripper ID. Use for PETROFRAC only.
secno .............................. Column section number. Must correspond to a section number specified in
TRAY-RATE or STR-TRAY-RATE sentence.
MAX-FLOOD-F................ Vapor flooding approach to maximum (Default=0.85)
MAX-DCBUP-F................ Liquid flooding approach to maximum due to downcomer backup
(Default=0.5)
PACK-SIZE, Use to enter specifications for packing sizing calculations. Column section diameter is determined
STR-PACK-SIZE from fractional approach to maximum capacity or design capacity factor. Optionally, you can impose
the maximum pressure drop (per unit height or for the section) as an additional constraint for the
diameter calculations. In addition, you can turn off the pressure updating calculations for the
section locally. You can divide the column into any number of sections. Each section can have a
different packing type and diameter. Packing specifications can vary from one section to another.
See Tables 16.3 through 16.7 for entering built-in packing types.
stripid ............................. Stripper ID. Use for PETROFRAC only.
secno .............................. Column section number. Must be sequential, starting with 1.
col ................................... Column number. Use for MULTIFRAC only.
stage1 ............................. Initial stage number of the section. If a condenser is present, stage1
cannot be 1.
stage2 ............................. Final stage number of the section. If a kettle reboiler is present, stage2
cannot be NSTAGE.
packtype ......................... Packing type. Use to determine the proper calculation procedure and to
retrieve packing characteristics for random and structural packings from
the databank. See Tables 16.3 through 16.7 for details on the available
packing types.
CMR. ......................................... Cascade mini-ring
BERL ........................................ Berl saddle
INTX .......................................... Intalox saddle
PALL......................................... Pall ring
RASCHIG.................................. Raschig ring
SUPER-RING............................ Raschig Super-Ring
SUPER-PAK ............................. Raschig Super-Pak
HYPAK...................................... Hy-Pak
IMTP.......................................... Intalox Metal Tower Packing
SUPER-INTX ............................ Super intalox saddle
SNOWFLAKE ........................... Intalox snowflake plastic packing
COIL.......................................... Coil pack
DIXON....................................... Dixon packing

16-20 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

HELI .......................................... Heli pack

HELIX........................................ Helix
I-BALL ...................................... I-Ball packing
LESCHIG .................................. Leschig ring
MCMAHON ............................... McMahon packing
MESH........................................ Mesh ring
SIGMA ...................................... Sigma packing
FLEXIRING ............................... Koch Flexiring single-tab slotted ring random
packing
HCKP ........................................ Koch HCKP multi-tab slotted ring random
packing
FLEXIMAX ................................ Koch Fleximax high performance random
packing
FLEXISADDL............................ Koch Flexisaddle random packing
GOODLOE................................ Glitsch Goodloe grid structured packing
GRID ......................................... Glitsch grid structured packing
CY ............................................. Sulzer CY structured packing
KERAPAK ................................ Sulzer Kerapak structured packing
MELLAPAK .............................. Sulzer Mellapak structured packing
BX ............................................. Sulzer BX structured packing
ISP ............................................ Norton Intalox Structured Packing
FLEXIPAC ................................ Koch Flexipac corrugated sheet structured
packing
FLEXERAMIC........................... Koch Flexeramic structured packing
FLEXIGRID ............................... Koch Flexigrid structured packing
RALU-RING.............................. Raschig Ralu-Ring
RALU-FLOW ............................ Raschig Ralu-Flow
RALU-PAK ............................... Raschig Ralu-Pak
TORUSSADDL ......................... Raschig Torus-Saddle
STORUSSDDL ......................... Raschig Super-Torus-Saddle
PACK-MAT ...................... Packing material. Use to retrieve the packing characteristics from the
databank. For random packings, it is not necessary to enter PACK-MAT
if you specified PACK-FAC. See Tables 16.3 through 16.7 for valid
materials of different packing types.
PACK-MAT=CARBON............. Carbon
PACK-MAT=CERAMIC ............ Ceramic
PACK-MAT=METAL ................ Metal
PACK-MAT=METAL-32 ........... 1/32 in. metal
PACK-MAT=METAL-16 ........... 1/16 in. metal

Input Language Guide 16-21

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

PACK-MAT=PLASTIC ............. Plastic

PACK-MAT=STEEL ................. Steel
PACK-MAT=POLYPROP......... Polypropylene
PACK-MAT=STANDARD......... Standard
PACK-SIZE ..................... Packing size. Use to retrieve the packing characteristics from the
databank. For random packings, it is not necessary to enter PACK-SIZE
if you specified PACK-FAC. See Tables 16.3 through 16.7 for valid sizes of
different packing types and materials.
VENDOR ......................... Packing vendor. Use to retrieve the packing characteristics and select the
calculation method.
VENDOR=MTL ......................... MTL packing
VENDOR=NORTON ................. Norton packing
VENDOR=GENERIC ................ Generic packing
VENDOR=SULZER .................. Sulzer packing
VENDOR=KOCH ...................... Koch packing
VENDOR=RASCHIG ................ Raschig Packing
PACK-FAC ...................... Packing factor. Use for random packings (except IMTP) only. Use to
override the value from the databank. If you specify PACK-FAC, you do
not need to specify PACK-MAT and PACK-SIZE. See Table 16.1 for unit
options.
SPAREA.......................... Specific surface area of the packing. Use to override the value from the
databank. This is a required parameter for the Stichlmair model.1
VOIDFR ........................... Void fraction of the packing. Use to override the value from the databank.
This is a required parameter for the Stichlmair model.1
STICH1, STICH2, ............ Stichlmair model parameters. Use to override values from the databank.1
STICH3
SYSFAC .......................... System foaming factor (Default=1.0)
OVER-DESIGN................ Over-design factor, a multiplier for the column loading to reflect the
expected maximum or minimum loading for the column. You cannot use
OVER-DESIGN if P-UPDATE=YES. (Default=1.0)
PACK-HT......................... Packed height. Use to determine the HETP for the section. You cannot
use PACK-HT, if you specified HETP.
HETP ............................... Height Equivalent of a Theoretical Plate (HETP) for the section.
HETP=packed height/number of stages. You cannot use HETP, if you
specified PACK-HT.
PACK-THICK................... Sheet thickness for Sulzer structured packing
CS-APP ........................... Fractional approach to maximum capacity. Use to determine the column
section diameter. (Default=1.0 for Raschig packings; 0.62 for other
packings)

1
The Stichlmair model is used for calculating liquid holdup of both random and structured packings. It is also
used to calculate pressure drop and capacity if DPMETH=STICHL.

16-22 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

CS-FLOOD ...................... Capacity factor at flooding. Can be used to override internally calculated
value. The capacity factor is defined as follows:

ρv
CS − FLOOD = υ s
ρ L − ρv
Where:
υs = Superficial velocity of vapor to the packing
ρv = Density of vapor to the packing
ρL = Density of liquid from the packing
CS-DESIGN ..................... Design capacity factor. Use to determine the column section diameter
instead CS-APP. You cannot use CS-DESIGN if you specified CS-APP.
DPMAX-SEC.................... Maximum pressure drop for the section. Can be used as an additional
constraint in the diameter calculations. You cannot use DPMAX-SEC if
you specified DPMAX-PACK. The unit keyword for DPMAX-SEC is
PDROP. See Table 16.7 for unit options.
DPMAX-PACK ................. Maximum pressure drop per unit height. Can be used as an additional
constraint in the diameter calculations. You cannot use DPMAX-PACK if
you specified DPMAX-SEC. The units keyword for DPMAX-PACK is
PDROP-PER-HT. See Table 16.7 for unit options.
DPMETH.......................... Pressure drop calculation method. You can use DPMETH for random
packings if you specified VENDOR=GENERIC.
DPMETH=ECKERT .................. Eckert method (Default)
DPMETH=NORTON ................. Norton method
DPMETH=PRAHL .................... Prahl method
DPMETH=TSAI......................... Tsai method
DPMETH=STICHL.................... Stichlmair model
DPMETH=USER....................... User-supplied method
P-UPDATE....................... P-UPDATE=YES ...................... Pressure profile is updated for the section. You
must also specify P-UPDATE=YES in the
PARAM sentence.
P-UPDATE=NO ........................ Pressure profile is not updated for the section
(Default)
PACK-RATE, Use to enter specifications for rating calculations for packing. You must specify column section
STR-PACK-RATE diameter. Fractional approach to maximum capacity and pressure drop are calculated. In addition,
you can turn off the pressure updating calculations for a section locally. You can divide the column
into any number of sections. Each section can have a different packing type and diameter. Packing
specifications can vary from one section to another. See Tables 16.3 through 16.7 for built-in
packing types.
stripid .............................. Stripper ID. Use for PETROFRAC only.
secno............................... Column section number. Must be sequential, starting with 1.
col.................................... Column number. Use for MULTIFRAC only.
stage1.............................. Starting stage number of the section. If a condenser is present, stage1
cannot be 1.

Input Language Guide 16-23

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

stage2 ............................. Ending stage number of the section. If a kettle reboiler is present, stage2
cannot be NSTAGE.
packtype ......................... Packing type. Use to determine the proper calculation procedure and to
retrieve packing characteristics for random and structural packings from
the databank. See Tables 16.3 through 16.7 for details on the available
packing types.
CMR .......................................... Cascade mini-ring
BERL ........................................ Berl saddle
INTX .......................................... Intalox saddle
PALL......................................... Pall ring
RASCHIG.................................. Raschig ring
SUPER-RING............................ Raschig Super-Ring
SUPER-PAK ............................. Raschig Super-Pak
HYPAK...................................... Hy-Pak
IMTP.......................................... Intalox Metal Tower Packing
SUPER-INTX ............................ Super Intalox saddle
SNOWFLAKE ........................... Intalox Snowflake plastic packing
COIL.......................................... Coil pack
DIXON....................................... Dixon packing
HELI .......................................... Heli pack
HELIX........................................ Helix
I-BALL ...................................... I-Ball packing
LESCHIG .................................. Leschig ring
MCMAHON ............................... McMahon packing
MESH........................................ Mesh ring
SIGMA ...................................... Sigma packing
FLEXIRING.. ............................. Koch Flexiring single-tab slotted ring random
packing
HCKP. ....................................... Koch HCKP multi-tab slotted ring random
packing
FLEXIMAX ................................ Koch Fleximax high performance random
packing
FLEXISADDL............................ Koch Flexisaddle random packing
GOODLOE................................ Glitsch Goodloe structured packing
GRID ......................................... Glitsch grid structured packing
CY ............................................. Sulzer CY structured packing
KERAPAK ................................ Sulzer Kerapak structured packing
MELLAPAK .............................. Sulzer Mellapak structured packing
BX ............................................. Sulzer BX structured packing

16-24 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

ISP ............................................ Norton Intalox Structured Packing

FLEXIPAC ................................ Koch Flexipac corrugated sheet structured
packing
FLEXERAMIC........................... Koch Flexeramic structured packing
FLEXIGRID ............................... Koch Flexigrid structured packing
RALU-RING.............................. Raschig Ralu-Ring
RALU-FLOW ............................ Raschig Ralu-Flow
RALU-PAK ............................... Raschig Ralu-Pak
TORUSSADDL ......................... Raschig Torus-Saddle
STORUSSDDL ......................... Raschig Super-Torus-Saddle
PACK-MAT ...................... Packing material. Use to retrieve the packing characteristics from the
databank. For random packings, it is not necessary to enter PACK-MAT
if you specified PACK-FAC. See Tables 16.3 through 16.7 for valid
materials of different packing types.
PACK-MAT=CARBON............. Carbon
PACK-MAT=CERAMIC ............ Ceramic
PACK-MAT=METAL ................ Metal
PACK-MAT=METAL-32 ........... 1/32 in. metal
PACK-MAT=METAL-16 ........... 1/16 in. metal
PACK-MAT=PLASTIC ............. Plastic
PACK-MAT=STEEL ................. Steel
PACK-MAT=POLYPROP......... Polypropylene
PACK-MAT=STANDARD......... Standard
PACK-SIZE...................... Packing size. Use to retrieve the packing characteristics from the
databank. For random packings, it is not necessary to enter PACK-SIZE
if you specified PACK-FAC. See Tables 16.3 through 16.7 for valid sizes of
different packing types and materials.
VENDOR.......................... Packing vendor. Use to retrieve the packing characteristics and select the
calculation method.
VENDOR=MTL ......................... MTL packing
VENDOR=NORTON................. Norton packing
VENDOR=GENERIC ................ Generic packing
VENDOR=SULZER .................. Sulzer packing
VENDOR=KOCH ...................... Koch packing
VENDOR=RASCHIG................ Raschig Packing
PACK-FAC ...................... Packing factor. Use for random packings (except IMTP) only. Use to
override the value from the databank. If you specified PACK-FAC, you do
not need to enter PACK-MAT and PACK-SIZE.

Input Language Guide 16-25

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

SPAREA.......................... Specific surface area of the packing. Use to override the value from the
databank. This is a required parameter for the Stichlmair model.1
VOIDFR ........................... Void fraction of the packing. Use to override the value from the databank.
This is a required parameter for the Stichlmair model.1
STICH1, STICH2, ............ Stichlmair model parameters. Use to override values from the databank.1
STICH3
SYSFAC .......................... System foaming factor (Default=1.0)
OVER-DESIGN................ Over-design factor. A multiplier for the column loading to reflect the
expected maximum or minimum loading for the column. You cannot use
OVER-DESIGN if P-UPDATE=YES. (Default=1.0)
PACK-HT......................... Packed height. Use to determine the HETP for the section. You cannot
use PACK-HT if you specified HETP.
HETP ............................... Height Equivalent of a Theoretical Plate (HETP) for the section.
HETP=packed height/number of stages. You cannot use HETP if you
specified PACK-HT.
PACK-THICK................... Sheet thickness for Sulzer structured packing
DIAM................................ Column section diameter
CS-FLOOD ...................... Capacity factor at flooding. Can be used to override internally calculated
value. The capacity factor is defined as follows:

ρv
CS − FLOOD = υ s
ρ L − ρv
Where:
υs = Superficial velocity of vapor to the packing
ρv = Density of vapor to the packing
ρL = Density of liquid from the packing
DPMETH.......................... Pressure drop calculation method. You can use DPMETH for random
packings if you specify VENDOR=GENERIC.
DPMETH=ECKERT .................. Eckert method (Default)
DPMETH=NORTON ................. Norton method
DPMETH=PRAHL .................... Prahl method
DPMETH=TSAI......................... Tsai method
DPMETH=STICHL.................... Stichlmair model
DPMETH=USER....................... User-supplied method
P-UPDATE ...................... P-UPDATE=YES ...................... Pressure profile is updated for the section. You
must also specify P-UPDATE=YES in the
PARAM sentence.
P-UPDATE=NO ........................ Pressure profile is not updated for the section
(Default)

1
The Stichlmair model is used for calculating liquid holdup of both random and structured packings. It is also
used to calculate pressure drop and capacity if DPMETH=STICHL.

16-26 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

PACK-RATE1, Use to enter additional packing rating specifications to be used for column targeting hydraulic
STR-PACK-RA1 analysis calculations. Specify when the HYDANAL report option is chosen in the REPORT sentence
for RADFRAC, MULTIFRAC, or PETROFRAC.
stripid ............................. Stripper ID. Use for PETROFRAC only.
secno............................... Column section number. Must correspond to a section number specified in
PACK-RATE or STR-PACK-RATE sentence.
MAX-FLOOD-F ................ Vapor flooding approach to maximum (Default=0.85)
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied subroutine names for tray/packing sizing and rating calculations. To
invoke the user tray sizing and rating subroutine for calculations in a section, you must also specify
FLOOD-METH=USER in a TRAY-SIZE, STR-TRAY-SIZE, TRAY-RATE, or STR-TRAY-RATE
sentence. To invoke the user packing sizing and rating subroutine for calculations in a section, you
must also specify DP-METH=USER in a PACK-SIZE, STR-PACK-SIZE, PACK-RATE, or STR-
PACK-RATE sentence. For details on writing the user-supplied subroutine, see Aspen Plus User
Models, Chapter 21.
TRAYSR .......................... User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name for tray sizing and rating
calculations
PACKSR .......................... User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name for packing sizing and rating
calculations
TRSR-VECS Use to define length of arrays for the user-supplied tray sizing and rating subroutine.
TRNINT............................ Length of integer parameter array
TRNREAL ........................ Length of real parameter array
TRSR-INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied tray sizing subroutine.
VALUE-LIST .................... List of integer values
TRSR-REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied tray sizing subroutine.
VALUE-LIST .................... List of real values
PCKSR-VECS Use to define length of arrays for the user-supplied packing sizing and rating subroutine.
PCKNINT ......................... Length of integer parameter array
PCKNREAL ..................... Length of real parameter array
PCKSR-INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied packing sizing and rating
subroutine.
VALUE-LIST .................... List of integer values
PCKSR-REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied packing sizing and rating
subroutine.
VALUE-LIST .................... List of real values

Input Language Guide 16-27

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Figure 16.1 Schematic Diagram of a One-Pass Tray

COLUMN DIAMETER
OUTLET WEIR LENGTH

DC-WTOP

WEIR-HT

DC-HT

DC-
WBOT

DC-CLEAR

16-28 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Figure 16.2 Schematic Diagram of a Two-Pass Tray

COLUMN DIAMETER

OUTLET WEIR LENGTH

CTR. DC

BELOW

DC-WTOP

WEIR-HT TRAY AA
PANEL A
SIDE DOWNCOMER
DC-HT
DC-
WBOT

DC-WTOP
DC-CLEAR PANEL B TRAY BB

DC-HT CENTER DOWNCOMER

DC-WBOT

DC-CLEAR

Input Language Guide 16-29

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Figure 16.3 Schematic Diagram of a Three-Pass Tray

COLUMN DIAMETER
OFF-CTR.DC

OUTLET WEIR LENGTH

OFF-CTR.DC

DC-WTOP
DC-WTOP

WEIR-HT
Panel A. B. C.
DC-HT DC-OFC-WALL

DC-WBOT
DC-WTOP

DC-CLEAR
B A
Panel C. B. A.

A B C
Panel A. B. C.

16-30 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Figure 16.4 Schematic Diagram of a Four-Pass Tray

COLUMN DIAMETER
OFF-CTR.DC OFF-CTR.DC

OUTLET WEIR LENGTH

SIDE DC

CTR.DC

DC-WTOP DC-WTOP

WEIR-HT Panel A. B.

DC-HT

DC-WBOT DC-WBOT

DC-CLEAR Panel C. D.
D D C

DC-OFC-WALL

A B B A Panel A. B.

Input Language Guide 16-31

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Accessing Variables in RADFRAC

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 Element

TRAY-SIZE STAGE1, STAGE2, NPASS, TRAY-SPACE, FLOOD-FAC, SYSFAC, SLOT-AREA, secno —

HOLE-AREA, MIN-DIAM, MIN-DCAREA, OVER-DESIGN
TRAY-RATE STAGE1, STAGE2, NPASS, TRAY-SPACE, DIAM, SYSFAC, OVER-DESIGN, secno —
EFF, DECK-THICK, WEIR-HT-A, WEIR-HT-B, WEIR-HT-C, WEIR-HT-D,
DC-CLEAR-SIDE, DC-CLEAR-CTR, DC-CLEAR-OFC, DC-WTOP-SIDE,
DC-WTOP-CTR, DC-WTOP-OFC, DC-WBOT-SIDE, DC-WBOT-CTR,
DC-WOT-OFC, DC-HT-SIDE, DC-HT-CTR, DC-HT-OFC, DC-OFC-WALL,
CAP-DIAM, CAP-SPACE SKIRT-HT, HOLE-DIAM, HOLE-AREA, VALVE-DEN,
VALVE-THICK, VALVE-LIFT, DC-RTIME
TRAY-RATE NCAPS, NROWS, NVALVES secno †

PACK-SIZE STAGE1, STAGE2, PACK-FAC, SPAREA, VOIDFR, STICH1, STICH2, STICH3, secno —
SYSFAC, OVER-DESIGN, PACK-HT, HETP, PACK-THICK, CS-APP, CS-FLOOD,
CS-DESIGN, DPMAX-SEC, DPMAX-PACK
PACK-RATE STAGE1, STAGE2, PACK-FAC, SPAREA, VOIDFR, STICH1, STICH2, STICH3, secno —
SYSFAC, OVER-DESIGN, PACK-HT, HETP, DIAM, PACK-THICK, CS-FLOOD
† Position in which you enter the variable. For variables in panels A through D, enter 1 through 4 for the elements.

Block Results

Hydraulic parameters:
Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Liquid mass flow from stage HYDRAULIC L-MASSFLOW stage —

Vapor mass flow to stage HYDRAULIC V-MASSFLOW stage —
Liquid volume flow from stage HYDRAULIC L-VOLFLOW stage —
Vapor volume flow to stage HYDRAULIC V-VOLFLOW stage —
Density of liquid from stage HYDRAULIC RHOL stage —
Density of vapor to stage HYDRAULIC RHOV stage —
† You can also access all block result variables for RADFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

continued

16-32 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Hydraulic parameters (continued)

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Viscosity of liquid from stage HYDRAULIC MUL stage —

Viscosity of vapor to stage HYDRAULIC MUV stage —
Surface tension of liquid from stage HYDRAULIC SIGMA stage —
Flow parameter HYDRAULIC FLOWPA stage —
Reduced vapor throughput HYDRAULIC QR stage —
Liquid molecular weight HYDRAULIC MWL stage —
Vapor molecular weight HYDRAULIC MWV stage —
Marangoni index †† HYDRAULIC FMIDX stage —
Reduced F factor HYDRAULIC FFACR stage —

Tray sizing results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Maximum column section diameter TSIZE-RESULT DIAM secno —

Tray rating results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Maximum flooding factor TRATE-RESULT FLOOD-FAC secno —

Stage with maximum flooding factor TRATE-RESULT FLOOD-MAX secno —
Maximum downcomer backup TRATE-RESULT DCBA secno —
Maximum DC backup/tray spacing TRATE-RESULT DC-FLOOD secno —
Stage with maximum DC backup TRATE-RESULT DCBA-MAX secno —
Maximum downcomer velocity TRATE-RESULT DCV secno —
Stage with maximum DC velocity TRATE-RESULT DCV-MAX secno —
Section pressure drop TRATE-RESULT DPSEC secno —
† You can also access all block result variables for RADFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

†† Available for two-phase (vapor-liquid) calculations only.

continued

Input Language Guide 16-33

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Tray rating results for panel A:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor TRATE-PANELA FLOOD-FAC stage secno

Stage DC backup TRATE-PANELA DCBA stage secno
Stage DC backup/tray spacing TRATE-PANELA DC-FLOOD stage secno
Stage DC velocity TRATE-PANELA DCV stage secno
Stage DC velocity/design velocity††† TRATE-PANELA DCV-FLOOD stage secno
Stage pressure drop TRATE-PANELA DP stage secno

Tray rating results for panel B:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor TRATE-PANELB FLOOD-FAC stage secno

Stage DC backup TRATE-PANELB DCBA stage secno
Stage DC backup/tray spacing TRATE-PANELB DC-FLOOD stage secno
Stage DC velocity TRATE-PANELB DCV stage secno
Stage DC velocity/design velocity ††† TRATE-PANELB DCV-FLOOD stage secno
Stage pressure drop TRATE-PANELB DP stage secno

Tray rating results for panel C:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor TRATE-PANELC FLOOD-FAC stage secno

Stage DC backup TRATE-PANELC DCBA stage secno
Stage DC backup/tray spacing TRATE-PANELC DC-FLOOD stage secno
Stage DC velocity TRATE-PANELC DCV stage secno
Stage DC velocity/design velocity††† TRATE-PANELC DCV-FLOOD stage secno
Stage pressure drop TRATE-PANELC DP stage secno
† You can also access all block result variables for RADFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

††† Not available for bubble cap and sieve trays

continued

16-34 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Tray rating results for panel D:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor TRATE-PANELD FLOOD-FAC stage secno

Stage DC backup TRATE-PANELD DCBA stage secno
Stage DC backup/tray spacing TRATE-PANELD DC-FLOOD stage secno
Stage DC velocity TRATE-PANELD DCV stage secno
Stage DC velocity/design velocity††† TRATE-PANELD DCV-FLOOD stage secno
Stage pressure drop TRATE-PANELD DP stage secno

Packing sizing results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Column section diameter PSIZE-RESULT DIAM secno —

Limiting fractional approach to maximum capacity PSIZE-RESULT FLOOD-FAC secno —
Section pressure drop PSIZE-RESULT DPSEC secno —
Maximum liquid holdup for the section PSIZE-HOLDUP HOLDUP-MAX secno —
Stage fractional approach to maximum capacity PSIZE-PROFILE FLOOD-FAC stage secno
Stage pressure drop PSIZE-PROFILE DP stage secno
Stage HETP PSIZE-PROFILE HETP stage secno
Stage liquid holdup PSIZE-HT-PROF HOLDUP stage secno

Packing rating results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Limiting fractional approach to maximum capacity PRATE-RESULT FLOOD-FAC secno —

Section pressure drop PRATE-RESULT DPSEC secno —
Maximum liquid holdup for the section PRATE-HOLDUP HOLDUP-MAX secno —
Stage fractional approach to maximum capacity PRATE-PROFILE FLOOD-FAC stage secno
Stage pressure drop PRATE-PROFILE DP stage secno
Stage HETP PRATE-PROFILE HETP stage secno
Stage liquid holdup PRATE-HT-PROF HOLDUP stage secno
† You can also access all block result variables for RADFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

††† Not available for bubble cap and sieve trays

Input Language Guide 16-35

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Accessing Variables in MULTIFRAC

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 Element

TRAY-SIZE STAGE1, STAGE2, NPASS, TRAY-SPACE, FLOOD-FAC, SYSFAC, SLOT-AREA, secno —

HOLE-AREA, MIN-DIAM, MIN-DCAREA, OVER-DESIGN
TRAY-RATE STAGE1, STAGE2, NPASS, TRAY-SPACE, DIAM, SYSFAC, OVER-DESIGN, secno —
EFF, DECK-THICK, WEIR-HT-A, WEIR-HT-B, WEIR-HT-C, WEIR-HT-D, DC-
CLEAR-SIDE, DC-CLEAR-CTR, DC-CLEAR-OFC, DC-WTOP-SIDE, DC-WTOP-
CTR, DC-WTOP-OFC, DC-WBOT-SIDE, DC-WBOT-CTR, DC-WOT-OFC, DC-HT-
SIDE, DC-HT-CTR, DC-HT-OFC, DC-OFC-WALL, CAP-DIAM, CAP-SPACE,
SKIRT-HT, HOLE-DIAM, HOLE-AREA, VALVE-DEN, VALVE-THICK, VALVE-LIFT,
DC-RTIME
TRAY-RATE NCAPS, NROWS, NVALVES secno †

PACK-SIZE STAGE1, STAGE2, PACK-FAC, SPAREA, VOIDFR, STICH1, STICH2, STICH3, secno —
SYSFAC, OVER-DESIGN, PACK-HT, HETP, PACK-THICK, CS-APP, CS-FLOOD,
CS-DESIGN, DPMAX-SEC, DPMAX-PACK
PACK-RATE STAGE1, STAGE2, PACK-FAC, SPAREA, VOIDFR, STICH1, STICH2, STICH3, secno —
SYSFAC, OVER-DESIGN, PACK-HT, HETP, DIAM, PACK-THICK, CS-FLOOD
† Position in which you enter the variable. For variables in panels A through D, enter 1 through 4 for the elements .

Block Results

Hydraulic parameters:
Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Liquid mass flow from stage HYDRAULIC L-MASSFLOW stack stage†† —

Vapor mass flow to stage HYDRAULIC V-MASSFLOW stack stage —
Liquid volume flow from stage HYDRAULIC L-VOLFLOW stack stage —
Vapor volume flow to stage HYDRAULIC V-VOLFLOW stack stage —
† You can also access all block result variables for MULTIFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

†† Stack stage is the stage number if the columns are stacked one on top of another, starting
with column 1. For example, if there are two columns and column 1 has 10 stages, stage 5 in
column 2 has a stack stage number of 15.

continued

16-36 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Hydraulic parameters (continued)

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Density of liquid from stage HYDRAULIC RHOL stack stage†† —

Density of vapor to stage HYDRAULIC RHOV stack stage —
Viscosity of liquid from stage HYDRAULIC MUL stack stage —
Viscosity of vapor to stage HYDRAULIC MUV stack stage —
Surface tension of liquid from stage HYDRAULIC SIGMA stack stage —
Flow parameter HYDRAULIC FLOWPA stack stage —
Reduced vapor throughput HYDRAULIC QR stack stage —

Tray sizing results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Column section diameter TSIZE-RESULT DIAM secno —

Tray rating results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Maximum flooding factor TRATE-RESULT FLOOD-FAC secno —

Stage with maximum flooding factor TRATE-RESULT FLOOD-MAX secno —
Maximum downcomer backup TRATE-RESULT DCBA secno —
Maximum DC backup/tray spacing TRATE-RESULT DC-FLOOD secno —
Stage with maximum DC backup TRATE-RESULT DCBA-MAX secno —
Maximum downcomer velocity TRATE-RESULT DCV secno —
Stage with maximum DC velocity TRATE-RESULT DCV-MAX secno —
Section pressure drop TRATE-RESULT DPSEC secno —
† You can also access all block result variables for MULTIFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

†† Stack stage is the stage number if the columns are stacked one on top of another, starting
with column 1. For example, if there are two columns and column 1 has 10 stages, stage 5 in
column 2 has a stack stage number of 15.

continued

Input Language Guide 16-37

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Tray rating results for panel A:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor TRATE-PANELA FLOOD-FAC stack stage†† secno

Stage DC backup TRATE-PANELA DCBA stack stage secno
Stage DC backup/tray spacing TRATE-PANELA DC-FLOOD stack stage secno
Stage DC velocity TRATE-PANELA DCV stack stage secno
Stage DC velocity/design velocity††† TRATE-PANELA DCV-FLOOD stack stage secno
Stage pressure drop TRATE-PANELA DP stack stage secno

Tray rating results for panel B:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor TRATE-PANELB FLOOD-FAC stack stage secno

Stage DC backup TRATE-PANELB DCBA stack stage secno
Stage DC backup/tray spacing TRATE-PANELB DC-FLOOD stack stage secno
Stage DC velocity TRATE-PANELB DCV stack stage secno
Stage DC velocity/design velocity††† TRATE-PANELB DCV-FLOOD stack stage secno
Stage pressure drop TRATE-PANELB DP stack stage secno

Tray rating results for panel C:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor TRATE-PANELC FLOOD-FAC stack stage secno

Stage DC backup TRATE-PANELC DCBA stack stage secno
Stage DC backup/tray spacing TRATE-PANELC DC-FLOOD stack stage secno
Stage DC velocity TRATE-PANELC DCV stack stage secno
Stage DC velocity/design velocity††† TRATE-PANELC DCV-FLOOD stack stage secno
Stage pressure drop TRATE-PANELC DP stack stage secno
† You can also access all block result variables for MULTIFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

†† Stack stage is the stage number if the columns are stacked one on top of another, starting with
column 1. For example, if there are two columns and column 1 has 10 stages, stage 5 in column 2 has a stack stage number of
15.

††† Not available for bubble cap and sieve trays

continued

16-38 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Tray rating results for panel D:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor TRATE-PANELD FLOOD-FAC stack stage†† secno

Stage DC backup TRATE-PANELD DCBA stack stage secno
Stage DC backup/tray spacing TRATE-PANELD DC-FLOOD stack stage secno
Stage DC velocity TRATE-PANELD DCV stack stage secno
Stage DC velocity/design velocity††† TRATE-PANELD DCV-FLOOD stack stage secno
Stage pressure drop TRATE-PANELD DP stack stage secno

Packing sizing results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Column section diameter PSIZE-RESULT DIAM secno —

Limiting fractional approach to maximum capacity PSIZE-RESULT FLOOD-FAC secno —
Section pressure drop PSIZE-RESULT DPSEC secno —
Maximum liquid holdup for the section PSIZE-HOLDUP HOLDUP-MAX secno —
Stage fractional approach to maximum capacity PSIZE-PROFILE FLOOD-FAC stack stage secno
Stage pressure drop PSIZE-PROFILE DP stack stage secno
Stage HETP PSIZE-PROFILE HETP stack stage secno
Stage liquid holdup PSIZE-HT-PROF HOLDUP stack stage secno

Packing rating results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Limiting fractional approach to maximum capacity PRATE-RESULT FLOOD-FAC secno —

Section pressure drop PRATE-RESULT DPSEC secno —
Maximum liquid holdup for the section PRATE-HOLDUP HOLDUP-MAX secno —
Stage fractional approach to maximum capacity PRATE-PROFILE FLOOD-FAC stack stage secno
Stage pressure drop PRATE-PROFILE DP stack stage secno
Stage HETP PRATE-PROFILE HETP stack stage secno
Stage liquid holdup PRATE-HT-PROF HOLDUP stack stage secno
† You can also access all block result variables for MULTIFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

†† Stack stage is the stage number if the columns are stacked one on top of another, starting with
column 1. For example, if there are two columns and column 1 has 10 stages, stage 5 in
column 2 has a stack stage number of 15.

††† Not available for bubble cap and sieve trays

Input Language Guide 16-39

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Accessing Variables in PETROFRAC

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 Element

TRAY-SIZE STAGE1, STAGE2, NPASS TRAY-SPACE, FLOOD-FAC, secno — —

SYSFAC, SLOT-AREA, HOLE-AREA, MIN-DIAM,
MIN-DCAREA, OVER-DESIGN
TRAY-RATE STAGE1, STAGE2, NPASS, TRAY-SPACE, DIAM, secno — —
SYSFAC, OVER-DESIGN, EFF, DECK-THICK, WEIR-HT-A,
WEIR-HT-B, WEIR-HT-C, WEIR-HT-D, DC-CLEAR-SIDE,
DC-CLEAR-CTR, DC-CLEAR-OFC, DC-WTOP-SIDE,
DC-WTOP-CTR, DC-WTOP-OFC, DC-WBOT-SIDE,
DC-WBOT-CTR, DC-WOT-OFC, DC-HT-SIDE, DC-HT-CTR,
DC-HT-OFC, DC-OFC-WALL, CAP-DIAM, CAP-SPACE,
SKIRT-HT, HOLE-DIAM, HOLE-AREA, VALVE-DEN,
VALVE-THICK, VALVE-LIFT, DC-RTIME
TRAY-RATE NCAPS, NROWS, NVALVES secno — †

PACK-SIZE STAGE1, STAGE2, PACK-FAC, SPAREA, VOIDFR, secno — —

STICH1, STICH2, STICH3, SYSFAC, OVER-DESIGN,
PACK-HT, HETP, PACK-THICK, CS-APP, CS-FLOOD, CS-
DESIGN, DPMAX-SEC, DPMAX-PACK
PACK-RATE STAGE1, STAGE2, PACK-FAC, SPAREA, VOIDFR, secno — —
STICH1, STICH2, STICH3, SYSFAC, OVER-DESIGN,
PACK-HT, HETP, DIAM, PACK-THICK, CS-FLOOD
STR-TRAY-SIZE STAGE1, STAGE2, NPASS, TRAY-SPACE, FLOOD-FAC, stripid secno —
SYSFAC, SLOT-AREA, HOLE-AREA, MIN-DIAM, MIN-
DCAREA, OVER-DESIGN
STR-TRAY-RATE STAGE1, STAGE2, NPASS, TRAY-SPACE, DIAM, stripid secno —
SYSFAC, OVER-DESIGN, EFF, DECK-THICK, WEIR-HT-A,
WEIR-HT-B, WEIR-HT-C, WEIR-HT-D, DC-CLEAR-SIDE,
DC-CLEAR-CTR, DC-CLEAR-OFC, DC-WTOP-SIDE,
DC-WTOP-CTR, DC-WTOP-OFC, DC-WBOT-SIDE,
DC-WBOT-CTR, DC-WOT-OFC, DC-HT-SIDE, DC-HT-CTR,
DC-HT-OFC, DC-OFC-WALL, CAP-DIAM, CAP-SPACE,
SKIRT-HT, HOLE-DIAM, HOLE-AREA, VALVE-DEN,
VALVE-THICK, VALVE-LIFT, DC-RTIME
STR-TRAY-RATE NCAPS, NROWS, NVALVES stripid secno †

† Element is the position in which you enter the variable. For variables in panels A through D, enter 1 through 4 for the
elements.

continued

16-40 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Block Input (continued)

Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 Element

STR-PACK-SIZE STAGE1, STAGE2, PACK-FAC, SPAREA, VOIDFR, stripid secno —

STICH1, STICH2, STICH3, SYSFAC, OVER-DESIGN,
PACK-HT, HETP, PACK-THICK, CS-APP, CS-FLOOD, CS-
DESIGN, DPMAX-SEC, DPMAX-PACK
STR-PACK-RATE STAGE1, STAGE2, PACK-FAC, SPAREA, VOIDFR, stripid secno —
STICH1, STICH2, STICH3, SYSFAC, OVER-DESIGN,
PACK-HT, HETP, DIAM, PACK-THICK, CS-FLOOD
† Element is the position in which you enter the variable. For variables in panels A through D, enter 1 through 4 for the
elements.

Block Results

Hydraulic parameters:
Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Liquid mass flow from stage HYDRAULIC L-MASSFLOW stage —

Vapor mass flow to stage HYDRAULIC V-MASSFLOW stage —
Liquid volume flow from stage HYDRAULIC L-VOLFLOW stage —
Vapor volume flow to stage HYDRAULIC V-VOLFLOW stage —
Density of liquid from stage HYDRAULIC RHOL stage —
Density of vapor to stage HYDRAULIC RHOV stage —
Viscosity of liquid from stage HYDRAULIC MUL stage —
Viscosity of vapor to stage HYDRAULIC MUV stage —
Surface tension of liquid from stage HYDRAULIC SIGMA stage —
Flow parameter HYDRAULIC FLOWPA stage —
Reduced vapor throughput HYDRAULIC QR stage —

Tray sizing results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Column section diameter TSIZE-RESULT DIAM secno

† You can also access all block result variables for PETROFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

continued

Input Language Guide 16-41

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Tray rating results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Maximum flooding factor TRATE-RESULT FLOOD-FAC secno

Stage with maximum flooding factor TRATE-RESULT FLOOD-MAX secno
Maximum downcomer backup TRATE-RESULT DCBA secno
Maximum downcomer backup/tray spacing TRATE-RESULT DC-FLOOD secno
Stage with maximum downcomer backup TRATE-RESULT DCBA-MAX secno
Maximum downcomer velocity TRATE-RESULT DCV secno
Stage with maximum downcomer velocity TRATE-RESULT DCV-MAX secno
Section pressure drop TRATE-RESULT DPSEC secno

Tray rating results for panel A:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor TRATE-PANELA FLOOD-FAC stage secno

Stage downcomer backup TRATE-PANELA DCBA stage secno
Stage downcomer backup/tray spacing TRATE-PANELA DC-FLOOD stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity TRATE-PANELA DCV stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity/design velocity†† TRATE-PANELA DCV-FLOOD stage secno
Stage pressure drop TRATE-PANELA DP stage secno

Tray rating results for panel B:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor TRATE-PANELB FLOOD-FAC stage secno

Stage downcomer backup TRATE-PANELB DCBA stage secno
Stage downcomer backup/tray spacing TRATE-PANELB DC-FLOOD stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity TRATE-PANELB DCV stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity/design velocity†† TRATE-PANELB DCV-FLOOD stage secno
Stage pressure drop TRATE-PANELB DP stage secno
† You can also access all block result variables for PETROFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

†† Not available for bubble cap and sieve trays

continued

16-42 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Tray rating results for panel C:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor TRATE-PANELC FLOOD-FAC stage secno

Stage downcomer backup TRATE-PANELC DCBA stage secno
Stage downcomer backup/tray spacing TRATE-PANELC DC-FLOOD stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity TRATE-PANELC DCV stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity/design velocity†† TRATE-PANELC DCV-FLOOD stage secno
Stage pressure drop TRATE-PANELC DP stage secno

Tray rating results for panel D:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor TRATE-PANELD FLOOD-FAC stage secno

Stage downcomer backup TRATE-PANELD DCBA stage secno
Stage downcomer backup/tray spacing TRATE-PANELD DC-FLOOD stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity TRATE-PANELD DCV stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity/design velocity†† TRATE-PANELD DCV-FLOOD stage secno
Stage pressure drop TRATE-PANELD DP stage secno

Packing sizing results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Column section diameter PSIZE-RESULT DIAM secno —

Limiting fractional approach to maximum capacity PSIZE-RESULT FLOOD-FAC secno —
Section pressure drop PSIZE-RESULT DPSEC secno —
Maximum liquid holdup for the section PSIZE-HOLDUP HOLDUP-MAX secno —
Stage fractional approach to maximum capacity PSIZE-PROFILE FLOOD-FAC stage secno
Stage pressure drop PSIZE-PROFILE DP stage secno
Stage HETP PSIZE-PROFILE HETP stage secno
Stage liquid holdup PSIZE-HT-PROF HOLDUP stack stage secno
† You can also access all block result variables for PETROFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

†† Not available for bubble cap and sieve trays

continued

Input Language Guide 16-43

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Packing rating results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Limiting fractional approach to maximum capacity PRATE-RESULT FLOOD-FAC secno —

Section pressure drop PRATE-RESULT DPSEC secno —
Maximum liquid holdup for the section PRATE-HOLDUP HOLDUP-MAX secno —
Stage fractional approach to maximum capacity PRATE-PROFILE FLOOD-FAC stage secno
Stage pressure drop PRATE-PROFILE DP stage secno
Stage HETP PRATE-PROFILE HETP stage secno
Stage liquid holdup PRATE-HT-PROF HOLDUP stack stage secno

Stripper hydraulic parameters:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Liquid mass flow from stage STR-HYDRAULIC L-MASSFLOW stripid stage

Vapor mass flow to stage STR-HYDRAULIC V-MASSFLOW stripid stage
Liquid volume flow from stage STR-HYDRAULIC L-VOLFLOW stripid stage
Vapor volume flow to stage STR-HYDRAULIC V-VOLFLOW stripid stage
Density of liquid from stage STR-HYDRAULIC RHOL stripid stage
Density of vapor to stage STR-HYDRAULIC RHOV stripid stage
Viscosity of liquid from stage STR-HYDRAULIC MUL stripid stage
Viscosity of vapor to stage STR-HYDRAULIC MUV stripid stage
Surface tension of liquid from stage STR-HYDRAULIC SIGMA stripid stage
Flow parameter STR-HYDRAULIC FLOWPA stripid stage
Reduced vapor throughput STR-HYDRAULIC QR stripid stage

Stripper tray sizing results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Column section diameter STR-TSIZE-RES DIAM secno —

† You can also access all block result variables for PETROFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

continued

16-44 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Stripper tray rating results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Maximum flooding factor STR-TRATE-RES FLOOD-FAC secno —

Stage with maximum flooding factor STR-TRATE-RES FLOOD-MAX secno —
Maximum downcomer backup STR-TRATE-RES DCBA secno —
Maximum downcomer backup/tray spacing STR-TRATE-RES DC-FLOOD secno —
Stage with maximum downcomer backup STR-TRATE-RES DCBA-MAX secno —
Maximum downcomer velocity STR-TRATE-RES DCV secno —
Stage with maximum downcomer velocity STR-TRATE-RES DCV-MAX secno —
Section pressure drop STR-TRATE-RES DPSEC secno —

Stripper tray rating results for panel A:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor STR-TRATE-A FLOOD-FAC stage secno

Stage downcomer backup STR-TRATE-A DCBA stage secno
Stage downcomer backup/tray spacing STR-TRATE-A DC-FLOOD stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity STR-TRATE-A DCV stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity/design velocity†† STR-TRATE-A DCV-FLOOD stage secno
Stage pressure drop STR-TRATE-A DP stage secno

Stripper tray rating results for panel B:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor STR-TRATE-B FLOOD-FAC stage secno

Stage downcomer backup STR-TRATE-B DCBA stage secno
Stage downcomer backup/tray spacing STR-TRATE-B DC-FLOOD stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity STR-TRATE-B DCV stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity/design velocity†† STR-TRATE-B DCV-FLOOD stage secno
Stage pressure drop STR-TRATE-B DP stage secno
† You can also access all block result variables for PETROFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

†† Not available for bubble cap and sieve trays

continued

Input Language Guide 16-45

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Stripper tray rating results for panel C:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor STR-TRATE-C FLOOD-FAC stage secno

Stage downcomer backup STR-TRATE-C DCBA stage secno
Stage downcomer backup/tray spacing STR-TRATE-C DC-FLOOD stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity STR-TRATE-C DCV stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity/design velocity†† STR-TRATE-C DCV-FLOOD stage secno
Stage pressure drop STR-TRATE-C DP stage secno

Stripper tray rating results for panel D:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Stage flooding factor STR-TRATE-D FLOOD-FAC stage secno

Stage downcomer backup STR-TRATE-D DCBA stage secno
Stage downcomer backup/tray spacing STR-TRATE-D DC-FLOOD stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity STR-TRATE-D DCV stage secno
Stage downcomer velocity/design velocity†† STR-TRATE-D DCV-FLOOD stage secno
Stage pressure drop STR-TRATE-D DP stage secno

Stripper packing sizing results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Column section diameter STR-PSIZE-RES DIAM secno —

Limiting fractional approach to maximum capacity STR-PSIZE-RES FLOOD-FAC secno —
Section pressure drop STR-PSIZE-RES DPSEC secno —
Maximum liquid holdup for the section STR-PS-HOLDUP HOLDUP-MAX secno —
Stage fractional approach to maximum capacity STR-PSIZE-PROF FLOOD-FAC stage secno
Stage pressure drop STR-PSIZE-PROF DP stage secno
Stage HETP STR-PSIZE-PROF HETP stage secno
Stage liquid holdup STR-PS-HTPROF HOLDUP stage secno
† You can also access all block result variables for PETROFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

†† Not available for bubble cap and sieve trays

continued

16-46 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Stripper packing rating results:

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Limiting fractional approach to maximum capacity STR-PRATE-RES FLOOD-FAC secno —

Section pressure drop STR-PRATE-RES DPSEC secno —
Maximum liquid holdup for the section STR-PR-HOLDUP HOLDUP-MAX secno —
Stage fractional approach to maximum capacity STR-PRATE-PROF FLOOD-FAC stage secno
Stage pressure drop STR-PRATE-PROF DP stage secno
Stage HETP STR-PRATE-PROF HETP stage secno
Stage liquid holdup STR-PR-HTPROF HOLDUP stage secno
† You can also access all block result variables for PETROFRAC using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

†† Not available for bubble cap and sieve trays

Input Language Guide 16-47

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Unit Conversion Options

Several unit options are available for pressure, pressure drop, pressure drop per
unit height of packing, packing factor, and valve density. Table 16.1 summarizes
these unit options.

Table 16.1 Unit Options for Column Design and Rating

Variables Units keyword SI ENG MET Other unit options

Pressure PRESSURE N/SQM PSI ATM LBF/SQFT, BAR, TORR, IN-WATER, KG/SQCM, MMHG,
KPA, MM-WATER, MBAR, PSIG, ATMG, BARG, KG/SQCMG
Pressure drop PDROP N/SQM PSI ATM LBF/SQFT, BAR, TORR, IN-WATER, KG/SQCM, MMHG,
KPA, MM-WATER, MBAR
Pressure drop per unit height PDROP-PER-HT N/CUM IN-WATER/FT MM-WATER/M MBAR/M, MMHG/FT
Packing factor PACK-FAC 1/M 1/FT 1/M
Valve density INVERSEAREA 1/SQM 1/SQFT 1/SQM

Reference Tables
This section contains the following tables for reference when you enter sizing and
rating specifications for bubble-cap trays, and random and structured packings:
Table Title

16.2 Dimensions for Standard Stainless Steel Bubble Cap Designs

16.3 Types, Materials and Sizes of MTL Random Packings
16.4 Types, Materials and Sizes of Norton Random Packings
16.5 Types, Materials and Sizes of Generic Random Packings
16.6 Types, Materials and Sizes of Koch Random Packings
16.7 Types of Structured Packings

16-48 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Table 16.2 Dimensions for Standard Stainless Steel Bubble Cap Designs
Nominal Cap Size
Dimensions 3 in. 4 in. 6 in.

Cap Dimensions:
U.S. standard gauge 16 16 16
Outer diameter (in.) 2.999 3.999 5.999
Inner diameter (in.) 2.875 3.875 5.875
Height overall (in.) 2.500 3.000 3.750
Number of slots 20 26 39
Type of slots Trapezoidal Trapezoidal Trapezoidal
Bottom slot width (in.) 0.333 0.333 0.333
Top slot width (in.) 0.167 0.167 0.167
Slot height (in.) 1.000 1.250 1.500
Height shroud ring (in.) 0.250 0.250 0.250

Riser Dimensions:
U.S. standard gauge 16 16 16
Outer diameter (in.) 1.999 2.624 3.999
Inner diameter (in.) 1.875 2.500 3.875
Height (in.) for 0.5-in. skirt height 2.250 2.500 2.750
Height (in.) for 1.0-in. skirt height 2.750 3.000 3.250
Height (in.) for 1.5-in. skirt height 3.250 3.500 3.750
Riserslot seal (in.) 0.500 0.500 0.500

Cap Areas (in.):

Riser 2.65 4.80 11.68
Reversal 4.18 7.55 17.80
Annular 3.35 6.38 14.55
Slot 5.00 8.12 14.64
Cap 7.07 12.60 28.30

Area Ratios:
Reversal/riser 1.58 1.57 1.52
Annular/riser 1.26 1.33 1.25
Slot/riser 1.89 1.69 1.25
Slot/cap 0.71 0.65 0.52

Input Language Guide 16-49

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Table 16.3 Types, Materials, and Sizes of MTL Random Packings

Packtype Description of Packing Pack-mat Pack-size†

CMR Cascade® mini-ring PLASTIC NO-0A, NO-0.5A, NO-1A,

NO-1, NO-2A, NO-2,
NO-3A
CMR Cascade mini-ring METAL NO-0P, NO-0.5P, NO-1P
NO-1.5P, NO-2P, NO-3P
NO-4P, NO-5P
CMR Cascade mini-ring CERAMIC NO-0, NO-0.5, NO-1X,
NO-2X, NO-2, NO-3,
NO-5, NO-7
BERL Berl saddle CERAMIC 0.5-IN or 13-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
INTX Intalox saddle CERAMIC 1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3-IN or 75-MM
PALL Pall ring METAL 0.625-IN or 16-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
PALL Pall ring PLASTIC 1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3-IN or 75-MM
RASCHIG Raschig ring CERAMIC 0.5-IN or 13-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3-IN or 75-MM
RASCHIG Raschig ring METAL 0.5-IN or 13-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3-IN or 75-MM
† You must put quotes around size codes containing a decimal point.

16-50 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Table 16.4 Types, Materials, and Sizes of Norton Random Packings

Packtype Description of Packing Pack-mat Pack-size†

BERL Berl saddle CERAMIC 0.25-IN or 6-MM

0.5-IN or 13-MM
0.75-IN or 19-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
HYPAK Hy-Pak METAL 1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3.5-in or 90-MM
IMTP Intalox Metal Tower Packing METAL 0.625-IN or 16-MM
(IMTP) 1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3-IN or 75-MM
INTX Intalox saddle CERAMIC 0.25-IN or 6-MM
0.375-IN or 10-MM
0.5-IN or 13-MM
0.75-IN or 19-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3-IN or 75-MM
PALL Pall ring PLASTIC 0.625-IN or 16-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3.5-IN or 90-MM
PALL Pall ring METAL 0.625-IN or 16-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3.5-IN or 90-MM
RASCHIG Raschig ring CERAMIC 0.25-IN or 6-MM
0.375-IN or 10-MM
0.5-IN or 13-MM
0.625-IN or 16-MM
0.75-IN or 19-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.25-IN or 30-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3-IN or 75-MM
† You must put quotes around size codes containing a decimal point.

continued

Input Language Guide 16-51

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Table 16.4 Types, Materials, and Sizes of Norton Random Packings (cont.)
Packtype Description of Packing Pack-mat Pack-size†

RASCHIG Raschig ring METAL-32 0.25-IN or 6-MM

0.375-IN or 10-MM
0.5-IN or 13-MM
0.625-IN or 16-MM
0.75-IN or 19-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
RASCHIG Raschig ring METAL-16 0.5-IN or 13-MM
0.625-IN or 16-MM
0.75-IN or 19-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.25-IN or 30-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3-IN or 75-MM
SNOWFLAKE Intalox Snowflake plastic PLASTIC II
packing
SUPER-INTX Super Intalox saddle CERAMIC 1-IN or 25-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
SUPER-INTX Super Intalox saddle PLASTIC 1-IN or 25-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3.5-in or 90-MM
† You must put quotes around size codes containing a decimal point.

16-52 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Table 16.5 Types, Materials, and Sizes of Generic Random Packings

Packtype Description of Packing Pack-mat Pack-size†

BERL Berl saddle CERAMIC 0.25-IN or 6-MM

0.5-IN or 13-MM
0.75-IN or 19-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
COIL Coil pack — 2-MM
3-MM
4-MM
DIXON Dixon packing — 1.5-MM
3-MM
0.25-IN or 6-MM
0.6-IN or 15-MM
0.875-IN or 20-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
HELI Heli pack — NO-1, NO-2, NO-3, NO-4
HELIX Helix — 2-MM
2.5-MM
3-MM
4-MM
5-MM
HYPAK Hy-Pak METAL NO-1, NO-2
I-BALL I-ball packing — 1-IN or 25-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
4-IN or 100-MM
INTX Intalox saddle CERAMIC 0.25-IN or 6-MM
0.5-IN or 13-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3-IN or 75-MM
INTX Intalox saddle METAL 1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3-IN or 75-MM
INTX Intalox saddle PLASTIC 1-IN or 25-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3-IN or 75-MM
LESCHIG Leschig ring CERAMIC 1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
† You must put quotes around size codes containing a decimal point.

continued

Input Language Guide 16-53

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Table 16.5 Types, Materials, and Sizes of Generic Random Packing (cont.)
Packtype Description of Packing Pack-mat Pack-size†

MCMAHON McMahon packing — 0.25-IN or 6-MM

0.375-IN or 10-MM
0.6-IN or 15-MM
0.875-IN or 20-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
MESH Mesh ring — 1-IN or 25-MM
1.25-IN or 30-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
4-IN or 100-MM
PALL Pall ring METAL 0.625-IN or 16-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3.5-IN or 90-MM
PALL Pall ring PLASTIC 0.625-IN or 16-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3.5-IN or 90-MM
RASCHIG Raschig ring CARBON 1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
RASCHIG Raschig ring CERAMIC 0.25-IN or 6-MM
0.375-IN or 10-MM
0.5-IN or 13-MM
0.6-IN or 15-MM
0.75-IN or 19-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.375-IN or 35-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
1.6-IN or 40-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3-IN or 75-MM
RASCHIG Raschig ring METAL 0.75-IN or 19-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
1.5-IN or 38-MM
2-IN or 50-MM
3-IN or 75-MM
SIGMA Sigma packing — 0.25-IN or 6-MM
0.375-IN or 10-MM
0.6-IN or 15-MM
0.875-IN or 20-MM
1-IN or 25-MM
† You must put quotes around size codes containing a decimal point.

16-54 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 16

Table 16.6 Types, Materials, and Sizes of Koch Random Packings

Packtype Description of Packing Pack-mat Pack-size

FLEXIRING Koch Flexiring single-tab STEEL 0.625-IN

slotted ring 1-IN
1.5-IN
2-IN
3.5-IN
FLEXIRING Koch Flexiring single-tab POLYLPROP 0.625-IN
slotted ring 1-IN
1.5-IN
2-IN
3.5-IN
HCKP Koch HCKP multi-tab STEEL 30-MM
slotted ring 45-MM
60-MM
90-MM
FLEXIMAX Koch Fleximax high STEEL 200
performance 300
400
700
FLEXISADDLE Koch Flexisaddle POLYPROP 1-IN
2-IN
3-IN
FLEXISADDLE Koch Flexisaddle CERAMIC 0.75-IN
1-IN
1.5-IN
2-IN
3-IN

Input Language Guide 16-55

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Column Design
and Rating

Table 16.7 Types of Structured Packings

Packtype Description of Packing Pack-mat Pack-size

GOODLOE Glitsch Goodloe STANDARD —

GRID Glitsch Grid STANDARD —
CY Sulzer CY STANDARD STANDARD
KERAPAK Sulzer Kerapak STANDARD STANDARD
MELLAPAK Sulzer Mellapak STANDARD 125X
125Y
170Y
250X
250Y
350X
350Y
500X
500Y
BX Sulzer BX STANDARD STANDARD
ISP Norton Intalox METAL 1T
2T
3T
4T
5T
FLEXIPAC Koch Flexipac corrugated sheet POLYPROP 2Y
FLEXIPAC Koch Flexipac corrugated sheet STEEL 1X
1Y
1.4X
1.6Y
2X
2Y
2.5Y
3X
3Y
4Y
FLEXERAMIC Koch Flexeramic CERAMIC 28
48
88
FLEXIGRID Koch Flexigrid STEEL STYLE-2
STYLE-3

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

16-56 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 17

17 Rate-Based Distillation
This chapter describes the input language for the rate-based distillation model.
The model is:
Model Description Purpose Used to model

RATEFRAC† Rate-based Rigorous rating and design for single and multiple Distillation columns, absorbers, strippers,
distillation columns based on nonequilibrium calculations. reactive systems, heat integrated units,
Does not require efficiencies and HETPs. petroleum applications such as crude and
vacuum units, absorber-stripper combinations
† RATEFRAC requires a separate license, and can be used only by customers who have licensed it
through a specific license agreement with Aspen Technology, Inc.

Input Language Guide 17-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rate-Based
Distillation

RATEFRAC
Rate-Based Distillation

Input Language for RATEFRAC

BLOCK blockid RATEFRAC
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
NCOL TOT-SEGMENT
Optional keywords:
NIC-STREAM MAXIT TOL DOGLEG DOGLEG-ITER DOGLEG-STEPS
INIT-TOL INIT-DESIGN REAC-FILM EQUILIBRIUM INIT-MAXIT
INIT-ITER-DOGLEG INIT-DOGLEG-STEPS INIT-OPTION INIT-BYPASS
EFF EQUIL-FORM V-TRANS L-TRANS FLASH-MAXIT TOLFLASH

COL-CONFIG col nsegment keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
CONDENSER REBOILER EQUILIBRIUM

TRAY-SPECS col segment1 segment2 keyword=value

Keywords:
TRAY-TYPE COL-DIAM WEIRHT
Optional keywords:
NTRAYS NTRAYS:SEGMENT WEIRLENGTH ACTAREA DCAREA
NPASSES DIAM-EST BASE-SEGMENT VAPDEGMIX LIQDEGMIX
TRAY-SPACING VAPOR-PERCENT DC-RES-TIME PERCENT-FLOOD
RATIO-VHLDP RATIO-LHLDP basis-VHLDP basis-LHLDP
MASS-TRANS-ROUTINE HEAT-TRANS-ROUTINE INT-AREA-ROUTINE
MASS-TRANS-CORR HEAT-TRANS-CORR INT-AREA-CORR
SYSTEM-FACTOR

PACK-SPECS col segment1 segment2 keyword=value

Keywords:
HTPACK HTPACK:SEGMENT PACK-ARRANGE PACK-TYPE PACK-MAT
PACK-DIM PACK-SIZE SPAREA PACK-FACTOR PACK-TENSION COL-DIAM
Optional keywords:
DIAM-EST BASE-SEGMENT VAPDEGMIX LIQDEGMIX
PERCENT-FLOOD PERCENT-VHLDP PERCENT-LHLDP basis-VHLDP
basis-LHLDP VOID-FRACTION MASS-TRANS-ROUTINE HEAT-TRANS-ROUTINE
INT-AREA-ROUTINE MASS-TRANS-CORR HEAT-TRANS-CORR INT-AREA-CORR

17-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 17

FEEDS sid col segment [feed-conv] [PHASE=phase] / . . .

PRODUCTS sid col segment [phase] [basis-FLOW=value] / . . .
PSEUDO-STREAM sid col segment [PHASE=phase] IC-STREAM=ic-stream
&
[basis-FLOW=value] / . . .
P-SPEC col segment pres / . . .
COL-SPECS col keyword=value

Keywords:
basis-RDV T1 basis-RR basis-L1 basis-D basis-B basis-VN
basis-D:F basis-B:F basis-BR Q1 QN
Optional keywords:
RDV-EST DP-SEGMENT DP-COL

DB:F-PARAMS col keyword=value

Keywords:
STREAMS COMPS

HEATERS col segment phase duty / . . .

CONNECT-STREAM ic-stream SOURCE=source-col source-segment &
DEST=dest-col dest-segment keyword=value

Keywords:
PHASE basis-FLOW TEMP DELT DUTY
Optional keywords:
QSTREAM-IN QSTREAM-OUT TYPE

L-SPEC col segment keyword=value

Keywords:
basis-FLOW
Optional keywords:
Q-COL Q-SEGMENT IC-STREAM

V-SPEC col segment keyword=value

Keyword:
basis-FLOW
Optional keywords:
Q-COL Q-SEGMENT IC-STREAM

FLOW-RATIO rationo keyword=value

Keywords:
basis-RATIO COL SEGMENT

Input Language Guide 17-3

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 Rate-Based
Distillation

Optional keywords:
PHASE BASE-COL BASE-SEGMENT BASE-PHASE Q-COL Q-SEGMENT
Q-PHASE IC-STREAM

T-SPEC col segment temp phase

SC-REFLUX col keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP DEGSUB
Optional keyword:
OPTION

TLIQ-EST col segment liqtemp / . . .

TVAP-EST col segment vaptemp / . . .
MOLE-L-EST col segment flow / . . .
MOLE-V-EST col segment flow / . . .
X-EST col segment cid x / . . .
Y-EST col segment cid y / . . .
VARY varyno vartype keyword=value

Vartypes:
basis-RDV basis-D basis-B basis-L1 basis-VN basis-RR basis-BR
basis-D:F basis-B:F Q1 QN basis-LPROD basis-VPROD DUTY
HEAT-STREAM basis-L basis-V basis-RATIO basis-FEED IC-basis-FLOW
IC-TEMP IC-DELT IC-DUTY
Keywords:
COL SEGMENT PHASE STREAM IC-STREAM RATIO-NO

SPEC specno spectype value keyword=value

Spectypes:
basis-FRAC basis-RECOV basis-FLOW basis-RATIO TEMP DUTY
DUTY-RATIO PROP PROP-DIFF PROP-RATIO
Keywords:
COL BASE-COL SEGMENT BASE-SEGMENT COMPS BASE-COMPS
STREAMS BASE-STREAMS IC-STREAM BASE-IC-STREAM PROPERTY
BASE-PROPERTY
Optional keywords:
PHASE BASE-PHASE

REPORT reportopt-list

Special reportopts:
NOPROFILE NOCOMPS NOSPLITS INT-PROFILE FLOOD-INFO
MASS-RATES HEAT-RATES REAC-RATES MASS-COEFF HEAT-COEFF
DIFF-COEFF MASS-PROFILE STDVOL-PROFILE

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 Chapter 17

SEGMENT-REPORT keyword=value

Optional keywords:
SEGMENT-OPTION FORMAT ORDER PROPERTIES WIDE COMP-EFF
TRAY-EFF HETP COMPS BASE-COMPS BUBBLE-DEW

INCL-SEGMENTS col [segment1] [segment2] / . . .

DIAGNOSTICS keyword=value

Keywords:
INITIALIZATION RATEFRAC TXYEST

PLOT plotno plot-list comp-plot=groupid-list keyword=value

Optional plots:
TEMP PRES LRATE VRATE VL-RATIO
Optional comp-plots:
X Y KVL REL-VOL S-PLOT
Optional keywords:
BASE-COMP S-PLOT-OPTION HEAVY-KEY BASIS ORDER
PLOT-HEADING WIDE

L2-SEGMENTS col segment1 segment2 / . . .

COND-HCURVE curveno col keyword=value
REB-HCURVE curveno col keyword=value
IC-HTR-HCURVE curveno ic-stream keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INDEP-VAR LIST NPOINT INCR HEADING PROPERTIES PRINT-PLOT
PRES-PROFILE PDROP HIGH-PRECISION LINES X-SCALE Y-SCALE
WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

REAC-SEGMENTS col segment1 segment2 reacid / . . .

HOLDUP col segmentid keyword=value

Segmentid:
CONDENSER REBOILER EQUILIBRIUM
Keywords:
basis-LIQUID basis-VAPOR

EQUILIBRIUM col segment1 segment2

EQUI-HOLDUP col segment1 segment2 keyword=value

Keywords:
basis-LIQUID basis-VAPOR

Input Language Guide 17-5

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 Rate-Based
Distillation

COOLANT COL=col SEGMENT=segment CID=cid keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
basis-FLOW UA TEMP
Optional keywords:
PHASE OPSETNAME PRES COOLANT-PHASE basis-CP

COMP-EFF col segment cid eff / . . .

STAGE-EFF col segment eff / . . .
SUBROUTINE keyword=value

Keywords:
MASS-TRANS HEAT-TRANS INTERFACE-AREA PRESS-DROP

USER-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
NINTMT NINTHT NINTIA NINTPR NREALMT NREALHT NREALIA
NREALPR

INTMT values
REALMT values
INTHT values
REALHT values
INTIA values
REALIA values
INTPR values
REALPR values
KIN-USER-VEC keyword=value

Keywords:
NINT NREAL NIWORK NRWORK

INTK values
REALK values

Input Language Description for RATEFRAC

PARAM Use to enter the total number of columns, total number of segments, total number of
interconnecting streams, and convergence parameters.
NCOL............................... Total number of columns
TOT-SEGMENT............... Total number of segments in all columns, including condensers and
reboilers
NIC-STREAM .................. Total number of interconnecting streams (Default=0)
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of iterations (Default=30)
TOL ................................. Convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-4)

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 Chapter 17

DOGLEG ......................... Dogleg method for improving the stability of convergence:

DOGLEG=YES ......................... Uses dogleg steps in Newton iterations
(Default)
DOGLEG=NO ........................... Uses pure Newton steps in all iterations
DOGLEG-ITER ................ Number of Newton iterations for which the dogleg procedure is to be used
(Default=4)
DOGLEG-STEPS............. Number of dogleg steps to be used in each Newton iteration (Default=5)
INIT-TOL.......................... Convergence tolerance for initialization calculations (Default=1x10-2)
INIT-DESIGN ................... Specifies whether design specifications are included in initialization
calculations: YES or NO. (Default=NO)
REAC-FILM ..................... Controls the calculation of reaction rates in the interfacial film region:
REAC-FILM=YES ..................... Includes the calculation of reaction rates in the
film region
REAC-FILM=NO....................... Does not include the calculation of reaction
rates in the film region (Default)
EQUILIBRIUM ................. Flag to specify whether to perform equilibrium stage calculations similar
to the calculations in RADFRAC, MULTIFRAC, and PETROFRAC: YES
or NO. (Default=NO)
INIT-MAXIT ...................... Maximum number of iterations for initialization calculations (Default=30)
INIT-ITER-DOGLEG ........ Number of Newton iterations for which the dogleg procedure to be used
during initialization calculations (Default=10)
INIT-DOGLEG-STEPS..... Number of dogleg steps to be used in each Newton iteration during
initialization calculations (Default=5)
INIT-OPTION ................... Initialization options:
INIT-OPTION=STANDARD...... Standard initialization (Default)
INIT-OPTION= .......................... Special initialization designed for azeotropic
AZEOTROPIC columns
INIT-OPTION=CHEMICAL ....... Special initialization, recommended when
chemical reactions occur in a column
INIT-OPTION=MODIFIED......... Special initialization, recommended when
convergence difficulties are encountered with
the standard algorithm
INIT-OPTION=CRUDE ............. Special initialization designed for crude
columns
INIT-BYPASS .................. INIT-BYPASS=NO.................... Performs initialization calculations (Default)
INIT-BYPASS=YES .................. Bypasses initialization calculations
EFF .................................. Type of efficiency when COMP-EFF or STAGE-EFF is used for
equilibrium stages:
EFF=VAPOR ............................ Vaporization efficiency
EFF=MURPHREE..................... Murphree vapor efficiency (Default)

Input Language Guide 17-7

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 Rate-Based
Distillation

EQUIL-FORM .................. Type of formulation of equilibrium reaction expression when equilibrium

reactions are present:
EQUIL-FORM=STANDARD ..... System-defined formulation (Default)
EQUIL-FORM=LOG ................. Logarithmic formulation
EQUIL-FORM=PRODUCT ....... Product formulation
V-TRANS......................... Type of transformation for vapor phase component flows during
initialization calculations:
V-TRANS=STANDARD............ System-defined transformation (Default)
V-TRANS=LINEAR................... Linear transformation
V-TRANS=SQUARE................. Square transformation
V-TRANS=EXPONENTIAL ...... Exponential transformation
L-TRANS ......................... Type of transformation for liquid phase component flows during
initialization calculations:
L-TRANS=STANDARD ............ System-defined transformation (Default)
L-TRANS=LINEAR................... Linear transformation
L-TRANS=SQUARE................. Square transformation
L-TRANS=EXPONENTIAL....... Exponential transformation
FLASH-MAXIT................. Maximum number of convergence iterations for feed flash calculations
(Default=50)
TOLFLASH...................... Feed flash convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-8)
COL-CONFIG Use to specify the column configuration in terms of number of segments presence (or absence) of
condensers and reboilers, equilibrium and nonequilibrium columns. Condensers and reboilers are
modeled as equilibrium stages.
col ................................... Column number
nsegment........................ Number of segments in the column including condenser and reboiler
(condensers and reboilers are considered as individual segments)
CONDENSER.................. Specifies the presence (or absence) of a condenser. Condensers are
modeled as equilibrium stages:
CONDENSER=NO.................... No condenser
CONDENSER=YES.................. Condenser assumed to be the top segment of a
column (Default)

REBOILER ...................... Specifies the presence (or absence) of a reboiler. Reboilers are modeled as
equilibrium stages:
REBOILER=NO ........................ No reboiler
REBOILER=YES ...................... Reboiler assumed to be the bottom segment of a
column (Default)
EQUILIBRIUM ................. Use only for a column having a single segment that is to be modeled as an
equilibrium stage (for example, a flash unit in a RATEFRAC block can be
modeled as a column having a single equilibrium stage):
EQUILIBRIUM=YES ................. Column will be modeled as an equilibrium stage

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 Chapter 17

EQUILIBRIUM=NO................... Column will not be modeled as an equilibrium

stage (Default)
TRAY-SPECS Use to enter the total number of trays or number of trays per segment, tray type and tray
characteristics. If you need more than one set of specifications for different segments, a separate
TRAY-SPECS sentence is required for each specification.
col.................................... Column number
segment1 ........................ Beginning segment number for specifications to be made using TRAY-
SPECS
segment2 ........................ Ending segment number for specifications to be made using TRAY-
SPECS
TRAY-TYPE..................... Type of tray:
TRAY-TYPE=............................ Bubble-cap
BUBBLE-CAP
TRAY-TYPE=VALVE................ Valve
TRAY-TYPE=SIEVE ................. Sieve
TRAY-TYPE=USER.................. User-specified
COL-DIAM ....................... Column diameter. If you do not specify column diameter, RATEFRAC
determines the required diameter of the column. This diameter is based
on conditions on a segment specified using keyword BASE-SEGMENT.
Then you must provide an initial estimate for column diameter using
keyword DIAM-EST. (See Usage Note 1.)
WEIRHT........................... Height of exit weir (Default=2 in.)
NTRAYS .......................... Total number of trays
NTRAYS:SEGMENT ....... Number of trays per segment (must be an integer) (Default=1)
WEIRLENGTH ................. Average weir length. For columns with multiple-pass trays,
WEIRLENGTH is the average of all exit weir lengths. (Default is
calculated based on DCAREA and tower area.)
ACTAREA........................ Active area available on a tray. This is the difference between the area of
tower and the area occupied by downcomers. ACTAREA=tower area -
2*DCAREA. (Default is calculated based on DCAREA and tower area.)
DCAREA.......................... Average downcomer area. For columns with multiple-pass trays,
DCAREA is the average of all exit downcomer areas. (Default =10% of
tower area.)
NPASSES ........................ Number of passes on a tray (must be an integer between 1 and 4)
(Default=1)
DIAM-EST........................ Initial estimate of column diameter. Use only when you do not specify
COL-DIAM.
BASE-SEGMENT ............ Segment number on which column diameter calculations will be based.
Use only when you do not specify COL-DIAM.
VAPDEGMIX.................... Degree of mixing in the vapor phase:
VAPDEGMIX=COMPLETE ...... Uniform or complete mixing of vapor (Default)
VAPDEGMIX=LINEAR ............ Linear variation of composition of vapor
between inlet and outlet

Input Language Guide 17-9

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 Rate-Based
Distillation

VAPDEGMIX= .......................... Exponential variation of composition of vapor

LOGARITHMIC between inlet and outlet
LIQDEGMIX .................... Degree of mixing in the liquid phase:
LIQDEGMIX=COMPLETE ....... Uniform or complete mixing of liquid (Default)
LIQDEGMIX=LINEAR .............. Linear variation of composition of liquid
between inlet and outlet
LIQDEGMIX=............................ Exponential variation of composition of liquid
LOGARITHMIC between inlet and outlet
TRAY-SPACING.............. Spacing between adjacent trays. Use to calculate vapor space volume
excluding the total holdup volume of aerated liquid. Vapor space volume
is used only when vapor space kinetic reactions are present. (Default=24
in.)
VAPOR-PERCENT.......... Volume percent of vapor in the liquid-vapor mixture on a tray.
Use only when vapor space kinetic reactions are present. (Default=60%)
DC-RES-TIME ................. Residence time for liquid in downcomers. Use only for liquid-phase
reactive systems. (Default=1 second)
PERCENT-FLOOD.......... Percent flooding. Use to calculate the diameter of a column whose
diameter is not specified using COL-DIAM keyword. Not required when
COL-DIAM is specified. (Default=80%)
RATIO-VHLDP ................ Ratio of holdup volume of vapor to active tray volume (see keyword
ACTAREA). Use only when vapor phase kinetic reactions are present.
RATIO-LHLDP................. Ratio of holdup volume of liquid to active tray volume (see keyword
ACTAREA). Use only when liquid phase kinetic reactions are present.
basis-VHLDP .................. Vapor holdup on a MOLE, MASS, or VOL basis. Use only when vapor
phase kinetic reactions are present. (See Usage Note 2.)
basis-LHLDP .................. Liquid holdup on a MOLE, MASS, or VOL basis. Use only when liquid
phase kinetic reactions are present. (See Usage Note 2.)
MASS-TRANS-ROUTINE Mass transfer coefficient routine:
MASS-TRANS-ROUTINE=....... System built-in routine (Default)
BUILT-IN
MASS-TRANS-ROUTINE=....... User-supplied routine
USER
HEAT-TRANS-ROUTINE Heat transfer coefficient routine:
HEAT-TRANS-.......................... System built-in routine (Default)
ROUTINE=BUILT-IN
HEAT-TRANS-.......................... User-supplied routine
ROUTINE=USER
INT-AREA-ROUTINE....... Interfacial area routine:
INT-AREA-ROUTINE= ............. System built-in routine (Default)
BUILT-IN
INT-AREA-ROUTINE= ............. User-supplied routine
USER

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 Chapter 17

MASS-TRANS-CORR...... Mass transfer correlation:

MASS-TRANS-CORR=1 .......... System built-in correlation (Default)
MASS-TRANS-CORR=n.......... Specified correlation number for user-supplied
correlation in user-supplied routine (see
SUBROUTINE sentence)
HEAT-TRANS-CORR ...... Heat transfer correlation:
HEAT-TRANS-CORR=1........... System built-in correlation (Default)
HEAT-TRANS-CORR=n........... Specified correlation number for user-supplied
correlation in user-supplied routine (see
SUBROUTINE sentence)
INT-AREA-CORR ............ Interfacial area correlation:
INT-AREA-CORR=1................. System built-in correlation (Default)
INT-AREA-CORR=n................. Specified correlation number for user-supplied
correlation in user-supplied routine (see
SUBROUTINE sentence)
SYSTEM-FACTOR .......... System foaming factor used to account for the effect of foaming tendencies
of a system on a given tray design. Nonfoaming systems have a system
factor of 1.0. Foaming systems have values less than 1.0. (Default=1.0)
PACK-SPECS Use to enter the total height of packing or the height of packing per segment, packing type, and
packing characteristics. If you need more than one set of specifications for different segments, a
separate PACK-SPECS sentence is required for each specification.
col.................................... Column number
segment1 ........................ Beginning segment number for specifications to be made using PACK-
SPECS
segment2 ........................ Ending segment number for specifications to be made using PACK-
SPECS
HTPACK .......................... Total height of packing
HTPACK:SEGMENT ....... Height of packing per segment
PACK-ARRANGE ............ Packing arrangement:
PACK-ARRANGE=RANDOM .. Random packing
PACK-ARRANGE= .................. Structured packing
STRUCTURED
PACK-TYPE .................... Type of packing. Choose from the types listed in Table 17.2 for PACK-
ARRANGE=RANDOM and from the types listed in Table 17.3 for PACK-
ARRANGE=STRUCTURED. Also specify appropriate packing material
and dimension of packing.
PACK-MAT ...................... Packing material. Choose appropriate value from Table 17.2 or Table 17.3
for the selected PACK-TYPE.
PACK-DIM ....................... Dimension of packing. Choose appropriate value from Table 17.2 or Table
17.3 for the selected PACK-TYPE and PACK-MAT.
PACK-SIZE...................... Size of packing
SPAREA .......................... Specific surface area of the packing. Use for computing interfacial area
and mass transfer coefficient.

Input Language Guide 17-11

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 Rate-Based
Distillation

PACK-FACTOR............... Packing factor. Use for calculating pressure drop and approach to flooding
conditions when requested in the report.
PACK-TENSION.............. Critical surface tension for the packing material
COL-DIAM ....................... Column diameter. If you do not specify column diameter, then
RATEFRAC will determine the required diameter of the column based on
conditions on a segment specified using keyword BASE-SEGMENT. Then
you must provide an initial estimate for column diameter using keyword
DIAM-EST. (See Usage Note 1.)
DIAM-EST ....................... Initial estimate of column diameter. Use only when you do not specify
COL-DIAM.
BASE-SEGMENT ............ Segment number on which column diameter calculations will be based.
Use only when you do not specify COL-DIAM.
VAPDEGMIX ................... Degree of mixing in the vapor phase:
VAPDEGMIX=COMPLETE ...... Uniform or complete mixing of vapor (Default)
VAPDEGMIX=LINEAR ............. Linear variation of composition of vapor
between inlet and outlet
VAPDEGMIX= .......................... Exponential variation of composition of vapor
LOGARITHMIC between inlet and outlet
LIQDEGMIX..................... Degree of mixing in the liquid phase:
LIQDEGMIX=COMPLETE........ Uniform or complete mixing of liquid (Default)
LIQDEGMIX=LINEAR .............. Linear variation of composition of liquid
between inlet and outlet
LIQDEGMIX=............................ Exponential variation of composition of liquid
LOGARITHMIC between inlet and outlet
PERCENT-FLOOD.......... Percent flooding. Use to calculate the diameter of a column whose
diameter is not specified by COL-DIAM. Not required when you specify
COL-DIAM. (Default=80%)
PERCENT-VHLDP .......... Percent of free volume in a given segment of packing to be considered as
vapor holdup for reactive systems. Use only when vapor phase kinetic
reactions are present.
PERCENT-LHLDP .......... Percent of free volume in a given segment of packing to be considered as
liquid holdup for reactive systems. Use only when liquid phase kinetic
reactions are present.
basis-VHLDP .................. Vapor holdup on a MOLE, MASS, or VOL basis. Use only when vapor
phase kinetic reactions are present. (See Usage Note 2.)
basis-LHLDP .................. Liquid holdup on a MOLE, MASS, or VOL basis. Use only when liquid
phase kinetic reactions are present. (See Usage Note 2.)
VOID-FRACTION ............ Void fraction of a given type and size of packing (Default=0.95 for random
packings)
MASS-TRANS-ROUTINE Mass transfer coefficient routine:
MASS-TRANS-ROUTINE=....... System built-in routine (Default)
BUILT-IN
MASS-TRANS-ROUTINE=....... User-supplied routine
USER

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 Chapter 17

HEAT-TRANS-ROUTINE Heat transfer coefficient routine:

HEAT-TRANS-ROUTINE= ....... System built-in routine (Default)
BUILT-IN
HEAT-TRANS-ROUTINE= ....... User-supplied routine
USER
INT-AREA-ROUTINE....... Interfacial area routine:
INT-AREA-ROUTINE= ............. System built-in routine (Default)
BUILT-IN
INT-AREA-ROUTINE= ............. User-supplied routine
USER
MASS-TRANS-CORR...... Mass transfer correlation:
MASS-TRANS-CORR=1 .......... System built-in correlation (Default)
MASS-TRANS-CORR=n.......... Specified correlation number for user-supplied
correlation in user-supplied routine (see
SUBROUTINE sentence)
HEAT-TRANS-CORR ...... Heat transfer correlation:
HEAT-TRANS-CORR=1........... System built-in correlation (Default)
HEAT-TRANS-CORR=n........... Specified correlation number for user-supplied
correlation in user-supplied routine (see
SUBROUTINE sentence)
INT-AREA-CORR ............ Interfacial area correlation:
INT-AREA-CORR=1................. System built-in correlation (Default)
INT-AREA-CORR=n................. Specified correlation number for user-supplied
correlation in user-supplied routine (see
SUBROUTINE sentence)
FEEDS Use to enter inlet material and heat stream locations and feed conventions for material streams.
sid.................................... Stream ID
col.................................... Column number
segment .......................... Segment number
feed-conv ........................ Feed convention. RATEFRAC assumes a vapor feed, or vapor portion of a
mixed feed, mixes with the vapor phase in the segment that it enters.
RATEFRAC assumes a liquid feed or liquid portion of a mixed feed
combines with the liquid phase in the segment that it enters.
ABOVE-SEGMENT .................. Introduces feed between segments, above
designated segment (Default)
ON-SEGMENT.......................... Introduces feed on designated segment.
(See Figure 17.1 and Usage Note 3.)

Input Language Guide 17-13

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rate-Based
Distillation

Figure 17.1 Schematic Representation of the Keyword Feed-Conv

A) Above Segment

Segment n-1

Mixed Feed To Vapor

Segment n Liquid

Segment n

B) On-Segment

Segment n-1

Liquid

Mixed Feed To Segment n

Segment n
Vapor

Segment n+1

phase .............................. Required only for inlet heat stream:

L ................................................ Liquid (Default)
V................................................ Vapor

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 Chapter 17

PRODUCTS Use to enter outlet stream locations, phases, and flows. The phase specification for products leaving
the top segment of each column must be consistent with the specified value of RDV. When RDV
does not equal zero or unity or is a manipulated variable, or when T1 is specified, two distillate
streams are required: one vapor, one liquid.
You can specify a separate product stream for the free-water distillate. If you do not specify a
separate stream, the free-water distillate is mixed with the organic liquid distillate phase. The
flows for distillate and bottom liquid streams are not specified in the PRODUCTS statement. They
are either calculated or specified in a COL-SPECS statement.
For a heat stream, only the location is entered.
sid.................................... Stream ID
col.................................... Column number
segment .......................... Segment number
phase............................... L ................................................ Liquid (Default)
V................................................ Vapor
W............................................... Free-water (allowed only for condensers)
TL.............................................. Total drawoff of stage liquid
TV.............................................. Total drawoff of stage vapor
basis-FLOW .................... Flow rate on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis. Do not use for phase=TL
or TV.
PSEUDO-STREAM Use to identify an outlet stream as a pseudoproduct stream and to specify the internal stream or
interconnecting streams whose compositions and conditions are to be represented by the
pseudostream. You must enter either col and segment or IC-STREAM.
sid.................................... Stream ID
col.................................... Column number
segment .......................... Segment number
phase............................... L ................................................ Liquid (Default)
V................................................ Vapor
W............................................... Free-water (allowed only for condensers)
IC-STREAM ..................... Interconnecting stream number. Do not specify it if col and segment are
specified.
basis-FLOW .................... Flow of pseudoproduct stream on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis. If
you do not supply a value, RATEFRAC uses the net flow of the internal
stream (excluding any sidedraw), or the interconnecting stream flow.
P-SPEC Use to enter the column pressure profile. (See Usage Notes 4 and 5.) You should enter one P-SPEC
statement for each column.
col.................................... Column number
segment .......................... Segment number
pres ................................. Pressure

Input Language Guide 17-15

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 Rate-Based
Distillation

COL-SPECS Use to enter additional specification(s) and pressure drop data for each column. Table 17.1 lists the
valid column specification combinations. You can also enter the column pressure drop or pressure
drop per segment. For design mode, any quantity specified in a COL-SPECS statement (except for
T1, RDV-EST, DP-SEGMENT, and DP-COL) can be treated as manipulated variables, in which
case the values given in the COL-SPECS statement are initial guesses. You can use an input heat
stream to the top or bottom segment of a column in place of Q1 or QN, respectively. Substitute
MOLE, MASS or STDVOL for the word basis in the following specifications.
col ................................... Column number
basis-RDV....................... Distillate vapor fraction (RDV=DV/D where DV is the distillate vapor
flow, and D is the total distillate flow), excluding any free-water (set
basis-RDV=0 for total condenser)
T1 .................................... Temperature of condenser. (When you specify T1, you cannot use basis-
RDV. An estimate for MOLE-RDV is provided using RDV-EST.) (See
Usage Note 7.)
basis-RR ......................... Reflux ratio (L1/D), excluding any free-water
basis-L1 .......................... Reflux flow (or top segment liquid flow), excluding any free-water
basis-D............................ Total distillate flow, excluding any free-water
basis-B............................ Bottoms flow
basis-VN ......................... Boilup flow or the vapor from the bottom segment
basis-D:F ........................ Ratio of distillate flow to feed flow, excluding any free-water (D/ΣΣFi,j)
basis-B:F ........................ Ratio of bottoms flow to feed flow (B/ΣΣFi,j)
Where:
F = Feed flow
i = Component in the COMPS list of the DB:F-PARAMS sentence
j = Stream in the STREAMS list of the DB:F-PARAMS sentence
basis-BR ......................... Boilup ratio (VN/B)
Q1.................................... Condenser heat duty
QN ................................... Reboiler heat duty
RDV-EST ......................... Estimate of distillate vapor fraction on a MOLE basis
DP-SEGMENT................. Pressure drop per segment (Default=0)
DP-COL ........................... Pressure drop for column (Default=0)
DB:F-PARAMS Use to define the basis for D:F or B:F specification in the COL-SPECS sentence.
col ................................... Column number
STREAMS ....................... List of stream IDs of feeds forming the basis for D:F or B:F specification
(Default=all feed streams to the column col)
COMPS............................ List of IDs of components forming the basis of D:F or B:F specification
(Default=all components)
HEATERS Use to enter heater segment locations, phase and duties.
col ................................... Column number
segment .......................... Segment number
phase .............................. L ................................................ Heat duty added to liquid phase (Default)
V................................................ Heat duty added to vapor phase

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 Chapter 17

duty ................................. Heat duty. Duty is positive for heat added to a segment and negative for
heat removed from a segment.
CONNECT-STREAM Use to enter the source, destination, phase, flow, and thermal condition of each interconnecting
stream. Any number of interconnecting streams can be from the same source column, segment, and
phase, and any number can have the same destination column and segment. Enter one CONNECT-
STREAM statement for each interconnecting stream. Phase changes are not allowed for
interconnecting streams.
The vapor leaving the top segment of a column and liquid leaving the bottom segment are referred
to as terminal streams. Each terminal stream can be the source of a product stream and any
number of interconnecting streams. If no product stream exists, at least one interconnecting stream
must have an unspecified flow.
Any interconnecting stream can have a heater with heat duty, temperature or temperature change
specified.
An internal stream can be the source of any number of interconnecting streams, any of which can
have a heater. For partial drawoff interconnecting streams, you must specify two of the following
variables: flow, temperature (or temperature change), and heat duty. If you specify heat duty and
temperature (or a non-zero temperature change), then flow is calculated. For total drawoff
interconnecting streams, you must specify only one of the following variables: temperature (or
temperature change), and heat duty.
ic-stream ......................... Interconnecting stream number. Must be sequential starting with 1.
source-col ....................... Source column number
source-segment ............. Source segment number
dest-col ........................... Destination column number
dest-segment.................. Destination segment number
PHASE............................. PHASE=L ................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
basis-FLOW .................... Flow on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
TEMP ............................... Temperature (temperature specified will correspond to vapor or liquid
temperature depending on PHASE)
DELT................................ Change in temperature (change in temperature specified will be applied
to liquid or vapor depending on PHASE)
DUTY ............................... Heat duty
QSTREAM-IN .................. Inlet heat stream ID
QSTREAM-OUT .............. Outlet heat stream ID
TYPE................................ TYPE=TOTAL........................... Total drawoff
TYPE=PARTIAL ....................... Partial drawoff (Default)

Input Language Guide 17-17

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rate-Based
Distillation

L-SPEC, Use to specify liquid and vapor flows, of terminal streams or internal streams. For terminal
V-SPEC streams, L-SPEC and V-SPEC refer to the net flow of the streams excluding any portions
withdrawn by interconnecting streams whose flows are specified explicitly, or other L-SPEC or V-
SPEC sentences. For internal streams, L-SPEC and V-SPEC refer to the net flow of the streams
excluding any portions withdrawn as products or interconnecting streams.
A specified value can be zero if a product or interconnecting stream of the same phase leaves the
segment. When an internal flow is specified, the heat duty associated with the heater of the same
segment or another segment, or the flow of an associated interconnecting stream, must be allowed
to vary so that enthalpy and mass balances can be satisfied.
You must specify an initial guess for the associated heat duty in the HEATERS sentence, or an
initial guess for the interconnecting stream flow in the CONNECT-STREAM sentence. You can
place the calculated heat duty in an outlet heat stream.
col ................................... Column number
segment .......................... Segment number
basis-FLOW.................... Flow on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
Q-COL ............................. Column number for the associated heater (Default=col)
Q-SEGMENT ................... Segment number for the associated heater (Default=segment)
IC-STREAM ..................... Interconnecting stream number for the associated interconnecting stream
FLOW-RATIO Use to specify the ratio of two flow rates, FLOWI/FLOWJ. The flows can be of different phases and
can come from any segment of any column. The flows refer to the net flow from a segment and
follow the same convention as described for L-SPEC and V-SPEC in handling internal and terminal
streams.
When you specify a flow ratio, the heat duty associated with the heater of the same segment or
another segment, or the flow of an associated interconnecting stream, must be allowed to vary so
that enthalpy and material balances can be satisfied. You must specify an initial guess for the
associated heat duty in the HEATERS sentence, or an initial guess for the interconnecting stream
flow in the CONNECT-STREAM sentence. You can place the calculated heat duty in an outlet heat
stream.
rationo............................. Flow ratio number
basis-RATIO ................... Flow ratio on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
COL ................................. Column number for FLOWI
SEGMENT ....................... Segment number for FLOWI
PHASE ............................ Phase code for FLOWI
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
BASE-COL ...................... Column number for FLOWJ (Default=COL)
BASE-SEGMENT ............ Segment number for FLOWJ (Default=SEGMENT+1)
BASE-PHASE ................. Phase code for FLOWJ
BASE-PHASE=L ...................... Liquid
BASE-PHASE=V ...................... Vapor (Default)
Q-COL ............................. Column number for associated heater (Default=COL)
Q-SEGMENT ................... Segment number for associated heater (Default=SEGMENT+1)

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 Chapter 17

Q-PHASE......................... Phase code for heat duty associated with a heater:

Q-PHASE=L ............................. Liquid (Default)
Q-PHASE=V ............................. Vapor
IC-STREAM ..................... Interconnecting stream number for associated interconnecting stream
T-SPEC Use to specify either liquid or vapor temperature of any segment. For an equilibrium segment, the
liquid temperature equals the vapor temperature. Whenever you specify liquid or vapor
temperature of any segment, the heat duty associated with the same phase on the same segment is
adjusted to satisfy material and enthalpy balances. You should specify an initial estimate for the
heat duty in the HEATERS sentence.
col.................................... Column number
segment .......................... Segment number
temp ................................ Temperature
phase............................... L ................................................ Liquid (Default)
V................................................ Vapor
SC-REFLUX Use to specify either the degrees subcooling of the reflux liquid or the reflux temperature. If you do
not give a SC-REFLUX statement, RATEFRAC assumes the reflux liquid to be a saturated liquid.
Subcooled reflux is not allowed when chemical reactions occur in the condenser.
col.................................... Column number
TEMP ............................... Reflux temperature
DEGSUB.......................... Degrees subcooling
OPTION ........................... OPTION=TOTAL ...................... Both reflux and distillate product are subcooled
(Default)
OPTION=REFLUX.................... Only reflux is subcooled
TLIQ-EST, Use to provide initial guess for liquid and vapor temperatures. (See Usage Note 4.)
TVAP-EST
col.................................... Column number
segment .......................... Segment number
liqtemp ............................ Liquid temperature. (If the TVAP-EST sentence alone is provided, default
for liquid temperature is vapor temperature.)
vaptemp .......................... Vapor temperature. (If the TLIQ-EST sentence alone is provided, default
for vapor temperature is liquid temperature.)
MOLE-L-EST, Use to provide initial estimates for liquid and vapor flow profiles. (See Usage Note 4.) The flow
MOLE-V-EST entered is the total flow of the respective phase, including any portion withdrawn as products or
interconnecting streams.
col.................................... Column number
segment .......................... Segment number
flow.................................. Flow on a MOLE basis
X-EST, Use to provide initial estimates for liquid and vapor mole fractions.
Y-EST (See Usage Notes 4 and 6.) X-EST and Y-EST are always used together.
col.................................... Column number
segment .......................... Segment number

Input Language Guide 17-19

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rate-Based
Distillation

cid ................................... Component ID

x....................................... Liquid mole fraction
y....................................... Vapor mole fraction
VARY Use to specify manipulated variables for the design mode. You must provide initial guesses of
manipulated variables. One VARY sentence is entered for each manipulated variable. Substitute
MOLE, MASS or STDVOL for the word basis. FEED and HEAT-STREAM are initialized in a
STREAM paragraph. For other manipulated variables, enter estimates using the usual rating mode
specification keywords:
Sentence Variables

PRODUCTS LPROD and VPROD

HEATERS DUTY
CONNECT-STREAM IC-FLOW, IC-TEMP, IC-DELT, and IC-DUTY
L-SPEC L
V-SPEC V
FLOW-RATIO RATIO
COL-SPECS RDV, D, B, L1, VN, RR, BR, D:F, B:F, Q1, and QN

varyno ............................. Manipulated variable number

vartype ............................ Manipulated variable type:
basis-RDV ................................ Distillate vapor fraction (RDV=DV/D where DV
is the distillate vapor flow and D is the total
distillate vapor flow, excluding any free-water)
basis-D ..................................... Total distillate flow, excluding any free-water
basis-B ..................................... Bottoms flow
basis-L1.................................... Reflux flow (or top segment liquid flow),
excluding any free-water
basis-VN................................... Boilup flow (or the vapor flow from the bottom
segment)
basis-RR................................... Reflux ratio (L1/D)
basis-BR................................... Boilup ratio (VN/B)
basis-D:F.................................. Ratio of distillate flow to feed flow (D/ΣΣFi,j)
basis-B:F.................................. Ratio of bottoms flow to feed flow (B/ΣΣFi,j)
Where:
F = Feed flow
i = Component in the COMPS list
of the DB:F-PARAMS sentence
j = Stream in the STREAMS list
of the DB:F-PARAMS sentence
Q1 ............................................. Condenser (or top segment) heat duty
QN............................................. Reboiler (or bottom segment) heat duty

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Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 17

basis-LPROD ........................... Liquid side stream product flow

basis-VPROD ........................... Vapor side stream product flow
DUTY ........................................ External heater duty
HEAT-STREAM........................ Feed heat stream duty. When you use HEAT-
STREAM, a heat stream ID is specified using
STREAM.
basis-L...................................... Liquid flow
basis-V ..................................... Vapor flow
basis-RATIO............................. Ratio of two flows defined by a FLOW-RATIO
sentence
basis-FEED .............................. Feed flow. When basis-FEED is used, a feed
stream ID is specified using STREAM.
IC-basis-FLOW ........................ Interconnecting stream flow
IC-TEMP ................................... Interconnecting stream temperature
IC-DELT .................................... Interconnecting stream temperature change
IC-DUTY.................................... Interconnecting stream duty
COL ................................. Column number (required for vartypes LPROD, VPROD, DUTY, L, V and
tertiary keywords in COL-SPECS statements)
SEGMENT ....................... Segment number (required for vartypes LPROD, VPROD, L, V and
DUTY)
PHASE............................. PHASE=L ................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (required only for vartypes DUTY and
HEAT-STREAM)
STREAM .......................... Stream ID (required for vartypes HEAT-STREAM and basis-FEED)
IC-STREAM ..................... Interconnecting stream number (required for vartypes IC-basis-FLOW,
IC-TEMP, IC-DELT and IC-DUTY)
RATIO-NO ....................... Flow ratio number (required for vartype basis-RATIO)
SPEC Use to enter design specifications. Enter one SPEC sentence for each design specification. The
number of SPEC sentences must be equal to the number of VARY sentences. Substitute MOLE,
MASS or STDVOL for the word basis.
specno ............................ Design specification number
spectype ......................... Design specification type:
basis-FRAC.............................. Purity of a product stream (specified by
STREAMS) or an internal stream (specified by
COL, SEGMENT, and PHASE)
FRAC = Σxi/Σxj

Where:
x = Component fraction
i = Component in the COMPS list
j = Component in the BASE-COMPS list
The default for BASE-COMPS is all
components (Σxj=1)

Input Language Guide 17-21

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rate-Based
Distillation

basis-RECOV ........................... RECOV = ΣΣfij/ΣΣfik

Where:
f = Component flow
i = Component in the COMPS list
j = Product stream in the STREAMS list
k = Feed stream in the BASE-STREAMS
list
The default for BASE-STREAMS is all feed
streams.
basis-FLOW ............................. Flow of a group of components (specified by
COMPS) in a set of product streams (specified
by STREAMS) or an internal stream (specified
by COL, SEGMENT, and PHASE). The default
for COMPS is all components.
basis-RATIO............................. RATIO= Σfi1/ΣΣfj2 (BASE-SEGMENT specified)
or Σfi1/Σfjk (BASE-STREAMS specified or
defaulted)
for basis-RATIO:
i = Component in the COMPS list
j = Component in the BASE-COMPS list
k = Stream in the BASE-STREAMS list
fil = Component i flow, in an internal stream specified by COL, SEGMENT and PHASE
fj2 = Component j flow, in an internal stream specified by BASE-COL, BASE-SEGMENT and
BASE-PHASE
fjk = Component j flow, in a feed or product stream in the BASE-STREAMS list (the
BASE-STREAMS list cannot mix feed and product streams)
The default for COMPS and BASE-COMPS is all components, and the default for BASE-STREAMS
is all feed streams.
TEMP ........................................ Temperature on a given SEGMENT of a given
COL and PHASE
DUTY ........................................ Heat duty of condenser or reboiler (specified by
COL , SEGMENT and PHASE) or
interconnecting stream (specified by
IC-STREAM)
DUTY-RATIO ............................ DUTY-RATIO=Q1/Q2
Where:
Q1 = Heat duty of a condenser (specified by
COL, SEGMENT)
Q2 = Heat duty of a reboiler (specified by
BASE-COL, BASE-SEGMENT)
PROP ........................................ Property value, as specified by PROPERTY, for
a product stream (specified by STREAMS) or an
internal stream (specified by COL, SEGMENT,
and the property phase qualifier in the
corresponding PROP-SET paragraph)

17-22 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 17

PROP-DIFF............................... Property value minus base property value, as

specified by PROPERTY and BASE-
PROPERTY. PROPERTY is the property of a
product stream (specified by STREAMS) or of
an internal stream (specified by COL,
SEGMENT, and the phase qualifier in the
corresponding PROP-SET paragraph). BASE-
PROPERTY is the property of a product stream
(specified by BASE-STREAMS) or of an internal
stream (specified by BASE-COL, BASE-
SEGMENT, and the phase qualifier in the
corresponding PROP-SET paragraph).
PROP-RATIO............................ Ratio of property value to base property value,
as specified by PROPERTY and BASE-
PROPERTY. PROPERTY and BASE-
PROPERTY are as defined above for PROP-
DIFF.
value................................ Value of the design specification
COL ................................. Column number
BASE-COL ...................... Base column number
SEGMENT ....................... Segment number
BASE-SEGMENT ............ Base segment number
COMPS............................ List of component IDs
BASE-COMPS................. List of base-component IDs (Default=all components)
STREAMS........................ List of stream IDs
BASE-STREAMS............. List of base-stream IDs
IC-STREAM ..................... Interconnecting stream number
BASE-IC-STREAM .......... Base interconnecting stream number
PROPERTY ..................... ID of a property set defined by PROP-SET paragraph consisting of a
single scalar property. (See Chapter 42.)
BASE-PROPERTY .......... ID of a property set defined by PROP-SET paragraph consisting of a
single scalar property. (See Chapter 42.)
PHASE............................. PHASE=L ................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
PHASE=W ................................ Free-water (allowed only for condensers)
BASE-PHASE ................. BASE-PHASE=L ...................... Liquid
BASE-PHASE=V ...................... Vapor (Default)
BASE-PHASE=W ..................... Free-water (alllowed only for condensers)
REPORT Use to override the default report options. You can use the standard REPORT options for use
within a block (see Chapter 11) for RATEFRAC.
reportopt ......................... Standard block report options (see Chapter 11), in addition to the
following:

Input Language Guide 17-23

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rate-Based
Distillation

NOPROFILE ............................. Suppresses segment profiles for liquid and

vapor temperatures, operating pressure, liquid
and vapor flows on mole basis, enthalpies, and
heat duties
NOCOMPS................................ Suppresses liquid and vapor mole fraction
profiles
NOSPLITS ................................ Suppresses the summary of component split
fractions among column product streams
INT-PROFILE............................ Provides temperature, composition and K-value
profiles at the interface on each nonequilibrium
segment
FLOOD-INFO............................ Provides information on proximity to flooding
conditions and pressure drop on each
nonequilibrium segment
MASS-RATES .......................... Provides vapor and liquid material transfer
rates between phases on all nonequilibrium
segments
HEAT-RATES ........................... Provides heat transfer rates between phases on
all nonequilibrium segments
REAC-RATES........................... Provides information on reaction rates of all
reactions
MASS-COEFF .......................... Provides information on liquid and vapor phase
binary mass transfer coefficients on all
nonequilibrium segments
HEAT-COEFF ........................... Provides information on liquid and vapor phase
heat transfer coefficients on all nonequilibrium
segments
DIFF-COEFF............................. Provides information on liquid and vapor phase
binary diffusion coefficients on all
nonequilibrium segments
MASS-PROFILE ....................... Provides segment profiles for liquid and vapor
temperatures, operating pressure, liquid and
vapor flows on mass-basis, mass-enthalpies,
and heat duties
STDVOL-PROFILE................... Provides segment profiles for liquid and vapor
temperatures, operating pressure, liquid and
vapor flows on standard volume basis, standard
volume enthalpies, and heat duties
SEGMENT-REPORT Use to specify the report format and additional segment properties to be reported (in addition to
flows, temperatures, pressures, enthalpies, duties, and mole fractions printed in the standard
report).
SEGMENT-OPTION ........ Specifies segments included in the report:
SEGMENT-OPTION=BRIEF .... Reports the segments (and the segments
immediately above and below them) that have
feeds, products, heaters, pumparounds,
bypasses, interconnecting streams, and
maximum and minimum flows (Default)

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 Chapter 17

SEGMENT-OPTION= ............... Reports the segments specified in the

INCL-SEGMENTS INCL-SEGMENTS statement
SEGMENT-OPTION= ............... Reports all segments
ALL-SEGMENTS
FORMAT ......................... FORMAT=PROFILE ................. Tabular column profiles (Default)
FORMAT=SEGMENT............... Individual segment reports
FORMAT=COMBINED ............. Both tabular column profiles and individual
segment reports
ORDER ............................ Segment numbering order. Use for report only.
ORDER=TOP-DOWN............... Number segments from top down (Default)
ORDER=BOTTOM-UP ............. Number segments from bottom up
PROPERTIES .................. List of property set IDs
WIDE................................ Report width option
WIDE=YES ............................... Produces wide (132 columns) reports
WIDE=NO ................................. Produces standard (80 columns) reports
(Default)
COMP-EFF ...................... Flag to provide component by component Murphree vapor efficiency
profile for the components listed using keyword COMPS: YES or NO.
(Default=NO)
TRAY-EFF ....................... Flag to provide tray-efficiency profile based on selected key components
using BASE-COMPS: YES or NO. (Default=NO)
HETP ............................... Flag to provide information on the Height Equivalent to a Theoretical
Plate based on a selected light key components using BASE-COMPS: YES
or NO (Default=NO)
COMPS............................ List of IDs of components whose efficiencies are to be reported
BASE-COMPS................. List of IDs of components forming the basis for the calculation of
TRAY-EFF or HETP
BUBBLE-DEW................. Options for reporting bubble and dew point temperatures:
BUBBLE-DEW=YES ................ Produces profiles of bubble and dew point
temperatures
BUBBLE-DEW=NO .................. Produces profiles of bubble and dew point
temperatures only for product streams (Default)
INCL-SEGMENTS Use to designate segments to be included in the report when SEGMENT-OPTION=
INCL-SEGMENTS. Enter one INCL-SEGMENTS statement for each column for which segment
reports are wanted. If you give a column number without segment numbers, all segments are
reported for that column.
col.................................... Column number
segment1 ........................ Segment number of initial segment of column to be reported
segment2 ........................ Segment number of final segment of column to be reported
(Default=segment1)

Input Language Guide 17-25

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rate-Based
Distillation

DIAGNOSTICS Use to control the level of convergence diagnostics in the history file:
INITIALIZATION .............. During initialization calculations, controls printing of temperature,
component flows, and composition profiles in the history file, after each
iteration (Default=4)
RATEFRAC ..................... During RATEFRAC calculations, controls printing of temperature,
component flows, composition profiles, and mass-transfer rates in the
history file, after each iteration (Default=4)
TXYEST........................... Controls printing of temperature and composition profile results in input
estimate formats in the history file (Default=4)
PLOT Use to generate segment plots of column profiles. You can report properties on a MOLE, MASS, or
STDVOL basis.
plotno ............................. Plot number
plot-list............................ List of non-component-dependent properties to be plotted:
TEMP ........................................ Temperature
PRES ........................................ Pressure
LRATE ...................................... Liquid flow
VRATE ...................................... Vapor flow
VL-RATIO ................................. Vapor flow/liquid flow
comp-plot ...................... Keyword for component-dependent property to be plotted:
X, Y ........................................... Fractions of the components and/or
component groups listed are plotted
KVL ........................................... K-values of the components and/or
component groups listed are plotted
REL-VOL .................................. Relative volatilities of the components and/or
components groups listed are plotted. You must
also specify BASE-COMP. When a Group ID is
specified,

Σy i / Σx i
REL − VOL =
( y / x) BASE −COMP

S-PLOT ..................................... Separation factors, defined under S-PLOT-

OPTION
groupid-list ..................... List of component IDs and/or component group IDs
BASE-COMP ................... Base component for relative volatility calculations (used with REL-VOL
keyword)
S-PLOT-OPTION............. Definition of separation factor:
S-PLOT-OPTION=LINEAR ...... Separation factor is defined as:
(yi/xi) / (Σyh/Σxh)
if component ID is specified, or:
(Σyi/Σxi) / (Σyh/Σxh)
if a component group ID is specified

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 Chapter 17

S-PLOT-OPTION=LOG............ Separation factor is defined as:

ln(xi/Σxh)
if component ID is specified, or:
ln(Σxi/Σxh)
if a component group ID is specified
Where:
i = Component or list of components
specified by a component group
h = Heavy-key component specified by
HEAVY-KEY
(Default)
S-PLOT-OPTION=.................... Both linear and logarithmic definitions are
COMBINED plotted
HEAVY-KEY .................... Heavy-key component ID or component group ID (used with S-PLOT
keyword)
BASIS .............................. BASIS=MOLE........................... Plotted results are on a mole basis (Default)
BASIS=MASS........................... Plotted results are on a mass basis
BASIS=STDVOL ...................... Plotted results are on a standard-liquid-volume
basis
ORDER ........................... ORDER=TOP-DOWN............... Numbers segments from top down (Default)
ORDER=BOTTOM-UP ............. Numbers segments from bottom up
PLOT-HEADING.............. Heading up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes, printed at the top of the
print-plot
WIDE................................ Plot width option. Use to override default established by the PLOT-
OPTIONS paragraph (See Chapter 47).
L2-SEGMENTS Use to test for liquid phase instability and report the existence of two liquid phases on specified
segments at convergence. The stability calculations will be performed only during the report pass
and do not influence the column calculations already performed.
col.................................... Column number
segment1 ........................ Segment number for the initial segment of column
segment2 ........................ Segment number for the final segment of column (Default=segment1)
COND-HCURVE, REB- Use to generate condenser cooling curves, and reboiler heating curves. You must specify the column
HCURVE number. See Chapter 11 for a description of input keywords.
col.................................... Column number

IC-HTR-HCURVE Use to generate cooling and heating curves for the external heater associated with interconnecting
streams. You must specify the interconnecting stream number. See Chapter 11 for a description of
input keywords.
ic-stream ......................... Interconnecting stream number
REAC-SEGMENTS Use to associate chemical reactions specifications with column segments by entering the reaction
paragraph identifier and the corresponding range of segment numbers.
col.................................... Column number
segment1 ........................ Beginning segment number

Input Language Guide 17-27

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 Rate-Based
Distillation

segment2 ........................ Ending segment number

reacid .............................. REACTIONS or CHEMISTRY paragraph ID. RATEFRAC accepts only
REACTIONS paragraphs of types REAC-DIST and USER. (See
Chapters 5 and 6.)
HOLDUP Use to enter liquid and vapor holdup information when kinetic reactions are present in condensers,
reboilers, and equilibrium segments.
col ................................... Column number
segmentid....................... Segment identifier:
CONDENSER ........................... Condenser
REBOILER................................ Reboiler
EQUILIBRIUM .......................... Equilibrium segment
basis-LIQUID .................. Holdup in liquid phase on a MOLE, MASS, or VOL basis.
(See Usage Note 2.)
basis-VAPOR.................. Holdup in vapor phase on a MOLE, MASS, or VOL basis.
(See Usage Note 2.)
EQUILIBRIUM Use to specify the segments to be modeled as equilibrium segments.
col ................................... Column number
segment1 ........................ Beginning segment number
segment2 ........................ Ending segment number
EQUI-HOLDUP Use to enter liquid and vapor holdup information when kinetic reactions are present in equilibrium
segments.
col ................................... Column number
segment1 ........................ Beginning segment number
segment2 ........................ Ending segment number
basis-LIQUID .................. Holdup in liquid phase on a MOLE, MASS, or VOL basis.
(See Usage Note 2.)
basis-VAPOR.................. Holdup in vapor phase on a MOLE, MASS, or VOL basis.
(See Usage Note 2.)
COOLANT Use to enter cooling or heating specifications on any segment.
col ................................... Column number
segment .......................... Segment number
cid ................................... Coolant component ID
basis-FLOW.................... Flow of coolant on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
UA.................................... Average heat-transfer coefficient
TEMP............................... Inlet coolant temperature
PHASE ............................ Liquid or vapor phase to which the heat duty has to be applied
(Default=liquid)
OPTSETNAME ................ Property option set name (Default=property option set for the
corresponding segment)

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 Chapter 17

PRES ............................... Coolant pressure. Pressure specification is not needed when average
specific heat capacity is entered.
COOLANT-PHASE .......... Coolant phase (Default=liquid)
basis-CP.......................... Average specific heat capacity on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis. If
you do not specify a value, it is rigorously calculated using the specified
property option set.
COMP-EFF Use to specify the component vaporization or Murphree efficiency for equilibrium stages. (See
Usage Note 4.) The type of efficiency is specified by EFF in the PARAM statement. Specified
efficiencies will be used during the initialization step and for equilibrium stages during the
nonequilibrium calculation step. You cannot use COMP-EFF if you specified STAGE-EFF.
col.................................... Column number
segment .......................... Equilibrium stage number
cid.................................... Component ID
eff..................................... Efficiency (Default=1)
STAGE-EFF Use to specify the vaporization or Murphree efficiency for equilibrium stages (See Usage Note 4.)
The type of efficiency is specified by EFF in the PARAM statement. Specified efficiencies will be
used during the initialization step and for equilibrium stages during the nonequilibrium calculation
step. You cannot use STAGE-EFF if you specified COMP-EFF.
col.................................... Column number
segment .......................... Equilibrium stage number
eff..................................... Efficiency (Default=1)
SUBROUTINE Use to enter user-supplied subroutines for mass transfer coefficients, heat transfer coefficients,
interfacial area, and pressure drop. For details on writing these user-supplied subroutines, see
Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 20.
MASS-TRANS ................. User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name for calculating binary mass
transfer coefficients
HEAT-TRANS .................. User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name for calculating heat transfer
coefficients
INTERFACE-AREA ......... User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name for calculating interfacial
areas
PRESS-DROP ................. User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name for calculating pressure drop
and percent flood
USER-VECS Use to define the length of arrays for user-supplied mass transfer coefficient, heat transfer
coefficient, interfacial area, and pressure drop subroutines.
NINTMT ........................... Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied mass transfer
coefficient subroutine
NINTHT............................ Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied heat transfer
coefficient subroutine
NINTIA ............................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied interfacial area
subroutine
NINTPR............................ Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied pressure drop
subroutine
NREALMT........................ Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied mass transfer
coefficient subroutine

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 Rate-Based
Distillation

NREALHT........................ Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied heat transfer
coefficient subroutine
NREALIA......................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied interfacial area
subroutine
NREALPR ....................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied pressure drop
subroutine
INTMT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied mass transfer coefficient
subroutine.
values.............................. List of integer values
REALMT Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied mass transfer coefficient
subroutine.
values.............................. List of real values
INTHT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied heat transfer coefficient
subroutine.
values.............................. List of integer values
REALHT Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied heat transfer coefficient
subroutine.
values.............................. List of real values
INTIA Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied interfacial area coefficient
subroutine.
values.............................. List of integer values
REALIA Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied interfacial area coefficient
subroutine.
values.............................. List of real values
INTPR Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied pressure drop subroutine.
values.............................. List of integer values
REALPR Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied pressure drop subroutine.
values.............................. List of real values
USER-KIN-VECS Use to define the length of arrays for user-supplied kinetics subroutine.
NINT ................................ Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied kinetics
subroutine
NREAL ............................ Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied kinetics subroutine
NIWORK.......................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied kinetics
subroutine
NRWORK ........................ Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied kinetics subroutine
INTK Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied kinetics subroutine.
values.............................. List of integer values
REALK Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied kinetics subroutine.
values.............................. List of real values

17-30 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 17

Usage Notes
1. Column diameter is required for calculating vapor and liquid velocities in a
column. If you do not specify column diameter, RATEFRAC will determine the
required diameter based on flows on a particular segment (BASE-SEGMENT)
of the column. A segment having maximum flows of vapor and liquid streams
can be selected as a BASE-SEGMENT (for example a feed segment). If you do
not provide either COL-DIAM or BASE-SEGMENT, then RATEFRAC will
determine the base-segment and calculate the required column diameter. The
base-segment is the one that results in the maximum diameter among a group
of segments specified by a PACK-SPECS or a TRAY-SPECS sentence. The
keyword DIAM-EST provides an initial estimate of column diameter.
2. For kinetic reactive systems, the holdup volume for liquid and vapor phases
specified using the VOLUME basis will be the actual holdup volume at
operating conditions.

3. Two conventions are available for handling material feed streams, depending
on whether feed-conv=ABOVE-SEGMENT or feed-conv=ON-SEGMENT.

When feed-conv=ABOVE-SEGMENT, a material stream is introduced

between adjacent segments. The liquid portion flows to the segment (n)
specified in the FEEDS statement. The vapor portion flows to the segment
above (n-1). You can introduce a liquid feed to the top segment (or condenser)
by specifying segment=1 in the FEEDS statement. Analogously, you can
introduce a vapor feed to the bottom segment (or reboiler) by specifying
segment=the last segment in that column + 1 in the FEEDS statement. When
a two-phase feed stream is fed to segment 1, the vapor phase is combined
directly with the vapor distillate. Similarly, when a two-phase feed stream is
fed to the last segment in that column + 1, the liquid phase is combined
directly with the liquid bottoms product.
When feed-conv=ON-SEGMENT, both the liquid and vapor portions of a feed
flow to the segment (n) specified in the FEEDS statement.

4. When you enter column profiles, you can supply any number of values. If you
enter only one value, that value applies to all segments. If you enter more
than one value, the profiles are generated by linear interpolation between
given values. For pressure profiles entered using both the P-SPEC and
COL-SPECS statements, see Usage Note 5.
5. There are two methods for entering the pressure profile of a column:
• Use the P-SPEC statement to fully specify the pressure profile. (See Usage
Note 4.)
• Use the P-SPEC statement to enter the pressure of segment 1. Enter the
pressure drop per segment (DP-SEGMENT) or the pressure drop for the
remainder of the column (DP-COL) using the COL-SPECS sentence.

Input Language Guide 17-31

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rate-Based
Distillation

6. On a given segment, if you do not specify some of the component mole

fractions, and the sum of the specified component mole fractions is less than
unity, the unspecified components are all assigned the same value, to yield an
overall sum of unity. If the sum of the specified component mole fractions is
greater than or equal to unity, the unspecified components are assigned a
mole fraction of zero, and the component mole fractions are normalized to
unity if necessary. On segments for which no specifications are given, the
profiles are interpolated in the same manner as the pressure profile. (See
Usage Note 4.)

7. Specifying the temperature T1 can cause problems whenever the temperature

is outside the two-phase region (either below bubble-point or above dew-
point). If you know the type of condenser being used, set basis-RDV>0 (basis-
RDV should be less than or equal to 1.0) for partial condenser and basis-
RDV=0 for total condenser. Use keywords DEGSUB and OPTION in the SC-
REFLUX sentence to specify the condition of reflux.

17-32 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 17

Column Specification Combinations

The allowable combinations of column specifications are indicated with an X in
the following matrix (for columns with more than 1 segment). For columns with 1
segment, one of D, B or Q1 must be specified.

Table 17.1 Valid Column Specification Combinations

L1 VN RR BR Q1 QN

D X X X X X X
B X X X X X X
D:F X X X X X X
B:F X X X X X X
L1 X X
VN X X
RR X X X X X
BR X X X X X
Q1 X X X
QN X X X

Where:
D = Distillate flow (excludes any free water if free-water
calculations are performed)
B = Bottoms flow
D:F = Ratio of distillate flow to feed flow
B:F = Ratio of bottoms flow to feed flow
L1 = Reflux flow (excludes any free water)
VN = Boilup flow
RR = Reflux ratio
BR = Boilup ratio
Q1 = Condenser (or top segment) heat duty
QN = Reboiler (or bottom segment) heat duty

Input Language Guide 17-33

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rate-Based
Distillation

Packing Specifications
The following two tables describe the available types, materials, and sizes of
packing.

Table 17.2 Types, Materials, and Sizes of Random Packings

PACK-TYPE Description of Packing PACK-MAT PACK-SIZE†

CMR Cascade mini-ring METAL NO-0P, NO-1P, NO-1.5P, NO-2P, NO-3P, NO-4P, NO-5P
BERL Berl saddle CERAMIC 0.25-IN, 0.5-IN, 0.75-IN, 1-IN, 1.5-IN, 2-IN
SADDLES Intalox saddle CERAMIC 0.25-IN , 0.375-IN, 0.5-IN, 0.75-IN, 1-IN, 1.5-IN, 2-IN, 3-IN
SADDLES Intalox saddle METAL 1-IN , 1.5-IN, 2-IN, 3-IN
SADDLES Intalox saddle PLASTIC 1-IN , 2-IN, 3-IN
PALL Pall ring METAL 0.625-IN, 1-IN, 1.5-IN, 2-IN, 3.5-IN
PALL Pall ring PLASTIC 0.625-IN, 1-IN, 1.5-IN, 2-IN, 3.5-IN
RASCHIG Raschig ring CARBON 0.25-IN , 0.5-IN , 0.75-IN, 1-IN , 1.5-IN, 2-IN, 3-IN
RASCHIG Raschig ring CERAMIC 0.25-IN, 0.375-IN, 0.5-IN, 0.625-IN, 0.75-IN, 1-IN,
1.25-IN, 1.375-IN, 1.5-IN, 2-IN, 3-IN, 4-IN
RASCHIG Raschig ring METAL-32 0.25-IN, 0.375-IN, 0.5-IN, 0.625-IN, 0.75-IN, 1-IN
RASCHIG Raschig ring METAL-16 0.5-IN, 0.625-IN, 0.75-IN, 1-IN, 1.25-IN , 1.5-IN, 2-IN, 3-IN
RASCHIG Raschig ring GLASS 8-MM, 10-MM, 15-MM, 20-MM, 26-MM, 30-MM, 40-MM,
50-MM
HYPAK Hy-Pak METAL 1-IN, 1.5-IN, 2-IN, 3.5-IN
IMTP Intalox Metal Tower Packing (IMTP) METAL 0.625-IN, 1-IN, 1.5-IN, 2-IN, 3-IN
SUPER-INTX Super Intalox saddle CERAMIC 1-IN , 2-IN
SUPER-INTX Super Intalox saddle PLASTIC 1-IN, 2-IN, 3.5-IN
SNOWFLAKE Norton Snowflake PLASTIC II
FLEXIRING Koch Flexiring STEEL 0.625-IN, 1-IN, 1.5-IN, 2-IN, 3.5-IN
FLEXIRING Koch Flexiring POLYPROP 0.625-IN, 1-IN, 1.5-IN, 2-IN, 3.5-IN
HCKP Koch HCKP multi-tab slotted ring STEEL 30-MM, 45-MM, 60-MM, 90-MM
FLEXIMAX Koch Fleximax high performance STEEL 200, 300, 400, 700
FLEXISADDLE Koch Flexisaddle POLYPROP 1-IN, 2-IN, 3-IN
FLEXISADDLE Koch Flexisaddle CERAMIC 1-IN, 1.5-IN, 2-IN, 3-IN
USER User specified USER USER
† You must put quotes around the selected PACK-SIZE value.

17-34 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 17

Table 17.3 Types, Materials, and Sizes of Structured Packings

PACK-TYPE Description of Packing PACK-MAT PACK-SIZE†

SULZER Sulzer Gauze METAL BX, CY

SULZER Sulzer Gauze PLASTIC BX
MELLAPAK Sulzer Mellapak METAL 250Y, 500X, 750Y
KERAPAK Sulzer Kerapak CERAMIC BX
ISP Norton Intalox METAL 2T
FLEXIPAC Koch Flexipac corrugated sheet POLYPROP 2X, 2Y
FLEXIPAC Koch Flexipac corrugated sheet STEEL 1X, 1Y, 1.4X, 1.4Y, 1.6X, 1.6Y, 2X, 2Y, 2.5X, 2.5Y,
3X, 3Y, 4X, 4Y
FLEXERAMIC Koch Flexeramic CERAMIC 28, 48, 88
MONTZPAK Montz METAL B1-200
GEMPAK Gempak packing METAL 1A, 1.5A, 2A, 2AT, 3A, 4A
MCPAK MC packing METAL 500M, 500S
TECHNOPAC Technopack packing STANDARD G500B
K
DURAPACK Schott Durapack GLASS 280R, 400R
MAX-PAK Jaeger MAX-PAK METAL STANDARD
USER User specified USER USER
† You must put quotes around the selected PACK-SIZE value.

Input Language Guide 17-35

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rate-Based
Distillation

Accessing Variables in RATEFRAC

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3 Element

PARAM TOT-SEGMENT — — — —
COL-CONFIG NSEGMENT col — — —
TRAY-SPECS SEGMENT2, NTRAYS, NTRAYS:SEGMENT, col segment1 — —
COL-DIAM, WEIRHT, FLOWLENGTH,
ACTAREA, DCAREA, NPASSES, basis-VHLDP,
basis-LHLDP, TRAY-SPACING, VAPOR-
PERCENT, DC-RES-TIME, PERCENT-FLOOD,
RATIO-VHLDP, RATIO-LHLDP, SYSTEM-
FACTOR
PACK-SPECS SEGMENT2, HTPACK, HTPACK:SEGMENT, col segment1 — —
PACK-SIZE, SPAREA, PACK-FACTOR, PACK-
TENSION, COL-DIAM, basis-VHLDP, basis-
LHLDP, PERCENT-FLOOD, PERCENT-VHLDP,
PERCENT-LHLDP, VOID-FRACTION
FEEDS COL, SEGMENT sid — — —
PRODUCTS COL, SEGMENT, basis-FLOW sid — — —
PSEUDO- COL, SEGMENT, basis-FLOW, IC-STREAM sid — — —
STREAM
P-SPEC PRES col segment — —
COL-SPECS basis-RDV, T1, basis-RR, basis-L1, basis-D, col — — —
basis-B, basis-VN, basis-BR, basis-D:F, basis-
B:F, Q1, QN, RDV-EST, DP-SEGMENT, DP-COL
HEATERS DUTY col segment — —
CONNECT- SOURCE-COL, SOURCE-SEGMENT, DEST- ic-stream — — —
STREAM COL, DEST-SEGMENT, basis-FLOW, TEMP,
DELT, DUTY
L-SPEC basis-FLOW, Q-COL, Q-SEGMENT, IC-STREAM col segment — —
V-SPEC basis-FLOW, Q-COL, Q-SEGMENT, IC-STREAM col segment — —
FLOW-RATIO basis-RATIO, COL, SEGMENT, BASE-COL, rationo — — —
BASE-SEGMENT, Q-COL, Q-SEGMENT, IC-
STREAM
T-SPEC TEMP col segment — —

continued

17-36 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 17

Block Input (continued)

Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3 Element

SC-REFLUX TEMP, DEGSUB col — — —

TLIQ-EST LIQTEMP col segment — —
TVAP-EST VAPTEMP col segment — —
MOLE-L-EST FLOW col segment — —
MOLE-V-EST FLOW col segment — —
X-EST X col segment cid —
Y-EST Y col segment cid —
COND-HCURVE NPOINT, INCR, PDROP curveno — — —
REB-HCURVE NPOINT, INCR, PDROP curveno — — —
IC-HTR- NPOINT, INCR, PDROP curveno — — —
CURVE
REAC- SEGMENT2 col segment1 — —
SEGMENTS
HOLDUP basis-LIQUID, basis-VAPOR col segmentid† — —
EQUILIBRIUM SEGMENT2 col segment1 — —
EQUI- SEGMENT2, basis-LIQUID, basis-VAPOR col segment1 — —
HOLDUP
VARY†† COL, SEGMENT, IC-STREAM, RATIO-NO varyno — — —
SPEC†† VALUE, COL, SEGMENT, IC-STREAM, BASE- specno — — —
COL, BASE-SEGMENT
COOLANT PRES, TEMP, basis-CP, UA, basis-FLOW col segment — —
INTMT VALUES — — — †††

INTIA VALUES — — — †††

INTHT VALUES — — — †††

INTPR VALUES — — — †††

INTK VALUES — — — †††

REALMT VALUES — — — †††

REALIA VALUES — — — †††

REALHT VALUES — — — †††

REALPR VALUES — — — †††

REALK VALUES — — — †††

† See Notes on Accessing RATEFRAC Variables, Note 2.

†† Accessed variables are in SI units.

††† Position of a value in the INTxx or REALxx value array

Input Language Guide 17-37

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rate-Based
Distillation

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Condenser duty RESULTS COND-DUTY col —

Reboiler duty RESULTS REB-DUTY col —
Subcooled reflux duty SC-RESULTS QSC col —
Subcooled temperature SC-RESULTS TSC col —
Distillate flow COL-RESULTS D col —
Bottoms flow COL-RESULTS B col —
Reflux ratio COL-RESULTS RR col —
Reflux rate COL-RESULTS L1 col —
Boilup ratio COL-RESULTS BR col —
Boilup rate COL-RESULTS VN col —
Flow CS-RESULTS CS-FLOW-RES ic-stream —
Duty CS-RESULTS CS-DUTY-RES ic-stream —
Temperature CS-RESULTS CS-TEMP-RES ic-stream —
Temperature change CS-RESULTS CS-DELT-RES ic-stream —
Liquid flow PROFILE LRATE Stack segment†† —
Vapor flow PROFILE VRATE Stack segment†† —
Liquid temperature PROFILE LTEMP Stack segment†† —
Vapor temperature PROFILE VTEMP Stack segment†† —
Interface temperature PROFILE ITEMP Stack segment†† —
Pressure PROFILE PRES Stack segment†† —
Liquid heat duty Q-PROFILE Q-LIQUID Stack segment†† —
Vapor heat duty Q-PROFILE Q-VAPOR Stack segment†† —
Bulk liquid composition COMPS LIQUIDCOMP cid Stack segment††
Bulk vapor composition COMPS VAPORCOMP cid Stack segment††
Interface liquid composition COMPS LIQUIDINT cid Stack segment††
Interface vapor composition COMPS VAPORINT cid Stack segment††
Mass transfer rate COMPS TRANSFER-RATE cid Stack segment††
† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

†† Stack segment is the segment number when all columns are stacked one on top of another to form one column. For example, if
there are two columns and both columns have 10 segments, segment 5 in column 2 will have a stack segment number of 15.

continued

17-38 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 17

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2

Heat transfer rate PROFILE VAPOR-HRATE Stack segment†† —

Liquid phase reaction rate REACTION-RATE LIQUID-COMPS cid Stack segment††
Vapor phase reaction rate REACTION-RATE VAPOR-COMPS cid Stack segment††
Manipulated variable††† MAN-VARS MAN-VAL varyno —
Component efficiency♦ EFF-RESULTS EFFICIENCY cid Stack segment††
Tray efficiency♦♦ TRAYPACK-EFF TRAY-EFF Stack segment†† —
HETP♦♦♦ TRAYPACK-EFF HETP Stack segment†† —

† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

†† Stack segment is the segment number when all columns are stacked one on top of another to form one column. For example, if
there are two columns and both columns have 10 segments, segment 5 in column 2 will have a stack segment number of 15.
††† Accessed variables are in SI units.

♦ Results available only when COMP-EFF=YES in the SEGMENT-REPORT keyword

♦♦ Results available for trays only when TRAY-EFF=YES in the SEGMENT-REPORT keyword

♦♦♦ Results available for packing only when HETP=YES in the SEGMENT-REPORT keyword

Input Language Guide 17-39

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Rate-Based
Distillation

Notes on Accessing RATEFRAC Variables

1. You must reinitialize RATEFRAC when the following block inputs are varied:
Sentence Variable

TLIQ-EST LIQTEMP
TVAP-EST VAPTEMP
MOLE-L-EST FLOW
MOLE-V-EST FLOW
X-EST X
Y-EST Y

You must reinitialize RATEFRAC as follows:

• For design specifications and Calculator or Transfer blocks, enter a
BLOCK-OPTIONS RESTART=NO sentence (see Chapter 11) in the
RATEFRAC paragraph. (Integer values cannot be varied by a design
specification or optimization.)

• For case-study (see Chapter 37) or sensitivity blocks (see Chapter 36), you
must enter the RATEFRAC block ID in the REINIT BLOCKS list of the
case study or sensitivity block.

You must ensure consistency when changing the column configuration (such
as, total number of segments and feed segment locations). For example, if you
change TOT-SEGMENT from 20 to 19, you must also change the segment
associated with the bottom product.

2. For CONDENSER, use segmentid=1.

For EQUILIBRIUM, use segmentid=2.
For REBOILER, use segmentid=3.
❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

17-40 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 18

18 Liquid-Liquid Extraction
This chapter describes the input language for the liquid-liquid extraction model.
The model is:
Model Description Purpose Use

EXTRACT Liquid-liquid Rigorous rating calculations for Countercurrent liquid-liquid extractors with a feed stream to the
extractor liquid-liquid extraction top and bottom stage, and a product stream for the top and
bottom stage. Additional side feeds, products, and heaters are
allowed.

Input Language Guide 18-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Liquid-Liquid
Extraction

EXTRACT
Liquid-Liquid Extractor

Input Language for EXTRACT

BLOCK blockid EXTRACT
PARAM keyword=value

Keyword:
NSTAGE
Optional keywords:
MAXOL MAXIL TOLOL RMSOL1 OLMETH ILMETH QMINBWOL
QMAXBWOL QMINBWIL QMAXBWIL MAXIP TOLIL0 TOLILFAC
TOLILMIN FMINFAC LLRATIO-REP

FEEDS sid stage / . . .

PRODUCTS sid stage [phase] [mole-flow] / . . .
PSEUDO-STREAM sid stage phase [MOLE-FLOW=value] / . . .
P-SPEC stage pres / . . .
HEATERS stage duty / . . .
T-SPEC stage temp / . . .
L1-COMPS cid-list
L2-COMPS cid-list
T-EST stage temp / . . .
X1-EST stage cid frac / . . .
X2-EST stage cid frac / . . .
COMP-EFF stage cid eff / . . .
STAGE-EFF stage eff / . . .
basis-KLL KLL-CID=cid KLL-A=value [KLL-B=value] [KLL-C=value] [KLL-
D=value]
DIAGNOSTICS keyword=value

Keywords:
MAIN TERM

REPORT reportopt-list

Special reportopts:
NOPROFILE NOCOMPS NOENTH

TRAY-REPORT keyword=value

Keywords:
TRAY-OPTION FORMAT ORDER PROPERTIES WIDE

INCL-TRAYS [stage1] [stage2] / . . .

18-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 18

PLOT plotno plot-list comp-plot=groupid-list keyword=value

Plot-list options:
TEMP PRES LRATE LL-RATIO
Comp-plot options:
X1 X2 KLL
Optional keywords:
BASIS ORDER PLOT-HEADING WIDE

SUBROUTINE KLL=subrname
USER-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
NINT NREAL

INT VALUE-LIST=values
REAL VALUE-LIST=values

Input Language Description for EXTRACT

PARAM Use to enter the number of stages and optional convergence parameters.
NSTAGE .......................... Number of stages
MAXOL ............................ Maximum number of outside loop iterations (Default=25)
MAXIL .............................. Maximum number of inside loop iterations per outside loop (Default=10)
TOLOL............................. Outside loop convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-4)
RMSOL1 .......................... Threshold value of outside loop RMS error. Below this threshold
EXTRACT uses the Broyden method for selected variables. (Default=0.1)
OLMETH.......................... Outside loop convergence methods:
OLMETH=BROYDEN............... Broyden quasi-Newton method (Default)
OLMETH=WEGSTEIN.............. Bounded Wegstein method
ILMETH............................ Outside loop convergence methods:
ILMETH=BROYDEN................. Broyden quasi-Newton method
ILMETH=WEGSTEIN ............... Bounded Wegstein method
ILMETH=COMBINED ............... Combination of Broyden and Wegstein method
(Default)
QMINBWOL..................... Minimum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for outside
loop (Default=0.0)
QMAXBWOL ................... Maximum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for outside
loop (Default=0.5)
QMINBWIL ...................... Minimum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for inside
loop (Default=0.0)
QMAXBWIL ..................... Maximum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for inside
loop (Default=0.5)

Input Language Guide 18-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Liquid-Liquid
Extraction

MAXIP ............................. Maximum number of initialization calculation passes (Default=3)

TOLIL0 ............................ Initial value of inside loop tolerance (Default=0.01)
TOLILFAC ....................... Ratio of inside loop tolerance to outside loop RMS error (Default=0.03)
TOLILMIN........................ Minimum value of inside loop tolerance (Default=3x10-6)
FMINFAC......................... Minimum allowed value for stage flow as a fraction of the total feed
(Default=1x10-4)
LLRATIO-REP................. Whether to report the flow ratio profile of second-liquid to first-liquid:
LLARTIO-REP=YES................. Include flow ratio profile in block report
LLRATIO-REP=NO .................. Do not include flow ratio profile in block report
(Default)
FEEDS Use to enter inlet material and heat stream stage numbers. An L1-rich stream must enter stage1.
An L2-rich stream must enter NSTAGE.
sid ................................... Stream ID
stage ............................... Stage number
PRODUCTS Use to enter outlet material and heat stream stage numbers and phases. An L1 phase stream must
leave stage NSTAGE. An L2 phase stream must leave stage1. EXTRACT calculates flow rates of
these streams. For all other outlet material streams, you must also specify the mole flow rate. For
outlet heat streams, specify only the stream ID and stage number.
sid ................................... Stream ID
stage ............................... Stage number
phase .............................. L1 .............................................. First-liquid phase
L2 .............................................. Second-liquid phase
mole-flow ........................ Molar flow rate
PSEUDO-STREAM Use to identify outlet streams as pseudoproduct streams and to specify the location, phase, and flow
rate of the pseudoproduct stream. If you do not specify a flow rate, EXTRACT uses the net flow rate
of the stage and phase (excluding any flow rate withdrawn as product).
sid ................................... Stream ID
stage ............................... Stage number
phase .............................. L1 .............................................. First-liquid phase
L2 .............................................. Second-liquid phase
MOLE-FLOW................... Molar flow rate
P-SPEC Use to specify the column pressure profile.
stage ............................... Stage number
pres ................................. Pressure
HEATERS Use to specify heater/cooler stage locations and duties. Do not use HEATERS if you used T-SPEC. If
you do not enter HEATERS or T-SPEC, the column will operate adiabatically.
stage ............................... Stage number
duty ................................. Heat duty

18-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 18

T-SPEC Use to specify a column temperature profile. These values are the final stage temperatures.
EXTRACT does not adjust them. If you entered HEATERS, you cannot use T-SPEC.
stage................................ Stage number
temp ................................ Temperature
L1-COMPS Use to enter a list of key components that identify the L1 phase. The liquid phase with the larger
mole fraction of these key components is designated as the L1 phase.
cid-list ............................. Key component ID list
L2-COMPS Use to enter a list of key components that identify the L2 phase. The liquid phase with the larger
mole fraction of these key components is designated as the L2 phase.
cid-list ............................. Key component ID list
T-EST Use to enter initial temperature profile estimates. EXTRACT adjusts these values to satisfy the
stage enthalpy balances. If you do not use the T-SPEC statement, T-EST is required.
stage................................ Stage number
temp ................................ Temperature
X1-EST, Use to enter initial composition profile estimates. If you do not enter X1-EST or X2-EST, EXTRACT
X2-EST generates an initial profile using a built-in procedure.
stage................................ Stage number
cid.................................... Component ID
frac .................................. Liquid mole fractions of the corresponding phase
COMP-EFF Use to enter values for separation efficiency by component. Efficiency is defined by
xiL 2 = (eff i ) K i xiL1 .
Where:
K = Component distribution coefficient
x = Liquid mole fraction
i = Component index
L1 = Liquid phase 1
L2 = Liquid phase 2
You cannot use COMP-EFF, if you used STAGE-EFF.
stage................................ Stage number
cid.................................... Component ID
eff..................................... Efficiency
STAGE-EFF Use to enter values for separation efficiency by stage. The stage efficiency is the efficiency for all
components on that stage. See COMP-EFF for a definition. You cannot use STAGE-EFF, if you used
COMP-EFF.
stage................................ Stage number
eff..................................... Efficiency
basis-KLL Use to enter coefficients for built-in KLL expression for calculating liquid-liquid equilibrium K-
values. You can enter basis-KLL in MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis.
KLL-CID........................... Component ID

Input Language Guide 18-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Liquid-Liquid
Extraction

KLL-A, KLL-B, ................ Coefficients for KLL expression, which is defined as:
KLL-C, KLL-D ln(KLL) = (KLL-A) + (KLL-B)/T + (KLL-C) × ln(T) + (KLL-D) × T
Where:
K = Liquid-liquid equilibrium K-value
T = Temperature in Kelvin
You must specify the value of coefficient KLL-A. Default value of the
remaining coefficients is 0.0.
DIAGNOSTICS Use to enter diagnostic messages levels of convergence and simulation problems in the history and
log files. The level is defined from 0 to 10. The amount of information listed increases with each
level.
MAIN................................ Controls printouts of initial/final profiles, inside/outside loop iterations,
and outside loop variables/functions in the history file (Default=4)
TERM............................... Controls printouts of inside and outside loop iterations in the log file
(Default=0)
REPORT Use to override the default report options. You can use the standard REPORT options for use
within a block (see Chapter 11) for EXTRACT.
reportopt......................... Standard block report options (see Chapter 11), in addition to the
following:
NOPROFILE ............................. Suppresses stagewise profiles of temperature,
operating pressure, flows, enthalpies, and
duties for this block
NOCOMPS................................ Suppresses mole fraction and K-value profiles
for this block
NOENTH ................................... Suppresses the enthalpy profile for this block
TRAY-REPORT Use to specify the report format and additional tray properties to be reported (in addition to the
flows, temperatures, pressures, enthalpies, duties, mole fractions, and K-values printed in the
standard report).
TRAY-OPTION ................ Specifies the stages included in the report:
TRAY-OPTION=BRIEF ............ Reports stages that have feeds, products,
heaters, maximum and minimum flows, and the
stages immediately above and below those
stages (Default)
TRAY-OPTION= ....................... Reports the stages specified in the INCL-
INCL-TRAYS TRAYS statement
TRAY-OPTION=ALL-TRAYS... Reports all stages
FORMAT ......................... FORMAT=PROFILE ................. Prints tabular column profiles (Default)
FORMAT=STAGE .................... Prints individual stage reports
FORMAT=COMBINED ............. Prints both tabular column profiles and
individual stage reports
ORDER............................ Tray numbering order. Use for report only.
ORDER=TOP-DOWN ............... Numbers stages from L1 feed down (Default)
ORDER=BOTTOM-UP ............. Numbers stages from L2 feed up
PROPERTIES.................. List of property set IDs

18-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 18

WIDE................................ Report width option

WIDE=YES ............................... Produces wide (132 columns) reports (Default)
WIDE=NO ................................. Produces standard (80 columns) reports
INCL-TRAYS Use to designate stages to be included in the report when TRAY-OPTION=INCL-TRAYS in the
TRAY-REPORT statement.
stage1.............................. Stage number of initial stage of column segment to be reported
stage2.............................. Stage number of final stage of column segment to be reported
(Default=stage1)
PLOT Use to generate stagewise plots of column profiles. You can report properties on a MOLE, MASS, or
STDVOL basis.
plotno .............................. Plot number
plot-list ............................ List of non-component-dependent properties to be plotted:
TEMP ........................................ Temperature
PRES ........................................ Pressure
LRATE ...................................... Liquid flow rate of both liquids
LL-RATIO ................................. Second-liquid flow rate/first-liquid flow rate
comp-plot........................ Keyword for component-dependent property to be plotted:
X1, X2 ....................................... Fractions of the components and/or component
groups listed are plotted.
KLL ........................................... K-values of the components and/or component
groups listed are plotted.
KLL is the ratio x2/x1
groupid-list ..................... List of component IDs and/or component group IDs
BASIS .............................. BASIS=MOLE........................... Plotted results are on a mole basis (Default)
BASIS=MASS........................... Plotted results are on a mass basis
BASIS=STDVOL ...................... Plotted results are on a standard-liquid- volume
basis
ORDER ............................ ORDER=TOP-DOWN............... Numbers stages from top down (Default)
ORDER=BOTTOM-UP ............. Numbers stages from bottom up
PLOT-HEADING.............. Heading up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes, printed at the top of the
print-plot
WIDE................................ Plot width option. Use to override default established by the PLOT-
OPTIONS paragraph (See Chapter 47).
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied KLL subroutine. For details on writing user-supplied KLL subroutine,
see Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 16.
KLL .................................. User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name for KLL calculations
USER-VECS Use to define the length of the arrays for user-supplied KLL subroutine.
NINT................................. Length of integer parameter array
NREAL............................. Length of real parameter array

Input Language Guide 18-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Liquid-Liquid
Extraction

INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied KLL subroutine.
VALUE-LIST.................... List of integer values
REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array for the user-supplied KLL subroutine.
VALUE-LIST.................... List of real values

Accessing Variables in EXTRACT

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 Element
PARAM NSTAGE — — —
FEEDS STAGE sid — —
PRODUCTS STAGE, MOLE-FLOW sid — —
PSEUDO-STREAM STAGE, MOLE-FLOW sid — —
P-SPEC PRES stage — —
HEATERS DUTY stage — —
T-SPEC TEMP stage — —
T-EST TEMP stage — —
X1-EST X1 stage cid —
X2-EST X2 stage cid —
COMP-EFF EFF stage cid —
STAGE-EFF EFF stage — —
basis-KLL KLL-A, KLL-B, KLL-C, KLL-D cid — —
INT VALUE — — †

REAL VALUE — — †

† Position of a value in the INT or REAL value-list

18-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 18

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2
Stage temperature PROFILE TEMP stage —
Stage pressure PROFILE PRES stage —
Stage L1 rate PROFILE L1RATE stage —
Stage L2 rate PROFILE L2RATE stage —
Stage heat duty PROFILE DUTY stage —
L1 compositions COMPS X1 cid stage
L2 compositions COMPS X2 cid stage
† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 18-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Liquid-Liquid
Extraction

18-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 19

19 Batch Distillation
This chapter describes the input language for the batch distillation model. The
model is:
Model Description Purpose Use

BATCHFRAC† Batch distillation Rigorous rating calculations for Batch distillation, including highly nonideal,
batch columns three-phase, and reactive systems
† BATCHFRAC requires a separate license, and can be used only by customers who have licensed it
through a specific license agreement with Aspen Technology, Inc.

Input Language Guide 19-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Batch
Distillation

BATCHFRAC
Batch Distillation

Input Language for BATCHFRAC

BLOCK blockid BATCHFRAC
SUBOBJECTS COL-SPECS=opstepid-list
PROP-SECTIONS stage1 stage2 opsetname keyword=value

Keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS

PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
NSTAGE NPHASE NOPSTEP NACCUM
Optional keywords:
NCONTROLLER NDECANTERS DP-STAGE DP-COL COND-TYPE
ALGORITHM INT-TOL HINIT TOLOL TOLIL TOTRF MAXTRF MAXIL
FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL HMODEL1 MAX-BROY MAXOL NSMAX
REPORT-BASIS REPORT-TIME MAX-TPLOT DRYUP-CHECK

MAIN-ACCUM keyword=value

Keywords:
ACCTYPE basis-HOLDUP

HOLDUP keyword=value

Keywords:
basis-CONHLDP basis-STGHLDP

HOLDUP-SEG stage1 stage2 basis-LHLDP=value

P-SPEC stage pres / . . .
CHARGE sid feedtime
PRODUCTS sid prodtype ACCUM=value / . . .
HEATERS stage duty / . . .
HTLOSS stage duty / . . .
COMP-EFF stage cid eff / . . .
STAGE-EFF stage eff / . . .
DECANTERS stage ACCUM=value / . . .
L2-COMPS cid-list
L2-STAGES stage1 stage2 / . . .
REAC-STAGES stage1 stage2 reacid / . . .
COL-CONFIG opstepid CONDENSER=value [MAIN-ACCUM=value]

19-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 19

COL-SPECS opstepid keyword=value

Keywords:
TYPE basis-RDV basis-D basis-RRATE basis-VN basis-RR Q-COND
Q-REB RETFRACO RETFRACW
Optional keywords:
basis-TRF-VN T-COND DP-STAGE DP-COL

SC-REFLUX opstepid DEGSUB=value

STOP-CRIT opstepid stoptype value keyword=value

Stoptypes:
basis-ACCUM basis-REB basis-AFRAC basis-FRAC TIME
TEMPERATURE
Keywords:
MAXTIME FROM STAGE COMPS BASE-COMPS ACCUM

OP-DECANTERS opstepid stage keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
basis-LHLDP L1-SPEC L2-SPEC
Optional keywords:
L1-RSTAGE L2-RSTAGE TEMP DEGSUB P-SPEC

OP-L2-COMPS opstepid cid-list

OP-L2-STAGES opstepid stage1 stage2 / . . .
FEEDS opstepid sid switch keyword=value

Keywords:
STAGE FEED-CONV

OP-CHARGE opstepid sid feedtime / . . .

DUMP opstepid accumno sid / . . .
RECYCLE opstepid refopstepid ref-accumno accum-frac / . . .
DRAWS opstepid drawno switch keyword=value

Keywords:
STAGE PHASE basis-FLOW ACCUM

PSEUDO-STREAM opstepid sid accumno time-avg / . . .

OP-HOLDUP opstepid keyword=value

Keywords:
basis-CONHLDP basis-STGHLDP

OP-HOLDUP-SEG opstepid stage1 stage2 basis-LHLDP=value / . . .

OP-P-SPEC opstepid stage pres / . . .
OP-P-RAMP opstepid keyword=value

Keywords:

Input Language Guide 19-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Batch
Distillation

RAMP-TIME DELAY-TIME

HEAT-FLUID opstepid spectype keyword=value

Keywords:
CID OPSETNAME basis-FLOW UA TEMP PRES PHASE basis-CP

OP-HEATERS opstepid stage switch duty / . . .

OP-HTLOSS opstepid stage duty / . . .
OP-REAC-STAGES opstepid switch stage1 stage2 reacid / . . .
OP-COMP-EFF opstepid stage cid eff / . . .
OP-STAGE-EFF opstepid stage eff / . . .
OP-PROP-SECTIONS opstepid stage1 stage2 opsetname &
keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS

RESTART OPSTEP=opstepid
CONTROLLER opstepid controlno switch keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP basis-FRAC STAGE COMPS BASE-COMPS GAIN VARTYPE
LB UB
Optional keywords:
INT-TIME DERIV-TIME MANVAR-LAG MEASURE-LAG

T-EST stage temp / . . .

X-EST stage cid x/...
Y-EST stage cid y/...
RECORD-TPHQ stage1 stage2 / . . .
RECORD-FLOWS stage1 stage2 / . . .
RECORD-X stage1 stage2 / . . .
RECORD-Y stage1 stage2 / . . .
RECORD-X1 stage1 stage2 / . . .
RECORD-X2 stage1 stage2 / . . .
RECORD-RGEN stage1 stage2 / . . .
RECORD-ACCM accum1 accum2 / . . .
RECORD-ACCX accum1 accum2 / . . .
DIAGNOSTICS keyword=value

Keywords:
MAIN SOLVER TRFLX CMBAL EMBAL

REPORT reportopt-list

Special reportopts:
NOPROFILE NOCOMPS

REPORT-OPTION keyword=value

Keywords:

19-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 19

REC-PROFILE COND-DUMP

SUBROUTINE keyword=value

Keywords:
COL-PRES Q-REB

USER-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
NINTP NREALP NIWORKP NWORKP NINTQR NREALQR
NIWORKQR NWORKQR

INTP VALUE-LIST=values
REALP VALUE-LIST=values
INTQR VALUE-LIST=values
REALQR VALUE-LIST=values

Input Language Description for BATCHFRAC

SUBOBJECTS Use to enter a list of IDs for operation steps. IDs are character strings up to eight characters long,
used for referencing operation steps in other input statements. If you do not enter IDs using a
SUBOBJECTS statement, operation steps are referenced by a sequential integer number.
COL-SPECS .................... List of operation step IDs
PROP-SECTIONS Use to specify property options for a column segment. PROP-SECTIONS overrides the
PROPERTIES sentence for a column segment. The input language for PROP-SECTIONS is the
same as for the PROPERTIES sentence, except you must specify the column segment for PROP-
SECTIONS. See Chapter 11 for information on the PROPERTIES sentence.
BATCHFRAC always performs column initialization calculations, using specifications in the
PROPERTIES sentence regardless of what is specified in the PROP-SECTIONS sentence.
Therefore, it is important that the property option in the PROPERTIES sentence gives reasonable
property representation at the average condition of the column.
Any option set name entered in the PROP-SECTIONS sentence must also be named in the
PROPERTIES sentence. (For more information about specifying an option set, see Chapter 8.)
stage1.............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2.............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment. For decanter enter D in
this position.
opsetname ...................... Property option set to be used
PARAM Use to enter column configuration parameters, number of operation steps, algorithm options, and
optional convergence parameters.
NSTAGE .......................... Number of equilibrium stages, including condenser and reboiler. Must be
greater than one for NPHASE=2, and greater than two for NPHASE=3.
Number the stages from the top down, starting with the condenser.
NPHASE .......................... Number of phases in column calculations. Enter 2 for V-L phases, 3 for V-
L-L phases.
NOPSTEP........................ Number of operation steps
NACCUM ......................... Number of accumulators

Input Language Guide 19-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Batch
Distillation

NCONTROLLER ............. Number of controllers

NDECANTERS ................ Number of decanters
DP-STAGE ...................... Pressure drop per stage
DP-COL ........................... Pressure drop for column
COND-TYPE.................... Condenser type for two-phase column calculations (NPHASE=2)
COND-TYPE=2PHASE ............ Performs two-phase (vapor-liquid equilibrium)
calculations in the condenser (Default)
COND-TYPE=3PHASE ............ Performs three-phase (vapor-liquid-liquid
equilibrium) calculations in the condenser
ALGORITHM ................... ALGORITHM=STANDARD ...... Normal algorithm (Default)
ALGORITHM=NEWTON .......... Newton algorithm is automatically used when
column specifications involve reactions,
condenser temperature, degrees subcooling,
partial condenser, or free-water calculations.
INT-TOL........................... Integration error tolerance used to control the integration step size
(Default=1x10-4)
HINIT ............................... Initial time step size used by the integration method (in seconds). This
value is automatically adjusted by the integrator. (Default=1.0)
TOLOL ............................ Distillation algorithm outside loop tolerance (Default=1x10-5)
TOLIL .............................. Distillation algorithm inside loop tolerance (Default=1x10-6)
TOTRF............................. Total reflux algorithm tolerance (Default=1x10-6)
MAXTRF.......................... Maximum number of total reflux iterations (Default=60)
MAXIL.............................. Maximum number of inside loop iterations (Default=10)
FLASH-MAXIT................. Maximum number of flash iterations (Default=50)
FLASH-TOL .................... Tolerance for flash calculations (Default=1x10-4)
HMODEL1 ....................... Basis option for local enthalpy departure model:
HMODEL1=MOLE .................... Molar basis, adequate for most applications
HMODEL1=MASS .................... Mass basis, recommended for wide-boiling
systems
HMODEL1=............................... Pseudo-mass basis, internally generated
PSEUDO-MASS pseudo-molecular weights (Default)
MAX-BROY ..................... Maximum number of variables converged by the Broyden method in the
outside loop (Default=200)
MAXOL............................ Maximum number of outside loop iterations (Default=50)
NSMAX............................ Maximum number of integration steps per operation step (Default=2000)
REPORT-BASIS.............. Basis for reporting flow rate and flow ratio results: MOLE or MASS
(Default=MOLE)
REPORT-TIME ................ Time interval for recording profile and accumulator results. To specify the
recording of results, use RECORD-TPHQ, RECORD-FLOWS, RECORD-
X, RECORD-Y, RECORD-X1, RECORD-X2, RECORD-RGEN, RECORD-
ACCM, and RECORD-ACCX. (Default=1.0 hr)

19-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 19

MAX-TPLOT .................... Maximum number of intermediate profiles recorded. If the number of

recorded profiles exceeds MAX-TPLOT, REPORT-TIME is automatically
increased. (Default=100)
DRYUP-CHECK............... DRYUP-CHECK=YES .............. Check for dry stages (Default)
DRYUP-CHECK=NO................ Do not check for dry stages
MAIN-ACCUM Use to enter specifications for the main accumulator. You can specify holdup on a MOLE, MASS, or
VOL basis.
ACCTYPE ........................ Accumulator type: STANDARD or DIFFERENTIAL
(Default=STANDARD)
basis-HOLDUP................ Differential accumulator holdup
HOLDUP Use to specify condenser and stage liquid holdup. BATCHFRAC assumes stage holdup to be
constant for all internal stages. You can specify holdup on a MOLE, MASS, or VOL basis.
basis-CONHLDP ............. Condenser holdup
basis-STGHLDP.............. Stage liquid holdup
HOLDUP-SEG Use to specify liquid holdup for column segment(s), except the reboiler. BATCHFRAC assumes the
reboiler is large enough to hold material in the column that is not taken up by the condenser and
internal-stage holdups. You can specify holdup on a MOLE, MASS, or VOL basis.
stage1.............................. Stage number for the initial stage of the column segment
stage2.............................. Stage number for the final stage of the column segment
basis-LHLDP................... Liquid holdup
P-SPEC Use to specify the column pressure profile.
stage................................ Stage number
pres ................................. Pressure
CHARGE Use to specify the amount of initial charge to the reboiler. BATCHFRAC calculates the amount of
charge by multiplying the flow rate of inlet stream by the feed time.
sid.................................... Stream ID
feedtime .......................... Feed time (Default=1 hr)
PRODUCTS Use to enter outlet streams specifications at the end of the distillation.
sid.................................... Stream ID
prodtype.......................... Type of product stream:
COL-CONTENTS ..................... Material remaining in the reboiler plus stages
at the end of the last operation step
DISTILLATE ............................. Material in the main distillate accumulator
(ACCUM=1)
SIDE.......................................... Material in any side product accumulator
(ACCUM > 1)
ACCUM............................ Accumulator number from which product stream is withdrawn. Required
for prodtypes DISTILLATE and SIDE.
HEATERS Use to enter the heater stage locations and duties.
stage................................ Stage number

Input Language Guide 19-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Batch
Distillation

duty ................................. Heat duty

HTLOSS Use to enter the heat loss locations and profiles.
stage ............................... Stage number
duty ................................. Heat loss. A positive value for duty indicates that heat is being lost from
the stage. A negative value indicates that heat is being added to the
stage. Heat loss for stages not entered are either interpolated or
extrapolated.
COMP-EFF Use to enter component vaporization efficiencies. You cannot use COMP-EFF if you used STAGE-
EFF or if NPHASE=3.
stage ............................... Stage number
cid ................................... Component ID
eff .................................... Efficiency (Default=1.0)
STAGE-EFF Use to enter stage vaporization efficiencies. You cannot use STAGE-EFF if you used COMP-EFF or
if NPHASE=3.
stage ............................... Stage number
eff .................................... Efficiency (Default=1.0)
DECANTERS Use to specify the decanter location and the accumulator where the decanter product is fed when
NPHASE=3.
stage ............................... Decanter stage number
ACCUM ........................... Accumulator number
L2-COMPS Use to enter a list of key components that are used to identify the second-liquid phase when
NPHASE=3.
cid-list ............................. Key component ID list
L2-STAGES Use to indicate a segment of stages to be tested for the presence of two liquid phases when
NPHASE=3.
stage1 ............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment
REAC-STAGES Use to specify chemical reactions occurring in column segments.
stage1 ............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment
reacid .............................. Reaction or chemistry paragraph ID
COL-CONFIG Use to enter condenser configuration. If you specify the condenser type, you do not need to specify
distillate vapor fraction (RDV) in the COL-SPECS sentence, except for partial condensers with both
vapor and liquid distillates. For these condensers, you must also identify the distillate phase sent to
the accumulator.
CONDENSER.................. Condenser type
CONDENSER=TOTAL ............. Total condenser with a liquid distillate (RDV=0)
CONDENSER= ......................... Subcooled condenser
SUBCOOLED
CONDENSER=PARTIAL-V...... Partial condenser with vapor distillate

19-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 19

CONDENSER= ......................... Partial condenser with both vapor and liquid

PARTIAL-VL distillates
MAIN-ACCUM.................. Distillate phase sent to the main accumulator. Specify only when
CONDENSER=PARTIAL-VL.
MAIN-ACCUM= ........................ Only vapor distillate sent to the main
VAPOR-ONLY accumulator (Default)
MAIN-ACCUM= ........................ Only liquid distillate sent to the main
LIQUID-ONLY accumulator
MAIN-ACCUM= ........................ Both vapor and liquid distillates sent to the
VAPOR-LIQUID main accumulator
COL-SPECS Use to enter operation step type and basic column operating specifications. Table 19.1 lists the valid
column specification combinations. You can specify all flow and flow ratio specifications on a MOLE,
MASS, or STDVOL basis.
opstepid .......................... Operation step ID
TYPE................................ Type of operation step:
TYPE=STANDARD .................. Operates only with standard column
specifications. Not allowed for the first
operation step.
TYPE=TRFLX-ONLY................ Operates only with total reflux specifications
TYPE=TRFLX-ALSO................ Operates with both standard and total reflux
specifications
basis-RDV ....................... Distillate vapor fraction (RDV=DV/D where DV is the distillate vapor flow
rate and D is the total distillate flow rate, including any free-water when
FREE-WATER=YES)
basis-D ............................ Total distillate flow rate, including any free-water when
FREE-WATER=YES
basis-RRATE .................. Total reflux flow rate, including both liquid phases. Allowed only when
NPHASE=3.
basis-VN.......................... Boilup flow rate (vapor flow rate from reboiler)
basis-RR ......................... Reflux ratio (RRATE/D), including any free-water when
FREE-WATER=YES. Allowed only when NPHASE=2.
Q-COND .......................... Condenser heat duty
Q-REB ............................. Reboiler heat duty
RETFRACO ..................... Fraction of organic phase or liquid phase 1, returned to column from
condenser. Use only when NPHASE=2, and either FREE-WATER=YES or
COND-TYPE=3PHASE.
RETFRACW..................... Fraction of free-water phase or liquid phase 2, returned to column from
condenser. Use only when NPHASE=2, and either FREE-WATER=YES or
COND-TYPE=3PHASE.
basis-TRF-VN.................. Vapor boilup rate for total reflux calculations. (Default=0.1*(Initial
Charge) for the first operation step.) You can enter value on a MOLE,
MASS, or STDVOL basis.
T-COND ........................... Condenser temperature. Use only when NPHASE=2 and basis-RDV=0.
DP-STAGE....................... Pressure drop per stage

Input Language Guide 19-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Batch
Distillation

DP-COL ........................... Pressure drop for column

SC-REFLUX Use to enter subcooled reflux specification. Allowed only when NPHASE=2.
opstepid.......................... Operation step ID
DEGSUB ......................... Degrees of subcooling
STOP-CRIT Use to define the stop criterion for an operation step.
opstepid.......................... Operation step ID
stoptype.......................... Stop criteria type:
basis-ACCUM .......................... Total amount in an accumulator
basis-REB ................................ Total amount in a reboiler
basis-AFRAC ........................... Fraction of a component in an accumulator
basis-FRAC.............................. Fraction of a component in the distillate, liquid
product or stage
TIME.......................................... Operation time from beginning of operation
step
TEMPERATURE....................... Condenser, stage, or reboiler temperature
value................................ Desired value of the stop criterion
MAXTIME ........................ Time at which the operating step is halted, regardless of whether the stop
criterion is achieved
FROM .............................. Direction from which the stop criterion is reached: ABOVE or BELOW.
Use for basis-FRAC and basis-AFRAC stoptypes.
STAGE ............................ Stage number. Use for TEMPERATURE and basis-FRAC stoptypes.
COMPS............................ List of component IDs. Use for basis-FRAC and basis-AFRAC stoptypes.
BASE-COMPS................. List of base component IDs. Use for basis-FRAC and basis-AFRAC
stoptypes. (Default=all components)
ACCUM ........................... Accumulator number. Use for basis-ACCUM and basis-AFRAC stoptypes.
OP-DECANTERS Use to enter decanter specifications for an operation step when NPHASE=3. You must specify the
decanter stage, liquid holdup, and return fraction of each of two liquid phases. You can specify the
decanter temperature or degrees of subcooling for subcooled decanter.
opstepid.......................... Operation step ID
stage ............................... Decanter stage number
basis-LHLDP .................. Liquid holdup of the decanter
L1-SPEC.......................... Return fraction of the first liquid phase from decanter to the column.
Remainder feeds to the side accumulator.
L2-SPEC.......................... Return fraction of the second liquid phase from decanter to the column.
Remainder feeds to the side accumulator.
L1-RSTAGE .................... Stage to which first liquid is returned from the decanter (Default=next
lower stage)
L2-RSTAGE .................... Stage to which second liquid is returned from the decanter (Default=next
lower stage)
TEMP............................... Temperature of the decanter

19-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 19

DEGSUB.......................... Degrees subcooling in decanter (Default=0)

P-SPEC............................ Decanter pressure (Defaults to stage pressure)
OP-L2-COMPS Use to enter a list of key components, when NPHASE=3 or COND-TYPE=3PHASE. These
components are used to identify the second liquid phase in an operation step.
opstepid .......................... Operation step ID
cid-list ............................. Key component ID list
OP-L2-STAGES Use to indicate a segment of stages to be tested for the presence of two liquid phases in an operation
step, when NPHASE=3.
opstepid .......................... Operation step ID
stage1.............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2.............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment. If the segment to be
tested consists of only stage1, an asterisk is entered for stage2.
FEEDS Use to enter specifications for continuous feeds in an operation step.
opstepid .......................... Operation step ID
sid.................................... Stream ID
switch.............................. Switch: ON or OFF
STAGE............................. Feed stage number
FEED-CONV .................... Feed convention:
FEED-CONV=........................... Introduces feed between stages, above
ABOVE-STAGE designated stage (Default)
FEED-CONV=ON-STAGE........ Introduces feed on designated stage
OP-CHARGE Used to enter specifications for intermediate charge in an operation step. BATCHFRAC calculates
the amount of charge by multiplying the stream flow rate by the feed time.
opstepid .......................... Operation step ID
sid.................................... Stream ID
feedtime .......................... Feed time
DUMP Use to dump a product accumulator at the start of an operation step.
opstepid .......................... Operation step ID
accumno ......................... Accumulator number of accumulator to be dumped
sid.................................... Stream ID of product stream to which accumulator is dumped
RECYCLE Use to recycle material from an accumulator to the reboiler. The accumulator must have been
dumped in a prior operation step.
opstepid .......................... Operation step ID
refopstepid ..................... Previous operation step ID
ref-accumno.................... Accumulator from which material is recycled
accum-frac ...................... Fraction of accumulator material recycled
DRAWS Use to enter specifications for side draws in an operation step.
opstepid .......................... Operation step ID

Input Language Guide 19-11

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 Batch
Distillation

drawno............................ Draw stream number. This must be unique across all operation steps.
switch ............................. Switch: ON or OFF
STAGE ............................ Stage number of side draw
PHASE ............................ Draw phase:
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid (Default)
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
basis-FLOW.................... Draw flow rate on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
ACCUM ........................... Accumulator number to which draw stream is fed
PSEUDO-STREAM Use to define pseudostreams for accessing accumulator contents at the end of an operation step.
opstepid.......................... Operation step ID
sid ................................... Stream ID
accumno ......................... Accumulator number. The specified pseudoproduct stream will access the
content of the accumulator.
time-avg .......................... Method of time averaging for converting accumulator mass into steady-
state stream:
CURR-OPSTEP........................ Time averaging based on current operation step
time
LAST-DUMP ............................. Time averaging based on cumulative time from
previous dump
GLOBAL-TIME ......................... Time averaging based on total simulation time
OP-HOLDUP Use to specify condenser and stage holdup for an operation step. You can specify holdup on a
MOLE, MASS, or VOL basis.
opstepid.......................... Operation step ID
basis-CONHLDP............. Condenser holdup
basis-STGHLDP ............. Stage liquid holdup. BATCHFRAC assumes stage holdup to be constant
for all internal stages
OP-HOLDUP-SEG Use to specify liquid holdup for column segment(s) for an operation step. You cannot specify holdup
for the reboiler. BATCHFRAC assumes the reboiler to be large enough to hold material in the
column that is not taken up by the condenser and internal-stage holdups. You can specify holdup on
a MOLE, MASS, or VOL basis.
opstepid.......................... Operation step ID
stage1 ............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment
basis-LHLDP .................. Liquid holdup
OP-P-SPEC Use to specify the column pressure profile for an operation step.
opstepid.......................... Operation step ID
stage ............................... Stage number
pres ................................. Pressure
OP-P-RAMP Use to specify parameters for introducing pressure changes during an operation step.

19-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 19

opstepid .......................... Operation step ID

RAMP-TIME..................... Time required to adjust pressure from the previous operation step value
to the current operation step value (Default=100 seconds)
DELAY-TIME ................... Time after which pressure ramp goes into effect (Default=0 seconds)
HEAT-FLUID Use to define the heating fluid for the reboiler. The heating fluid can be maintained either at a fixed
flow or at a fixed temperature. For either case, you must specify the product of the average heat-
transfer coefficient and heat transfer area (UA). You must also specify the inlet temperature. When
the flow specification is used, you must specify the heating component. You can specify the heat
capacity directly. Or you can let BATCHFRAC calculate the heat capacity by giving the property
option set, pressure, and phase. UA calculations assume no phase change of the heating medium.
opstepid .......................... Operation step ID
spectype ......................... Specification type:
FLOW........................................ Flow rate of heating fluid is fixed.
TEMP ........................................ Temperature of heating fluid is fixed. (Default)
CID................................... Component ID
OPSETNAME .................. Property option set name (Default=property option set for the reboiler)
basis-FLOW .................... Heating fluid flow rate in MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
UA.................................... Product of the average heat-transfer coefficient and heat-transfer area
TEMP ............................... Heating fluid inlet temperature
PRES ............................... Heating fluid pressure
PHASE............................. Phase of heating fluid
basis-CP.......................... Average heat capacity of heating fluid in MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
OP-HEATERS Use to enter the heater stage locations and duties in an operation step.
opstepid .......................... Operation step ID
stage................................ Stage number
switch.............................. Switch: ON or OFF
duty ................................. Heat duty
OP-HTLOSS Use to enter the heat loss locations and profiles in an operation step.
opstepid .......................... Operation step ID
stage................................ Stage number
duty ................................. Heat loss. A positive value for duty indicates that heat is being lost from
the stage. A negative value indicates that heat is being added to the
stage. Heat loss for stages not entered are either interpolated or
extrapolated.
OP-REAC-STAGES Use to specify chemical reactions occurring in column segments in an operation step.
opstepid .......................... Operation step ID
switch.............................. Switch: ON or OFF
stage1.............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2.............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment

Input Language Guide 19-13

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Batch
Distillation

reacid .............................. REACTIONS or CHEMISTRY paragraph ID

OP-COMP-EFF Use to enter component vaporization efficiencies for an operation step. If you used OP-STAGE-EFF
or if NPHASE=3, you cannot use OP-COMP-EFF.
opstepid.......................... Operation step ID
stage ............................... Stage number
cid ................................... Component ID
eff .................................... Efficiency (Default=1.0)
OP-STAGE-EFF Use to enter stage vaporization efficiencies for an operation step. If you used OP-COMP-EFF or if
NPHASE=3, you cannot use OP-STAGE-EFF.
opstepid.......................... Operation step ID
stage ............................... Stage number
eff .................................... Efficiency (Default=1.0)
OP-PROP-SECTIONS Use to specify property options for a column segment or an operation step. OP-PROP-SECTIONS
overrides the PROPERTIES and PROP-OPTIONS sentence for a column segment. The input
language for OP-PROP-SECTIONS is the same as for the PROP-SECTIONS sentence, except that
an opstepid is specified.
opstepid.......................... Operation step ID
stage1 ............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment. For decanter, enter D in
this position.
opsetname...................... Property option set to be used
RESTART Use to restart a simulation of any operation step using the results of a previous simulation. Enter
ID of the operation step where you want to restart calculations. BATCHFRAC will start the
simulation at the operation step specified using the results of the previous operation step as the
starting point.
OPSTEP .......................... Operation step ID
CONTROLLER Use to enter controller specifications. You can use a controller to specify a stage temperature or
composition.
opstepid.......................... Operation step ID
controlno ........................ Controller number. Maximum number of controllers is two.
switch ............................. Switch: ON or OFF
TEMP............................... Stage temperature
basis-FRAC..................... Stage composition
STAGE ............................ Stage number
COMPS............................ List of component IDs. Required for composition set point.
BASE-COMPS................. List of base component IDs for composition set point (Default=all
components)
GAIN................................ Controller gain. Gain units are manipulated variable units divided by set
point units. (All must be in SI units.)

19-14 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 19

VARTYPE ........................ Manipulated variable type. Initial estimate must have been entered in
the COL-SPECS sentence:
VARTYPE=D ............................ Distillate flow, vapor and liquid
VARTYPE=VN .......................... Boilup flow rate
VARTYPE=RR.......................... Reflux ratio
VARTYPE=Q-COND ................ Condenser heat duty
VARTYPE=Q-REB ................... Reboiler heat duty
LB .................................... Lower bound for manipulated variable
UB.................................... Upper bound for manipulated variable
INT-TIME ......................... Integral time constant (reset time). (Default=1x106 seconds for no
integral action)
DERIV-TIME .................... Derivative time (Default=zero for no derivative action)
MANVAR-LAG................. Manipulated variable lag time constant (Default=0)
MEASURE-LAG............... Measurement lag time constant (Default=0)
T-EST Use to enter an initial estimate of the column temperature profile. If you do not give a T-EST
sentence, BATCHFRAC generates an initial profile.
stage................................ Stage number
temp ................................ Temperature
X-EST, Use to enter an initial estimate of the column composition profiles. X-EST and Y-EST are always
Y-EST used together.
stage................................ Stage number
cid.................................... Component ID
x ....................................... Liquid mole fraction for total liquid phase
y ....................................... Vapor mole fraction
RECORD-TPHQ Use to request time profiles of state variables (temperature, pressure, and enthalpy) for a column
segment.
stage1.............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2.............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment (Default=stage1)
RECORD-FLOWS Use to request time profiles of flow variables for a column segment.
stage1.............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2.............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment (Default=stage1)
RECORD-X Use to request time profiles of liquid compositions for a column segment.
stage1.............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2.............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment (Default=stage1)
RECORD-Y Use to request time profiles of vapor compositions for a column segment.
stage1.............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2.............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment (Default=stage1)

Input Language Guide 19-15

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 Batch
Distillation

RECORD-X1 Use to request time profiles of liquid1 compositions for a column segment.
stage1 ............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment (Default=stage1)
RECORD-X2 Use to request time profiles of liquid2 compositions for a column segment.
stage1 ............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment (Default=stage1)
RECORD-RGEN Use to request time profiles of reaction generations for a column segment.
stage1 ............................. Stage number for initial stage of column segment
stage2 ............................. Stage number for final stage of column segment (Default=stage1)
RECORD-ACCM Use to request time profiles of liquid holdups for a sequence of accumulators.
accum1 ........................... Accumulator number of first accumulator in the sequence
accum2 ........................... Accumulator number of last accumulator in the sequence
(Default=accum1)
RECORD-ACCX Use to request time profiles of accumulator compositions for a sequence of accumulators.
accum1 ........................... Accumulator number of first accumulator in the sequence
accum2 ........................... Accumulator number of last accumulator in the sequence
(Default=accum1)
DIAGNOSTICS Use to enter optional diagnostic parameters to control the level of information printed in the history
file during simulation. The level is defined from 0 to 10. The amount of information listed increases
with each level.
MAIN................................ Diagnostic level for main program. Use to control the diagnostic
information printed at each record-time interval. (Default=4)
SOLVER .......................... Diagnostic level for column equation solver. Use to control the diagnostic
information printed by the column equation solver. (Default=4)
TRFLX ............................. Diagnostic level for total reflux calculations. Use to control the diagnostic
information printed during total reflux calculations. (Default=4)
CMBAL............................ Diagnostic level for component balance. Use to control the diagnostic
information printed during mass balance calculations. (Default=0)
EMBAL ............................ Diagnostic level for energy balance. Use to control the diagnostic
information printed during energy balance calculations. (Default=0)
REPORT Use to override the default report options. You can use the standard REPORT options for use
within a block (see Chapter 11) for BATCHFRAC.
reportopt......................... Standard block report options (see Chapter 11), in addition to the
following:
NOPROFILE ............................. Suppresses stagewise profiles of temperature,
operating pressure, flows, enthalpies, and
duties for this block
NOCOMPS................................ Suppresses mole fraction and K-value profiles
for this block
REPORT-OPTION Use to specify additional special report options.
REC-PROFILE ................ REC-PROFILE=YES ................ Includes record profiles in the block report

19-16 Input Language Guide

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 Chapter 19

REC-PROFILE=NO .................. Excludes record profiles from the block report

(Default)
COND-DUMP................... Option for dumping the final condenser contents before generating the
block report
COND-DUMP=.......................... Adds the final condenser contents to the column
COL-CONTENTS contents (Default)
COND-DUMP=DISTILLATE..... Adds the final condenser contents to the main
accumulator contents
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied subroutines for calculating column pressure and reboiler duty.
COL-PRES ...................... User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name, for column pressure
calculation
Q-REB ............................. User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name, for reboiler duty calculation
USER-VECS Use to define the length of arrays for user-supplied column pressure and reboiler duty subroutines.
NINTP .............................. Length of integer parameter array for user-supplied column pressure
subroutine
NREALP .......................... Length of real parameter array for user-supplied column pressure
subroutine
NIWORKP........................ Length of integer workspace array for user-supplied column pressure
subroutine
NWORKP......................... Length of real workspace array for user-supplied column pressure
subroutine
NINTQR ........................... Length of integer parameter array for user-supplied reboiler duty
subroutine
NREALQR ....................... Length of real parameter array for user-supplied reboiler duty subroutine
NIWORKQR..................... Length of integer workspace array for user-supplied reboiler duty
subroutine
NWORKQR...................... Length of real workspace array for user-supplied reboiler duty subroutine
INTP Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied column pressure
subroutine.
VALUE-LIST .................... List of integer values
REALP Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied column pressure subroutine.
VALUE-LIST .................... List of real values
INTQR Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied reboiler heat duty
subroutine.
VALUE-LIST .................... List of integer values
REALQR Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied reboiler heat duty subroutine.
VALUE-LIST .................... List of real values

Input Language Guide 19-17

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Batch
Distillation

Column Specification Combinations

The number of column variables that can be specified in the COL-SPECS
sentence as well as the allowable input combinations depend on the NPHASE
specification in the PARAM sentence.

When NPHASE=2 either basis-RDV or TCOND, and two additional column

variables must be specified. Combinations are indicated with an X in the
following matrix:

Table 19.1 Valid Column Specification Combinations

D VN RR Q-COND Q-REB

D X X X X
VN X X
RR X X X X
Q-COND X X
Q-REB X X

If NPHASE=3 you must specify one of the following variables: D, VN, L1, Q-
COND, or Q-REB. You must also specify L1-SPEC and L2-SPEC in the OP-
DECANTERS sentence for all decanters.

19-18 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 19

Accessing Variables in BATCHFRAC

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3 Element

PARAM NSTAGE, DP-STAGE, DP-COL, INT-TOL, — — — —

HINIT,TOLOL, TOLIL, TOTRF, MAXTRF,
MAXIL, FLASH-MAXIT, FLASH-TOL,
MAXOL,REPORT-TIME
DRAWS STAGE, ACCUM, basis-FLOW opstepid drawno — —
MAIN-ACCUM basis-HOLDUP — — — —
CHARGE FEED-TIME sid — — —
OP-CHARGE FEED-TIME opstepid sid — —
FEEDS STAGE opstepid sid — —
PRODUCTS ACCUM sid — — —
RECYCLE FRAC opstepid refopstepid accum —
COL-SPECS basis-RDV, basis-D,basis-RRATE, basis- opstepid — — —
VN, basis-RR, Q-COND, Q-REB,
RETFRACO, RETFRACW, basis-TRF-VN,
T-COND,
DP-STAGE, DP-COL
SC-REFLUX DEGSUB opstepid — — —
STOP-CRIT VALUE†, MAXTIME, STAGE, ACCUM opstepid — — —
P-SPEC PRES stage — — —
OP-P-SPEC PRES opstepid stage — —
HEATERS DUTY stage — — —
OP-HEATERS DUTY opstepid stage — —
HTLOSS DUTY stage — — —
OP-HTLOSS DUTY opstepid stage — —
HEAT-FLUID basis-FLOW, UA, TEMP, PRES, basis-CP opstepid — — —
COMP-EFF EFF stage cid — —
OP-COMP-EFF EFF opstepid stage cid —
† Accessed variable is in SI units.

continued

Input Language Guide 19-19

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Batch
Distillation

Block Input (continued)

Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3 Element

STAGE-EFF EFF stage — — —

OP-STAGE-EFF EFF opstepid stage — —
HOLDUP basis-CONHLDP, basis-STGHLDP — — — —
HOLDUP-SEG basis-LHLDP, STAGE2 stage1 — — —
OP-HOLDUP basis-CONHLDP, basis-STGHLDP opstepid — — —
OP-HOLDUP-SEG basis-LHLDP, STAGE2 opstepid stage1 — —
DECANTERS ACCUM stage — — —
OP-DECANTERS basis-LHLDP, L1-SPEC, L2-SPEC, TEMP, opstepid stage — —
PRES, DEGSUB, L1RSTAGE, L2RSTAGE
L2-STAGES STAGE2 stage1 — — —
OP-L2-STAGES STAGE2 opstepid stage1 — —
T-EST TEMP stage — — —
X-EST X stage cid — —
Y-EST Y stage cid — —
PSEUDO-STREAM ACCUM opstepid sid — —
INTP VALUE-LIST — — — position
REALP VALUE-LIST — — — position
INTQR VALUE-LIST — — — position
REALQR VALUE-LIST — — — position
† Accessed variable is in SI units.

19-20 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 19

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable† ID1 ID2 ID3

Operation step time PROFILE TIME stage opstepid —

Stage pressure PROFILE PRES stage opstepid —
Stage temperature PROFILE TEMP stage opstepid —
Stage liquid rate PROFILE LRATE stage opstepid —
Stage vapor rate PROFILE VRATE stage opstepid —
Stage first- liquid rate PROFILE L1RATE stage opstepid —
Stage second- liquid rate PROFILE L2RATE stage opstepid —
Stage liquid holdup PROFILE MOLE-LHLDP stage opstepid —
Stage heat duty PROFILE HPROFILE stage opstepid —
Stage phase 1 fraction PROFILE BETA stage opstepid —
Liquid compositions COMPS X cid stage opstepid
First-liquid compositions COMPS X1 cid stage opstepid
Second-liquid compositions COMPS X2 cid stage opstepid
Vapor compositions COMPS Y cid stage opstepid
Reaction generation REAC-PRODUCT AMOUNT cid stage opstepid
Accumulator holdups ACM-RESULTS MOLE-LHLDP accum opstepid —
Accumulator compositions ACM-COMPS X cid accum opstepid
Distillate rate OPSPECS MOLE-D opstepid — —
Reflux ratio OPSPECS MOLE-RR opstepid — —
Boilup rate OPSPECS MOLE-VN opstepid — —
† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 19-21

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Batch
Distillation

19-22 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 20

20 Reactors
This chapter describes the input language for the reactor models. The models are:
Model Description Purpose Use

RSTOIC Stoichiometric reactor Stoichiometric reactor with When reaction kinetics are unknown or
specified reaction extent or unimportant but stoichiometry and extent of
conversion reaction are known
RYIELD Yield reactor Reactor with specified yield When stoichiometry and kinetics are
unknown or unimportant but a yield
distribution is known
REQUIL Equilibrium reactor Chemical and phase equilibrium One- or two-phase chemical equilibrium and
by stoichiometric calculations simultaneous phase equilibrium
RGIBBS Equilibrium reactor (Gibbs Chemical and phase equilibrium Chemical equilibrium. Simultaneous phase
energy minimization) by Gibbs energy minimization and chemical equilibrium. Phase equilibrium
without chemical reactions. Phase equilibrium
for vapor-liquid-solid systems and solid
solutions.
RCSTR Continuous stirred tank reactor Continuous stirred tank reactor Stirred tank reactors for vapor-liquid-solid
systems with rate controlled and equilibrium
reactions in any phase. Reaction kinetics are
known.
RPLUG Plug flow reactor Plug flow reactor Plug flow reactors for vapor-liquid-solid
systems with rate controlled reactions in any
phase. Reaction kinetics are known.
RBATCH Batch reactor Batch or semi-batch reactor Batch and semi-batch reactors for vapor-
liquid-solid systems with rate controlled
reactions in any phase. Reaction kinetics are
known.

Input Language Guide 20-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactors

RSTOIC
Stoichiometric Reactor

Input Language for RSTOIC

BLOCK blockid RSTOIC
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC DUTY HEAT-OF-REAC
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE SERIES MAXIT TOL T-EST P-EST

STOIC reacno ssid cid coef / [ssid] cid coef / . . .

EXTENT reacno extent / . . .
CONV reacno ssid key-cid conv / . . .
COMP-ATTR entryno ssid cid cattrname (value-list)
SUBS-ATTR entryno ssid psdid (value-list)
SELECTIVITY entryno cid ssid ref-cid ref-ssid / . . .
HEAT-RXN reacno cid temp pres phase h-reac
UTILITY UTILITY-ID=utilityid

Input Language Description for RSTOIC

PARAM Use to specify outlet conditions and whether the reactions occur simultaneously or in series. For a
two-phase or three-phase flash calculation, you must specify two of the following variables:
temperature, pressure, vapor fraction, or heat duty. RSTOIC accepts any combination except vapor
fraction and heat duty. For a one-phase calculation, you must specify either temperature and
pressure, or pressure and heat duty.
TEMP............................... Temperature
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0 .................................. Pressure drop
VFRAC ............................ Molar vapor fraction of fluid phases. Enter 0.0 for bubble point, 1.0 for
dew point. For subcooled liquid or superheated vapor, use TEMP and
PRES specifications. VFRAC is allowed only when NPHASE > 1.
DUTY ............................... Heat duty
HEAT-OF-REAC.............. HEAT-OF-REAC=NO ............... Does not calculate heat of reaction, nor use the
specified heat of reaction in energy balances
(Default)
HEAT-OF-REAC=YES ............. Calculates heat of reaction, or uses the specified
heat of reaction in energy balances
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE = 1 ............................. One-phase calculation

20-2 Input Language Guide

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 Chapter 20

NPHASE = 2 ............................. Two-phase flash (Default)

NPHASE = 3 ............................. Three-phase flash
PHASE............................. Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE = V ............................... Vapor (Default)
PHASE = L ............................... Liquid
PHASE = S ............................... Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
SERIES............................ SERIES = NO ........................... Simultaneous reactions (Default)
.........................................
SERIES = YES.......................... Series reactions
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
T-EST............................... Temperature estimate. Use to aid convergence when PRES and either
DUTY or VFRAC are specified.
P-EST .............................. Pressure estimate. Use to aid convergence when TEMP and either DUTY
or VFRAC are specified.
STOIC Use to enter the reaction stoichiometry. Enter one STOIC statement for each reaction. When
SERIES=YES, reacno specifies the series order. For each reaction specify either the fractional
conversion of a key component or the reaction extent.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
ssid.................................. Substream ID (Default=previous ssid entry)
cid.................................... Component ID
coef.................................. Stoichiometric coefficient (positive for products; negative for reactants).
For nonconventional components, the coefficient is the mass of the
component reacted or generated rather than the moles.
EXTENT Use to specify the reaction extent, which is defined as the number of moles (mass for
nonconventional components) generated for any component divided by the stoichiometric coefficient.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
extent .............................. Reaction extent
CONV Use to specify the key component and its fractional conversion. The key component must be a
reactant. A given component can be a key for more than one reaction. For simultaneous reactions,
fractional conversion refers to the feed and does not include the reactant generated by the reactions.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
ssid.................................. Substream ID
key-cid............................. Key component ID
conv................................. Fractional conversion of the key component
COMP-ATTR Use to specify outlet stream values of component attributes created or changed by the reactions.
Enter one COMP-ATTR sentence for each component attribute specified.
entryno............................ Entry number
ssid.................................. Substream ID

Input Language Guide 20-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactors

cid ................................... Component ID

cattrname........................ Component attribute name
value-list ......................... List of attribute values to be entered or changed. You should insert an
asterisk (*) for values not changed.
SUBS-ATTR Use to specify outlet stream values of the particle size distribution for a substream created or
changed by the reactions. Enter one SUBS-ATTR sentence for each substream specified.
entryno............................ Entry number
ssid ................................. Substream ID
psdid ............................... Particle size distribution ID
value-list ......................... List of attribute values to be entered or changed. You should insert an
asterisk (*) for values not changed.
SELECTIVITY Use to specify parameters for selectivity calculations. You must select a component and specify a
reference component. Selectivity (S) is defined as:

 ∆P   ∆P 
S=   ∆A 
 ∆A  Actual   Ideal
Where:
∆P = Change in moles of selected component
∆A = Change in moles of reference component
Actual = Actual change in reactor
Ideal = Ideal change when there are no side reactions involving the selected component or
reference component
entryno............................ Entry number
cid ................................... Component ID of the selected component. The selected component must
be a product of a reaction.
ssid ................................. Substream ID of the selected component
ref-cid.............................. Component ID of the reference component. The reference component
must be a reactant of a reaction.
ref-ssid............................ Substream ID of the reference component
HEAT-RXN Use to specify the heat of reaction for each reaction when HEAT-OF-REAC=YES. You must specify
a reference component for each reaction. If you do not enter h-reac, Aspen Plus calculates the heat
of reaction for each reaction. If the specified heat of reaction is different from the value calculated
from component heats of formation at reference conditions, Aspen Plus adjusts the block duty to
match the specified heat of reaction.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
cid ................................... Reference component
temp ................................ Reference temperature (Default=25ºC)
pres ................................. Reference pressure (Default=1atm)
phase .............................. Reference fluid phase
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid

20-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 20

h-reac .............................. Heat of reaction specification. If you specify heat of reaction for one
reaction, you must specify it for all reactions.
UTILITY Use to specify an optional utility to provide heating or cooling duty.
UTILITY-ID....................... Utility ID.

Accessing Variables in RSTOIC

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3 Element
PARAM TEMP, PRES, VFRAC, DUTY, MAXIT, TOL, — — — —
T-EST, P-EST
STOIC COEF reacno ssid cid —
EXTENT EXTENT reacno — — —
CONV CONV reacno — — —
COMP-ATTR VALUE entryno — — †

SUBS-ATTR VALUE entryno — — †

HEAT-RXN H-REAC reacno — — —

† Position of a value in the COMP-ATTR or SUBS-ATTR value-list

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1
Heat duty PARAM QCALC —
Net heat duty RESULTS NET-DUTY —
Reaction extent RXN-RES EXT-CALC reacno
Heat of reaction RXN-RES H-REAC-CALC reacno
Selectivity SELECT-RES SELECT-CALC entryno

Input Language Guide 20-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactors

RYIELD
Yield Reactor

Input Language for RYIELD

BLOCK blockid RYIELD
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC DUTY
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE MAXIT TOL T-EST P-EST

MOLE-YIELD ssid cid yield / [ssid] cid yield / . . .

MASS-YIELD ssid cid yield / [ssid] cid yield / . . .
INERTS cid / . . .
COMP-ATTR entryno ssid cid cattrname (value-list)
SUBS-ATTR entryno ssid psdid (value-list)
LUMP lumpid lcid frac / . . .
DE-LUMP dlup-id lcid frac / . . .
PETRO-CHAR keyword=value

Keywords:
ASSAY-ID TBP-BASIS GRAV-TYPE VISC-TYPE DATA-SOURCE
GRAV MW

TBP-CURVE percent temp / . . .

GRAV-CURVE dist-temp value / . . .
MW-CURVE dist-temp value / . . .
PROP-CURVE prop-name dist-temp value / . . .
VISC-CURVE ref-temp dist-temp value / . . .
SUBROUTINE keyword=value

Keywords:
YIELD PETRO-CHAR

USER-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
NINT NREAL NIWORK NWORK NINTP NREALP NIWORKP NWORKP

PC-SUB keyword=value

Keywords:
NTBMAX NGRMAX NMWMAX NPMAX NPCMAX NVCMAX

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 Chapter 20

INT value-list
REAL value-list
PC-INT value-list
PC-REAL value-list
UTILITY UTILITY-ID=utilityid

Input Language Description for RYIELD

PARAM Use to specify outlet conditions for the reactor. For a two-phase or three-phase flash calculation,
you must specify two of the following variables: temperature, pressure, vapor fraction, or heat duty.
RYIELD accepts any combination except vapor fraction and heat duty. For a one-phase calculation,
you must specify either temperature and pressure, or pressure and heat duty.
TEMP ............................... Temperature
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0.................................. Pressure drop
VFRAC............................. Molar vapor fraction of fluid phases. Enter 0.0 for bubble point, 1.0 for
dew point. For subcooled liquid or superheated vapor, use TEMP and
PRES specifications. VFRAC is allowed only when NPHASE > 1.
DUTY ............................... Heat duty
NPHASE .......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE = 1 ............................. One-phase calculation
NPHASE = 2 ............................. Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE = 3 ............................. Three-phase flash
PHASE............................. Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE = V ............................... Vapor (Default)
PHASE = L ............................... Liquid
PHASE = S ............................... Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.)
(See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
T-EST............................... Temperature estimate. Use to aid convergence when PRES and either
DUTY or VFRAC are specified.
P-EST .............................. Pressure estimate. Use to aid convergence when TEMP and either DUTY
or VFRAC are specified.
MOLE-YIELD Use to enter mole yields. Use for conventional components only.
ssid.................................. Substream ID
cid.................................... Component ID
yield................................. Mole yield (per unit mass of total feed)

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 Reactors

MASS-YIELD Use to enter mass yields.

ssid ................................. Substream ID
cid ................................... Component ID
yield................................. Mass yield (per unit mass of total feed)
INERTS Use to specify the component IDs of species that do not participate in the reaction. If you specify
INERTS, the total feed minus total mass of inerts is the basis for the yield calculation.
cid ................................... Component ID
COMP-ATTR Use to specify outlet stream values of component attributes created or changed by the reactions.
Enter one COMP-ATTR sentence for each component attribute specified.
entryno............................ Entry number
ssid ................................. Substream ID
cid ................................... Component ID
cattrname........................ Component attribute name
value-list ......................... List of attribute values to be entered or changed. You should insert an
asterisk (*) for values not changed.
SUBS-ATTR Use to specify outlet stream values of the particle size distribution for a substream created or
changed by the reactions. Enter one SUBS-ATTR sentence for each substream specified.
entryno............................ Entry number
ssid ................................. Substream ID
psdid ............................... Particle size distribution ID
value-list ......................... List of attribute values to be entered or changed. You should insert an
asterisk (*) for values not changed.
LUMP Use to specify component lumping from LCID to LUMPID.
lumpid ............................. Target component name in component mapping
lcid .................................. Source component name in component mapping
frac .................................. Coefficient for the component
DE-LUMP Use to specify component de-lumping from DLUP-ID to LCID.
dlup-id............................. Source component name in component mapping
lcid .................................. Target component name in component mapping
frac .................................. Coefficient for the component
PETRO-CHAR Use to specify parameters for petroleum characterization.
ASSAY-ID........................ Assay name
TBP-BASIS ..................... TBP curve type. Also applies to TBP curve returned from user-supplied
petroleum characterization routine.
TBP-BASIS = STDVOL ............ Standard liquid volume. (Default)
TBP-BASIS = MASS ............... Weight.
GRAV-TYPE .................... Gravity type for bulk gravity and gravity curve. Also applies to values
returned from user-supplied petroleum characterization routine.
GRAV-TYPE = SG.................... Specific gravity. (Default)

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 Chapter 20

GRAV-TYPE = API ................... American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity.

VISC-TYPE ...................... Viscosity type
VISC-TYPE = DYNAMIC .......... Absolute viscosity (Default)
VISC-TYPE = KINEMATIC ....... Kinematic viscosity
DATA-SOURCE............... Data source of petroleum characterization specifications
DATA-SOURCE = INPUT......... Through specified parameters and curves
(Default).
DATA-SOURCE = USER ......... Through user-supplied Fortran routine for
petroleum characterization
GRAV............................... Bulk gravity
MW................................... Bulk molecular weight
TBP-CURVE Use to enter the distillation temperature curve.
percent ............................ Percent distilled. Minimum of 4 points are required for curve and all
values must be in ascending order.
temp ................................ Distillation temperature. Minimum of 4 points are required for curve and
all values must be in ascending order. If 100% point is not given,
temperature will be extrapolated to 100%.
GRAV-CURVE Use to enter the gravity curve.
dist-temp......................... Distillation temperature. Minimum of 4 points are required for curve and
all values must be in ascending order.
value................................ Value for gravity
MW-CURVE Use to enter the molecular weight curve.
dist-temp......................... Distillation temperature. Minimum of 4 points are required for curve and
all values must be in ascending order.
value................................ Value for molecular weight
PROP-CURVE Use to enter the petroleum property curve.
prop-name ...................... Property name
dist-temp......................... Distillation temperature. Minimum of 4 points are required for curve and
all values must be in ascending order.
value................................ Value for petroleum property
VISC-CURVE Use to enter the viscosity curve.
ref-temp........................... Reference temperature
dist-temp......................... Distillation temperature. Minimum of 4 points are required for curve and
all values must be in ascending order.
value................................ Value for viscosity
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied FORTRAN yield subroutine. For details on writing the RYIELD user
subroutines, see Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 15.
YIELD .............................. User-supplied FORTRAN yield subroutine name
PETRO-CHAR ................. User-supplied FORTRAN petroleum characterization subroutine name

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 Reactors

USER-VECS Use to define the length of arrays for the user-supplied yield and petroleum characterization
subroutines.
NINT ................................ Length of integer parameter array for yield subroutine
NREAL ............................ Length of real parameter array for yield subroutine
NIWORK.......................... Length of integer workspace array for yield subroutine
NWORK........................... Length of real workspace array for yield subroutine
NINTP .............................. Length of integer parameter array for petroleum characterization
subroutine
NREALP .......................... Length of real parameter array for petroleum characterization subroutine
NIWORKP ....................... Length of integer workspace array for petroleum characterization
subroutine
NWORKP ........................ Length of real workspace array for petroleum characterization subroutine
PC-SUB Use to define the length of arrays for the user-supplied petroleum characterization subroutine.
NTBMAX ......................... Maximum number of data points allowed for TBP curves returned from
user-supplied petroleum characterization routine (Default=20).
NGRMAX......................... Maximum number of data points allowed for gravity curves returned from
user-supplied petroleum characterization routine (Default=20).
NMWMAX........................ Maximum number of data points allowed for molecular weight curves
returned from user-supplied petroleum characterization routine
(Default=20).
NPMAX............................ Maximum number of data points allowed for petroleum property curves
returned from user-supplied petroleum characterization routine. Also
applies to viscosity curves (Default=20).
NPCMAX ......................... Maximum number of property curves allowed for user-supplied petroleum
characterization routine (Default=10).
NVCMAX ......................... Maximum number of viscosity curves allowed for user-supplied petroleum
characterization routine (Default=10).
INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied yield subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of integer values
REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied yield subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of real values
PC-INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied petroleum characterization
subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of integer values
PC-REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied petroleum characterization
subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of real values
UTILITY Use to specify an optional utility to provide heating or cooling duty.
UTILITY-ID ...................... Utility ID.

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Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 20

Accessing Variables in RYIELD

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 Element

PARAM TEMP, PRES, VFRAC, DUTY, MAXIT, TOL, T-EST, P-EST — — —

MOLE-YIELD YIELD ssid cid —
MASS-YIELD YIELD ssid cid —
COMP-ATTR VALUE entryno — —
SUBS-ATTR VALUE entryno — —
LUMP FRAC lumpid lcid —
DE-LUMP FRAC dlup-id lcid —
PETRO-CHAR GRAV, MW — — —
INT VALUE-LIST — — †

REAL VALUE-LIST — — †

PC-INT VALUE-LIST — — †

PC-REAL VALUE-LIST — — †

† Position of a value in the INT, REAL, PC-INT, or PC-REAL value-list.

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Heat duty PARAM QCALC

Net heat duty PARAM NET-DUTY

Input Language Guide 20-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactors

REQUIL
Equilibrium Reactor

Input Language for REQUIL

BLOCK blockid REQUIL
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
NREAC TEMP PRES VFRAC DUTY
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE ENTRN CHEM-MAXIT CHEM-TOL MAXIT TOL
T-EST P-EST

STOIC reacno cid coef phase / cid coef phase / . . .

EXTENT-SPEC reacno extent / . . .
EXTENT-EST reacno extent / . . .
TAPP-SPEC reacno delt / . . .
FRAC ssid vapor / . . .
UTILITY UTILITY-ID=utilityid

Input Language Description for REQUIL

PARAM Use to specify outlet conditions for the reactor and optional convergence parameters. For a two-
phase flash calculation, you must specify two of the following variables: temperature, pressure,
vapor fraction, or heat duty. REQUIL accepts any combination, except vapor fraction and heat duty.
For a one-phase calculation, you must specify either temperature and pressure, or pressure and
heat duty. REQUIL cannot perform three-phase calculations.
NREAC ............................ Number of reactions
TEMP............................... Temperature
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0 .................................. Pressure drop
VFRAC ............................ Molar vapor fraction of fluid phases. Enter 0.0 for bubble point, 1.0 for
dew point. For subcooled liquid or superheated vapor, use TEMP and
PRES specifications. VFRAC is allowed only when NPHASE > 1.
DUTY ............................... Heat duty
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE = 1 ............................. One-phase calculation
NPHASE = 2 ............................. Two-phase flash (Default)
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE = V ............................... Vapor (Default)

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 Chapter 20

PHASE = L ............................... Liquid

PHASE = S ............................... Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
ENTRN............................. Fraction of the liquid phase that is entrained in the vapor stream.
(Default=0)
CHEM-MAXIT .................. Maximum number of iterations for chemical equilibrium calculations. The
REQUIL algorithm performs flash calculations nested inside a chemical
equilibrium loop. (Default=30)
CHEM-TOL ...................... Tolerance for chemical equilibrium calculations. (Default=2x10-5)
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
T-EST............................... Temperature estimate. Use to aid convergence when PRES and either
DUTY or VFRAC are specified.
P-EST .............................. Pressure estimate. Use to aid convergence when TEMP and either DUTY
or VFRAC are specified.
STOIC Use to enter the reaction stoichiometry. Enter one STOIC statement for each reaction. The
reactions must be linearly independent.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
cid.................................... Component ID (conventional component only)
coef.................................. Stoichiometric coefficient (positive for products; negative for reactants)
phase............................... *................................................. Component is not a solid
S................................................ Component is a solid
EXTENT-SPEC Use to fix the molar extent of a reaction, defined as the number of moles generated for any
component divided by the stoichiometric coefficient. Do not enter EXTENT-SPEC for a reaction that
has a temperature approach specified by TAPP-SPEC.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
extent .............................. Fixed molar extent of reaction, defined as moles generated for any
component divided by the stoichiometric coefficient
EXTENT-EST Use to provide an optional initial estimate for reaction extents that are not fixed by EXTENT-
SPEC.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
extent .............................. Estimate for molar extent of reaction, defined as moles generated for any
component divided by the stoichiometric coefficient
TAPP-SPEC Use to specify a temperature approach to chemical equilibrium for a reaction. The computed
chemical equilibrium constant for the reaction is evaluated at the temperature T + ∆T where T is
the actual reactor temperature and ∆T is the temperature approach. If you want a temperature
approach for the entire system, you must specify it for each reaction. You cannot use TAPP-SPEC
for a reaction with an EXTENT-SPEC.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
delt................................... Number of degrees above the system temperature at which Aspen Plus
calculates the chemical equilibrium for this reaction

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 Reactors

FRAC Use to specify solids entrainment in the vapor stream. Any remaining solids are placed in the liquid
outlet stream.
ssid ................................. Solids substream ID
vapor ............................... Fraction of total solids (after reaction) in the specified substreams that is
placed in the corresponding substream of vapor outlet stream. (Default=0)
UTILITY Use to specify an optional utility to provide heating or cooling duty.
UTILITY-ID ...................... Utility ID.

Accessing Variables in REQUIL

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2

PARAM TEMP, PRES, VFRAC, DUTY, ENTRN, CHEM-MAXIT, CHEM-TOL, MAXIT, TOL, — —
T-EST, P-EST
STOIC COEF, PHASE reacno cid
EXTENT- EXTENT reacno —
SPEC
EXTENT-EST EXTENT reacno —
TAPP-SPEC DELT reacno —
FRAC VAPOR ssid —

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1
Heat duty RESULTS QCALC —
Net heat duty RESULTS NET-DUTY —
Equilibrium constant RXN-RES K-CALC reacno

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 Chapter 20

RGIBBS
Equilibrium Reactor - Gibbs Energy Minimization

Input Language for RGIBBS

BLOCK blockid RGIBBS
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES DUTY
Optional keywords:
NPHASE VAPOR CHEMEQ NATOM NREAC TAPP MAXIT TOL
SOLIDS TEST TUPPER TLOWER EB-MAXIT EB-TOL NPSOL

PROD cid [ phase] [flow-est] / . . .

PROD-MOLES cid flow / . . .
PROD-FRAC cid frac / . . .
MOLE-FLOWEST flowcid flowest / . . .
PHASES phaseid phase COMPS=comp-list
PHASE-PROPERTY phaseid propname
STOIC reacno cid coef / cid coef / . . .
EXTENT-SPEC reacno extent / . . .
TAPP-SPEC reacno delt / . . .
KEY sid cutoff cid-list / . . .
ATOM cid 1 coef1 / coef2 / . . . / coefNATOM /
.
.
.
cid 1 coef1 / coef2 / . . . / coefNATOM
UTILITY UTILITY-ID=utilityid

Input Language Description for RGIBBS

PARAM Use to specify outlet conditions of the reactor and parameters that control the calculations. You
must specify either temperature and pressure, or pressure and heat duty. By default, vapor phase
chemical equilibrium is considered.
TEMP ............................... Temperature
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0.................................. Pressure drop
DUTY ............................... Heat duty
NPHASE .......................... Maximum number of fluid phases considered
VAPOR ............................ VAPOR = NO............................ Does not consider a vapor phase
VAPOR = YES .......................... Considers a vapor phase (Default)

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 Reactors

CHEMEQ ......................... CHEMEQ = NO......................... Does not calculate chemical equilibrium

CHEMEQ = YES ....................... Calculates chemical equilibrium (or restricted
chemical equilibrium) (Default)
NATOM............................ Number of atoms present in the system. Use only when CHEMEQ=YES
and ATOM is entered.
NREAC ............................ Number of chemical reactions. Use only for restricted equilibrium
calculations involving individual reactions. You must give NREAC when
the STOIC statement is used.
TAPP ............................... Temperature approach for the entire system, defined as the number of
degrees above the reactor temperature at which the chemical equilibrium
is computed. Use TAPP only when CHEMEQ=YES. If you want a
temperature approach for an individual reaction, use the TAPP-SPEC
statement instead of TAPP. (Default=0)
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of iterations (Default=50)
TOL ................................. Convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-4)
SOLIDS ........................... Stream ID for stream in which all solid products are placed (Default=last
outlet stream)
TEST ............................... Temperature estimate. Used to aid convergence when pressure and duty
are specified. (Default=feed temperature)
TUPPER .......................... Upper bound on temperature when DUTY is specified. (Default=value
established by the SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TLOWER ......................... Lower bound on temperature when DUTY is specified. (Default=value
established by the SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
EB-MAXIT ....................... Maximum iterations for the energy balance calculations in the case when
DUTY is specified (Default=50)
EB-TOL ........................... Tolerance for the energy balance calculations in the case when DUTY is
specified (Default=1x10-4)
NPSOL ............................ Maximum number of solid solution phases considered (Default=0)
PROD Use to enter the list of products expected at equilibrium. Use only when chemical equilibrium is
calculated (CHEMEQ=YES). You can also enter initial estimates of product flow rates.
cid ................................... Component ID
phase .............................. Phase(s) in which components can appear. (See Table 20.1.)
flow-est ........................... Initial estimate of the product mole flow rate
PROD-MOLES Use to enter fixed outlet amounts for any component in the product list. It is used only when
CHEMEQ=YES.
cid ................................... Component ID
flow ................................. Component molar flow
PROD-FRAC Use to enter the fraction of a feed component that does not react. It is used only when
CHEMEQ=YES.
cid ................................... Component ID
frac .................................. Mole fraction of the feed

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 Chapter 20

MOLE-FLOWEST Use to specify initial estimates for the outlet component flow rates on a mole basis. It is used only
when CHEMEQ=YES.
flowcid ............................ Component ID
flowest............................. Flow rate estimate on a mole basis
PHASES Use to define phases that can exist at equilibrium, and the components in each phase. By default,
RGIBBS distributes all solution species among all solution phases. You can assign different
thermodynamic option sets to each of these phases using the PHASE-PROPERTY sentence.
phaseid ........................... Phase ID given to identify a phase
phase............................... Physical state of the phase:
V................................................ Vapor
L ................................................ Liquid
S................................................ Solid solution
SS ............................................. Single solid
comp-list ......................... List of components allowed to exist in the phase
(Default=all components)
PHASE-PROPERTY Use to assign thermodynamic option sets to each phase specified in the PHASES sentence.
phaseid ........................... Phase ID given to identify a phase
propname........................ Name of property option set for the phase specified in PHASES sentence
STOIC Use to specify stoichiometric coefficients when an individual reaction is restricted from reaching
equilibrium through an EXTENT-SPEC or TAPP-SPEC statement. You must enter a complete set
of linearly independent reactions for the participating components, even if only one reaction is
restricted. Enter one STOIC statement for each reaction. You must enter NREAC when the STOIC
statement is used.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
cid.................................... Component ID
coef.................................. Stoichiometric coefficient (positive for products; negative for reactants)
EXTENT-SPEC Use to fix the molar extent for any reaction defined by a STOIC statement. Do not enter EXTENT-
SPEC for a reaction that has a temperature approach specified by TAPP-SPEC.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
extent .............................. Molar extent of reaction, defined as moles generated for any component
divided by stoichiometric coefficient
TAPP-SPEC Use to specify a temperature approach to chemical equilibrium for any reaction defined by a STOIC
statement. Do not enter a temperature approach for a reaction that has an extent fixed by an
EXTENT-SPEC statement. If you want a temperature approach for the entire system, use the
TAPP entry in the PARAM sentence instead of TAPP-SPEC.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
delt................................... Number of degrees above the reactor temperature at which RGIBBS
calculates the chemical equilibrium for this reaction (Default=0)

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 Reactors

KEY Use to assign the phases computed by RGIBBS to the outlet streams when the block has multiple
outlet material streams. A KEY statement is used to label the liquid phases computed by RGIBBS
with key components. If you do not use a KEY statement and the block has more than one outlet
stream, Aspen Plus uses the first outlet stream listed in the FLOWSHEET paragraph for the vapor
phase (if VAPOR=YES). The remaining outlet streams are successively assigned the liquid phases
computed by RGIBBS. If there are more phases than outlet streams, the extra liquid phases are
blended into the last outlet stream.
sid ................................... Outlet stream ID
cutoff............................... Minimum mole fraction of the key components that a phase must have
before it can be assigned to the given outlet stream. If cutoff is negative
the stream is reserved for the vapor phase.
cid-list ............................. List of one or more key components desired in high concentration in the
given outlet stream. Do not enter this list for the vapor stream.
ATOM Use to enter the atomic formula for all feed and product components when chemical equilibrium is
considered (CHEMEQ=YES) and the physical property parameter NATOM is not available for each
possible feed and product component. If you enter ATOM, you must also enter NATOM in the
PARAM sentence.
cid ................................... Component ID
coef ................................. Stoichiometric number of the given atom in the component. Enter 0 if the
atom does not appear in the component formula. In setting up the atom
matrix, the atoms are ordered arbitrarily one through NATOM. It is
convenient to place a comment line (; ATOMS) above the ATOM
statement, listing atoms in the chosen order.
UTILITY Use to specify an optional utility to provide heating or cooling duty.
UTILITY-ID ...................... Utility ID.

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 Chapter 20

Table 20.1 Phase Options

Phase Description

M Mixed phase (Default)

V Vapor
L Liquid
S Solid solution
SS Single solid. A solid phase containing only a single solid species.
L1 First-liquid
L2 Second-liquid
L3 Third-liquid
L4 Fourth-liquid
L5 Fifth-liquid
S1 First-solid solution
S2 Second-solid solution
VL Vapor-liquid phase
VL1 Vapor/first-liquid phase
VL2 Vapor/second-liquid phase
VL3 Vapor/third-liquid phase
VL4 Vapor/fourth-liquid phase
VL5 Vapor/fifth-liquid phase
L1L2 First-liquid/second-liquid phase
L1L3 First-liquid/third-liquid phase
L1L4 First-liquid/fourth-liquid phase
L1L5 First-liquid/fifth-liquid phase
L2L3 Second-liquid/third-liquid phase
L2L4 Second-liquid/fourth-liquid phase
L2L5 Second-liquid/fifth-liquid phase
L3L4 Third-liquid/fourth-liquid phase
L3L5 Third-liquid/fifth-liquid phase
L4L5 Fourth-liquid/fifth-liquid phase
VL1L2 Vapor/first-liquid/second-liquid phase
VL1L3 Vapor/first-liquid/third-liquid phase
VL2L3 Vapor/second-liquid/third-liquid phase
VLS Vapor/liquid/solid solution
VL1S Vapor/first-liquid/solid solution
VL2S Vapor/second-liquid/solid solution
VL3S Vapor/third-liquid/solid solution
LS Liquid/solid solution
L1S First-liquid/solid solution
L2S Second-liquid/solid solution
L3S Third-liquid/solid solution
L1L2S First-liquid/second-liquid/solid solution
L1L3S First-liquid/third-liquid/solid solution
L2L3S Second-liquid/third-liquid/solid solution

Input Language Guide 20-19

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 Reactors

Accessing Variables in RGIBBS

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2

PARAM TEMP, PRES, DUTY, TAPP, MAXIT, TOL, TEST — —

PROD FLOW-EST cid —
PROD-MOLES FLOW cid —
PROD-FRAC FRAC cid —
STOIC COEF reacno cid
EXTENT-SPEC EXTENT reacno —
TAPP-SPEC DELT reacno —
KEY CUTOFF sid —
ATOM COEF cid atom1†
† Atom1 is the column number in the atom matrix.

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1
Vapor fraction PARAM VFRAC —
Heat duty PARAM QCALC —
Net heat duty RESULTS NET-DUTY —
Equilibrium constant RXN-RES K-CALC reacno

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 Chapter 20

RCSTR
Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor

Input Language for RCSTR

BLOCK blockid RCSTR
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
VOL RES-TIME PHASE-RES-TIME TEMP PRES DUTY
Optional keywords:
ALGORITHM NPHASE PHASE PHASE-VOL PHASE-VOL-FRAC TEST
MAXIT TOL MB-MAXIT MB-TOL FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL
RET-THRESH TRACE MAX-IL-CUT MAX-OL-CUT IL-DAMP OL-DAMP
MAX-TSTEP DAMP-FAC SCALING COMP-ATTR SUBS-ATTR MAX-NSTEP
INT-TOL HINIT CORR-TOL CORR-METHOD ERR-METHOD MAX-STEPSIZE
RAMP-TIME RAMPING CUTOFF NONNEG VOL-EST PHASE-VOL-EST
RT-TOL RT-MAXIT MAX-VSTEP

REACTIONS reacid-list
STOIC reacno ssid cid coef / [ssid] cid coef / . . .
RATE-CON reacno pre-exp act-energy [temp-exponent] / . . .
POWLAW-EXP reacno cid exponent / . . .
L2-COMPS keyword=value

Keywords:
COMP-LIST L2-CUTOFF

basis-FLOW ssid cid flow / . . .

COMP-ATTR entryno ssid cid cattrname (value-list)
SUBS-ATTR entryno ssid psdid (value-list)
CONVERGENCE keyword=value

Keywords:
SOLVER TOL-FUNC MAX-BOUND MAX-DIVERGE JAC-METHOD
DOGLEG-ITERS FLOW-LB FLOW-UB FLOW-DXUB EXTENT-LB
EXTENT-UB EXTENT-DXUB STAB-STRAT

SUBROUTINE KINETICS=subrname
USER-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
NINT NREAL NIWORK NWORK

INT value-list
REAL value-list
UTILITY UTILITY-ID=utilityid

Input Language Guide 20-21

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactors

Input Language Description for RCSTR

PARAM Use to specify outlet conditions for the reactor, volume, residence time, and optional convergence
parameters. You must specify pressure, and either heat duty or temperature. You must also specify
one of volume, residence time, and phase residence time. You can specify that one-, two-, or three-
phase flash calculations be performed in the reactor. The default is to perform vapor phase
calculations. To promote convergence, you can supply estimates for temperature and volume.
VOL ................................. Reactor volume
TEMP............................... Reactor temperature
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0 .................................. Pressure drop
DUTY ............................... Reactor heat duty
ALGORITHM ................... Initialization algorithm for the mass balance equations:
ALGORITHM=SOLVER ........... Uses the simultaneous equation solver to solve
the model equations (Default)
ALGORITHM= .......................... Uses the integrator to obtain a good initial
INTEGRATOR guess of the steady state solution. This guess is
then used by the simultaneous equation solver.
ALGORITHM=MIXED............... Use the integrator to initialize the first time
only, and use the simultaneous equation solver
on subsequent passes.
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation (Default)
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ When NPHASE=1, PHASE specifies the reactor phase. When NPHASE=2
or 3, PHASE identifies the phase referenced by PHASE-VOL, PHASE-
VOL-FRAC, and PHASE-RES-TIME. When NPHASE=2 or 3, and the
REACTIONS paragraph is not used to specify the reaction kinetics,
PHASE also identifies the reacting phase.
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid
PHASE-VOL .................... Volume of the specified phase when NPHASE=2 or 3
PHASE-VOL-FRAC ......... Volume of the specified phase, as a fraction of the reactor volume, when
NPHASE=2 or 3
TEST ............................... Temperature estimate. Use to aid convergence when PRES and DUTY
are specified. (Default=inlet temperature)
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of iterations for energy balance calculations. Use only
when DUTY is specified. (Default=30)
TOL ................................. Tolerance for energy balance calculations. Use only when DUTY is
specified. (Default=1x10-4)
MB-MAXIT ....................... Maximum number of iterations for mass balance calculations
(Default=30)
MB-TOL........................... Tolerance for mass balance calculations (Default=TOL/10)

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 Chapter 20

FLASH-MAXIT ................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the

SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
FLASH-TOL..................... Tolerance for flash calculations. Defaults to the smaller of MB-TOL/10
and the global flash tolerance established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph. (See Chapter 46.)
RET-THRESH .................. Threshold value for error below which flash retention is used. Applies
when RESTART=YES. (See Chapter 11.) (Default=1x1010)
TRACE............................. Scale factor threshold (Default=0.001)
MAX-IL-CUT .................... Maximum number of consecutive mass balance loop damping steps.
Allowed only when SOLVER=BROYDEN. (Default=5)
MAX-OL-CUT .................. Maximum number of consecutive energy balance loop damping steps
(Default=5)
IL-DAMP .......................... Damping factor on variables in the mass balance loop. Allowed only when
SOLVER=BROYDEN. (Default=0.5)
OL-DAMP ........................ Damping factor on variables in the energy balance loop (Default=0.5)
MAX-TSTEP .................... Maximum temperature step for the energy balance loop (Default=90ºF)
DAMP-FAC ...................... Damping factor. Use to control the step size of the convergence method.
For no damping, set DAMP-FAC=1. Decreasing the DAMP-FAC will
increase damping. (Default=1)
SCALING ......................... Scaling method for mass balance loop:
SCALING=COMPONENTS...... Component-based scaling (Default)
SCALING=SUBSTREAMS....... Substream-based scaling
COMP-ATTR.................... Flag used to determine whether to integrate component attributes, using
the user-supplied subroutine:
COMP-ATTR=YES ................... Integrates component attributes
COMP-ATTR=NO ..................... Does not integrate component attributes
(Default)
SUBS-ATTR .................... Flag used to determine whether to integrate substream attributes, using
the user-supplied subroutine:
SUBS-ATTR=YES .................... Integrates substream attributes
SUBS-ATTR=NO...................... Does not integrate substream attributes
(Default)
MAX-NSTEP .................... Number of integration steps allowed before integration is terminated.
Allowed only when ALGORITHM=INTEGRATOR. (Default=1000)
INT-TOL........................... Convergence tolerance for integration procedure. Allowed only when
ALGORITHM=INTEGRATOR. (Default=MB-TOL)
HINIT................................ Initial step size of the integration variable. Defined as a factor of reactor
residence time. Allowed only when ALGORITHM=INTEGRATOR.
(Default=1x10-4)
CORR-TOL ...................... Ratio of the corrector tolerance to the integration tolerance. Allowed only
when ALGORITHM=INTEGRATOR. (Default=0.1)
CORR-METHOD.............. Corrector convergence method. Allowed only when
ALGORITHM=INTEGRATOR.

Input Language Guide 20-23

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactors

CORR-METHOD=NEWTON..... Newton method (Default)

CORR-METHOD=DIRECT ....... Direct substitution method
ERR-METHOD ................ Error scaling method. Allowed only when ALGORITHM=INTEGRATOR.
ERR-METHOD=STATIC........... Constant scaling of error (Default)
ERR-METHOD=DYNAMIC....... Dynamic scaling of error
MAX-STEPSIZE .............. Maximum step size of the integration variable, defined as a factor of
reactor residence time. Allowed only when ALGORITHM=INTEGRATOR.
RAMP-TIME .................... Ramping interval. Defined as a factor of reactor residence time. Allowed
only when ALGORITHM=INTEGRATOR and RAMPING=YES.
(Default=5)
RAMPING ........................ Variable ramping option: YES or NO. Allowed only when
ALGORITHM=INTEGRATOR. (Default=NO)
CUTOFF .......................... Cutoff value for dependent variables below which integration error is
ignored. If you specify ERR-METHOD=STATIC, the cutoff value will not
have an appreciable effect on the integrator performance. Allowed only
when ALGORITHM=INTEGRATOR. (Default=1x10-10)
NONNEG ......................... Non-negativity flag: YES or NO. Use to force integration variables to have
positive values. Allowed only when ALGORITHM=INTEGRATOR.
(Default=NO)
RES-TIME........................ Residence time for the reactor (composite for all phases)
PHASE-RES-TIME .......... Residence time for the specified phase when NPHASE=2 or 3
VOL-EST ......................... Estimate for the reactor volume. Use to aid convergence when RES-TIME
is specified.
PHASE-VOL-EST............ Estimate for the volume of the specified phase when NPHASE=2 or 3.
Use to aid convergence when PHASE-RES-TIME is specified.
RT-TOL............................ Error tolerance for the residence time convergence loop. Use when RES-
TIME or PHASE-RES-TIME is specified. (Default=1x10-4)
RT-MAXIT........................ Maximum number of iterations for the residence time convergence loop.
Use when RES-TIME or PHASE-RES-TIME is specified. (Default=50)
MAX-VSTEP .................... Maximum volume step (as a factor of the initial volume estimate) for the
residence time convergence loop. Use when RES-TIME or PHASE-RES-
TIME is specified. (Default=1.0)
REACTIONS Use to enter the IDs of the REACTIONS paragraphs that define the reactions. (See Chapter 6.)
RCSTR can handle equilibrium and kinetic type reactions.
reacid-list........................ List of reaction paragraph IDs
STOIC Use to specify the stoichiometric coefficients for each reaction. The use of this sentence is obsolete,
but is maintained here for upward compatibility. Use the REACTIONS sentence instead.
ssid ................................. Substream ID
reacno ............................. Reaction number
cid ................................... Component ID
coef ................................. Stoichiometric coefficient (positive for products; negative for reactants)

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 Chapter 20

RATE-CON Use to specify the pre-exponential factor, the temperature exponent, and the activation energy for
each reaction. The use of this sentence is obsolete, but is maintained here for upward compatibility.
Use the REACTIONS sentence instead.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
pre-exp ............................ Pre-exponential factor. Units must be in SI. (See the Aspen Plus User
Guide, Volume 2, Chapter 13.)
act-energy ....................... Activation energy. (Units keyword is MOLE-ENTHALPY.)
temp-exponent ............... Temperature exponent for temperature in Kelvin (Default=0)
POWLAW-EXP Specifies the exponents for the components participating in each reaction. If the order of the
reaction with respect to a component is zero, you do not have to enter that component. The use of
this sentence is obsolete, but is maintained here for upward compatibility. Use the REACTIONS
sentence instead.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
cid.................................... Component ID
exponent ......................... Exponent. Need not be an integer.
L2-COMPS Use to enter a list of components that are used to identify the second-liquid phase when
NPHASE=3 and FREE-WATER=NO.
COMP-LIST ..................... List of component IDs in the second-liquid phase
L2-CUTOFF ..................... Mole fraction of second phase key component above which a phase is
identified as the second-liquid phase (Default=0.5)
basis-FLOW Use to specify initial estimates for the outlet component flow rates on MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL
basis. Flow rate estimates can be required to aid convergence.
ssid.................................. Substream ID (Default=previous ssid entry)
cid.................................... Component ID
flow.................................. Flow rate estimate. Basis are MOLE and STDVOL for conventional
components and MASS for nonconventional components. (Default=inlet
flow rate)
COMP-ATTR Use to specify outlet stream values of component attributes created or changed by the reactions.
Enter one COMP-ATTR sentence for each component attribute specified.
entryno............................ Entry number
ssid.................................. Substream ID
cid.................................... Component ID
cattrname ........................ Component attribute name
value-list.......................... List of attribute values to be entered or changed. You should insert an
asterisk (*) for values not changed.
SUBS-ATTR Use to specify outlet stream values of the particle-size distribution for a substream created or
changed by the reactions. Enter one SUBS-ATTR sentence for each substream specified.
entryno............................ Entry number
ssid.................................. Substream ID
psdid ............................... Particle size distribution ID
value-list.......................... List of attribute values to be entered or changed. You should insert an
asterisk (*) for values not changed.

Input Language Guide 20-25

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactors

CONVERGENCE Use to enter convergence parameters for solving the mass balance equations.
SOLVER .......................... Solution method for the mass balance equation:
SOLVER=BROYDEN ............... Uses the Broyden method to solve the mass
balance equations (Default)
SOLVER=NEWTON ................. Uses the Newton method to solve mass balance
equations. Use this method if equilibrium
reactions are present.
TOL-FUNC ...................... Function error tolerance (Default=1x10-10)
MAX-BOUND................... Allowed maximum number of iterations for which variables can be on
bounds
MAX-DIVERGE................ Allowed maximum number of iterations for which function norm diverges
JAC-METHOD ................. Jacobian update method:
JAC-METHOD=EXTERNAL..... Jacobian is updated by numerical
differentiation of the equations (Default)
JAC-METHOD= ........................ Jacobian is updated by Schubert's method
SCHUBERT
DOGLEG-ITERS ............. Number of initial dogleg iterations (Default=2)
FLOW-LB ........................ Lower bound on flow variables (Default=0.0)
FLOW-UB........................ Upper bound on flow variables (Default=1x105)
FLOW-DXUB................... Upper bound on step size of flow variables (Default =1000)
EXTENT-LB..................... Lower bound on reaction extent variables (Default=-1x105)
EXTENT-UB .................... Upper bound on reaction extent variables (Default=1x105)
EXTENT-DXUB ............... Upper bound on step size of reaction extent variables (Default =1000)
STAB-STRAT .................. Stabilization strategy for Newton’s method
STAB-STRAT=DOGLEG Dogleg strategy (Default)
STAB-STRAT=LINE-SEARCH Line search method
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied kinetic subroutine. For details on writing user-supplied kinetic
subroutines, see Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 11. The use of this sentence is obsolete, but is
maintained here for upward compatibility. Use the REACTIONS paragraph instead.
KINETICS ........................ User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name for kinetic calculations
USER-VECS Use to define the length of arrays for the user-supplied kinetic subroutine.
NINT ................................ Length of integer parameter array
NREAL ............................ Length of real parameter array
NIWORK.......................... Length of integer workspace array
NWORK........................... Length of real workspace array
INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied kinetic subroutine.
value-list ......................... List integer values
REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied kinetic subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of real values

20-26 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 20

UTILITY Use to specify an optional utility to provide heating or cooling duty.

UTILITY-ID....................... Utility ID.

Accessing Variables in RCSTR

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3 Element
PARAM VOL, TEMP, PRES, DUTY, TEST, MAXIT, TOL, — — — —
MB-MAXIT, MB-TOL, PHASE-VOL,
PHASE-VOL-FRAC, MAX-TSTEP, RES-TIME,
PHASE-RES-TIME, VOL-EST, PHASE-VOL-
EST, RT-TOL, RT-MAXIT, MAX-VSTEP
STOIC COEF reacno ssid cid —
RATE-CON PRE-EXP, ACT-ENERGY, TEMP-EXPONENT reacno — — —
POWLAW-EXP EXPONENT reacno cid — —
basis-FLOW FLOW ssid cid — —
INT VALUE-LIST — — — =

REAL VALUE-LIST — — — †

COMP-ATTR VALUE entryno — — —

SUBS-ATTR VALUE entryno — — —
† Position of a value in the INT or REAL value-list.

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Heat duty PARAM QCALC

Reactor temperature PARAM TCALC
Net heat duty PARAM NET-DUTY
Reactor volume RESULTS VOL-CALC
Volume of vapor phase in reactor RESULTS VOLV-CALC
Volume of liquid phase in reactor RESULTS VOLL-CALC

continued

Input Language Guide 20-27

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactors

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable
Volume of liquid 1 phase in reactor RESULTS VOLL1-CALC
Volume of salts in reactor RESULTS VOLST-CALC
Volume of condensed phases in reactor RESULTS VOLLS-CALC
Reactor residence time RESULTS RT-CALC
Residence time of vapor phase RESULTS RTV-CALC
Residence time of condensed phases RESULTS RTLS-CALC

20-28 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 20

RPLUG
Plug Flow Reactor

Input Language for RPLUG

BLOCK blockid RPLUG
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
TYPE LENGTH DIAM
Optional keywords:
NTUBE NPHASE PHASE PRES PDROP U MIX FLASH UCM UCS
USM NPOINT MAX-NSTEP HINIT INT-TOL CORR-METHOD
CORR-TOL-RATIO COMP-ATTR SUBS-ATTR ERR-METHOD PDROP-OPTION
EB-TOL-RATIO

INTEG-PARAMS keyword=value

Keywords:
MAXSTEP CUTOFF NONNEG

COOLANT keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PRES PDROP NPHASE PHASE TEMP VFRAC MAXIT TOL

T-SPEC loc temp / . . .

REACTIONS reacid-list
STOIC reacno ssid cid coef / cid coef / . . .
RATE-CON reacno pre-exp act-energy [temp-exponent]
POWLAW-EXP reacno cid exponent / cid exponent / . . .
L2-COMPS keyword=value

Keywords:
COMP-LIST L2-CUTOFF

REGR-POINTS setno profdataid VALUE-LIST=value-list

REGR-PARAM MAXPOINT=value
PROPERTIES opsetname keyword=value [ / opsetname keyword=value ]

Optional keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS

REPORT reportopt-list

Special reportopts:
NOPROFILE NOCOMPS USERVECS

Input Language Guide 20-29

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactors

PROP-REPORT PROPERTIES=propsetid-list keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PRINT-PLOT Y-SCALE PLOT-HEADING WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

PLOT plotno plot-list comp-plot=groupid-list keyword=value

Plots:
TEMP PRES VFRAC
Optional comp-plots:
X Y Z
Optional keywords:
Y-SCALE PLOT-HEADING WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

PLOT-COOLANT plotno plot-list comp-plot=groupid-list keyword=value

Plot:
TEMP
Optional comp-plots:
X Y
Optional keywords:
Y-SCALE PLOT-HEADING WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

SUBROUTINE keyword=value

Keywords:
KINETICS PRES-DROP QTRANS

USER-VECS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
NINT NREAL NIWORK NWORK NINTP NREALP NIWORKP NWORKP
NINTQ NREALQ NIWORKQ NWORKQ NUSER-PROF

INT value-list
REAL value-list
INTP value-list
REALP value-list
INTQ value-list
REALQ value-list
USER-PROF varno keyword=value

Keywords:
LABEL UNIT-LABEL

20-30 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 20

Input Language Description for RPLUG

PARAM Use to specify reactor dimensions, operating conditions, and optional convergence parameters. You
must specify reactor length, diameter, and type. You can specify that one-, two-, or three-phase
flash calculations be performed in the reactor. For two-phase calculations, you can specify whether
the reactions occur in the liquid phase or the vapor phase. The default is to perform vapor phase
calculations.
TYPE................................ TYPE=T-SPEC ......................... Reactor with temperature or temperature
profile specified
TYPE=ADIABATIC................... Adiabatic reactor
TYPE=S-ADIABATIC ............... Adiabatic reactor. Solids can be at a different
temperature than fluid phase.
TYPE=TCOOL-SPEC ............... Reactor with specified coolant temperature
TYPE=S-TCOOL-SPEC ........... Reactor with specified coolant temperature.
Solids can be at a different temperature than
fluid phase.
TYPE=CO-COOL...................... Reactor with cocurrent external coolant
TYPE=S-CO-COOL.................. Reactor with cocurrent external coolant. Solids
can be at a different temperature than fluid
phase.
TYPE=COUNTER-COOL ......... Reactor with countercurrent external coolant
TYPE=S-COUNTER-COOL ..... Reactor with countercurrent external coolant.
Solids can be at a different temperature than
fluid phase.
For types without the S prefix, any solids present are assumed to be at
the same temperature as the fluid phase.
LENGTH .......................... Reactor length
DIAM ................................ Reactor diameter. If NTUBE>1, DIAM represents the diameter of a single
tube.
NTUBE............................. Number of tubes in the reactor (Default=1)
NPHASE .......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation (Default)
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE............................. Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L ................................. Liquid
PRES ............................... Reactor pressure at inlet:
PRES > 0 .................................. Pressure
PRES ≤ 0.................................. Pressure drop at inlet (Default=0)
PDROP ............................ Pressure drop through the reactor (Default=0)

Input Language Guide 20-31

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 Reactors

U ...................................... Heat transfer coefficient (per unit reactor wall area) between the coolant
stream and the process stream, used for TCOOL-SPEC, CO-COOL, and
COUNTER-COOL reactors.
MIX .................................. Substream mixing code for S prefix type reactors. Allowed only when
TYPE=S-ADIABATIC, S-TCOOL-SPEC, S-CO-COOL, or S-COUNTER-
COOL.
MIX=YES................................... Inlet MIXED and solid substreams are
thermally mixed so they start out at the same
temperature. (Default)
MIX=NO .................................... Inlet substreams are not thermally mixed. If
inlet substreams have different temperatures,
calculations will begin with those temperatures.
FLASH............................. FLASH=YES............................. Process stream is flashed at all points along the
reactor.
FLASH=NO............................... Flash performed only if necessary. Can be used
by user-supplied subroutines. (Default)
UCM................................. Heat transfer coefficient (per unit reactor wall area) between the coolant
stream and the fluid phases. Use for S-TCOOL-SPEC, S-CO-COOL, and
S-COUNTER-COOL reactors.
UCS ................................. Heat transfer coefficient (per unit reactor wall area) between the coolant
stream and the solid phases. Use for S-TCOOL-SPEC, S-CO-COOL, and
S-COUNTER-COOL reactors.
USM................................. Heat transfer coefficient (per unit reactor wall area) between the fluid
phases and the solids phases. Use for S-ADIABATIC, S-TCOOL-SPEC, S-
CO-COOL, and S-COUNTER-COOL reactors.
NPOINT ........................... Number of points along the length of the reactor in the reactor profiles
printed in the block report. (Default=10)
MAX-NSTEP.................... Number of integration steps allowed before block execution is terminated.
(Default=1000)
HINIT ............................... Initial step size of the integration variable; defined as a fraction of reactor
length. In a few cases, with very fast reactions, you can use a number
smaller than the default. (Default=0.01)
INT-TOL........................... Convergence tolerance for integration procedure. (Default=1x10-4)
CORR-METHOD ............. Corrector convergence method:
CORR-METHOD=DIRECT ....... Direct substitution method. No derivatives are
required.
CORR-METHOD=NEWTON..... Newton method. Numerical derivatives are
computed whenever a new Jacobian is required.
(Default)
CORR-TOL-RATIO.......... Ratio of the corrector tolerance to the integration tolerance (Default=0.1)
COMP-ATTR ................... Flag used to determine whether to integrate component attributes, using
the user-supplied subroutine:
COMP-ATTR=YES ................... Integrates component attributes
COMP-ATTR=NO ..................... Does not integrate component attributes
(Default)
SUBS-ATTR .................... Flag used to determine whether to integrate substream attributes, using
h li d b i

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Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 20

the user-supplied subroutine:

SUBS-ATTR=YES .................... Integrates substream attributes
SUBS-ATTR=NO...................... Does not integrate substream attributes
(Default)
ERR-METHOD................. Error scaling method:
ERR-METHOD=STATIC........... Constant scaling of tolerance (Default)
ERR-METHOD=DYNAMIC....... Dynamic scaling of tolerance
ERR-METHOD=HYBRID.......... Enthalpy variables use dynamic scaling (scaled
against their own values) while other variables
use static scaling.
PDROP-OPTION ............. Pressure drop option:
PDROP-OPTION=PRES .......... User-supplied subroutine calculates pressure
(Default)
PDROP-OPTION=PDROP ....... User-supplied subroutine calculates pressure
drop (Default when COMP-ATTR or SUBS-
ATTR=YES)
EB-TOL-RATIO ............... Ratio of energy balance (enthalpy) tolerance to integration tolerance. This
parameter is only used when ERR-METHOD=HYBRID is selected.
Increase this value to loosen energy balance tolerance. (Default=1)
INTEG-PARAMS Use to enter optional integration convergence parameters.
MAXSTEP........................ Maximum step size allowed in integration, as a fraction of reactor length
CUTOFF .......................... Cutoff value for dependent variables below which integration error is
ignored. If you specify ERR-METHOD=STATIC, the cutoff value will not
have an appreciable effect on the integrator performance. (Default=1x10-
10)

NONNEG ......................... Non-negativity flag: YES or NO. Use to force integration variables to have
positive values. (Default=NO)
COOLANT Use to enter coolant parameters for TCOOL-SPEC, CO-COOL, or COUNTER-COOL reactors. For
TCOOL-SPEC reactors, only TEMP is entered.
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Coolant pressure at inlet
PRES ≤ 0.................................. Pressure drop at inlet (Default=0)
PDROP ............................ Coolant pressure drop through the reactor (Default=0)
NPHASE .......................... Number of phases for coolant flash calculations:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE............................. Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L ................................. Liquid
TEMP ............................... For TCOOL-SPEC reactors, TEMP is the required constant coolant
temperature. For COUNTER-COOL reactors, TEMP is the coolant outlet
temperature.

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 Reactors

VFRAC ............................ Molar vapor fraction of the outlet coolant stream. Use for COUNTER-
COOL reactors.
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations for both process stream and coolant
flash calculations. (Default=value established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance for both process stream and coolant flash
calculations. (Default=value established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
T-SPEC Use to enter the temperature profile for T-SPEC reactors. RPLUG interpolates values for
temperatures between specified locations. If you provide a temperature profile for only a portion of
the reactor, RPLUG uses the final temperature for the remaining length. If you specify TYPE=T-
SPEC and you do not enter the T-SPEC sentence, RPLUG uses the reactor inlet temperature as the
temperature specification for the entire reactor length.
loc ................................... Relative location in the reactor (for example, 0.5 for midpoint)
temp ................................ Reactor temperature
REACTIONS Use to enter the IDs of the REACTIONS paragraphs that define the reactions. (See Chapter 6.)
RPLUG can handle only kinetic type reactions.
reacid-list........................ List of reaction paragraph IDs
STOIC Use to specify the stoichiometric coefficients for each reaction. The use of this sentence is obsolete,
but is maintained here for upward compatibility. Use the REACTIONS sentence instead.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
ssid ................................. Substream ID
cid ................................... Component ID
coef ................................. Stoichiometric coefficient (positive for products; negative for reactants)
RATE-CON Use to specify the pre-exponential factor, the temperature exponent, and the activation energy for
each reaction. The use of this sentence is obsolete, but is maintained here for upward compatibility.
Use the REACTIONS sentence instead.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
pre-exp............................ Pre-exponential factor. Units must be in SI. (See the Aspen Plus User
Guide, Volume 2, Chapter 13.)
act-energy....................... Activation energy. (Units keyword is MOLE-ENTHALPY.)
temp-exponent ............... Temperature exponent for temperature in Kelvin (Default=0)
POWLAW-EXP Specifies the exponents for the components participating in each reaction. If the order of the
reaction with respect to a component is zero, you do not have to enter that component. The use of
this sentence is obsolete, but is maintained here for upward compatibility. Use the REACTIONS
sentence instead.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
cid ................................... Component ID
exponent......................... Exponent. Need not be an integer.

L2-COMPS Use to enter a list of components that are used to identify the second-liquid phase when
NPHASE=3 and FREE-WATER=NO.
COMP-LIST ..................... List of component IDs in the second-liquid phase

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 Chapter 20

L2-CUTOFF ..................... Mole fraction of second phase key component above which a phase is
identified as the second-liquid phase, when only one liquid phase is
present (Default=0.5)
REGR-POINTS Use to enter data sets and values for reactor locations for which the measurements have been
specified using a PROFILE-DATA paragraph. (See Chapter 39.)
setno ............................... Data set number
profdataid ....................... PROFILE-DATA paragraph ID
VALUE-LIST .................... List of locations in the reactor. Values must be in meters.
REGR-PARAM Use to enter the maximum number of measurement data points. (See Chapter 39.)
MAXPOINT ...................... Maximum number of measurement data points in all data sets referenced
in the REGR-POINTS sentence
PROPERTIES Use to override the global or flowsheet section property specifications. If you supply one set of
property specifications, it will be used for both process stream and coolant stream calculations. If
you supply two sets, the first will be used for the process stream and the second for the coolant
stream. Any option set name entered here must also be named in the PROPERTIES paragraph.
(See Chapter 8.)
REPORT Use to override the default report options. You can use the standard REPORT options for use
within a block (see Chapter 11) for RPLUG.
reportopt-list................... The standard block report options (see Chapter 11), in addition to the
following:
NOPROFILE ............................. Suppresses profiles for temperature, pressure,
and vapor fraction
NOCOMPS................................ Suppresses mole fraction profiles
USERVECS .............................. Specifies printing of user integer and real
arrays
PROP-REPORT Use to specify additional properties to be reported (in addition to temperature, pressure, vapor
fraction, and mole fractions printed in the standard report).
propsetid-list .................. List of property set IDs. (See Chapter 42.)
PRINT-PLOT ................... PRINT-PLOT=YES ................... Produces print-plots of all tabulated properties
PRINT-PLOT=NO ..................... Does not produce print-plots (Default)
Y-SCALE ......................... Y-SCALE=STANDARD............ Uses linear scale on vertical axis of plots
(Default)
Y-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on vertical axis of plots
Y-SCALE=LOG ........................ Uses logarithmic scale on vertical axis of plots
PLOT-HEADING.............. Heading up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes, printed at the top of the
print-plot
WIDE, GRID, ................... Plot options. Use to override defaults established by the PLOT-OPTIONS
INTERPOLATE paragraph. (See Chapter 47.)

PLOT Use to create plots of reactor temperature, pressure, vapor fraction, and/or mole fraction versus
reactor length. Mole fractions of individual components or component groups can be reported.
plotno .............................. Plot number

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 Reactors

plot-list............................ List of non-component-dependent properties to be plotted:

TEMP ........................................ Reactor temperature
PRES ........................................ Reactor pressure
VFRAC...................................... Reactor vapor fraction
comp-plot ....................... Keyword for component-dependent property to be plotted. Up to five
components or groups will be printed on a plot.
X, Y, Z ....................................... Liquid, vapor, and total mole fraction
respectively
groupid-list ..................... List of component IDs and/or component group IDs
Y-SCALE ......................... Y-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on vertical axis of plots
(Default)
Y-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on vertical axis of plots
Y-SCALE=LOG ........................ Uses logarithmic scale on vertical axis of plots
PLOT-HEADING.............. Heading up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes, printed at the top of the
print-plot
WIDE, GRID, ................... Plot options. Use to override defaults established by the PLOT-OPTIONS
INTERPOLATE paragraph. (See Chapter 47.)
PLOT-COOLANT Use to create plots of coolant temperature (or composition) versus reactor length. Mole fractions of
individual components or component groups can be reported.
plotno.............................. Plot number
plot-list............................ List of non-component-dependent property to be plotted:
TEMP ........................................ Generates temperature plot
comp-plot ....................... Keyword for component-dependent property to be plotted:
X, Y ........................................... Liquid and vapor mole fraction, respectively
groupid-list ..................... List of component IDs and/or component group IDs
Y-SCALE ......................... Y-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on vertical axis of plots
(Default)
Y-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on vertical axis of plots
Y-SCALE=LOG ........................ Uses logarithmic scale on vertical axis of plots
PLOT-HEADING.............. Heading up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes, printed at the top of the
print-plot
WIDE, GRID, .................. Plot options. Use to override defaults established by the
INTERPOLATE PLOT-OPTIONS paragraph. (See Chapter 47.)
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied pressure drop and heat transfer subroutines. For details on writing
these user-supplied subroutines, see Aspen Plus User Models, Chapters 12 and 13.
KINETICS ........................ The use of this keyword is obsolete, but is maintained here for upward
compatibility. Use the REACTIONS paragraph instead. (See Chapter 6.)
PRES-DROP ................... User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name for pressure drop calculations
QTRANS.......................... User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name for heat transfer calculations
USER-VECS Use to define the length of arrays for user-supplied kinetic, pressure-drop, and heat transfer
subroutines.

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 Chapter 20

NINT................................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied kinetic

subroutine
NREAL............................. Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied kinetic subroutine
NIWORK .......................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied kinetic
subroutine
NWORK ........................... Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied kinetic subroutine
NINTP .............................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
NREALP .......................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
NIWORKP........................ Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
NWORKP......................... Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
NINTQ.............................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied heat transfer
subroutine
NREALQ .......................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied heat transfer
subroutine
NIWORKQ ....................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied heat transfer
subroutine
NWORKQ ........................ Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied heat transfer
subroutine
NUSER-PROF ................. Number of user-profile variables
INT, Use to enter values for the integer parameter arrays of the user-supplied kinetic, pressure drop,
INTP, and heat transfer subroutines.
INTQ
value-list.......................... List of integer values
REAL, Use to enter values for the real parameter arrays of the user-supplied kinetic, pressure drop, and
REALP, heat transfer subroutines.
REALQ
value-list.......................... List of real values
USERPROF Use to enter labels and unit labels for user profile variables. These labels are used for reporting
purposes only.
varno ............................... User-profile variable number
LABEL ............................. User-profile variable number label. The entered labels must be enclosed
in quotes.
UNIT-LABEL.................... User-profile variable number unit label. The entered unit labels must be
enclosed in quotes.

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 Reactors

Accessing Variables in RPLUG

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3 Element

PARAM LENGTH, DIAM, NTUBE, PRES, PDROP, U, — — — —

UCM, UCS, USM, HINIT, INT-TOL, CORR-TOL-
RATIO
T-SPEC TEMP†, LOC† locno†† — — —
COOLANT PRES, PDROP, TEMP, VFRAC, MAXIT, TOL — — — —
STOIC COEF reacno ssid cid —
RATE-CON PRE-EXP, ACT-ENERGY, TEMP-EXPONENT reacno — — —
POWLAW-EXP EXPONENT reacno cid — —
INT VALUE-LIST — — — †††

INTP VALUE-LIST — — — †††

INTQ VALUE-LIST — — — †††

REAL VALUE-LIST — — — †††

REALP VALUE-LIST — — — †††

REALQ VALUE-LIST — — — †††

† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.
†† locno is the entry number in the profile for the reactor location that is being accessed.
††† Position of a value in the value-list.

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 Chapter 20

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1

Heat duty PARAM QCALC —

Minimum temperature PARAM TMIN —
Maximum temperature PARAM TMAX —
Residence time PARAM RES-TIME —
Reactor pressure GENPROF REAC-PRES† locno
Reactor temperature GENPROF REAC-TEMP† locno
Reactor location GENPROF REAC-LENGTH† locno
Reactor residence time GENPROF REAC-RESTIME† locno
Coolant pressure GENPROF COOLANT-PRES† locno
Coolant inlet temperature COOLANT COOLANT-TIN —
Coolant inlet vapor fraction COOLANT COOLANT-VIN —
† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

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 Reactors

RBATCH
Batch Reactor

Input Language for RBATCH

BLOCK blockid RBATCH
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
TYPE PRES TEMP DUTY VOLUME PRINT-TIME CYCLE-TIME
FEED-TIME MAX-TIME MAX-NPOINT
Optional keywords:
DOWN-TIME NPHASE PHASE INT-TOL HINIT CORR-METHOD
ERR-METHOD FLASH FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL NPHASE-ACCUM
PHASE-ACCUM REACSYS ADD-POINTS COMP-ATTR EB-TOL-RATIO

INTEG-PARAMS keyword=value

Keywords:
MAXSTEP IE-TOLFAC CUTOFF NONNEG

PCONV-OPT keyword=value

Keywords:
SOLVER MAXIT VOLUME-TOL PSTEP-INIT PRES-BAND PRES-LOWER
PRES-UPPER FLASH-TOLFAC

T-PROF time temp / . . .

P-PROF time pres / . . .
DUTY-PROF time duty / . . .
FEED-PROF keyword=value

Keywords:
SID TIME FLOW

COOLANT keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP U AREA

CONTROLLER keyword=value

Optional keywords:
GAIN INT-TIME DER-TIME

STOP stopno loc variable value from SSID=ssid COMP=cid &

PROPERTIES=prop-set

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 Chapter 20

Locations:
REACTOR ACCUMULATOR VENT
Variables:
TIME MASS-FRAC MOLE-FRAC CONVERSION MOLES MASS VOLUME
TEMP MOLE-FLOW MASS-FLOW VFRAC PRES PROP

VENT-OPTIONS P-OPEN=value
REACTIONS reacid-list
STOIC reacno ssid cid coef / cid coef / . . .
RATE-CON reacno pre-exp act-energy [temp-exponent]
POWLAW-EXP reacno cid exponent / cid exponent / . . .
L2-COMPS keyword=value

Keywords:
COMP-LIST L2-CUTOFF

REGR-POINT setno profdataid VALUE-LIST=value-list

REGR-PARAM MAXPOINT=value
REPORT reportopt-list

Special reportopts:
NOPROFILE USERVECS

PROP-REACTOR PROPERTIES=propsetid-list keyword=value

PROP-ACCUM PROPERTIES=propsetid-list keyword=value
PROP-VENT PROPERTIES=propsetid-list keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PRINT-PLOT Y-SCALE PLOT-HEADING WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

PLOT-REACTOR plotno plot-list comp-plot=groupid-list keyword=value

Plots:
TEMP VFRAC MASS SETPOINT
Optional comp-plots:
X Y Z
Optional keywords:
Y-SCALE PLOT-HEADING WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

PLOT-ACCUM plotno plot-list comp-plot=groupid-list keyword=value

Plots:
TEMP VFRAC MASS
Optional comp-plots:
X Y Z
Optional keywords:
Y-SCALE PLOT-HEADING WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

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 Reactors

PLOT-VENT plotno plot-list comp-plot=groupid-list keyword=value

Plot:
FLOW
Optional comp-plot:
Z
Optional keywords:
Y-SCALE PLOT-HEADING WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

SUBROUTINE keyword=value

Keywords:
KINETICS HEAT-TRANS

USER-VECS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
NINT NREAL NIWORK NWORK NINTQ NREALQ NIWORKQ NWORKQ
NUSER-PROF

INT value-list
REAL value-list
INTQ value-list
REALQ value-list
USER-PROF keyword=value

Keywords:
ELEMENT LABEL UNIT-LABEL

Input Language Description for RBATCH

PARAM Use to enter reactor type, output time interval, cycle time, maximum time, and optional algorithm
parameters. You must enter either FEED-TIME or CYCLE-TIME. If the reactor batch charge
stream is in a recycle loop, you must enter CYCLE-TIME. You can specify that one-, two-, or three-
phase flash calculations be performed in the reactor. For two-phase calculations, the reaction can
occur either in the liquid or in the vapor phase. When a continuous vapor vent is used, two-phase
calculations are assumed, and the reactions are assumed to occur in the liquid phase.
TYPE ............................... TYPE=T-SPEC ......................... Constant temperature reactor
TYPE=T-PROFILE.................... Reactor with time-temperature profile specified
TYPE=DUTY-SPEC.................. Specified duty reactor
TYPE=TCOOL-SPEC ............... Reactor with specified coolant temperature
TYPE= DUTY-PROF................. Reactor with time-duty profile specified
TYPE=USER-DUTY.................. Reactor with user-supplied heat-transfer
subroutine
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Reactor pressure
PRES ≤ 0 .................................. Pressure drop from batch charge stream
(Default=0)

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 Chapter 20

TEMP ............................... Set-point temperature of reactor, use for T-SPEC reactors

DUTY ............................... Reactor heat duty, use for DUTY-SPEC reactor (Default=0)
VOLUME.......................... Volume of the reactor
PRINT-TIME .................... Time interval between profile points printed in the block report
CYCLE-TIME ................... Reactor cycle time. If you enter CYCLE-TIME, this time is used for all
feed and product stream conversions, regardless of the actual reaction
time.
(Default=reaction time + DOWN-TIME)
FEED-TIME...................... Cycle time used to compute the actual batch charge
MAX-TIME ....................... Upper limit on the reaction time
MAX-NPOINT .................. Number of output points generated if the upper limit on the reaction time
is reached
DOWN-TIME.................... Reactor down time used when you do not enter CYCLE-TIME. Total
reactor cycle time is the reaction time required to reach a stopping
criterion plus the down time. (Default=0)
NPHASE .......................... NPHASE is used only when no vent product stream is present.
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation (Default)
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE............................. Specifies the phase when no vent product stream is present and
NPHASE=1:
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
PHASE=L ................................. Liquid (Default)
INT-TOL........................... Convergence tolerance for integration routine (Default=1x10-4)
HINIT................................ Initial step size (in seconds) used by the integration routine (Default=0.1)
CORR-METHOD.............. Corrector convergence method:
CORR-METHOD=DIRECT ....... Direct substitution method
CORR-METHOD=NEWTON .... Newton method (Default)
ERR-METHOD................. Error scaling method:
ERR-METHOD=STATIC........... Constant scaling of tolerance (Default)
ERR-METHOD=DYNAMIC....... Dynamic scaling of tolerance
ERR-METHOD=HYBRID.......... Enthalpy variables use dynamic scaling (scaled
against their own values) while other variables
use static scaling.
FLASH ............................. Switch to force flash calculations: YES or NO (Default=YES)
FLASH-MAXIT ................. Maximum number of iterations for flash calculations. (Default=value
established by the SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
FLASH-TOL..................... Convergence tolerance for flash calculations. (Default=value established
by the SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)

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 Reactors

NPHASE-ACCUM............ Number of phases assumed in flash calculations in the vent accumulator.

You must also specify the vent stream.
NPHASE-ACCUM=1 ................ One-phase calculation (Default)
NPHASE-ACCUM=2 ................ Two-phase flash calculation
PHASE-ACCUM .............. Specifies the phase of the vent stream when vent product stream is
present and NPHASE-ACCUM=1:
PHASE-ACCUM=V................... Vapor (Default)
PHASE-ACCUM=L................... Liquid
REACSYS ....................... Switch to define whether any reactions are present: YES or NO
(Default=YES)
ADD-POINTS................... ADD-POINTS=YES .................. Includes the times at which input profile points
have been entered (Default)
ADD-POINTS=NO .................... Does not include the times at which input
profile points have been entered
COMP-ATTR ................... Flag used to determine whether to integrate component attributes, using
the user-supplied kinetics subroutine
COMP-ATTR=YES ................... Integrates component attributes
COMP-ATTR=NO ..................... Does not integrate component attributes
(Default)
EB-TOL-RATIO ............... Ratio of energy balance (enthalpy) tolerance to integration tolerance. This
parameter is only used when ERR-METHOD=HYBRID is selected.
Increase this value to loosen energy balance tolerance. (Default=1)
INTEG-PARAMS Use to enter optional integration convergence parameters.
MAXSTEP ....................... Maximum step size allowed in integration
IE-TOLFAC...................... Ratio of the tolerance for the error function used in the internal energy
loop to the integration tolerance. The relative error in the calculated
versus specified volume (or pressure, depending on whether the reactor is
venting or not) is checked against this tolerance.The error is directly
related to the error in the internal energy at any integration point, where
the reactor contents are flashed at an enthalpy of H = U – PV.
(Default=0.001)
CUTOFF .......................... Cutoff value for dependent variables below which integration error is
ignored. If you specify ERR-METHOD-STATIC, the cutoff value will not
have an appreciable effect on the integrator performance.
(Default=1x10-10)
NONNEG ......................... Non-negativity flag: YES or NO. Use to force integrator variables to have
positive values. (Default=NO)
PCONV-OPT Use to enter optional pressure convergence parameters.
SOLVER .......................... Solution scheme used in numerical search:
SOLVER=NEWTON ................. Numerical search using the Newton method
SOLVER=ROOT1N .................. Numerical search using modified secant method
SOLVER=ARCONS.................. Numerical search using standard secant
method
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of iterations allowed (Default=300)

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 Chapter 20

VOLUME-TOL ................. Relative tolerance for convergence on volume (Default=1x10-6)

PSTEP-INIT ..................... Initial step size for pressure search (Default=101.3 N/SQM)
PRES-BAND.................... Band around previous pressure solution within which to search
(Default=1x106 N/SQM)
PRES-LOWER................. Lower bound on search (Default=10 N/SQM)
PRES-UPPER.................. Upper bound on search (Default=1x108 N/SQM)
FLASH-TOLFAC.............. Flash tolerance factor (Default=0.001)
T-PROF Use to enter the time-temperature profile for T-PROFILE reactors. Linear interpolation is used for
temperatures between the specified times.
time.................................. Elapsed reaction time
temp ................................ Reactor set-point temperature
P-PROF Use to enter the time-pressure profile. Linear interpolation is used for pressures between the
specified times. You cannot use P-PROF when you specify the volume of reactor, VOLUME.
time.................................. Elapsed reaction time
pres ................................. Reactor pressure
DUTY-PROF Use to enter the time-duty profile for DUTY-PROFILE reactors. Linear interpolation is used for
pressures between the specified times. You cannot use DUTY-PROF when you specify the volume of
reactor, VOLUME.
time.................................. Elapsed reaction time
duty ................................. Reactor duty (rate of heat addition or removal)
FEED-PROF Use to enter flow rate profiles for continuous feed streams. All feed streams except the first, which
is uniquely used to load the reactor, can be time-varying.
SID ................................... Stream ID for continuous feed streams with user-specified flow rate
profile
TIME ................................ List of elapsed reaction time, in IN-UNITS for time
FLOW .............................. List of mass flow rate at the corresponding time, in IN-UNITS for mass
flow
COOLANT Use to enter coolant parameters for TCOOL-SPEC reactors.
TEMP ............................... Specified coolant temperature
U ...................................... Heat transfer coefficient (per unit area) between the reactor contents and
the constant temperature coolant
AREA ............................... Total area for heat transfer between the reactor contents and the
constant temperature coolant
CONTROLLER Use to enter PID controller tuning parameters for T-SPEC and T-PROFILE reactors.
GAIN ................................ Proportional gain (Default=2500)
INT-TIME ......................... Integral time constant (reset time) in seconds
(Default=no integral action)
DER-TIME........................ Derivative time constant in seconds (Default=0)
STOP Use to specify stop criteria. One STOP sentence is entered for each stop criterion. If you specify
more than one stop criterion, the simulation is halted when any one of the stop criteria is reached.
You can specify the stopping criterion variable to reach its specified value FROM-ABOVE or
FROM-BELOW.

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 Reactors

stopno............................. Stop criterion number

loc ................................... Location for the variable:
REACTOR ................................ In reactor
ACCUMULATOR...................... In vent accumulator
VENT......................................... In continuous vent
variable ........................... Stop criterion variable:
TIME.......................................... Reaction time
MASS-FRAC............................. Mass fraction of a component specified by
COMP
MOLE-FRAC............................. Mole fraction of a component specified by
COMP
CONVERSION .......................... Conversion of a component specified by COMP
MOLES ..................................... Total moles inside the reactor or the vent
accumulator
MASS........................................ Total mass inside the reactor or the vent
accumulator
VOLUME................................... Total volume inside the reactor
TEMP ........................................ Reactor temperature
MOLE-FLOW ............................ Vent mole flow rate
MASS-FLOW ............................ Vent mass flow rate
VFRAC...................................... Vapor fraction in the reactor
PRES ........................................ Reactor pressure. If you enter a component ID,
PRES is the corresponding component partial
pressure.
PROP ........................................ Prop-set property (defined in Chapter 42)
value................................ Value of variable at which to stop reaction
from................................. FROM-ABOVE.......................... Terminates reaction when variable value is
reached from above
FROM-BELOW ......................... Terminates reaction when variable value is
reached from below
ssid ................................. Substream ID
cid ................................... Component ID. Use when variable is MOLE-FRAC, MASS-FRAC, or
CONVERSION.
prop-set .......................... Prop-set ID. (See Chapter 42.) Required when stop criterion variable is
PROP.
VENT-OPTIONS Use to specify valve opening pressure option.
P-OPEN ........................... Valve opening pressure
REACTIONS Use to enter the IDs of the REACTIONS paragraphs that define the reactions. (See Chapter 6.)
RPLUG can handle only kinetic type reactions.
reacid-list........................ List of reaction paragraph IDs
STOIC Use to specify the stoichiometric coefficients for each reaction. The use of this sentence is obsolete,
b i i i dh f d ibili U h REACTIONS i d

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 Chapter 20

but is maintained here for upward compatibility. Use the REACTIONS sentence instead.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
ssid.................................. Substream ID
cid.................................... Component ID
coef.................................. Stoichiometric coefficient (positive for products; negative for reactants)
RATE-CON Use to specify the pre-exponential factor, the temperature exponent, and the activation energy for
each reaction. The use of this sentence is obsolete, but is maintained here for upward compatibility.
Use the REACTIONS sentence instead.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
pre-exp ............................ Pre-exponential factor. Units must be in SI. (See the Aspen Plus User
Guide, Volume 2, Chapter 13)
act-energy ....................... Activation energy. (Units keyword is MOLE-ENTHALPY.)
temp-exponent ............... Temperature exponent for temperature in Kelvin (Default=0)
POWLAW-EXP Specifies the exponents for the components participating in each reaction. If the order of the
reaction with respect to a component is zero, you do not have to enter that component. The use of
this sentence is obsolete, but is maintained here for upward compatibility. Use the REACTIONS
sentence instead.
reacno ............................. Reaction number
cid.................................... Component ID
exponent ......................... Exponent. Does not have to be an integer.
L2-COMPS Use to enter a list of components that are used to identify the second-liquid phase when
NPHASE=3 and FREE-WATER=NO.
COMP-LIST ..................... List of component IDs in the second-liquid phase
L2-CUTOFF ..................... Mole fraction of second phase key component above which a phase is
identified as the second-liquid phase when only one liquid phase is
present
REGR-POINTS Use to enter data sets and reaction times for which measurements have been specified in a
PROFILE-DATA paragraph. (See Chapter 39.)
setno ............................... Data set number
profdataid ....................... PROFILE-DATA paragraph ID
VALUE-LIST .................... List of reaction times. Values must be in seconds.
REGR-PARAM Use to enter the maximum number of measurement data points. (See Chapter 39.)
MAXPOINT ...................... Maximum number of measurement data points in all data sets referenced
in the REGR-POINTS sentence
REPORT Use to override the report options. You can use the standard REPORT options for use within a
block (see Chapter 11) for RBATCH.
reportopt-list................... The standard block report options (see Chapter 11), in addition to the
following:
NOPROFILE ............................. Suppresses profiles for temperature, pressure,
and vapor fraction
USERVECS .............................. Specifies printing of user integer and real
arrays

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 Reactors

PROP-REACTOR, Use to specify additional properties for the reactor, the vent accumulator, or the vent to be reported
PROP-ACCUM, (in addition to temperature, pressure, vapor fraction, total mass, mole fractions, and setpoint
PROP-VENT temperature printed in the standard report).
propsetid-list .................. List of property set IDs. (See Chapter 42.)
PRINT-PLOT ................... PRINT-PLOT=YES ................... Produces print-plots of all tabulated properties
PRINT-PLOT=NO ..................... Does not produce print-plots of all tabulated
properties (Default)
Y-SCALE ......................... Y-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on vertical axis of plots
(Default)
Y-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on vertical axis of plots
Y-SCALE=LOG ........................ Uses logarithmic scale on vertical axis of plots
PLOT-HEADING.............. Heading up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes, printed at the top of the
print-plot
WIDE, GRID, ................... Plot options. Use to override defaults established by the PLOT-OPTIONS
INTERPOLATE paragraph. (See Chapter 47.)
PLOT-REACTOR, Use to create plots of temperature, vapor fraction, total mass, setpoint temperature and/or mole
PLOT-ACCUM, fraction vs. reaction time. You can report mole fractions of individual components or component
PLOT-VENT groups.
plotno.............................. Plot number
plot-list............................ List of non-component-dependent properties to be plotted:
TEMP ........................................ Temperature
VFRAC...................................... Vapor fraction
MASS........................................ Total mass
SETPOINT ................................ Setpoint temperature
FLOW........................................ Vent molar flow rate
comp-plot ....................... Keyword for component-dependent property to be plotted. Up to five
components or groups will be printed on a plot.
X, Y, Z ....................................... Liquid, vapor, and total mole fraction
respectively
groupid-list ..................... List of component IDs and/or component group IDs
Y-SCALE ......................... Y-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on vertical axis of plots
(Default)
Y-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on vertical axis of plots
Y-SCALE=LOG ........................ Uses logarithmic scale on vertical axis of plots
PLOT-HEADING.............. Heading up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes, printed at the top of the
print-plot
WIDE, GRID, ................... Plot options. Use to override defaults established by the
INTERPOLATE PLOT-OPTIONS paragraph. (See Chapter 47.)
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied kinetic and heat transfer subroutines. For details on writing these
user-supplied subroutines, see Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 14.
KINETICS ........................ The use of this keyword is obsolete, but is maintained here for upward
compatibility. Use the REACTIONS paragraph instead. (See Chapter 6.)

20-48 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 20

HEAT-TRANS .................. User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name for heat transfer calculations
USER-VECS Use to define the length of arrays for user-supplied kinetic and heat transfer subroutines.
NINT................................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied kinetic
subroutine
NREAL............................. Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied kinetic subroutine
NIWORK .......................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied kinetic
subroutine
NWORK ........................... Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied kinetic subroutine
NINTQ.............................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied heat transfer
subroutine
NREALQ .......................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied heat transfer
subroutine
NIWORKQ ....................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied heat transfer
subroutine
NWORKQ ........................ Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied heat transfer
subroutine
NUSER-PROF ................. Number of user-profile variables
INT, Use to enter values for the integer parameter arrays of the user-supplied kinetic and heat transfer
INTQ subroutines.
value-list.......................... List of integer values
REAL, Use to enter values for the real parameter arrays of the user-supplied kinetic and heat transfer
REALQ subroutines.
value-list.......................... List of real values
USERPROF Use to enter labels and unit labels for user profile variables. These labels will be used for reporting
purposes only.
ELEMENT........................ User-profile variable number
LABEL ............................. User-profile variable number label. The labels must be enclosed in quotes.
UNIT-LABEL.................... User-profile variable number unit label. The unit labels must be enclosed
in quotes.

Accessing Variables in RBATCH

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Input Language Guide 20-49

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Reactors

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3 Element
PARAM CYCLE-TIME, FEED-TIME, MAX-TIME, PRES, — — — —
TEMP, DUTY, DOWN-TIME, INT-TOL, HINIT,
FLASH-MAXIT, FLASH-TOL
COOLANT TEMP, U, AREA — — — —
CONTROLLER GAIN, INT-TIME, DER-TIME — — — —
STOP VALUE critno — — —
STOIC COEF reacno ssid cid —
RATE-CON PRE-EXP, ACT-ENERGY, TEMP-EXPONENT reacno — — —
POWLAW-EXP EXPONENT reacno cid — —
INT VALUE-LIST — — — †

REAL VALUE-LIST — — — †

† Position of a value in the INT or REAL value-list

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1

Reaction time PARAM TIME —

Heat duty RESULTS QCALC —
Minimum temperature RESULTS TMIN —
Maximum temperature RESULTS TMAX —
Reactor pressure GENPROF REAC-PRES† pointno
Reactor temperature GENPROF REAC-TEMP† pointno
Elapsed time GENPROF REAC-TIME† pointno
Vent molar flowrate GENPROF VENT-FLOW† pointno
Total mass in reactor GENPROF REAC-MASS† pointno
Total mass in vent accumulator GENPROF VENT-ACC-MAS† pointno
Reactor accumulated duty GENPROF ACCUM-DUTY† pointno
Reactor volume GENPROF REAC-VOLUME† pointno
Reactor duty GENPROF REAC-DUTY† pointno
† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

20-50 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

21 Pumps and Compressors

This chapter describes the input language for pump and compressor models. (For
pressure changes only, you can use other models, such as HEATER.) The pump
and compressor models change pressure when energy-related information, such
as power requirement, is needed or known. The models are:
Model Description Purpose Use

PUMP Pump or Changes stream pressure when the power Pumps and hydraulic turbines
hydraulic requirement is needed or known
turbine
COMPR Compressor or Changes stream pressure when the power Polytropic compressors, polytropic positive
turbine requirement is needed or known displacement compressors, isentropic
compressors, and isentropic turbines
MCOMPR Multistage Changes stream pressure across multiple stages Multistage polytropic compressors, polytropic
compressor or with intercoolers. Allows for liquid knockout positive displacement compressors,
turbine streams from intercoolers. isentropic compressors, and isentropic
turbines

Input Language Guide 21-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

PUMP
Pump/Hydraulic Turbine

Input Language for PUMP

BLOCK blockid PUMP
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
PRES DELP PRATIO POWER
Optional keywords:
EFF DEFF NPHASE SUCT-AREA MAXIT TOL PUMP-TYPE HEAD-STATIC

PERFOR-PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
NCURVES ACT-SH-SPEED REF-SH-SPEED IMPELLER-DIA USER-CURVES
SP-SPEED SUCT-SPEED SPEED-UNITS AFFEXPH AFFEXPE AFFEXPP
Optional keywords for head curves:
HEAD-FACTOR HEAD-NPOINT H-FLOW-VAR H-FLOW-UNIT HEAD-UNITS
Optional keywords for head coefficient curves
HEADC-FACTOR HEADC-NPOINT HC-FLOW-VAR HC-FLOW-UNIT
Optional keywords for brake horsepower curves:
POWER-FACTOR POWER-NPOINT PW-FLOW-VAR PW-FLOW-UNIT
POWER-UNITS
Optional keywords for discharge pressure curves:
PRES-FACTOR PRES-NPOINT P-FLOW-VAR P-FLOW-UNIT PRES-UNITS
Optional keywords for pressure change curves:
PRAT-FACTOR PRAT-NPOINT PR-FLOW-VAR PR-FLOW-UNIT
Optional keywrods for pressure ratio curves
DELP-FACTOR DELP-NPOINT DP-FLOW-VAR DP-FLOW-UNIT DELP-UNITS
Optional keywords for efficiency curves:
EFF-FACTOR EFF-NPOINT EF-FLOW-VAR EF-FLOW-UNIT
Optional keywords for NPSHR curves:
NPSHR-FACTOR NPSHR-NPOINT HR-FLOW-VAR HR-FLOW-UNIT NPSHR-UNITS

HEAD-TABLE curve point head flow / . . .

HEAD-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4

21-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

HEADC-TABLE curve point headc flow / . . .

HEADC-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4

POWER-TABLE curve point power flow / . . .

POWER-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4

PRES-TABLE curve point pres flow / . . .

PRES-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4

PRATIO-TABLE curve point pratio flow / . . .

PRATIO-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4

DELP-TABLE curve point delp flow / . . .

DELP-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4

EFF-TABLE curve point eff flow / . . .

EFF-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4

NPSHR-TABLE curve point npshr flow / . . .

NPSHR-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4

SHAFT-SPEED curve shaft-speed / . . .

SUBROUTINE CURVES=subrname
USER-VECS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
NINT NREAL NIWORK NWORK

INT value-list
REAL value-list
UTILITY UTILITY-ID=utilityid

Input Language Guide 21-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

Input Language Description for PUMP

PARAM Use to specify pump efficiencies and optional flash convergence. You can also specify driver
efficiency. You can use an inlet work stream to provide a power specification.
PRES ............................... Outlet pressure
DELP ............................... Pressure increase for pumps or pressure decrease for turbines.
PRATIO ........................... Pressure ratio (outlet pressure/inlet pressure)
POWER ........................... Power supplied to a pump or power produced by a turbine. Work streams
use the opposite convention.
PUMP-TYPE.................... PUMP-TYPE=PUMP................. Model type is pump (Default).
PUMP-TYPE=TURBINE ........... Model type is turbine.
EFF .................................. Efficiency.
For pump, EFF=Fluid horsepower/Brake horsepower
For turbine, EFF=Brake horsepower/Fluid horsepower (Default=value
calculated using efficiency curves for water in a centrifugal pump)
DEFF ............................... Driver efficiency.
For pump, DEFF=Brake horsepower/Electrical horsepower
For turbine, DEFF=Electrical horsepower/Brake horsepower (Default=1)
NPHASE.......................... NPHASE=1 ............................... Liquid-phase calculations only (Default)
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
SUCT-AREA.................... Cross-sectional area of the suction nozzle used in calculating net positive
suction head (NPSH)
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
HEAD-STATIC................. Hydraulic static head
PERFOR-PARAM Use to enter optional parameters related to pump performance curves.
NCURVES ....................... Number of pump performance curves. If:
• A single curve is supplied, it can be used to rate a pump at a given
speed
• A reference shaft speed is known, affinity laws will be used to scale the
performance
• Multiple curves are supplied, linear interpolation is performed between
curves to find the performance at operating point
ACT-SH-SPEED .............. Pump shaft speed
REF-SH-SPEED .............. Reference pump shaft speed. Use when affinity laws are applied to
determine pump performance.
IMPELLER-DIA ............... Diameter of the pump's impeller
USER-CURVES............... Specifies the type of performance variable supplied by a user subroutine
USER-CURVE=HEAD .............. Head

21-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

USER-CURVE= ........................ Head coefficient

HEAD-COEF
USER-CURVE=POWER........... Power
USER-CURVE=PRES .............. Discharge pressure
USER-CURVE=PRATIO........... Pressure ratio
USER-CURVE=DELP............... Pressure change
SP-SPEED....................... Specific speed at the best efficiency point
SP-SPEED = ACT-SH-SPEED * FLOWRATE0.5 / HEAD0.75
SUCT-SPEED .................. Suction specific speed at the best efficiency point
SUCT-SPEED = ACT-SH-SPEED * FLOWRATE0.5 / NPSHR0.75
SPEED-UNITS ................. Units used in determining specific speed and suction specific speed
SPEED-UNITS=US................... Units for ACT-SH-SPEED, FLOWRATE and
HEAD (or NPSHR) are RPM, GAL/MIN, and
FT respectively (Default)
SPEED-UNITS=METRIC .......... Units for ACT-SH-SPEED, FLOWRATE and
HEAD (or NPSHR) are RPM, CUM/HR, and M
respectively
AFFEXPH ........................ Affinity law exponent for head (Default=2.0)
AFFEXPE......................... Affinity law exponent for efficiency (Default=1.0)
AFFEXPP......................... Affinity law exponent for brake horsepower (Default=3.0)
HEAD-FACTOR ............... Scaling factor applied to head values calculated from either tabular
(HEAD-TABLE) or polynomial (HEAD-POLY) data (Default=1)
HEAD-NPOINT ................ Maximum number of data points in a curve when head versus flow curves
are specified in a table
H-FLOW-VAR .................. Independent flow variable used in head versus flow curves:
H-FLOW-VAR=VOL-FLOW...... Volume flow
H-FLOW-VAR=......................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
H-FLOW-UNIT ................. Units of the independent flow variable in head versus flow curves
HEAD-UNITS ................... Units of head data in head versus flow curves
HEADC-FACTOR ............ Scaling factor applied to head coefficient values calculated from either
tabular (HEADC-TABLE) or polynomial (HEADC-POLY) data of
performance curves (Default=1)
HEADC-NPOINT.............. Maximum number of data points in a curve when head coefficient versus
flow curves are specified in a table
HC-FLOW-VAR ............... Independent flow variable used in head coefficient versus flow curves:
H-FLOW-VAR=......................... Volume flow per shaft speed in RPM, or specific
"VOL-FLOW/N" flow
H-FLOW-VAR=......................... Flow coefficient
FLOW-COEFF

Input Language Guide 21-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

HC-FLOW-UNIT .............. Units of the independent flow variable in head coefficient versus flow
curves
POWER-FACTOR ........... Scaling factor applied to power values calculated from either tabular
(POWER-TABLE) or polynomial (POWER-POLY) data (Default=1)
POWER-NPOINT ............ Maximum number of data points in a curve when power versus flow
curves are specified in a table
PW-FLOW-VAR............... Independent flow variable used in power versus flow curves:
PW-FLOW-VAR=...................... Volume flow
VOL-FLOW
PW-FLOW-VAR=...................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
PW-FLOW-UNIT.............. Units of the independent flow variable in power versus flow curves
POWER-UNITS ............... Units of power data in power versus flow curves
PRES-FACTOR ............... Scaling factor applied to discharge pressure values calculated from either
tabular (PRES-TABLE) or polynomial (PRES-POLY) data (Default=1)
PRES-NPOINT ................ Maximum number of data points in a curve when discharge pressure
versus flow curves are specified in a table
P-FLOW-VAR .................. Independent flow variable used in discharge pressure versus flow curves:
P-FLOW-VAR= ......................... Volume flow
VOL-FLOW
P-FLOW-VAR= ......................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
P-FLOW-UNIT ................. Units of the independent flow variable in discharge pressure versus flow
curves
PRES-UNITS ................... Units of pressure data in discharge pressure versus flow curves
PRAT-FACTOR ............... Scaling factor applied to pressure ratio values calculated from either
tabular (PRATIO-TABLE) or polynomial (PRATIO-POLY) data
(Default=1)
PRAT-NPOINT ................ Maximum number of data points in a curve when pressure ratio versus
flow curves are specified in a table
PR-FLOW-VAR ............... Independent flow variable used in pressure ratio versus flow curves:
PR-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Volume flow
VOL-FLOW
PR-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
PR-FLOW-UNIT .............. Units of the independent flow variable in pressure ratio versus flow
curves
DELP-FACTOR ............... Scaling factor applied to pressure change values calculated from either
tabular (DELP-TABLE) or polynomial (DELP-POLY) data (Default=1)
DELP-NPOINT ................ Maximum number of data points in a curve when pressure change versus
flow curves are specified in a table
DP-FLOW-VAR ............... Independent flow variable used in pressure change versus flow curves:

21-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

DP-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Volume flow

VOL-FLOW
DP-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
DP-FLOW-UNIT............... Units of the independent flow variable in pressure change versus flow
curves
DELP-UNITS ................... Units of pressure change data in pressure change versus flow curves
EFF-FACTOR .................. Scaling factor applied to efficiency values calculated from either tabular
(EFF-TABLE) or polynomial (EFF-POLY) data (Default=1)
EFF-NPOINT ................... Maximum number of data points in a curve when efficiency versus flow
curves are specified in a table
EF-FLOW-VAR ................ Independent flow variable used in efficiency versus flow curves:
EF-FLOW-VAR=....................... Volume flow
VOL-FLOW
EF-FLOW-VAR=....................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
EF-FLOW-VAR=....................... Volume flow per shaft speed in RPM or specific
"VOL-FLOW/N" speed
EF-FLOW-VAR=....................... Flow coefficient
FLOW-COEFF
EF-FLOW-UNIT ............... Units of the independent flow variable in efficiency versus flow curves
NPSHR-FACTOR ............ Scaling factor applied to required NPSH values calculated from either
tabular (NPSHR-TABLE) or polynomial (NPSHR-POLY) data (Default=1)
NPSHR-NPOINT.............. Maximum number of data points in a curve when required NPSH versus
flow curves are specified in a table
HR-FLOW-VAR ............... Independent flow variable used in required NPSH versus flow curves:
HR-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Volume flow
VOL-FLOW
HR-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
HR-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Volume flow per shaft speed in RPM or specific
"VOL-FLOW/N" speed
HR-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Flow coefficient
FLOW-COEFF
HR-FLOW-UNIT............... Units of the independent flow variable in required NPSH versus flow
curves
NPSHR-UNITS................. Units of head data in required NPSH versus flow curves
HEAD-TABLE Use to enter values of head developed versus suction flow rate in a table. You must also specify
HEAD-NPOINT, HEAD-UNITS, H-FLOW-VAR, and H-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM
sentence. (See Notes 6 and 7.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
head................................. Head developed.

Input Language Guide 21-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

flow ................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)

HEAD-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate head developed as a function of suction flow rate.
You must also specify H-FLOW-VAR and H-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See
Note 6.) The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Head developed
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1............................. First coefficient of head versus flow polynomial
COEF2............................. Second coefficient of head versus flow polynomial
COEF3............................. Third coefficient of head versus flow polynomial
COEF4............................. Fourth coefficient of head versus flow polynomial
HEADC-TABLE Use to enter values of head coefficient versus either suction flow rate per shaft speed in rpm or flow
coefficient, in a table. You must also specify HEADC-NPOINT, HC-FLOW-VAR, and HC-FLOW-
UNIT (if applicable) in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See Notes 6, 7, and 8.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
head-coeff....................... Head coefficient.
flow ................................. Suction flow rate per shaft speed in rpm, or value of flow coefficient
HEADC-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate head coefficient as a function of either suction flow
rate per shaft speed in rpm or flow coefficient, in polynomial form. You must also specify HC-
FLOW-VAR and HC-FLOW-UNIT (if applicable) in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See Notes 6
and 8.) The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Volumetric flow rate per shaft speed in rpm or flow coefficient
Y = Head coefficient
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1............................. First coefficient of head coefficient versus flow polynomial
COEF2............................. Second coefficient of head coefficient versus flow polynomial
COEF3............................. Third coefficient of head coefficient versus flow polynomial
COEF4............................. Fourth coefficient of head coefficient versus flow polynomial
POWER-TABLE Use to enter values of power supplied versus suction flow rate in a table. You must also specify
POWER-NPOINT, POWER-UNITS, PW-FLOW-VAR, and PW-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-
PARAM sentence. (See Notes 6 and 7.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
power .............................. Power supplied

21-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

flow.................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)

POWER-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate the power supplied as a function of suction flow
rate. You must also specify POWER-UNITS, PW-FLOW-VAR, and PW-FLOW-UNIT in the
PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See Note 6.) The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Power supplied
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1 ............................. First coefficient of power versus flow polynomial
COEF2 ............................. Second coefficient of power versus flow polynomial
COEF3 ............................. Third coefficient of power versus flow polynomial
COEF4 ............................. Fourth coefficient of power versus flow polynomial
PRES-TABLE Use to enter values of discharge pressure versus suction flow rate in a table. You must also specify
PRES-NPOINT, PRES-UNITS, P-FLOW-VAR, and P-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM
sentence. (See Notes 6 and 7.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
pres ................................. Discharge pressure
flow.................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
PRES-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate discharge pressure as a function of suction flow
rate. You must also specify PRES-UNITS, P-FLOW-VAR, and P-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-
PARAM sentence. (See Note 6.) The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Discharge pressure
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1 ............................. First coefficient of pressure versus flow polynomial
COEF2 ............................. Second coefficient of pressure versus flow polynomial
COEF3 ............................. Third coefficient of pressure versus flow polynomial
COEF4 ............................. Fourth coefficient of pressure versus flow polynomial
PRATIO-TABLE Use to enter pressure ratio (discharge pressure/suction pressure) versus suction flow rate in a table.
You must also specify PRAT-NPOINT, PR-FLOW-VAR, and PR-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-
PARAM sentence. (See Notes 6 and 7.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
pratio ............................... Pressure ratio
flow.................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)

Input Language Guide 21-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

PRATIO-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate pressure ratio (discharge pressure/suction
pressure) as a function of suction flow rate. You must also specify PR-FLOW-VAR and PR-FLOW-
UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See Note 6.) The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Pressure ratio
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1............................. First coefficient of pratio versus flow polynomial
COEF2............................. Second coefficient of pratio versus flow polynomial
COEF3............................. Third coefficient of pratio versus flow polynomial
COEF4............................. Fourth coefficient of pratio versus flow polynomial
DELP-TABLE Use to enter values of pressure change (discharge pressure/suction pressure) versus suction flow
rate in a table. You must also specify DELP-NPOINT, DELP-UNITS, DP-FLOW-VAR, and DP-
FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence.(See Notes 6 and 7.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
delp ................................. Pressure change
flow ................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
DELP-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate pressure change (discharge pressure-suction
pressure) as a function of suction flow rate. You must also specify DELP-UNITS, DP-FLOW-VAR,
and DP-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See Note 6.) The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Pressure change
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1............................. First coefficient of delp versus flow polynomial
COEF2............................. Second coefficient of delp versus flow polynomial
COEF3............................. Third coefficient of delp versus flow polynomial
COEF4............................. Fourth coefficient of delp versus flow polynomial
EFF-TABLE Use to enter values of efficiency versus suction flow rate in a table. You must also specify EFF-
NPOINT, EF-FLOW-VAR, and EF-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See Notes 6, 7
and 9.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
eff .................................... Efficiency
flow ................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric, mass, specific flow, or flow coefficient)

21-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

EFF-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate efficiency as a function of suction flow rate. You
must also specify EF-FLOW-VAR and EF-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See
Note 6.) The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric, mass, specific flow, or flow coefficient)
Y = Efficiency
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1 ............................. First coefficient of efficiency versus flow polynomial
COEF2 ............................. Second coefficient of efficiency versus flow polynomial
COEF3 ............................. Third coefficient of efficiency versus flow polynomial
COEF4 ............................. Fourth coefficient of efficiency versus flow polynomial
NPSHR-TABLE Use to enter values of efficiency versus suction flow rate in a table. You must also specify NPSHR-
NPOINT, NPSHR-UNITS, HR-FLOW-VAR, and HR-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM
sentence. (See Notes 6 and 7.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
npshr ............................... NPSH required
flow.................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric, mass, specific flow, or flow coefficient)
NPSHR-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate efficiency as a function of suction flow rate. You
must also specify NPSHR-UNITS, HR-FLOW-VAR and HR-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM
sentence. (See Note 6.) The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric, mass, specific flow, or flow coefficient)
Y = NPSH required
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1 ............................. First coefficient of NPSH required versus flow polynomial
COEF2 ............................. Second coefficient of NPSH required versus flow polynomial
COEF3 ............................. Third coefficient of NPSH required versus flow polynomial
COEF4 ............................. Fourth coefficient of NPSH required versus flow polynomial
SHAFT-SPEED Use to enter pump shaft speeds when multiple performance curves, at multiple shaft speeds, are
available. (See Note 10.)
curve ............................... Curve number
shaft-speed ..................... Shaft speed
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied subroutine for calculating performance curves. You must specify the
type of curve using the USER-CURVES keyword in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. The user
subroutine must also calculate efficiency, whenever it is used to calculate any other performance
variable. See Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 22, for information about writing user-supplied
subroutines for performance curves.

Input Language Guide 21-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

CURVES.......................... Name of user-supplied FORTRAN subroutine for performance curve

calculations
USER-VECS Use to define the length of arrays for user-supplied performance curve subroutines.
NINT ................................ Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied performance
curve subroutine
NREAL ............................ Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied performance curve
subroutine
NIWORK.......................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied performance
curve subroutine
NWORK........................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied performance curve
subroutine
INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied performance curve
subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of integer values
REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied performance curve subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of real values
UTILITY Use to specify an optional utility to provide heating or cooling duty.
UTILITY-ID ...................... Utility ID.

Accessing Variables in PUMP

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
PUMP block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2

PARAM PRES, DELP, PRATIO, POWER, EFF, DEFF, MAXIT, TOL,

SUCT-AREA, HEAD-STATIC
PERFOR-PARAM IMPELLER-DIA, AFFEXPH, AFFEXPE, AFFEXPP, HEAD-
FACTOR, HEADC-FACTOR, POWER-FACTOR, PRES-
FACTOR, PRAT-FACTOR, DELP-FACTOR, EFF-FACTOR, HR-
FACTOR, SP-SPEED, SUCT-SPEED ACT-SH-SPEED, REF-SH-
SPEED
HEAD-TABLE HEAD, FLOW curve point
HEAD-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4 curve —
HEADC-TABLE HEAD-COEF, FLOW curve point

continued

21-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

Block Input (continued)

Sentence Variables ID1 ID2

HEADC-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4 curve —

POWER-TABLE POWER, FLOW curve point
POWER-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4 curve —
PRES-TABLE PRES, FLOW curve point
PRES-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4 curve —
PRATIO-TABLE PRATIO, FLOW curve point
PRATIO-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4 curve —
DELP-TABLE DELP, FLOW curve point
DELP-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4 curve —
EFF-TABLE EFFICIENCY, FLOW curve point
EFF-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4 curve —
NPSHR-TABLE NPSHR, FLOW curve point
NPSHR-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4 curve —
SHAFT-SPEED SHAFT-SPEED curve —

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Fluid horsepower RESULTS FLUID-POWER

Brake horsepower RESULTS BRAKE-POWER
Electrical horsepower RESULTS ELEC-POWER
NPSH available at the pump suction nozzle RESULTS NPSH-AVAIL
NPSH required RESULTS NPSH-REQ
Net work RESULTS NET-WORK
Calculated pressure change RESULTS DELP-CALC
Calculated volumetric flow rate RESULTS VOLUME-FLOW
Efficiency used RESULTS CALCULATED-E
Calculated specific speed PERF-RESULTS SP-SPEED-CAL
Calculated suction specific speed PERF-RESULTS SUCT-SPEED-C
Head coefficient PERF-RESULTS HEAD-COEFF
Flow-coefficient PERF-RESULTS FLOW-COEFF

Input Language Guide 21-13

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

COMPR
Compressor/Turbine

Input Language for COMPR

BLOCK blockid COMPR
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
TYPE PRES DELP PRATIO POWER
Optional keywords:
TEMP PEFF SEFF MEFF CLFR NPHASE SB-MAXIT SB-TOL
MAXIT TOL PS-FLASH INT-METHOD INT-STEP PRAT-STEP
PRAT-FINAL INTERVALS PLOSS-FACTOR PLOSS-OFFSET
PL-FLOW-UNIT PLOSS-UNITS PL-SP-UNIT

PERFOR-PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
SUCT-NOZ-DIA SUCT-K-FACT GPSA-BASIS NCURVES EXTRAPOLATE
CALC-SPEED ACT-SH-SPEED IMPELLER-DIA USER-CURVES
REF-SH-SPEED FANEXPH FANEXPE FANEXPP SPLINE-FIT
Optional keywords for head curves:
HEAD-FACTOR HEAD-OFFSET HEAD-NPOINT H-FLOW-VAR
H-FLOW-UNIT HEAD-UNITS HEAD-SP-UNIT ACTUAL-HEAD
Optional keywords for head coefficient curves:
HEADC-FACTOR HEADC-OFFSET HEADC-NPOINT HC-FLOW-VAR
HC-FLOW-UNIT ACTUAL-HEADC
Optional keywords for power curves:
POWER-FACTOR POWER-OFFSET POWER-NPOINT PW-FLOW-VAR
PW-FLOW-UNIT POWER-UNITS
Optional keywords for discharge pressure curves:
PRES-FACTOR PRES-OFFSET PRES-NPOINT P-FLOW-VAR P-FLOW-UNIT
PRES-UNITS
Optional keywords for pressure ratio curves:
PRAT-FACTOR PRAT-OFFSET PRAT-NPOINT PR-FLOW-VAR PR-FLOW-UNIT
Optional keywords for pressure change curves:
DELP-FACTOR DELP-OFFSET DELP-NPOINT DP-FLOW-VAR DP-FLOW-UNIT
DELP-UNITS
Optional keywords for efficiency curves:
EFF-FACTOR EFF-OFFSET EFF-NPOINT EF-FLOW-VAR EF-FLOW-UNIT
EFF-SP-UNIT

21-14 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

Optional keywords for surge volume curves:

SURGE-FACTOR SURGE-OFFSET SURGE-UNITS SG-SP-UNIT

HEAD-TABLE curve point head flow / . . . .

HEAD-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4 SURGE STONEWALL

HEADC-TABLE curve point head-coeff flow / . . .

HEADC-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4 SURGE STONEWALL

POWER-TABLE curve point power flow / . . . .

POWER-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4 SURGE STONEWALL

PRES-TABLE curve point pres flow / . . . .

PRES-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4 SURGE STONEWALL

PRATIO-TABLE curve point pratio flow / . . . .

PRATIO-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4 SURGE STONEWALL

DELP-TABLE curve point delp flow / . . . .

DELP-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4 SURGE STONEWALL

EFF-TABLE curve point eff flow / . . . .

EFF-POLY curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4

SHAFT-SPEED curve shaft-speed / . . .

MACH-NO curve mach-no / . . .
HEAD-CORR keyword=value

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4 COEF5 COEF6 COEF7 COEF8

Input Language Guide 21-15

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

EFF-CORR keyword=value

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4 COEF5 COEF6 COEF7 COEF8

SURGE-POLY keyword=value

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3

PLOSS-POLY keyword=value

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3

SUBROUTINE CURVES=subrname
USER-VECS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
NINT NREAL NIWORK NWORK

INT value-list
REAL value-list
UTILITY UTILITY-ID=utilityid

Input Language Description for COMPR

PARAM Use to enter compressor specifications, efficiencies, and optional flash convergence parameters. You
can use an inlet work stream to provide a power specification.
TYPE ............................... TYPE=ISENTROPIC................. Isentropic compressor/turbine
TYPE=POS-DISP ..................... Polytropic positive-displacement compressor
calculations
TYPE=....................................... Polytropic compressor calculations using the
ASME-POLYTROPIC ASME method1
TYPE=ASME-ISENTROPIC ..... Isentropic compressor calculations using the
ASME method1
TYPE=....................................... Polytropic compressor calculations using the
GPSA-POLYTROPIC GPSA method2
TYPE=GPSA-ISENTROPIC ..... Isentropic compressor calculations using the
GPSA method2
TYPE=INT-POLYTROPIC ........ Polytropic compressor calculations using the
piecewise integration method (see Note 12.)

1 ASME Power Test Code 10, (1965), pp. 31-32.

2 GPSA Engineering Data Book, (1979), pp. 5-6 to 5-10.

21-16 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

TYPE=INT-POS-DISP .............. Polytropic positive-displacement compressor

calculation using the integration method (see
Note 12.)
PRES ............................... Outlet pressure
DELP ............................... DELP > 0 .................................. Pressure increase
DELP ≤ 0 .................................. Pressure decrease. You can use DELP ≤ 0 only
when TYPE=ISENTROPIC.
PRATIO............................ Pressure ratio (outlet pressure/inlet pressure)
POWER ........................... Power input. Power supplied to the compressor is positive. Power
produced by a turbine is negative. Work streams use the opposite
convention.
TEMP ............................... Outlet temperature. Use when TYPE=GPSA-POLYTROPIC, POS-DISP,
or ASME-POLYTROPIC.
PEFF................................ Polytropic efficiency as defined in Note 1. Use when TYPE=GPSA-
POLYTROPIC, POS-DISP, or ASME-POLYTROPIC. (Default=0.72)
SEFF................................ Isentropic efficiency as defined in Note 2. Use only when
TYPE=ISENTROPIC, GPSA-ISENTROPIC, or ASME-ISENTROPIC.
(Default=0.72)
MEFF ............................... Mechanical efficiency as defined in Note 3. (Default=1)
CLFR ............................... Clearance fraction. Use only when TYPE=POS-DISP. (Default=0.5)
NPHASE .......................... NPHASE=1 ............................... Gas-phase calculations only (Default)
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
If you do not specify NPHASE, the default is to perform vapor phase
calculations. At the end of calculations, the outlet stream is flashed at the
outlet temperature and pressure to check for any condensation. If needed,
the outlet stream is also checked at the outlet pressure and the
intermediate isentropic temperature. If the vapor fraction calculated by
either flash is less than 1.0, COMPR generates a message recommending
you specify NPHASE=2.
SB-MAXIT........................ Maximum iterations for entropy balance calculations. Use only when
TYPE=ISENTROPIC, ASME-ISENTROPIC, or ASME-POLYTROPIC.
(Default=30)
SB-TOL............................ Tolerance for entropy balance calculations. Use only when
TYPE=ISENTROPIC, ASME-POLYTROPIC, or ASME-ISENTROPIC.
(Default=1x10-4)
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
PS-FLASH ....................... For constant entropy flash calculations, determines which algorithm to
use:
PS-FLASH=DIRECT................. Use direct call to Flash

Input Language Guide 21-17

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

PS-FLASH=INDIRECT ............. Perform a series of PQ flashes until the

specified entropy is obtained (Default)

INT-METHOD The integration method used in polytropic and positive displacement

model calculations:
INT-METHOD=N-METHOD ...... Using a piecewise integration with the
relationship of pvn=constant (see Note 12.)
INT-METHOD=DIRECT ............ Using a direct piecewise integration (see Note
12.)
INT-STEP For the integration method, method used for determining pressure
change in the integration steps:
INT-STEP=EQUAL-PRATIO .... Equal pressure ratio is used.
INT-STEP=EQUAL-DELP ........ Equal pressure change is used.
PRAT-STEP Pressure ratio in each integration step when INT-STEP=EQUAL-
PRATIO (Default=1.25).
PRAT-FINAL Pressure ratio in the last integration step when INT-STEP=EQUAL-
PRATIO (Default=1.375).
INTERVALS Number of intervals in piecewise integration of work integral when INT-
STEP=EQUAL-DELP (Default=5).
PLOSS-FACTOR Scaling factor for power loss
PLOSS-OFFSET Offset for power loss. Units of power loss are used.
PL-FLOW-UNIT Units of flow rate used in power loss curve. Default is global unit.
PLOSS-UNITS Units of power loss used in power loss curve. Default is global unit.
PL-SP-UNIT Units of shaft speed used in power loss curve. Default is global unit.
PERFOR-PARAM Use to enter optional parameters related to compressor performance curves and suction pressure-
loss calculations.
SUCT-NOZ-DIA............... Diameter of suction nozzle. Use to calculate pressure drop across suction
nozzle of compressor, using the equation in Note 4.
SUCT-K-FACT................. K-factor (velocity head multiplier) for suction nozzle. Use to calculate
pressure drop across suction nozzle of compressor, using the equation in
Note 4.
GPSA-BASIS................... Use when TYPE=GPSA-ISENTROPIC or GPSA-POLYTROPIC1

GPSA-BASIS=SUCTION ......... Uses suction conditions in head equation

(Default)
GPSA-BASIS=AVERAGE........ Uses average of suction and discharge
conditions in head equation

1 GPSA Engineering Data Book, (1979), pp. 5-6 to 5-10.

21-18 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

NCURVES ....................... Number of compressor performance curves. If:

• A single curve is supplied, it can be used to rate a compressor at a given
speed
• A reference shaft speed is known, Fan laws will be used to scale the
performance
• Multiple curves are supplied, linear interpolation is performed between
curves to find the performance at operating point
• A user subroutine is used to enter performance specifications, set
NCURVES=1
EXTRAPOLATE............... Indicates whether to extrapolate performance curve(s) beyond surge and
stonewall points:
EXTRAPOLATE=YES.............. Extrapolates (Default)
EXTRAPOLATE=NO................ Does not extrapolate
CALC-SPEED.................. Indicates whether compressor shaft speed is calculated or specified:
CALC-SPEED=NO ................... Specified by user (Default)
CALC-SPEED=YES ................. Calculated by Aspen Plus model
ACT-SH-SPEED .............. Speed of compressor shaft
IMPELLER-DIA................ Diameter of the compressor's impeller
USER-CURVES ............... Specifies the type of performance variable (in addition to efficiency)
supplied by a user subroutine:
USER-CURVES=HEAD............ Head
USER-CURVES=...................... Head coefficient
HEAD-COEF
USER-CURVES=POWER ........ Power
USER-CURVES=PRES............ Discharge pressure
USER-CURVES=PRATIO ........ Pressure ratio
USER-CURVES=DELP ............ Pressure drop
REF-SH-SPEED .............. Reference speed of compressor shaft. Use when Fan laws are applied to
determine compressor performance.
FANEXPH ........................ Fan law exponent for head (Default=2.0)
FANEXPE ........................ Fan law exponent for efficiency (Default=1.0)
FANEXPP ........................ Fan law exponent for power (Default=3.0)
SPLINE-FIT ..................... Interpolation method for tabular data
SPLINE-FIT= HARWELL ......... Cubic spline fit using Harwell method
SPLINE-FIT= HERMITE ........... Cubic spline fit using Hermite method (Default)
SPLINE-FIT= LINEAR .............. Linear interpolation between successive points
HEAD-FACTOR ............... Scaling factor applied to head values calculated from either tabular
(HEAD-TABLE) or polynomial (HEAD-POLY) data (Default=1)
HEAD-OFFSET................ Offset for head developed. Units of HEAD-UNITS are used.

Input Language Guide 21-19

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

HEAD-NPOINT ................ Maximum number of data points in a curve when head versus flow curves
are specified in a table
H-FLOW-VAR.................. Independent flow variable used in head versus flow curves:
H-FLOW-VAR=VOL-FLOW...... Volume flow
H-FLOW-VAR=......................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
H-FLOW-UNIT................. Units of the independent flow variable in head versus flow curves
HEAD-UNITS................... Units of head data in head versus flow curves
HEAD-SP-UNIT ............... Units of shaft speed used in head curve (HEAD-CORR sentence). Default
is global unit.
ACTUAL-HEAD ............... Indicates if the head specified in the HEAD-TABLE, HEAD-POLY, or
HEAD-CORR sentence is actual or polytropic/isentropic.(See Note 5.)
ACTUAL-HEAD=NO ................ Head is polytropic/isentropic (Default)
ACTUAL-HEAD=YES............... Head is actual
HEADC-FACTOR ............ Scaling factor applied to head coefficient values calculated from either
tabular (HEADC-TABLE) or polynomial (HEADC-POLY) data of
performance curves (Default=1)
HEADC-OFFSET............. Offset for head coefficient
HEADC-NPOINT ............. Maximum number of data points in a curve when head coefficient versus
flow curves are specified in a table
HC-FLOW-VAR ............... Independent flow variable used in head coefficient versus flow curves:
H-FLOW-VAR=......................... Volume flow per shaft speed in RPM, or specific
"VOL-FLOW/N" flow
H-FLOW-VAR=......................... Flow coefficient
FLOW-COEFF
HC-FLOW-UNIT .............. Units of the independent flow variable in head coefficient versus flow
curves
ACTUAL-HEADC ............ Indicates if the head coefficient specified in the HEADC-TABLE or
HEADC-POLY sentence is actual or polytropic/isentropic. (See Note 5.)
ACTUAL-HEADC=NO.............. Head coefficient is polytropic/isentropic
(Default)
ACTUAL-HEADC=YES ............ Head coefficient is actual
POWER-FACTOR ........... Scaling factor applied to power values calculated from either tabular
(POWER-TABLE) or polynomial (POWER-POLY) data (Default=1)
POWER-OFFSET............ Offset for power. Units of POWER-UNITS are used.
POWER-NPOINT ............ Maximum number of data points in a curve when power versus flow
curves are specified in a table
PW-FLOW-VAR............... Independent flow variable used in power versus flow curves:
PW-FLOW-VAR=...................... Volume flow
VOL-FLOW
PW-FLOW-VAR=...................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW

21-20 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

PW-FLOW-UNIT .............. Units of the independent flow variable in power versus flow curves
POWER-UNITS................ Units of power data in power versus flow curves
PRES-FACTOR ............... Scaling factor applied to discharge pressure values calculated from either
tabular (PRES-TABLE) or polynomial (PRES-POLY) data (Default=1)
PRES-OFFSET Offset for discharge pressure. Units of PRES-UNITS are used except for
gauge pressure.
PRES-NPOINT................. Maximum number of data points in a curve when discharge pressure
versus flow curves are specified in a table

P-FLOW-VAR .................. Independent flow variable used in discharge pressure versus flow curves:
P-FLOW-VAR=VOL-FLOW...... Volume flow
P-FLOW-VAR=MASS-FLOW... Mass flow
P-FLOW-UNIT ................. Units of the independent flow variable in discharge pressure versus flow
curves
PRES-UNITS ................... Units of pressure data in discharge pressure versus flow curves
PRAT-FACTOR ............... Scaling factor applied to pressure ratio values calculated from either
tabular (PRATIO-TABLE) or polynomial (PRATIO-POLY) data
(Default=1)
PRAT-OFFSET ................ Offset for pressure ratio.
PRAT-NPOINT................. Maximum number of data points in a curve when pressure ratio versus
flow curves are specified in a table
PR-FLOW-VAR................ Independent flow variable used in pressure ratio versus flow curves:
PR-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Volume flow
VOL-FLOW
PR-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
PR-FLOW-UNIT............... Units of the independent flow variable in pressure ratio versus flow
curves
DELP-FACTOR ............... Scaling factor applied to pressure change values calculated from either
tabular (DELP-TABLE) or polynomial (DELP-POLY) data (Default=1)
DELP-OFFSET ................ Offset for pressure change. Units of DELP-UNITS are used.
DELP-NPOINT................. Maximum number of data points in a curve when pressure change versus
flow curves are specified in a table
DP-FLOW-VAR................ Independent flow variable used in pressure change versus flow curves:
DP-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Volume flow
VOL-FLOW
DP-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
DP-FLOW-UNIT............... Units of the independent flow variable in pressure change versus flow
curves
DELP-UNITS ................... Units of pressure change data in pressure change versus flow curves

Input Language Guide 21-21

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

EFF-FACTOR .................. Scaling factor applied to efficiency values calculated from either tabular
(EFF-TABLE) or polynomial (EFF-POLY) data (Default=1)
EFF-OFFSET................... Offset for efficiency.
EFF-NPOINT ................... Maximum number of data points in a curve when efficiency versus flow
curves are specified in a table
EF-FLOW-VAR................ Independent flow variable used in efficiency versus flow curves:
EF-FLOW-VAR=....................... Volume flow
VOL-FLOW
EF-FLOW-VAR=....................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
EF-FLOW-VAR=....................... Volume flow per shaft speed in RPM or specific
"VOL-FLOW/N" speed
EF-FLOW-VAR=....................... Flow coefficient
FLOW-COEFF
EF-FLOW-UNIT............... Units of the independent flow variable in efficiency versus flow curves
EFF-SP-UNIT .................. Units of shaft speed used in efficiency curve (EFF-CORR sentence).
Default is global unit.
SURGE-FACTOR ............ Scaling factor for surge volumetric flow rate.
SURGE-OFFSET............. Offset for surge volumetric flow rate. Units of SURGE-UNITS are used.
SURGE-UNITS ................ Units of surge volumetric flow rate used in surge curve. Default is global
unit.
SG-SP-UNIT .................... Units of shaft speed used in surge curve. Default is global unit.
HEAD-TABLE Use to enter values of head developed versus suction flow rate in a table. You must also specify
HEAD-NPOINT, HEAD-UNITS, H-FLOW-VAR, and H-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM
sentence. When performance curves are entered in tabular form, the first point of the table is taken
as surge and the last point as stonewall, for a given curve. (See Notes 6 and 7.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
head ................................ Head developed. The head can be polytropic, isentropic, or actual,
depending on TYPE and ACTUAL-HEAD specifications. (See Note 5.)
flow ................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
HEAD-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate head developed as a function of suction flow rate.
You can enter surge and stonewall values. You must also specify H-FLOW-VAR and H-FLOW-
UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See Note 6.) The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Head developed
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1............................. First coefficient of head versus flow polynomial
COEF2............................. Second coefficient of head versus flow polynomial

21-22 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

COEF3 ............................. Third coefficient of head versus flow polynomial

COEF4 ............................. Fourth coefficient of head versus flow polynomial
SURGE ............................ Suction flow rate value at which the compressor surges
STONEWALL .................. Suction flow rate value at which the compressor stonewalls
HEADC-TABLE Use to enter values of head coefficient versus either suction flow rate per shaft speed in rpm or flow
coefficient, in a table. You must also specify HEADC-NPOINT, HC-FLOW-VAR, and HC-FLOW-
UNIT (if applicable) in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. When performance curves are entered in
tabular form, the first point of the table is taken as surge and the last point as stonewall, for a given
curve.
(See Notes 6, 7, and 8.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
head-coeff ....................... Head coefficient. The value can be polytropic, isentropic, or actual,
depending on TYPE and ACTUAL-HEADC specifications. (See Note 5.)
flow.................................. Suction flow rate per shaft speed in rpm, or value of flow coefficient
HEADC-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate head coefficient as a function of either suction flow
rate per shaft speed in rpm or flow coefficient, in polynomial form. You must also specify HC-
FLOW-VAR and HC-FLOW-UNIT (if applicable) in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See Notes 6
and 8.) You can also enter surge and stonewall values. The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Volumetric flow rate per shaft speed in rpm or flow coefficient
Y = Head coefficient
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1 ............................. First coefficient of head coefficient versus flow polynomial
COEF2 ............................. Second coefficient of head coefficient versus flow polynomial
COEF3 ............................. Third coefficient of head coefficient versus flow polynomial
COEF4 ............................. Fourth coefficient of head coefficient versus flow polynomial
SURGE ............................ Flow coefficient, or specific flow at which the compressor surges
STONEWALL .................. Flow coefficient, or specific flow at which the compressor stonewalls
POWER-TABLE Use to enter values of power supplied versus suction flow rate in a table. You must also specify
POWER-NPOINT, POWER-UNITS, PW-FLOW-VAR, and PW-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-
PARAM sentence. When performance curves are entered in tabular form, the first point of the table
is taken as surge and the last point as stonewall, for a given curve. (See Notes 6 and 7.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
power .............................. Power supplied
flow.................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)

Input Language Guide 21-23

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

POWER-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate the power supplied as a function of suction flow
rate. You must also specify POWER-UNITS, PW-FLOW-VAR, and PW-FLOW-UNIT in the
PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See Note 6.) You can enter surge and stonewall values. The
polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Power supplied
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1............................. First coefficient of power versus flow polynomial
COEF2............................. Second coefficient of power versus flow polynomial
COEF3............................. Third coefficient of power versus flow polynomial
COEF4............................. Fourth coefficient of power versus flow polynomial
SURGE ............................ Suction flow rate at which the compressor surges
STONEWALL .................. Suction flow rate at which the compressor stonewalls
PRES-TABLE Use to enter values of discharge pressure versus suction flow rate in a table. You must also specify
PRES-NPOINT, PRES-UNITS, P-FLOW-VAR, and P-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM
sentence. When performance curves are entered in tabular form, the first point of the table is taken
as surge and the last point as stonewall, for a given curve. (See Notes 6 and 7.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
pres ................................. Discharge pressure
flow ................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
PRES-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate discharge pressure as a function of suction flow
rate. You must also specify PRES-UNITS, P-FLOW-VAR, and P-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-
PARAM sentence. (See Note 6.) You can enter surge and stonewall values. The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Discharge pressure
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1............................. First coefficient of pressure versus flow polynomial
COEF2............................. Second coefficient of pressure versus flow polynomial
COEF3............................. Third coefficient of pressure versus flow polynomial
COEF4............................. Fourth coefficient of pressure versus flow polynomial
SURGE ............................ Suction flow rate at which the compressor surges
STONEWALL .................. Suction flow rate at which the compressor stonewalls

21-24 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

PRATIO-TABLE Use to enter pressure ratio (discharge pressure/suction pressure) versus suction flow rate in a table.
You must also specify PRAT-NPOINT, PR-FLOW-VAR, and PR-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-
PARAM sentence. When performance curves are entered in tabular form, the first point of the table
is taken as surge and the last point as stonewall, for a given curve. (See Notes 6 and 7.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
pratio ............................... Pressure ratio
flow.................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
PRATIO-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate pressure ratio (discharge pressure/suction
pressure) as a function of suction flow rate. You must also specify PR-FLOW-VAR and PR-FLOW-
UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See Note 6.) You can enter surge and stonewall values.
The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Pressure ratio
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1 ............................. First coefficient of pratio versus flow polynomial
COEF2 ............................. Second coefficient of pratio versus flow polynomial
COEF3 ............................. Third coefficient of pratio versus flow polynomial
COEF4 ............................. Fourth coefficient of pratio versus flow polynomial
SURGE ............................ Suction flow rate at which the compressor surges
STONEWALL .................. Suction flow rate at which the compressor stonewalls
DELP-TABLE Use to enter values of pressure change (discharge pressure/suction pressure) versus suction flow
rate in a table. You must also specify DELP-NPOINT, DELP-UNITS, DP-FLOW-VAR, and DP-
FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. When performance curves are entered in tabular
form, the first point of the table is taken as surge and the last point as stonewall, for a given curve.
(See Notes 6 and 7.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
delp.................................. Pressure change
flow.................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
DELP-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate pressure change (discharge pressure-suction
pressure) as a function of suction flow rate. You must also specify DELP-UNITS, DP-FLOW-VAR,
and DP-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See Note 6.) You can enter surge and
stonewall values. The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Pressure change
curve ............................... Curve number

Input Language Guide 21-25

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

COEF1............................. First coefficient of delp versus flow polynomial

COEF2............................. Second coefficient of delp versus flow polynomial
COEF3............................. Third coefficient of delp versus flow polynomial
COEF4............................. Fourth coefficient of delp versus flow polynomial
SURGE ............................ Suction flow rate at which the compressor surges
STONEWALL .................. Suction flow rate at which the compressor stonewalls
EFF-TABLE Use to enter values of efficiency versus suction flow rate in a table. You must also specify EFF-
NPOINT, EF-FLOW-VAR, and EF-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. When
performance curves are entered in tabular form, the first point of the table is taken as surge and
the last point as stonewall, for a given curve. (See Notes 6, 7 and 9.)
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
eff .................................... Efficiency (either polytropic or isentropic, depending on TYPE)
flow ................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric, mass, specific flow, or flow coefficient)
EFF-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate efficiency as a function of suction flow rate. You
must also specify EF-FLOW-VAR and EF-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See
Note 9.) The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric, mass, specific flow, or flow coefficient)
Y = Efficiency
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1............................. First coefficient of efficiency versus flow polynomial
COEF2............................. Second coefficient of efficiency versus flow polynomial
COEF3............................. Third coefficient of efficiency versus flow polynomial
COEF4............................. Fourth coefficient of efficiency versus flow polynomial
SHAFT-SPEED Use to enter compressor shaft speeds when multiple performance curves, at multiple shaft speeds,
are available. (See Note 10.)
curve ............................... Curve number
shaft-speed..................... Shaft speed
MACH-NO Use to enter Mach numbers when multiple performance curves, at multiple Mach numbers, are
available. (See Note 11.)
curve ............................... Curve number
mach-no.......................... Mach number
HEAD-CORR Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate head developed as a function of suction flow rate
and shaft speed. You must also specify H-FLOW-VAR and H-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM
sentence. (See Note 6.) The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*N + coef3*N2 + coef4*X + coef5*X2 + coef6*(X/N) + coef7*(X/N)2 + coef8*X4
Where:

21-26 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

N = Shaft speed
X = Suction volumetric flow rate
Y = Head developed
COEF1 ............................. First coefficient of head versus flow correlation
COEF2 ............................. Second coefficient of head versus flow correlation
COEF3 ............................. Third coefficient of head versus flow correlation
COEF4 ............................. Fourth coefficient of head versus flow correlation
COEF5 ............................. Fifth coefficient of head versus flow correlation
COEF6 ............................. Sixth coefficient of head versus flow correlation
COEF7 ............................. Seventh coefficient of head versus flow correlation
COEF8 ............................. Eighth coefficient of head versus flow correlation
EFF-CORR Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate efficiency as a function of suction flow rate and
shaft speed. You must also specify EF-FLOW-VAR and EF-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM
sentence. (See Note 9.) EFF-CORR is allowed only if HEAD-CORR is specified. The polynomial used
is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*N + coef3*N2 + coef4*X + coef5*X2 + coef6*(X/N) + coef7*(X/N)2 + coef8*X4
Where:
N = Shaft speed
X = Suction volumetric flow rate
Y = Efficiency
COEF1 ............................. First coefficient of efficiency versus flow correlation
COEF2 ............................. Second coefficient of efficiency versus flow correlation
COEF3 ............................. Third coefficient of efficiency versus flow correlation
COEF4 ............................. Fourth coefficient of efficiency versus flow correlation
COEF5 ............................. Fifth coefficient of efficiency versus flow correlation
COEF6 ............................. Sixth coefficient of efficiency versus flow correlation
COEF7 ............................. Seventh coefficient of efficiency versus flow correlation
COEF8 ............................. Eighth coefficient of efficiency versus flow correlation
SURGE-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate surge volumetric flow rate as a function of shaft
speed. You can specify SURGE-UNITS and SG-SP-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence.
SURGE-POLY is allowed only if HEAD-CORR is specified. The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*N + coef3*N2
Where:
N = Shaft speed
Y = Surge volumetric flow rate
COEF1 ............................. First coefficient of surge volumetric flow rate polynomial
COEF2 ............................. Second coefficient of surge volumetric flow rate polynomial
COEF3 ............................. Third coefficient of surge volumetric flow rate polynomial

Input Language Guide 21-27

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

PLOSS-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate power loss as a function of suction flow rate and
shaft speed. You can specify PLOSS-UNITS, PL-FLOW-UNIT, and PL-SP-UNIT in the PARAM
sentence. (See Note 3.) The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*XN2 + coef3*(X*N)2
Where:
N = Shaft speed
X = Suction volumetric flow rate
Y = Power loss
COEF1............................. First coefficient of power loss polynomial
COEF2............................. Second coefficient of power loss polynomial
COEF3............................. Third coefficient of power loss polynomial
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied subroutine for calculating performance curves. You must specify the
type of curve using the USER-CURVES keyword in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. The user
subroutine must also calculate efficiency, whenever it is used to calculate any other performance
variable. See Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 22, for information about writing user-supplied
subroutines for performance curves.
CURVES.......................... Name of user-supplied FORTRAN subroutine for performance curve
calculations
USER-VECS Use to define the length of arrays for user-supplied performance curve subroutines.
NINT ................................ Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied performance
curve subroutine
NREAL ............................ Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied performance curve
subroutine
NIWORK.......................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied performance
curve subroutine
NWORK........................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied performance curve
subroutine
INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied performance curve
subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of integer values
REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied performance curve subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of real values
UTILITY Use to specify an optional utility to provide heating or cooling duty.
UTILITY-ID ...................... Utility ID.

Accessing Variables in COMPR

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
COMPR block.

21-28 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2

PARAM PRES, DELP, PRATIO, POWER, TEMP, PEFF, SEFF, MEFF, CLFR, — —
SB-MAXIT, SB-TOL, MAXIT, TOL, PLOSS-FACTOR, PLOSS-OFFSET,
PRAT-STEP, PRAT-FINAL
PERFOR-PARAM SUCT-NOZ-DIA, SUCT-K-FACT, ACT-SH-SPEED, IMPELLER-DIA, — —
REF-SH-SPEED, FANEXPH, FANEXPE, FANEXPP, HEAD-FACTOR,
HEAD-OFFSET, HEADC-FACTOR, HEADC-OFFSET, POWER-
FACTOR, POWER-OFFSET, PRES-FACTOR, PRES-OFFSET, PRAT-
FACTOR, PRAT-OFFSET, DELP-FACTOR, DELP-OFFSET, EFF-
FACTOR, EFF-OFFSET, SURGE-FACTOR, SURGE-OFFSET
HEAD-TABLE HEAD, FLOW curve point
HEAD-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4, SURGE, STONEWALL curve —
HEADC-TABLE HEAD-COEF, FLOW curve point
HEADC-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4, SURGE, STONEWALL curve —
POWER-TABLE POWER, FLOW curve point
POWER-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4, SURGE, STONEWALL curve —
PRES-TABLE PRES, FLOW curve point
PRES-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4, SURGE, STONEWALL curve —
PRATIO-TABLE PRATIO, FLOW curve point
PRATIO-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4, SURGE, STONEWALL curve —
DELP-TABLE DELP, FLOW curve point
DELP-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4, SURGE, STONEWALL curve —
EFF-TABLE EFFICIENCY, FLOW curve point
EFF-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4 curve —
SHAFT-SPEED SHAFT-SPEED curve —
MACH-NO MACH-NO curve —
HEAD-CORR COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4, COEF5, COEF6, COEF7, COEF8 — —
EFF-CORR COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4, COEF5, COEF6, COEF7, COEF8 — —
SURGE-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3 — —
PLOSS-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3 — —

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Indicated horsepower RESULTS IND-POWER

Brake horsepower RESULTS BRAKE-POWER
Net work RESULTS NET-WORK

Input Language Guide 21-29

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

Power loss RESULTS POWER-LOSS

Polytropic efficiency RESULTS PEFF-CALC
Volumetric efficiency RESULTS VEFF-CALC
Mechanical efficiency RESULTS MEFF-CALC
Isentropic temperature RESULTS ISENTR-TEMP
Ideal head developed RESULTS HEAD-CAL
Actual head developed RESULTS HEAD-ACT
Isentropic power requirement RESULTS ISEN-POWER
Outlet pressure RESULTS OUT-PRES-CAL
Outlet temperature RESULTS OUT-TEMP-CAL
Inlet heat capacity ratio RESULTS IN-CPR
Inlet volumetric flow rate RESULTS VFLOW-IN
Outlet volumetric flow rate RESULTS VFLOW-OUT
Inlet compressibility ratio RESULTS Z-IN
Outlet compressibility ratio RESULTS Z-OUT
Average isentropic volume exponent RESULTS EXP-V-ISEN
Average actual volume exponent RESULTS EXP-V-POLY
Average isentropic temperature exponent RESULTS EXP-T-ISEN
Average actual temperature exponent RESULTS EXP-T-POLY
Percent above surge PERF-RESULTS ABOVE-SURGE
Percent below stonewall PERF-RESULTS BELOW-SWALL
Surge volumetric flow rate PERF-RESULTS SURGE-VOLUME
Calculated compressor shaft speed PERF-RESULTS SHAFT-SPEED
Specific shaft speed PERF-RESULTS SP-SPEED
Sonic velocity of gas at suction PERF-RESULTS SUCT-SONIC-V
Specific diameter PERF-RESULTS SP-DIAM
Head coefficient PERF-RESULTS HEAD-COEF
Flow coefficient PERF-RESULTS FLOW-COEF

continued

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable

Inlet Mach number PERF-RESULTS IN-MACH-NO

Rotor tip Mach number PERF-RESULTS RT-MACH-NO

21-30 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

MCOMPR
Multistage Compressor/Turbine

Input Language for MCOMPR

BLOCK blockid MCOMPR
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
NSTAGE TYPE
Optional keywords:
PRES COMPR-NPHASE COOLER-NPHASE TEMP-MAXIT TEMP-TOL
SB-MAXIT SB-TOL MAXIT TOL PS-FLASH

FEEDS sid stage / . . .

PRODUCTS sid stage [phase] / . . .
COMPR-SPECS stage keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
PRES DELP PRATIO POWER TEMP
Optional keywords:
PEFF SEFF MEFF CLFR

COOLER-SPECS stage keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
TRATIO TEMP DUTY
Optional keyword:
PDROP

PERFOR-PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
GPSA-BASIS NCURVES EXTRAPOLATE CALC-SPEED USER-CURVES
NMAP
MAX-NWHEEL ACTUAL-HEAD ACTUAL-HEADC

Input Language Guide 21-31

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

Optional keywords for head curves:

HEAD-FACTOR HEAD-NPOINT H-FLOW-VAR H-FLOW-UNIT HEAD-UNITS
ACTUAL-HEAD
Optional keywords for head coefficient curves:
HEADC-FACTOR HEADC-NPOINT HC-FLOW-VAR HC-FLOW-UNIT
ACTUAL-HEADC
Optional keywords for power curves:
POWER-FACTOR POWER-NPOINT PW-FLOW-VAR PW-FLOW-UNIT
POWER-UNITS
Optional keywords for discharge pressure curves:
PRES-FACTOR PRES-NPOINT P-FLOW-VAR P-FLOW-UNIT PRES-UNITS
Optional keywords for pressure ratio curves:
PRAT-FACTOR PRAT-NPOINT PR-FLOW-VAR PR-FLOW-UNIT
Optional keywords for pressure change curves:
DELP-FACTOR DELP-NPOINT DP-FLOW-VAR DP-FLOW-UNIT DELP-UNITS
Optional keywords for efficiency curves:
EFF-FACTOR EFF-NPOINT EF-FLOW-VAR EF-FLOW-UNIT

HEAD-TABLE map curve point head flow / . . . .

HEAD-POLY map curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4 SURGE STONEWALL

HEADC-TABLE map curve point head-coeff flow / . . .

HEADC-POLY map curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4 SURGE STONEWALL

POWER-TABLE map curve point power flow / . . . .

POWER-POLY map curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4 SURGE STONEWALL

PRES-TABLE map curve point pres flow / . . . .

PRES-POLY map curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4 SURGE STONEWALL

PRATIO-TABLE map curve point pratio flow / . . . .

PRATIO-POLY map curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4 SURGE STONEWALL

21-32 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

DELP-TABLE map curve point delp flow / . . . .

DELP-POLY map curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4 SURGE STONEWALL

EFF-TABLE map curve point eff flow / . . . .

EFF-POLY map curve keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
COEF1 COEF2 COEF3 COEF4

STAGE-DATA stage keyword=value

Keywords:
SUCT-NOZ-DIA SUCT-K-FACT ACT-SH-SPEED REF-SH-SPEED FANEXPH
FANEXPE FANEXPP NWHEELS MAP SCL-FACTOR1 SCL-FACTOR2

WHEEL-DATA stage wheel keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
FANEXPH FANEXPE FANEXPP IMPELLER-DIA MAP SCL-FACTOR1
SCL-FACTOR2

SHAFT-SPEED map curve shaft-speed / . . .

MACH-NO map curve mach-no / . . .
SUBROUTINE CURVES=subrname
USER-VECS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
NINT NREAL NIWORK NWORK

INT value-list
REAL value-list
HCURVE curveno stage keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INDEP-VAR LIST NPOINT INCR HEADING PROPERTIES PRES-PROFILE
PDROP PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES X-SCALE Y-SCALE WIDE
GRID INTERPOLATE

Input Language Guide 21-33

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

Input Language Description for MCOMPR

PARAM Use to specify compressor type, number of stages, outlet pressure of the last stage of the
compressor, and optional convergence parameters.
NSTAGE.......................... Number of compression stages
TYPE ............................... TYPE=ISENTROPIC................. Isentropic compressor/turbine
TYPE=POS-DISP ..................... Polytropic positive-displacement compressor
calculations
TYPE=....................................... Polytropic compressor calculations using the
ASME-POLYTROPIC ASME method1
TYPE=ASME-ISENTROPIC ..... Isentropic compressor calculations using the
ASME method1
TYPE=....................................... Polytropic compressor calculations using the
GPSA-POLYTROPIC GPSA method2
TYPE=GPSA-ISENTROPIC ..... Isentropic compressor calculations using the
GPSA method2
PRES ............................... Outlet pressure of the compressor
COMPR-NPHASE ........... COMPR-NPHASE=1 ................ Gas-phase calculations only (Default)
COMPR-NPHASE=2 ................ Two-phase flash
If you do not specify COMPR-NPHASE, the default is to perform vapor
phase calculations. At the end of calculations, the outlet stream is flashed
at the outlet temperature and pressure to check for any condensation. If
needed, the outlet stream is also flashed at outlet pressure and the
intermediate isentropic temperature. If the vapor fraction calculated by
either flash is less than 1.0, MCOMPR generates a message
recommending that you specify COMPR-NPHASE=2.
COOLER-NPHASE ......... Cooler calculations:
COOLER-NPHASE=1 .............. Gas-phase calculations only
COOLER-NPHASE=2 .............. Two-phase flash (Default)
COOLER-NPHASE=3 .............. Three-phase flash
TEMP-MAXIT .................. Maximum iterations for temperature loop convergence. Use only when
TEMP is specified using COMPR-SPECS. (Default=30)
TEMP-TOL ...................... Tolerance for temperature loop convergence. Use only when TEMP is
specified using COMPR-SPEC. (Default=0.01 K)
SB-MAXIT ....................... Maximum iterations for entropy balance calculations. Use only when
TYPE=ISENTROPIC, ASME-POLYTROPIC, or ASME-ISENTROPIC.
(Default=30)
SB-TOL ........................... Tolerance for entropy balance calculations. Use only when
TYPE=ISENTROPIC, ASME-POLYTROPIC, or ASME-ISENTROPIC.
(Default=1x10-4)

1 ASME Power Test Code 10, (1965), pp. 31-32.

2 GPSA Engineering Data Book, (1979), pp. 5-6 to 5-10.

21-34 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the

SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
PS-FLASH ....................... For constant entropy flash calculations, determines which algorithm to
use:
PS-FLASH=DIRECT................. Use direct call to Flash
PS-FLASH=INDIRECT............. Perform a series of PQ flashes until the
specified entropy is obtained (Default)
FEEDS Use to enter feed stage locations for all inlet streams. There must be at least one inlet material
stream to stage1. Any other inlet streams are optional. An inlet material stream to any stage other
than stage1 actually enters the preceding cooler. Any number of heat streams, work streams, and
material streams can enter any stage.
sid.................................... Stream ID
stage................................ Stage number
PRODUCTS Use to enter stage locations for all outlet streams, including heat and work streams. A stage
number entry of GLOBAL indicates the stream is a heat, work, or liquid GLOBAL outlet applying
to all stages. For material streams, a stage number of 1, . . ., NSTAGE – 1 indicates a liquid
knockout or water decant stream. A stage number of NSTAGE indicates the required compressor
outlet stream.
sid.................................... Stream ID
stage................................ Stage number or GLOBAL
phase............................... Phase for liquid knockout and water decant streams:
L ................................................ Total liquid (Default)
L1 .............................................. Organic liquid
W............................................... Free-water
If water or organic liquid is decanted, then both L1 and W phase product
streams must be present.
COMPR-SPECS Use to specify PRATIO, PRES, DELP, TEMP, or POWER for each stage of the compressor, if you do
not:
• Specify the outlet pressure in the PARAM sentence
• Enter performance curves
The specification type must be the same for all stages. If you give both TEMP and a pressure
specification, MCOMPR uses TEMP as an upper limit on temperature. You can use inlet work
streams in place of COMPR-SPECS power specifications. If you do not specify all stages, the
missing specifications default to the previous stage values. You can also use COMPR-SPECS to
enter efficiencies.
stage................................ Stage number
PRES ............................... Outlet pressure for the stage
DELP ............................... Pressure change for the stage
PRATIO............................ Pressure ratio per stage
POWER ........................... Power input to the stage. Power supplied to the stage is positive. Work
streams use the opposite convention.

Input Language Guide 21-35

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

TEMP............................... Temperature at the outlet of the compression stage

PEFF ............................... Polytropic efficiency as defined in Note 1. Use only when TYPE=ASME-
POLYTROPIC, GPSA-POLYTROPIC, or POS-DISP. (Default=0.72)
SEFF ............................... Isentropic efficiency as defined in Note 2. Use only when
TYPE=ISENTROPIC, ASME-ISENTROPIC, or GPSA-ISENTROPIC.
(Default=0.72)
MEFF ............................... Mechanical efficiency as defined in Note 3. (Default=1)
CLFR ............................... Clearance fraction. Use only when TYPE=POS-DISP. (Default=0.5)
COOLER-SPECS Use to enter cooler specifications. There is an intercooler between each compression stage and an
aftercooler following the last compression stage. For each cooler you must specify: TRATIO, TEMP,
or DUTY. You can use inlet heat streams in place of COOLER-SPECS specifications. If no
aftercooler is present, you must specify DUTY=0 for stage NSTAGE. If you do not specify all stages,
the missing specifications default to previous stage values.
stage ............................... Stage number
TRATIO ........................... Ratio of the outlet temperature to the inlet temperature of the cooler
TEMP............................... Outlet temperature of the cooler
DUTY ............................... Cooler heat duty. Negative for heat removal.
PDROP ............................ Pressure drop across the cooler (Default=0)
PERFOR-PARAM Use to enter optional parameters related to compressor performance curves and suction pressure-
loss calculations.
GPSA-BASIS................... Use when TYPE=GPSA-ISENTROPIC or GPSA-POLYTROPIC1

GPSA-BASIS=SUCTION ......... Uses suction conditions in head equation

(Default)
GPSA-BASIS=AVERAGE........ Uses average of suction and discharge
conditions in head equation
NCURVES ....................... Number of compressor performance curves. If:
• A single curve is supplied, it can be used to rate a compressor at a given
speed
• A reference shaft speed is known, Fan laws will be used to scale the
performance
• Multiple curves are supplied, linear interpolation is performed between
curves to find the performance at operating point
• A user subroutine is used to enter performance specifications, set
NCURVES=1
EXTRAPOLATE .............. Indicates whether to extrapolate performance curve(s) beyond surge and
stonewall points:
EXTRAPOLATE=YES .............. Extrapolates (Default)
EXTRAPOLATE=NO................ Does not extrapolate
CALC-SPEED.................. Indicates whether compressor shaft speed is calculated or specified:
CALC-SPEED=NO ................... Specified by user (Default)
CALC-SPEED=YES ................. Calculated by Aspen Plus model

1 GPSA Engineering Data Book, (1979), pp. 5-6 to 5-10.

21-36 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

USER-CURVES ............... Specifies the type of performance variable (in addition to efficiency)
supplied by a user subroutine:
USER-CURVES=HEAD............ Head
USER-CURVES=...................... Head coefficient
HEAD-COEF
USER-CURVES=POWER ........ Power
USER-CURVES=PRES............ Discharge pressure
USER-CURVES=PRATIO ........ Pressure ratio
USER-CURVES=DELP ............ Pressure drop
NMAP............................... Number of performance maps
MAX-NWHEEL ................ Maximum number of wheels in any given stage
ACTUAL-HEAD ............... Indicates if the head specified in the HEAD-TABLE or HEAD-POLY
sentence is actual or polytropic/isentropic. (See Note 5.)
ACTUAL-HEAD=NO ................ Head is polytropic/isentropic (Default)
ACTUAL-HEAD=YES............... Head is actual
ACTUAL-HEADC............. Indicates if the head coefficient specified in the HEADC-TABLE or
HEADC-POLY sentence is actual or polytropic/isentropic. (See Note 5.)
ACTUAL-HEADC=NO.............. Head coefficient is polytropic/isentropic
(Default)
ACTUAL-HEADC=YES............ Head coefficient is actual
HEAD-FACTOR ............... Scaling factor applied to head values calculated from either tabular
(HEAD-TABLE) or polynomial (HEAD-POLY) data (Default=1)
HEAD-NPOINT ................ Maximum number of data points in a curve when head versus flow curves
are specified in a table....
H-FLOW-VAR .................. Independent flow variable used in head versus flow curves:
H-FLOW-VAR=VOL-FLOW...... Volume flow
H-FLOW-VAR=......................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
H-FLOW-UNIT ................. Units of the independent flow variable in head versus flow curves
HEAD-UNITS ................... Units of head data in head versus flow curves
HEADC-FACTOR ............ Scaling factor applied to head coefficient values calculated from either
tabular (HEADC-TABLE) or polynomial (HEADC-POLY) data
(Default=1)
HEADC-NPOINT.............. Maximum number of data points in a curve when head coefficient versus
flow curves are specified in a table
HC-FLOW-VAR ............... Independent flow variable used in head coefficient versus flow curves:
H-FLOW-VAR=......................... Volume flow per shaft speed in RPM, or specific
"VOL-FLOW/N" flow rate
H-FLOW-VAR=......................... Flow coefficient
FLOW-COEFF

Input Language Guide 21-37

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

HC-FLOW-UNIT .............. Units of the independent flow variable in head coefficient versus flow
curves
POWER-FACTOR ........... Scaling factor applied to power values calculated from either tabular
(POWER-TABLE) or polynomial (POWER-POLY) data (Default=1)
POWER-NPOINT ............ Maximum number of data points in a curve when power versus flow
curves are specified in a table
PW-FLOW-VAR............... Independent flow variable used in power versus flow curves:
PW-FLOW-VAR=...................... Volume flow
VOL-FLOW
PW-FLOW-VAR=...................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
PW-FLOW-UNIT.............. Units of the independent flow variable in power versus flow curves
POWER-UNITS ............... Units of power data in power versus flow curves
PRES-FACTOR ............... Scaling factor applied to discharge pressure values calculated from either
tabular (PRES-TABLE) or polynomial (PRES-POLY) data (Default=1)
PRES-NPOINT ................ Maximum number of data points in a curve when discharge pressure
versus flow curves are specified in a table
P-FLOW-VAR .................. Independent flow variable used in discharge pressure versus flow curves:
P-FLOW-VAR= ......................... Volume flow
VOL-FLOW
P-FLOW-VAR= ......................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
P-FLOW-UNIT ................. Units of the independent flow variable in discharge pressure versus flow
curves
PRES-UNITS ................... Units of pressure data in pressure versus flow curves
PRAT-FACTOR ............... Scaling factor applied to pressure ratio values calculated from either
tabular (PRATIO-TABLE) or polynomial (PRATIO-POLY) data
(Default=1)
PRAT-NPOINT ................ Maximum number of data points in a curve when pressure ratio versus
flow curves are specified in a table
PR-FLOW-VAR ............... Independent flow variable used in pressure ratio versus flow curves:
PR-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Volume flow
VOL-FLOW
PR-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
PR-FLOW-UNIT .............. Units of the independent flow variable in pressure ratio versus flow
curves
DELP-FACTOR ............... Scaling factor applied to pressure change values calculated from either
tabular (DELP-TABLE) or polynomial (DELP-POLY) data (Default=1)
DELP-NPOINT ................ Maximum number of data points in a curve when pressure change versus
flow curves are specified in a table

21-38 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

DP-FLOW-VAR................ Independent flow variable used in pressure change versus flow curves:
DP-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Volume flow
VOL-FLOW
DP-FLOW-VAR= ...................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
DP-FLOW-UNIT............... Units of the independent flow variable in pressure change versus flow
curves
DELP-UNITS ................... Units of pressure change data in pressure change versus flow curves
EFF-FACTOR .................. Scaling factor applied to efficiency values calculated from either tabular
(EFF-TABLE) or polynomial (EFF-POLY) data (Default=1)
EFF-NPOINT ................... Maximum number of data points in a curve when efficiency versus flow
curves are specified in a table
EF-FLOW-VAR ................ Independent flow variable used in efficiency versus flow curves:
EF-FLOW-VAR=....................... Volume flow
VOL-FLOW
EF-FLOW-VAR=....................... Mass flow
MASS-FLOW
EF-FLOW-VAR=....................... Volume flow per shaft speed in RPM, or specific
"VOL-FLOW/N" flow
EF-FLOW-VAR=....................... Flow coefficient
FLOW-COEFF
EF-FLOW-UNIT ............... Units of the independent flow variable in efficiency versus flow curves
HEAD-TABLE Use to enter values of head developed versus suction flow rate in a table. You must also specify
HEAD-NPOINT, HEAD-UNITS, H-FLOW-VAR, and H-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM
sentence. When performance curves are entered in tabular form, the first point of the table is taken
as surge and the last point as stonewall, for a given curve. (See Notes 6 and 7.)
map.................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
head................................. Head developed. The head can be polytropic, isentropic, or actual,
depending on TYPE and ACTUAL-HEAD specifications. (See Note 5.)
flow.................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
HEAD-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate head developed as a function of suction flow rate.
You must also specify HEAD-UNITS, H-FLOW-VAR, and H-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM
sentence. (See Note 6.) You can enter surge and stonewall values. The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Head developed
map.................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1 ............................. First coefficient of head versus flow polynomial

Input Language Guide 21-39

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

COEF2............................. Second coefficient of head versus flow polynomial

COEF3............................. Third coefficient of head versus flow polynomial
COEF4............................. Fourth coefficient of head versus flow polynomial
SURGE ............................ Suction flow rate value at which the compressor surges
STONEWALL .................. Suction flow rate value at which the compressor stonewalls
HEADC-TABLE Use to enter values of head coefficient versus either suction flow rate per shaft speed in rpm or flow
coefficient, in a table. You must also specify HEADC-NPOINT, HC-FLOW-VAR, and HC-FLOW-
UNIT (if applicable) in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. When performance curves are entered in
tabular form, the first point of the table is taken as surge and the last point as stonewall, for a given
curve.
(See Notes 6, 7, and 8.)
map ................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
head-coeff....................... Head coefficient. The value can be polytropic, isentropic, or actual,
depending on TYPE and ACTUAL-HEADC specifications. (See Note 5.)
flow ................................. Suction flow rate per shaft speed in rpm, or flow coefficient
HEADC-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate head coefficient as a function of either suction flow
rate per shaft speed in rpm or flow coefficient, in polynomial form. You must also specify HC-
FLOW-VAR and HC-FLOW-UNIT (if applicable) in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See Notes 6
and 8.) You can enter surge and stonewall values. The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Volumetric flow rate per shaft speed in rpm, or flow coefficient
Y = Head coefficient
map ................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1............................. First coefficient of head coefficient versus flow polynomial
COEF2............................. Second coefficient of head coefficient versus flow polynomial
COEF3............................. Third coefficient of head coefficient versus flow polynomial
COEF4............................. Fourth coefficient of head coefficient versus flow polynomial
SURGE ............................ Flow coefficient, or specific flow at which the compressor surges
STONEWALL .................. Flow coefficient, or specific flow at which the compressor stonewalls
POWER-TABLE Use to enter values of power supplied versus suction flow rate in a table. You must also specify
POWER-NPOINT, POWER-UNITS, PW-FLOW-VAR, and PW-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-
PARAM sentence. When performance curves are entered in tabular form, the first point of the table
is taken as surge and the last point as stonewall, for a given curve. (See Notes 6 and 7.)
map ................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table

21-40 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

power .............................. Power supplied

flow.................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
POWER-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate power supplied as a function of suction flow rate.
You must also specify POWER-UNITS, PW-FLOW-VAR, and PW-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-
PARAM sentence. (See Note 6.) You can enter surge and stonewall values. The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Power supplied
map.................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1 ............................. First coefficient of power versus flow polynomial
COEF2 ............................. Second coefficient of power versus flow polynomial
COEF3 ............................. Third coefficient of power versus flow polynomial
COEF4 ............................. Fourth coefficient of power versus flow polynomial
SURGE ............................ Suction flow rate at which the compressor surges
STONEWALL .................. Suction flow rate at which the compressor stonewalls
PRES-TABLE Use to enter values of discharge pressure versus suction flow rate in a table. You must also specify
PRES-NPOINT, PRES-UNITS, P-FLOW-VAR, and P-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM
sentence. When performance curves are entered in tabular form, the first point of the table is taken
as surge and the last point as stonewall, for a given curve. (See Notes 6 and 7.)
map.................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
pres ................................. Discharge pressure
flow.................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
PRES-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate discharge pressure as a function of suction flow
rate. You must also specify PRES-UNITS, P-FLOW-VAR, and P-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-
PARAM sentence. (See Note 6.) You can enter surge and stonewall values. The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Discharge pressure
map.................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1 ............................. First coefficient of pressure versus flow polynomial
COEF2 ............................. Second coefficient of pressure versus flow polynomial
COEF3 ............................. Third coefficient of pressure versus flow polynomial
COEF4 ............................. Fourth coefficient of pressure versus flow polynomial

Input Language Guide 21-41

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

SURGE ............................ Suction flow rate at which the compressor surges

STONEWALL .................. Suction flow rate at which the compressor stonewalls
PRATIO-TABLE Use to enter values of pressure ratio (discharge pressure/suction pressure) versus suction flow rate
in a table. You must also specify PRAT-NPOINT, PR-FLOW-VAR, and PR-FLOW-UNIT in the
PERFOR-PARAM sentence. When performance curves are entered in tabular form, the first point of
the table is taken as surge and the last point as stonewall, for a given curve. (See Notes 6 and 7.)
map ................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
pratio............................... Pressure ratio
flow ................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
PRATIO-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate pressure ratio (discharge pressure/suction
pressure) as a function of suction flow rate. You must also specify PR-FLOW-VAR and PR-FLOW-
UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See Note 6.) You can enter surge and stonewall values.
The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Pressure ratio
map ................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1............................. First coefficient of pratio versus flow polynomial
COEF2............................. Second coefficient of pratio versus flow polynomial
COEF3............................. Third coefficient of pratio versus flow polynomial
COEF4............................. Fourth coefficient of pratio versus flow polynomial
SURGE ............................ Suction flow rate at which the compressor surges
STONEWALL .................. Suction flow rate at which the compressor stonewalls
DELP-TABLE Use to enter values of pressure change (discharge pressure-suction pressure) versus suction flow
rate in a table. You must also specify DELP-NPOINT, DELP-UNITS, DP-FLOW-VAR, and DP-
FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. When performance curves are entered in tabular
form, the first point of the table is taken as surge and the last point as stonewall, for a given curve.
(See Notes 6 and 7.)
map ................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
delp ................................. Pressure change
flow ................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)

21-42 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

DELP-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate pressure change (discharge pressure-suction
pressure) as a function of suction flow rate. You must also specify DELP-UNITS, DP-FLOW-VAR,
and DP-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See Note 6.) You can enter surge and
stonewall values. The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric or mass)
Y = Pressure change
map.................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1 ............................. First coefficient of delp versus flow polynomial
COEF2 ............................. Second coefficient of delp versus flow polynomial
COEF3 ............................. Third coefficient of delp versus flow polynomial
COEF4 ............................. Fourth coefficient of delp versus flow polynomial
SURGE ............................ Suction flow rate at which the compressor surges
STONEWALL .................. Suction flow rate at which the compressor stonewalls
EFF-TABLE Use to enter values of efficiency versus suction flow rate in a table. You must also specify EFF-
NPOINT, EF-FLOW-VAR, and EF-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. When
performance curves are entered in tabular form, the first point of the table is taken as surge and
the last point as stonewall, for a given curve. (See Notes 6, 7 and 9.)
map.................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
point ................................ Row number within a table
eff..................................... Efficiency (either polytropic or isentropic, depending on TYPE)
flow.................................. Suction flow rate (volumetric, mass, specific flow, or flow coefficient)
EFF-POLY Use to enter polynomial coefficients to calculate efficiency as a function of suction flow rate. You
must also specify EF-FLOW-VAR and EF-FLOW-UNIT in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. (See
Note 6.) The polynomial used is:
Y = coef1 + coef2*X + coef3*X2 + coef4*X3
Where:
X = Suction flow rate (volumetric, mass, specific flow, or flow coefficient)
Y = Efficiency
map.................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
COEF1 ............................. First coefficient of efficiency versus flow polynomial
COEF2 ............................. Second coefficient of efficiency versus flow polynomial
COEF3 ............................. Third coefficient of efficiency versus flow polynomial
COEF4 ............................. Fourth coefficient of efficiency versus flow polynomial

Input Language Guide 21-43

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

STAGE-DATA Use to enter any stage-specific performance parameters.

stage ............................... Stage number
SUCT-NOZ-DIA............... Diameter of suction nozzle for a stage. This value is used to calculate
pressure drop across the suction nozzle of a compressor stage, using the
equation in Note 4.
SUCT-K-FACT................. K-factor (velocity head multiplier) of suction nozzle for a stage. This value
is used to calculate pressure drop across the suction nozzle of a
compressor stage, using the equation in Note 4.
ACT-SH-SPEED .............. Speed of compressor shaft at a given stage
REF-SH-SPEED .............. Reference speed of compressor shaft at a given stage. Use when Fan laws
are applied to determine compressor performance.
FANEXPH........................ Fan law exponent for head (Default=2.0)
FANEXPE........................ Fan law exponent for efficiency (Default=1.0)
FANEXPP........................ Fan law exponent for power (Default=3.0)
NWHEELS....................... Number of wheels in a stage
MAP................................. Performance map number associated with this stage
SCL-FACTOR1................ Scale factor used to multiply the performance variable calculated for a
stage. The performance variable is calculated from one of the following
performance curves: head, head coefficient, power, pres, pratio, or delp.
SCL-FACTOR2................ Scale factor used to multiply the stage efficiency value calculated from
performance curves
WHEEL-DATA Use to enter wheel-specific performance parameters when you enter wheel-by-wheel performance
curves.
stage ............................... Stage number
wheel............................... Wheel number
FANEXPH........................ Fan law exponent for head (Default=2.0)
FANEXPE........................ Fan law exponent for efficiency (Default=1.0)
FANEXPP........................ Fan law exponent for power (Default=3.0)
IMPELLER-DIA ............... Diameter of the compressor's impeller
MAP................................. Performance map number associated with this wheel
SCL-FACTOR1................ Scale factor used to multiply the performance variable calculated for a
wheel. The performance variable is calculated from one of the following
performance curves: head, head coefficient, power, pres, pratio, or delp.
SCL-FACTOR2................ Scale factor used to multiply the wheel efficiency value calculated from
performance curves
SHAFT-SPEED Use to enter compressor shaft speeds when multiple performance curves, at multiple shaft speeds,
are available. (See Note 10.)
map ................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
shaft-speed..................... Shaft speed

21-44 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

MACH-NO Use to enter Mach numbers when multiple performance curves, at multiple Mach numbers, are
available. (See Note 11.)
map.................................. Map number
curve ............................... Curve number
mach-no .......................... Mach number
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied subroutine for calculating performance curves. You must specify the
type of curve using the USER-CURVES keyword in the PERFOR-PARAM sentence. The user
subroutine must also calculate efficiency, whenever it is used to calculate any other performance
variable. See Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 22, for information about writing user-supplied
subroutines for performance curves.
CURVES .......................... Name of user-supplied FORTRAN subroutine for performance curve
calculations
USER-VECS Use to define the length of arrays for user-supplied performance curve subroutines.
NINT................................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied performance
curve subroutine
NREAL............................. Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied performance curve
subroutine
NIWORK .......................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied performance
curve subroutine
NWORK ........................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied performance curve
subroutine
INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied performance curve
subroutine.
value-list.......................... List of integer values
REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied performance curve subroutine.
value-list.......................... List of real values
HCURVE Use to generate heating or cooling curve tables and plots for the turbine or compressor. You must
specify stage number. See Chapter 11 for a description of the input keywords.
stage................................ Stage number

Input Language Guide 21-45

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

Accessing Variables in MCOMPR

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for an
MCOMPR block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3

PARAM NSTAGE, PRES, TEMP-MAXIT, TEMP-TOL, SB- — — —

MAXIT, SB-TOL, MAXIT, TOL
COMPR-SPECS PRES, DELP, PRATIO, POWER, PEFF, SEFF, stage — —
MEFF, CLFR, TEMP
COOLER-SPECS TRATIO, TEMP, DUTY, PDROP stage — —
FEEDS STAGE sid — —
PRODUCTS STAGE sid — —
HEAD-TABLE HEAD, FLOW map curve point
HEAD-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4, SURGE, map curve —
STONEWALL
HEADC-TABLE HEAD-COEF, FLOW map curve point
HEADC-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4, SURGE, map curve —
STONEWALL
POWER-TABLE POWER, FLOW map curve point
POWER-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4, SURGE, map curve —
STONEWALL
PRES-TABLE PRES, FLOW map curve point
PRES-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4, SURGE, map curve —
STONEWALL
PRATIO-TABLE PRATIO, FLOW map curve point
PRATIO-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4, SURGE, map curve —
STONEWALL
DELP-TABLE DELP, FLOW map curve point
DELP-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4, SURGE, map curve —
STONEWALL
EFF-TABLE EFFICIENCY, FLOW map curve point
EFF-POLY COEF1, COEF2, COEF3, COEF4 map curve —

continued

21-46 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

Block Input (continued)

Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3

STAGE-DATA SUCT-NOZ-DIA, SUCT-K-FACT, ACT-SH- stage — —

SPEED, REF-SH-SPEED, FANEXPH,
FANEXPE, FANEXPP, SCL-FACTOR1, SCL-
FACTOR2
WHEEL-DATA FANEXPH, FANEXPE, FANEXPP, IMPELLER- stage wheel —
DIA, SCL-FACTOR1, SCL-FACTOR2
SHAFT-SPEED SHAFT-SPEED map curve —
MACH-NO MACH-NO map curve —
HCURVE NPOINTS, INCR, PDROPS curveno — —

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1

Total brake horsepower RESULTS BRAKE-POWER —

Net work RESULTS NET-WORK —
Total cooling duty RESULTS QCALC —
Net cooling duty RESULTS NET-DUTY —
Brake horsepower PROFILE BRAKE-POWER† stage
Cooling duty PROFILE QCALC† stage
Pressure (compression outlet) PROFILE COMPR-PRES† stage
Temperature (compression outlet) PROFILE COMPR-TEMP† stage
Pressure (cooling outlet) PROFILE COOLER-PRES† stage
Temperature (cooling outlet) PROFILE COOLER-TEMP† stage
Cooler vapor fraction PROFILE COOLER-VFRAC† stage

Stage-by-stage performance results:

Description Sentence Variable ID1 ID2

Percent above surge STAGE-RESULTS ABOVE-SURGE stage —

Percent below stonewall STAGE-RESULTS BELOW-SWALL stage —
Calculated compressor shaft speed STAGE-RESULTS SHAFT-SPEED stage —
Specific shaft speed STAGE-RESULTS SP-SPEED stage —
Sonic velocity of gas at suction STAGE-RESULTS SUCT-SONIC-V stage —
† You can also access variables using the VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapter 30.

continued

Input Language Guide 21-47

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

Block Results (continued)

Wheel-by-wheel performance results:

Description Sentence Variable ID1 ID2

Percent above surge WHEEL-RESULTS ABOVE-SURGE stage wheel

Percent below stonewall WHEEL-RESULTS BELOW-SWALL stage wheel
Calculated compressor shaft speed WHEEL-RESULTS SHAFT-SPEED stage wheel
Specific shaft speed WHEEL-RESULTS SP-SPEED stage wheel
Sonic velocity of gas at suction WHEEL-RESULTS SUCT-SONIC-V stage wheel
Specific diameter WHEEL-RESULTS SP-DIAM stage wheel
Head coefficient WHEEL-RESULTS HEAD-COEF stage wheel
Flow coefficient WHEEL-RESULTS FLOW-COEF stage wheel
Inlet Mach number WHEEL-RESULTS IN-MACH-NO stage wheel
Rotor tip Mach number WHEEL-RESULTS RT-MACH-NO stage wheel

Notes
1. The polytropic efficiency ηp is used in the equation for the polytropic
compression ratio:
n − 1  k − 1
=  /η p
n  k 

The basic compressor relation is:

  n −1 
  
PinVin  Pout  n  
∆h =   − 1
 n − 1   Pin 
ηp  
 n 

Where:
n = Polytropic coefficient
k = Heat capacity ratio Cp/Cv
ηp = Polytropic efficiency
∆h = Enthalpy change per mole
P = Pressure
V = Volume

21-48 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

2. The isentropic efficiency ηs for compression is:

s
hout − hin
ηs =
hout − hin

The isentropic efficiency ηs for expansion is:

hout − hin
ηs = s
hout − hin

Where:
h = Molar enthalpy
s
hout = Outlet molar enthalpy, assuming isentropic compression/expansion
to the specified outlet pressure

3. The mechanical efficiency ηm is:

IHP = F∆h
BHP = IHP / ηm (for compression processes)
BHP = IHP × ηm (for expansion processes)
Power loss, PLOSS, can be used to calculate the brake horsepower, in place of
the mechanical efficiency:
BHP = IHP + PLOSS (for compression processes)
BHP = IHP – PLOSS (for expansion processes)
Where:
IHP = Indicated horsepower
F = Mole flow rate
∆h = Enthalpy change per mole
BHP = Brake horsepower
ηm = Mechanical efficiency
PLOSS = Power loss

Input Language Guide 21-49

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

4. Parasitic pressure loss at the suction nozzle of a compression stage is given by

the equation:
Pdrop = K * ρ * (V2) / (2*g)

Where:
K = Velocity head multiplier
ρ = Density
V = Linear velocity of process gas at suction conditions
g = Gravitational constant

5. When head or head coefficient curves are specified, the data can be based on
either actual head or thermodynamic head. Actual and thermodynamic heads
are related by the following equations:
Hact = Hpoly / Peff for polytropic path
Hact = Hisen / Ieff for isentropic path (for compression processes)
Hact = Hisen × Ieff for isentropic path (for expansion processes)

Where:
Hact = Actual head
Hpoly = Polytropic head
Peff = Polytropic efficiency
Hisen = Isentropic head
Ieff = Isentropic efficiency

6. You can specify either tables or polynomials for all curves entered. You may
not mix tables and polynomials. You can enter only one of the following for a
given compressor stage: HEAD-TABLE, HEAD-POLY, HEADC-TABLE,
HEADC-POLY, POWER-TABLE, POWER-POLY, PRES-TABLE, PRES-
POLY, PRATIO-TABLE, PRATIO-POLY, DELP-TABLE, DELP-POLY,
HEAD-CORR.
7. When you specify performance curves as tables, you must give at least four
data points in each table. Aspen Plus fits parameters for each table using a
cubic spline.

21-50 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 21

8. The head coefficient is defined by the following equation:

Hc = H * g / (π * Shspd * ImpDiam)2

Where:
Hc = Head coefficient
H = Head developed
g = Gravitational constant
Shspd = Shaft speed
ImpDiam = Impeller diameter of compressor wheel

The flow coefficient is defined by the following equation:

Fc = Vflin / (Shspd * ImpDiam3)

Where:
Fc = Flow coefficient
Vflin = Volumetric flow rate at suction conditions
Shspd = Shaft speed
ImpDiam = Impeller diameter of compressor wheel

9. You can specify efficiency either as a scalar (in the PARAM sentence) or a
curve (in either the EFF-TABLE or the EFF-POLY sentences, or EFF-CORR if
the HEAD-CORR sentence is specified).
10. When multiple performance curves at multiple shaft speeds are supplied,
Aspen Plus uses linear interpolation between the speeds to analyze
performance.

11. When multiple performance curves at multiple Mach numbers are supplied,
Aspen Plus uses linear interpolation between the Mach numbers to analyze
performance.

Input Language Guide 21-51

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Pumps and
Compressors

12. The head developed for a compressor to change the pressure of a stream from
the inlet pressure P1 to the outlet pressure P2 is given by:
p2
HEAD = ∫ VdP
p1

where V is the molar volume and subscripts 1 and 2 refer to inlet and outlet
conditions, respectively. Two integration methods are provided for the
polytropic and positive displacement model calculations using piecewise
integration:
Direct method

Applying the gas law PV = ZRT and using the average point for each interval,
given the number of intervals between P1 and P2, subpath i for head developed
can be written as:

 Pi 
HEAD i = R( ZT ) av ln 2i 
 P1 

The total polytropic head is the sum of the subpath heads:

HEAD = ∑ H EAD i
i

n-Method

In a polytropic compression process, the relation of pressure P to volume V is

expressed by the following equation:
PVn = C = Constant

where n is the polytropic exponent. The n-method is to integrate head

equation, between P1 and P2, over a small interval such that a constant n is
assumed. For subpath i, the head developed can be written as:

 n −1

P V  P2i
i i
 n
HEAD =
i 1 1
  − 1
 n − 1   P1i 

   
 n 

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

21-52 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 22

22 Pipes and Valves

This chapter describes the input language for the pipeline, pipe, and valve
models. The models are:
Model Description Purpose Use

PIPELINE Pipeline Calculate pressure drop in a Successive PIPELINE blocks simulate a piping network that
calculation straight pipe or annular space includes wellbores and flowlines
PIPE Single-segment Calculate pressure drop in a PIPE simulates a single-segment pipe including fittings and
pipe calculation single-segment pipe valves
VALVE Valve Calculate pressure drop or flow VALVE simulates a control valve or pressure changer
calculation coefficient for a valve

Input Language Guide 22-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pipes and
Valves

PIPELINE
Pipeline Calculation

Input Language for PIPELINE

BLOCK blockid PIPELINE
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PRES-CALC FLOW-CALC THERMAL INTEGRATION CL-FORM-METH
FRIC-DOWNHILL FRIC-HORIZ FRIC-INCL FRIC-VERTICA
HOLDUP-DOWNH HOLDUP-HORIZ HOLDUP-INCL HOLDUP-VERTI
RECY-REUSE EDIT-REUSE NPHASE PHASE INT-METHOD INT-TOL
CORR-METHOD CORR-TOL-RATIO TOL MAXIT
Optional keywords less frequently used:
P-RECOV SLIP MINVOL DOWNHILL-MAX DOWNHILL-MIN HINIT
REYN-TRAN INTERR ORKDEN-KEY NIKLIN ORKWLR BB1 BB2
BB3 BB4 BB5 BB6 BB7 BB8 BB9 BB10

NODE nodeno name keyword=value

Keywords:
X Y ELEV P T TAMB
Optional keyword:
CERO

SEGMENT segno keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
INNODE OUTNODE ID UVAL LENGTH ANGLE
Optional keywords:
OD ROUGH HEATFLUX EFFICIENCY

TABLE-DEF keyword=value

Keywords:
P-T-TABLE PRES TEMP NPRES PMIN PMAX NTEMP TMIN TMAX
Optional keywords:
BLOCKID CBAR

PRINT keyword=value

Keywords:
TABLES BBFRIC BBHOLDUP GLPRINT REPRNT

22-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 22

SUBROUTINE keyword=value

Keywords:
HOLDUP PRES-DROP

USER-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
NINTH NREALH NINTP NREALP NIWORKH NRWORKH NIWORKP
NRWORKP

INTH value-list
REALH value-list
INTP value-list
REALP value-list

Input Language Description for PIPELINE

PARAM Use to specify pipeline simulation options, integration parameters, frictional correlation options,
Beggs and Brill correlation coefficients, and optional convergence parameters.
PRES-CALC .................... Pressure calculation option. Use to specify whether inlet or outlet
conditions are calculated.
PRES-CALC=OUTLET............. Calculates outlet pipeline conditions given inlet
conditions (Default)
PRES-CALC=INLET................. Calculates inlet pipeline conditions given outlet
conditions
FLOW-CALC ................... Flow calculation option. Use to specify whether inlet or outlet stream
composition and flow are calculated.
FLOW-CALC=OUTLET............ Calculates outlet stream composition and flow
from the inlet stream (Default)
FLOW-CALC=INLET................ Calculates inlet stream composition and flow
from the outlet stream
THERMAL........................ Thermal simulation option. Use to control heat-transfer calculations.
THERMAL=YES ....................... Calculates temperatures using energy balance
THERMAL=NO ......................... Assumes linear temperature profile between
node temperature(s) entered by user (Default)
INTEGRATION ................ Numerical integration option:
INTEGRATION=YES................ Uses numerical integration (Default)
INTEGRATION=NO.................. Uses one of the closed-form methods
CL-FORM-METH ............. One-phase method for closed-form calculation. Use when
INTEGRATION=NO.
CL-FORM-METH=AGA ............ AGA (Default)
CL-FORM-METH= .................... Hazen-Williams
HAZEN-WILL
CL-FORM-METH= .................... Oliphant
OLIPHANT

Input Language Guide 22-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pipes and
Valves

OLIPHANT
CL-FORM-METH= .................... Panhandle A
PANHANDLE-A
CL-FORM-METH= .................... Panhandle B
PANHANDLE-B
CL-FORM-METH=SMITH......... Smith
CL-FORM-METH= .................... Weymouth
WEYMOUTH
FRIC-DOWNHILL............ Two-phase frictional pressure-drop correlation option for downhill flow.
Use when inclination angles are less than -2 degrees from horizontal.
FRIC-DOWNHILL= ................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
FRIC-DOWNHILL=DARCY ...... Darcy. Assumes no slip.
FRIC-DOWNHILL=SLACK....... Slack
FRIC-DOWNHILL= ................... User-supplied subroutine
USER-SUBS
FRIC-HORIZ .................... Two-phase frictional pressure-drop correlation option for horizontal flow.
Use when the inclination angles range between -2 and +2 degrees from
horizontal.
FRIC-HORIZ= ........................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
FRIC-HORIZ=DARCY .............. Darcy. Assumes no slip.
FRIC-HORIZ=DUKLER ............ Dukler
FRIC-HORIZ=LOCK-MART ..... Lockhart-Martinelli
FRIC-HORIZ=USER-SUBS...... User-supplied subroutine
FRIC-INCL....................... Two-phase frictional pressure-drop correlation option for inclined flow.
Use when the inclination angles range between +2 and +45 degrees from
horizontal.
FRIC-INCL=AWR ..................... Angel-Welchon-Ros
FRIC-INCL=BEGGS-BRILL ..... Beggs and Brill (Default)
FRIC-INCL=DARCY ................. Darcy. Assumes no slip.
FRIC-INCL=DUKLER ............... Dukler
FRIC-INCL=H-BROWN ............ Hagedorn-Brown
FRIC-INCL=ORKI ..................... Orkiszewski
FRIC-INCL=USER-SUBS......... User-supplied subroutine
FRIC-VERTICA................ Two-phase frictional pressure-drop correlation option for vertical flow.
Use when inclination angles are greater than +45 degrees from
horizontal.
FRIC-VERTICA=AWR .............. Angel-Welchon-Ros
FRIC-VERTICA=....................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
FRIC-VERTICA=DARCY.......... Darcy. Assumes no slip.

22-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 22

FRIC-VERTICA=H-BROWN..... Hagedorn-Brown
FRIC-VERTICA=ORKI.............. Orkiszewski
FRIC-VERTICA=....................... User-supplied subroutine
USER-SUBS
HOLDUP-DOWNH........... Two-phase liquid holdup correlation option for downhill flow. Use when
inclination angles are less than -2 degrees from horizontal.
HOLDUP-DOWNH=.................. Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
HOLDUP-DOWNH=SLACK ..... Slack
HOLDUP-DOWNH=.................. User-supplied subroutine
USER-SUBS
HOLDUP-HORIZ.............. Two-phase liquid holdup correlation option for horizontal flow. Use when
inclination angles range between -2 and +2 degrees from horizontal.
HOLDUP-HORIZ= .................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
HOLDUP-HORIZ=EATON........ Eaton
HOLDUP-HORIZ=HOOG ......... Hoogendorn
HOLDUP-HORIZ=HUGH.......... Hughmark
HOLDUP-HORIZ= .................... Lockhart-Martinelli
LOCK-MART
HOLDUP-HORIZ= .................... User-supplied subroutine
USER-SUBS
HOLDUP-INCL ................ Two-phase liquid holdup correlation option for inclined flow. Use when
inclination angles range between +2 and +45 degrees from horizontal.
HOLDUP-INCL=AWR............... Angel-Welchon-Ros
HOLDUP-INCL= ....................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
HOLDUP-INCL=FLANIGAN .... Flanigan
HOLDUP-INCL=H-BROWN ..... Hagedorn-Brown
HOLDUP-INCL=ORKI .............. Orkiszewski
HOLDUP-INCL= ....................... User-supplied subroutine
USER-SUBS
HOLDUP-VERTI .............. Two-phase liquid holdup correlation option for vertical flow. Use when
inclination angles are greater than +45 degrees from horizontal.
HOLDUP-VERTI=AWR ............ Angel-Welchon-Ros
HOLDUP-VERTI= ..................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
HOLDUP-VERTI= ..................... Hagedorn-Brown
H-BROWN
HOLDUP-VERTI=ORKI............ Orkiszewski
HOLDUP-VERTI= ..................... User-supplied subroutine
USER-SUBS

Input Language Guide 22-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pipes and
Valves

RECY-REUSE ................. Option to allow reuse of fluid property tables in convergence loops:
RECY-REUSE=YES ................. Reuses tables after initial iteration
RECY-REUSE=NO ................... Recalculates tables for every iteration (Default)
EDIT-REUSE ................... Option to allow reuse of fluid property tables in edit runs:
EDIT-REUSE=YES ................... Reuses tables after initial execution
EDIT-REUSE=NO..................... Recalculates tables for every execution
(Default)
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases for flash calculations. For gas systems in the dense-
phase region, a value of NPHASE=1 is recommended.
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid
INT-METHOD .................. Integration method. Use when INTEGRATION=YES.
INT-METHOD=GEAR ............... Uses Gear's method (Default)
INT-METHOD=HAMMING........ Uses Hamming's predictor-corrector method
INT-TOL........................... Convergence tolerance for integration procedure. Use when INT-
METHOD=GEAR. (Default=1x10-4)
CORR-METHOD ............. Corrector convergence method. Use when INT-METHOD=GEAR.
CORR-METHOD=DIRECT ....... Direct substitution. Derivatives are not
required
CORR-METHOD=NEWTON..... Newton method. Aspen Plus computes
numerical derivatives whenever a new Jacobian
is required. (Default)
CORR-TOL-RATIO.......... Ratio of the corrector tolerance to the integration tolerance. Use when
INT-METHOD=GEAR. (Default=0.1)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.)
(See Chapter 46.)
P-RECOV ........................ Downhill pressure recovery option. Sets elevational pressure change to
zero for downhill flow. See FRIC-DOWNHILL for definition of downhill.
P-RECOV=YES ........................ Sets elevational pressure change to zero
P-RECOV=NO .......................... Calculates elevational pressure change
(Default)
SLIP................................. Option to set liquid holdup equal to the flowing volume fraction in two-
phase flow. This implies that the vapor and liquid travel at equal velocity,
with no slip relative to each other.
SLIP=YES................................. Calculates holdup, as specified in HOLDUP
k d (D f l )

22-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 22

keywords (Default)
SLIP=NO................................... Sets holdup equal to flowing volume fraction
MINVOL ........................... Minimum phase volume fraction. This fraction is measured at flowing
conditions, which a phase must occupy, for two-phase flow to occur.
(Default=1x10-4)
DOWNHILL-MAX............. Largest elevation angle for which the P-RECOV option
will set the elevation pressure change to zero. Aspen Plus measures the
angle in degrees from horizontal. (Default=-2)
DOWNHILL-MIN .............. Smallest elevation angle for which the P-RECOV option will set the
elevation pressure change to zero. Aspen Plus measures the angle in
degrees from horizontal. (Default=-45)
HINIT................................ Initial integration step-size, expressed as a fraction of the segment length
(0<HINIT<1) (Default=0.01)
REYN-TRAN .................... Reynolds number for laminar-to-turbulent flow transition (Default=3000)
INTERR............................ Allowable integration error. If the estimated error in the pressure
calculated by the integration routine exceeds this value, the integration
step-size is halved. If the error is less than two percent of INTERR, the
step-size is doubled. Use when INT-METHOD=HAMMING. (Default=1
psi)
ORKDEN-KEY ................. Orkiszewski modified gas density key. The modified gas density for
frictional pressure-drop in the mist flow regime is used for calculating the
elevational pressure-drop in the Orkiszewski method.
ORKDEN-KEY=YES................. Uses modified gas density
ORKDEN-KEY=NO .................. Uses actual gas density (Default)
NIKLIN ............................. Niklin bubble-rise velocity key. The Niklin method is used for calculating
bubble-rise velocity in the Orkiszewski routine.
NIKLIN=YES............................. Uses Niklin modification
NIKLIN=NO............................... Uses original Orkiszewski method (Default)
ORKWLR......................... Water/liquid ratio at which the Orkiszewski correlation considers water
......................................... to be the continuous liquid phase. (Default=0.75)
BB1 through BB9 ........... User-supplied coefficients for the Beggs & Brill liquid holdup correlation.
See Table 22.1 on page 22-12 for defaults.
BB10................................ Beggs & Brill two-phase friction factor multiplier. The multiplier adjusts
the computed friction factor. It can be used to match field data.
(Default=1.00)
NODE Use to enter node information for the pipeline. You must enter at least two nodes to define a single
PIPELINE block. You do not have to list the nodes in the order that defines pipe inlet to outlet,
because PIPELINE sorts this data. (Any value entered for T or TAMB will be passed on to
subsequent nodes, if these keywords are omitted on the following nodes.) If you do not specify
LENGTH and ANGLE for the corresponding SEGMENT, you must specify X, Y, and ELEV for each
NODE sentence.
nodeno ............................ Positive integer number ranging from 1 to the total number of nodes
name................................ A unique, four-character alphanumeric name that must be entered to
identify each pipeline node
X....................................... X-position of the user-defined Cartesian coordinate system (Default=0)

Input Language Guide 22-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pipes and
Valves

Y ...................................... Y-position of the user-defined Cartesian coordinate system (Default=0)

ELEV ............................... Elevation of the user-defined Cartesian coordinate system (Default=0)
P ...................................... Node pressure. This value can only be entered for the inlet or outlet node
of the pipeline, depending on the direction of calculation.
T ...................................... Node temperature. When THERMAL=NO, you can enter node
temperatures to establish a flowing fluid profile.
TAMB .............................. Ambient temperature. When THERMAL=YES, you must enter values for
the ambient temperature.
CERO .............................. Erosional velocity calculation constant (Default=100)
SEGMENT Use to enter segment information for the pipeline. You must enter at least one segment to define a
single PIPELINE block. The total number of segments must be one less than the number of nodes.
You do not have to list the segments in the order that defines pipe inlet to outlet, because
PIPELINE sorts this data. Any value entered for ID, UVAL, ROUGH, HEATFLUX, or
EFFICIENCY will be passed on to subsequent segments, if these keywords are omitted on the
following segments. If you do not specify X, Y, and ELEV for the corresponding NODE, you must
specify LENGTH and ANGLE for each SEGMENT sentence.
segno .............................. Positive integer number ranging from 1 to the total number of segments
INNODE........................... Inlet node name of segment
OUTNODE....................... Outlet node name of segment
ID ..................................... Inner diameter of the pipe segment for tubular flow, or
outer diameter of the inner pipe for annular flow
UVAL ............................... Overall heat transfer coefficient. Required only when THERMAL=YES.
(Default 0)
LENGTH .......................... Segment length. If you do not specify nodal position coordinates (X, Y,
ELEV), you must enter the segment length here.
ANGLE ............................ Segment angle. If you do not specify nodal position coordinates (X, Y,
ELEV), you must enter the segment angle here. The angle is measured
from the horizontal.
OD ................................... The inner diameter of the outer pipe for annular flow. Use a positive
entry to determine whether to perform an annular flow calculation.
ROUGH ........................... Pipe roughness (Default=0.0018 in.)
HEATFLUX...................... Uniform heat added to segment. Use only when THERMAL=YES
(Default=0). The units for HEATFLUX are BTU/hr-ft for the English
engineering system (ENG) and Watt/m for the International system (SI).
EFFICIENCY ................... Pipe efficiency factor. The calculated frictional component of the pressure
gradient is divided by this factor (Default=1.0). Also used as the pipe C-
factor when CL-FORM-METH=HAZEN-WILL.

TABLE-DEF Use to specify the pressure and temperature grid for which fluid properties are calculated, or to
specify that the properties are to be calculated exactly at each integration step. The grid can contain
a maximum of 15 pressures and 10 temperatures. Pressure and temperature grid can be specified
by using lists (PRES and TEMP), or by specifying the number of points and the maximum and
minimum values. The property grids from a previously executed PIPELINE block can be accessed
in the same flowsheet simulation by using the keyword BLOCKID.
P-T-TABLE...................... Specifies whether to use a pressure-temperature grid, or to calculate fluid
properties rigorously.

22-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 22

P-T-TABLE=NO........................ Does not create a pressure-temperature grid.

Calculates the properties rigorously at each
integration step. (Default)
P-T-TABLE=YES...................... Creates a pressure-temperature grid
PRES ............................... List of pressures for the pressure-temperature grid
TEMP ............................... List of temperatures for the pressure-temperature grid
NPRES............................. Number of pressures in the grid (maximum of 15)
PMIN ................................ Lowest pressure in the grid
PMAX............................... Highest pressure in the grid
NTEMP ............................ Number of temperatures in the grid (maximum of 10)
TMIN ................................ Lowest temperature in the grid
TMAX ............................... Highest temperature in the grid
BLOCKID......................... Block ID of a previously executed PIPELINE block, from which the
property grid is to be recovered
CBAR............................... Cricondenbar. Use when part of the pressure-temperature grid lies in the
dense-phase region. Specifying the phase envelope cricondenbar helps
smooth out problems that occur when interpolating property values that
cross the all-vapor/all-liquid transition line. The all-vapor/all-liquid
transition line is typically predicted by equation-of-state methods in the
dense-phase region.
PRINT Use to set the output options.
TABLES........................... Fluid property table output option:
TABLES=NO ............................ Does not print tables (Default)
TABLES=PROP ....................... Prints tables showing each property over the
P/T grid
TABLES=PT ............................. Prints tables showing all properties at each P/T
grid point
BBFRIC ........................... Beggs and Brill two-phase friction factor print option:
BBFRIC=NO ............................. Does not print (Default)
BBFRIC=YES ........................... Prints diagnostics for each friction factor
calculation
BBHOLDUP..................... Beggs and Brill liquid holdup print option:
BBHOLDUP=NO ...................... Does not print (Default)
BBHOLDUP=YES .................... Prints diagnostics for each holdup calculation

GLPRINT ......................... Flow rate units option:

GLPRINT=MASS...................... Prints fluid flow rates at each node in MASS-
FLOW units. (Default)
REPRNT .......................... Reynolds number print option. This option controls diagnostics from the
Colebrook friction factor calculation.
REPRNT=0 ............................... No printout
REPRNT=1 ............................... Prints each time the Reynolds number changes
b 5%

Input Language Guide 22-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pipes and
Valves

by 5%
REPRNT=2 ............................... Prints each time the friction factor is calculated
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied subroutine names for holdup and/or pressure-drop calculations. For
details on writing these user-supplied subroutines, see Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 17.
HOLDUP.......................... Name of a user-supplied FORTRAN subroutine to calculate liquid holdup
in two-phase flow
PRES-DROP ................... Name of a user-supplied FORTRAN subroutine to calculate pressure-drop
derivatives in two-phase flow
USER-VECS Use to define the lengths of arrays for user-supplied holdup and pressure-drop subroutines.
NINTH.............................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied holdup
subroutine
NREALH.......................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied holdup subroutine
NINTP .............................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
NREALP .......................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
NIWORKH ....................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied holdup
subroutine
NRWORKH...................... Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied holdup subroutine
NIWORKP ....................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
NRWORKP...................... Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
INTH Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied holdup subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of integer values
REALH Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied holdup subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of real values
INTP Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied pressure-drop subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of integer values
REALP Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied pressure-drop subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of real values

Table 22.1 Beggs and Brill Liquid Holdup Correlation Parameters

Flow Regime Name Description
Segregated BB1 Leading coefficient, A (Default=0.98)
BB2 Liquid volume fraction exponent, Alpha (Default=0.4846)
BB3 Froude number exponent, Beta (Default=0.0868)
Intermittent BB4 Leading coefficient, A (Default=0.845)
BB5 Liquid volume fraction exponent, Alpha (Default=0.5351)
BB6 Froude number exponent, Beta (Default=0.0173)

22-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 22

Distributed BB7 Leading coefficient, A (Default=1.065)

BB8 Liquid volume fraction exponent, Alpha (Default=0.5824)
BB9 Froude number exponent, Beta (Default=0.0609)

Accessing Variables in PIPELINE

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 Element

PARAM MAXIT, TOL, MINVOL, DOWNHILL-MAX, DOWNHILL-MIN, — —

HINIT, REYN-TRAN, INTERR, ORKWLR, BB1, BB2, BB3, BB4,
BB5, BB6, BB7, BB8, BB9, BB10
NODE X, Y, ELEV, P, T, TAMB, CERO nodeno —
SEGMENT ID, UVAL, LENGTH, ANGLE, OD, ROUGH, HEATFLUX, segno —
EFFICIENCY
TABLE-DEF PRES, TEMP, NPRES, PMIN, PMAX, NTEMP, TMIN, TMAX, — †
CBAR
† Position of a value entered for PRES and TEMP in the TABLE-DEF sentence. For other variables,
leave element blank.

Input Language Guide 22-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pipes and
Valves

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1
Node pressure NODE PCALC nodeno
Node temperature NODE TCALC nodeno
Node mixture velocity NODE VMIX nodeno
Node erosional velocity NODE VERO nodeno
Node flow regime NODE REGIME nodeno
Segment friction pressure loss SEGMENT DPFRIC segno
Segment elevation pressure loss SEGMENT DPELEV segno
Segment acceleration pressure loss SEGMENT DPACC segno
Segment total pressure loss SEGMENT DPTOTL segno
Segment liquid holdup fraction SEGMENT HL-FRAC segno
Segment calculated length SEGMENT LENGTH-CALC segno
Segment calculated angle SEGMENT ANGLE-CALC segno
Total liquid holdup RESULTS HLTOTAL —
Inlet stream heat difference RESULTS QDIFF —
Stream total mass flow rate RESULTS MASSRATE —
Calculated pressure drop RESULTS DPPIDE —

22-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 22

PIPE
Single-Segment Pipe Calculation

Input Language for PIPE

BLOCK blockid PIPE
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
LENGTH DIAM
Optional keywords:
ELEVATION ANGLE MATERIAL SCHEDULE NOM-DIAM ROUGHNESS
PRES-CALC FLOW-CALC T-OUT P-OUT C-EROSION NPHASE PHASE
MAXIT TOL NPOINT CALCDIA

METHODS

Keywords:
TYPE T-IN TAMB-IN TAMB-OUT H-T-COEFF FLUX P-T-TABLE
EFFICIENCY METHOD CL-FORM-METH PROP-SETS FRIC-DOWNHIL
FRIC-HORIZ FRIC-INCL FRIC-VERTICA HOLDUP-DOWNH HOLDUP-HORIZ
HOLDUP-INCL HOLDUP-VERTI H-W-COEFF

TABLE-DEF keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES TMIN TMAX NTEMP PMIN PMAX NPRES RECY-REUSE
EDIT-REUSE BLOCKID CBAR TABLES

SUBROUTINE keyword=value

Keywords:
HOLDUP PRES-DROP DIAMETER

USER-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
NINTH NREALH NINTP NREALP NINTD NREALD NIWORKH NRWORKH
NIWORKP NRWORKP NIWORKD NRWORKD

INTH value-list
REALH value-list
INTP value-list
REALP value-list
INTD value-list
REALD value-list
CONVERGENCE keyword=value

Input Language Guide 22-13

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pipes and
Valves

Keywords:
HINIT CORR-METHOD CORR-TOL-RAT INT-TOL BB1 BB2 BB3 BB4
BB5 BB6 BB7 BB8 BB9 BB10 CDPDL-TOL

FITTINGS keyword=value

Keywords:
CONNECTIONS ELBOWS STRAIGHT-TEE BRANCHED-TEE GATE-VALVES
BUTTERFLY-VA MISC-L-D

Input Language Description for PIPE

PARAM Use to specify pipe dimensions, calculation options, and flash parameters. You must enter LENGTH
and DIAM.
LENGTH .......................... Pipe length
DIAM................................ Pipe diameter
ELEVATION .................... Change in elevation from pipe entrance to exit. Enter a positive value for
uphill flow and a negative value for downhill flow. You cannot enter
ELEVATION if you specify ANGLE. (Default=0)
ANGLE ............................ Pipe angle measured from the horizontal, where
SIN (ANGLE)=ELEVATION/LENGTH. You cannot enter ANGLE if you
specify ELEVATION. (Default=0)
MATERIAL ...................... Pipe material of construction. This value may be generated by the user
interface. It is never required for calculations.
SCHEDULE ..................... Pipe schedule. This value may be generated by the user interface. It is
never required for calculations.
NOM-DIAM ...................... Pipe nominal diameter. This value may be generated by the user
interface. It is never required for calculations.
ROUGHNESS.................. Pipe absolute roughness (Default=1.5x10-4 ft.)
PRES-CALC .................... Pressure calculation option. Use to specify whether inlet or outlet
conditions are calculated.
PRES-CALC=OUTLET............. Calculates outlet pipe conditions given inlet
conditions (Default)
PRES-CALC=INLET................. Calculates inlet pipe conditions given outlet
conditions
FLOW-CALC ................... Flow calculation option. Use to specify whether inlet or outlet stream
composition and flow are calculated.
FLOW-CALC=OUTLET............ Calculates outlet stream composition and flow
from inlet conditions (Default)
FLOW-CALC=INLET................ Calculates inlet stream composition and flow
from outlet conditions
T-OUT.............................. Optional outlet temperature when PRES-CALC=INLET, or when
TYPE=T-SPEC and PRES-CALC=OUTLET
P-OUT.............................. Optional outlet pressure when PRES-CALC=INLET
C-EROSION .................... Coefficient of erosion

22-14 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 22

NPHASE .......................... Number of phases for flash calculations. For gas systems in the dense-
phase region, a value of NPHASE=1 is recommended.
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE............................. Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L ................................. Liquid
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
NPOINT ........................... Number of equally-spaced points along the pipe. Aspen Plus uses the
points for the profile printed in the block report. This profile is only
generated when METHOD=INTEGRATE. (Default=10)
CALCDIA ......................... CALCDIA=1.............................. Compute Pipe inner diameter using user
subroutine
CALCDIA=0.............................. Do not use user subroutine to compute Pipe
inner diameter (Default)
METHODS Use to specify type of calculation, temperature and pressure values, and frictional and holdup
correlations. You must specify TYPE.
TYPE................................ Type of calculations (No default):
TYPE=T-SPEC ......................... Constant temperature or temperature profile
TYPE=THERMAL ..................... Thermal calculations using constant flux or
heat transfer with surroundings
TYPE=ADIABATIC................... Constant enthalpy calculations
T-IN .................................. Optional inlet temperature when TYPE=T-SPEC and PRES-
CALC=INLET
TAMB-IN .......................... Ambient temperature at the pipe entrance, used when TYPE=THERMAL.
You must enter TAMB-IN if FLUX is not entered. (No default)
TAMB-OUT ...................... Ambient temperature at the pipe exit, used when TYPE=THERMAL. You
must enter TAMB-OUT if FLUX is not entered. (No default)
H-T-COEFF...................... Heat transfer coefficient. You must enter H-T-COEFF if FLUX is not
entered and TYPE=THERMAL. (No default)
FLUX................................ Heat flux. You must enter FLUX when TAMB-IN and H-T-COEFF are
not entered and TYPE=THERMAL. The units for FLUX are BTU/hr-ft for
the English engineering system (ENG) and Watt/m for the International
system (SI). (No default)
P-T-TABLE ...................... Specifies whether to use a pressure-temperature grid, or to calculate fluid
properties rigorously.
P-T-TABLE=NO....................... Does not create a pressure-temperature grid.
Calculates the properties rigorously at each
integration step. (Default)

Input Language Guide 22-15

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pipes and
Valves

P-T-TABLE=YES...................... Creates a pressure-temperature grid

EFFICIENCY ................... Pipe efficiency factor. The calculated frictional component of the pressure
gradient is divided by this factor. (Default=1.0)
METHOD ......................... Specifies the solution method:
METHOD=INTEGRATE............ Uses numerical integration (Default)
METHOD=CLOSED-FORM...... Uses one of the closed form methods
METHOD=CONST-DP-DL........ Calculates the derivative dP/dL at the pipe
entrance and exit, and uses the average in pipe
pressure-drop calculations
CL-FORM-METH............. Closed form method when METHOD=CLOSED-FORM
CL-FORM-METH=AGA ............ AGA (Default)
CL-FORM-METH= .................... Hazen-Williams
HAZEN-WILL
CL-FORM-METH= .................... Oliphant
OLIPHANT
CL-FORM-METH= .................... Panhandle A
PANHANDLE-A
CL-FORM-METH= .................... Panhandle B
PANHANDLE-B
CL-FORM-METH=SMITH......... Smith
CL-FORM-METH= .................... Weymouth
WEYMOUTH
PROP-SETS .................... List of property set IDs. The properties will be calculated at profile points.
(See NPOINT in the PARAM sentence.) PROP-SETS is allowed only
when METHOD=INTEGRATE.
FRIC-DOWNHIL .............. Two-phase frictional pressure-drop correlation option for downhill flow.
Use when inclination angles are less than -2 degrees from horizontal. You
must enter a value when METHOD=INTEGRATE or CONST-DP-DL.
FRIC-DOWNHIL= ..................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
FRIC-DOWNHIL=DARCY ........ Darcy. Assumes no slip.
FRIC-DOWNHIL=SLACK......... Slack
FRIC-DOWNHIL= ..................... User-supplied subroutine
USER-SUBR
FRIC-HORIZ .................... Two-phase frictional pressure-drop correlation option for horizontal flow.
Use when inclination angles range between -2 and +2 degrees from
horizontal. You must enter a value when METHOD=INTEGRATE or
CONST-DP-DL:
FRIC-HORIZ= ........................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
FRIC-HORIZ=DARCY .............. Darcy. Assumes no slip.
FRIC-HORIZ=DUKLER ............ Dukler
FRIC-HORIZ=LOCK-MART ..... Lockhart-Martinelli

22-16 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 22

FRIC-HORIZ=USER-SUBR...... User-supplied subroutine

FRIC-INCL ....................... Two-phase frictional pressure-drop correlation option for inclined flow.
Use when inclination angles range between +2 and +45 degrees from
horizontal. You must enter a value when METHOD=INTEGRATE or
CONST-DP-DL:
FRIC-INCL=AWR ..................... Angel-Welchon-Ros
FRIC-INCL=BEGGS-BRILL ..... Beggs and Brill (Default)
FRIC-INCL=DARCY ................. Darcy. Assumes no slip.
FRIC-INCL=DUKLER ............... Dukler
FRIC-INCL=H-BROWN ............ Hagedorn-Brown
FRIC-INCL=ORKI ..................... Orkiszewski
FRIC-INCL=USER-SUBR......... User-supplied subroutine
FRIC-VERTICA................ Two-phase frictional pressure-drop correlation option for vertical flow.
Use when inclination angles are greater than +45 degrees from
horizontal. You must enter a value when METHOD=INTEGRATE or
CONST-DP-DL:
FRIC-VERTICA=AWR .............. Angel-Welchon-Ros
FRIC-VERTICA=....................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
FRIC-VERTICA=DARCY.......... Darcy. Assumes no slip.
FRIC-VERTICA=H-BROWN..... Hagedorn-Brown
FRIC-VERTICA=ORKI.............. Orkiszewski
FRIC-VERTICA=....................... User-supplied subroutine
USER-SUBR
HOLDUP-DOWNH........... Two-phase liquid holdup correlation option for downhill flow. Use when
inclination angles are less than -2 degrees from horizontal. You must
enter a value when METHOD=INTEGRATE or CONST-DP-DL:
HOLDUP-DOWNH=.................. Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
HOLDUP-DOWNH=SLACK ..... Slack
HOLDUP-DOWNH=.................. User-supplied subroutine
USER-SUBR
HOLDUP-HORIZ.............. Two-phase liquid holdup correlation option for horizontal flow. Use when
inclination angles range between -2 and +2 degrees from horizontal. You
must enter a value when METHOD=INTEGRATE or CONST-DP-DL:
HOLDUP-HORIZ= .................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
HOLDUP-HORIZ=EATON........ Eaton
HOLDUP-HORIZ=HOOG ......... Hoogendorn
HOLDUP-HORIZ=HUGH.......... Hughmark
HOLDUP-HORIZ= .................... Lockhart-Martinelli
LOCK-MART

Input Language Guide 22-17

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pipes and
Valves

HOLDUP-HORIZ= .................... User-supplied subroutine

USER-SUBR
HOLDUP-INCL ................ Two-phase liquid holdup correlation option for inclined flow. Use when
inclination angles range between +2 and +45 degrees from horizontal.
You must enter a value when METHOD=INTEGRATE or CONST-DP-
DL:
HOLDUP-INCL=AWR............... Angel-Welchon-Ros
HOLDUP-INCL= ....................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
HOLDUP-INCL=FLANIGAN..... Flanigan
HOLDUP-INCL=H-BROWN ..... Hagedorn-Brown
HOLDUP-INCL=ORKI .............. Orkiszewski
HOLDUP-INCL= ....................... User-supplied subroutine
USER-SUBR
HOLDUP-VERTI.............. Two-phase liquid holdup correlation option for vertical flow. Use when
inclination angles are greater than +45 degrees from horizontal. You
must enter a value when METHOD=INTEGRATE or CONST-DP-DL:
HOLDUP-VERTI=AWR ............ Angel-Welchon-Ros
HOLDUP-VERTI= ..................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
HOLDUP-VERTI= ..................... Hagedorn-Brown
H-BROWN
HOLDUP-VERTI=ORKI ............ Orkiszewski
HOLDUP-VERTI= ..................... User-supplied subroutine
USER-SUBR
H-W-COEFF .................... Hazen Williams coefficient. Used when CL-FORM-METH=HAZEN-WILL.
(Default=100)
TABLE-DEF Use to specify the pressure and temperature grid for which fluid properties are calculated, when P-
T-TABLE=YES in the METHODS sentence. The grid can contain a maximum of 15 pressures and
10 temperatures. The pressure and temperature grid can be specified by using lists (PRES and
TEMP), or by specifying the number of points and the maximum and minimum values. The
property grids from a previously executed PIPE block can be accessed in the same flowsheet
simulation by using the keyword BLOCKID.
TEMP............................... List of temperatures for the pressure-temperature grid
PRES ............................... List of pressures for the pressure-temperature grid
TMIN ................................ Lowest temperature in the grid
TMAX............................... Highest temperature in the grid
NTEMP ............................ Number of temperatures in the grid (maximum of 10)
PMIN................................ Lowest pressure in the grid
PMAX .............................. Highest pressure in the grid
NPRES ............................ Number of pressures in the grid (maximum of 15)
RECY-REUSE ................. Option to allow reuse of fluid property tables in convergence loops:
RECY-REUSE=YES ................. Reuses tables after initial iteration

22-18 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 22

RECY-REUSE=NO ................... Recalculates tables for every iteration (Default)

EDIT-REUSE ................... Option to allow reuse of fluid property tables in edit runs:
EDIT-REUSE=YES ................... Reuses tables after initial execution
EDIT-REUSE=NO..................... Recalculates tables for every execution
(Default)
BLOCKID......................... Block ID of a previously executed PIPE block, from which the property
grid is to be recovered
CBAR............................... Cricondenbar. Use when part of the pressure-temperature grid lies in the
dense-phase region. Specifying the phase envelope cricondenbar helps
smooth out problems that occur when interpolating property values that
cross the all-vapor/all-liquid transition line. The all-vapor/all-liquid
transition line is typically predicted by equation-of-state methods in the
dense-phase region.
TABLES........................... Fluid property table output option:
TABLES=NO ............................ Does not print tables
TABLES=PROP ....................... Prints tables showing each property over the
P/T grid
TABLES=PT ............................. Prints tables showing all properties at each P/T
grid point
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied subroutine names for holdup and/or pressure-drop calculations. For
details on writing user-supplied subroutines, see Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 17.
HOLDUP.......................... Name of a user-supplied FORTRAN subroutine to calculate liquid holdup
in two-phase flow
PRES-DROP.................... Name of a user-supplied FORTRAN subroutine to calculate pressure-drop
derivatives in two-phase flow
DIAMETER ...................... Name of a user-supplied FORTRAN subroutine to calculate Pipe inner
diameter
USER-VECS Use to define the lengths of arrays for user-supplied holdup and pressure-drop subroutines.
NINTH .............................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied holdup
subroutine
NREALH .......................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied holdup subroutine
NINTP .............................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
NREALP .......................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine
NINTD .............................. Length of integer parameter array for the user-supplied diameter
subroutine
NREALD .......................... Length of real parameter array for the user-supplied diameter subroutine
NIWORKH ....................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied holdup
subroutine
NRWORKH ...................... Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied holdup subroutine
NIWORKP........................ Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied pressure-drop
subroutine

Input Language Guide 22-19

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pipes and
Valves

NRWORKP...................... Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied pressure-drop

subroutine
NIWORKD ....................... Length of integer workspace array for the user-supplied diameter
subroutine
NRWORKD...................... Length of real workspace array for the user-supplied diameter subroutine
INTH Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied holdup subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of integer values
REALH Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied holdup subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of real values
INTP Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied pressure-drop subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of integer values
REALP Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied pressure-drop subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of real values
INTD Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied diameter subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of integer values
REALD Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied diameter subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of real values
CONVERGENCE Use to specify optional convergence parameters and Beggs and Brill coefficients.
HINIT ............................... Initial integration step-size, expressed as a fraction of the segment length
(0<HINIT<1). Use when METHOD=INTEGRATE. (Default=0.01)
CORR-METHOD ............. Corrector convergence method. Use when METHOD=INTEGRATE:
CORR-METHOD=DIRECT ....... Direct substitution. Derivatives are not
required
CORR-METHOD=NEWTON..... Newton method. Aspen Plus computes
numerical derivatives whenever a new Jacobian
is required. (Default)
CORR-TOL-RAT ............. Ratio of the corrector tolerance to the integration tolerance. Use when
METHOD=INTEGRATE. (Default=0.1)
INT-TOL........................... Convergence tolerance for integration procedure. Use when
METHOD=INTEGRATE. (Default=1x10-4)
BB1 through BB9........... User-supplied coefficients for the Beggs & Brill liquid holdup correlation.
See Table 22.1 on page 22-12 for defaults.
BB10................................ Beggs & Brill two-phase friction factor multiplier. The multiplier adjusts
the computed friction factor. It can be used to match field data.
(Default=1.00)
CDPDL-TOL .................... Tolerance used to determine whether a warning is generated when
METHOD=CONST-DP-DL
FITTINGS Use to specify fittings, such as gate valves, elbows, and branched tees. The resistance due to fittings
is converted to equivalent length and added to the pipe length to calculate total pressure drop.
CONNECTIONS .............. Type of connection between pipe lengths:
CONNECTIONS= ..................... Flanged or welded connection (Default)
FLANGED-WELDED

22-20 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 22

CONNECTIONS= ..................... Screwed connection

SCREWED
ELBOWS ......................... Number of 90º elbows in the pipe
STRAIGHT-TEE............... Number of straight tees in the pipe
BRANCHED-TEE ............ Number of branched tees in the pipe
GATE-VALVES................ Number of gate valves in the pipe
BUTTERFLY-VA.............. Number of butterfly valves in the pipe
MISC-L-D......................... Miscellaneous L/D for other elements in the pipe

Input Language Guide 22-21

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pipes and
Valves

Accessing Variables in PIPE

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for the
PIPE block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 Element

PARAM LENGTH, DIAM, ELEVATION, ANGLE, ROUGHNESS, T-OUT, P-OUT, C- — —

EROSION, MAXIT
METHODS T-IN, TAMB-IN, TAMB-OUT, H-T-COEFF, FLUX, EFFICIENCY, H-W-COEFF — —
TABLE-DEF TEMP, PRES, TMIN, TMAX, NTEMP, PMIN, PMAX, NPRES, CBAR — †

CONVERGENCE HINIT, INT-TOL, BB1, BB2, BB3, BB4, BB5, BB6, BB7, BB8, BB9, BB10, — —
CDPDL-TOL
FITTINGS CONNECTIONS, ELBOWS, STRAIGHT-TEE, BRANCHED-TEE, GATE- — —
VALVES, BUTTERFLY-VA, MISC-L-D
† Position of a value entered for PRES and TEMP in the TABLE-DEF sentence. For other variables,
leave element blank.

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1

Flow regime at inlet RESULTS IN-REGIME —

Flow regime at outlet RESULTS OUT-REGIME —
Liquid holdup at inlet RESULTS IN-HOLDUP —
Liquid holdup at outlet RESULTS OUT-HOLDUP —
Velocity at inlet RESULTS IN-VELOCITY —
Velocity at outlet RESULTS OUT-VELOCITY —
Reynolds number at inlet RESULTS IN-REYNO —
Reynolds number at outlet RESULTS OUT-REYNO —
Delta-P due to friction RESULTS DP-FRIC —
Delta-P due to elevation RESULTS DP-ELEV —
Delta-P due to acceleration RESULTS DP-ACCEL —
Total Delta-P RESULTS DP-TOTAL —
Block heat duty RESULTS HEAT-DUTY —

continued

22-22 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 22

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable ID1
Erosional velocity at inlet RESULTS IN-EROVELOC —
Erosional velocity at outlet RESULTS OUT-EROVELOC —
Liquid volume fractional inlet RESULTS IN-LVFRAC —
Liquid volume fractional outlet RESULTS OUT-LVFRAC —
Vapor volume fraction at inlet RESULTS IN-VVFRAC —
Vapor volume fraction at outlet RESULTS OUT-VVFRAC —
Equivalent length RESULTS EQUIV-LENGTH —
Temperature PROFILES PROF-TEMP pointno†
Pressure PROFILES PROF-PRES pointno†
Enthalpy PROFILES PROF-ENTHALP pointno†
Density PROFILES PROF-DENSITY pointno†
Reynolds number PROFILES PROF-REYNO pointno†
Velocity PROFILES PROF-VELOC pointno†
Erosional velocity PROFILES PROF-EROVEL pointno†
Ambient temperature PROFILES PROF-TAMB pointno†
Vapor volume fraction PROFILES PROF-VFRAC pointno†
Liquid volume fraction PROFILES PROF-LFRAC pointno†
Liquid superficial velocity PROFILES PROF-LVELOC pointno†
Gas superficial velocity PROFILES PROF-GVELOC pointno†
Liquid mass flow PROFILES PROF-LFLOW pointno†
Gas mass flow PROFILES PROF-GFLOW pointno†
Heat flux PROFILES PROF-FLUX pointno†
Liquid holdup PROFILES PROF-HOLDUP pointno†
† pointno is the profile point number, running sequentially from 1 to NPOINT + 1.

Input Language Guide 22-23

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pipes and
Valves

VALVE
Valve Calculation

Input Language for VALVE

BLOCK blockid VALVE
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
P-OUT P-DROP FLO-COEF VAL-POSN
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE CHAR-EQN MAX-FLO-COEF PDROP-FAC PREC-FAC
VALVE-DIA IN-PIPE-DIA OUT-PIPE-DIA CHECK-CHOKE CALC-CAVIND
CALC-CV MIN-POUT CH-SET-PMIN FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL MAXIT TOL

VAL-PARAM data-no vp cv xt fl / . . .

Input Language Description for VALVE

PARAM Use to specify valve operating parameters, calculation options, pipe fitting sizes, flash
specifications, and convergence parameters. You must specify one of the following: outlet pressure,
pressure drop, valve flow coefficient at operating condition, or percentage valve opening at
operating condition.
P-OUT.............................. Pressure at valve outlet
P-DROP........................... Pressure-drop (inlet - outlet)
FLO-COEF ...................... Valve flow coefficient at operating condition
VAL-POSN ...................... Valve opening at operating conditions (as a percentage of maximum
opening)
NPHASE.......................... Maximum number of phases in inlet and outlet streams:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase flash
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Phase of inlet and outlet stream when NPHASE=1:
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid (Default)
CHAR-EQN...................... Valve characteristic equation that relates the flow coefficient to the valve
opening:
CHAR-EQN=LINEAR ............... V = P
CHAR-EQN=PARABOLIC ....... V = 0.01 P2

22-24 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 22

CHAR-EQN=............................. V= 10 P
SQUARE ROOT
CHAR-EQN=............................. 10 P
QUICK OPENING V =
−3 2
1 + 9.9 × 10 P
CHAR-EQN=............................. 2
0.01 P
EQUAL PERCENTAGE V =
−8 4
2 − 1 × 10 P
CHAR-EQN=HYPERBOLIC..... 0.1P
V =
−5 2
1 − 9.9 × 10 P
Where:
P = .................................Valve opening as a percentage of maximum
opening
V = ................................Flow coefficient as a percentage of flow
coefficient at maximum
opening
MAX-FLO-COEF.............. Valve flow coefficient at 100% valve opening
PDROP-FAC.................... Pressure drop ratio factor for valve. The pressure drop ratio factor
accounts for the effect of the valve internal geometry on the change in
fluid density as it passes through the valve. (The pressure drop ratio
factor is available from valve manufacturer catalogs.)
PREC-FAC....................... Pressure recovery factor for valve. The pressure recovery factor accounts
for the effect of the valve internal geometry on the liquid flow capacity
under choked conditions. (The pressure recovery factor is available from
valve manufacturer catalogs.)
VALVE-DIA...................... Inlet diameter of valve
IN-PIPE-DIA..................... Diameter of inlet pipe
OUT-PIPE-DIA................. Diameter of outlet pipe
CHECK-CHOKE .............. Option to check for choked flow condition in valve:
CHECK-CHOKE=YES.............. Checks for choked flow condition (Default)
CHECK-CHOKE=NO................ Does not check for choked flow condition
CALC-CAVIND ................ Option to calculate cavitation index for valve:
CALC-CAVIND=YES................ Calculates cavitation index
CALC-CAVIND=NO.................. Does not calculate cavitation index (Default)
CALC-CV ......................... Option to calculate valve flow coefficient when outlet pressure or pressure
drop is specified:
CALC-CV=YES......................... Calculates valve flow coefficient
CALC-CV=NO .......................... Does not calculate valve flow coefficient.
VALVE uses only the keywords P-DROP, P-
OUT, NPHASE, PHASE, FLASH-MAXIT, and
FLASH-TOL for this option. (Default)
MIN-POUT ....................... Lower limit on the calculated outlet pressure. Use only when outlet
pressure and pressure drop are not specified. (Default=larger value of 1
Pascal and the Plower specification, established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)

Input Language Guide 22-25

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pipes and
Valves

CH-SET-PMIN ................. Option to set the lower limit on the calculated outlet pressure, based on
choked flow condition in valve:
CH-SET-PMIN=YES ................. Sets the lower limit based on the calculated
outlet pressure for choked flow
CH-SET-PMIN=NO ................... Sets the lower limit based on the value
established by MIN-POUT (Default)
FLASH-MAXIT................. Maximum number of iterations for flash calculations. (Default=value
established by the SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
FLASH-TOL .................... Convergence tolerance for flash calculations. (Default=value established
by the SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.)
(See Chapter 46.)
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of iterations for valve flow coefficient calculations
(Default=50)
TOL ................................. Convergence tolerance for valve flow coefficient calculations
(Default=1x10-4)
VAL-PARAM Use to specify data for valve parameters (flow coefficient, pressure drop ratio factor, and pressure
recovery factor), for varying valve positions.
data-no............................ Entry number (sequential, starting at 1)
vp..................................... Data for valve position as a percentage of maximum opening (in
increasing order)
cv..................................... Data for valve flow coefficient
xt ..................................... Data for pressure drop ratio factor. The pressure drop ratio factor
accounts for the effect of the valve internal geometry on the change in
fluid density as it passes through the valve. (The pressure drop ratio
factor is available from valve manufacturer catalogs.)
fl ...................................... Data for pressure recovery factor. The pressure recovery factor accounts
for the effect of the valve internal geometry on the liquid flow capacity
under choked conditions. (The pressure recovery factor is available from
valve manufacturer catalogs.)

22-26 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 22

Accessing Variables in VALVE

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1

PARAM VAL-POSN, P-OUT, P-DROP, FLO-COEF, MAX-FLO-COEF, PDROP-FAC, PREC-FAC, VALVE- —

DIA, IN-PIPE-DIA, OUT-PIPE-DIA, MAXIT, TOL, FLASH-MAXIT, FLASH-TOL
VAL-PARAM VP, CV, XT, FL data-no

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable
Calculated valve outlet pressure RESULTS P-OUT-R
Calculated valve flow coefficient† RESULTS FLO-COEF-R
Calculated valve pressure drop RESULTS P-DROP-R
Calculated percentage valve opening† RESULTS VAL-POSN-R
Valve outlet pressure for choked flow condition RESULTS CHOKE-POUT
Valve cavitation index RESULTS CAV-IND
Expansion factor (ratio of valve flow coefficient for a gas, to that of a liquid at the RESULTS EXP-FAC
same Reynolds number)
Pressure recovery factor for the valve† RESULTS FL-FAC
Pressure drop ratio factor for the valve† RESULTS XT-FAC
Ratio of specific heats factor RESULTS FK-FAC
Liquid critical pressure ratio factor RESULTS FF-FAC
Piping geometry factor (ratio of flow coefficient for a valve with attached fittings, to RESULTS FP-FAC
that for a valve installed in a straight pipe of the same size as the valve)
Pressure recovery factor for a valve with attached pipe fittings† RESULTS FLP-FAC
Pressure drop ratio factor for a valve with attached pipe fittings† RESULTS XTP-FAC
† At operating valve opening

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 22-27

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pipes and
Valves

22-28 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 23

23 Crystallizer
This chapter describes the input language for the crystallization model. The
model is:
Model Description Purpose Use

CRYSTALLIZER Continuous Forms crystal from solution Steady state crystallization, precipitation, and
crystallizer based on equilibrium evaporation
calculations

Input Language Guide 23-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Crystallizer

CRYSTALLIZER
Continuous Crystallizer

Input Language for CRYSTALLIZER

BLOCK blockid CRYSTALLIZER
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
SOL-METHOD TEMP PRES DUTY PROD-RATE basis-VFLOW
Optional keywords:
FRAC-RFLOW basis-RFLOW HEATER-DELT PSD-FLAG NPHASE
VOL SALT SALT-IN SALT-OUT SOL-BASIS SOLVENT-CID FRAC-COV
MAXIT TOL TUPPER TLOWER TOL-RATIO MAX-TSTEP
TEAR-METHOD DS-ITERS QMAX QMIN FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL
T-EST P-EST

STOIC reacno ssid cid coef / cid coef / . . .

SOLU-PROFILE solub-temp solub-concen [solub-ratio] / . . .
RATE-PARAMS keyword=value

Keyword:
KBO
Optional keywords:
BNI BNJ BNK GAMMA ALPHA

AGITATOR RATE=value
CRYSTAL VOLUME-SHAPE=value
COMP-ATTR entryno ssid cid cattrname (value)
SUBS-ATTR entryno ssid psdid (value)
SUBROUTINE SOLUBILITY=subrname
SOL-VECS keyword=value

Keywords:
NSINT NSREAL NIWORKS NWORKS

SINT value-list
SREAL value-list

23-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 23

Input Language Description for CRYSTALLIZER

PARAM Use to specify operating conditions.
SOL-METHOD ................. Calculation method to determine the saturation concentration:
SOL-METHOD=........................ Calculates crystal product from a solubility
SOLUBILITY curve provided by the SOLU-PROFILE
sentence (Default)
SOL-METHOD=........................ Calculates crystal product based on electrolyte
CHEMISTRY chemistry
SOL-METHOD=........................ Calculates crystal product based on user-
USER-SUBR provided FORTRAN subroutine for saturation
concentration. You can also use the subroutine
to calculate crystal product directly.
TEMP ............................... Crystallizer temperature
PRES ............................... PRES > 0 .................................. Crystallizer pressure
PRES ≤ 0.................................. Pressure drop between outlet and inlet streams
DUTY ............................... Heat duty applied to heat exchanger
PROD-RATE.................... Crystal product flow rate
basis-VFLOW.................. Vapor flow rate in MOLE, MASS, and STDVOL basis
FRAC-RFLOW................. Fraction of outlet flow from crystallizer being recycled
basis-RFLOW ................. Recirculation flow rate in MOLE, MASS, and STDVOL basis
HEATER-DELT................ Temperature change across heat exchanger
PSD-FLAG....................... PSD-FLAG=YES ...................... Determines crystal particle size distribution
PSD-FLAG=NO ........................ Does not determine crystal particle size
distribution (Default)
NPHASE .......................... NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
.........................................
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
VOL.................................. Crystallizer volume
SALT................................ Component ID of crystallizing salt if SOL-METHOD=CHEMISTRY
SALT-IN ........................... SALT-IN=YES........................... Moves crystallizing salt from the first CI
(conventional inert) solids substream of inlet
stream when SOL-METHOD=CHEMISTRY
(Default)
SALT-IN=NO ............................ Does not move crystallizing salt from the first
CI solids substream of inlet stream when SOL-
METHOD=CHEMISTRY
SALT-OUT ....................... SALT-OUT=YES....................... Moves crystallizing salt to the first CI solids
substream of product stream when SOL-
METHOD=CHEMISTRY (Default)

Input Language Guide 23-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Crystallizer

SALT-OUT=NO ........................ Does not move crystallizing salt to the first CI

solids substream of product stream when SOL-
METHOD=CHEMISTRY
SOL-BASIS ..................... Basis of solubility data:
SOL-BASIS=SOLUTION.......... Solubility data expressed in terms of mass of
solute per unit volume (or mass) of solution
SOL-BASIS=SOLVENT ........... Solubility data expressed in terms of mass of
solute per unit volume (or mass) of solvent
SOLVENT-CID ................ Solvent component ID if SOL-BASIS=SOLVENT
FRAC-COV ...................... Fractional coefficient of variation for reporting crystal PSD (Default=0.16)
MAXIT.............................. Maximum iterations for all calculations, except flash convergence
(Default=50)
TOL ................................. Tolerance for all calculations, except flash convergence (Default=1x10-4)
TUPPER .......................... Upper bound of temperature iteration
TLOWER ......................... Lower bound of temperature iteration
TOL-RATIO ..................... Ratio of inner loop tolerance to outer loop tolerance (Default=0.1)
MAX-TSTEP .................... Maximum temperature step for temperature iteration (Default=10 K)
TEAR-METHOD .............. Method to converge the tear stream if there is a recycled stream:
TEAR-METHOD= ..................... Broyden method (Default)
BROYDEN
TEAR-METHOD= ..................... Bounded Wegstein method
WEGSTEIN
TEAR-METHOD=DIRECT ........ Direct substitution method
DS-ITERS ........................ Number of steps using direct substitution before changing to Broyden or
Wegstein method (Default=3)
QMAX .............................. Maximum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for tear
stream (Default=0.5)
QMIN ............................... Minimum value of bounded Wegstein acceleration parameter for tear
stream (Default=-20)
FLASH-MAXIT................. Maximum iterations for flash convergence. (Default=value established by
the SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
FLASH-TOL .................... Flash convergence tolerance. Defaults to the minimum value of
TOL/(10*TOL-RATIO) and the global flash tolerance. (Global flash
tolerance is established by the SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See
Chapter 46.)
T-EST .............................. Temperature estimate. Use to aid flash convergence when TEMP is not
specified.
P-EST .............................. Pressure estimate. Use to aid flash convergence when PRES is not
specified.
STOIC Use to enter the stoichiometry of crystal formation.
reacno ............................. Reaction number (must be 1)
ssid ................................. Substream ID

23-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 23

cid.................................... Component ID
coef.................................. Stoichiometric coefficient (positive for products; negative for reactants).
For nonconventional components, the coefficient is the mass of the
generated component.
SOLU-PROFILE Use to specify the solubility data if SOL-METHOD=SOLUBILITY.
solub-temp...................... Solubility temperature
solub-concen.................. Solubility data. Defines mass of solute per unit volume of solution or
solvent.
solub-ratio ...................... Solubility data. Defines mass of solute per unit mass of solution or
solvent.
RATE-PARAMS Use to enter the overall nucleation rate, and coefficients for size-dependent growth rate.
KBO ................................. Overall nucleation rate coefficient
BNI................................... Exponent in overall nucleation rate for growth rate term (Default=1)
BNJ.................................. Exponent in overall nucleation rate for magma density term (Default=1)
BNK ................................. Exponent in overall nucleation rate for agitator rotation rate term
(Default=0)
GAMMA ........................... Coefficient for size-dependent growth rate (Default=0)
ALPHA............................. Exponent for size-dependent growth rate (Default=0)
AGITATOR Use to enter the impeller rotation rate.
RATE ............................... Impeller tip rotation rate (Default=0 rev/s)
CRYSTAL Use to describe the crystal characteristics.
VOLUME-SHAPE ............ Volume shape factor of the crystal (Default=1.0 for cubic crystals)
COMP-ATTR Use to specify outlet stream values of component attributes created or changed by crystallization.
Enter one COMP-ATTR sentence for each component attribute.
entryno............................ Entry number
ssid.................................. Substream ID
cid.................................... Component ID
cattrname ........................ Component attribute name
value................................ List of attribute values to be entered or changed. You should insert an
asterisk (*) for values not changed.
SUBS-ATTR Use to specify outlet stream values of the particle-size distribution for a substream created or
changed by crystallization. Enter one SUBS-ATTR sentence for each substream. To specify the
SUBS-ATTR sentence and bypass system calculation of particle-size distribution, you must set
PSD-FLAG=NO.
entryno............................ Entry number
ssid.................................. Substream ID
psdid ............................... Particle size distribution ID
value................................ List of attribute values to be entered or changed. You should insert an
asterisk (*) for values not changed.
SUBROUTINE Use to specify user-supplied solubility subroutine. For details on writing user-supplied solubility
subroutines, see Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 23.

Input Language Guide 23-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Crystallizer

SOLUBILITY ................... User-supplied FORTRAN subroutine name for providing saturation

concentration of crystal product calculation, or for calculating crystal
product.
SOL-VECS Use to define the length of arrays for the user-supplied solubility subroutine.
NSINT .............................. Length of integer parameter array
NSREAL .......................... Length of real parameter array
NIWORKS ....................... Length of integer workspace array
NWORKS ........................ Length of real workspace array
SINT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user-supplied solubility subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of integer values
SREAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user-supplied solubility subroutine.
value-list ......................... List of real values

Accessing Variables in CRYSTALLIZER

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
CRYSTALLIZER block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3 Element

PARAM TEMP, PRES, DUTY, PROD-RATE, basis- — — — —

VFLOW, FRAC-RFLOW, basis-RFLOW,
HEATER-DELT, VOL, FRAC-COV, MAXIT, TOL,
QMAX, QMIN, MAX-TSTEP, TUPPER,
TLOWER, T-EST, P-EST
STOIC COEF 1 ssid cid —
COMP-ATTR VALUE entryno — — †

SUBS-ATTR VALUE entryno — — †

SINT VALUE-LIST — — — †

SREAL VALUE-LIST — — — †

RATE- KBO, BNI, BNJ, BNK, GAMMA, ALPHA — — — —

PARAMS
AGITATOR RATE — — — —
CRYSTAL VOLUME-SHAPE — — — —
† Position of a value in the COMP-ATTR, SUBS-ATTR, SINT, or SREAL value-list

23-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 23

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable
Heat duty PARAM QCALC
Temperature PARAM TCALC
Pressure PARAM PCALC
Residence time RESULT-CRYST TIME-CAL
Product flow rate RESULT-CRYST PRATE-CAL
Vent flow rate RESULT-CRYST VENT-CAL
Recycled flow RESULT-CRYST REC-FLOW
Magma density RESULT-CRYST MT-CAL
Growth rate RESULT-CRYST G-CAL
Nucleation rate RESULT-CRYST BO-CAL
Mean size RESULT-CRYST MEAN-SIZE
Standard deviation RESULT-CRYST STAND-DEV
Skewness RESULT-CRYST SKEWNESS
Coefficient of variance RESULT-CRYST COEFF-VAR
Zeroth moment RESULT-CRYST MOMENT0
First moment RESULT-CRYST MOMENT1
Second moment RESULT-CRYST MOMENT2
Third moment RESULT-CRYST MOMENT3
Fourth moment RESULT-CRYST MOMENT4
Net heat duty RESULT-CRYST NET-DUTY

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 23-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Crystallizer

23-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 24

24 Crushers and Screens

This chapter describes the input language for models that break and separate
solid particles. The models are:
Model Description Purpose Use

CRUSHER Solids crusher Breaks solid particles to reduce Wet and dry crushers, primary and
particle size secondary crushers
SCREEN Solids separator Separates solid particles based Upper and lower dry and wet screens
on particle size

Input Language Guide 24-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Crushers and
Screens

CRUSHER
Solids Crusher

Input Language for CRUSHER

BLOCK blockid CRUSHER
PARAM keyword=value

Keyword:
DIAM
Optional keywords:
MODE TYPE RATIO-CUT

BWI ssid bwl / . . .

HGI ssid hgi / . . .
SELECT-FUN size-ratio value / . . .
BREAK-FUN size-ratio value / . . .
BCUT-FUN size-ratio value / . . .

Input Language Description for CRUSHER

PARAM Use to enter crusher parameters. You must specify the maximum diameter of particles in the
crusher outlet. You can also specify the mode of operation and the type of crusher.
DIAM................................ Maximum diameter of particles in the crusher outlet
MODE .............................. MODE=PRIMARY..................... Primary operating mode (Default)
MODE=SECONDARY .............. Secondary operating mode
TYPE ............................... Crusher type:
TYPE=GYRATORY .................. Gyratory jaw (Default)
TYPE=SINGLE-ROLE .............. Single-roll
TYPE=MULTIPLE-ROLL.......... Multiple-roll
TYPE=CAGE-MILL................... Cage-mill
RATIO-CUT ..................... Ratio of cut-off size to solids diameter, which determines the breakage
function to be used (Default=1.7)
BWI Use to enter the Bond work index for each solids substream being crushed. You cannot use BWI if
you specified HGI.
ssid ................................. Substream ID
bwi................................... Bond work index for the specified solids substream. Use UNITS keyword
BOND-WORK-INDEX to specify units.

24-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 24

HGI Use to enter the Hardgrove grindability index for each solids substream being crushed. You cannot
use HGI if you specified BWI.
ssid.................................. Substream ID
hgi.................................... Hardgrove grindability index for the specified solids substream. Use
UNITS keyword BOND-WORK-INDEX to specify units.
SELECT-FUN Use to specify the selection function as a function of ratio of feed size to outlet diameter. If you do
not provide SELECT-FUN, CRUSHER uses the built-in selection based on operating mode.
size-ratio ......................... Ratio of feed size to outlet diameter
value................................ Value of selection function for crusher
BREAK-FUN Use to specify the breakage function as a function of ratio of product size to feed size when feed size
is greater than cut-off size. Cut-off size equals RATIO-CUT*DIAM. If you do not provide BREAK-
FUN, CRUSHER uses the built-in breakage function based on crusher type.
size-ratio ......................... Ratio of product size to feed size
value................................ Value of breakage function for particle size greater than cut-off size
BCUT-FUN Use to specify the natural breakage function as a function of ratio of product size to feed size when
feed size is less than cut-off size. Cut-off size equals RATIO-CUT*DIAM. If you do not provide
BCUT-FUN, CRUSHER uses the built-in natural breakage function.
size-ratio ......................... Ratio of product size to feed size
value................................ Value of natural breakage function for particle size less than cut-off size

Accessing Variables in CRUSHER

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
CRUSHER block.

Block Input
Sentence Variable ID1

PARAM DIAM —
BWI BWI ssid
HGI HGI ssid

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Power required PARAM POWER

Input Language Guide 24-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Crushers and
Screens

SCREEN
Solid Particle Separator

Input Language for SCREEN

BLOCK blockid SCREEN
PARAM keyword=value

Keyword:
OPENING
Optional keywords:
LEVEL MODE STRENGTH ENTRN

SEP-STRENGTH size value / . . .

SELECT-FUN diam value / . . .

Input Language Description for SCREEN

PARAM Use to specify screen parameters. You must specify the size of the screen opening. You can also
specify the operating level, the mode of operation, and the separation strength of the screen.
OPENING ........................ Size of screen opening
LEVEL ............................. LEVEL=UPPER ........................ Upper operating level (Default)
LEVEL=LOWER ....................... Lower operating level
MODE .............................. MODE=DRY.............................. Dry operating mode
MODE=WET ............................. Wet operating mode (Default is determined
from inlet stream vapor fraction. If vapor
fraction is 1, dry operation is assumed.
Otherwise, wet operation is assumed.)
STRENGTH ..................... Separation strength of the screen. You cannot use STRENGTH if you
specified SEP-STRENGTH or SELECT-FUN. (Default is a function of
screen opening.)
ENTRN ............................ Fraction of components in the mixed substream of feed stream entrained
in the overflow of the outlet stream. (Default=0)
SEP-STRENGTH Use to specify the separation strength as a function of size of screen opening. You cannot use SEP-
STRENGTH if you specified SELECT-FUN or keyword STRENGTH in the PARAM sentence.
size .................................. Size of screen opening
value................................ Value for screen separation strength
SELECT-FUN Use to specify the selection function as a function of particle size. You cannot use SELECT-FUN if
you specified SEP-STRENGTH or keyword STRENGTH in the PARAM sentence.
diam ................................ Particle diameter
value................................ Value for screen selection function

24-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 24

Accessing Variables in SCREEN

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
SCREEN block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables

PARAM OPENING, STRENGTH, ENTRN

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Calculated efficiency RESULTS EFF

Calculated separation strength RESULTS SEP-STRENGTH
Determined mode (0=DRY, 1=WET) RESULTS MODE

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 24-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Crushers and
Screens

24-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 25

25 Gas-Solid Separators
This chapter describes the input language for models that separate solids from a
gas stream. The models are:
Model Description Purpose Use

FABFL Fabric filter Separate solids from gas using fabric filter Rating and sizing
baghouses baghouses
CYCLONE Cyclone separator Separate solids from gas using gas vortex in a Rating and sizing cyclones
cyclone
VSCRUB Venturi scrubber Separate solids from gas by direct contact with an Rating and sizing venturi
atomized liquid scrubbers
ESP Electrostatic precipitator Separate solids from gas using an electric charge Rating and sizing dry
between two plates electrostatic precipitators

Input Language Guide 25-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Gas-Solid
Separators

FABFL
Fabric Filter

Input Language for FABFL

BLOCK blockid FABFL
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MODE CALCULATE RESISTANCE COPY-PRES

BAG-PROPS keyword=value

Keyword:
NCELLS
Optional keywords:
NCLEAN NBAGS DIAM AREA PDROP

OPERATION keyword=value

Keywords:
MAX-PDROP FILT-TIME
Optional keywords:
CLEAN-TIME MAX-VEL MIN-VEL INIT-VEL

EFFICIENCY diam eff / . . .

Input Language Description for FABFL

PARAM Use to enter calculation mode, options, and dust resistance coefficient.
MODE .............................. MODE=SIMULATION............... Performs simulation mode calculations
(Default)
MODE=DESIGN ....................... Performs design mode calculations
CALCULATE ................... CALCULATE=TIME ................. Calculates time of filtration (Default)
CALCULATE=PRESSURE ...... Calculates pressure drop
RESISTANCE.................. Dust resistance coefficient for filtration. Units must be in
Pa/(kg/m2)/(m/s). (Default=60000 Pa/(kg/m2)/(m/s))
COPY-PRES.................... COPY-PRES = YES.................. Outlet solids stream pressure is the same as
inlet gas-solids stream pressure
COPY-PRES = NO ................... Outlet solids stream pressure is the same as
outlet gas-solids stream pressure (Default)

25-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 25

BAG-PROPS Use to specify baghouse characteristics.

NCELLS........................... Number of cells. Use only when MODE=SIMULATION.
NCLEAN .......................... Number of cells being cleaned (Default=1)
NBAGS ............................ Number of bags per cell (Default=78)
DIAM ................................ Diameter of a bag (Default=0.154 m)
AREA ............................... Filtering area per bag (Default=1.48 m2)
PDROP ............................ Pressure drop of the clean bag (Default=250 N/m2)
OPERATION Use to specify filter operating conditions.
MAX-PDROP ................... Maximum allowable pressure drop. Use only when CALCULATE=TIME.
FILT-TIME........................ Time of filtration. Use only when CALCULATE=PRESSURE.
CLEAN-TIME ................... Time required to clean the bags (Default=30 sec)
MAX-VEL ......................... Maximum allowable velocity of the gas through the cloth of the bags in
the baghouse (Default=0.0254 m/sec)
MIN-VEL .......................... Minimum allowable velocity of the gas through the cloth of the bags in
the baghouse (Default=0.00254 m/sec)
INIT-VEL .......................... Initial estimate of the velocity of the gas through the cloth for the design
option. Use only when MODE=DESIGN. (Default=0.015 m/sec)
EFFICIENCY Use to specify the efficiency table as a function of particle sizes.
diam................................. Diameter of solid particles to be separated
eff..................................... Collection efficiency of solid particles of the baghouse

Accessing Variables in FABFL

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
FABFL block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables

PARAM RESISTANCE
BAG-PROPS NCELLS, NCLEAN, NBAGS, DIAM, AREA, PDROP
OPERATION MAX-PDROP, FILT-TIME, CLEAN-TIME, MAX-VEL, MIN-VEL, INIT-VEL

Input Language Guide 25-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Gas-Solid
Separators

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Collection efficiency RESULTS EFF

Number of cells RETENTION NCELLS

CYCLONE
Cyclone Separator

Input Language for CYCLONE

BLOCK blockid CYCLONE
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MODE METHOD TYPE VANE MAXIT TOL

DESIGN keyword=value

Keyword:
EFF
Optional keywords:
MAX-CYCLONE MAX-PDROP

SIMULATION keyword=value

Keyword:
DIAM
Optional keyword:
NCYCLONE

DIMENSIONS keyword=value

Keywords:
LEN-CYLINDER LEN-CONE DIAM-OVER LEN-OVER WIDTH-INLET
HT-INLET DIAM-UNDER
Optional keyword:
NTURN

25-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 25

RATIOS keyword=value

Keywords:
LEN-CYLINDER LEN-CONE DIAM-OVER LEN-OVER WIDTH-INLET
HT-INLET DIAM-UNDER
Optional keywords:
NTURN MAX-DIAM

EFFICIENCY [diam] [eff] / . . .

SOL-LOADING keyword=value

Optional keywords:
CR-SOL-LOAD EFF-CON1 PRES-CON1 PRES-CON2

Input Language Description for CYCLONE

PARAM Use to enter calculation mode and options, type of cyclone, and vane constant.
MODE .............................. MODE=SIMULATION............... Performs simulation mode calculations
(Default)
MODE=DESIGN ....................... Performs design mode calculations
METHOD ......................... METHOD=LEITH-LICHT .......... Uses the Leith-Licht efficiency correlation
(Default)
METHOD=LAPPLE .................. Uses the Shepherd and Lapple efficiency
correlation
METHOD= ................................ Uses modified Leith-Licht correlation
MOD-LEITH-LICHT
METHOD=USER ...................... Uses a user-specified efficiency curve
TYPE................................ TYPE=HIGH.............................. High efficiency (Default)
TYPE=MEDIUM ........................ Medium efficiency
TYPE=USER............................. User-specified cyclone dimensions. Allowed only
when MODE=SIMULATION.
TYPE=USER-RATIO ................ User-specified dimension ratios
VANE ............................... Vane constant used in pressure drop equation of Shepherd and Lapple.
You must specify METHOD=LAPPLE. (Default=16)
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of iterations for determining the cyclone diameter in
DESIGN mode (Default=30)
TOL.................................. Convergence tolerance for determining the cyclone diameter in DESIGN
mode (Default=1x10-4)
DESIGN Use to enter parameters for design mode calculations. You cannot use DESIGN if you specified
SIMULATION.
EFF .................................. Efficiency
MAX-CYCLONE .............. Maximum number of cyclones in parallel (Default=100)

Input Language Guide 25-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Gas-Solid
Separators

MAX-PDROP ................... Maximum allowable pressure drop. If the pressure drop exceeds this
limit, several smaller cyclones in parallel will be designed. (Default=1500
N/m2)
SIMULATION Use to enter parameters for simulation mode calculations. You cannot use SIMULATION if you
specified DESIGN.
DIAM................................ Diameter of the cyclone
NCYCLONE..................... Number of cyclones. If NCYCLONE > 1, cyclones are in parallel.
(Default=1)
DIMENSIONS Use to specify cyclone dimensions when MODE=SIMULATION and TYPE=USER.
LEN-CYLINDER .............. Length of cylinder
LEN-CONE ...................... Length of cone section
DIAM-OVER .................... Diameter of overflow
LEN-OVER ...................... Length of overflow
WIDTH-INLET ................. Width of inlet
HT-INLET ........................ Height of inlet
DIAM-UNDER.................. Diameter of underflow
NTURN ............................ Number of gas turns in the cyclone (Default=5.5)
RATIOS Use to specify the ratios of a cyclone dimension to the cyclone diameter when TYPE=USER-RATIO.
LEN-CYLINDER .............. Ratio of length of cylinder to cyclone diameter
LEN-CONE ...................... Ratio of length of cone section to cyclone diameter
DIAM-OVER .................... Ratio of diameter of overflow to cyclone diameter
LEN-OVER ...................... Ratio of length of overflow to cyclone diameter
WIDTH-INLET ................. Ratio of width of inlet to cyclone diameter
HT-INLET ........................ Ratio of height of inlet to cyclone diameter
DIAM-UNDER.................. Ratio of diameter of underflow to cyclone diameter
NTURN ............................ Number of gas turns in the cyclone (Default=5.5)
MAX-DIAM....................... Maximum allowable diameter of the cyclone (Default=3.0 m)
EFFICIENCY Use to specify the efficiency table as a function of particle sizes when METHOD=USER.
diam ................................ Diameter of solid particles to be separated
eff .................................... Collection efficiency of solid particles to be separated
SOL-LOADING Use to specify constants for correlations that correct the pressure drop and cyclone efficiency based
on the presence of solids in the gas flow.
CR-SOL-LOAD................ Critical solids loading in the feed above which the cyclone efficiency and
pressure drop are affected (Default=1x10-3 kg/m3)
EFF-CON1....................... Exponent in the correlation that adjusts the cyclone efficiency due to
solids loading
PRES-CON1.................... Pre-exponential factor in the correlation that adjusts the pressure drop
due to solids loading. You must also specify PRES-CON2.
PRES-CON2.................... Exponent in the correlation that adjusts the pressure drop due to solids

25-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 25

loading. You must also specify PRES-CON1.

Accessing Variables in CYCLONE

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
CYCLONE block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables

PARAM VANE
DESIGN EFF, MAX-CYCLONE, MAX-PDROP
SIMULATION DIAM, NCYCLONE
DIMENSIONS LEN-CYLINDER, LEN-CONE, DIAM-OVER, LEN-OVER, WIDTH-INLET, HT-INLET, DIAM-
UNDER, NTURN
RATIOS LEN-CYLINDER, LEN-CONE, DIAM-OVER, LEN-OVER, WIDTH-INLET, HT-INLET, DIAM-
UNDER, NTURN, MAX-DIAM
SOL-LOADING CR-SOL-LOAD, EFF-CON1, PRE-CON1, PRE-CON2

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Calculated efficiency RESULTS EFF

Calculated vortex length RESULTS VORTEX-LENGTH
Calculated diameter DIMENSIONS DIAM
Ratio of inlet to saltation velocity RET-SCALAR VEL-RATIO

Input Language Guide 25-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Gas-Solid
Separators

VSCRUB
Venturi Scrubber

Input Language for VSCRUB

BLOCK blockid VSCRUB
SIMULATION keyword=value

Keywords:
DIAM-THROAT LEN-THROAT

DESIGN keyword=value

Keyword:
EFF
Optional keyword:
VOL-RATIO

OPERATION keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAX-VEL MIN-VEL MAX-RATIO MIN-RATIO MAX-DIAM MIN-DIAM
LIQ-VEL

Input Language Description for VSCRUB

SIMULATION Use to enter parameters for simulation mode calculations. You must specify both DIAM-THROAT
and LEN-THROAT. You cannot use SIMULATION if you specified DESIGN.
DIAM-THROAT................ Diameter of the throat of the venturi scrubber
LEN-THROAT.................. Length of the throat of the venturi scrubber
DESIGN Use to enter parameters for design mode calculations. You must specify EFF. You cannot use
DESIGN if you specified SIMULATION.
EFF .................................. Separation efficiency. Defined as the ratio of the mass flow rate of the
solid particles in the outlet liquid stream to the mass flow rate of the
particles in the inlet gas stream.
VOL-RATIO ..................... Initial guess for the volume ratio of liquid to gas (Default=0.001)
OPERATION Use to specify optional operating conditions and parameters.
MAX-VEL......................... Maximum gas velocity allowed at the throat (Default=120 m/s)
MIN-VEL .......................... Minimum velocity allowed at the throat (Default=50 m/s)
MAX-RATIO..................... Maximum volume ratio of liquid-flow rate to gas-flow rate allowed
(Default=0.0016)
MIN-RATIO ...................... Minimum volume ratio of liquid-flow rate to gas-flow rate allowed

25-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 25

(Default=0.000668)
MAX-DIAM....................... Maximum value allowed for the diameter of the throat (Default=1.15 m)
MIN-DIAM ........................ Minimum value allowed for the diameter of the throat (Default=0.15 m)
LIQ-VEL........................... Entering velocity of the liquid at the throat (Default=0 m/s)

Accessing Variables in VSCRUB

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
VSCRUB block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables

SIMULATION DIAM-THROAT, LEN-THROAT

DESIGN EFF, VOL-RATIO
OPERATION MAX-VEL, MIN-VEL, MAX-RATIO, MIN-RATIO, MAX-DIAM, MIN-DIAM, LIQ-VEL

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Efficiency RESULTS EFF

Pressure drop RESULTS PDROP
Drop diameter RESULTS DROP-DIAM
Gas velocity RESULTS GAS-VEL
Throat diameter RESULTS DIAM-THROAT
Throat length RESULTS LEN-THROAT

Input Language Guide 25-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Gas-Solid
Separators

ESP
Electrostatic Precipitator

Input Language for ESP

BLOCK blockid ESP
SIMULATION keyword=value

Keywords:
NPLATE HT-PLATE LEN-PLATE

DESIGN keyword=value

Keyword:
EFF
Optional keywords:
GAS-VEL MAX-HT MIN-LEN MAX-LEN MAX-WIDTH

WIRE-SPECS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PLATE-WIRE WIRE-WIRE DIAM

OPERATION keyword=value

Optional keywords:
ROUGHNESS MIN-VEL MAX-VEL STDDEV-VEL VOLT-BREAK

DIELECTRIC ssid dielec / . . .

Input Language Description for ESP

SIMULATION Use to enter parameters for simulation mode calculations. You must specify all parameters. You
cannot use SIMULATION if you specified DESIGN.
NPLATE .......................... Number of plates in the precipitator
HT-PLATE ....................... Height of the plate
LEN-PLATE..................... Length of the plate
DESIGN Use to enter parameters for design mode calculations. You must specify the separation efficiency.
You cannot use DESIGN if you specified SIMULATION.
EFF .................................. Separation efficiency
GAS-VEL......................... Initial estimate of the gas velocity (Default=2 m/s)
MAX-HT........................... Maximum height of the plate (Default=8.4 m)
MIN-LEN.......................... Minimum length of the plate (Default=0.1 m)

25-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 25

MAX-LEN......................... Maximum length of the plate (Default=6.3 m)

MAX-WIDTH .................... Maximum width of precipitator (Default=8.4 m)
WIRE-SPECS Use to specify optional dimensions of the precipitator.
PLATE-WIRE................... Distance between the plate and the wire (Default=0.114 m)
WIRE-WIRE ..................... Distance between two adjacent wires (Default=0.15 m)
DIAM ................................ Diameter of the wire (Default=0.003 m)
OPERATION Use to specify optional operating conditions and parameters.
ROUGHNESS .................. Roughness factor of the wire (Default=0.6)
MIN-VEL .......................... Minimum allowable gas velocity (Default=0.5 m/s)
MAX-VEL ......................... Maximum allowable gas velocity (Default=3 m/s)
STDDEV-VEL .................. Relative standard deviation of gas velocity along the plates (Default=0.15)
VOLT-BREAK.................. Breakdown voltage of the gas in uniform field (Default=3,000,000V)
DIELECTRIC Use to enter the dielectric constants of the solids substreams.
ssid.................................. Solids substream ID
dielec............................... Dielectric constant for the substream

Input Language Guide 25-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Gas-Solid
Separators

Accessing Variables in ESP

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for an
ESP block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1

SIMULATION NPLATE, HT-PLATE, LEN-PLATE —

DESIGN EFF, GAS-VEL, MAX-HT, MIN-LEN, MAX-LEN, MAX-WIDTH —
WIRE-SPECS PLATE-WIRE, WIRE-WIRE, DIAM —
OPERATION ROUGHNESS, MIN-VEL, MAX-VEL, STDDEV-VEL, VOL-BREAK —
DIELECTRIC DIELEC ssid

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Efficiency RESULTS EFF

Corona voltage RESULTS VOLT-CORONA
Power RESULTS POWER
Pressure drop RESULTS PDROP
Gas velocity RESULTS GAS-VEL
Plate height RESULTS HT-PLATE
Plate length RESULTS LEN-PLATE

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

25-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 26

26 Liquid-Solid Separators
This chapter describes the input language for models that separate liquids from
solids. The models are:
Model Type Purpose Use

HYCYC Hydrocyclone Separate solids from liquid using liquid vortex in a Rating or sizing
hydrocyclone hydrocyclones
CFUGE Centrifuge filter Separate solids from liquid using a rotating Rating or sizing centrifuges
basket
FILTER Rotary vacuum filter Separate solids from liquid using a continuous Rating or sizing rotary
rotary vacuum filter vacuum filters

Input Language Guide 26-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Liquid-Solid
Separators

HYCYC
Hydrocyclone

Input Language for HYCYC

BLOCK blockid HYCYC
SIMULATION keyword=value

Keyword:
DIAM
Optional keyword:
NCYCLONE

DESIGN keyword=value

Keywords:
DIAM-PART EFF MAX-DIAM MAX-PDROP
Optional keyword:
DEN-PART

RATIOS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INLET LENGTH OVER UNDER CONE-ANGLE

COEFFICIENTS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
VEL-COEF VEL-EXP VOL-RATIO

EFFICIENCY diam eff / . . .

Input Language Description for HYCYC

SIMULATION Use to enter parameters for simulation mode calculations. You must specify the hydrocyclone
diameter. You cannot use SIMULATION if you specified DESIGN.
DIAM................................ Hydrocyclone diameter
NCYCLONE..................... Number of hydrocyclones. If NCYCLONE > 1, hydrocyclones are in
parallel. (Default=1)
DESIGN Use to enter parameters for design mode calculations. You must specify the diameter of solid
particles, the separation efficiency, the maximum diameter of the hydrocyclone, and maximum
pressure drop. You cannot use DESIGN if you specified SIMULATION.
DIAM-PART..................... Diameter of solid particles to be separated
EFF .................................. Separation efficiency of solid particles to be separated

26-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 26

MAX-DIAM ....................... Maximum diameter of the hydrocyclone

MAX-PDROP ................... Maximum pressure drop allowed
DEN-PART....................... Density of solid particles to be separated (Default=density of solids in the
inlet solids stream)
RATIO Use to enter optional parameters for the ratios of hydrocyclone dimensions to hydrocyclone
diameter. You can also enter cone angle.
INLET............................... Ratio of the inlet diameter to the hydrocyclone diameter (Default=1/7)
LENGTH .......................... Ratio of the length to the diameter of the hydrocyclone (Default=5)
OVER............................... Ratio of the overflow diameter to the hydrocyclone diameter (Default=0.2)
UNDER ............................ Ratio of the underflow diameter to the hydrocyclone diameter
(Default=0.15)
CONE-ANGLE ................. Cone angle of the hydrocyclone (Default=0.349 radians or 20°)
COEFFICIENTS Use to enter optional parameters for the tangential velocity correlation and the ratio of volumetric
flows.
VEL-COEF....................... Inlet velocity loss coefficient (Default=0.45)
VEL-EXP.......................... Exponent of radial dependence (Default=0.8)
VOL-RATIO ..................... Constant for volume split between underflow and overflow (Default=6.13
if flow rate is in U.S. gallons/min)
EFFICIENCY Use the efficiency table to specify efficiency as a function of particle size. If you do not provide
EFFICIENCY, HYCYC uses a built-in correlation to calculate separation efficiency.
diam................................. Diameter of solid particles to be separated
eff..................................... Collection efficiency of solid particles to be separated

Input Language Guide 26-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Liquid-Solid
Separators

Accessing Variables in HYCYC

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for an
HYCYC block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1

SIMULATION DIAM, NCYCLONE —

DESIGN DIAM-PART, EFF, MAX-DIAM, MAX-PDROP, DEN-PART —
RATIOS INLET, LENGTH, OVER, UNDER, CONE-ANGLE —
COEFFICIENTS VEL-COEF, VEL-EXP, VOL-RATIO —
EFFICIENCY DIAM-PARTIC, EFFIC entryno

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Calculated diameter RESULTS DIAM

Pressure drop RESULTS PDROP
Number of hydrocyclones RESULTS NCYCLONE
Inlet diameter RESULTS DIAM-IN
Length of cylinder RESULTS LEN-CYC
Overflow diameter RESULTS DIAM-OV
Underflow diameter RESULTS DIAM-UN

26-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 26

CFUGE
Centrifuge Filter

Input Language for CFUGE

BLOCK blockid CFUGE
CENTRIFUGES diam revs / . . .
CAKE-PROPS keyword=value

Keywords:
CAKE-RES MEDIUM-RES WETNESS
Optional keywords:
POROSITY SPHERICITY DIAM-PART

RATIOS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
LIQUID CAKE HEIGHT

Input Language Description for CFUGE

CENTRIFUGES Use to specify diameter and rate of revolution. You must specify both diameter and rate of
revolution for at least one centrifuge. If you specify more than one centrifuge, CFUGE selects the
smallest suitable one.
diam................................. Diameter
revs.................................. Rate of revolution
CAKE-PROPS Use to specify filter cake characteristics. You must specify cake resistance and the resistance of the
medium.
CAKE-RES ...................... Specific cake resistance. (Use UNITS keyword SPEC-FLT-RESISTANCE
to specify units.)
MEDIUM-RES .................. Resistance of the medium. (Use UNITS keyword FILTER-RESISTANCE
to specify units.)
WETNESS ....................... Moisture content of the filter cake
POROSITY ...................... Porosity of the filter cake (Default=0.45)
SPHERICITY ................... Average sphericity of the solid particles in the cake (Default=0.75)
DIAM-PART ..................... Average diameter of solid particles in the cake
RATIOS Use to enter optional parameters for ratios of centrifuge dimensions to centrifuge radius.
LIQUID............................. Ratio of the radius of the liquid surface to the radius of the centrifuge
(Default=0.738)
CAKE ............................... Ratio of the radius of the filter cake surface to the radius of the centrifuge
(Default=0.79)

Input Language Guide 26-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Liquid-Solid
Separators

HEIGHT ........................... Ratio of the height to the radius of the centrifuge (Default=0.9545)

Accessing Variables in CFUGE

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following table lists variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
CFUGE block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1

CENTRIFUGES DIAM, REVS n†

CAKE-PROPS CAKE-RES, MEDIUM-RES, WETNESS, POROSITY, SPHERICITY, DIAM-PART —
RATIOS LIQUID, CAKE, HEIGHT —
† The DIAM vs. REVS pair specification number. Enter 1 if only one pair is specified.

26-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 26

FILTER
Rotary Vacuum Filter

Input Language for FILTER

BLOCK blockid FILTER
SIMULATION keyword=value

Keywords:
DIAM WIDTH

DESIGN keyword=value

Keyword:
MAX-PDROP
Optional keyword:
RATIO

OPERATION keyword=value

Keyword:
REVS
Optional keyword:
ANGLE

CAKE-PROPS keyword=value

Keywords:
SOLID-FRAC POROSITY FILTER-RES CAKE-RES COMPRES DIAM-PART
SPHERICITY

MEDIUM-PROPS MEDIUM-RES=value

Input Language Description for FILTER

SIMULATION Use to enter parameters for simulation mode calculations. You must specify both the filter diameter
and its width. You cannot use SIMULATION if you specified DESIGN.
DIAM ................................ Filter diameter
WIDTH ............................. Filter width
DESIGN Use to specify parameters for design mode calculations. You must specify the maximum pressure
drop. You cannot use DESIGN if you specified SIMULATION.
MAX-PDROP ................... Maximum pressure drop allowed
RATIO .............................. Ratio of filter diameter to width (Default=2.0)

Input Language Guide 26-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Liquid-Solid
Separators

OPERATION Use to specify operating conditions and parameters. You must specify the rate of revolution of the
filter.
REVS ............................... Rate of revolution of the filter
ANGLE ............................ Angle of filtration. That is, the angle subtended at the center by the
portion of the filter submerged in liquid.
(Default=2.0945 radians)
CAKE-PROPS Use to specify optional parameters for the filter cake properties.
SOLID-FRAC................... Mass fraction of solids in filter cake. (Default is calculated from the
average particle diameter, particle sphericity, and cake porosity.)
POROSITY ...................... Cake porosity (Default=0.45)
FILTER-RES.................... Specific cake resistance or filtration resistance. (Use UNITS keyword
SPEC-FLT-RESISTANCE to specify units.) (Default=2x106 m/kg)
CAKE-RES ...................... Specific cake resistance at unit pressure drop. (Use UNITS keyword
SPEC-FLT-RESISTANCE to specify units.)
COMPRES....................... Compressibility factor for cake (Default=0)
DIAM-PART..................... Average diameter of solid particles in filter cake
SPHERICITY ................... Sphericity of particles in filter cake (Default=0.75)
MEDIUM-PROPS ............ Use to specify the resistance of filter medium.
MEDIUM-RES.................. Filter medium resistance. (Use UNITS keyword FILTER-RESISTANCE
to specify units.) (Default=0)

26-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 26

Accessing Variables in FILTER

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following table lists variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
FILTER block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables

SIMULATION DIAM, WIDTH

DESIGN MAX-PDROP, RATIO
OPERATION REVS, ANGLE
CAKE-PROPS SOLID-FRAC, POROSITY, FILTER-RES, CAKE-RES, COMPRESS, DIAM-PART,
SPHERICITY
MEDIUM-PROPS MEDIUM-RES

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 26-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Liquid-Solid
Separators

26-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 27

27 Solids Washers
This chapter describes the input language for models that recover the dissolved
components in the entrained liquid of a solids stream, using a washing liquid. The
models are:
Model Description Purpose Use

SWASH Single-stage Recovery of dissolved components from an entrained liquid of a Single-stage solids washer
solids washer solids stream using a washing liquid
CCD Countercurrent Multi-stage recovery of dissolved components from an entrained Multi-stage solids washers
decanter liquid of a solids stream using a washing liquid

Input Language Guide 27-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Solids
Washers

SWASH
Single-Stage Solids Washer

Input Language for SWASH

BLOCK blockid SWASH
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
MIX-EFF LS-RATIO PRES
Optional keywords:
TEMP DUTY FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL MAX-ITER CONV-TOL T-EST

Input Language Description for SWASH

PARAM Use to specify SWASH parameters. You must specify the liquid-to-solids mass ratio in the outlet
solids stream.
MIX-EFF .......................... Mixing efficiency of the wash (Default=1)
LS-RATIO........................ Liquid-to-solids mass ratio in the outlet solids stream
PRES ............................... PRES>0 .................................... Pressure
PRES≤0 .................................... Pressure drop (Default=0)
TEMP............................... Outlet temperature
DUTY ............................... Heat duty (Default=0)
FLASH-MAXIT................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.)
(See Chapter 46.)
FLASH-TOL .................... Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
MAX-ITER ....................... Maximum iterations for energy balance calculations (Default=30)
CONV-TOL ...................... Tolerance for energy balance calculations (Default=1x10-4)
T-EST .............................. Temperature estimate. Use to aid flash convergence when PRES and
DUTY are specified.

27-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 27

Accessing Variables in SWASH

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
SWASH block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables

PARAM MIX-EFF, LS-RATIO, PRES, TEMP, DUTY, T-EST

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable

Heat duty RESULTS QCALC

Temperature RESULTS TCALC
Net heat duty RESULTS NET-DUTY

Input Language Guide 27-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Solids
Washers

CCD
Countercurrent Decanter

Input Language for CCD

BLOCK blockid CCD
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
NSTAGE PRES
Optional keywords:
FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL EB-MAXIT EB-TOL TAMB

FEEDS sid stage dircode / . . .

PRODUCTS sid stage dircode [frac] / . . .
T-SPEC stage temp / . . .
MIX-EFF stage eff / . . .
LS-RATIO stage ratio / . . .
HEATERS stage keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
DUTY UA TMED

T-EST stage temp / . . .

PSEUDO-STREAM sid stage dircode [basis-FLOW] / . . .

Input Language Description for CCD

PARAM Use to specify number of stages and pressure. You can optionally enter ambient temperature and
convergence parameters.
NSTAGE.......................... Number of stages
PRES ............................... Pressure
FLASH-MAXIT................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.)
(See Chapter 46.)
FLASH-TOL .................... Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
EB-MAXIT ....................... Maximum iterations for energy balance calculations (Default=30)
EB-TOL ........................... Tolerance for energy balance calculations (Default=1x10-4)
TAMB .............................. Ambient temperature (Default=25°C)

27-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 27

FEEDS Use to enter feed stream stage number and flow direction. A solids stream must enter on stage1. A
liquid stream must enter on stage NSTAGE.
sid.................................... Stream ID
stage................................ Stage number
dircode ............................ UNDER ..................................... Feed to underflow entering the stage
OVER ........................................ Feed to overflow entering the stage
PRODUCTS Use to enter outlet stream stage number, flow direction, and fraction withdrawn. A solids stream
must leave stage NSTAGE. A liquid stream must leave stage1.
sid.................................... Stream ID
stage................................ Stage number
dircode ............................ UNDER ..................................... Product withdrawn from underflow
leaving stage
OVER ........................................ Product withdrawn from overflow
leaving stage
frac .................................. Fraction of the stream that is withdrawn (Default=1)
T-SPEC Use to specify the temperature profile. You cannot use T-SPEC if you specified HEATERS.
stage................................ Stage number
temp ................................ Temperature
MIX-EFF Use to specify the mixing efficiency profile. You must also specify LS-RATIO.
stage................................ Stage number
eff..................................... Mixing efficiency
LS-RATIO Use to specify the liquid-to-solid ratio profile. You must also specify MIX-EFF.
stage................................ Stage number
ratio ................................. Liquid-to-solid mass ratio
HEATERS Use to specify either heat duty or overall heat transfer coefficient. You cannot use HEATERS if you
specified T-SPEC.
stage................................ Stage number
DUTY ............................... Stage heat duty
UA.................................... Overall heat transfer coefficient
TMED............................... Medium temperature (Default=TAMB)
T-EST Use to specify the estimated stage temperature.
stage................................ Stage number
temp ................................ Estimated temperature
PSEUDO-STREAM Use to identify the interstage flow as pseudostreams and to enter their locations and flows. If you
do not specify a flow rate, the flow of each substream of the interstage will be stored in the
pseudoproduct stream.
sid.................................... Stream ID
stage................................ Stage number
dircode ............................ UNDER ..................................... Interstage underflow

Input Language Guide 27-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Solids
Washers

OVER ....................................... Interstage overflow

basis-FLOW.................... Flow rate on MOLE or MASS basis

Accessing Variables in CCD

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
CCD block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1
PARAM NSTAGE, PRES —
FEEDS STAGE sid
PRODUCTS STAGE sid
T-SPEC TEMP stage
MIX-EFF MEFF stage
LS-RATIO RATIO stage
HEATERS DUTY, UA, TMED stage

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1

Stage heat duty PROFILE DUTY stage

Stage temperature PROFILE TEMP stage

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

27-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 28

28 Stream Manipulators
This chapter describes the input language for stream manipulators. Use stream
manipulators to modify stream variables; they do not represent real unit
operations. The models are:
Model Description Purpose Use

MULT Stream Multiply component and total flow rates by a factor Scaling streams by a factor
multiplier
DUPL Stream Copy inlet stream into any number of duplicate Duplicating feed or internal streams
duplicator outlet streams
CLCHNG Stream class Change stream class between blocks and Adding or deleting empty solid substreams
changer flowsheet sections between flowsheet
SELECTOR Stream Copy the selected input stream to the outlet Selecting a stream from a number of number
selector stream of inlet streams
QTVEC Load stream Combine heat streams into a load stream, or add Creating and adding heat data to load
manipulator a temperature-duty point to a load stream streams
ANALYZER Stream Analyze and report flowsheet stream properties Reporting stream properties in sequential-
analyzer modular or offline runs, and analyzing or
specifying stream propeties in equation-
oriented or online runs

Input Language Guide 28-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Stream
Manipulators

MULT
Stream Multiplier

Input Language
BLOCK blockid MULT
PARAM FACTOR

Input Language Description

PARAM Use to enter the multiplication factor.
FACTOR.......................... Multiplication factor

Accessing Variables in MULT

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following table lists the
variable name needed to sample and/or change variables for a MULT block.

Block Input
Sentence Variable

PARAM FACTOR

28-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 28

DUPL
Stream Duplicator

Input Language
BLOCK blockid DUPL

CLCHNG
Stream Class Changer

Input Language
BLOCK blockid CLCHNG

Input Language Guide 28-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Stream
Manipulators

SELECTOR
Stream Selector

Input Language
BLOCK blockid SELECTOR
PARAM STREAM

Input Language Description

PARAM Use to enter the selected inlet stream id.
STREAM.......................... Selected inlet stream id

Accessing Variables in SELECTOR

Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following table lists the
variable name needed to sample and/or change variables for a SELECTOR block.
In this case, STREAM is the selected inlet stream sequence number of a Selector
block. Therefore, the value for the STREAM variable can range from 1 to N;
where N is the number of inlet streams of a selector block.

Block Input
Sentence Variable

PARAM STREAM

28-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 28

QTVEC
Load Stream Manipulator

Input Language
BLOCK blockid QTVEC
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP DELT

Input Language Description

PARAM Use to enter the selected inlet stream id.
TEMP ............................... Starting temperature of the outlet load stream
DELT................................ Temperature difference between the first two points (TVEC2-TVEC1) of
the outlet load stream

ANALYZER
Stream Analyzer

Input Language for ANALYZER

BLOCK blockid ANALYZER
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
STREAM
Optional Keywords:
NPHASE PRES TEMP VFRAC MAXIT TOL

PROPS propsetid / . . .
SPC-OPTIONS keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
MOLE-FLOW MASS-FLOW STDVOL-FLOW

Input Language Guide 28-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Stream
Manipulators

Input Language Description for ANALYZER

PARAM Use to enter the stream information and its optional flash specifications.
STREAM.......................... Reference stream ID. Specify STREAM when the Analyzer block is not
physically connected to inlet and outlet streams.
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases to be considered in flash calculations. This is defaulted
to global Nphase option.
PRES ............................... Flash pressure (Default=stream pressure)
TEMP............................... Flash temperature. By default this is computed by adiabatic flash.
VFRAC ............................ Flash vapor fraction. By default this is computed by adiabatic flash.
MAXIT.............................. Flash iteration limit. This is defaulted to global flash iteration limit.
TOL ................................. Flash tolerance. This is defaulted to global flash tolerance.
PROPS Use to enter the physical property set ID.
propsetid ........................ Prop-set ID.
SPC-OPTIONS Use to enter options to add additional variables during equation oriented runs.
MOLE-FLOW................... MOLE-FLOW=YES .....Add molar component flows to variable list.
MOLE-FLOW=NO .......Do not add molar component flows to variable list.
MASS-FLOW................... MASS-FLOW=YES......Add mass component flows to variable list.
MASS-FLOW=NO .......Do not add mass component flows to variable list.
STDVOL-FLOW .............. STDVOL-FLOW=YES .Add standard volume component flows to variable
list.
STDVOL-FLOW=NO ...Do not add standard volume component flows to
variable list.

Accessing Variables in ANALYZER

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 ID2 ID3 Element
PARAM PRES, TEMP, VFRAC, MAXIT, TOL — — — —

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

28-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 29

29 User Unit Operation

Models
This chapter describes the input language for the user models. The models are:
Model Description Purpose Use

USER User UOS model User-supplied model User-supplied model with up to four material
inlet and outlet streams
USER2 User UOS model User-supplied model User-supplied model with any number of
material inlet and outlet streams
USER3 User UOS model User-supplied model with SM User-supplied model with any number of
and EO functionality material inlet and outlet streams

Input Language Guide 29-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 User Unit
Operation
Models

USER and USER2

User UOS Model

Input Language for USER

BLOCK blockid USER
SUBROUTINE model report
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
NINT NREAL NIWORK NWORK NSIZE FLASH-FEEDS BYPASS-USER

INT value-list
REAL value-list
FLASH-SPECS sid kode keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE MAXIT TOL FREE-WATER PROPERTIES T-EST
P-EST

Input Language for USER2

BLOCK blockid USER2
SUBROUTINE model report
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
NINT NREAL NCHAR NIWORK NWORK NSIZE FLASH-FEEDS
BYPASS-USER EXCEL-FILE

INT value-list
REAL value-list
CHAR char-list
FLASH-SPECS sid kode keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE MAXIT TOL FREE-WATER PROPERTIES T-EST
P-EST

USER-MODELS USER-SUBS="name1" "name2" . . . CONFIG="name"

29-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 29

Input Language Description for USER and USER2

USER and USER2 allow you to use user-written unit operation models in an
Aspen Plus run. The user model must be in the form of a FORTRAN subroutine,
written to specifications described in Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 5. You can
specify up to four material inlet and outlet streams for USER. There are no
limitations on the number of inlet or outlet streams for USER2.
blockid ............................ User block ID
SUBROUTINE Use to specify the name of the user-supplied model subroutine. You can also specify the user-
supplied report subroutine. For details on writing user-supplied model and report subroutines, see
Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 5.
model .............................. User-supplied model subroutine name. For USER2 only, this is optional
if EXCEL-FILE is specified (see below).
report............................... Optional user-supplied report subroutine name
PARAM Use to enter flash option and define the length of arrays for user-supplied model and report
subroutines.
NINT................................. Length of the integer parameter array (Default=1)
NREAL............................. Length of the real parameter array (Default=1)
NCHAR ............................ Length of the character parameter array (Default=1)
NIWORK .......................... Length of the integer workspace array (Default=1)
NWORK ........................... Length of the real workspace array (Default=1)
NSIZE .............................. Length of size array (Default=1)
FLASH-FEEDS ................ Flash all inlet material streams before calling the model subroutine: YES
or NO (Default=NO)
BYPASS-USER ............... Bypass the user-supplied model subroutine if the total flow is zero: YES
or NO (Default=YES)
EXCEL-FILE .................... Filename for the Excel User Model interface. See Aspen Plus User
Models, Chapter 5, for more information.
INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user model and report subroutines.
value-list.......................... List of integer values
REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user model and report subroutines.
value-list.......................... List of real values
CHAR Use to enter values for the character parameter array of the user model and report subroutines.
See Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 5, for information on how these parameters are used.
char-list ........................... List of quoted character values
FLASH-SPECS Use to specify the thermodynamic conditions for the outlet streams. If you enter sid, Aspen Plus
will perform a flash calculation at the conditions specified, after the user model FORTRAN
subroutine is executed. By default, no flash calculations are performed.
sid.................................... Stream ID
kode................................. Thermodynamic condition of flash calculation:
NOFLASH................................. The outlet stream is not flashed (Default)

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PH ............................................. PH flash
TP.............................................. TP flash
PV ............................................. PV flash
TH ............................................. TH flash
TV.............................................. TV flash
TEMP............................... Temperature. Use when kode is TP, TH, or TV.
PRES ............................... Pressure. Use when kode is PH, TP, or PV.
VFRAC ............................ Vapor fraction. Use when kode is PV or TV.
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid
PHASE=S ................................. Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.)
(See Chapter 46.)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
FREE-WATER ................. Use to override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph. (See Chapter 46.)
FREE-WATER=YES................. Performs free-water calculations
FREE-WATER=NO................... Does not perform free-water calculations
PROPERTIES.................. Pointer to indicate which property option set specified in the
PROPERTIES sentence is to be used. (See Chapter 11.)
PROPERTIES=1....................... Uses the first property option set listed in the
PROPERTIES sentence (Default)
PROPERTIES=2....................... Uses the second property option set listed in the
PROPERTIES sentence
T-EST .............................. Temperature estimate. Use to aid flash convergence when kode is PH or
PV.
P-EST .............................. Pressure estimate. Use to aid flash convergence when kode is TH or TV.

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USER-MODELS See Aspen Plus User Models, chapter 5, for information on how to access these subroutines.
USER-SUBS List of names of additional Fortran subroutines called by the User2 model
and report subroutines. (Optional)
CONFIG Name of the custom variable definition subroutine used with the
Configured Variables sheet in User2, and also the stem of the name of the
file. (Optional) See chapter 4 of Getting Started Customizing Unit
Operation Models for more information about this file.

Accessing Variables in USER and USER2

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following table lists variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
USER or USER2 block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1 Element

FLASH-SPECS MAXIT, TOL, TEMP, PRES, VFRAC, T-EST, P-EST sid —

INT VALUE-LIST — †

REAL VALUE-LIST — †

† Position of a value in the INT or REAL value-list.

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USER3
User Dual-Execution Model

Input Language for USER3

BLOCK blockid USER3
SUBROUTINE MODEL=subname [REPORT=subname] [MODEL1=subname]
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAX-NY MAX-NAE MAX-NZ NINT NREAL AE-METHOD NUMJAC PERSIZ
CMPJAC DCRTOL DCATOL MVZERO ZERTOL MVZTOL SUMMARY
NCHAR NIWORK NWORK NSIZE FLASH-FEEDS BYPASS-USER

MODEL-COMP COMPS=cgroup
CFG-DIRECTOR CFG-DIR-WNT="path"
CFG-NAME CFGNAM=name
SPECS "vid" [value] / . . .
Y index INIT=value STAT=value MIN=value MAX=value SCALE=value / . . .
VARIABLES "vid" INIT=value STAT=value MIN=value MAX=value &
SBND=value SCALE=value UNITS='uom' UNITTYPE=value / . . .
F index STAT=value SCALE=value / . . .
FUNCTIONS "fid" STAT=value SCALE=value / . . .
INT value-list
INTEGERS index value / . . .
REAL value-list
CHAR char-list
FLASH-SPECS sid kode keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE MAXIT TOL FREE-WATER T-INIT P-INIT

USER-MODELS USER-SUBS="name1" "name2" . . . CONFIG="name"

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Input Language Description for USER3

USER3 allows you to use user-written dual-execution unit operation models in an
Aspen Plus sequential modular or equation-oriented run. The user model must be
in the form of a compiled FORTRAN subroutine written to USER3 specifications.
There are no limitations on the number of inlet or outlet streams for USER3.
blockid ............................ User block ID
SUBROUTINE Use to specify the name of the user-supplied model subroutine. You can also specify the user-
supplied report subroutine.
REPORT .......................... Optional user-supplied report subroutine name. (Default = same as
MODEL subroutine)
MODEL1 .......................... Optional additional model subroutine. This is an external routine which
the main model subroutine may call.
PARAM Use to allocate memory space for the model, define the length of arrays for user-supplied model and
report subroutines, select a solver, control the USER3 numeric layer, and define a slate of
components for the model.
MAX-NY ........................... Maximum number of model algebraic variables (Default = supplied by
model)
MAX-NAE ........................ Maximum number of model algebraic equations (Default = supplied by
model)
MAX-NZ ........................... Maximum number of model non-zeroes (Default = supplied by model)
NINT................................. Length of the integer parameter array (Default=1)
NREAL............................. Length of the real parameter array (Default=1)
AE-METHOD ................... Solver to use for equation-oriented solution
AE-METHOD=DMO.................. DMO solver (Default)
AE-METHOD=NSOLVE ........... NSOLVE solver
AE-METHOD=LSSQP.............. LSSQP solver
NUMJAC.......................... Specify whether to use analytic or numeric sparsity pattern and
derivatives. Analytic sparsity pattern and derivates are specified by the
model subroutine. Use NUMJAC=PARTIAL or FULL to have Aspen Plus
compute these numerically.
NUMJAC=NO ........................... Use analytic sparsity pattern and derivatives
(Default)
NUMJAC=PARTIAL ................. Use analytic sparsity pattern and numeric
derivatives
NUMJAC=FULL ....................... Use numeric sparsity pattern and derivatives
CMPJAC .......................... Specify comparisons of analytic and numerical problems to perform. The
Jacobians compared must be based on the same sparsity pattern, so
CMPJAC=DERIV or ALL cannot be used with NUMJAC=FULL.
CMPJAC=NO ........................... No comparisons (Default)
CMPJAC=SPAT ....................... Compare sparsity patterns
CMPJAC=DERIV...................... Compare derivatives
CMPJAC=ALL.......................... Compare both sparsity patterns and derivatives

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DCRTOL.......................... Relative tolerance for derivative comparison (default = 10-2)

DCATOL.......................... Absolute tolerance for derivative comparison (default = 10-6)
DCRTOL and DCATOL are used during derivative comparisons. If a is
the value from the analytical Jacobian and b is the corresponding value
from the numerical Jacobian, then the values are said to be the same
when

a − b ≥ DCRTOL × max( a , DCATOL)

PERSIZ............................ Numerical perturbation size parameter (default = 10-6)
Given a variable with non-scaled value y and with scale s, the absolute
value of the perturbation applied to y is: PERSIZ × max( y , s ) .
MVZERO ......................... Whether to move zero variable values away from zero before sparsity
detection
MVZERO=YES ......................... Move variable values which are zero away from
zero before sparsity pattern detection starts
(Default)
MVZERO=NO ........................... Leave variable values which are zero at zero
ZERTOL .......................... Zero tolerance used when MVZERO=YES (default = 10-12)
MVZTOL .......................... Amount to move zero variables when MVZERO=YES (default = 10-2)
SUMMARY ...................... Which data to report. Eliminating some data can speed the loading of a
very large model into the Aspen Plus GUI.
SUMMARY=ALL ...................... Report all equations and variables. (Default)
SUMMARY=VARS ................... Report variables only
SUMMARY=EQNS ................... Report equations only
SUMMARY=NONE ................... Report nothing
NCHAR............................ Length of the character parameter array (Default=1)
NIWORK.......................... Length of the integer workspace array (Default=1)
NWORK........................... Length of the real workspace array (Default=1)
NSIZE .............................. Length of size array (Default=1)
FLASH-FEEDS................ Flash all inlet material streams before calling the model subroutine: YES
or NO (Default=NO)
BYPASS-USER ............... Bypass the user-supplied model subroutine if the total flow is zero: YES
or NO (Default=YES)
MODEL-COMP Use to specify a reduced component slate for the block.
COMPS............................ Component group ID (defined via the COMP-GROUP primary keyword)
defining a reduced component slate for the block. This may not be
supported by some USER3 models.
CFG-DIRECTOR Use to specify the directory for the configuration file when using EOPML models.
CFG-DIR-WNT ................ Path name of the directory where the configuration file is stored. Must be
enclosed in quotes.

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CFG-NAME Use to specify the name of the configuration file when using EOPML models.
CFGNAM ......................... Name of the EOPML configuration file.
SPECS Use to specify which variables are fixed, and their values. Values entered in the SPECS sentence
are passed directly to the model, and not modified in any way. To specify a square problem, you
should specify values for nspec = nvariables – nequations variables.
vid.................................... Name of the variable to fix. Names are matched from right-to-left and
enough of the name must be given to uniquely identify it from other
variables. Names must be enclosed in quotation marks.
value................................ Value at which the variable is fixed. Providing a value in the SPECS
sentence is not required since there are other ways to specify a variable’s
value (such as via a CALCULATOR block or via the USER3 Y sentence).
When a fixed variable does not have a value when a model is executed,
the outcome depends on the specific model. Some models might use a
default value, other models might report an error and exit.
Y Use to specify the attributes of variables, specifying variables based on their positions in the model
variable vector. Values entered in the Y sentence are passed directly to the model, and not modified
in any way.
index................................ Variable index (position) in the model variable vector.
INIT .................................. Variable initial value.
STAT................................ Variable fixed/free status.
STAT=0..................................... Variable is free or calculated (Default)
STAT=1..................................... Variable is fixed
MIN .................................. Variable lower bound.
MAX ................................. Variable upper bound.
SCALE ............................. Variable scaling factor.
VARIABLES Use to specify the attributes of variables, specify variables by name.
vid.................................... Variable name. Names are matched from right-to-left and enough of the
name must be given to uniquely identify it from other variables. Names
must be enclosed in quotation marks.
INIT .................................. Variable initial value.
STAT................................ Variable fixed/free status.
STAT = N .................................. Variable is free or calculated (Default)
STAT = F .................................. Variable is fixed
MIN .................................. Variable lower bound.
MAX ................................. Variable upper bound.
SBND............................... Variable step bound.
SCALE ............................. Variable scaling factor.
UNITS .............................. Variable units. Must be a valid Aspen Plus units string.
UNITTYPE ....................... Numerical code indicating physical type of variable. Commonly used
values are 22 for temperature and 31 for temperature change, which are
important to distinguish. See the OOMF Script Language manual,
Chapter 11, for a complete list of these codes.

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F Use to specify equation attributes, specifying equations based on their position in the model
residual vector.
index ............................... Equation index (position) in the model residual vector.
STAT ............................... Equation inclusion status.
STAT = 0................................... Equation is included (Default)
STAT = 1................................... Equation is not included
SCALE............................. Equation scaling factor.
FUNCTIONS Use to specify equation attributes, specifying equations by name.
fid .................................... Equation name. Names are matched from right-to-left and enough of the
name must be given to uniquely identify it from other equations. Names
must be enclosed in quotation marks.
STAT ............................... Equation inclusion status.
STAT = I.................................... Equation is included (Default)
STAT = N .................................. Equation is not included
SCALE............................. Equation scaling factor.
INT Use to enter values for the integer parameter array of the user model and report subroutines.
value-list ......................... List of integer values. Use * to skip an entry
INTEGERS Use to enter specific values for the integer parameter array specified by their index in the array.
index ............................... Parameter index in the INT array
value................................ Integer value
REAL Use to enter values for the real parameter array of the user model and report subroutines.
value-list ......................... List of real values
CHAR Use to enter values for the character parameter array of the user model and report subroutines.
See Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 5, for information on how these parameters are used.
char-list........................... List of quoted character values
FLASH-SPECS Use to specify the thermodynamic conditions for the outlet streams. If you enter sid, Aspen Plus
will perform a flash calculation at the conditions specified, after the user model FORTRAN
subroutine is executed. By default, no flash calculations are performed.
sid ................................... Stream ID
kode ................................ Thermodynamic condition of flash calculation:
NOFLASH................................. The outlet stream is not flashed (Default)
PH ............................................. PH flash
TP.............................................. TP flash
PV ............................................. PV flash
TH ............................................. TH flash
TV.............................................. TV flash
TEMP............................... Temperature. Use when kode is TP, TH, or TV.
PRES ............................... Pressure. Use when kode is PH, TP, or PV.
VFRAC ............................ Vapor fraction. Use when kode is PV or TV.

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NPHASE .......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:

NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE............................. Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L ................................. Liquid
PHASE=S ................................. Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.)
(See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
FREE-WATER ................. Use to override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph. (See Chapter 46.)
FREE-WATER=YES................. Performs free-water calculations
FREE-WATER=NO................... Does not perform free-water calculations
T-INIT............................... Temperature estimate. Use to aid flash convergence when kode is PH or
PV. TINIT and TEST are alternate forms of this keyword.
P-INIT............................... Pressure estimate. Use to aid flash convergence when kode is TH or TV.
PINIT and PEST are alternate forms of this keyword.
USER-MODELS See Aspen Plus User Models, chapter 5, for information on how to access these subroutines.
USER-SUBS List of names of additional Fortran subroutines called by the User3 model
and report subroutines. (Optional)
CONFIG Name of the custom variable definition subroutine used with the
Configured Variables sheet, and also the stem of the name of the file.
(Optional) See chapter 4 of Getting Started Customizing Unit Operation
Models for more information about this file.

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Accessing Variables in USER3

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following table lists variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
USER3 block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables Element

Y INIT index†
INT INT index†
REAL RVALUE-LIST index†
† Position of a value in the Y, INT or REAL value-list.

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1
Variable final values Y FINAL index†
† Position of the variable in the Y value-list.

Accessing Variables in ACM Blocks

The variables accessible in ACM blocks depend on the variables configured in the
model when it was exported from ACM. See the Aspen Custom Modeler
documentation for more details.

Accessing Variables in CAPE-OPEN Models

The variables accessible in CAPE-OPEN models depend on the variables
configured in the model. See User Models for details on creating these models.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

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 Chapter 30

30 Accessing Flowsheet
Variables
This chapter describes the input language used for accessing flowsheet variables
for use in DESIGN-SPEC, CALCULATOR, OPTIMIZATION, CONSTRAINT,
TRANSFER, SENSITIVITY, CASE-STUDY, DATA-FIT and REPORT-SCALE
blocks. The following types of variables are accessible:
• Scalar stream variables
• Stream and substream vectors
• Unit operation block variables and vectors
• Component and substream attribute variables and vectors
• Chemistry and reaction variables
• Balance block and pressure relief variables
• Unary and binary physical property parameters
• Nonconventional component parameter variables and indirect variables

The DEFINE, VECTOR-DEF, and VARY sentences of a design specification

enable you to sample or manipulate any block or stream variable. CALCULATOR
blocks (see Chapter 32), sensitivity blocks (see Chapter 36), REPORT-SCALE (see
Chapter 47), constraints and optimization paragraphs (see Chapter 33), and
DATA-SET and PROFILE-DATA (see Chapter 39) also use the DEFINE and
VECTOR-DEF sentences. Sensitivity blocks (see Chapter 36), case-study blocks
(see Chapter 37), optimization paragraphs (see Chapter 33), and regression (see
Chapter 39) use the VARY sentence. TRANSFER blocks (Chapter 34) use SET
and EQUAL-TO sentences, which are similar to VARY.

Accessed flowsheet variables, with the exception of VECTOR-DEF, are in the

units established by the IN-UNITS statement.

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Accessing Scalar Stream Variables

Input Language

Stream variables:
DEFINE fvar STREAM-VAR STREAM=sid VARIABLE=svarname
VARY STREAM-VAR STREAM=sid VARIABLE=svarname &
[LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3" "line4"]

Component flow on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis:

DEFINE fvar basis-FLOW STREAM=sid COMPONENT=cid
VARY basis-FLOW STREAM=sid COMPONENT=cid &
[LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3" "line4"]

Component fraction on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis:

DEFINE fvar basis-FRAC STREAM=sid COMPONENT=cid

Stream property:
DEFINE fvar STREAM-PROP STREAM=sid PROPERTY=propsetid

Heat stream duty:

DEFINE fvar INFO-VAR STREAM=sid INFO=HEAT VARIABLE=DUTY
VARY INFO-VAR STREAM=sid INFO=HEAT VARIABLE=DUTY &
[LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3" "line4"]

Work stream power:

DEFINE fvar INFO-VAR STREAM=sid INFO=WORK VARIABLE=POWER
VARY INFO-VAR STREAM=sid INFO=WORK VARIABLE=POWER &
[LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3" "line4"]

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Input Language Description

fvar .................................. FORTRAN variable name limited to six characters. Must begin with A-H
or O-Z, or be declared double precision. For integer variables, fvar must
begin with I-N or be declared integer.
sid.................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
svarname ........................ TEMP, PRES, VFRAC, LFRAC, MOLE-FLOW, MASS-FLOW, STDVOL-
FLOW, MOLE-ENTHALPY, MASS-ENTHALPY, MOLE-ENTROPY,
MASS-ENTROPY, MOLE-DENSITY, or MASS-DENSITY. You cannot
use the ENTHALPY, ENTROPY, and DENSITY variables in VARY
statements.
line1, line2, ..................... A string of up to eight characters enclosed in quotes. The label is used in
line3, line4 the report in place of system-generated labels.
cid.................................... Component ID
propsetid......................... ID of a property set defined by a PROP-SET paragraph consisting of a
single scalar property. (See Chapter 42.)

Accessing Stream Vectors

Input Language
VECTOR-DEF farray STREAM sid

Input Language Description

farray ............................... FORTRAN array name limited to five characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare farray as double precision or integer, based on the type
of the accessed variable.
sid.................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.

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Accessing Substream Vectors

Input Language
VECTOR-DEF farray SUBSTREAM STREAM=sid SUBSTREAM=ssid

Input Language Description

farray............................... FORTRAN array name limited to five characters. Must begin with A-H or
O-Z, or be declared double precision. For integer variables, farray must
begin with I-N or be declared integer.
sid ................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
ssid ................................. Substream ID

Accessing Unit Operation Block Variables

Input Language
DEFINE fvar BLOCK-VAR BLOCK=blockid SENTENCE=sentname &
VARIABLE=varname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] [ID3=id3] &
[ELEMENT=element] [EO-NAME=eovarname] &
[DESCRIPTION= description]
VARY BLOCK-VAR BLOCK=blockid SENTENCE=sentname &
VARIABLE=varname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] [ID3=id3] &
[ELEMENT=element] [LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3" "line4"]

Input Language Description

fvar .................................. FORTRAN variable name limited to six characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare fvar as double precision or integer, based on the type of
the accessed variable.
blockid ............................ Block ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions and
restrictions.
sentname ........................ Sentence name
varname .......................... Variable name

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id1, id2, id3 ..................... Variable IDs used to uniquely identify the accessed variable when the
variable name alone is not sufficient
element ........................... Position of the accessed variable in the list when the variable name is
associated with a list of values
eovarname ...................... Equation-Oriented variable name which is equivalent to the accessed
variable. A string of up to 32 characters enclosed in quotes.
description...................... A descriptive string of up to 16 characters enclosed in quotes.
line1, line2,...................... A string of up to eight characters enclosed in quotes. The label is used in
line3, line4 the report in place of system-generated labels.

The variables that can be accessed are shown in the Accessing Variables sections
in Chapters 12 through 29.

Accessing Unit Operation Block Vectors

Input Language
VECTOR-DEF farray PROFILE BLOCK=blockid SENTENCE=sentname &
VARIABLE=varname [EO-NAME=eovarname]
[DESCRIPTION=description]

Input Language Description

farray ............................... FORTRAN array name limited to five characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare farray as double precision or integer, based on the type
of the accessed variable.
blockid ............................ Block ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions and
restrictions.
sentname ........................ Sentence name
varname .......................... Variable name
eovarname ...................... Equation-Oriented variable name which is equivalent to the accessed
variable. A string of up to 32 characters enclosed in quotes.
description...................... A descriptive string of up to 16 characters enclosed in quotes

The profile is stored in a FORTRAN array named farray. The total length of the
array is stored in a second FORTRAN variable, Lfarray.

The column profile results that can be accessed are shown in the Accessing
Variables sections in Chapters 12 through 29.

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Accessing Component Attribute Variables

Input Language
DEFINE fvar COMP-ATTR-VAR STREAM=sid SUBSTREAM=ssid &
COMPONENT=cid ATTRIBUTE=cattrname [ELEMENT=element]
VARY COMP-ATTR-VAR STREAM=sid SUBSTREAM=ssid &
COMPONENT=cid ATTRIBUTE=cattrname [ELEMENT=element] &
[LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3" "line4"]

Input Language Description

fvar .................................. FORTRAN variable name limited to six characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare fvar as double precision or integer, based on the type of
the accessed variable.
sid ................................... Stream ID
ssid ................................. Substream ID
cid ................................... Component ID
cattrname........................ Component attribute name
element ........................... Position of the accessed variable in the list when the component attribute
name is associated with a list of values
line1, line2, ..................... A string of up to eight characters enclosed in quotes. The label is used in
line3, line4 the report in place of system-generated labels.

Accessing Component Attribute Vectors

Input Language
VECTOR-DEF farray COMP-ATTR STREAM=sid SUBSTREAM=ssid &
COMPONENT=cid ATTRIBUTE=cattrname

Input Language Description

farray............................... FORTRAN array name limited to five characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare fvar as double precision or integer, based on the type of
the accessed variable.

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sid.................................... Stream ID
ssid.................................. Substream ID
cid.................................... Component ID
cattrname ........................ Component attribute name

Accessing Substream Attribute Variables

Input Language
DEFINE fvar SUBS-ATTR-VAR STREAM=sid SUBSTREAM=ssid &
ATTRIBUTE=sattrname [ELEMENT=element]
VARY SUBS-ATTR-VAR STREAM=sid SUBSTREAM=ssid &
ATTRIBUTE=sattrname [ELEMENT=element] &
[LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3" "line4"]

Input Language Description

fvar .................................. FORTRAN variable name limited to six characters. Must begin with A-H
or O-Z, or be declared double precision. For integer variables, fvar must
begin with I-N or be declared integer.
sid.................................... Stream ID
ssid.................................. Substream ID
sattrname ........................ Substream attribute name
element ........................... Position of the accessed variable in the list when the substream attribute
name is associated with a list of values
line1, line2,...................... A string of up to eight characters enclosed in quotes. The label is used in
line3, line4 the report in place of system-generated labels.

Accessing Substream Attribute Vectors

Input Language
VECTOR-DEF farray SUBS-ATTR STREAM=sid SUBSTREAM=ssid &
ATTRIBUTE=sattrname

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Input Language Description

farray............................... FORTRAN array name limited to five characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare farray as double precision or integer, based on the type
of the accessed variable.
sid ................................... Stream ID
ssid ................................. Substream ID
sattrname........................ Substream attribute name

Accessing Chemistry and Reaction

Variables

Input Language

Chemistry variables:
DEFINE fvar CHEM-VAR CHEMISTRY=chemid SENTENCE=sentname &
VARIABLE=varname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2]
VARY CHEM-VAR CHEMISTRY=chemid SENTENCE=sentname &
VARIABLE=varname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] &
[LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3" "line4"]

Reaction variables:
DEFINE fvar REACT-VAR REACTION=reacid SENTENCE=sentname &
VARIABLE=varname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2]
VARY REACT-VAR REACTION=reacid SENTENCE=sentname &
VARIABLE=varname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] &
[LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3" "line4"]

Input Language Description

fvar .................................. FORTRAN variable name limited to six characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare fvar as double precision or integer, based on the type of
the accessed variable.
chemid ............................ Chemistry ID. (See Chapter 5.)
reacid .............................. Reaction ID. (See Chapter 6.)
sentname ........................ Sentence name. (See Accessing Variables sections in Chapters 5 and 6.)

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varname .......................... Variable name. (See Accessing Variables sections in Chapters 5 and 6.)
id1, id2............................. Variable IDs used to uniquely identify the accessed variable when the
variable name alone is not sufficient.
(See Accessing Variables sections in Chapters 5 and 6.)
line1, line2,...................... A string of up to eight characters enclosed in quotes. The label is used in
line3, line4 the report in place of system-generated labels.

Accessing Balance Block Variables

Input Language
DEFINE fvar BALANCE-VAR BLOCK=balanceid SENTENCE=sentname &
VARIABLE=varname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] [EO-NAME=eovarname] &
[DESCRIPTION=description]
VARY BALANCE-VAR BLOCK=balanceid SENTENCE=sentname &
VARIABLE=varname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] [LABEL="line1" "line2" &
"line3" "line4"]

Input Language Description

fvar .................................. FORTRAN variable name limited to six characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare fvar as double precision or integer, based on the type of
the accessed variable.
balanceid ........................ Block ID
sentname ........................ Sentence name. (See Accessing Variable section in Chapter 35.)
varname .......................... Variable name. (See Accessing Variable section in Chapter 35.)
id1, id2............................. Variable IDs used to uniquely identify the accessed variable when the
variable name alone is not sufficient.
(See Accessing Variable section in Chapter 35.)
eovarname ...................... Equation-Oriented variable name which is equivalent to the accessed
variable. A string of up to 32 characters enclosed in quotes.
description...................... A descriptive string of up to 16 characters enclosed in quotes
line1, line2,...................... A string of up to eight characters enclosed in quotes. The label is used in
line3, line4 the report in place of system-generated labels.

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 Accessing
Flowsheet
Variables

Accessing Pressure Relief Block Variables

Input Language
DEFINE fvar PRESR-VAR BLOCK=pblockid SENTENCE=sentname &
VARIABLE=varname [ID1=id1] [EO-NAME=eovarname] &
[DESCRIPTION=description]
VARY PRESR-VAR BLOCK=pblockid SENTENCE=sentname &
VARIABLE=varname [ID1=id1] [LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3"
"line4"]

Input Language Description

fvar .................................. FORTRAN variable name limited to six characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare fvar as double precision or integer, based on the type of
the accessed variable.
pblockid .......................... Pressure relief block ID
sentname ........................ Sentence name. (See Accessing Variable section in Chapter 40.)
varname .......................... Variable name. (See Accessing Variable section in Chapter 40.)
id1 ................................... Variable IDs used to uniquely identify the accessed variable when the
variable name alone is not sufficient. (See Accessing Variable section in
Chapter 40.)
eovarname ...................... Equation-Oriented variable name which is equivalent to the accessed
variable. A string of up to 32 characters enclosed in quotes.
description ..................... A descriptive string of up to 16 characters enclosed in quotes.
line1, line2, ..................... A string of up to eight characters enclosed in quotes. The label is used in
line3, line4 the report in place of system-generated labels.

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 Chapter 30

Accessing Unary Physical Property

Parameters

Input Language

Unary parameter variables:

DEFINE fvar UNARY-PARAM VARIABLE=upvarname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2]
VARY UNARY-PARAM VARIABLE=upvarname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] &
[LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3" "line4"]

Unary correlation element variables:

DEFINE fvar UNARY-COR-EL VARIABLE=ucvarname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] &
[ELEMENT=element]
VARY UNARY-COR-EL VARIABLE=ucvarname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] &
[ELEMENT=element] [LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3" "line4"]

Unary correlation vectors:

DEFINE fvar UN-COR-VEC VARIABLE=ucvarname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2]

Input Language Description

fvar .................................. FORTRAN variable name limited to six characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare fvar as double precision or integer, based on the type of
the accessed variable.
upvarname ...................... Scalar unary parameter name, for example OMEGA for Pitzer acentric
factor. (See Aspen Plus Physical Property Methods and Models,
Chapter 3.)
ucvarname ...................... Unary correlation parameter name, for example PLXANT for extended
Antoine vapor pressure parameter. (See Aspen Plus Physical Property
Methods and Models, Chapter 3.)
id1, id2............................. Variable IDs used to uniquely identify the accessed variable when the
variable name alone is not sufficient. id1 is the component ID. id2 is the
parameter data set number. (Default=1)
element ........................... Element number of the correlation parameter
line1, line2,...................... A string of up to eight characters enclosed in quotes. The label is used in
line3, line4 the report in place of system-generated labels.

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 Accessing
Flowsheet
Variables

Accessing Binary Physical Properties

Input Language

Binary parameter variables:

DEFINE fvar BI-PARAM VARIABLE=bpvarname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] &
[ID3=id3]
VARY UNARY-PARAM VARIABLE=bpvarname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] [ID3=id3] &
[LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3" "line4"]

Binary correlation element variables:

DEFINE fvar BI-COR-EL VARIABLE=bcvarname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] &
[ID3=id3] [ELEMENT=element]
VARY BI-COR-EL VARIABLE=bcvarname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] [ID3=id3] &
[ELEMENT=element] [LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3" "line4"]

Binary correlation vectors:

DEFINE fvar BI-COR-VEC VARIABLE=bcvarname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] &
[ID3=id3]

Input Language Description

fvar .................................. FORTRAN variable name limited to six characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare fvar as double precision or integer, based on the type of
the accessed variable.
bpvarname...................... Scalar binary parameter name, for example PRKIJ for the Peng-Robinson
equation-of-state model. (See Aspen Plus Physical Property Methods and
Models, Chapter 3.)
bcvarname ...................... Binary correlation parameter name, for example HENRY for Henry's
constants. (See Aspen Plus Physical Property Methods and Models,
Chapter 3.)
id1, id2, id3 ..................... Variable IDs used to uniquely identify the accessed variable when the
variable name alone is not sufficient. id1 is the component ID of the first
component. id2 is the component ID of the second component. id3 is the
parameter data set number. (Default=1)
element ........................... Element number of the correlation parameter
line1, line2, ..................... A string of up to eight characters enclosed in quotes. The label is used in
line3, line4 the report in place of system-generated labels.

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 Chapter 30

Accessing Non-Conventional Component

Parameter Variables

Input Language
DEFINE fvar NC-PARAM VARIABLE=varname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] &
[ELEMENT=element]
VARY NC-PARAM VARIABLE=varname [ID1=id1] [ID2=id2] &
[ELEMENT=element]

Input Language Description

fvar .................................. FORTRAN variable name limited to six characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare fvar as double precision or integer, based on the type of
the accessed variable.
varname .......................... Nonconventional component parameter variable name, for example
BOIEC parameter for the Boie heat of combustion correlation for coal.
(See Aspen Plus Physical Property Methods and Models, Chapter 3.)
id1, id2............................. Variable IDs used to uniquely identify the accessed variable when the
variable name alone is not sufficient. id1 is the component ID of the
nonconventional component. id2 is the data set number which should be
set to 1.
element ........................... Element number of the vector parameter

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 Accessing
Flowsheet
Variables

Accessing Indirect Variables

Input Language
DEFINE fvar PARAMETER paramno [EO-NAME=eovarname] &
[INIT-VAL=initval] [PHYS-QTY=physqty] [UOM=uom] &
[DESCRIPTION=description]
VARY PARAMETER paramno [LABEL="line1" "line2" "line3" "line4"]

Input Language Description

The PARAMETER variable type is used for direct communication between
DEFINE and VARY sentences in different paragraphs. PARAMETER variables
are established by the user and create intermediate storage locations used to
manipulate, store and retrieve variables that are not direct Aspen Plus block and
stream variables, such as the temperature difference between two blocks or the
set point of a design specification. PARAMETER variables are identified by the
PARAMETER variable number. There can be any number of PARAMETER
variables in a simulation.
fvar .................................. FORTRAN variable name limited to six characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare fvar as double precision or integer, based on the type of
the accessed variable.
paramno.......................... Parameter variable number
eovarname ...................... A string of up to eight characters enclosed in quotes. The label is used in
the report in place of system-generated labels.
initval .............................. Initial value of the parameter.
physqty ........................... Physical quantity (see Chapter 3) for the accessed variable.
uom ................................. Unit of measure (See Chapter 3).
description ..................... A descriptive string of up to 16 characters in quotes.
line1, line2, ..................... A string of up to eight characters enclosed in quotes. The label is used in
line3, line4 the report in place of system-generated labels.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

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Chapter 31

31 Design Specifications
This chapter describes the input language for defining design specifications.

Use the DESIGN-SPEC paragraph to:

• Identify the sampled flowsheet variables and equivalence them to FORTRAN
variables, by using the DEFINE or VECTOR-DEF sentences
• Identify a flowsheet variable as the manipulated variable by using the VARY
sentence
• Supply a tolerance on the design specification by using the TOL-SPEC
sentence
• Supply upper and lower limits, and initial and maximum step sizes, for the
manipulated variable, using the LIMITS sentence
• Enter the design specification as a function of the FORTRAN variables, by
using the SPEC sentence and optional inline FORTRAN statements

Accessed flowsheet variables, with the exception of VECTOR-DEF, are in units

established by the IN-UNITS statement. You cannot specify alternative units
through the use of brackets or braces. A DESIGN-SPEC can only access flowsheet
objects which are global (such as property parameters) or which are contained
(directly or indirectly) in the hierarchy where the DESIGN-SPEC is specified.

Input Language Guide 31-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Design
Specifications

DESIGN-SPEC Paragraph

Input Language for DESIGN-SPEC

DESIGN-SPEC specid
F FORTRAN declaration statements
DEFINE fvar vartype keyword=value
VECTOR-DEF farray vectype keyword=value
F Executable FORTRAN statements
SPEC "expression1" TO "expression2"
TOL-SPEC "tol"
VARY vartype keyword=value
LIMITS "lower" "upper" keyword=value

Optional keywords for LIMITS:

STEP-SIZE MAX-STEP-SIZE

EO-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
COMPS DERIV-METHOD SOLVE-METHOD

INIT-ATTR vname keyword=value

Optional keywords:
VALUE LOWER UPPER STEP BOUND-TYPE SBWEIGHT PHYS-QTY
UOM SCALE

SCRIPTS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
METHOD TYPE LOCALSCRIPT GLOBALSCRIPT FILE

Input Language Description for DESIGN-SPEC

specid ............................. Design specification ID
FORTRAN Statements Use in computing the design specification function and tolerance, and the manipulated variables
limits. FORTRAN statements are needed only if the functions involved are too complex to be
represented by the SPEC, TOL-SPEC, and LIMITS expressions. You can also use FORTRAN
comments (not shown). See Chapter 32, and the Aspen Plus User Guide, Volume 2, Chapter 9 for a
complete discussion of FORTRAN statements and expressions.

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Chapter 31

DEFINE Use to access a sampled flowsheet variable and equivalence it to the FORTRAN variable fvar,
which is used in subsequent FORTRAN statements or expressions to represent the flowsheet
variable. There must be at least one DEFINE or VECTOR-DEF sentence in a design specification.
Sampled variables are in the input units in effect for the design specification. Stream variables,
stream properties, block input variables, and block results can be sampled.
fvar .................................. FORTRAN variable name limited to six characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare fvar as double precision or integer, based on the type of
the accessed variable.
vartype ............................ Sampled variable type:
BLOCK-VAR............................. Unit operation block variable
PARAMETER ........................... User-defined indirect variable
STREAM-VAR .......................... Stream variable
basis-FLOW ............................. Component flow on a MOLE, MASS, or
STDVOL basis
basis-FRAC.............................. Component fraction on a MOLE, MASS, or
STDVOL basis
STREAM-PROP........................ Stream property, defined using a PROP-SET
paragraph. (See Chapter 42.)
INFO-VAR................................. Heat stream duty or work stream power
COMP-ATTR-VAR.................... Component attribute variable
SUBS-ATTR-VAR .................... Substream attribute variable
CHEM-VAR............................... Chemistry variable
REACT-VAR............................. Reaction variable
BALANCE-VAR........................ Balance block variable
PRES-VAR................................ Pressure relief variable
UNARY-PARAM....................... Unary parameter variable
UNARY-COR-EL ...................... Unary correlation variable
UN-COR-VEC ........................... Unary correlation vector
BI-PARAM ................................ Binary parameter variable
BI-COR-EL................................ Binary correlation variable
BI-COR-VEC............................. Binary correlation vector
NC-PARAM............................... Non-conventional component parameter
variable
The remaining keywords for DEFINE depend on vartype. (See Chapter 30.)
VECTOR-DEF Similar to DEFINE except that VECTOR-DEF equivalences an entire stream or block profile result
to the FORTRAN array, farray. VECTOR-DEF is useful when several variables from the same
array are needed. There must be at least one DEFINE or VECTOR-DEF sentence in a design
specification.
farray ............................... FORTRAN array name limited to five characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare farray as double precision or integer, based on the type
of the accessed variable.

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Design
Specifications

vectype ........................... Sampled vector type:

STREAM ................................... Stream vector
SUBSTREAM ........................... Substream vector
PROFILE................................... Block vector
COMP-ATTR............................. Component attribute vector
SUBS-ATTR ............................. Substream attribute vector
The remaining keywords for VECTOR-DEF depend on vectype. (See Chapter 30.)
SPEC Use to define the design specification function: expression1 – expression2 = 0
Where expression1 and expression2 are any valid FORTRAN arithmetic expressions. Typically,
expression1 is a sampled flowsheet variable, and expression2 is a desired value for the variable, in
which case you can omit the quotes ("). You must enter the SPEC sentence.
TOL-SPEC Use to enter the design specification tolerance. –tol < expression1 – expression2 < tol
Where tol is any valid FORTRAN arithmetic expression. Typically, tol is a constant, in which case
you can omit the quotes ("). You must enter the TOL-SPEC sentence. Tolerance values specified in
the DESIGN-SPEC paragraph are superseded by tolerance values specified in a CONVERGENCE
paragraph.
VARY Use to identify the manipulated variable. You can only manipulate block input or process feed
stream variables. You cannot manipulate integer block input variables (for example, the feed
location of a distillation column). The manipulated block or stream variable must either be a
variable that you specify in the BLOCK or STREAM paragraph, or it must have a default value.
The specified or default value is used as an initial estimate by the design specification. The initial
guess used for a manipulated variable is the stream or block input specification for the variable.
You must enter the VARY sentence. See Chapter 30 for a complete discussion of the VARY
sentence. The remaining keywords for VARY depend on vartype. (See Chapter 30.)
LIMITS Use to specify limits for the manipulated variable, where lower and upper are any valid FORTRAN
arithmetic expressions. LIMITS expressions are evaluated before the first iteration of design
specification convergence loops. They are not re-evaluated before subsequent iterations. Typically
the limits are constants, in which case you can omit the quotes ("). You must enter the LIMITS
sentence. You can also use the LIMITS sentence to enter initial step size and maximum step size:
STEP-SIZE ...................... Initial step size for the manipulated variable. Step size is defined as a
fraction of the range (upper limit minus lower limit). Values entered in a
CONVERGENCE paragraph supersede values entered in the DESIGN-
SPEC paragraph.
MAX-STEP-SIZE ............. Maximum step size for the manipulated variable. Step size is defined as a
fraction of the range (upper limit minus lower limit). Values entered in a
CONVERGENCE paragraph supersede values entered in the DESIGN-
SPEC paragraph.
EO-OPTIONS Use to specify equation-oriented options for the Design Spec.
COMPS............................ Component group for a list of components which can be active in this
Design Spec.
DERIV-METHOD ............. Preferred derivatives method, Analytic or Numeric. Update methods
should not be used for Degree of Freedom run modes (Optimization or
Reconciliation).
DERIV-METHOD = Model derivatives (Jacobian) are determined
ANALYTICAL ........................... from coded analytic expressions. Generally the
preferred method.

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Chapter 31

DERIV-METHOD = Alternate method for calculating Jacobian.

NUMERICAL............................. Useful when there is concern that analytic
derivatives are causing convergence difficulties.
Usually slower than analytic derivatives, more
subject to precision issues. (Default)
DERIV-METHOD = Use Schubert method for updating Jacobian,
UPDATE-ANALY...................... with analytic derivatives for the Base Jacobian.
Use when Jacobian calculation is rate limiting
step. May result in more iterations and be less
robust than calculated derivatives.
DERIV-METHOD = Use Schubert method for updating Jacobian,
UPDATE-NUMER..................... with numerical derivatives for the Base
Jacobian. Use when Jacobian calculation is rate
limiting step. May result in more iterations and
be less robust than calculated derivatives.
SOLVE-METHOD ............ EO solution method. Specifies if open, closed, or neither method should be
used with desired action and message level on failure.
SOLVE-METHOD= Ignore during EO solution. (Default)
DO-NOT-CREAT ......................
SOLVE-METHOD= Closed solution method; use Perturbation layer
PERTURBATION ..................... around closed model.
INIT-ATTR Use to specify the attributes of open variables.
vname.............................. Name of the variable. (Required)
VALUE ............................. Current value of the variable.
LOWER............................ Lower bound.
UPPER............................. Upper bound.
STEP................................ Step bound.
BOUND-TYPE ................. Bound type.
BOUND-TYPE = HARD............ Do not violate the upper and/or lower bounds
when solving a non-square (optimization or
data regression) problem.
BOUND-TYPE = RELAXED..... Relax upper and/or lower bound. If the initial
value is outside the bound, set the bound to the
initial value.
BOUND-TYPE = SOFT............. Same as relaxed but add a penalty term to the
objective to try to drive the value back to the
bound.
SBWEIGHT...................... Soft bound weight.
PHYS-QTY....................... The physical quantity that the variable represents, for example, mole
flow, temperature, or pressure. These types correspond to the standard
Aspen Plus types.
UOM................................. Units of measure (standard Aspen Plus units), based on the physical type
of the variable. Internally, all values are stored in SI units.
SCALE ............................. Scale factor used by the solver.

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Design
Specifications

SCRIPTS Use this sentence to specify scripts for a block.

METHOD ......................... Script method. Blocks support default script methods of SETUP and INIT.
User may define other methods. (Required)
TYPE ............................... Type of script (Required)
TYPE = LOCALSCRIPT ........... Local Script
TYPE = GLOBALSCRIPT ........ Global Script
TYPE = FILE............................. File
LOCALSCRIPT ............... ID of a LOCAL SCRIPT paragraph. See Chapter 49.
GLOBALSCRIPT............. ID of a GLOBAL SCRIPT paragraph. See Chapter 49.
FILE................................. Name of a file

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

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 Chapter 32

32 Calculator Blocks
This chapter describes the input language for CALCULATOR blocks.

Use the CALCULATOR block paragraph to:

• Access the flowsheet variables that are used in the FORTRAN statements and
equivalence them to FORTRAN variables, using DEFINE and VECTOR-DEF
sentences
• Supply the FORTRAN statements
• Designate when the statements are to be executed, by using the EXECUTE
sentence, the READ-VARS and WRITE-VARS sentences, or the SEQUENCE
paragraph. (See Chapter 38.)
• Specify tear variables to be converged

CALCULATOR blocks can also be used to manipulate flowsheet variables in

EXCEL spreadsheets. This feature can only be used when the CALCULATOR is
executed from within the Aspen Plus User Interface.

Accessed flowsheet variables, with the exception of VECTOR-DEF, are in units

established by the IN-UNITS statement. You cannot specify alternative units
through the use of brackets or braces.

Input Language Guide 32-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Calculator
Blocks

Calculator Block Paragraph

Input Language for CALCULATOR

CALCULATOR cblockid
F FORTRAN declaration statements
DEFINE fvar vartype keyword=value
VECTOR-DEF farray vectype keyword=value
F Executable FORTRAN statements
READ-VARS fvar-list
WRITE-VARS fvar-list
EXECUTE executionopt blocktype blockid

Executionopts:
FIRST LAST BEFORE AFTER REPORT
Blocktypes:
BLOCK CONVERGENCE TRANSFER CALCULATOR BALANCE PRES-RELIEF

TEAR-VARS keyword=value

Keywords:
TEAR-VAR LOWER UPPER SCALE STEP MAX-STEP

FLASH-SPECS sid kode keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE FREE-WATER MAXIT TOL T-EST P-EST

BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Keywords:
SIM-LEVEL TERM-LEVEL VAR-LEVEL TVAR-LEVEL

EO-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
COMPS DERIV-METHOD SOLVE-METHOD

INIT-ATTR vname keyword=value

Optional keywords:
VALUE LOWER UPPER STEP BOUND-TYPE SBWEIGHT PHYS-QTY
UOM SCALE

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 Chapter 32

SCRIPTS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
METHOD TYPE LOCALSCRIPT GLOBALSCRIPT FILE

Input Language Description for CALCULATOR

cblockid .......................... CALCULATOR block ID
DEFINE, Use to access a flowsheet variable and equivalence it to the FORTRAN variable fvar, which is used
VECTOR-DEF in subsequent FORTRAN statements to represent the flowsheet variable. VECTOR-DEF is similar
to DEFINE, except that VECTOR-DEF equivalences an entire stream or block profile result to the
FORTRAN array, farray. VECTOR-DEF is useful when several variables from the same array are
needed or changed. There must be at least one DEFINE or VECTOR-DEF sentence in a
CALCULATOR block. See Chapter 30 for a complete description of the DEFINE and VECTOR-DEF
sentences.
FORTRAN Statements A FORTRAN statement is any valid FORTRAN statement subject to the restrictions discussed in
the Aspen Plus User Guide, Volume 2, Chapter 9. You can also use FORTRAN comments (not
shown). Variables accessed using STREAM-PROP, MOLE-FRAC, MASS-FRAC, or STDVOL-FRAC
cannot be changed by FORTRAN statements. However, you can use MOLE-FLOW, MASS-FLOW,
and STDVOL-FLOW to change stream composition.
READ-VARS, WRITE- Use to establish which of the variables appearing in DEFINE or VECTOR-DEF sentences are
VARS sampled variables, and which are variables changed by the CALCULATOR block. Aspen Plus uses
this information to automatically sequence the CALCULATOR block. READ-VARS establishes
information flow from the block or stream containing a sampled (read-only) variable to the
CALCULATOR block. WRITE-VARS establishes information flow from the CALCULATOR block to
changed (read-write or write-only) variables. Do not use the READ-VARS and WRITE-VARS
sentences if you specified the EXECUTE sentence.
fvar-list ............................ List of FORTRAN variables
EXECUTE Use to specify when the FORTRAN statements are executed. A CALCULATOR block can have only
one EXECUTE sentence. If the CALCULATOR block ID is entered in a user-supplied sequence, the
EXECUTE sentence is not required. Do not use the EXECUTE sentence if you specified READ-
VARS and WRITE-VARS sentences.
executionopt................... Execution options:
FIRST........................................ CALCULATOR block executed at beginning of
simulation
LAST......................................... CALCULATOR block executed at end of
simulation
BEFORE ................................... CALCULATOR block executed before a block,
specified by blocktype and blockid
AFTER ...................................... CALCULATOR block executed after a block,
specified by blocktype and blockid
REPORT ................................... CALCULATOR block executed while report is
being generated
blocktype ........................ Block types. Use only for BEFORE and AFTER execution options.
BLOCK ..................................... Unit operation block
CONVERGENCE...................... Convergence block

Input Language Guide 32-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Calculator
Blocks

TRANSFER............................... Transfer block

CALCULATOR ......................... CALCULATOR block
BALANCE................................. Balance block
PRES-RELIEF .......................... Pressure relief block
blockid ............................ Block ID of the specified blocktype. Use only for BEFORE and AFTER
execution options.
TEAR-VARS Use to specify tear variables to be converged.
TEAR-VAR ...................... FORTRAN name from WRITE-VARS sentence
LOWER ........................... Lower limit for the TEAR-VAR for convergence methods that use bounds
(Default=-1x1035)
UPPER ............................ Upper limit for the TEAR-VAR for convergence methods that use bounds
(Default=1x1035)
SCALE............................. Magnitude of the TEAR-VAR to scale the variable with
STEP ............................... Relative perturbation step for convergence methods that require
perturbation
MAX-STEP ...................... Relative step limit per iteration for convergence methods that use the
information
FLASH-SPECS Use to specify the thermodynamic condition of a stream accessed by a CALCULATOR block. Or use
to request or suppress flash calculations.
If you do not use FLASH-SPECS, Aspen Plus decides whether or not to flash the stream.
Aspen Plus:
• Does not flash a stream if all its variables are declared as READ-VARS only
• Does not flash a stream if the only accessed variables are total flow, enthalpy, entropy, or density
• Flashes a stream if any of the stream variables are declared as WRITE-VARS
• Flashes a stream if the temperature, pressure, or composition of the stream is modified
If Aspen Plus determines that a flash is necessary, it uses the values present in the stream, and the
flash options established in the STREAM paragraph or source block of the stream.
sid ................................... Stream ID
kode ................................ Thermodynamic condition of flash calculation:
NOFLASH................................. Stream is not flashed
PH ............................................. PH flash
TP.............................................. TP flash
PV ............................................. PV flash
TH ............................................. TH flash
TV.............................................. TV flash
TEMP............................... Temperature. Allowed only when kode is TP, TH, or TV. (Default=value
present in the stream)
PRES ............................... Pressure. Allowed only when kode is PH, TP, or PV. (Default=value
present in the stream)
VFRAC ............................ Vapor fraction. Allowed only when kode is PV or TV. (Default=value
present in the stream)
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:

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 Chapter 32

NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation

NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE............................. Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L ................................. Liquid
PHASE=S ................................. Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
FREE-WATER ................. Use to override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph. (See Chapter 46.)
FREE-WATER=NO................... Does not perform free-water calculations
FREE-WATER=YES................. Performs free-water calculations
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
T-EST............................... Temperature estimate used as an initial guess when the stream is flashed
P-EST .............................. Pressure estimate used as an initial guess when the stream is flashed
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override diagnostic message levels for the history file and the terminal, established by the
DIAGNOSTICS paragraph (see Chapter 46).
SIM-LEVEL...................... Sets the level of simulation errors and diagnostics printed in the history
file (default is set by HISTORY SIM-LEVEL in the DIAGNOSTICS
paragraph).
TERM-LEVEL .................. Sets the level of simulation errors and diagnostics printed to the terminal
(default is set by TERMINAL SIM-LEVEL in the DIAGNOSTICS
paragraph)
VAR-LEVEL..................... Sets the level of diagnostics printed in the history file for FORTRAN
variables used in the DEFINE and VECTOR-DEF sentences (default is
set by HISTORY VAR-LEVEL in the DIAGNOSTICS paragraph)
TVAR-LEVEL................... Sets the level of diagnostics printed to the terminal for FORTRAN
variables used in the DEFINE and VECTOR-DEF sentences (default is
set by TERMINAL VAR-LEVEL in the DIAGNOSTICS paragraph)
EO-OPTIONS Use to specify equation-oriented options for the Calculator.
COMPS............................ Component group for a list of components which can be active in this
Calculator.
DERIV-METHOD ............. Preferred derivatives method, Analytic or Numeric. Update methods
should not be used for Degree of Freedom run modes (Optimization or
Reconciliation).
DERIV-METHOD = Model derivatives (Jacobian) are determined
ANALYTICAL ........................... from coded analytic expressions. Generally the
preferred method.

Input Language Guide 32-5

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 Calculator
Blocks

DERIV-METHOD = Alternate method for calculating Jacobian.

NUMERICAL............................. Useful when there is concern that analytic
derivatives are causing convergence difficulties.
Usually slower than analytic derivatives, more
subject to precision issues. (Default)
DERIV-METHOD = Use Schubert method for updating Jacobian,
UPDATE-ANALY...................... with analytic derivatives for the Base Jacobian.
Use when Jacobian calculation is rate limiting
step. May result in more iterations and be less
robust than calculated derivatives.
DERIV-METHOD = Use Schubert method for updating Jacobian,
UPDATE-NUMER ..................... with numerical derivatives for the Base
Jacobian. Use when Jacobian calculation is rate
limiting step. May result in more iterations and
be less robust than calculated derivatives.
SOLVE-METHOD............ EO solution method. Specifies if open, closed, or neither method should be
used with desired action and message level on failure.
SOLVE-METHOD= Closed solution method; use Perturbation layer
PERTURBATION...................... around closed model. (Default)
SOLVE-METHOD= Ignore during EO solution.
DO-NOT-CREAT ......................
INIT-ATTR Use to specify the attributes of open variables.
vname ............................. Name of the variable. (Required)
VALUE............................. Current value of the variable.
LOWER ........................... Lower bound.
UPPER ............................ Upper bound.
STEP ............................... Step bound.
BOUND-TYPE ................. Bound type.
BOUND-TYPE = HARD............ Do not violate the upper and/or lower bounds
when solving a non-square (optimization or
data regression) problem.
BOUND-TYPE = RELAXED ..... Relax upper and/or lower bound. If the initial
value is outside the bound, set the bound to the
initial value.
BOUND-TYPE = SOFT............. Same as relaxed but add a penalty term to the
objective to try to drive the value back to the
bound.
SBWEIGHT ..................... Soft bound weight.
PHYS-QTY ...................... The physical quantity that the variable represents, for example, mole
flow, temperature, or pressure. These types correspond to the standard
Aspen Plus types.
UOM ................................ Units of measure (standard Aspen Plus units), based on the physical type
of the variable. Internally, all values are stored in SI units.
SCALE............................. Scale factor used by the solver.

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 Chapter 32

SCRIPTS Use this sentence to specify scripts for a block.

METHOD ......................... Script method. Blocks support default script methods of SETUP and INIT.
User may define other methods. (Required)
TYPE................................ Type of script (Required)
TYPE = LOCALSCRIPT........... Local Script
TYPE = GLOBALSCRIPT ........ Global Script
TYPE = FILE............................. File
LOCALSCRIPT................ ID of a LOCAL SCRIPT paragraph. See Chapter 49.
GLOBALSCRIPT............. ID of a GLOBAL SCRIPT paragraph. See Chapter 49.
FILE ................................. Name of a file

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 Calculator
Blocks

32-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 33

33 Optimization
This chapter describes the input language for defining optimization and
constraint specifications.
Use the OPTIMIZATION paragraph to:
• Identify the sampled flowsheet variables to be used in the objective function
and equivalence them to FORTRAN variables using the DEFINE or VECTOR-
DEF sentences
• Specify the objective function as a function of the sampled variables using the
MAXIMIZE or MINIMIZE sentence and optional inline FORTRAN statements
• Identify the constraints associated with the optimization problem, using the
CONSTRAINT paragraph
• Identify the decision variables (feed stream and block input variables) that
are to be varied to achieve the optimum by using the VARY sentence. An
unlimited number of decision variables are allowed. However, you should keep
this number to a minimum to avoid excessive computation time in solving the
optimization problem.
• Supply upper and lower limits, and initial and maximum step sizes, for the
decision variables. Use the LIMITS sentence.
Use the CONSTRAINT paragraph to:
• Identify the sampled flowsheet variables to be used in the constraint function
and tolerance, and equivalence them to FORTRAN variables using the
DEFINE or VECTOR-DEF sentences
• Enter the constraint as a function of the sampled variables, using the SPEC
sentence and optional inline FORTRAN statements
• Supply a tolerance on the constraint, using the TOL-SPEC sentence
Accessed flowsheet variables, except for VECTOR-DEF, are in units established
by the IN-UNITS statement. You cannot use units options in brackets or braces.

Input Language Guide 33-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Optimization

CONSTRAINT and OPTIMIZATION

Paragraphs

Input Language for CONSTRAINT and OPTIMIZATION

CONSTRAINT conid
F FORTRAN declaration statements
DEFINE fvar vartype keyword=value
VECTOR-DEF farray vectype keyword=value
F Executable FORTRAN statements
 LE 
 
SPEC "expression1" EQ  "expression2"
GE
TOL-SPEC "tol"
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords for PARAM:

VECTOR INDEX1 INDEX2

OPTIMIZATION optid
F FORTRAN declaration statements
DEFINE fvar vartype keyword=value
VECTOR-DEF farray STREAM sid
F Executable FORTRAN statements
MAXIMIZE " expression "
 MINIMIZE " expression" 
 
CONSTRAINTS conid / . . .
VARY vartype keyword=value
LIMITS "lower" "upper" keyword=value

Optional keywords for LIMITS:

STEP-SIZE MAX-STEP-SIZE

Input Language Description for CONSTRAINT and OPTIMIZATION

conid ............................... Constraint ID
optid ................................ Optimization ID
DEFINE Use to access a sampled flowsheet variable and equivalence it to the FORTRAN variable, fvar. The
fvar variable is used in subsequent FORTRAN statements or expressions to represent the flowsheet
variable. Sampled variables are in the input units in effect for the CONSTRAINT or
OPTIMIZATION paragraph. Stream variables, stream properties, block input variables, and block
results can be sampled. See Chapters 30 and 31 for a complete discussion of DEFINE statements.

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 Chapter 33

VECTOR-DEF Similar to DEFINE except that VECTOR-DEF equivalences an entire stream or block profile result
to the FORTRAN array, farray. VECTOR-DEF is useful when several variables from the same
array are needed. A CONSTRAINT or OPTIMIZATION paragraph must contain at least one
DEFINE or VECTOR-DEF sentence. See Chapters 30 and 31 for a complete discussion of VECTOR-
DEF statements.
FORTRAN statements Use to compute the constraint function and tolerance, the objective function, and manipulated
variable limits. You need FORTRAN statements only if the functions involved are too complex to be
represented by the SPEC, TOL-SPEC, MAXIMIZE, or MINIMIZE expressions. You can also use
FORTRAN comments (not shown). See Chapter 32 and the Aspen Plus User Guide, Volume 2,
Chapter 9, for a complete discussion of inline FORTRAN statements and expressions.
SPEC Use to define the constraint function. The constraint functions are defined as follows:
EQ.................................... For equality constraints: expression1 – expression2 = 0
LE .................................... For less than or equal to inequality constraints:
expression1 – expression2 ≤ 0
GE.................................... For greater than or equal to inequality constraints:
expression1 – expression2 ≥ 0
Where expression1 and expression2 are any valid FORTRAN arithmetic expressions, defined in the
DEFINE sentence, and enclosed in quotes ("). Typically, expression1 is a sampled flowsheet variable
and expression2 is a desired value or bound for the variable, in which case the quotes can be
omitted. The SPEC sentence is required.
TOL-SPEC Use to enter the constraint tolerance:
EQ.................................... For equality constraints: –tol < expression1 – expression2 < tol
LE .................................... For less than or equal to inequality constraints:
expression1 – expression2 < tol
GE.................................... For greater than or equal to inequality constraints:
expression1 – expression2 > – tol
Where tol is any valid FORTRAN arithmetic expression enclosed in quotes ("). Typically, tol is a
constant, in which case you can omit the quotes. The TOL-SPEC sentence is required.
PARAM Use to enter vector parameters to put constraints on vector variables for optimization problems.
Constraint vectors are usually used for profiles, such as temperature profiles.
VECTOR .......................... Specifies if there is a vector constraint: YES or NO. (Default=NO)
INDEX1 ............................ First element of the constraint vector. You must specify VECTOR=YES.
(Default=1)
INDEX2 ............................ Last element of the constraint vector. You must specify VECTOR=YES.
MAXIMIZE, Use to specify the objective function for the optimization problem. expression is any valid
MINIMIZE FORTRAN arithmetic expression enclosed in quotes ("). The OPTIMIZATION paragraph must
contain one MAXIMIZE or one MINIMIZE sentence.
CONSTRAINTS Use to specify any constraint associated with the optimization problem.
conid ............................... Constraint ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
VARY Use to identify decision variables. Only block input or process feed stream variables can be decision
variables. Integer block input variables, such as the feed location of a distillation column, cannot be
decision variables. The initial guess used for a decision variable is the stream or block input
specification for the variable. You must enter one VARY sentence and one LIMITS sentence for
each decision variable. An optimization problem can contain any number of decision variables. See

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 Optimization

Chapter 30 for a complete discussion of the VARY sentence.

LIMITS Use to specify limits for the decision variable, where lower and upper are any valid FORTRAN
arithmetic expressions enclosed in quotes ("). LIMITS expressions are evaluated before the first
iteration of the optimization convergence loop. They are not re-evaluated before subsequent
iterations. Typically, the limits are constants, in which case you can omit the quotes. The LIMITS
sentence is required. You can also use the LIMITS sentence to enter initial step size and maximum
step size:
STEP-SIZE ...................... Initial step size for the decision variable. The step size is based on the
option selected for STEP-OPT in the CONV-OPTIONS SQP sentence or
the CONVERGENCE paragraph in the PARAM sentence. Values entered
in a CONVERGENCE paragraph supersede values entered in the
OPTIMIZATION paragraph.
MAX-STEP-SIZE ............. Maximum step size for the decision variable. The step size is defined as a
fraction of the range (upper limit minus lower limit). Values entered in a
CONVERGENCE paragraph supersede values entered in the
OPTIMIZATION paragraph.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

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 Chapter 34

34 Transfer Blocks
This chapter describes the input language for TRANSFER blocks.

Use the TRANSFER block to copy the values of flowsheet variables from one part
of the flowsheet to another. You can transfer streams, stream variables, and block
variables. The most common application is to copy one stream into another.

If the transferred variable is a stream variable, you can also supply the
thermodynamic condition of the destination stream.

Input Language Guide 34-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Transfer
Blocks

TRANSFER Block Paragraph

Input Language for TRANSFER

TRANSFER tblockid
SET vartype keyword=value
SET STREAM sid
SET STREAM-FLOWS sid
SET SUBSTREAM STREAM=sid SUBSTREAM=ssid
EQUAL-TO vartype keyword=value
EQUAL-TO STREAM sid
EQUAL-TO STREAM-FLOWS sid
EQUAL-TO SUBSTREAM STREAM=sid SUBSTREAM=ssid
EXECUTE executionopt blocktype blockid

Executionopts:
FIRST LAST BEFORE AFTER
Blocktypes:
BLOCK CONVERGENCE TRANSFER CALCULATOR BALANCE PRES-
RELIEF

FLASH-SPECS sid kode keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE FREE-WATER MAXIT TOL T-EST P-EST

BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Keywords:
SIM-LEVEL TERM-LEVEL

Input Language Description for TRANSFER

tblockid ........................... Transfer block ID
SET Use to identify the scalar stream or block variable into which a scalar variable is copied. This form
of SET has the same syntax as the VARY sentence. (See Chapter 30.)
vartype ............................ Variable type. You can use any variable type allowed for the VARY
sentence. (See Chapters 30 and 31.)
SET STREAM Use to identify the stream into which a whole stream is copied.
sid ................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.

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 Chapter 34

SET STREAM-FLOWS Use to identify the stream into which the component flows and the total flow of a stream is copied.
sid.................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
SET SUBSTREAM Use to identify the stream into which the substream of a stream is copied.
sid.................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
ssid.................................. Substream ID
EQUAL-TO Use to identify a flowsheet variable from which information is copied. EQUAL-TO has the same
syntax as SET. Any number of SET sentences can be followed by a single EQUAL-TO sentence.
This allows you to transfer information from the same flowsheet variable to variables within other
parts of the flowsheet. All SET and EQUAL-TO sentences must be of the same form. The form must
be one of the following: SET vartype, SET STREAM, SET STREAM-FLOWS, or SET SUBSTREAM.
When you use the SET vartype form, the vartype within each SET sentence does not have to be the
same, but it must have the same physical dimension (such as temperature).
EXECUTE Use to specify when the transfer block is executed. A transfer block can have only one EXECUTE
sentence. If you enter the transfer block ID in a user-supplied sequence, the EXECUTE sentence is
not required.
executionopt................... Execution options:
FIRST........................................ Transfer block executed at beginning of
simulation
LAST......................................... Transfer block executed at end of simulation
BEFORE ................................... Transfer block executed before a block specified
by blocktype and blockid
AFTER ...................................... Transfer block executed after a block specified
by blocktype and blockid
blocktype ........................ Block type. Use only for BEFORE and AFTER execution options.
BLOCK ..................................... Unit operation block
CONVERGENCE...................... Convergence block
TRANSFER............................... Transfer block
CALCULATOR ......................... Calculator block
BALANCE................................. Balance block
PRES-RELIEF .......................... Pressure relief block
blockid ............................ Block ID of the specified blocktype. Use only for BEFORE and AFTER
execution options.
FLASH-SPECS Use to specify the thermodynamic condition of a stream modified by a transfer block. Or use to
request or suppress flash calculations. FLASH-SPECS is frequently used to supply temperature,
pressure, vapor fraction, or flash options, for streams assigned material flows using the SET
STREAM-FLOWS form of SET.
If you do not use FLASH-SPECS, Aspen Plus decides whether or not to flash the stream.
Aspen Plus:
• Does not flash a stream if the only transferred variables are total flow, enthalpy, entropy, or
density
• Flashes a stream if the temperature, pressure, or composition of the stream is transferred

Input Language Guide 34-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Transfer
Blocks

If Aspen Plus determines that a flash is necessary, it uses the values present in the stream, and the
flash options established in the STREAM paragraph or source block of the stream.
sid ................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
kode ................................ Thermodynamic condition of flash calculation:
NOFLASH................................. Stream is not flashed
PH ............................................. PH flash
TP.............................................. TP flash
PV ............................................. PV flash
TH ............................................. TH flash
TV.............................................. TV flash
TEMP............................... Temperature. Allowed only when kode is TP, TH, or TV. (Default=value
present in the stream)
PRES ............................... Pressure. Allowed only when kode is PH, TP, or PV. (Default=value
present in the stream)
VFRAC ............................ Vapor fraction. Allowed only when kode is PV or TV. (Default=value
present in the stream)
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in MIXED substream:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid
PHASE=S ................................. Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
FREE-WATER ................. Use to override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph. (See Chapter 46.)
FREE-WATER=NO................... Does not perform free-water calculations
FREE-WATER=YES................. Performs free-water calculations
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
......................................... SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
T-EST .............................. Temperature estimate. Use to aid flash convergence when kode is PH or
PV.
P-EST .............................. Pressure estimate. Use to aid flash convergence when kode is TH or TV.
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels established by the DIAGNOSTICS paragraph. (See
Chapter 46.)

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

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 Chapter 35

35 Balance Blocks
This chapter describes the input language for BALANCE blocks.

Use the BALANCE block to:

• Calculate feed stream flow rate and conditions, based on other stream and
block information. This can eliminate the need for DESIGN-SPECs and
convergence loops.
• Calculate the flow rate of make-up streams in recycle calculations. The
BALANCE block can eliminate Calculator blocks for this purpose.

Input Language Guide 35-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Balance Blocks

BALANCE Block

Input Language for BALANCE

BALANCE balanceid
DESCRIPTION "a balance description - up to 64 characters in quotes"
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
EXECUTE NMOLE NMASS CHECK MAXIT TOL XTOL

M-BAL mbalno keyword=value

Keywords:
BLOCKS INLETS OUTLETS COMPS SUBSTREAM

E-BAL eblano keyword=value

Keywords:
BLOCKS INLETS OUTLETS RHS

SCALE sid scalefactor

MOLE-EQN eqno termno sid ssid cid coef / . . .
MOLE-RHS eqno molerhs
MASS-EQN eqno termno sid ssid cid coef / . . .
MASS-RHS eqno massrhs
CALCULATE sid keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
FLOW ENTHALPY COMPS SUBSTREAM UPDATE

EXECUTE executionopt blocktype blockid

Executionopts:
FIRST LAST BEFORE AFTER
Blocktypes:
BLOCK CONVERGENCE TRANSFER CALCULATOR BALANCE

FLASH-SPECS sid kode keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC
Optional keywords:
NPHASE PHASE MAXIT TOL FREE-WATER T-EST P-EST

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 Chapter 35

BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
SIM-LEVEL TERM-LEVEL STREAM-LEVEL

Input Language Description for BALANCE

balanceid ........................ Balance block ID
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the BALANCE block report.
PARAM Use to enter execution options and optional convergence parameters.
EXECUTE ........................ Specifies how often the BALANCE block should be executed if the
BALANCE block is inside a convergence loop.
EXECUTE=ONCE..................... Executes only on the first iteration of the loop
EXECUTE=ALWAYS ............... Executes every iteration of the loop (Default)
EXECUTE=NEVER................... Skips BALANCE execution
NMOLE ............................ Number of mole equations
NMASS ............................ Number of mass equations
CHECK ............................ Specifies correction actions when implicit BALANCE equations are not
satisfied. Implicit equations are equations that have not been explicitly
specified by E-BAL or M-BAL. (For example, if E-BAL is specified the
mass balance equations are the implicit equations.)
CHECK=SKIP-BLOCK............. Skips the balance block. Does not update
calculated variables. (Default)
CHECK=NONE......................... Does not check implicit balance equations
CHECK=PROCEED ................. Continues to update calculated variables, even
with errors
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of iterations allowed for BALANCE calculations
(Default=30)
TOL.................................. Relative tolerance of balance equation residuals (Default=1x10-4)
XTOL ............................... Alternative tolerance when convergence cannot be achieved because one
or more variables have reached their upper or lower limits. A solution is
found that minimizes the sum of squares of design specification, and tear
stream errors divided by their respective tolerances. Iterations stop when
the root-mean-square of the changes in the scaled manipulated variables
is less than XTOL. Each manipulated variable is scaled by dividing by the
absolute value of the lower or upper limit, whichever is larger.
(Default=1x10-4)
M-BAL Use to specify mass balance equations. You must specify either the blocks or the inlet and outlet
streams to be included in the material balance envelope.
mbalno ............................ Mass balance equation number
BLOCKS.......................... IDs of Blocks to be included in the material balance envelope. Can be
hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions and restrictions.

Input Language Guide 35-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Balance Blocks

INLETS ............................ Inlet stream IDs for the material balance envelope. You must also specify
OUTLETS. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
OUTLETS ........................ Outlet stream IDs for the material balance envelope. You must also
specify INLETS. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
COMPS............................ Component IDs or component group IDs. Balance calculations are
performed for each of the substream/component combinations.
SUBSTREAM .................. Substream IDs. Balance calculations are performed for each of the
substream/component combinations.
E-BAL Use to specify energy balance equations. You must specify either the blocks or the inlet and outlet
streams to be included in the energy balance envelope.
ebalno ............................. Energy balance equation number
BLOCKS.......................... IDs of Blocks to be included in the energy balance envelope. Can be
hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions and restrictions.
INLETS ............................ Inlet stream IDs for the energy balance envelope. You must also specify
OUTLETS. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
OUTLETS ........................ Outlet stream IDs for the energy balance envelope. You must also specify
INLETS. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions and
restrictions.
RHS ................................. Right-hand side value for the energy balance equation (Default=0)
SCALE Use to change the values of stream component flows.
sid ................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
scalefactor...................... Stream scale factor. Stream is multiplied by this factor before balance
calculations.
MOLE-EQN Use to set up mole equations among the total or component molar flows over multiple components
of multiple streams.
eqno ................................ Mole equation number
termno............................. Sequence number of the term on the left-hand side
sid ................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
ssid ................................. Substream ID
cid ................................... Component ID
coef ................................. Coefficient for mole flow quantity
MOLE-RHS Use to specify the right-hand side for a mole equation.
eqno ................................ Mole equation number
molerhs........................... Right-hand side for the mole equation (Default=0)
MASS-EQN Use to set up mass equations among the total or component mass flows over multiple components in
multiple streams.
eqno ................................ Mass equation number
termno............................. Sequence number of the term on the left-hand side

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 Chapter 35

sid.................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
ssid.................................. Substream ID
cid.................................... Component ID
coef.................................. Coefficient for mass flow quantity
MASS-RHS Use to specify the right-hand side for a mass equation.
eqno ................................ Equation number
massrhs .......................... Right-hand side for the mass equation (Default=0)
CALCULATE Use to calculate and update stream variables after the mass and energy balance relationships have
been solved.
sid.................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
FLOW .............................. Type of flow variable to be calculated:
FLOW=TOTAL ......................... Calculates total flow. Stream composition
remains the same.
FLOW=SUBS ........................... Calculates substream flows. Stream
composition remains the same.
FLOW=COMPS ........................ Calculates component flows
FLOW=NONE ........................... Does not calculate any flows. Only calculates an
energy balance.
ENTHALPY...................... Switch to calculate enthalpy: YES or NO
COMPS............................ Components for which flows are to be calculated. You must also specify
ENTHALPY and FLOW=COMPS.
SUBSTREAM .................. Substream ID. You must also specify FLOW=SUBS or FLOW=COMPS.
UPDATE .......................... Switch to update calculated variables: YES or NO (Default=YES)
EXECUTE Use to specify when the balance block is executed. A balance block can have only one EXECUTE
sentence. If the balance block ID is entered in a user-supplied sequence, the EXECUTE sentence is
not required.
executionopt................... Execution options:
FIRST........................................ Balance block executed at beginning of
simulation
LAST......................................... Balance block executed at end of simulation
BEFORE ................................... Balance block executed before a block, specified
by blocktype and blockid
AFTER ...................................... Balance block executed after a block, specified
by blocktype and blockid
blocktype ........................ Block type. Use only for BEFORE and AFTER execution options.
BLOCK ..................................... Unit operation block
CONVERGENCE...................... Convergence block
TRANSFER............................... Transfer block
CALCULATOR ......................... Calculator block

Input Language Guide 35-5

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 Balance Blocks

BALANCE................................. Balance block

blockid ............................ Block ID of the specified blocktype. Use only for BEFORE and AFTER
execution options.
FLASH-SPECS Use to specify thermodynamic conditions for streams updated by a balance block. Or use to either
request or suppress flash calculations for those streams. If you do not enter FLASH-SPECS,
Aspen Plus automatically flashes an updated stream, except when the only updated variable is total
flow.
sid ................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
kode ................................ Thermodynamic condition of flash calculation:
NOFLASH................................. Does not perform flash calculation for this
stream
PH ............................................. PH flash
TP.............................................. TP flash
PV ............................................. PV flash
TH ............................................. TH flash
TV.............................................. TV flash
TEMP............................... Stream temperature. Allowed only when kode is TP, TH, or TV.
(Default=value present in the stream)
PRES ............................... Stream pressure. Allowed only when kode is PH, PV, or TP.
(Default=value present in the stream)
VFRAC ............................ Stream vapor fraction. Allowed only when kode is PV, or TV.
(Default=value present in the stream)
NPHASE.......................... Number of phases in a MIXED substream:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1:
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid
PHASE=S ................................. Solid. Use for electrolytes system only.
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
FREE-WATER ................. Use to override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph. (See Chapter 46.)
FREE-WATER=NO................... Does not perform free-water calculations
FREE-WATER=YES................. Performs free-water calculations
T-EST .............................. Temperature estimate. Use to aid flash convergence when kode is PH or
PV.

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 Chapter 35

P-EST .............................. Pressure estimate. Use to aid flash convergence when kode is TH or TV.
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels established by the DIAGNOSTICS paragraph. (See
Chapter 46.)

Accessing Variables in BALANCE

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following table lists variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variable ID1 ID2

PARAM EXECUTE — —
E-BAL RHS ebalno —
SCALE SCALE sid —
MOLE-EQN COEF eqno termno
MASS-EQN COEF eqno termno

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 35-7

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 Balance Blocks

35-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 36

36 Sensitivity Blocks
This chapter describes the input language for defining sensitivity blocks.

Use the SENSITIVITY paragraph to:

• Identify the flowsheet variables to be tabulated or to be used in FORTRAN
expressions or inline FORTRAN statements, and equivalence them to
FORTRAN variables using the DEFINE or VECTOR-DEF sentences.
• Select or compute the variables to be tabulated, using the TABULATE
sentence and optional inline FORTRAN statements.
• Identify the feed stream or block input variables to be varied to generate the
table, using the VARY sentence. Sensitivity blocks can have up to five varied
variables when the plot sentence is not included. When you request plots, only
one VARY sentence is allowed.

You can use the SENSITIVITY paragraph to select values for each variable to be
varied. You can select values by entering:
• A list of values
• Lower and upper limits. Then enter either the number of equally-spaced
points between the limits or the size of the increment between points. Use the
RANGE statement for this purpose.

Input Language Guide 36-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Sensitivity
Blocks

SENSITIVITY Block Paragraph

Input Language for SENSITIVITY

SENSITIVITY sblockid
DESCRIPTION "a sensitivity description - up to 64 characters in quotes"
F FORTRAN declaration statements
DEFINE fvar vartype keyword=value
VECTOR-DEF farray vectype keyword=value
F Executable FORTRAN statements
TABULATE colno "expression" COL-LABEL="line1". . ."line4" &
UNIT-LABEL="line5" "line6"
VARY vartype keyword=value
RANGE keyword=value

Keywords:
LIST LOWER UPPER NPOINT INCR

 ALL   ALL 
REINIT BLOCKS =   STREAMS =  
blockid − list  sid − list 
PLOT keyword=value

Optional keywords:
COLUMNS X-AXIS X-SCALE Y-SCALE PLOT-HEADING
WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
WIDE HIGH-PRECISION BASE-CASE

BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Keywords:
VAR-LEVEL TVAR-LEVEL

Input Language Description for SENSITIVITY

sblockid .......................... Sensitivity block ID
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the SENSITIVITY block report.

36-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 36

DEFINE, Use to access a flowsheet variable and equivalence it to the FORTRAN variable fvar, which is used
VECTOR-DEF in the subsequent FORTRAN statements or the TABULATE or RANGE expressions to represent
the flowsheet variable. VECTOR-DEF is similar to DEFINE except that VECTOR-DEF
equivalences an entire stream or block profile results to the FORTRAN array, farray. A
SENSITIVITY paragraph must contain at least one DEFINE or VECTOR-DEF sentence. See
Chapters 30 and 31 for a complete discussion of the DEFINE and VECTOR-DEF sentences.
FORTRAN statements A FORTRAN statement is any valid FORTRAN statement subject to the restrictions discussed in
the Aspen Plus User Guide, Volume 2, Chapter 9. You can use FORTRAN comments (not shown).
FORTRAN statements are needed only if the tabulated results or RANGE values are too complex to
be represented by the TABULATE and RANGE expressions.
TABULATE Use to define the tabulated results. Enter one TABULATE sentence for each tabulated result, to
generate one column in the sensitivity table. You can also use TABULATE to supply column
headings for tabulated results. Column headings consist of six lines of eight characters each. The
first four lines (COL-LABEL) identify the tabulated results. The last two lines (UNIT-LABEL)
display the units of tabulated results. If the tabulated results expression is a single FORTRAN
variable defined by a DEFINE sentence, then Aspen Plus automatically generates UNIT-LABEL.
Otherwise, you must enter the UNIT-LABEL or leave it blank.
colno ............................... Table column number. Column number 1 is the first column after the
columns for the varied variables.
expression ...................... Any valid FORTRAN arithmetic expression enclosed in quotes ("). It is
used to compute the tabulated values. Typically, expression is a single
FORTRAN variable name, in which case you can omit the quotes.
line1. . .line4.................... Column heading used to identify tabulated results. A string of up to eight
characters enclosed in quotes (").
line5. . .line6.................... Column heading used to display units of tabulated results. A string of up
to eight characters enclosed in quotes (").
VARY Use to identify the flowsheet variables that are to be varied to generate the table. Only block input
and process feed stream variables can be varied. You must enter one VARY sentence and one
RANGE sentence for each varied variable. A sensitivity block can have up to five VARY and
RANGE sentences when a PLOT sentence is not included. When you request plotting, only one
VARY sentence is allowed. See Chapters 30 and 31 for a complete discussion of the VARY sentence.
RANGE Use to specify values for the varied variables. Aspen Plus generates one row of the table for each
possible combination of varied variable values. You can use only one of the keywords LIST,
NPOINT, INCR in a RANGE statement.
LIST ................................. List of varied variable values
LOWER............................ Lower limit of the varied variable range. It can be a constant or
FORTRAN expression in terms of FORTRAN variables.
UPPER............................. Upper limit of the varied variable range. It can be a constant or
FORTRAN expression in terms of FORTRAN variables.
NPOINT ........................... Number of points including LOWER and UPPER. It can also be any valid
FORTRAN arithmetic expression in quotes.
INCR ................................ Increment size between intermediate points. It can also be any valid
FORTRAN arithmetic expression in quotes.

Input Language Guide 36-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Sensitivity
Blocks

REINIT Use to reset convergence and unit operation restart flags. (See Chapter 46.) Also use to restore tear
streams or streams manipulated by design specifications or by FORTRAN blocks to their initial
values, and to reset any other flowsheet stream to zero flow.
Normally, REINIT is not used, since it is usually most efficient to begin calculations for a new row
evaluation with the results of the previous row evaluation.
blockid-list...................... List of convergence and unit operation blocks for which the restart
feature is suppressed when a new row evaluation begins. When restart is
suppressed for a block, the initialization algorithm for the convergence
method or unit operation model is invoked at the beginning of each row
evaluation. IDs can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions. Enter ALL to reinitialize all blocks.
(Default=no blocks are reinitialized)
sid-list ............................. List of streams whose initial values are restored when a new row
evaluation begins. IDs can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions. Enter ALL to reinitialize all streams.
(Default=no streams are reinitialized)
PLOT Use to generate print-plots of sensitivity block results. Only one VARY sentence is allowed when
plots are produced. The variable named in the X-AXIS keyword is the independent variable for the
plots. The column numbers specified in the PLOT sentence are the dependent variables for the
plots. Up to five columns can be placed on a single plot. If you list more than five columns in a
PLOT sentence, Aspen Plus will produce multiple plots.
COLUMNS....................... List of column numbers from the TABULATE sentences for the
dependent variables to be plotted. (Default=all columns)
X-AXIS............................. Column number from the TABULATE sentence to be used as the
independent variable for the plots. (Default=variable named in VARY
sentence)
X-SCALE ......................... X-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on horizontal axis of plots
(Default)
X-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on horizontal axis of plots
Y-SCALE ......................... Y-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on vertical axis of plots
(Default)
Y-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on vertical axis of plots
Y-SCALE=LOG ........................ Uses logarithmic scale on vertical axis of plots
PLOT-HEADING.............. Heading up to 64 characters included in quotes, printed at the top of the
print-plot
WIDE, GRID, ................... Plot options. Use to override the defaults established by the
INTERPOLATE PLOT-OPTIONS paragraph. (See Chapter 47.)
PARAM Use to specify the format of the table of results and execution options.
WIDE ............................... WIDE=NO ................................. Generated tables are limited to 80 columns
wide (Default)
WIDE=YES................................ Generated tables are greater than 80 columns
wide
HIGH-PRECISION........... HIGH-PRECISION=YES........... Prints seven significant digits
HIGH-PRECISION=NO............. Prints five significant digits (Default)
BASE-CASE.................... Base-case execution options:
BASE-CASE=LAST ................. Executes base-case last (Default)

36-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 36

BASE-CASE=FIRST ................ Executes base-case first

BASE-CASE=NO ..................... Does not execute base-case
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override diagnostic message levels for the history file and the terminal, established by the
DIAGNOSTICS paragraph (see Chapter 46).
VAR-LEVEL..................... Sets the level of diagnostics printed in the history file for FORTRAN
variables that are used in the DEFINE and VECTOR-DEF sentences
(default is set by HISTORY-VAR-LEVEL in the DIAGNOSTICS
paragraph).
TVAR-LEVEL................... Sets the level of diagnostics printed to the terminal for FORTRAN
variables that are used in the DEFINE and VECTOR-DEF sentences
(default is set by TERMINAL VAR-LEVEL in the DIAGNOSTICS
paragraph).

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 36-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Sensitivity
Blocks

36-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 37

37 Case-Study Blocks
This chapter describes the input language for CASE-STUDY blocks.
Use the CASE-STUDY paragraph to:
• Identify flowsheet variables that are to be changed from case to case by using
the VARY sentence
• Assign case values for each variable by using the CASE sentence
• Supply case report options if they are different from the default report
options. An Aspen Plus input file can have only one case-study block.

Input Language Guide 37-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Case-Study
Blocks

CASE-STUDY Block Paragraph

Input Language for CASE-STUDY

CASE-STUDY
VARY vartype keyword=value
 ALL 
CASE caseno value-list REINIT-BLOCKS =   &
blockid − list 
 ALL 
REINIT-STREAMS =  
sid − list 

DESCRIPTION caseno "a case study description - up to 64 characters in

quotes"
REPORT reportopt-list

Reportopts:
NOREPORT INPUT NOFLOWSHEET NOSENSITIVITY NOPROPERTIES
NOBLOCKS NOSTREAMS

FLOWSHEET-REPORT reportopt-list

Reportopts:
NODESCRIPTION NOTOTBAL NOCONVERGENCE NOCOMPBAL
NOSEQUENCE NOFORTRAN NODESIGN-SPEC NOCONSTRAINT
NOOPTIMIZATION NOTRANSFER

BLOCK-REPORT INCL-BLOCKS=blockid-list EXCL-BLOCKS=blockid-list

STREAM-REPORT reportopt-list PROPERTIES=propsetid-list &
INCL-STREAMS=sid-list EXCL-STREAMS=sid-list
SUP-STREAM-REPORT supno reportopt-list PROPERTIES=propsetid-list &
INCL-STREAMS=sid-list EXCL-STREAMS=sid-list

Reportopts:
NOREPORT WIDE NOSORT NOZEROFLOW NOMOLEFLOW MASSFLOW
STDVOLFLOW MOLEFRAC MASSFRAC STDVOLFRAC

Input Language Description for CASE-STUDY

VARY Use to identify the variables that are to be changed from case to case. You can only change block
input and process feed stream variables. Enter one VARY sentence for each case-study variable. See
Chapters 30 and 31 for a complete discussion of the VARY sentence.

37-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 37

CASE Use to specify the values for the case-study variables. In addition, you can use REINIT-BLOCKS to
reset convergence and unit operation restart flags. (See Chapter 46.) You can use REINIT-
STREAMS to restore tear streams or feed streams manipulated by design specifications or by
Calculator blocks to their initial values. You can also use REINIT-STREAMS to reset any other
flowsheet stream to zero flow. Normally you do not use these keywords, because it is more efficient
to begin the calculations for a new case with the results of the previous case. Enter one CASE
sentence for each case to be evaluated in addition to the base case.
caseno............................. Case number
value-list.......................... List of values for the case-study variables, in the same order as the VARY
sentences. Values are in the units established by the IN-UNITS
statement. You cannot use unit options in brackets or braces.
blockid-list ...................... List of block IDs. Enter ALL to reinitialize all blocks. By default no blocks
are reinitialized. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
sid-list ............................. List of stream IDs. Enter ALL to reinitialize all streams. By default no
streams are reinitialized. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the CASE-STUDY paragraph report.
caseno............................. Case number
REPORT, Use to specify report options for the case-study reports. (The PROPERTY report is automatically
FLOWSHEET-REPORT, suppressed in case-study reports.) The only report option discussed in Chapter 47 that cannot be
BLOCK-REPORT, used in the case-study block is REPORT-SCALE. Report scaling specifications apply to all case-
STREAM-REPORT, study cases and to the base case. The REPORT, FLOWSHEET-REPORT, and BLOCK-REPORT
SUP-STREAM-REPORT sentences are used in the same way as the corresponding paragraphs described in Chapter 47. The
STREAM-REPORT and SUP-STREAM-REPORT sentences are used in the same way as the
STREAM-REPORT paragraph described in Chapter 47. If you specify report options for the base
case and would like the same options for the case-study reports, you must respecify the report
options in the CASE-STUDY paragraphs. All other keywords are also described in Chapter 47.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 37-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Case-Study
Blocks

37-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 38

38 Flowsheet Convergence
This chapter describes the input language for entering flowsheet convergence
specifications. Flowsheets with recycle loops, design specifications, or
optimization problems must be solved iteratively. The iterative solution requires
the determination of the tear streams, tear variables, convergence methods, and
calculation sequence. Aspen Plus performs all these functions automatically.
However, you can supply part or all of the convergence specifications, using the
input language in this chapter.
The specifications are:
• User-specified convergence options
• User-selected tear streams
• User-generated convergence blocks
• Convergence plots
• User-supplied calculation sequence
In most cases you will find the default action satisfactory and will not need to
supply specifications.

Input Language Guide 38-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet
Convergence

User-Specified Convergence Options

Input Language for CONV-OPTIONS

CONV-OPTIONS
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
TEAR-METHOD TOL COMPS STATE TRACE UPDATE FLASH
TRACEOPT
SPEC-METHOD OPT-METHOD COMB-METHOD
MSPEC-METHOD SPEC-LOOP USER-LOOP TEAR-VAR TEAR-WEIGHT
LOOP-WEIGHT CHECKSEQ

WEGSTEIN keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT WAIT QMIN QMAX ACCELERATE NACCELERATE

DIRECT MAXIT=value
SECANT keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT STEP-SIZE MAX-STEP-SIZE XTOL BRACKET XFINAL STOP

BROYDEN keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT WAIT XTOL TEAR-TOL TEAR-RATIO TEAR-MAXIT QMIN QMAX

NEWTON keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT MAXPASS WAIT REINIT RED-FACTOR XTOL TEAR-TOL
TEAR-RATIO TEAR-MAXIT QMIN QMAX

SQP keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT MAXPASS WAIT TOL QMIN QMAX MAXLSPASS NLIMIT
PRINT-PLOT STEP-OPT STEP-DIR OPT-METHOD DERIVATIVE EST-STEP
CONST-ITER DERIV-SWITCH STEP-PRES STEP-ENTH STEP-FLOW
STEP-HEAT VAR-MIN CONV-TEST

38-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 38

Input Language Description for CONV-OPTIONS

Use the CONV-OPTIONS paragraph to specify convergence parameters and/or
methods for both system-generated and user-generated convergence blocks.
PARAM Use to specify convergence methods, tear tolerance and convergence variables, and tearing and
sequencing parameters.
TEAR-METHOD............... Tear stream convergence method. See User-Generated Convergence
Blocks, this chapter, for guidance on selecting convergence methods.
TEAR-METHOD= ..................... Wegstein method (Default)
WEGSTEIN
TEAR-METHOD=DIRECT........ Direct substitution method
TEAR-METHOD= ..................... Broyden method
BROYDEN
TEAR-METHOD=NEWTON ..... Newton method
TOL.................................. Tear stream convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-4)
COMPS............................ Component group ID. The component group should consist of a list of
components to be converged in the tear stream. (See Note 5.)
(Default=all components)
STATE ............................. State variables to be converged. (See Note 5.)
STATE=PH ............................... Pressure and enthalpy (Default)
STATE=P.................................. Pressure
STATE=H.................................. Enthalpy
STATE=NONE.......................... No state variables are converged
TRACE............................. Trace component threshold. The convergence test is bypassed for
components whose mole fraction is less than TRACE. (Default=tol/100)
UPDATE .......................... UPDATE=YES .......................... Updates tear streams on the last iteration if the
convergence block does not converge
UPDATE=NO............................ Does not update tear streams on the last
iteration (Default)
FLASH ............................. FLASH=YES............................. Flashes tear streams after being updated by the
convergence block (Default)
FLASH=NO............................... Does not flash tear streams after update
TRACEOPT ..................... Convergence test options for trace component:
TRACEOPT=CUTOFF.............. Ignores convergence test for trace component
(Default)
TRACEOPT=GRADUAL .......... Gradually relaxes convergence criterion for
trace component
SPEC-METHOD............... Convergence method for single design specification convergence:
SPEC-METHOD=SECANT....... Secant method (Default)
SPEC-METHOD= ..................... Broyden method
BROYDEN

Input Language Guide 38-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet
Convergence

SPEC-METHOD=NEWTON ..... Newton method

OPT-METHOD................. Convergence method for optimization:
OPT-METHOD=SQP ................ Sequential quadratic programming (Default)
OPT-METHOD=COMPLEX ...... Complex method
COMB-METHOD ............. Convergence method for combined tear streams and design specification
convergence:
COMB-METHOD= .................... Broyden method (Default)
BROYDEN
COMB-METHOD= .................... Newton method
NEWTON
MSPEC-METHOD ........... Convergence method for multiple design specification method:
MSPEC-METHOD= .................. Broyden method (Default)
BROYDEN
MSPEC-METHOD= .................. Newton method
NEWTON
SPEC-LOOP.................... Specifies how system should converge design specifications:
SPEC-LOOP=INSIDE............... Converges design specifications individually.
Nests the design specification convergence loops
inside tear stream convergence loops. (Default)
SPEC-LOOP=OUTSIDE........... Converges design specifications individually.
Nests the design specification convergence loops
outside tear stream convergence loops.
SPEC-LOOP=IN-SIMUL........... Converges multiple design specifications in the
same subsystem simultaneously. Nests the
design specification convergence loops inside
tear stream convergence loops.
SPEC-LOOP=OUT-SIMUL....... Converges multiple design specifications in the
same subsystem simultaneously. Nests the
design specification convergence loops outside
tear stream convergence loops.
SPEC-LOOP=........................... When both tear streams and design
WITH-TEARS specifications are in the same subsystem,
converge them simultaneously.
USER-LOOP ................... Specifies where to place user-provided convergence blocks in relation to
system-generated convergence blocks:
USER-LOOP=OUTSIDE........... Nests convergence blocks in CONV-ORDER
outside other convergence blocks when both
types of convergence blocks are present in the
same subsystem (Default)
USER-LOOP=INSIDE............... Nests convergence blocks in CONV-ORDER
inside other convergence blocks when both
types of convergence blocks are present in the
same subsystem
TEAR-VAR ...................... TEAR-VAR=YES ...................... Tears Calculator block WRITE-VARS.
(See Chapter 32.)

38-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 38

TEAR-VAR=NO ........................ Does not tear Calculator block WRITE-VARS

(Default)
TEAR-WEIGHT................ Relative weighting given to stream tearing. Tearing algorithm would
minimize tear variables with large TEAR-WEIGHT. (Default=1)
LOOP-WEIGHT ............... Relative weighting given to loop tearing. Tearing algorithm would
minimize loops torn with large LOOP-WEIGHT. (Default=1)
CHECKSEQ..................... Specifies whether to treat missing tear streams or tear variables as error
or warning
CHECKSEQ=YES .................... Issues error message when a tear stream is
missing from user defined sequence (Default)
CHECKSEQ=NO ...................... Issues warning message when a tear stream is
missing from user defined sequence
WEGSTEIN, DIRECT, Use to enter convergence parameters for each method. The keywords are defined in the description
SECANT, BROYDEN, of each method later in this chapter.
NEWTON, SQP

Input Language Guide 38-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet
Convergence

User-Selected Tear Streams

Input Language for TEAR

TEAR sid [tol] keyword=value / . . .

Optional keywords:
COMPS STATE TRACE

Input Language Description for TEAR

Use the TEAR paragraph to designate streams as preferred tear streams and,
optionally, the variables to be converged in the tear stream. Aspen Plus will
automatically generate convergence blocks and calculation sequence. The TEAR
paragraph is non-hierarchical, but you can specify streams inside hierarchies.
sid ................................... Tear stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
tol .................................... Tear stream convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-4 or value specified in
CONV-OPTIONS paragraph)
COMPS............................ Component group ID. The component group should consist of a list of
components to be converged in the tear stream. Defaults are established
by the CONV-OPTIONS paragraph. (See Note 5.)
STATE ............................. State variables to be converged. (See Note 5.)
STATE=PH ............................... Pressure and enthalpy (Default)
STATE=P.................................. Pressure
STATE=H.................................. Enthalpy
STATE=NONE.......................... No state variables are converged
TRACE ............................ Trace component threshold. The convergence test is bypassed for
components whose mole fraction is less than TRACE. (Default=tol/100)

38-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 38

User-Generated Convergence Blocks

You can use convergence blocks to converge tear streams, tear variables, design
specifications, and/or optimization problems. For each convergence block, select
the convergence method and the tear streams, tear variables, design
specifications and/or optimization problem to be converged. You can also supply
convergence parameters, such as the maximum number of iterations. The default
values for the convergence parameters are established by the CONV-OPTIONS
paragraph.

You can use user-generated convergence blocks with user-supplied sequences

and/or automatic flowsheet analysis. When used with user-supplied sequences,
user-generated convergence blocks must tear all recycle loops formed by blocks
within the sequence. (See User-Supplied Calculation Sequence, this chapter.)

When used with automatic flowsheet analysis, the user-generated convergence

blocks must tear all recycle loops in the flowsheet. If you use more than one
convergence block, you must also supply the convergence order.

You can enter a convergence block to converge only design specifications in the
CONV-ORDER paragraph or in a user-supplied sequence, but neither is required.
Design specification convergence blocks can always be placed in the calculation
sequence automatically, regardless of other convergence specifications.
Use the CONVERGENCE paragraph to specify user-generated convergence
blocks. Use the CONV-ORDER paragraph to specify convergence order.
The following convergence methods are available in Aspen Plus:
Method Description Application

WEGSTEIN Bounded Wegstein Tear stream, and tear variable convergence

DIRECT Direct Substitution Tear stream, and tear variable convergence
SECANT Secant Design specification convergence
BROYDEN Broyden Quasi-Newton Tear stream, and tear variable and/or design specification convergence
NEWTON Newton Tear stream, and tear variable and/or design specification convergence
COMPLEX Complex Optimization with inequality constraints
SQP Sequential Quadratic Optimization with any combination of tear streams, tear variable, equality
Programming constraints and inequality constraints

Input Language Guide 38-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet
Convergence

WEGSTEIN Method

Input Language for WEGSTEIN

CONVERGENCE cvblockid WEGSTEIN
DESCRIPTION "a block description - up to 64 characters in quotes"
BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
CONV-LEVEL TERM-LEVEL RESTART

TEAR sid [tol] keyword = value / . . .

Optional keywords:
COMPS STATE TRACE

TEAR-VAR keyword=value

Keywords:
FOR-BLOCK VAR-NAME LOWER UPPER SCALE

PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT WAIT QMIN QMAX ACCELERATE NACCELERATE

PLOT plotno plot-list keyword=value

Plots:
X ERROR ERR:TOL XANDERR MAXERR:TOL
Optional keywords:
TEAR COMPS STATE TEAR-VAR FOR-BLOCK PLOT-HEADING
Y-SCALE X-SCALE WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

Input Language Description for WEGSTEIN

WEGSTEIN is the classical bounded Wegstein method. It almost always
converges rapidly. It is recommended for user-generated convergence blocks.
WEGSTEIN can be applied to any number of streams simultaneously. You can
control the Wegstein bounds and frequency of acceleration.
cvblockid ........................ Convergence block ID. Cannot begin with a dollar sign.
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the CONVERGENCE paragraph report.
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels and restart option established by the DIAGNOSTICS
and SIM-OPTIONS paragraphs. (See Chapter 46.)

38-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 38

TEAR Use to specify the tear streams to be converged by the block and optionally the tear stream
convergence tolerance and convergence variables
sid.................................... Tear stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
tol..................................... Tear stream convergence tolerance. (See Note 5.) (Default=1x10-4)
COMPS............................ Component group ID. The component group should consist of a list of
components to be converged in the tear stream. (See Note 5.)
(Default=all components)
STATE ............................. State variables to be converged. (See Note 5.)
STATE=PH ............................... Pressure and enthalpy (Default)
STATE=P.................................. Pressure
STATE=H.................................. Enthalpy
STATE=NONE.......................... No state variables are converged
TRACE............................. Trace component threshold. The convergence test is bypassed for
components where mole fraction is less than TRACE. (Default=tol/100)
TEAR-VAR Use to specify tear variables to be converged by the block.
FOR-BLOCK ................... Calculator block ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
VAR-NAME ...................... Calculator WRITE-VAR name. (See Chapter 32.)
LOWER............................ Lower limit of the tear variables (Default=-1x1035)
UPPER............................. Upper limit of the tear variables (Default=1x1035)
SCALE ............................. Scaling factor for the tear variables (Default=1)
PARAM Use to override default convergence parameters. You can also control the Wegstein bounds by using
QMAX and QMIN and the frequency of acceleration by using ACCELERATE, NACCELERATE,
and WAIT keywords.
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flowsheet evaluations (Default=30)
WAIT ................................ Number of direct substitutions before acceleration is applied (Default=1)
QMIN................................ Lower bound for q. (See Note 1.) (Default=-5)
QMAX .............................. Upper bound for q. (See Note 1.) (Default=0)
ACCELERATE................. Acceleration frequency. (See Note 1.) (Default=0)
NACCELERATE .............. Number of acceleration steps. (See Note 1.) (Default=1)
PLOT Use to generate plots and tables of the convergence history. (See Convergence Plots, this chapter.)

Input Language Guide 38-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet
Convergence

DIRECT Method

Input Language for DIRECT

CONVERGENCE cvblockid DIRECT
DESCRIPTION "a block description - up to 64 characters in quotes"
BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
CONV-LEVEL TERM-LEVEL RESTART

TEAR sid [tol] keyword = value / . . .

Optional keywords:
COMPS STATE TRACE

TEAR-VAR keyword=value

Keywords:
FOR-BLOCK VAR-NAME

PARAM MAXIT=value
PLOT plotno plot-list keyword=value

Plots:
X ERROR ERR:TOL XANDERR MAXERR:TOL
Optional keywords:
TEAR COMPS STATE TEAR-VAR FOR-BLOCK PLOT-HEADING
Y-SCALE X-SCALE WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

Input Language Description for DIRECT

DIRECT is the simple direct substitution method. Convergence is slow but sure.
It is available for rare cases in which other methods can be unstable.
cvblockid ........................ Convergence block ID. Cannot begin with a dollar sign.
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the CONVERGENCE paragraph report.
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels and restart option established by the DIAGNOSTICS
and SIM-OPTIONS paragraphs. (See Chapter 46.)
TEAR Use to specify the tear streams to be converged by the block and optionally the tear stream
convergence tolerance and convergence variables.
sid ................................... Tear stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
tol .................................... Tear stream convergence tolerance. (See Note 5.) (Default=1x10-4)

38-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 38

COMPS............................ Component group ID. The component group should consist of a list of
components to be converged in the tear stream. (See Note 5.)
(Default=all components)
STATE ............................. State variables to be converged. (See Note 5.)
STATE=PH ............................... Pressure and enthalpy (Default)
STATE=P.................................. Pressure
STATE=H.................................. Enthalpy
STATE=NONE.......................... No state variables are converged
TRACE............................. Trace component threshold. The convergence test is bypassed for
components where mole fraction is less than TRACE. (Default=tol/100)
TEAR-VAR Use to specify tear variables to be converged by the block.
FOR-BLOCK ................... Calculator block ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
VAR-NAME ...................... Calculator WRITE-VAR name. (See Chapter 32.)
PARAM Use to override default convergence parameters.
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flowsheet evaluations (Default=30)
PLOT Use to generate plots and tables of the convergence history. (See Convergence Plots, this chapter.)

Input Language Guide 38-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet
Convergence

SECANT Method

Input Language for SECANT

CONVERGENCE cvblockid SECANT
DESCRIPTION "a block description - up to 64 characters in quotes"
BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
CONV-LEVEL TERM-LEVEL RESTART

SPEC specid [tol]

PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT STEP-SIZE MAX-STEP-SIZE XTOL BRACKET XFINAL STOP

PLOT plotno plot-list keyword=value

Plots:
X ERROR ERR:TOL XANDERR MAXERR:TOL ERR-X ERR:TOL-X
Optional keywords:
SPECS PLOT-HEADING Y-SCALE X-SCALE WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

Input Language Description for SECANT

SECANT is the secant (linear approximation) method, with higher order
enhancements. SECANT can automatically switch to a bracketing/interval
halving algorithm if the function is discontinuous, flat over a region, or if the
function is non-monotonic. You can use SECANT to converge single design
specifications. It is recommended for user-generated convergence blocks.
cvblockid ........................ Convergence block ID. The ID cannot begin with a dollar sign.
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the CONVERGENCE paragraph report.
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels and restart option established by the DIAGNOSTICS
and SIM-OPTIONS paragraphs. (See Chapter 46.)
SPEC Use to enter the design specification to be converged by the block and optionally the design
specification tolerance. If you supply a tolerance, it overrides the value entered in the DESIGN-
SPEC paragraph.
specid ............................. Design specification ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
tol .................................... Design specification tolerance. The specified tolerance must be a real
constant. (See definition under TOL-SPEC, Chapter 31.)
PARAM Use to override default convergence parameters.
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flowsheet evaluations (Default=30)

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 Chapter 38

STEP-SIZE ...................... Initial step size for the manipulated variable. The step size is defined as a
fraction of the range (upper limit minus lower limit). Values specified in
the DESIGN-SPEC paragraph supersede values in the CONV-OPTIONS
paragraph. (Default=.01)
MAX-STEP-SIZE ............. Maximum step size for the manipulated variable. The step size is defined
as a fraction of the range (upper limit minus lower limit). Values specified
in the DESIGN-SPEC paragraph supersede values in the CONV-
OPTIONS paragraph. (Default=1)
XTOL ............................... Alternative tolerance on the manipulated variable. Iterations stop when
the change in the scaled manipulated variable is less than XTOL. The
variable is scaled by dividing by the absolute value of the lower limit or
the upper limit, whichever is larger. (Default=1x10-8)
BRACKET........................ Bracketing algorithm option:
BRACKET=YES ....................... Switches to bracketing (and interval halving)
algorithm if function does not change from one
iteration to the next
BRACKET=NO ......................... Terminates iterations if function does not
change from one iteration to the next (Default)
BRACKET=CHKBNDS ............ Switches to bracketing (and interval halving)
algorithm if function does not change from one
iteration to the next, or if the secant algorithm
has moved to a variable bound
XFINAL ............................ Final value option. Use to specify what the final value of the manipulated
variable is returned when the convergence block encounters an error.
XFINAL=XLAST ....................... Last value (Default)
XFINAL=XINIT.......................... Initial value
XFINAL=FMIN .......................... Value that corresponds to the best value of the
function found
XFINAL=LB .............................. Lower bound
XFINAL=UB.............................. Upper bound
STOP ............................... Specifies whether iterations should continue. Use when BRACKET=YES
......................................... and the bracketing algorithm fails to find a sign change in the function.
STOP=NO................................. Iterations continue and the minimum value of
the function is found
STOP=YES ............................... Iterations terminate (Default)
PLOT Use to generate plots and tables of the convergence history. (See Convergence Plots, this chapter.)

Input Language Guide 38-13

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet
Convergence

BROYDEN Method

Input Language for BROYDEN

CONVERGENCE cvblockid BROYDEN
DESCRIPTION "a block description - up to 64 characters in quotes"
BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
CONV-LEVEL TERM-LEVEL RESTART

TEAR sid [tol] keyword=value / . . .

Optional keywords:
COMPS STATE TRACE

TEAR-VAR keyword=value

Keywords:
FOR-BLOCK VAR-NAME LOWER UPPER SCALE

SPEC specid [tol] / . . .

PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT WAIT XTOL TEAR-TOL TEAR-RATIO TEAR-MAXIT QMIN QMAX

STEP-SIZE specid stepsize / . . .

MAX-STEP-SIZE specid stepsize / . . .
PLOT plotno plot-list keyword=value

Plots:
X ERROR ERR:TOL XANDERR MAXERR:TOL ERR-X ERR:TOL-X
Optional keywords:
SPECS TEAR COMPS STATE TEAR-VAR FOR-BLOCK PLOT-HEADING
Y-SCALE X-SCALE WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

Input Language Description for BROYDEN

BROYDEN is a modification of the Broyden quasi-Newton method. You can use it
to converge tear streams and tear variables, two or more design specifications, or
tear streams and design specifications simultaneously. BROYDEN is useful for
multiple tear streams and/or design specifications when tear variables are highly
interdependent, or when recycle loops and design specifications are so
interrelated that nesting is impractical.
cvblockid ........................ Convergence block ID. Cannot begin with a dollar sign.

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Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 38

DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the CONVERGENCE paragraph report.
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels and restart option established by the DIAGNOSTICS
and/or SIM-OPTIONS paragraphs. (See Chapter 46.)
TEAR Use to specify the tear streams converged by the block and, optionally, the tear stream convergence
tolerance and convergence variables.
sid.................................... Tear stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
tol..................................... Tear stream convergence tolerance. (See Note 5.) (Default=1x10-4)
COMPS............................ Component group ID. The component group should consist of a list of
components to be converged in the tear stream. (See Note 5.)
(Default=all components)
STATE ............................. State variables to be converged. (See Note 5.)
STATE=PH ............................... Pressure and enthalpy (Default)
STATE=P.................................. Pressure
STATE=H.................................. Enthalpy
STATE=NONE.......................... No state variables are converged
TRACE............................. Trace component threshold. The convergence test is bypassed for
components whose mole fraction is less than TRACE. (Default=tol/100)
TEAR-VAR Use to specify tear variables to be converged by the block.
FOR-BLOCK ................... Calculator block ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
VAR-NAME ...................... Calculator WRITE-VAR name (See Chapter 32.)
LOWER............................ Lower limit of the tear variables (Default=-1x1035)
UPPER............................. Upper limit of the tear variables (Default=1x1035)
SCALE ............................. Scaling factor for tear variables (Default=1)
SPEC Use to enter the design specifications to be converged by the block and, optionally, the design
specification tolerance. If you supply a tolerance, it overrides the value in the DESIGN-SPEC
paragraph. The specified tolerance must be a real constant. (See definition under TOL-SPEC,
Chapter 31.)
specid.............................. Design specification ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
tol..................................... Design specification tolerance
PARAM Use to override default convergence parameters.
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flowsheet evaluations. Each perturbation step for
numerical derivatives is counted as one evaluation. (Default=30)
WAIT ................................ Number of direct substitutions before acceleration is applied. Use only
when tear streams are converged by the block. (Default=2)
XTOL ............................... Alternative tolerance when convergence cannot be achieved because one
or more variables have reached their upper or lower limits. (See Note 2.)
(Default=1x10-4)

Input Language Guide 38-15

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet
Convergence

TEAR-TOL....................... Aspen Plus initially uses Wegstein iterations to converge tear streams
and tear variables to a tolerance of TEAR-TOL. Once this tolerance value
is reached, Broyden iterations simultaneously converge tear streams, tear
variables, and design specifications.
TEAR-RATIO................... Aspen Plus initially uses Wegstein iterations to converge tear streams
and tear variables to a tolerance of TEAR-RATIO*TOL. Once this
tolerance value is reached, Broyden iterations simultaneously converge
tear streams, tear variables, and design specifications.
TEAR-MAXIT................... Maximum number of Wegstein iterations used to initially converge tear
streams and tear variables, before Broyden iterations are used to
simultaneously converge tear streams, tear variables, and design
specifications.
QMIN ............................... Lower bound on q during the Wegstein iterations used to initially
converge tear streams and tear variables. The Wegstein iterations occur
before the Broyden iterations that are used to simultaneously converge
tear streams, tear variables, and design specifications. (q is defined in
Note 1.) (Default=-5)
QMAX .............................. Upper bound on q during the Wegstein iterations used to initially
converge tear streams and tear variables. The Wegstein iterations occur
before the Broyden iterations that are used to simultaneously converge
tear streams, tear variables, and design specifications. (q is defined in
Note 1.) (Default=0)
STEP-SIZE Use to enter step sizes for numerical differentiation of design specifications. Values specified in the
CONVERGENCE paragraph supersede values specified in the DESIGN-SPEC paragraph.
specid ............................. Design specification ID
stepsize........................... Use for the manipulated variable of the design specification when
numerical derivatives are required. The step size is defined as a fraction
of the range (upper limit minus lower limit). (Default=.01)
MAX-STEP-SIZE Use to enter maximum step sizes for the manipulated variables of design specifications. Use MAX-
STEP-SIZE only when there are no tear streams. Values specified in the CONVERGENCE
paragraph supersede values specified in the DESIGN-SPEC paragraph.
specid ............................. Design specification ID
stepsize........................... Maximum step size allowed for the manipulated variable. The step size is
defined as a fraction of the range (upper limit minus lower limit).
(Default=1)
PLOT Use to generate plots and tables of the convergence history. (See Convergence Plots, this chapter.)

38-16 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 38

NEWTON Method

Input Language for NEWTON

CONVERGENCE cvblockid NEWTON
DESCRIPTION "a block description - up to 64 characters in quotes"
BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
CONV-LEVEL TERM-LEVEL RESTART

TEAR sid [tol] keyword=value / . . .

Optional keywords:
COMPS STATE TRACE

TEAR-VAR keyword=value

Keywords:
FOR-BLOCK VAR-NAME LOWER UPPER SCALE STEP MAX-STEP

SPEC specid [tol] / . . .

PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT MAXPASS WAIT XTOL REINIT RED-FACTOR TEAR-TOL
TEAR-RATIO TEAR-MAXIT QMIN QMAX

STEP-SIZE specid stepsize / . . .

MAX-STEP-SIZE specid stepsize / . . .
PLOT plotno plot-list keyword=value

Plots:
X ERROR ERR:TOL XANDERR MAXERR:TOL ERR-X ERR:TOL-X
Optional keywords:
SPECS TEAR COMPS STATE TEAR-VAR FOR-BLOCK PLOT-HEADING
Y-SCALE X-SCALE WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

Input Language Guide 38-17

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet
Convergence

Input Language Description for NEWTON

NEWTON is an implementation of the modified Newton's method for
simultaneous nonlinear equations. Derivatives are calculated only when the rate
of convergence is not satisfactory. The implementation allows bounds on the
variables and includes a one-dimensional search for improved stability.
NEWTON is useful when the recycle loops and/or design specifications are highly
interrelated but the BROYDEN method cannot converge. Since numerical
derivatives are calculated frequently, use NEWTON for tear streams only when
the number of components is very small or when convergence cannot be achieved
by other methods.
cvblockid ........................ Convergence block ID. Cannot begin with a dollar sign.
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the CONVERGENCE paragraph report.
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels and restart option established by the DIAGNOSTICS
and SIM-OPTIONS paragraphs. (See Chapter 46.)
TEAR Use to specify the tear streams to be converged by the block and optionally the tear stream
convergence tolerance and convergence variables.
sid ................................... Tear stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
tol .................................... Tear stream convergence tolerance. (See Note 5.) (Default=1x10-4)
COMPS............................ Component group ID. The component group should consist of a list of
components to be converged in the tear stream. (See Note 5.)
(Default=all components)
STATE ............................. State variables to be converged. (See Note 5.)
STATE=PH ............................... Pressure and enthalpy (Default)
STATE=P.................................. Pressure
STATE=H.................................. Enthalpy
STATE=NONE.......................... No state variables are converged
TRACE ............................ Trace component threshold. The convergence test is bypassed for
components whose mole fraction is less than TRACE. (Default=tol/100)
TEAR-VAR Use to specify tear variables to be converged by the block.
FOR-BLOCK ................... Calculator block ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
VAR-NAME...................... Calculator WRITE-VAR name. (See Chapter 32.)
LOWER ........................... Lower limit of the tear variables (Default=-1x1035)
UPPER ............................ Upper limit of the tear variables (Default=1x1035)
SCALE............................. Scaling factor for the tear variables (Default=1)
STEP ............................... Relative perturbation step (Default=0.01)
MAX-STEP ...................... Relative step limit per iteration (Default=1)

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 Chapter 38

SPEC Use to enter the design specifications to be converged by the block and optionally the design
specification tolerance. If tolerance is supplied here it overrides the DESIGN-SPEC value.
specid.............................. Design specification ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
tol..................................... Design specification tolerance. The specified tolerance must be a real
constant. (See definition under TOL-SPEC, Chapter 31.)
PARAM Use to override default convergence parameters.
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of Newton iterations (Default=30)
MAXPASS ....................... Maximum number of flowsheet evaluations. Each perturbation step for
numerical derivatives is counted as one evaluation. (Default=100)
WAIT ................................ Number of direct substitutions before acceleration is applied. Use only
when tear streams are converged by the block. (Default=2)
XTOL ............................... Alternative tolerance when convergence cannot be achieved because one
or more variables have reached their upper or lower limits. (See Note 2.)
(Default=1x10-4)
REINIT ............................. Number of Newton iterations to use a previously calculated Jacobian
(derivative) matrix before derivatives are recalculated. REINIT > 0 is
used for simple (modified) Newton's method. REINIT=0 corresponds to
pure Newton's method. (Default is calculated based on RED-FACTOR.)
RED-FACTOR ................. Reduction factor used in determining how many Newton iterations to use
a Jacobian (derivative) matrix. If the root-mean-square of the design
specification and tear stream errors divided by their respective tolerances
is not reduced by a factor of RED-FACTOR, the Jacobian will be
recalculated. RED-FACTOR is not used if REINIT is specified.
(Default=0.2)
TEAR-TOL ....................... Aspen Plus initially uses Wegstein iterations to converge tear streams
and tear variables to a tolerance of TEAR-TOL. Once this tolerance value
is reached, Newton iterations simultaneously converge tear streams, tear
variables, and design specifications.
TEAR-RATIO ................... Aspen Plus initially uses Wegstein iterations to converge tear streams
and tear variables to a tolerance of TEAR-RATIO*TOL. Once this
tolerance value is reached, Newton iterations simultaneously converge
tear streams, tear variables, and design specifications.
TEAR-MAXIT ................... Maximum number of Wegstein iterations used to initially converge tear
streams and tear variables, before Newton iterations are used to
simultaneously converge tear streams, tear variables, and design
specifications.
QMIN................................ Lower bound on q during the Wegstein iterations used to initially
converge tear streams and tear variables. The Wegstein iterations occur
before the Newton iterations that are used to simultaneously converge
tear streams, tear variables, and design specifications. (q is defined in
Note 1.) (Default=–5)
QMAX .............................. Upper bound on q during the Wegstein iterations used to initially
converge tear streams and tear variables. The Wegstein iterations occur
before the Newton iterations that are used to simultaneously converge
tear streams, tear variables, and design specifications. (q is defined in
Note 1.) (Default=0)

Input Language Guide 38-19

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet
Convergence

STEP-SIZE Use to enter step sizes for numerical differentiation of design specifications. Values specified in the
CONVERGENCE paragraph supersede values specified in the DESIGN-SPEC paragraph.
specid ............................. Design specification ID
stepsize........................... Step size to be used for the manipulated variable of the design
specification when numerical derivatives are required. The step size is
defined as a fraction of the range (upper limit minus lower limit).
(Default=0.01)
MAX-STEP-SIZE Use to enter maximum step sizes for the manipulated variables of design specifications. Values
specified in the CONVERGENCE paragraph supersede values specified in the DESIGN-SPEC
paragraph.
specid ............................. Design specification ID
stepsize........................... Maximum step size allowed for the manipulated variable. The step size is
defined as a fraction of the range (upper limit minus lower limit).
(Default=1)
PLOT Use to generate plots and tables of the convergence history. (See Convergence Plots, this chapter.)

38-20 Input Language Guide

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 Chapter 38

COMPLEX Method

Input Language for COMPLEX

CONVERGENCE cvblockid COMPLEX
DESCRIPTION "a block description - up to 64 characters in quotes"
BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
CONV-LEVEL TERM-LEVEL RESTART

OPTIMIZE optid
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT NPOINT EXP-FACTOR CONTR-FACTOR REFL-FACTOR
RTOL ATOL

STEP-SIZE varyno stepsize / . . .

Input Language Description for COMPLEX

COMPLEX is the Complex optimization method. You can use it to converge
optimization problems with bounds on the manipulated variables and optionally
inequality constraints. COMPLEX is a direct search method. It does not require
numerical derivatives. It can be useful for simple problems without recycle loops
or equality constraints (design specifications).
cvblockid......................... Convergence block ID. Cannot begin with a dollar sign.
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the CONVERGENCE paragraph report.
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels and restart option established by the DIAGNOSTICS
and SIM-OPTIONS paragraphs. (See Chapter 46.)
OPTIMIZE Use to specify the optimization problem to be converged.
optid ................................ Optimization ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
PARAM Use to override default convergence parameters.
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flowsheet evaluations (Default=60)
NPOINT ........................... Maximum number of points in the simplex. Must be between
number of variables + 2, and 2*number of variables.
(Default=number of variables + 2)
EXP-FACTOR.................. Factor used to expand the size of the simplex (Default=1.3)
CONTR-FACTOR ............ Factor used to contract the size of the simplex (Default=0.5)
REFL-FACTOR................ Factor used to “reflect” variables when bounds or inequality constraints
are encountered (Default=0.1)

Input Language Guide 38-21

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet
Convergence

RTOL ............................... Relative convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-4)

ATOL ............................... Absolute convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-4)
STEP-SIZE Use to specify the range used for generating random points in the initial simplex. If the initial
variable value is close to the optimum, a range less than one helps the problem converge faster.
varyno ............................. Decision variable number
stepsize........................... Step size used for generating random points in the initial simplex. The
step size is defined as a fraction of the range (upper limit minus lower
limit). (Default=1.0)

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 Chapter 38

SQP Method

Input Language for SQP

CONVERGENCE cvblockid SQP
DESCRIPTION "a block description - up to 64 characters in quotes"'
BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
CONV-LEVEL TERM-LEVEL RESTART

OPTIMIZE optid
TEAR sid [tol] keyword = value / . . .

Optional keywords:
COMPS STATE TRACE

TEAR-VAR keyword=value

Keywords:
FOR-BLOCK VAR-NAME LOWER UPPER SCALE STEP MAX-STEP

PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT MAXPASS WAIT TOL QMIN QMAX MAXLSPASS NLIMIT
PRINT-PLOT STEP-OPT STEP-DIR OPT-METHOD DERIVATIVE EST-STEP
CONST-ITER DERIV-SWITCH STEP-PRES STEP-ENTH STEP-FLOW
STEP-HEAT VAR-MIN CONV-TEST

STEP-SIZE varyno stepsize / . . .

SCALE varyno scale / . . .
MAX-STEP-SIZE varyno stepsize / . . .

Input Language Description for SQP

SQP is the state-of-the-art sequential quadratic programming method for
flowsheet optimization. You can use SQP for simultaneous convergence of
optimization problems with constraints (equality or inequality), tear variables,
and/or tear streams. The algorithm generally follows an infeasible path
(constraints, tear streams, and tear variables are converged simultaneously with
the optimization problem), but can be adjusted to follow a feasible path
(converging the tear streams and tear variables at each iteration of the
optimization). Use SQP for system-generated optimization convergence blocks. It
is recommended for user-generated convergence blocks.
cvblockid......................... Convergence block ID. Cannot begin with a dollar sign.

Input Language Guide 38-23

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet
Convergence

DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the CONVERGENCE paragraph report.
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels and restart option established by the DIAGNOSTICS
and SIM-OPTIONS paragraphs. (See Chapter 46.)
OPTIMIZE Use to specify the optimization problem to be converged.
optid ................................ Optimization ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
TEAR Use to specify the tear streams converged by the block and optionally the tear stream convergence
tolerance and convergence variables.
sid ................................... Tear stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
tol .................................... Tear stream convergence tolerance. (See Note 5.) (Default=1x10-4)
COMPS............................ Component group ID. The component group should consist of a list of
components to be converged in the tear stream. (See Note 5.)
(Default=all components)
STATE ............................. State variables to be converged. (See Note 5.)
STATE=PH ............................... Pressure and enthalpy (Default)
STATE=P.................................. Pressure
STATE=H.................................. Enthalpy
STATE=NONE.......................... No state variables are converged
TRACE ............................ Trace component threshold. The convergence test is bypassed for
components whose mole fraction is less than TRACE. (Default=tol/100)
TEAR-VAR Use to specify tear variables to be converged by the block.
FOR-BLOCK ................... Calculator block ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
VAR-NAME...................... Calculator WRITE-VAR name. (See Chapter 32.)
LOWER ........................... Lower limit of the tear variables (Default=-1x1035)
UPPER ............................ Upper limit of the tear variables (Default=1x1035)
SCALE............................. Scaling factor for the tear variables (Default=1)
STEP ............................... Relative perturbation step (Default=0.01)
MAX-STEP ...................... Relative step limit per iteration (Default=1)
PARAM Use to override default convergence parameters.
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of sequential quadratic programming iterations
(Default=30)
MAXPASS ....................... Maximum number of flowsheet evaluations. Each perturbation step for
numerical derivatives is counted as one evaluation. (Default=99999)
WAIT................................ Number of direct substitutions before acceleration is applied. Use only
when tear streams are converged by the block. (Default=2)
TOL ................................. Convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-3)
QMIN ............................... Lower bound on q for Wegstein iterations to converge tear streams. (See
Note 3.) q is defined in Note 1. (Default=-5)

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 Chapter 38

QMAX .............................. Upper bound on q for Wegstein iterations to converge tear streams. (See
Note 3.) q is defined in Note 1. (Default=0)
MAXLSPASS ................... Number of iterations to take toward converging the tear streams at each
iteration of the optimization. (See Note 3.) (Default=3)
NLIMIT ............................. Number of iterations to enforce maximum steps on the manipulated
variables (Default=3)
PRINT-PLOT ................... PRINT-PLOT=YES ................... Produces print-plots of the manipulated
variable, objective function, and Lagrangian
(penalty) function and constraint values versus
iteration number (Default)
PRINT-PLOT=NO ..................... Does not produce print-plots
STEP-OPT ....................... Specifies how perturbation step size (given in the STEP-SIZE sentence) is
interpreted:
STEP-OPT=RANGE................. Perturbation step =
step size * (upper limit – lower limit) (Default)
STEP-OPT=VARIABLE............ Perturbation step=step size * variable value
STEP-OPT=VALUE.................. Perturbation step=step size
STEP-DIR ........................ Direction to perturb variables:
STEP-DIR=NEGATIVE............. Negative direction (Default)
STEP-DIR=POSITIVE............... Positive direction
OPT-METHOD ................. Optimization method:
OPT-METHOD=SQP ................ Sequential quadratic programming algorithm
(Default)
OPT-METHOD=SLP ............... Sequential linear programming algorithm
DERIVATIVE.................... Specifies whether to use central or forward difference for derivative
calculations: FORWARD or CENTRAL (Default=FORWARD)
EST-STEP ....................... Specifies whether to perform automatic step-size determination: YES or
NO (Default=NO)
CONST-ITER ................... Number of additional iterations when constraints are not satisfied after
convergence test is satisfied (Default=2)
DERIV-SWITCH............... Specifies whether to switch to central difference on convergence failure:
YES or NO (Default=NO)
STEP-PRES..................... Relative perturbation step for pressure tear variables (Default=0.01)
STEP-ENTH..................... Relative perturbation step for enthalpy tear variables (Default=0.01)
STEP-FLOW.................... Relative perturbation step for flow tear variables (Default=0.01)
STEP-HEAT..................... Relative perturbation step for heat tear variables (Default=0.01)
VAR-MIN.......................... Specifies minimum variable value for step size calculation when
STEP-OPT=VARIABLE (Default=1x10-4)
CONV-TEST .................... Convergence test options:
CONV-TEST=KKT.................... Kuhn-Tucker using Hessian (Default)
CONV-TEST=KKT1.................. Kuhn-Tucker using first order conditions

Input Language Guide 38-25

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Flowsheet
Convergence

CONV-TEST=RG...................... Reduced gradient

CONV-TEST=RGRD................. Reduced gradient with step constraints
STEP-SIZE Use to enter decision variable step sizes for numerical differentiation. Values specified in the
CONVERGENCE paragraph supersede values specified in the OPTIMIZATION paragraph.
varyno ............................. Decision variable number
stepsize........................... Step size to be used for the decision variable when numerical derivatives
are required. The definition of step size depends on the option selected for
STEP-OPT in the PARAM sentence. (Default=.01)
SCALE Use to enter scale factors for the decision variables. (See Note 4.)
varyno ............................. Decision variable number
scale................................ Scale factor (Default=1)
MAX-STEP-SIZE Use to specify the maximum step sizes for the decision variables. The maximum step size is
enforced for the first NLIMIT steps. Values specified in the CONVERGENCE paragraph supersede
values specified in the OPTIMIZATION paragraph.
varyno ............................. Decision variable number
stepsize........................... Maximum step size allowed for the decision variable. The step size is
defined as a fraction of the range (upper limit minus lower limit).
(Default=1)

CONV-ORDER Paragraph

Input Language for CONV-ORDER

CONV-ORDER cvblockid-list

Input Language Description for CONV-ORDER

Use the CONV-ORDER paragraph to specify the calculation order of user-defined
convergence blocks. You can enter the convergence blocks in the order in which
you prefer the nested loops to be solved. The CONV-ORDER paragraph is non-
hierarchical but you can specify convergence blocks inside hierarchies.
cvblockid-list .................. Convergence block ID list. The first convergence block entered is
converged first and is nested most deeply. Can be hierarchical; see
Chapter 9 for naming conventions and restrictions.

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 Chapter 38

Convergence Plots

Input Language for PLOT

PLOT plotno plot-list keyword=value

Plots:
X ERROR ERR:TOL XANDERR MAXERR:TOL ERR-X ERR:TOL-X
Optional keywords:
SPECS TEAR COMPS STATE TEAR-VAR FOR-BLOCK PLOT-HEADING
Y-SCALE X-SCALE WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

Input Language Description for PLOT

You can use the PLOT sentence in WEGSTEIN, DIRECT, SECANT, BROYDEN,
and NEWTON convergence block paragraphs to generate plots and/or
convergence history tables. You can also generate plots in SQP optimization
convergence blocks, using the PRINT-PLOT keyword in the PARAM sentence.
PLOT Use in convergence block paragraphs to generate plots and tables of iteration histories. For all plots
except MAXERR:TOL, the variables and errors to be plotted are selected using SPECS, TEAR,
COMPS, and STATE.
plotno .............................. Plot number
plot-list ............................ List of convergence plots to be generated. If you enter a PLOT sentence
but do not specify plot-list, MAXERR:TOL will be plotted.
X................................................ Plots convergence variables versus iteration
number
ERROR ..................................... Plots errors versus iteration number
ERR:TOL .................................. Plots error/tolerance versus iteration number
XANDERR ................................ Plots convergence variables and errors versus
iteration number
MAXERR:TOL .......................... Plots maximum error/tolerance versus iteration
number
ERR-X ....................................... Plots design-spec errors versus varied variables
ERR:TOL-X............................... Plots design-spec errors/tolerance versus varied
variables
SPECS............................. List of IDs for the design specifications to be plotted. Can be hierarchical;
see Chapter 9 for naming conventions and restrictions.
TEAR ............................... List of stream IDs for the tear streams to be plotted. Can be hierarchical;
see Chapter 9 for naming conventions and restrictions.
COMPS............................ List of component IDs and component group IDs. Use to control the
plotting of tear stream component variables. (Default=all components)

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 Flowsheet
Convergence

STATE ............................. Use to control the plotting of tear stream state variables:
STATE=PH ............................... Plots pressure and enthalpy (Default)
STATE=P.................................. Plots pressure
STATE=H.................................. Plots enthalpy
STATE=NONE.......................... Does not plot state variables
TEAR-VAR ...................... List of Calculator WRITE-VAR names to be plotted. (See Chapter 32.)
Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions and
restrictions.
FOR-BLOCK ................... List of Calculator block IDs to be plotted. (See Chapter 32.) Can be
hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions and restrictions.
PLOT-HEADING.............. Heading up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes printed at top of each plot
and table. (Different defaults for each type of table and plot are built in.)
Y-SCALE ......................... Y-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on vertical axis of plots
(Default)
Y-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on vertical axis of plots
Y-SCALE=LOG ........................ Uses logarithmic scale on vertical axis of plots
X-SCALE ......................... X-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on horizontal axis of plots
(Default)
X-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on horizontal axis of plots
WIDE, GRID, ................... Plot options. Use to override defaults established by PLOT-OPTIONS
INTERPOLATE paragraph. (See Chapter 47.)

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 Chapter 38

User-Supplied Calculation Sequence

Input Language for SEQUENCE

 blockid 
 csrblockid 
SEQUENCE seqid (RETURN csrblockid)
 
 (SEQUENCE seqid) 

Input Language Description for SEQUENCE

Use the SEQUENCE paragraph to specify the calculation order for all or part of
the flowsheet. A sequence specification consists of block IDs, convergence or
sensitivity block IDs (the beginning of a loop), and convergence or sensitivity
block returns (the end of a loop) in order of execution. User-supplied sequences
can be nested, that is, one user-supplied sequence can refer to another user-
supplied sequence. The SEQUENCE paragraph is hierarchical and you can also
specify blocks inside hierarchies.
seqid................................ Sequence ID
blockid ............................ Unit operation, Calculator, transfer, balance, or pressure relief block ID.
Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions and
restrictions.
csrblockid ....................... Convergence, sensitivity, or regression block ID. Can be hierarchical; see
Chapter 9 for naming conventions and restrictions.
(RETURN csrblockid)..... Indicates that control is returned to convergence, sensitivity, or
regression block csrblockid until the convergence loop or regression loop is
converged or fails to converge, or the sensitivity is completed. The block
csrblockid must have already appeared in the sequence. You must enter
the parentheses as shown. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
(SEQUENCE seqid) ........ Indicates that sequence seqid is to be executed at this point. You must
enter the parentheses as shown. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for
naming conventions and restrictions.

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 Flowsheet
Convergence

Notes
1. When the bounded Wegstein method is used, an acceleration parameter q is
calculated for each tear stream variable as follows:
s
q=
s −1
G ( X k ) − G ( X k −1 )
s=
X k − X k −1

Where X is an estimate of the tear stream variable, G(X) is the resulting

calculated value of the variable, and k is the iteration number. The new
estimate calculated by Wegstein is:
X k +1 = X k + (1 − q ) G ( X k )

The following table shows the effect of q on convergence:

q Convergence

q<0 Acceleration
q=0 Direct substitution
0<q<1 Damping

Because oscillation or divergence can occur if q is unbounded, limits are set on

q. The default for QMAX, the upper bound, is 0. The default for QMIN, the
lower bound, is -5. For most flowsheets, these limits work well and do not
need to be changed.
Normally a QMAX of 0 should be used. If iterations move the variables slowly
toward convergence, smaller values of QMIN (for example, -25 or -50) may
give better results. If oscillation occurs with direct substitution, values of
QMIN and QMAX between 0 and 1 may help.

You can control the Wegstein method by specifying:

• Upper and lower limits for q (QMAX and QMIN)
• The number of direct substitution iterations before the first acceleration
(WAIT)
• The number of direct substitution iterations between acceleration
iterations (ACCELERATE)
• The number of consecutive acceleration iterations (NACCELERATE)

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 Chapter 38

2. When the NEWTON or BROYDEN methods are used to converge design

specifications and one or more manipulated variables have reached their
lower or upper limits, Aspen Plus finds a solution which minimizes the sum-
of-squares of design specification and tear stream errors divided by their
respective tolerances. Iterations stop when the root-mean-square of the
changes in the scaled manipulated variables is less than XTOL. Each
manipulated variable is scaled by dividing by the absolute value of the lower
limit or of the upper limit, whichever is larger.

3. When you use the SQP method to converge tear streams and optimization
problems simultaneously, the algorithm is a hybrid of an infeasible path
method (where the tear streams are not converged at each iteration but are
converged at the optimum) and a feasible path method (where the tear
streams are converged at each iteration of the optimization). You can control
the degree to which the tear streams are converged by specifying the number
of iterations to take toward converging the tear streams (MAXLSPASS) and
upper and lower limits for q for the Wegstein iterations (QMAX and QMIN).
4. For the SQP method, decision variables are automatically scaled by dividing
by the maximum of the upper and lower bound on the variable. Scale factors
entered in the SCALE statement are then used to multiply the variable (and
thus divide the corresponding element of the gradient). The default scaling
procedure is usually sufficient. Scale factors should be used when the effect of
a decision variable on the objective function is under emphasized.
5. A tear stream is converged when
X calculated − X assumed
− tol ≤ ≤ tol
X assumed

for all stream convergence variables. This convergence test is bypassed for
components whose mole fraction is less than TRACE. The default for TRACE
is tol/100. The default convergence variables are the component mole flows for
all components, pressure, and enthalpy.
You can use COMPS to select convergence variables when some components
are known to have zero or constant flow rates. You can use STATE when
pressure is known to be constant, or enthalpy is not calculated (that is, mass
balance only simulations). COMPS and STATE are intended primarily for use
with the matrix convergence methods (BROYDEN, NEWTON, and SQP) in
order to reduce the matrix size and the number of numerical derivative
perturbations.
❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 38-31

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 Flowsheet
Convergence

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 Chapter 39

39 Fitting a Simulation
Model to Data
This chapter describes the input language for fitting a simulation model to data.
Two types of data can be fit: point data and profile data.
Use the DATA-SET paragraph to define and enter point data. Examples of point
data are:
• Scalar variables from one or more steady-state experiments or operating
points
• Initial and final product conditions of a batch reactor
• Feed and product conditions of a plug flow reactor
Use the PROFILE-DATA paragraph to define and enter profile data. Examples of
profile data are:
• Time series data for a batch reactor
• Measurements along the length of a plug flow reactor
Use the REGRESSION paragraph to specify regression cases and convergence
parameters.

Input Language Guide 39-1

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 Fitting a
Simulation
Model to Data

DATA-SET Paragraph

Input Language for DATA-SET

DATA-SET datasetid
DESCRIPTION "a data-fit description - up to 64 characters in quotes"
DEFINE fvar vartype keyword=value
INPUT var-list
RESULT var-list
USE datatype value-list / . . .

Input Language Description for DATA-SET

datasetid ......................... DATA-SET paragraph ID
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the data-fit report.
DEFINE Use to access a flowsheet variable and equivalence it to the DATA-SET variable fvar. There must be
at least one DEFINE sentence in a DATA-SET paragraph. The DEFINE statements must appear in
the same order as the corresponding data in the USE statement. See Chapters 30 and 31 for a
complete description of the DEFINE sentence.
INPUT, Use to establish which DATA-SET variables are input variables and which are result variables.
RESULT Enter feed stream variables and block input parameters in the INPUT sentence, to classify them as
input variables. Enter calculated variables in the RESULT sentence to classify them as results.
var-list ............................. List of DATA-SET variables
USE Use to enter standard deviation and measurement data for the DATA-SET variables.
datatype .......................... Use STD-DEV to indicate that the following value-list values are
standard deviation values. Use DATA to indicate that the following value-
list values are measurement values. The first data type must always be
STD-DEV. You can enter subsequent values for standard deviations to
override the initial values. In this case, the new standard deviation
values apply only to the measurements that follow.
value-list ......................... Standard deviation or measurement values for the data point. There must
be one value for each DEFINE statement. The order of the values must
correspond to the order of the DEFINE statements. Missing measurement
values are indicated by replacing the appropriately positioned value with
an asterisk (*). Negative standard deviation values represent percentages
of the measurement values.

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PROFILE-DATA Paragraph

Input Language for PROFILE-DATA

PROFILE-DATA profileid
DESCRIPTION "a data-fit description - up to 64 characters in quotes"
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
BLOCK-TYPE BLOCK TEMP PRES UNITS

DEFINE ZZTEMP BLOCK-VAR BLOCK=blockid SENTENCE=PARAM &

VARIABLE=TEMP
DEFINE ZZPRES BLOCK-VAR BLOCK=blockid SENTENCE=PARAM &
VARIABLE=PRES
VECTOR-DEF farray BLOCK-VEC BLOCK=blockid SENTENCE=sentname
&
VARIABLE=varname [ID2=id2]
USE datatype value-list / . . .
basis-FLOW cid value / . . .

Input Language Description for PROFILE-DATA

profileid PROFILE-DATA paragraph ID
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the data-fit report.
PARAM Use to enter the block type, block ID, inlet temperature, and inlet pressure. You can also enter
units for the reactor profile variable.
BLOCK-TYPE.................. Specifies model to be used to fit measured profiles:
BLOCK-TYPE=RBATCH ......... Rigorous batch or semibatch reactor (Default)
BLOCK-TYPE=RPLUG............ Rigorous plug flow reactor
BLOCK ............................ ID of block where profiles have been measured. Can be hierarchical; see
Chapter 9 for naming conventions and restrictions.
TEMP ............................... Reactor inlet temperature to replace the base case value for this data set.
If you use TEMP, the DEFINE ZZTEMP sentence must be present.
TEMP is not allowed when BLOCK-TYPE=RPLUG.
PRES ............................... Reactor inlet pressure (if PRES>0), or pressure drop (if PRES≤0), to
replace the base case value for this data set. If you use PRES, the
DEFINE ZZPRES sentence must be present.
UNITS .............................. Units for reactor profile variable (length or time)

Input Language Guide 39-3

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 Fitting a
Simulation
Model to Data

DEFINE ZZTEMP, Use to access the reactor temperature and pressure. You can use DEFINE ZZTEMP only when
DEFINE ZZPRES BLOCK-TYPE=RBATCH.
blockid ............................ Block ID. Defined in the BLOCK keyword, where profiles have been
measured. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions and
restrictions.
VECTOR-DEF Use to access a flowsheet profile and equivalence it to the PROFILE-DATA array, farray. There
must be at least one VECTOR-DEF sentence in a PROFILE-DATA paragraph. The VECTOR-DEF
statements must appear in the same order as the corresponding data in the USE statement. See
Chapters 30 and 31 for further information on the use of VECTOR-DEF.
farray............................... FORTRAN array name limited to five characters. Aspen Plus will
explicitly declare farray as double precision or integer, based on the type
of the accessed variable.
blockid ............................ Block ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions and
restrictions.
sentname ........................ Sentence name. (See Accessing Variables in RBATCH and RPLUG, this
chapter.)
varname .......................... Variable name. (See Accessing Variables in RBATCH and RPLUG, this
chapter.)
id2 ................................... Variable ID used to uniquely identify the accessed variable, when the
variable name alone is insufficient. (See Accessing Variables in RBATCH
and RPLUG, this chapter.)
USE Use to enter standard deviation and measurement data for the PROFILE-DATA variables. The
number and location of measurement points must coincide with those defined on the reactor REGR-
PARAM and REGR-POINTS sentences. (See Chapter 20.) The location values in the USE sentence
are in units specified in the PARAM sentence, while the REGR-POINTS location values are always
in SI units.
datatype .......................... Data type. The first datatype must always be STD-DEV:
STD-DEV .................................. Indicates the following value-list values are
standard deviation values. Subsequent values
for standard deviations can be entered to
override the initial values. In this case, the new
standard deviation values apply only to
measurements that follow.
DATA ........................................ Indicates the following value-list values are
measurement values
value-list ......................... Standard deviation or measurement values for the data point. The first
value must be the measurement location value (length or time). It is
followed by standard deviation or measurement values. There must be
one value for each VECTOR-DEF statement. The order of values must
correspond to the order of VECTOR-DEF statements. You can indicate
missing measurement values by replacing the appropriately positioned
value with an asterisk (*). Negative standard deviation values represent
percentages of the measurement values.
basis-FLOW Use to enter component flows on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis, to replace the base case values
for this data-set.
cid ................................... Component ID

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 Chapter 39

value................................ Component mole, mass, or standard-liquid-volume flow rate

Accessing Variables in RBATCH and RPLUG

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for an
RBATCH or RPLUG block.

Block Input

Using RBATCH block type:

Sentence Variables ID2

REGR-C-PROF PARTIAL-PRES, MOLECONC-L, MASSCONC-L, MOLEFRAC-L, cid

MASSFRAC-L, MOLECONC-V, MOLEFRAC-V
REGR-LS-PROF MASSCONC-LS cid
REGR-PROF TEMPERATURE, PRESSURE, DUTY, CUM-DUTY, —
VENT-MOLFLOW, VENT-VOLFLOW
REGR-RP-PROF REACTOR-PROP pid (Property set ID)
REGR-AP-PROF ACCUM-PROP pid (Property set ID)
REGR-VP-PROF VENT-PROP pid (Property set ID)

Using RPLUG block type:

Sentence Variables ID2

REGR-C-PROF PARTIAL-PRES, MOLECONC-L, MASSCONC-L, MOLEFRAC-L, cid

MASSFRAC-L, MOLECONC-V, MOLEFRAC-V
REGR-LS-PROF MASSCONC-LS cid
REGR-PROF TEMPERATURE, PRESSURE —

Input Language Guide 39-5

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 Fitting a
Simulation
Model to Data

REGRESSION Paragraph

Input Language for REGRESSION

REGRESSION rblockid
DESCRIPTION "a data-fit description - up to 64 characters in quotes"
DATA setid weight / . . .
VARY vartype keyword=value
LIMITS lower upper
BLOCK-OPTION SIM-LEVEL=value
ALGORITHM keyword=value

Keywords:
BOUND-FAC MAX-ITER COVAR-REQ INIRIN AFCTOL RFCTOL XCTOL
XFTOL TUNER1 TUNER2 TUNER3 INIT-STEP DECFAC INCFAC RDFCMN
RDFCMX FUZZ DFAC MXPASS PERT-FAC

Input Language Description for REGRESSION

rblockid........................... Regression block ID
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the data-fit report.
DATA Use to specify data sets and data set weighting to be used in the regression case.
setid ................................ DATA-SET or PROFILE-DATA paragraph ID. Can be hierarchical; see
Chapter 9 for naming conventions and restrictions.
weight ............................. Relative weight of the data (Default=1)
VARY Use to identify parameters to estimate. Only block input or process feed stream variables can be
estimated. The estimated block or stream variable must either be a variable that you specify in a
BLOCK or STREAM paragraph, or it must have a default value. See Chapters 30 and 31 for a
complete description of the VARY sentence.
LIMITS Use to specify limits for the estimated parameter.
lower ............................... Lower bound of varied variable
upper............................... Upper bound of varied variable
BLOCK-OPTION Use to override the diagnostic message levels established by the DIAGNOSTIC paragraph. (See
Chapter 46.)

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 Chapter 39

ALGORITHM Use to enter optional convergence and tuning parameters.

BOUND-FAC ................... Use in computing the lower and upper bounds for the reconciled input
variables. The bounds are calculated from the absolute value of the
standard deviation for the measurement (S), and the BOUND-FACTOR
value (B) as follows:
UpperBound=MeasuredValue + B*S
LowerBound=MeasuredValue – B*S (Default=10)
MAX-ITER........................ Maximum number of data-fit algorithm iterations (Default=50)
COVAR-REQ ................... COVAR-REQ=YES................... Calculates covariance matrix (Default)
COVAR-REQ=NO..................... Does not calculate covariance matrix
INIRIN .............................. Specifies whether the reconciled INPUT variables are to be initialized to
their base-case values or to measurements:
1 ................................................ Measurements
0 ................................................ Base-case (Default)
AFCTOL........................... Sum-of-squares objective function tolerance. Data-fit will be considered
converged if objective functions ≤ AFCTOL. (Default=0.01)
RFCTOL .......................... Relative function convergence tolerance (Default=2x10-3)
XCTOL............................. X convergence tolerance. Data-fit is considered converged if the scaled
distance of the current X, from the optimal X, is less than XCTOL.
(Default=2x10-3)
XFTOL ............................. Data-fit returns with suboptimal solution, if a step of scaled length of at
most XFTOL is tried but not accepted. (Default=1x10-10)
TUNER1........................... Parameter used to check for false convergence. This parameter is also
used to select convergence algorithm for the current trust region.
(Default=0.1)
TUNER2........................... Step-size control parameter. For a step to be accepted, the actual function
reduction must be more than TUNER2 times its predicted value.
(Default=1x10-4)
TUNER3........................... Trust region adjustment factor. The trust region radius is increased if the
actual decrease in objective function is at least TUNER3*inner_product of
the step and the gradient. (Default=0.75)
INIT-STEP........................ Factor determining the initial step-size (Default=1.0)
DECFAC .......................... Factor by which the trust region radius is reduced, if the current X lead to
errors in function or Jacobian evaluation (Default=0.5)
INCFAC............................ Minimum factor by which the trust region radius can be increased
(Default=2.0)
RDFCMN ......................... Minimum factor by which the trust region radius can be reduced
(Default=0.1)
RDFCMX.......................... Maximum factor by which the trust region radius can be increased at one
time (Default=4.0)
FUZZ................................ Parameter for determining when to switch the convergence method used
for the trust region (Default=1.5)
DFAC ............................... Tuning factor associated with the adaptive scaling strategy used in the
algorithm (Default=0.6)

Input Language Guide 39-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Fitting a
Simulation
Model to Data

MXPASS.......................... Maximum number of flowsheet passes allowed in a data-fit run. MXPASS

includes flowsheet passes for the initial base case, passes required to
compute the residuals, and passes required to compute the Jacobian
matrix through perturbation. (Default=1000)
PERT-FAC....................... Relative perturbation size for Jacobian evaluation. Perturbation step-size
variable X is PERT-FACTOR*absolute value of X. (Default=5x10-3)

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

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 Chapter 40

40 Pressure Relief
This chapter describes the input language for modeling pressure relief systems
and simulating vessels undergoing de-pressurization.
The PRES-RELIEF block can be used to model dynamic or steady-state
situations. Depending on the scenario chosen, different specifications are
required. The following scenarios are allowed:
Scenario Description

FIRE Dynamic scenario with vessel exposed to external fire

HEAT-INPUT Dynamic scenario with fixed or variable heat flux into vessel
FLOW-SPEC Steady-state valve rating scenario with piping
VALVE-RATING Steady-state simple valve rating scenario with no piping

Input Language Guide 40-1

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 Pressure Relief

PRES-RELIEF Block

Input Language for PRES-RELIEF

PRES-RELIEF pblockid
PROPERTIES keyword=value

Optional keywords:
OPSETNAME HENRY-COMPS CHEMISTRY TRUE-COMPS FREE-WATER
SOLU-WATER

BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
SIM-LEVEL PROP-LEVEL TERM-LEVEL RESTART

PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
SCENARIO CAPACITY NPHASE DISENGAGEMENT VFRAC
DISCHARGE-PR MAXIT TOL REACTION VES-BASIS STRM-BASIS
basis-FLOW MAX-TIME PRINT-TIME ADD-POINTS MAX-NPOINT
OPEN-TIME VENT-NPHASE VENT-PHASE

REFERENCE STREAM=sid
VESSEL-FRAC cid frac / . . .
STREAM-FRAC cid frac / . . .
VESSEL keyword=value

Keywords:
VES-TYPE MAWP MAWP-TEMP HEADS HEAD-AREA HEAD-VOL
DIAMETER LENGTH MOUNT JACKET-VOL VES-VOLUME VES-AREA VES-
NECK-DIA VES-NECK-DIR VES-NECK-LEN VES-NECK-CON
VES-NECK-RUF REDUCER-K EXPANDER-K DEAD-VOL

CONDITIONS keyword=value

Keywords:
FILLAGE PAD-COMP VES-TEMP VES-PRES VES-VFRAC VES-TFROM
VES-PFROM VES-VFFROM STRM-TEMP STRM-PRES STRM-VFRAC
STRM-TFROM STRM-PFROM STRM-VFFROM

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 Chapter 40

REACTIONS REACID=reacid-list
FIRE keyword=value

Keywords:
STANDARD ELEVATION DRAINAGE WATER-SPRAY INSULATION
PORTABLE CREDIT-FACT EXTRA-AREA FIRE-TIME INS-CREDIT
DR-AND-FF LIQ-LEVEL

DUTY-PROF time duty / . . .

HEAT-INPUT keyword=value

Keywords:
TEMP U AREA DUTY

RELIEF-DEV keyword=value

Keywords:
DEVICE PSV-SERVICE PSV-THROAT PSV-IN-DIAM PSV-OUT-DIAM
PSV-CD PSV-OVER-PR PSV-SETPOINT PSV-OPEN PSV-CLOSE
PSD-DIAM PSD-CD PSD-LD PSD-SETPOINT ERV-DIAM ERV-SETPOINT
ERV-OVER-PR COMB-COEF N-INLET-SECT N-TAIL-SECT

INLET-PIPE secno keyword=value

Keywords:
ACTUAL-DIAM LENGTH CONNECTIONS
Optional keywords:
ELEVATION ELBOWS STRAIGHT-TEE BRANCHED-TEE GATE-VALVES
BUTTERFLY-VA VALVE-AREA VALVE-COEFF CONTROL-CV MISC-L-D
TAMBIN TAMBOUT U REDUCER-K EXPANDER-K ROUGHNESS

TAIL-PIPE secno keyword=value

Keywords:
ACTUAL-DIAM LENGTH CONNECTIONS
Optional keywords:
ELEVATION ELBOWS STRAIGHT-TEE BRANCHED-TEE GATE-VALVES
BUTTERFLY-VA VALVE-AREA VALVE-COEFF CONTROL-CV MISC-L-D
TAMBIN TAMBOUT U REDUCER-K EXPANDER-K ROUGHNESS

STOP stopno location variable value from keyword=value

Locations:
VESSEL ACCUMULATOR VENT
Variables:
TIME MASS-FRAC MOLE-FRAC CONVERSION MOLES MASS TEMP
MOLE-FLOW MASS-FLOW VFRAC PRES
Keywords:
COMP SUBSTREAM

Input Language Guide 40-3

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 Pressure Relief

RULES keyword=value

Keywords:
IN-MAXFAC TAIL-ALLFAC RESPOND EQP-MAXFAC EQP-MAXPRE
SPCHANGE

REPORT reportopt-list

Reportopts:
NOREPORT NEWPAGE NOINPUT NORESULTS

CONVERGENCE keyword=value

Keywords:
SFLASH-MAXIT SFLASH-TOL BUBBLY-C0 CHURN-C0 VALVE-SFLASH
CVT-SFLASH VAL-SIMPSON CVT-SIMPSON INLET-TABLE INLET-NT
INLET-NP TAIL-TABLE TAIL-NT TAIL-NP DEVICE-ONLY PRES-TOL
FLOW-TOL FRIC-DOWNHILL FRIC-HORIZ FRIC-INCL FRIC-VERTICA
HOLDUP-DOWNH HOLDUP-HORIZ HOLDUP-INCL HOLDUP-VERTI
STOP-CYCLING MAX-NCYCLE CYCLE-TIME ATMOS-PRES BA-H0
BA-HMXUSR BA-RINTOL BA-CORR-METH VA-H0 VA-HMXUSR
VA-RINTOL VA-CORR-METH CV-H0 CV-HMXUSR CV-RINTOL
CV-CORR-METH IN-H0 IN-HMXUSR IN-RINTOL IN-CORR-METH TA-H0
TA-HMXUSR TA-RINTOL TA-CORR-METH BA-CONV BCHTOL
IN-LTRANGE IN-LPRANGE IN-UTRANGE IN-UPRANGE TA-LTRANGE
TA-LPRANGE TA-UTRANGE TA-UPRANGE SIM-TOL P-SAVE-TOL
BA-INI-TOL PS-FLASH

Input Language Description for PRES-RELIEF

pblockid .......................... Pressure relief block ID
PROPERTIES Use to specify physical property calculations for the block.
OPSETNAME .................. Physical property option set to use in place of global default
HENRY-COMPS.............. Henry's constant component list ID
CHEMISTRY.................... ID of a CHEMISTRY paragraph
TRUE-COMPS................. Electrolytes computation method:
TRUE-COMPS=YES................. Uses true species simulation approach (Default)
TRUE-COMPS=NO .................. Uses apparent component in simulation
approach
FREE-WATER ................. Free-water phase option set name. (See Chapter 8.)
SOLU-WATER................. Method for calculating the K-value of water in the organic phase:
SOLU-WATER=0...................... Uses water solubility correlation. Vapor phase
fugacity for water calculated by free-water
phase option set.
SOLU-WATER=1...................... Uses water solubility correlation. Vapor phase
fugacity for water calculated by primary option

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 Chapter 40

set.
SOLU-WATER=2...................... Uses water solubility correlation with a
correction for unsaturated systems. Vapor
phase fugacity for water calculated by primary
option set.
SOLU-WATER=3...................... Uses primary option set. This method is not
recommended for water-hydrocarbon systems
unless water-hydrocarbon interaction
parameters are available. (Default)
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels and restart option, established by the DIAGNOSTICS
and SIM-OPTIONS paragraphs. (See Chapter 46.)
PARAM Use to specify the calculation mode, scenario, vessel configuration, and optional convergence
parameters. SCENARIO and DISCHARGE-PR are required.
SCENARIO ...................... An event that, without pressure relief, would cause system pressure to
rise above the maximum allowable working pressure:
SCENARIO=FIRE..................... Dynamic scenario with vessel exposed to
external fire
SCENARIO=HEAT-INPUT ....... Dynamic scenario with fixed or variable heat
flux into vessel
SCENARIO=FLOW-SPEC ....... Steady-state valve rating scenario with piping
SCENARIO= ............................. Steady-state simple valve rating scenario with
VALVE-RATING no piping
CAPACITY....................... Determines whether the simulation is based on actual capacity of the
hardware or on code capacity:
CAPACITY=CODE ................... Runs the simulation at code capacity (Default)
CAPACITY=ACTUAL............... Runs the simulation at actual capacity
NPHASE .......................... Number of phases in the protected vessel:
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Vapor and liquid phases (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Vapor and two-liquid phases
DISENGAGEMENT ......... Model used to describe how vessel contents leave the vessel:
DISENGAGEMENT= ................ Homogeneous venting. The vapor fraction and
HOMOGENEOUS composition leaving the vessel are the same as
the vessel contents. (Default)
DISENGAGEMENT= ................ Vapor venting only. The composition of material
ALL-VAPOR leaving the vessel is the same as the
composition of the vapor phase in the vessel.
DISENGAGEMENT= ................ Liquid venting only. The composition of
ALL-LIQUID material leaving the vessel is the same as the
composition of the liquid phase in the vessel.
DISENGAGEMENT= ................ DIERS bubbly/foamy venting
BUBBLY
DISENGAGEMENT= ................ DIERS churn-turbulent venting
CHURN-TURBULENT

Input Language Guide 40-5

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 Pressure Relief

DISENGAGEMENT= ................ Homogeneous venting until vessel vapor

USER-SPEC fraction reaches specified value, then all-vapor
venting
VFRAC ............................ Homogeneous molar vapor fraction limit used when
DISENGAGEMENT=USER-SPEC
DISCHARGE-PR ............. Vent discharge pressure
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flash iterations (Default=30)
TOL ................................. Flash convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-6)
REACTION ...................... Specifies whether or not reactions occur in the protected vessel. The
vessel must be a horizontal, vertical, API, or spherical tank or a user-
specified tank.
REACTION=NO........................ No reactions occur (Default)
REACTION=YES ...................... Reactions occur
VES-BASIS ..................... Basis for the VESSEL-FRAC sentence:
VES-BASIS=MOLE .................. MOLE basis (Default)
VES-BASIS=MASS .................. MASS basis
VES-BASIS=STDVOL .............. Standard-liquid-volume basis
STRM-BASIS................... Basis for the STREAM-FRAC sentence:
STRM-BASIS=MOLE ............... MOLE basis (Default)
STRM-BASIS=MASS ............... MASS basis
STRM-BASIS=STDVOL ........... Standard-liquid-volume basis
basis-FLOW.................... Flow rate for the FLOW-SPEC scenario, in MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL
basis
MAX-TIME ....................... Upper limit on the simulation time for dynamic scenarios
PRINT-TIME .................... Time interval between output points, printed in the block report.
Aspen Plus uses this value when the vent is closed. It is also used when
the vent is open, unless OPEN-TIME is specified.
ADD-POINTS................... Specifies whether to generate extra output points at input profile points
(DUTY-PROF sentence) and when the relief system opens or closes:
ADD-POINTS=YES .................. Generates extra points (Default)
ADD-POINTS=NO .................... Does not generate extra points
MAX-NPOINT .................. The number of output points generated if the upper limit on the
simulation time is reached. Enter the next integer value greater than:
MAX − TIME
+1
PRINT − TIME

OPEN-TIME..................... Time interval between output points printed in the block report used
when the relief system is open. Default uses PRINT-TIME value.
VENT-NPHASE ............... Number of phases in the relief system:
VENT-NPHASE=1 .................... One-phase
VENT-NPHASE=2 .................... Vapor and liquid phases (Default)

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 Chapter 40

VENT-NPHASE=3 .................... Vapor and two-liquid phases

VENT-PHASE .................. Phase in the relief system when VENT=NPHASE=1:
VENT-PHASE=V ...................... Vapor (Default)
VENT-PHASE=L....................... Liquid
REFERENCE Use to reference the stream whose composition will initialize the scenario. For FIRE and HEAT-
INPUT scenarios, the initial vessel composition is taken from the referenced stream. For other
scenarios, the composition of the inlet stream is taken from the referenced stream.
STREAM .......................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
VESSEL-FRAC Use to specify the composition in the vessel for FIRE and HEAT-INPUT scenarios if the
REFERENCE sentence is not used. You can specify the basis in MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL using
VES-BASIS keyword in the PARAM sentence. Default is MOLE basis.
cid.................................... Component ID
frac .................................. Component fraction
STREAM-FRAC Use to specify the composition of the inlet stream for the FLOW-SPEC and VALVE-RATING
scenarios if the REFERENCE sentence is not used. You can specify the basis in MOLE, MASS, or
STDVOL using STRM-BASIS keyword in the PARAM sentence. Default is MOLE basis.
cid.................................... Component ID
frac .................................. Component fraction
VESSEL Use to specify vessel and vessel head geometry for dynamic simulations. MAWP and its
corresponding temperature MAWP-TEMP are required for all vessel types.
VES-TYPE ....................... Type of vessel:
VES-TYPE=HORIZONTAL....... Horizontal cylindrical tank
VES-TYPE=VERTICAL ............ Vertical cylindrical tank
VES-TYPE=API-TANK ............. API tank
VES-TYPE=SPHERE ............... Spherical tank
VES-TYPE=HX-SHELL ............ Heat-exchanger shell
VES-TYPE= .............................. Heating jacket around a vessel
VESSEL-JACKET
VES-TYPE=USER-SPEC ......... User-specified volume and area
MAWP.............................. Maximum allowable working pressure. If you specified
SCENARIO=FLOW-SPEC or VALVE-RATING, you cannot use MAWP.
MAWP-TEMP................... Temperature at given MAWP. If you specified SCENARIO=FLOW-SPEC
or VALVE-RATING, you cannot use MAWP-TEMP.
HEADS............................. Describes the heads on the ends of the vessel. Required when VES-
TYPE=HORIZONTAL, VERTICAL, API-TANK, or HX-SHELL.
HEADS=FLANGED .................. Flanged and dished heads
HEADS=ELLIPSOIDAL............ Ellipsoidal heads
HEADS=USER-SPEC .............. User-specified area and volume. You must also
enter HEAD-AREA and HEAD-VOL.
HEAD-AREA.................... Area of head. Allowed only when HEADS=USER-SPEC.

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 Pressure Relief

HEAD-VOL ...................... Volume of head. Allowed only when HEADS=USER-SPEC.

DIAMETER ...................... Vessel diameter. Required when VES-TYPE is not USER-SPEC.
LENGTH .......................... Vessel length. Required when VES-TYPE is not SPHERE or USER-
SPEC.
MOUNT............................ Describes how heat-exchanger is mounted. Required when VES-TYPE is
HX-SHELL.
MOUNT=HORIZONTAL ........... Horizontal mount
MOUNT=VERTICAL................. Vertical mount
JACKET-VOL .................. Volume of vessel jacket. Required when VES-TYPE=VESSEL-JACKET.
VES-VOLUME ................. Volume of user-specified vessel. Required when VES-TYPE=USER-SPEC.
VES-AREA ...................... Area of vessel. Required when VES-TYPE=USER-SPEC.
VES-NECK-DIA............... Vessel neck diameter
VES-NECK-DIR............... Vessel neck direction:
VES-NECK-DIR= ...................... Vertical neck (Default)
VERTICAL
VES-NECK-DIR= ...................... Horizontal neck
HORIZONTAL
VES-NECK-LEN.............. Vessel neck length. A value of 0 indicates there is no vessel neck.
VES-NECK-CON ............. Vessel neck connection to the vessel:
VES-NECK-CON= .................... Rounded connection (Default)
ROUNDED
VES-NECK-CON=SQUARE..... Square connection
VES-NECK-CON= .................... Inward projecting
IN-PROJECTING
VES-NECK-RUF.............. Absolute roughness of the vessel neck (Default=1.5x10-4ft, 0.04572 mm)
REDUCER-K ................... Resistance coefficient for reducer between the vessel neck and the
following length of pipe (Default=0.04)
EXPANDER-K ................. Resistance coefficient for expander between the vessel neck and the
following length of pipe (Default=0.04)
DEAD-VOL ...................... Volume of vessel internal structures to be substracted from calculated
vessel volume
CONDITIONS Use to specify initial conditions for the dynamic scenarios or feed stream conditions for the steady
state scenarios.
FILLAGE ......................... Fraction of the volume of the tank which is liquid at the normal operating
condition. Allowed for the FIRE and HEAT-INPUT scenarios.
PAD-COMP ..................... Component to be used as pad-gas. If you use PAD-COMP, this material is
added to the vessel to bring the pressure to the specified value. Allowed
for FIRE and HEAT-INPUT scenarios.
VES-TEMP ...................... Initial temperature in the vessel. Allowed for FIRE and HEAT-INPUT
scenarios.
VES-PRES....................... Initial pressure in the vessel. Allowed for FIRE and HEAT-INPUT
scenarios.

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 Chapter 40

VES-VFRAC .................... Initial molar vapor fraction in the vessel. Allowed for FIRE and HEAT-
INPUT scenarios.
VES-TFROM .................... Source of initial vessel temperature. Allowed for FIRE and HEAT-INPUT
scenarios.
VES-TFROM=........................... Calculates initial temperature of vessel
CALCULATE contents (Default)
VES-TFROM=........................... Takes initial temperature from referenced
FROM-STREAM stream
VES-PFROM.................... Source of initial vessel pressure. Allowed for FIRE and HEAT-INPUT
scenarios.
VES-PFROM=........................... Calculates initial pressure of vessel contents
CALCULATE (Default)
VES-PFROM=........................... Takes initial pressure from referenced stream
FROM-STREAM
VES-VFFROM ................. Source of initial vessel vapor fraction. Allowed for FIRE and HEAT-
INPUT scenarios.
VES-VFFROM= ........................ Calculates initial vapor fraction (Default)
CALCULATE
VES-VFFROM= ........................ Takes initial vapor fraction from referenced
FROM-STREAM stream
STRM-TEMP.................... Temperature of the stream entering the relief system. Allowed for FLOW-
SPEC and VALVE-RATING scenarios.
STRM-PRES .................... Pressure of the stream entering the relief system. Allowed for FLOW-
SPEC and VALVE-RATING scenarios.
STRM-VFRAC ................. Vapor fraction of the stream entering the relief system. Allowed for the
FLOW-SPEC and VALVE-RATING scenarios.
STRM-TFROM ................. Source of temperature of the stream entering the relief system. Allowed
for FLOW-SPEC and VALVE-RATING scenarios.
STRM-TFROM=........................ Calculates temperature of the inlet stream
CALCULATE (Default)
STRM-TFROM=........................ Takes temperature from the referenced stream
FROM-STREAM
STRM-PFROM................. Source of pressure of the stream entering the relief system. Allowed for
FLOW-SPEC and VALVE-RATING scenarios.
STRM-PFROM=........................ Calculates pressure of the inlet stream
CALCULATE (Default)
STRM-PFROM=........................ Takes pressure from the referenced stream
FROM-STREAM
STRM-VFFROM............... Source of vapor fraction of the stream entering the relief system. Allowed
for FLOW-SPEC and VALVE-RATING scenarios.
STRM-VFFROM= ..................... Calculates vapor fraction of the inlet stream
CALCULATE (Default)
STRM-VFFROM= ..................... Takes vapor fraction from the referenced
FROM-STREAM stream

Input Language Guide 40-9

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 Pressure Relief

REACTIONS Use to specify the IDs of REACTIONS paragraphs to be included with the simulation of the vessel.
REACID ........................... List of IDs of REACTIONS paragraphs. (See Chapter 6.)
FIRE Use to enter parameters for the FIRE scenario.
STANDARD..................... Regulations from which to take FIRE scenario:
STANDARD=NFPA-30............. Conform to NFPA 30 rules
STANDARD=API-520............... Conform to API 520 rules
STANDARD=API-2000............. Conform to API 2000 rules
ELEVATION .................... Height of the vessel above ground level (Default=0)
DRAINAGE...................... Allows the user to claim a credit for drainage. Allowed only when
STANDARD=NFPA-30.
DRAINAGE=YES...................... Claims credit for drainage
DRAINAGE=NO ....................... Does not claim credit for drainage (Default)
WATER-SPRAY .............. Allows the user to claim a credit for having a water spray. Allowed only
when STANDARD=NFPA-30.
WATER-SPRAY=YES .............. Claims credit for water spray
WATER-SPRAY=NO................ Does not claim credit for water spray (Default)
INSULATION ................... Allows the user to claim a credit for having an insulated vessel. You
cannot use INSULATION if PORTABLE=YES.
INSULATION=YES................... Claims credit for insulated vessel
INSULATION=NO..................... Does not claim insulation credit (Default)
PORTABLE ..................... Indicates whether the fire is under a portable tank. If so, different NFPA
rules apply. Allowed only when STANDARD=NFPA-30.
PORTABLE=YES ..................... Tank is portable
PORTABLE=NO....................... Tank is not portable (Default)
CREDIT-FACT................. Allows the user to enter a credit factor instead of having PRES-RELIEF
calculate it from other input. You cannot use CREDIT-FAC if you
specified any individual credit factors using the keywords DRAINAGE,
WATER-SPRAY, INSULATION, and INS-CREDIT. (Default=1)
EXTRA-AREA.................. Extra area for heat transfer. This value is added to the calculated vessel
area.
FIRE-TIME....................... Duration of the fire around the vessel
INS-CREDIT .................... Insulation protection factor for API-520 and API-2000 or when
INSULATION=YES
DR-AND-FF ..................... Credit factor for having drainage and fire-fighting equipment available.
Allowed only when STANDARD=API-520.
DR-AND-FF=YES ..................... Claims this credit factor
DR-AND-FF=NO....................... Does not claim this credit factor (Default)
LIQ-LEVEL ...................... Height of liquid in the vessel. Allowed only when VES-
TYPE=HORIZONTAL, VERTICAL, API-TANK, or HX-SHELL and
STANDARD=API-520.

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 Chapter 40

DUTY-PROF Use to enter the time-varying duty profile for the HEAT-INPUT scenario. Linear interpolation is
used for duties between the specified times.
time.................................. Time
duty ................................. Heat duty at the corresponding time
HEAT-INPUT Use to enter parameters for the HEAT-INPUT scenario. When you choose the HEAT-INPUT
scenario, you can then specify DUTY or a time-varying duty profile (DUTY-PROF sentence) or
TEMP, U, and AREA.
TEMP ............................... Temperature of material in the jacket
U ...................................... Heat transfer coefficient
AREA ............................... Area for heat transfer
DUTY ............................... Heat duty
RELIEF-DEV Use to specify parameters for the relief devices.
DEVICE............................ Type of relief device:
DEVICE=PSV ........................... Safety relief valve (Default)
DEVICE=PSD ........................... Rupture disk
DEVICE=ERV ........................... Emergency relief vent
DEVICE=PIPE .......................... Open vent pipe
DEVICE=PSV-PSD................... Safety relief valve/rupture disk combination
PSV-SERVICE ................. Service of safety relief valve. Required when DEVICE=PSV.
PSV-SERVICE="LIQUID" ........ Liquid service
PSV-SERVICE=........................ Gas or two-phase service
"GAS/2-PHASE"
PSV-THROAT.................. Safety relief valve throat diameter. Required when DEVICE=PSV.
PSV-IN-DIAM................... Safety relief valve inlet diameter. Required when DEVICE=PSV.
PSV-OUT-DIAM............... Safety relief valve outlet diameter. Required when DEVICE=PSV.
PSV-CD ........................... Safety relief valve discharge coefficient. Required when DEVICE=PSV.
PSV-OVER-PR ................ Over-pressure factor for liquid service safety relief valve. Allowed only
when PSV-SERVICE="LIQUID". (Default=1.1)
PSV-SETPOINT............... Differential setpoint for the safety relief valve. Defined as the pressure
difference across the valve, which is needed for the valve to start opening.
Required when DEVICE=PSV.
PSV-OPEN ...................... Parameter used to calculate the pressure at which the gas or two-phase
service valve opens. The valve opens when the pressure across the valve
reaches PSV-SETPOINT*PSV-OPEN.
Allowed only when PSV-SERVICE="GAS/2-PHASE". (Default=1.1)
PSV-CLOSE .................... Parameter used to calculate the pressure at which the gas or two-phase
service valve closes. The valve closes when the pressure across the valve
reaches PSV-SETPOINT*PSV-CLOSE.
Allowed only when PSV-SERVICE="GAS/2-PHASE". (Default=0.93)
PSD-DIAM ....................... Rupture disk diameter. Required when DEVICE=PSD.
PSD-CD ........................... Discharge coefficient for rupture disk. Required when DEVICE=PSD and

Input Language Guide 40-11

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 Pressure Relief

CAPACITY=CODE.
PSD-LD ........................... Value of equivalent L/D used to model the rupture disk in the actual
capacity run. Required when DEVICE=PSD, and CAPACITY=ACTUAL.
PSD-SETPOINT .............. Differential setpoint for the rupture disk. Defined as the pressure
difference across the rupture disk, which is needed for the disk to break.
Required when DEVICE=PSD.
ERV-DIAM ....................... Diameter of emergency relief vent. Required when DEVICE=ERV.
ERV-SETPOINT .............. Differential setpoint for the emergency relief vent. Defined as the
pressure difference across the vent, which is needed for the vent to open.
Required when DEVICE=ERV.
ERV-OVER-PR................ Over-pressure factor. The vent completely opens when the pressure drop
across it reaches ERV-OVER-PR*ERV-SETPOINT. (Default=1.1)
COMB-COEF................... Combination coefficient for PSV/PSD. If the combination is not certified a
value of 0.9 is required by the ASME.
N-INLET-SECT................ Number of sections of pipe between the vessel neck and the relief device:
0, 1, or 2 (Default=0)
N-TAIL-SECT .................. Number of sections of pipe after the relief device: 0, 1, or 2 (Default=0)
INLET-PIPE Use to specify parameters for the inlet pipes. You must specify ACTUAL-DIAM, LENGTH, and
CONNECTIONS. You can use up to two sections of pipe with the same or different diameters. You
can also specify any fittings such as gate valves, elbows, and branched tees.
secno .............................. Section number
ACTUAL-DIAM ................ Actual pipe diameter
LENGTH .......................... Length of pipe
CONNECTIONS .............. Type of connection between pipe lengths:
CONNECTIONS= ..................... Flanged or welded connection (Default)
FLANGED-WELDED
CONNECTIONS= ..................... Screwed connection
SCREWED
ELEVATION .................... Net vertical change in distance between the inlet and outlet of the piping
section
ELBOWS ......................... Number of 90° elbows in the pipe
STRAIGHT-TEE .............. Number of straight tees in the pipe
BRANCHED-TEE ............ Number of branched tees in the pipe
GATE-VALVES ............... Number of gate valves in the pipe
BUTTERFLY-VA ............. Number of butterfly valves in the pipe
VALVE-AREA.................. Valve flow area
VALVE-COEFF................ Valve flow coefficient
CONTROL-CV................. Valve constant for control valve in the pipe. Enter 0 if none.
MISC-L-D......................... Miscellaneous L/D for other elements in the pipe
TAMBIN........................... Ambient temperature at the pipe inlet
TAMBOUT ....................... Ambient temperature at the pipe outlet

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 Chapter 40

U ...................................... Overall heat transfer coefficient

REDUCER-K.................... Resistance coefficient for reducer between this pipe and the following
length of pipe (Default=0.04)
EXPANDER-K ................. Resistance coefficient for expander between this pipe and the following
length of pipe (Default=0.04)
ROUGHNESS .................. Pipe absolute roughness (Default=1.5x10-4 ft, .04572 mm)
TAIL-PIPE Use to specify parameters for the tail pipe section(s) following the relief device. You must specify
ACTUAL-DIAM, LENGTH, and CONNECTIONS. You can use up to two sections of pipe with the
same or different diameters. You can also specify any fittings such as gate valves, elbows, and
branched tees.
secno............................... Section number
ACTUAL-DIAM ................ Actual pipe diameter
LENGTH .......................... Length of pipe
CONNECTIONS............... Type of connection between pipe lengths:
CONNECTIONS= ..................... Flanged or welded connection (Default)
FLANGED-WELDED
CONNECTIONS= ..................... Screwed connection
SCREWED
ELEVATION..................... Net vertical change in distance between the inlet and outlet of the piping
section
ELBOWS ......................... Number of 90° elbows in the pipe
STRAIGHT-TEE............... Number of straight tees in the pipe
BRANCHED-TEE ............ Number of branched tees in the pipe
GATE-VALVES................ Number of gate valves in the pipe
BUTTERFLY-VA.............. Number of butterfly valves in the pipe
VALVE-AREA .................. Valve flow area
VALVE-COEFF................ Valve flow coefficient
CONTROL-CV ................. Valve constant for control valve in the pipe. Enter 0 if none.
MISC-L-D......................... Miscellaneous L/D for other elements in the pipe
TAMBIN ........................... Ambient temperature at the pipe inlet
TAMBOUT ....................... Ambient temperature at the pipe outlet
U ...................................... Overall heat transfer coefficient
REDUCER-K.................... Resistance coefficient for reducer between this pipe and the following
length of pipe (Default=0.04)
EXPANDER-K ................. Resistance coefficient for expander between this pipe and the following
length of pipe (Default=0.04)
ROUGHNESS .................. Pipe absolute roughness (Default=1.5x10-4 ft, 0.04572 mm)

Input Language Guide 40-13

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 Pressure Relief

STOP Use to specify stop criteria. Enter one STOP sentence for each stop criterion. If you specify more
than one stop criterion, the simulation is halted when any one of the stop criteria is reached. You
can specify the stopping criterion variable to reach its specified value FROM-ABOVE or FROM-
BELOW.
stopno............................. Stop criterion number
location ........................... Location for the variable:
VESSEL .................................... In vessel
ACCUMULATOR...................... In vent accumulator
VENT......................................... In continuous vent
variable ........................... Stop criterion variable:
TIME.......................................... Reaction time
MASS-FRAC............................. Mass fraction of a component specified by
COMP
MOLE-FRAC............................. Mole fraction of a component specified by
COMP
CONVERSION .......................... Conversion of a component specified by COMP
MOLES ..................................... Total moles inside the reactor or vent
accumulator
MASS........................................ Total mass inside the reactor or vent
accumulator
TEMP ........................................ Reactor temperature
MOLE-FLOW ............................ Vent mole flow rate
MASS-FLOW ............................ Vent mass flow rate
VFRAC...................................... Vapor fraction in the vessel
PRES ........................................ Pressure in the vessel
value................................ Value of variable at which to stop simulation
from................................. FROM-ABOVE.......................... Terminates simulation when variable value is
reached from above
FROM-BELOW ......................... Terminates simulation when variable value is
reached from below
COMP .............................. Component ID. Required when variable is MOLE-FRAC, MASS-FRAC, or
CONVERSION.
SUBSTREAM .................. Substream ID. Required when variable is MOLE-FRAC or
CONVERSION.
RULES Use to specify design rules, such as limitations on inlet and tail pipe pressure losses and maximum
vessel pressure.
IN-MAXFAC..................... Maximum allowed inlet piping pressure loss as a percentage of
differential set pressure. Calculated at 10% over-pressure or maximum
pressure if 10% over-pressure is not reached. (Default=3%)
TAIL-ALLFAC ................. Maximum allowed tail pipe pressure drop as a percentage of differential
set pressure. Calculated at 10% over-pressure or maximum pressure if
10% over-pressure is not reached.

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 Chapter 40

RESPOND ....................... The 97% rule. If the 97% rule is used the pressure drop across the valve
must be greater than or equal to 97% of the valve's differential set
pressure.
RESPOND=YES ....................... Applies 97% rule
RESPOND=NO......................... Does not apply 97% rule
EQP-MAXFAC ................. Maximum allowed vessel pressure as a percentage of MAWP
EQP-MAXPRE ................. Maximum allowed vessel pressure
SPCHANGE..................... Differential set pressure option:
SPCHANGE=YES .................... Differential set pressure changes as back
pressure changes
SPCHANGE=NO ...................... Differential set pressure does not change as
back pressure changes (Default)
REPORT Use to override the default report options. (See Chapter 11.)
reportopt ......................... Report options:
NOREPORT.............................. Suppresses the the block report
NEWPAGE................................ Specifies that each block report is to begin on a
new page
NOINPUT.................................. Suppresses the summary of user input and
system defaults
NORESULTS............................ Suppresses the block results
CONVERGENCE Use to enter simulation methods, flash table parameters, and optional convergence parameters, and
pipe friction and holdup methods.
SFLASH-MAXIT............... Maximum number of iterations for constant entropy flash (Default=30)
SFLASH-TOL .................. Tolerance for constant entropy flash (Default=1x10-10)
BUBBLY-C0 .................... Coefficient for DIERS bubbly disengagement option (Default=1.01)
CHURN-C0 ...................... Coefficient for DIERS churn-turbulent disengagement option (Default=1)
VALVE-SFLASH.............. VALVE-SFLASH=YES ............. Performs constant entropy flash calculations in
the valve
VALVE-SFLASH=NO ............... Does not perform constant enthalpy flash
calculations in the valve (Default)
CVT-SFLASH .................. CVT-SFLASH=YES .................. Performs constant entropy flash calculations
when converting between flowing and
stagnation pressure
CVT-SFLASH=NO.................... Does not perform constant enthalpy flashes
(Default)
VAL-SIMPSON ................ Method for modeling the valve:
VAL-SIMPSON=YES................ Uses Simpson's shortcut method when
modeling the valve (Default)
VAL-SIMPSON=NO.................. Performs rigorous flash calculations when
modeling the valve

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CVT-SIMPSON................ CVT-SIMPSON=YES................ Uses Simpson's shortcut method when

converting between flowing and stagnation
pressure (Default)
CVT-SIMPSON=NO.................. Performs rigorous flash calculations when
converting between flowing and stagnation
pressure
INLET-TABLE ................. Flash tables option for speeding up vessel neck and inlet pipe calculations
INLET-TABLE=YES ................. Uses flash tables (Default)
INLET-TABLE =NO .................. Does not use flash tables
INLET-NT ........................ Number of temperature points for the vessel neck and inlet pipe flash
tables (Default=5)
INLET-NP ........................ Number of pressure points for the vessel neck and inlet pipe flash tables
(Default=5)
TAIL-TABLE.................... Flash tables option for speeding up tail pipe calculations:
TAIL-TABLE=YES.................... Uses flash tables (Default)
TAIL-TABLE=NO ..................... Does not use flash tables
TAIL-NT........................... Number of temperature points for the tail pipe flash tables (Default=5)
TAIL-NP........................... Number of pressure points for the tail pipe flash tables (Default=5)
DEVICE-ONLY ................ Pipe modeling option:
DEVICE-ONLY=YES ................ Does not model vessel neck, inlet and tail pipes
during dynamic simulation
DEVICE-ONLY=NO .................. Models piping during dynamic simulations
(Default)
PRES-TOL....................... Convergence tolerance in pressure convergence loop (Default=1x10-4)
FLOW-TOL...................... Convergence tolerance in flow convergence loop (Default=1x10-4)
FRIC-DOWNHILL............ Two-phase frictional pressure-drop correlation option for downhill flow.
Use when inclination angles are less than -2 degrees from horizontal.
FRIC-DOWNHILL= ................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
FRIC-DOWNHILL=DARCY ...... Darcy. Assumes no slip.
FRIC-DOWNHILL=SLACK....... Slack
FRIC-HORIZ .................... Two-phase frictional pressure-drop correlation option for horizontal flow.
Use when the inclination angles range between -2 and +2 degrees from
horizontal.
FRIC-HORIZ= ........................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
FRIC-HORIZ=DARCY .............. Darcy. Assumes no slip.
FRIC-HORIZ=DUKLER ............ Dukler
FRIZ-HORIZ=LOCK-MART...... Lockhart-Martinelli
FRIC-INCL....................... Two-phase frictional pressure-drop correlation option for inclined flow.
Use when inclination angles range between +2 and +45 degrees from
horizontal.

40-16 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 40

FRIC-INCL=AWR ..................... Angel-Welchon-Ros

FRIC-INCL=BEGGS-BRILL ..... Beggs and Brill (Default)
FRIC-INCL=DARCY ................. Darcy. Assumes no slip.
FRIC-INCL=DUKLER ............... Dukler
FRIC-INCL=H-BROWN ............ Hagedorn-Brown
FRIC-INCL=ORKI ..................... Orkiszewski
FRIC-VERTICA................ Two-phase frictional pressure-drop correlation option for vertical flow.
Use when inclination angles are greater than +45 degrees from
horizontal.
FRIC-VERTICA-AWR............... Angel-Welchon-Ros
FRIC-VERTICA=....................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
FRIC-VERTICA=DARCY.......... Darcy. Assumes no slip.
FRIC-VERTICA=H-BROWN..... Hagedorn-Brown
FRIC-VERTICA=ORKI.............. Orkiszewski
HOLDUP-DOWNH........... Two-phase liquid holdup correlation option for downhill flow. Use when
inclination angles are less than -2 degrees from horizontal.
HOLDUP-DOWNH=BEGGS .... Beggs and Brill (Default)
-BRILL
HOLDUP-DOWNH=SLACK ..... Slack
HOLDUP-HORIZ.............. Two-phase liquid holdup correlation option for horizontal flow. Use when
inclination angles range between -2 and +2 degrees from horizontal.
HOLDUP-HORIZ= .................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
HOLDUP-HORIZ=EATON........ Eaton
HOLDUP-HORIZ=HOOG ......... Hoogendorn
HOLDUP-HORIZ=HUGH.......... Hughmark
HOLDUP-HORIZ= .................... Lockhart-Martinelli
LOCK-MART
HOLDUP-INCL ................ Two-phase liquid holdup correlation option for inclined flow. Use when
inclination angles range between +2 and +45 degrees from horizontal.
HOLDUP-INCL=AWR............... Angel-Welchon-Ros
HOLDUP-INCL= ....................... Beggs and Brill (Default)
BEGGS-BRILL
HOLDUP-INCL=FLANIGAN .... Flanigan
HOLDUP-INCL=H-BROWN ..... Hagedorn-Brown
HOLDUP-INCL=ORKI .............. Orkiszewski
HOLDUP-VERTI .............. Two-phase liquid holdup correlation option for vertical flow. Use when
inclination angles are greater than +45 degrees from horizontal.
HOLDUP-VERT=AWR ............. Angel-Welchon-Ros

Input Language Guide 40-17

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pressure Relief

HOLDUP-VERT= ...................... Beggs and Brill (Default)

BEGGS-BRILL
HOLDUP-VERT= ...................... Hagedorn-Brown
H-BROWN
HOLDUP-VERT=ORKI ............. Orkiszewski
STOP-CYCLING.............. Option to stop cycling of relief device:
STOP-CYCLING=YES.............. Stops the simulation when excessive opening
and closing of the relief device occurs (Default)
STOP-CYCLING=NO ............... Does not stop the simulation
MAX-NCYCLE ................. Number of openings and closings of the relief device within CYCLE-TIME
after which simulation will be terminated. (Default=3)
CYCLE-TIME................... Amount of time within which MAX-NCYCLE must occur for the
simulation to be terminated (Default=2 sec)
ATMOS-PRES ................. Local absolute atmospheric pressure (Default=14.69595 psia)
BA-H0.............................. Initial step-size (in seconds) used by the vessel integration routine
(Default=0.1)
BA-HMXUSR ................... Maximum step-size (in seconds) allowed in the vessel integration routine
BA-RINTOL ..................... Convergence tolerance used by the vessel integration routine
(Default=1x10-4)
BA-CORR-METH............. Corrector convergence method used by vessel integration routine:
BA-CORR-METH=DIRECT ...... Uses direct substitution
BA-CORR-METH=.................... Uses Newton method (Default)
NEWTON
VA-H0 .............................. Initial step-size used by the valve integration routine as a fraction of the
maximum possible pressure change (Default=0.01)
VA-HMXUSR ................... Maximum relative step-size allowed in the valve integration routine
VA-RINTOL ..................... Convergence tolerance used by the valve integration routine
(Default=1x10-4)
VA-CORR-METH............. Corrector convergence method used by valve integration routine:
VA-CORR-METH=DIRECT ...... Uses direct substitution method
VA-CORR-METH=.................... Uses Newton method (Default)
NEWTON
CV-H0 .............................. Initial relative step-size used by the valve integration routine, which
converts flowing between stagnation pressure (Default=0.01)
CV-HMXUSR ................... Maximum step-size allowed in the integration routine, which converts
flowing between stagnation pressure
CV-RINTOL ..................... Convergence tolerance used by the integration routine, which converts
between flowing and stagnation pressure (Default=1x10-4)
CV-CORR-METH............. Corrector convergence method used by integration routine, which
converts between flowing and stagnation pressure:
CV-CORR-METH=DIRECT ...... Uses direct substitution
CV-CORR-METH=.................... Uses Newton method (Default)

40-18 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 40

NEWTON
IN-H0................................ Initial step-size used by the inlet pipe and vessel neck integration
routines. Enter as a fraction of the total length. (Default=0.1)
IN-HMXUSR..................... Maximum step-size allowed in the inlet pipe and vessel neck integration
routines
IN-RINTOL....................... Convergence tolerance used by the vessel neck and inlet pipe integration
routines (Default=1x10-4)
IN-CORR-METH .............. Corrector convergence method used by vessel neck and inlet pipe
integration routines:
IN-CORR-METH=DIRECT........ Uses direct substitution method
IN-CORR-METH=NEWTON ..... Uses Newton method (Default)
TA-H0............................... Initial step-size used by the tail pipe integration routine. Enter as a
fraction of the total length. (Default=0.1)
TA-HMXUSR.................... Maximum step-size allowed in the tail pipe integration routine
TA-RINTOL...................... Convergence tolerance used by the tail pipe integration routine
(Default=1x10-4)
TA-CORR-METH ............. Corrector convergence method used by tail pipe integration routine:
TA-CORR-METH=DIRECT....... Uses direct substitution method
TA-CORR-METH= .................... Uses Newton method (Default)
NEWTON
BA-CONV ........................ Solution scheme used in batch pressure convergence:
BA-CONV=ARCONS................ Numerical search using standard secant
method (Default)
BA-CONV=ROOT1N ................ Numerical search using modified secant method
BA-CONV=NEWTON ............... Numerical search using Newton method
BCHTOL .......................... Convergence tolerance for the bubbly or churn-turbulent vapor fraction
calculation loop (Default=0.001)
IN-LTRANGE ................... Factor used in calculating the lowest temperature for the inlet- pipe flash
table. The lowest temperature is (1-IN-LTRANGE)*(rigorous lowest
temperature). (Default=0.1)
IN-LPRANGE................... Factor used in calculating the lowest pressure for the inlet-pipe flash
table. The lowest pressure is (1-IN-LPRANGE)*(rigorous lowest
pressure). (Default=0.1)
IN-UTRANGE................... Factor used in calculating the highest temperature for the inlet-pipe flash
table. The highest temperature is (1+IN-UTRANGE)*(rigorous highest
temperature). (Default=0.1)
IN-UPRANGE .................. Factor used in calculating the highest temperature for the inlet-pipe flash
table. The highest temperature is (1+IN-UPRANGE)*(rigorous highest
pressure). (Default=0.1)
TA-LTRANGE .................. Factor used in calculating the lowest temperature for the tail- pipe flash
table. The lowest temperature is (1-TA-LTRANGE)*(rigorous highest
temperature). (Default=0.1)
TA-LPRANGE.................. Factor used in calculating the lowest pressure for the tail-pipe flash table.
The lowest pressure is (1-TA-LPRANGE)*(rigorous lowest pressure).

Input Language Guide 40-19

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pressure Relief

(Default=0.1)
TA-UTRANGE ................. Factor used in calculating the highest temperature for the tail- pipe flash
table. The highest temperature is (1+TA-UTRANGE)*(rigorous highest
temperature). (Default=0.1)
TA-UPRANGE ................. Factor used in calculating the highest pressure for the tail-pipe flash
table. The highest pressure is (1+TA-UPRANGE)*(rigorous highest
pressure). (Default=0.1)
SIM-TOL .......................... Simpson parameter recalculation factor. SIM-TOL is used repeatedly
until the inlet temperature varies by more than the specified tolerance.
(Default=0.001)
P-SAVE-TOL ................... Vessel pressure tolerance used to determine when to calculate a new vent
flow rate during dynamic simulation (Default=0.01)
BA-INI-TOL ..................... Convergence tolerance for initial vessel conditions used in dynamic
scenarios (Default=0.001)
PS-FLASH....................... For constant entropy flash calculations, determines which algorithm to
use:
PS-FLASH=DIRECT................. Use direct call to Flash (Default)
PS-FLASH=INDIRECT ............. Perform a series of PQ flashes until the
specified entropy is obtained

40-20 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 40

Accessing Variables in PRES-RELIEF

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for a
PRES-RELIEF block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1

PARAM VFRAC, DISCHARGE-PR, MAXIT, TOL, MAX-TIME, PRINT-TIME, OPEN-TIME —

VESSEL MAWP, VES-NECK-DIA, VES-NECK-LEN REDUCER-K, EXPANDER-K, —
DEAD-VOL, DIAMETER, LENGTH, JACKET-VOL, VES-VOLUME, VES-AREA,
HEAD-AREA, HEAD-VOL
CONDITIONS STRM-TEMP, VES-TEMP, VES-PRES, VES-VFRAC, FILLAGE, STRM-PRES, —
STRM-VFRAC
FIRE ELEVATION, EXTRA-AREA, FIRE-TIME, INS-CREDIT, CREDIT-FACT —
HEAT-INPUT TEMP, AREA, U, DUTY —
RELIEF-DEV PSV-SETPOINT, PSV-THROAT, PSV-IN-DIAM, PSV-OUT-DIAM, PSV-CD, —
PSV-OVER-PR, PSV-OPEN, PSV-CLOSE, COMB-COEF, ERV-DIAM,
ERV-OVER-PR, ERV-SETPOINT, PSD-DIAM, PSD-CD, PSD-SETPOINT, PSD-LD
INLET-PIPE ACTUAL-DIAM, LENGTH, ELEVATION, ELBOWS, STRAIGHT-TEE, indexno
BRANCHED-TEE, GATE-VALVES, BUTTERFLY-VA, VALVE-AREA, TAMBIN,
TAMBOUT, U, CONTROL-CV, MISC-L-D, REDUCER-K, EXPANDER-K
TAIL-PIPE ACTUAL-DIAM, LENGTH, ELEVATION, ELBOWS, STRAIGHT-TEE, BRANCHED- indexno
TEE, GATE-VALVES, BUTTERFLY-VA, VALVE-AREA, TAMBIN, TAMBOUT, U,
CONTROL-CV, MISC-L-D, REDUCER-K, EXPANDER-K
STOP VALUE indexno
RULES IN-MAXFAC, TAIL-ALLFAC, EQP-MAXFAC, EQP-MAXPRE —
CONVERGENCE SFLASH-TOL, BUBBLY-CO, CHURN-CO, INLET-NT, INLET-NP, TAIL-NT, —
TAIL-NP, PRES-TOL, FLOW-TOL, MAX-NCYCLE, CYCLE-TIME, ATMOS-PRES

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable ID1

Calculated vessel volume RESULTS CALC-VOLUME —

Calculated vessel wet area RESULTS CALC-AREA —
Total simulation time RESULTS TOTAL-TIME —
Initial vessel vapor fraction RESULTS VF-INIT —

continued

Input Language Guide 40-21

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Pressure Relief

Block Results (continued)

Description Sentence Variable ID1

Maximum vessel temperature RESULTS MAX-TEMP —

Initial vessel pressure RESULTS INIT-PRES —
Initial vessel temperature RESULTS INIT-TEMP —
Maximum vessel pressure RESULTS MAX-PRES —
Maximum molar flow rate through pressure relief system RESULTS MAX-FLOW —
Pressure drop through vessel neck and inlet piping at 10% RESULTS INLET-DELTAP —
over-pressure
Allowed pressure drop through vessel neck and inlet piping at 10% RESULTS INCOD-DELTAP —
over-pressure
Pressure drop through tail pipe at 10% over-pressure RESULTS TAIL-DELTAP —
Allowed pressure drop through tail pipe at 10% over-pressure RESULTS TACOD-DELTAP —
Calculated mass flow rate through pressure relief system RESULTS MASS-OUT —
Calculated molar flow rate through pressure relief system RESULTS MOLE-OUT —
Calculated volumetric flow rate through pressure relief system RESULTS VOL-OUT —
Calculated heat input for fire scenario RESULTS Q-FIRE —
Calculated credit factor for fire scenario RESULTS FIRE-FACTOR —
Calculated pressure along the venting system PROFILE SS-PRES locno
Calculated temperature along the venting system PROFILE SS-TEMP locno
Calculated vapor fraction along the venting system PROFILE SS-VFRAC locno
Calculated enthalpy along the venting system PROFILE SS-ENTH locno
Calculated density along the venting system PROFILE SS-DENSITY locno
Calculated vessel enthalpy GENPROF VES-ENTHALPY timeno
Calculated vessel pressure GENPROF VES-PRESS timeno
Calculated vessel temperature GENPROF VES-TEMP timeno
Calculated vessel vapor fraction GENPROF VES-VFRAC timeno
Calculated time GENPROF VES-TIME timeno
Calculated vent accumulator enthalpy GENPROF ACC-ENTHALPY timeno
Calculated vent molar flow rate GENPROF VENT-FLOW timeno
Calculated vessel total mass GENPROF VES-MASS timeno
Calculated vent accumulator total mass GENPROF ACC-MASS timeno

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

40-22 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 41

41 Physical Property Tables

This chapter describes the input language for specifying physical property tables.
Use the PROP-TABLE paragraph to generate:
• Property tables
• Flashcurve tables
• PT Envelope tables
• Residue curves

Input Language Guide 41-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Physical
Property
Tables

Property Tables

Input Language for PROPS

PROP-TABLE tableid PROPS
DESCRIPTION "a property table description – up to 64 characters in quotes"
PROPERTIES opsetname keyword=value

Optional keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS CHEMISTRY TRUE-COMPS

BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
SIM-LEVEL PROP-LEVEL FREE-WATER

STREAM sid
basis-FLOW cid flow / . . .
STATE keyword=value

Optional keywords:
TEMP PRES

VARY varname keyword=value

Varnames:
TEMP PRES basis-FRAC basis-FLOW
Keywords:
COMP SUBSTREAM

LIST = value − list 

RANGE  keyword = value 
 

Keywords:
NPOINT 
LOWER UPPER  INCR 
 

TABULATE "heading" PROPERTIES=propsetid-list keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES X-SCALE Y-SCALE
WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

41-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 41

Input Language Description for PROPS

tableid ............................. Property table ID
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the PROP-TABLE paragraph report.
PROPERTIES Use to replace the flowsheet property specifications. Any option set entered here must also be
named in the PROPERTIES paragraph. (See Chapter 8.)
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels established by the DIAGNOSTICS paragraph. (See
Chapter 46.) For mixtures defined by the basis-FLOW sentence, you can use BLOCK-OPTIONS to
override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS paragraph. (See Chapter 46.)
STREAM Use to reference a stream from a simulation. Do not use the STREAM sentence if you used the
basis-FLOW sentence.
sid.................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
basis-FLOW Use to establish sets of pure components, or to define mixtures on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL
basis. When using basis-FLOW to establish a set of pure components, component flows are not
used, but you must still enter a value greater than zero in the flows position. You cannot use the
basis-FLOW sentence if you used the STREAM sentence.
cid.................................... Component ID
flow.................................. Flow rate on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
STATE Use to specify state variable values when one or both of the two required variables, temperature or
pressure, are not identified as independent variables in a VARY sentence. You cannot use the
STATE sentence if you use the STREAM sentence.
TEMP ............................... Temperature
PRES ............................... Pressure
VARY Use to specify an independent variable that is varied over a range. You must enter at least one
VARY sentence. You can use up to five VARY sentences. However, when print-plots are generated,
you can use only one VARY sentence. If basis-FRAC is varied in a VARY sentence, basis-FLOW or a
basis-FRAC of a different basis cannot also be varied in the same table. STDVOL basis is not
allowed for CISOLID substream. For NC substream, MASS basis is the only allowed basis. You
must enter a RANGE sentence with each VARY sentence.
varname .......................... TEMP ........................................ Temperature
PRES ........................................ Pressure
basis-FRAC.............................. Component fraction on a MOLE, MASS, or
STDVOL basis
basis-FLOW ............................. Component flow on a MOLE, MASS, or
STDVOL basis
COMP .............................. Component ID. Required for basis-FRAC and basis-FLOW.
SUBSTREAM .................. Substream ID. Use for basis-FRAC and basis-FLOW. (Default=MIXED)

Input Language Guide 41-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Physical
Property
Tables

RANGE Use to specify independent variable values, either as a list of values, or over a range with a given
number of increments or a given increment size. You must enter a RANGE sentence with each
VARY sentence. For basis-FRAC and basis-FLOW, the values assigned by RANGE override the
values in a basis-FLOW sentence or a referenced stream. When a range is applied to basis-FRAC
for one or more components, the fractions of all other components are normalized by a common
factor. In a RANGE sentence you can use only one of the following keywords: LIST, NPOINT, and
INCR.
LIST ................................. List of independent variable values
LOWER ........................... Lower limit of a range
UPPER ............................ Upper limit of a range
NPOINT ........................... Number of points including LOWER and UPPER
INCR ................................ Increment size between points
TABULATE Use to specify the properties to be tabulated. You must enter the TABULATE sentence. You must
specify all desired properties, even state variables (for example, temperature) and composition (for
example, mole fraction), or they will not be tabulated. The TABULATE sentence can also be used to
generate print-plots and to specify plot options.
heading ........................... String of up to 60 characters enclosed in quotes
PROPERTIES.................. List of property set IDs for the properties to be tabulated.
(See Chapter 42.)
PRINT-PLOT ................... PRINT-PLOT=YES ................... Generates print-plots
PRINT-PLOT=NO ..................... Does not generate print-plots (Default)
HIGH-PRECISION........... HIGH-PRECISION=YES........... Prints seven significant digits in tables
HIGH-PRECISION=NO............. Prints five significant digits in tables (Default)
LINES .............................. Number of rows of values to print in tables before printing a grid line. If
LINES=0, no grid lines are printed. Must be between 0 and 35.
(Default=5)
X-SCALE ......................... X-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on horizontal axis of plots
(Default)
X-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on horizontal axis of plots
Y-SCALE ......................... Y-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on vertical axis of plots
(Default)
Y-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on vertical axis of plots
Y-SCALE=LOG ........................ Uses logarithmic scale on vertical axis of plots
WIDE, GRID, ................... Plot options. Use to override defaults established by the PLOT-OPTIONS
INTERPOLATE paragraph. (See Chapter 47.)

41-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 41

Flashcurve Tables

Input Language for FLASHCURVE

PROP-TABLE tableid FLASHCURVE
DESCRIPTION "a property table description – up to 64 characters in quotes"
PROPERTIES opsetname keyword=value

Optional keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS CHEMISTRY TRUE-COMPS

BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
SIM-LEVEL PROP-LEVEL FREE-WATER

STREAM sid FLASH-CODE=value

basis-FLOW cid flow / . . .
STATE keyword=value

Optional keywords:
TEMP PRES VFRAC

VARY varname keyword=value

Varnames:
TEMP PRES VFRAC DUTY basis-FRAC basis-FLOW
Keywords:
COMP SUBSTREAM

LIST = value − list 

RANGE  keyword = value 
 

Keywords:
NPOINT 
LOWER UPPER  INCR 
 

PARAM keyword = value

Optional keywords:
NPHASE MAXIT TOL

Input Language Guide 41-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Physical
Property
Tables

TABULATE "heading" PROPERTIES=propsetid-list keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES X-SCALE Y-SCALE
WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

Input Language Description for FLASHCURVE

tableid ............................. Property table ID
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the PROP-TABLE paragraph report.
PROPERTIES Use to replace the flowsheet property specifications. Any option set entered here must also be
named in the PROPERTIES paragraph. (See Chapter 8.)
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels established by the DIAGNOSTICS paragraph. (See
Chapter 46.) For mixtures defined by the basis-FLOW sentence, you can use BLOCK-OPTIONS to
override the free-water option established by the SIM-OPTIONS paragraph. (See Chapter 46.)
STREAM Use to reference a stream from a simulation. Do not use the STREAM sentence if you used the
basis-FLOW sentence.
sid ................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.
FLASH-CODE ................. Use to specify what type of flash to perform when one or both of the two
required state variables (TEMP, PRES, VFRAC, and DUTY) are not
identified as independent variables in the VARY sentence.
FLASH-CODE=PH ................... PH flash
FLASH-CODE=TP.................... TP flash
FLASH-CODE=PV.................... PV flash
FLASH-CODE=TH.................... TH flash
FLASH-CODE=TV.................... TV flash
basis-FLOW Use to establish sets of pure components, or to define mixtures on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL
basis. When using basis-FLOW to establish a set of pure components, component flows are not
used, but you must still enter a value greater than zero in the flows position. You cannot use the
basis-FLOW sentence if you used the STREAM sentence.
cid ................................... Component ID
flow ................................. Flow rate on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
STATE Use to specify state variable values when one or both of the two required variables are not
identified as independent variables in a VARY sentence. You cannot use the STATE sentence if you
used the STREAM sentence.
TEMP............................... Temperature
PRES ............................... Pressure
VFRAC ............................ Molar vapor fraction

41-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 41

VARY Use to specify an independent variable that is varied over a range. You must enter at least one
VARY sentence. You can use up to five VARY sentences. However, when print-plots are generated,
you can use only one VARY sentence. If basis-FRAC is varied in a VARY sentence, basis-FLOW or a
basis-FRAC of a different basis cannot also be varied in the same table. STDVOL basis is not
allowed for CISOLID substream. For NC substream, MASS basis is the only allowed basis. You
must enter a RANGE sentence with each VARY sentence.
varname .......................... TEMP ........................................ Temperature
PRES ........................................ Pressure
VFRAC...................................... Molar vapor fraction
DUTY ........................................ Heat duty
basis-FRAC.............................. Component fraction on a MOLE, MASS, or
STDVOL basis
basis-FLOW ............................. Component flow on a MOLE, MASS, or
STDVOL basis
COMP .............................. Component ID. Required for basis-FRAC and basis-FLOW.
SUBSTREAM .................. Substream ID. Use for basis-FRAC and basis-FLOW. (Default=MIXED)
RANGE Use to specify independent variable values, either as a list of values, or over a range with a given
number of increments or a given increment size. You must enter a RANGE sentence with each
VARY sentence. For basis-FRAC and basis-FLOW, the values assigned by RANGE override the
values in a basis-FLOW sentence or a referenced stream. When a range is applied to basis-FRAC
for one or more components, the fractions of all other components are normalized by a common
factor. In a RANGE sentence, you can use only one of the following keywords: LIST, NPOINT, and
INCR.
LIST ................................. List of independent variable values
LOWER............................ Lower limit of a range
UPPER............................. Upper limit of a range
NPOINT ........................... Number of points including LOWER and UPPER
INCR ................................ Increment size between points
PARAM Use to specify NPHASE when a basis-FLOW sentence is used.
NPHASE .......................... NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of iterations. (Default=value established by the SIM-
OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TOL.................................. Convergence tolerance. (Default=value established by SIM-OPTIONS
paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
TABULATE Use to specify the properties to be tabulated. You must enter the TABULATE sentence. You must
specify all desired properties, even state variables (such as temperature) and composition (such as
mole fraction), or they will not be tabulated. You can also use the TABULATE sentence to generate
print-plots and to specify plot options.
heading ........................... String of up to 60 characters enclosed in quotes
PROPERTIES .................. List of property set IDs for the properties to be tabulated.
(See Chapter 42.)

Input Language Guide 41-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Physical
Property
Tables

PRINT-PLOT ................... PRINT-PLOT=YES ................... Generates print-plots

PRINT-PLOT=NO ..................... Does not generate print-plots (Default)
HIGH-PRECISION........... HIGH-PRECISION=YES........... Prints seven significant digits in tables
HIGH-PRECISION=NO............. Prints five significant digits in tables (Default)
LINES .............................. Number of rows of values to print in tables before printing a grid line. If
LINES=0, no grid lines are printed. Must be between 0 and 35.
(Default=5)
X-SCALE ......................... X-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on horizontal axis of plots
(Default)
X-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on horizontal axis of plots
Y-SCALE ......................... Y-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on vertical axis of plots
(Default)
Y-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on vertical axis of plots
Y-SCALE=LOG ........................ Uses logarithmic scale on vertical axis of plots
WIDE, GRID, ................... Plot options. Use to override defaults established by the PLOT-OPTIONS
INTERPOLATE paragraph. (See Chapter 47.)

41-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 41

PT Envelope Tables

Input Language for PT ENVELOPE

PROP-TABLE tableid PTENVELOPE
DESCRIPTION "a property table description – up to 64 characters in quotes"
PROPERTIES opsetname keyword=value

Optional keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS CHEMISTRY TRUE-COMPS

BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
SIM-LEVEL PROP-LEVEL

STREAM sid
basis-FLOW cid flow / . . .
ENVELOPES VFRAC=value-list
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXPT PINIT TINIT REDT

TABULATE "heading" PROPERTIES=propsetid-list keyword=value

Optional keywords:
PRINT-PLOT HIGH-PRECISION LINES X-SCALE Y-SCALE WIDE GRID
INTERPOLATE

Input Language Description for PT ENVELOPE

tableid ............................. Property table ID
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the PROP-TABLE paragraph report.
PROPERTIES Use to replace the flowsheet property specifications. Any option set entered here must also be
named in the PROPERTIES paragraph. (See Chapter 8.)
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels established by the DIAGNOSTICS paragraph. (See
Chapter 46.)
STREAM Use to reference a stream from a simulation. You cannot use the STREAM sentence if you used the
basis-FLOW sentence.
sid.................................... Stream ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions
and restrictions.

Input Language Guide 41-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Physical
Property
Tables

basis-FLOW Use to define mixtures on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis. You cannot use basis-FLOW if you
specified STREAM sentence.
cid ................................... Component ID
flow ................................. Flow rate on a MOLE, MASS, or STDVOL basis
ENVELOPES Use to specify the vapor fraction branches.
VFRAC ............................ List of vapor fractions. One PT envelope is generated for each value
entered. For each vapor fraction specified, the complementary branch is
automatically generated.
PARAM Specify either PINIT or TINIT, but not both. If neither is specified, the default is PINIT=1 atm.
MAXPT ............................ Maximum number of points (up to 100) along a curve of constant vapor
fraction (Default=50)
PINIT ............................... Pressure at the initial point
TINIT................................ Temperature at the initial point
REDT ............................... Specified value of the mixture reduced temperature at which the
calculations are terminated after passing through the mixture critical
point (Default=0)
TABULATE Use to specify the properties to be tabulated. You do not need to specify temperature and pressure
in a PROP-SET sentence because they are tabulated automatically. You can also use the
TABULATE sentence to generate print-plots and to specify plot options.
heading ........................... String of up to 60 characters, enclosed in quotes
PROPERTIES.................. List of property set IDs for the properties to be tabulated. (See
Chapter 42.)
PRINT-PLOT ................... PRINT-PLOT=YES ................... Generates print-plots are generated
PRINT-PLOT=NO ..................... Does not generate print-plots (Default)
HIGH-PRECISION........... HIGH-PRECISION=YES........... Prints seven significant digits in tables
HIGH-PRECISION=NO............. Prints five significant digits in tables (Default)
LINES .............................. Number of rows of values to print in tables before printing a grid line. If
LINES=0, no grid lines are printed. Must be between 0 and 35.
(Default=5)
X-SCALE ......................... X-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on horizontal axis of plots
(Default)
X-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on horizontal axis of plots
Y-SCALE ......................... Y-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on vertical axis of plots
(Default)
Y-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on vertical axis of plots
Y-SCALE=LOG ........................ Uses logarithmic scale on vertical axis of plots
WIDE, GRID, ................... Plot options. Use to override defaults established by the PLOT-OPTIONS
INTERPOLATE paragraph. (See Chapter 47.)

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Chapter 41

Residue Curves

Input Language for RESIDUE

PROP-TABLE tableid RESIDUE
DESCRIPTION "a property table description – up to 64 characters in quotes"
PROPERTIES opsetname keyword=value

Optional keywords:
FREE-WATER SOLU-WATER HENRY-COMPS CHEMISTRY TRUE-COMPS

BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
SIM-LEVEL PROP-LEVEL

RESIDUE COMPS=comp-list
STATE PRES=pres
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT TOL NGRID NPHASE

Input Language Description for RESIDUE

tableid ............................. Property table ID
DESCRIPTION A string of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. Aspen Plus prints this description in the header
section of the PROP-TABLE paragraph report.
PROPERTIES Use to replace the flowsheet property specifications. Any option set entered here must also be
named in the PROPERTIES paragraph. (See Chapter 8.)
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels established by the DIAGNOSTICS paragraph. (See
Chapter 46.)
RESIDUE Use to define the ternary mixture.
COMPS............................ Component IDs. You must specify three components.
STATE Use to enter pressure specification for the system.
PRES ............................... Pressure (Default=1 atm)
PARAM Use to specify optional convergence, grid density and phase specification.
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of flash iterations. (Default=value established by the
SIM-OPTIONS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)

Input Language Guide 41-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Physical
Property
Tables

TOL ................................. Flash tolerance. (Default=value established by the SIM-OPTIONS

paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
NGRID ............................. Grid density parameter: LOW, MEDIUM, or HIGH.
NPHASE.......................... NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase flash (Default)
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase flash

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

41-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 42

42 Defining Property Sets

This chapter describes the input language used for defining property sets and
user property set properties.

A property set can be used in:

• Unit operation block heating and cooling curve reports
• Distillation column stage property reports and performance specifications
• Design specifications
• Calculator blocks
• Optimization
• Sensitivity and case-study blocks
• Data-fit
• Stream reports and report scaling
• Physical property tables

Input Language Guide 42-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Defining
Property Sets

Defining Property Sets

Input Language for PROP-SET

PROP-SET propsetid propname-list keyword=value

Optional keywords:
COMPS PHASE BASIS UNITS TEMP PRES LVPCT L2COMPS
SUBSTREAM

Input Language Description for PROP-SET

Use the PROP-SET paragraph to define a property set. A property set is a
collection of thermodynamic, transport, and other properties. Each property set
you define is identified by an ID you supply.
propsetid ........................ Property set ID
propname-list ................. List of property names. (See Aspen Plus Physical Property Data,
Tables 4.1 through 4.9.)
COMPS............................ List of component IDs (applies to all properties listed in Aspen Plus
Physical Property Data, Tables 4.2 through 4.5, 4.8 and 4.9).
(Default=all components actually present when the property is
calculated.) (See Note 3.)
PHASE ............................ PHASE=V ................................. Vapor
PHASE=L.................................. Total liquid
PHASE=L1................................ First-liquid
PHASE=L2................................ Second-liquid
PHASE=T.................................. Total mixture
PHASE=S ................................. Solid
Phase compositions are determined at stream conditions. (See Note 1.)
(Default=T, if listed as a valid phase for the property in Aspen Plus
Physical Property Data, Tables 4.1 through 4.9; otherwise no default.)
BASIS.............................. BASIS=WET ............................. Includes water (Default)
BASIS=DRY ............................. Excludes water
UNITS .............................. Units options selected for the units keywords that are listed for the
property in Aspen Plus Physical Property Data, Tables 4.1 through 4.9.
(Default=IN-UNITS if PROP-SET is specified for design specifications,
Calculator blocks, optimization paragraphs and constraint paragraphs.
Default=OUT-UNITS if PROP-SET is specified for reports. If a property
has mole, mass, or flow units, the default will be mole units.)
TEMP............................... Temperatures for property calculations. (See Note 2.) (Default=stream
temperature. For VVSTD and VVSTDMX, Default=25ºC.)

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 Chapter 42

PRES ............................... Pressures for property calculations. (See Note 2.) (Default=stream
pressure. For VVSTD and VVSTDMX, Default=1 atm.)
LVPCT ............................. Liquid percents. LVPCT is on a volume basis for propnames: TBPT,
D86T, D1160T, and VACT. LVPCT is on a weight basis for: TBPWT,
D86WT, D1160WT, and VACWT.
L2-COMPS ...................... List of key components that identify the second-liquid phase when
PHASE=L1 or PHASE=L2, and rigorous three-phase flash calculations
are performed. The liquid phase with the larger mole fraction of the key
components is designated as the second-liquid phase.
SUBSTREAM .................. Substream ID. (See Notes 3 and 4.) (Default=MIXED)

Input Language Guide 42-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Defining
Property Sets

Defining User PROP-SET Properties

Input Language for USER-PROPERTY

USER-PROPERTY userpropid propname keyword=value

Keyword:
SUBROUTINE
Optional keywords:
FLASH UNIT-TYPE UNIT-LABEL COMP-DEP LVPCT-DEP CURVE-PROP
DEFAULT-PROP BLEND-METHOD BLEND-OPT EXTRAPOLATE

Input Language Description for USER-PROPERTY

Use the USER-PROPERTY paragraph to define the property. This property can
be referenced in the PROP-SET paragraph in the same way as built-in properties.
You must supply a FORTRAN subroutine to calculate the value of the user
PROP-SET properties.
userpropid ...................... User property ID. This property must be different from built-in
properties. (See Aspen Plus Physical Property Data, Tables 4.1 through
4.9.)
SUBROUTINE ................. Name of user-supplied subroutine for calculating the property. For details
on writing the user-supplied subroutine, see Aspen Plus User Models,
Chapter 7.
FLASH............................. FLASH=NO............................... Does not flash the stream before the user-
supplied subroutine is called (Default)
FLASH=NOCOMPOSITE ......... Does not flash the stream for total stream
properties (when PHASE=T in the PROP-SET
paragraph), but flashes for any other phase
specification
FLASH=YES............................. Always flashes stream before the user-supplied
subroutine is called
UNIT-TYPE...................... Units keyword for the property. If not entered, unit conversion is not
performed on property values returned from the user-supplied
subroutine.
UNIT-LABEL ................... Unit label for the property printed in the report. A unit label is used only
when unit conversion is performed by the user-supplied subroutine (that
is, when UNIT-TYPE is not given).
COMP-DEP ..................... COMP-DEP=YES ..................... Property is a component property
COMP-DEP=NO ....................... Property is a mixture property (Default)

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 Chapter 42

LVPCT-DEP..................... LVPCT-DEP=YES .................... Uses liquid percent in calculating the property.

The combination COMP-DEP=YES and
LVPCT-DEP=YES is not allowed for the same
property.
LVPCT-DEP=NO ...................... Does not use liquid percent in calculating the
property (Default)
CURVE-PROP ................. CURVE-PROP=YES................. Defines a property to be a petroleum assay
curve property. You can enter curve data for a
petroleum assay property in the
ASSAY/BLEND paragraphs. (See Chapter 7.)
CURVE-PROP=NO................... Does not define a property curve (Default)
DEFAULT-PROP ............. Default property name for real components when CURVE-PROP=YES.
The pure component property provides default values for light-ends
components. (See Aspen Plus Physical Property Methods and Models,
Chapter 3.)
BLEND-METHOD ............ Blending option for the petroleum assay curve property. The blending
option is used in two ways: to generate property curves for blends from
assay curves, and to compute stream properties by blending individual
pseudocomponent property values.
BLEND-METHOD=MOLE ........ Mole fraction averaging
BLEND-METHOD=MASS ........ Mass fraction averaging
BLEND-METHOD=................... Standard-liquid-volume averaging (Default)
STDVOL
BLEND-METHOD=USER......... Uses a user-supplied subroutine (BLDPPU) for
blending. For details on writing a user-supplied
subroutine, see Aspen Plus User Models,
Chapter 9.
BLEND-OPTION.............. Blending option code for user-supplied blending routine, when you specify
BLEND-METHOD=USER. The option code is passed as an argument to
the user-supplied blending subroutine BLDPPU. This option allows you to
implement multiple user blending methods, within the same subroutine.
For details on writing a user-supplied subroutine, see Aspen Plus User
Models, Chapter 9.
EXTRAPOLATE............... EXTRAPOLATE=YES.............. Extrapolates curve data if it does not
encompass the 0% and 100% points (Default)
EXTRAPOLATE=NO................ Does not extrapolate curve data

Notes
1. The phases selected should be consistent with the application. For example, if
first-liquid and second-liquid phase properties are requested for a HEATER
heating/cooling curve, then the HEATER block must perform either rigorous
three-phase or free-water calculations. When a stream property is requested,
the stream is flashed according to flash options established by the STREAM
paragraph or source block for the stream.

Input Language Guide 42-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Defining
Property Sets

2. The TEMP and PRES qualifiers are used to evaluate properties at

temperatures and pressures that differ from those of the stream. However,
TEMP and PRES have no effect on the compositions of vapor and liquid
phases. These compositions are determined at the stream temperature and
pressure.

3. When a conventional solid substream is present, COMPS should be used with

both MIXED and solid substream properties, to list the components actually
present in those substreams.

4. To obtain a conventional solid property, both PHASE=S and a conventional

solid substream ID must be specified. To obtain a nonconventional solid
property, both PHASE=S and a nonconventional solid substream ID must be
specified.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

42-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 43

43 Regressing Property
Data
This chapter describes the input language for performing property data
regression. The paragraphs are:
Use this paragraph To

PARAMETERS Define property parameters to be used in regression

DATA-GROUP Enter experimental data or generate vapor-liquid or liquid-liquid equilibrium data
CASE Specify parameters, data groups, option sets, and algorithm parameters for regression cases
TABULATE Generate property tables and plots

Input Language Guide 43-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Regressing
Property Data

PARAMETERS Paragraph

Input Language for PARAMETERS

PARAMETERS
PARAMETER paramno paramname cid elemno [initial] [lower] &
[upper] [scale]
BIPARAMETER paramno paramname cid1 cid2 elemno [initial] &
[lower] [upper] [scale]
SBIPARAMETER paramno paramname cid1 cid2 elemno [initial] &
[lower] [upper] [scale]
GROUP-PARAM paramno paramname gid setno [initial] [lower] &
[upper] [scale]
GROUP-BIPARAM paramno paramname gid1 gid2 setno [initial] &
[lower] [upper] [scale]
PAIRPARAMETER paramno paramname pair1 pair2 elemno [initial] &
[lower] [upper] [scale]
K-SALT paramno chemid saltid coefno [initial] [lower] [upper] &
[scale]
K-STOIC paramno chemid reacno coefno [initial] [lower] &
[upper] [scale]

Input Language Description for PARAMETERS

PARAMETER, Defines parameters to be used in the regression. Use to enter optional initial estimates, lower and
BIPARAMETER, upper bounds, and scale factors. Use GROUP-PARAM and GROUP-BIPARAM for UNIFAC group
SBIPARAMETER parameters. Use PAIRPARAMETER for the electrolyte NRTL model. Use K-SALT and K-STOIC for
GROUP-PARAM, the equilibrium constants of salt precipitation and chemical equilibrium reactions. Use
GROUP-BIPARAM, SBIPARAMETER to force unsymmetric binary parameters (such as NRTL aij) to be symmetric
PAIRPARAMETER, during the regression (for example, use it to regress values for NTRL aij but set aij = aji).
K-SALT,
K-STOIC
paramno.......................... Parameter number. An integer number you assign, which is used to
reference the parameters in the CASE paragraph.
paramname..................... Parameter name. Must be the parameter of an option set listed in the
PROPERTIES paragraph. Parameter names associated with Aspen Plus
physical property models are listed in Aspen Plus Physical Property
Methods and Models, Chapter 3. TABPOLY model parameter names are
listed in Chapter 8. Aspen Plus user-model parameter names are listed in
Aspen Plus User Models, Chapter 6. For the generic user property Y, the
parameter name is GENPRP. For the general user property, you can use
the parameter names DRUSR1 and DRUSR2. You can also use any
parameters you defined using the USER-PROPS paragraph. (See
Chapter 8.)
cid, cid1, cid2 ................. Component ID. For asymmetric binary parameters, use cid1 cid2 for the
first parameter and cid2 cid1 for the second parameter. For symmetric
binary parameters, use either cid1 cid2 or cid2 cid1.

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Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 43

elemno ............................ Parameter element number (Default=1)

initial ............................... Optional initial estimate of the parameter. Must be in SI units.
lower ............................... Optional lower bound of the parameter. Must be in SI units.
upper ............................... Optional upper bound of the parameter. Must be in SI units.
scale ............................... Optional multiplier to scale the numerical magnitude of a parameter.
Recommended value is the reciprocal of a typical value for the parameter.
(Default=1)
gid, gid1, gid2................. UNIFAC group ID, as defined in the GROUPS paragraph.
(See Chapter 8.) UNIFAC group binary parameters are asymmetric. Use
gid1 gid2 for the first parameter and gid2 gid1 for the second parameter.
You can regress only the first element of the UNIFLB and UNIFDM
parameters.
setno .............................. Data set number. For option set UNIFAC use setno=1. For option set
UNIF-LL use setno=2.
pair1, pair2...................... Component IDs for component pair. For electrolyte,
pair=cation anion. For molecular species, pair=cid.
chemid ............................ Chemistry ID for CHEMISTRY paragraph
saltid................................ Salt ID from a K-SALT sentence in the CHEMISTRY paragraph
reacno ............................. Equilibrium reaction number from a K-STOIC sentence in the
CHEMISTRY paragraph
coeffno ............................ Coefficient number in the equilibrium constant expression for K-SALT
and K-STOIC
ln (K) = a + b/T + c ln T + dT
Where coeffno = 1 for a, coeffno = 2 for b, and so on

Input Language Guide 43-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Regressing
Property Data

DATA-GROUP Paragraph

Input Language for DATA-GROUP

To enter experimental data:

DATA-GROUP dataid
IN–UNITS set keyword=option
DESCRIPTION “a data-group description - up to 64 characters long”
SYSTEM–DEF statespec cid–list [PROP–LIST=proplist] &
[COMPOSITION=option]
PHASE–EQ peqtype cid–list / . . .
CHEM-EQ SALT saltid-list
DATA datano value-list / . . .
STD–DEV std–devno value–list / . . .

To generate VLE or LLE data:

DATA-GROUP dataid
IN-UNITS set keyword=option
DESCRIPTION “a data-group description - up to 64 characters long”
GENERATE statespec cid1 cid2 opsetname keyword=value

Optional keywords:
HENRY-COMPS TEMP PRES MOLE-FRAC

Input Language Description for DATA-GROUP

dataid .............................. Data group ID
IN-UNITS Input units for measurement data. (See Chapter 3.)
set ................................... ENG, SI, or MET (Default=ENG)
keyword .......................... Units keyword. (See Chapter 3.)
option.............................. Units option. See Chapter 3. This specification overrides the
corresponding units option contained in the specified set.
DESCRIPTION Description printed in the report file, when reporting the results of the data group. Aspen Plus uses
the description as a label for the experimental data, in print-plots, and in the plot file.
SYSTEM-DEF Use to define the state and property variables, component IDs, and types of composition data.
statespec ........................ State variables. Tables 43.1 through 43.4 provide valid options for various
types of data.
cid-list ............................. List of component IDs. The order of the components specifies the order of
the composition data and partial properties to be entered in DATA
sentences. For pure component properties (see Table 43.1), list only one
component.

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Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 43

PROP-LIST...................... List of properties. Omit this list when all measured variables are state
variables, such as for VLE data. Tables 43.1 through 43.3 list valid
property specifications.
COMPOSITION ............... Type of composition data:
COMPOSITION= ...................... Mole fraction (Default)
MOLE–FRAC
COMPOSITION= ...................... Mass fraction
MASS–FRAC
COMPOSITION= ...................... Mole percent
MOLE–PERCENT
COMPOSITION= ...................... Weight percent
WEIGHT-PERCENT
PHASE-EQ Use to specify the type of phase equilibrium (such as vapor-liquid or liquid-liquid), and the
components that must satisfy the phase equilibrium constraints. By default DRS automatically
determines the type of phase equilibrium and the components involved from the state specification
you made in the SYSTEM-DEF sentence. You can use the optional PHASE-EQ sentence to override
the default phase equilibrium type, or to specify a smaller number of components that must satisfy
the phase-equilibrium constraints when the mixture contains non-volatile components, such as ions
or high-boiling compounds.
peqtype ........................... Phase equilibrium type. See Table 43.5 for valid options.
cid-list ............................. List of components for which phase equilibrium is satisfied. Can be a
subset of the list specified in the SYSTEM-DEF sentence, when the
mixture contains non-volatile components.
CHEM-EQ Use to specify chemical equilibrium constraints for salt precipitation. Use with salt solubility data.
saltid-list ......................... List of salt IDs obtained from CHEMISTRY paragraphs for precipitating
salt components.
DATA Use to enter measurement data. Enter the data in the same order as the list of state variables,
properties, and components specified in the SYSTEM-DEF sentence.
datano ............................. Data point number
value-list.......................... List of measured values. Use an asterisk (*) for a missing composition
data value (such as a missing Y from statespec is TPXY). An asterisk for a
missing property measurement, such as PL, removes this measurement
from the regression.
STD-DEV Use to enter the optional standard deviations of measured variables for all data points. The number
of standard deviation values in each STD-DEV sentence equals the number of measurement values
in the DATA sentence.
std-devno ........................ Standard deviation number, corresponding to the ordinal data point
number
value-list.......................... List of standard deviations. Use an asterisk (*) for the standard deviation
of a missing state variable or property.

GENERATE Use to specify the type of phase-equilibrium data to be generated, the components, the property
option set to be used, and the temperature, pressure, and compositions at which the data are to be
generated. Use GENERATE only for binary systems.
statespec ........................ TPXY......................................... Generates VLE data
TPXX......................................... Generates LLE data

Input Language Guide 43-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Regressing
Property Data

cid1, cid2 ........................ IDs for the two components

opsetname...................... Name of the property option set used to generate the binary VLE or LLE
data. Cannot be the same as the option set used in the CASE paragraph
that references this data group. (Default=the first option set listed in the
PROPERTIES paragraph.)
HENRY-COMPS.............. Henry's constant component list ID
TEMP............................... List of temperature values:
If statespec is TPXY, you can specify either TEMP or PRES, but not both.
If you do not specify either one, PRES=1 atm is used.
If statespec is TPXX, you can specify TEMP (Default=25°C).
PRES ............................... List of pressure values (Default=1 atm)
If statespec is TPXY, you can specify either TEMP or PRES, but not both.
If you do not specify either one, PRES=1 atm is used.
MOLE-FRAC ................... List of mole-fraction values:
Default =
0.01 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30
0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65
0.70 0.75 0.80 0.85 0.90 0.95 0.99

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 Chapter 43

Table 43.1 Pure Component Properties

Property Name Description Valid State Specifications

CPL Liquid molar heat capacity T, TP

CPS Solid molar heat capacity T, TP
CPV Vapor molar heat capacity T, TP
DHLS Molar enthalpy of transition (L-S) T, TP
DHVL Molar enthalpy of vaporization (V-L) T, TP
DHVS Molar enthalpy of sublimation (V-S) T, TP
HL Liquid molar enthalpy T, TP
HS Solid molar enthalpy T, TP
HV Vapor molar enthalpy T, TP
KL Liquid thermal conductivity T, TP
KS Solid thermal conductivity T, TP
KV Vapor thermal conductivity T, TP
MUL Liquid viscosity T, TP
MUV Vapor viscosity T, TP
PL Liquid vapor pressure T
PS Solid vapor pressure T
RHOL Liquid mass density T, TP
RHOS Solid mass density T, TP
RHOV Vapor mass density T, TP
SIGL Surface tension T, TP
USER User property T, TP
VL Liquid molar volume T, TP
VS Solid molar volume T, TP
VV Vapor molar volume T, TP
WATSOL Water solubility T, TP
Y Generic property T

Input Language Guide 43-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Regressing
Property Data

Table 43.2 Mixture Properties

Property Name Description Valid State Specifications†

CPLMX Liquid molar heat capacity TX, TPX

CPVMX Vapor molar heat capacity TY, TPY
GAMMAM Mean activity coefficient TX, TPX
GLXS Liquid molar excess free energy TX, TPX
HLMX Liquid molar enthalpy TX, TPX
HLXS Liquid molar excess enthalpy TX, TPX
HVMX Vapor molar enthalpy TY, TPY
KLMX Liquid thermal conductivity TX, TPX
KVMX Vapor thermal conductivity TY, TPY
MULMX Liquid viscosity TX, TPX
MUVMX Vapor viscosity TY, TPY
OSMOT Osmotic coefficient TX, TPX
PH pH TX, TPX
RHOLMX Liquid mass density TX, TPX
RHOVMX Vapor mass density TY, TPY
SIGLMX Surface tension TX, TPX
USERMX User property TX, TPX, TY, TPY
VLMX Liquid molar volume TX, TPX
VVMX Vapor molar volume TY, TPY
† For TX or TY specifications, DRS assumes P=1 bar.

Table 43.3 Component (Partial) Properties in Mixtures

Property Name† Description Valid State Specifications††
DLMX Liquid diffusion coefficient TX, TPX
DVMX Vapor diffusion coefficient TY, TPY
GAMMA Liquid activity coefficient TX, TPX
GAMMAS Solid activity coefficient TX, TPX
HNRYMX Henry's constant TX, TPX
KLL Liquid-liquid distribution coefficient TXX, TPXX
KVL Vapor-liquid K-value TXY, TPXY
USERI User property TX, TPX, TY, TPY
† You must enter property values for all components.
†† For TX or TY specifications, DRS assumes P=1 bar.

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Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 43

Table 43.4 State Specifications for Phase Equilibrium Data

Type of Phase Equilibrium Data Valid State Specifications
Vapor-liquid† TXY, TPXY
Liquid-liquid†† TXX, TPXX
Vapor-liquid-liquid††† TXXY, TPXXY
Vapor-liquid††† TP
Salt solubility TX, TPX, TPXY
† For TXY specification, DRS estimates the value of P, assigns a large standard deviation value for P, and includes it in the
regression.
†† For TXX and TXXY specifications, DRS assumes P=1 bar.
††† Pure component vapor pressure data are VLE data. Two types of regressions use vapor pressure data: regression of the
extended Antoine vapor pressure equation; and regression of equation-of-state parameters, such as eccentric factor and polar
parameters for pure components. In the first case, the state specification is T and the property is PL. In the second case, the
state specification is TP and there is no property.

Table 43.5 Phase Equilibrium Specifications for PHASE-EQ Sentence

Type of Phase Equilibrium Data Peqtype Specification

Vapor-liquid VL
Liquid-liquid LL
Vapor-liquid-liquid† Any two of VL1, VL2, and LL
† Use two PHASE-EQ sentences. For example:
PHASE-EQ VL1 cid-list / LL cid-list

Input Language Guide 43-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Regressing
Property Data

CASE Paragraph

Input Language for CASE

CASE caseid
CASE-OPTION keyword=value

Optional keywords:
REGRESSION OBJECT-FUNC SIM-LEVEL PROP-LEVEL LL-TEST FORM

PARAMETERS keyword=value-list

Keywords:
PURE BINARY GROUP-PURE GROUP-BINARY PAIR K-SALT K-STOIC

DATA-GROUPS dataid keyword=value / . . .

Optional keywords:
WEIGHT CONSISTENCY METHOD REJECT AREA-TOL POINT-TOL

PROPERTIES opsetname keyword=value

Optional keywords:
HENRY-COMPS CHEMISTRY TRUE-COMPS

ALGORITHM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT INIT-MAXIT ZLOOP-MAXIT TOL METHOD INIT-METHOD
BRITT-LUECKE STEPSIZE NUM-DERIV SSND ONE-D-SEARCH

INIT-PARAM paramno keyword=value / . . .

Keywords:
CASE VALUE

SET-PARAM paramname cid elemno value

SET-BIPARAM paramname cid1 cid2 elemno value
SET-GPARAM paramname gid setno value
SET-GBPARAM paramname gid1 gid2 setno value
REPORT reportopt-list

Report options:
KVL GAMMA TBUB PBUB TXX KLL

Input Language Description for CASE

caseid.............................. Case ID

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CASE-OPTION Use to specify whether to perform a regression, override the default objective function, control the
regression and property diagnostic message level, and select the form of the built-in equation for
generic property Y.
REGRESSION ................. REGRESSION=YES................. Performs regression (Default)
REGRESSION=NO................... Does not perform regression. Evaluates
property model parameters using the input
parameters and the data groups specified, or
test the binary VLE data for thermodynamic
consistency.
OBJECT-FUNC ............... Specify the objective function in VLE regression:
OBJECT-FUNC=ML ................. Maximum likelihood (Default)
OBJECT-FUNC=OLS............... Ordinary least squares. P and Y are dependent
variables for isothermal data. T and Y are
dependent variables for isobaric data.
OBJECT-FUNC=PY ................. Modified Barker's method. P and Y are
dependent variables.
OBJECT-FUNC=BARKER....... Barker's method. P is dependent variable.
OBJECT-FUNC=GAMMA ........ Activity coefficients are dependent variables.
DRS calculates experimental activity
coefficients from VLE (TPXY) data.
OBJECT-FUNC=KVL............... K-values are dependent variables. DRS
calculates experimental K-values from VLE
(TPXY) data.
OBJECT-FUNC=ALPHA.......... Relative volatility. Defined relative to the first
component.
SIM-LEVEL...................... Override the global regression message level. (Default=value established
in the DIAGNOSTICS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
PROP-LEVEL .................. Override the global property message level. (Default=value established in
the DIAGNOSTICS paragraph.) (See Chapter 46.)
LL-TEST .......................... Test correctness of LLE results at the end of DRS by performing phase
stability test.
LL-TEST=YES .......................... Performs the test (Default)
LL-TEST=NO............................ Does not perform the test
FORM .............................. Form of the built-in equation used in fitting the generic property Y. See
the DATA-GROUP paragraph for information on how to enter generic
data.
FORM=NORMAL...................... Use the following equation: (Default)

Y = a1 + a 2T + a3T 2 + a 4T 3 + a5T 4 + a6T 1 / 2 + a7 T +

a8 T 2 + a9 T 3 + a10 T 4 + a11 T 1 / 2 + a12 ln(T )

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 Regressing
Property Data

FORM=LOG.............................. Use the following equation:

ln Y = a1 + a 2T + a3T 2 + a 4T 3 + a5T 4 + a6T 1 / 2 + a7 T +

a8 T 2 + a9 T 3 + a10 T 4 + a11 T 1 / 2 + a12 ln(T )
PARAMETERS Use to specify the parameters to be regressed. The parameters must already be defined in the
PARAMETERS paragraph.
PURE............................... List of pure component parameter numbers for parameters to be
regressed in this case. Parameter numbers are defined in the
PARAMETER sentences.
BINARY ........................... List of binary parameter numbers for parameters to be regressed in this
case. Parameter numbers are defined in the BIPARAMETER sentences.
GROUP-PURE ................ List of UNIFAC group parameter numbers for parameters to be regressed
in this case. Parameter numbers are defined in the GROUP-PARAM
sentences.
GROUP-BINARY............. List of UNIFAC group binary parameter numbers for parameters to be
regressed in this case. Parameter numbers are defined in the GROUP-
BIPARAM sentences.
PAIR ................................ List of electrolyte NRTL pair parameter numbers for parameters to be
regressed in this case. Parameter numbers are defined in the
PAIRPARAMETER sentences.
K-SALT............................ List of K-SALT ID numbers for parameters to be regressed in this case.
Parameter numbers are defined in the K-SALT sentences.
K-STOIC .......................... List of K-STOIC ID numbers for parameters to be regressed in this case.
Parameter numbers are defined in the K-STOIC sentences.
DATA-GROUPS Use to select experimental data to be used. The data groups must already be defined in a DATA-
GROUP paragraph.
dataid .............................. Data group ID
WEIGHT .......................... Relative weight of the data (Default=1)
CONSISTENCY............... CONSISTENCY=YES............... Tests binary VLE data for thermodynamic
consistency
CONSISTENCY=NO................. Does not test binary VLE data for
thermodynamic consistency (Default)
METHOD ......................... Method to test binary VLE data for thermodynamic consistency:
METHOD=AREA ...................... Area test (Default)
METHOD=POINT ..................... Point test
METHOD=BOTH ...................... Both methods
REJECT........................... REJECT=YES........................... Does not use inconsistent data in this
regression
REJECT=NO ............................ Uses inconsistent data in this regression
(Default)
AREA-TOL ...................... Tolerance for the area test (Default=10%)
POINT-TOL ..................... Tolerance for the point test. POINT-TOL is not allowed when
METHOD=AREA. (Default=0.01)

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PROPERTIES Use to specify the property option set. The default is the global property specification in the
PROPERTIES paragraph. You must name any option set that you enter here in the PROPERTIES
paragraph.
opsetname ...................... Option set name
HENRY-COMPS .............. Henry's component list ID
CHEMISTRY .................... Chemistry ID
TRUE-COMPS ................. True or apparent component approach. Use in electrolytes:
TRUE-COMPS=YES................. True component approach (Default)
TRUE-COMPS=NO .................. Apparent component approach
ALGORITHM Use to specify parameters for the regression algorithm.
MAXIT .............................. Maximum number of iterations (Default=50)
INIT-MAXIT ...................... Maximum number of iterations during the initialization step (Default=20)
ZLOOP-MAXIT ................ Maximum number of iterations during the measurement variable
adjustment step, after the initialization step (Default=10)
TOL.................................. Convergence tolerance (Default=1x10-4)
METHOD ......................... METHOD=NEW ........................ New regression method (Default)
METHOD=OLD......................... Old algorithm
INIT-METHOD ................. Method used in the initialization step:
INIT-METHOD=DEMING .......... Deming method (Default)
INIT-METHOD=WLS ................ Weighted least squares
BRITT-LUECKE............... BRITT-LUECKE=YES .............. Uses Britt-Luecke algorithm, after the
initialization step (Default)
BRITT-LUECKE=NO ................ Does not use Britt-Luecke algorithm
STEPSIZE........................ Maximum step size of parameter adjustments (Default=0.1)
NUM-DERIV..................... NUM-DERIV=FORWARD......... Uses the forward difference method to compute
the numerical derivative (Default)
NUM-DERIV=CENTRAL .......... Uses the central difference method to compute
the numerical derivative
SSND ............................... Step size used to calculate numerical derivative. (Default=1x10-4)
ONE-D-SEARCH ............. One-dimensional search key. Use when METHOD=OLD:
ONE-D-SEARCH=YES............. Performs one-dimensional search during the
Deming iterations (Default)
ONE-D-SEARCH=NO............... Does not perform one-dimensional search
INIT-PARAM Use to assign initial estimates for regression parameters in the current case. The value replaces, for
this case, the initial estimate entered in the PARAMETERS paragraph. You can either enter a
value or use results from any preceding case, but you cannot do both.
paramno.......................... Parameter number for regression parameter you want to initialize for this
case
CASE ............................... Case ID. Uses results from the case specified to initialize the parameter.
The case specified must precede the current case.
VALUE ............................. Numerical value assigned to the parameter as initial guess

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 Regressing
Property Data

SET-PARAM, Use to assign a numerical value for pure component and binary parameters that are not being
SET-BIPARAM regressed in this case.
paramname..................... Parameter name
cid, cid1, cid2 ................. Component IDs
elemno ............................ Parameter element number
value................................ Numerical value assigned to the parameter
SET-GPARAM, Use to assign a numerical value to UNIFAC group and group binary parameters that are not being
SET-GBPARAM regressed in this case.
paramname..................... Parameter name
gid, gid1, gid2................. Group IDs
setno ............................... Data set number. Uses setno=1 when option set UNIFAC is specified.
Uses setno=2 for UNIF-LL.
value................................ Numerical value assigned to the parameter
REPORT Use to specify additional properties to be printed in the report file.
KVL ................................. Vapor-liquid K-values
GAMMA........................... Liquid activity coefficients
TBUB............................... Bubble point temperature. DRS performs bubble-point temperature (PV)
flashes at the experimental pressures and liquid compositions. Calculated
vapor compositions are also reported.
PBUB............................... Bubble point pressure. DRS performs bubble-point pressure (TV) flashes
at the experimental temperatures and liquid compositions. Calculated
vapor compositions are also reported.
TXX.................................. Liquid-liquid coexistence curve. DRS performs three-phase TP flashes at
the experimental temperatures, pressures, and overall liquid
compositions. The calculated compositions for both liquid phases are
reported.
KLL.................................. Liquid-liquid distribution coefficients

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TABULATE Paragraph

Input Language for TABULATE

TABULATE
PROPERTY propno "heading" keyword=value

Keywords:
PROPS X-AXIS COMP DATA DATA-GROUPS CASE
Optional keywords:
HIGH-PRECISION LINES X-SCALE Y-SCALE WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE
PRINT-TABLE PRINT-PLOT PLOT-FILE

ERROR errorno "heading" keyword=value

Keywords:
PROPS X-AXIS COMP CASE
Optional keywords:
HIGH-PRECISION LINES X-SCALE Y-SCALE WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE
PRINT-TABLE PRINT-PLOT PLOT-FILE

Input Language Description for TABULATE

PROPERTY Use for tabulating experimental data and/or regression results. Use to specify properties and
components to be tabulated, variables for the x-axis, and whether experimental data will be
included. Also use to specify data groups to be used, cases from which the calculated results will be
obtained, and options for the tabulation.
propno............................. Property tabulation number. Must be an integer value.
heading ........................... Heading up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes
ERROR Use for tabulating property errors. Use to specify properties, variables for the x-axis, and
components to be tabulated. Also use to specify cases from which the calculated results will be
obtained, and options for the tabulation.
The error or deviation is defined as: calculated value – experimental value.
errorno ............................ Error tabulation number. Must be an integer.
heading ........................... Heading up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes
PROPS ............................ List of properties (or property errors) to be tabulated. Each property will
appear on a separate table, print-plot, or section of the plot file. Table
43.6 lists the valid properties. If you specify X, Y, Y*X, or a partial
property, you must also specify COMP. Table 43.7 lists common
specifications that are useful for analyzing regression results involving
VLE and LLE data.

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 Regressing
Property Data

X-AXIS............................. List of independent variables against which the property is to be

tabulated. The valid independent variables are the state variables and
the property itself. The number of generated tables, print-plots, or
sections in the plot file equals the number of PROPS specified times the
number of X-AXIS specified. If you select X, Y, XY, XX, or partial
property, you must also specify COMP.
X-AXIS=TEMP .......................... Temperature
X-AXIS=PRES .......................... Pressure
X-AXIS=X.................................. Liquid composition
X-AXIS=Y.................................. Vapor composition
X-AXIS=XY ............................... Liquid and vapor compositions. Use for
tabulating temperature or pressure versus
vapor and liquid compositions, for VLE data.
X-AXIS=XX ............................... Compositions in both liquid phases. Use for
tabulating temperature or pressure versus the
compositions of both liquid phases, for LLE
data.
X-AXIS=property ..................... Property itself. Experimental values of the
property are tabulated on the X-AXIS.
COMP .............................. Component to be tabulated. If you selected X, Y, XY, XX, or partial
property as your X-AXIS, or X, Y, Y*X, or partial property as your
PROPS, you must also specify COMP. (Default=most volatile component.)
DATA............................... DATA=YES............................... Tabulates experimental data. DRS tabulates
experimental data from the data groups
specified with the DATA-GROUPS keyword and
the data groups used in the cases specified with
the CASE keyword. (Default)
DATA=NO................................. Does not tabulate experimental data
DATA-GROUPS .............. List of data group IDs. Tabulate experimental data from data groups. Use
with DATA=YES.
CASE............................... List of case IDs. Tabulate calculated results obtained from these cases. If
DATA=YES, experimental data are also tabulated. If you want to
tabulate only the experimental data, do not use CASE. Instead list the
data groups using DATA-GROUPS, and use DATA=YES.
HIGH-PRECISION........... HIGH-PRECISION=YES........... Prints seven significant digits in tables
HIGH-PRECISION=NO............. Prints five significant digits in tables (Default)
LINES .............................. Number of rows of values to print in tables before printing a grid line. If
LINES=0, no grid lines are printed. Must be between 0 and 35.
X-SCALE ......................... X-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on horizontal axis of plots.
(Default)
X-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on horizontal axis of plots
Y-SCALE ......................... Y-SCALE=STANDARD ............ Uses linear scale on vertical axis of plots
(Default)
Y-SCALE=INVERSE ................ Uses inverse scale on vertical axis of plots
Y-SCALE=LOG ........................ Uses logarithmic scale on vertical axis of plots

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WIDE, GRID,.................... Plot options. Use to override defaults established by the PLOT-OPTIONS
INTERPOLATE paragraph. (See Chapter 47.)
PRINT-TABLE ................. PRINT-TABLE=YES................. Generates tables in the report file (Default)
PRINT-TABLE=NO................... Does not generate tables
PRINT-PLOT ................... PRINT-PLOT=YES ................... Generates print-plots in the report file (Default)
PRINT-PLOT=NO ..................... Does not generate print-plots
PLOT-FILE ...................... PLOT-FILE=YES ...................... Generates a plot file (Default)
PLOT-FILE=NO ........................ Does not generate a plot file

Table 43.6 Valid Properties for Tabulation

State Variable:
Property Description Valid X-AXIS

PRES Pressure TEMP, PRES, X, Y, XY, XX

TEMP Temperature TEMP, PRES, X, Y, XY, XX
X Liquid composition TEMP, PRES, X, Y
Y Vapor composition TEMP, PRES, X, Y
Y*X Product of vapor and liquid composition TEMP, PRES, X, Y

Pure Component Properties:

Property Description Valid X-AXIS†
CPL Liquid molar heat capacity TEMP, PRES
CPS Solid molar heat capacity TEMP, PRES
CPV Vapor molar heat capacity TEMP, PRES
DHLS Molar enthalpy of transition TEMP, PRES
DHVL Molar enthalpy of vaporization TEMP, PRES
DHVS Molar enthalpy of sublimation TEMP, PRES
HL Liquid molar enthalpy TEMP, PRES
HS Solid molar enthalpy TEMP, PRES
HV Vapor molar enthalpy TEMP, PRES
KL Liquid thermal conductivity TEMP, PRES
KS Solid thermal conductivity TEMP, PRES
KV Vapor thermal conductivity TEMP, PRES
MUL Liquid viscosity TEMP, PRES
MUV Vapor viscosity TEMP, PRES
† The property itself is a valid X-AXIS specification.

continued

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 Regressing
Property Data

Table 43.6 Valid Properties for Tabulation (continued)

Pure Component Properties:

Property Description Valid X-AXIS†
PL Liquid-vapor pressure TEMP, PRES
PS Solid-vapor pressure TEMP, PRES
RHOL Liquid mass density TEMP, PRES
RHOS Solid mass density TEMP, PRES
RHOV Vapor mass density TEMP, PRES
SIGL Liquid surface tension TEMP, PRES
USER User property TEMP, PRES
VL Liquid molar volume TEMP, PRES
VS Solid molar volume TEMP, PRES
VV Vapor molar volume TEMP, PRES
WATSOL Water solubility TEMP, PRES
Y Generic property TEMP

Partial Property:
Property Description Valid X-AXIS†

DLMX Liquid diffusion coefficient TEMP, PRES, X

DVMX Vapor diffusion coefficient TEMP, PRES, Y
GAMMA Liquid activity coefficient for all components TEMP, PRES, X
GAMRATIO Natural logarithm of activity coefficient ratio TEMP, PRES, X
HNRYMX Henry's constant TEMP, PRES, X
KLL Liquid-liquid distribution coefficient for all components TEMP, PRES, X
KVL K-values for all components TEMP, PRES, X, Y
PHILMX Liquid fugacity coefficient TEMP, PRES, X
PHIVMX Vapor fugacity coefficient TEMP, PRES, Y
USERI User property TEMP, PRES, X, Y
† The property itself is a valid X-AXIS specification.

continued

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Table 43.6 Valid Properties for Tabulation (continued)

Mixture Properties:
Property Description Valid X-AXIS†

CPLMX Liquid molar heat capacity TEMP, PRES, X

CPVMX Vapor molar heat capacity TEMP, PRES, Y
DGMIX Total Gibbs free energy of mixing TEMP, PRES, X
DGMIXRT Total Gibbs free energy of mixing/RT†† TEMP, PRES, X
GAMMAM Mean activity coefficient TEMP, PRES, X
GLXS Excess Gibbs free energy TEMP, PRES, X
GLXSRT Excess Gibbs free energy/RT†† TEMP, PRES, X
HLMX Liquid molar enthalpy TEMP, PRES, X
HLXS Excess enthalpy TEMP, PRES, X
HLXSRT Excess enthalpy/RT†† TEMP, PRES, X
HVMX Vapor molar enthalpy TEMP, PRES, Y
KLMX Liquid thermal conductivity TEMP, PRES, X
KVMX Vapor thermal conductivity TEMP, PRES, Y
MULMX Liquid viscosity TEMP, PRES, X
MUVMX Vapor viscosity TEMP, PRES, Y
OSMOT Osmotic coefficient TEMP, PRES, X
PH pH TEMP, PRES, X
RHOLMX Liquid mass density TEMP, PRES, X
RHOVMX Vapor mass density TEMP, PRES, Y
SIGLMX Liquid surface tension TEMP, PRES, X
SLXS Excess entropy TEMP, PRES, X
SLXSR Excess entropy/R†† TEMP, PRES, X
USERMX User property TEMP, PRES, X, Y
VLMX Liquid molar volume TEMP, PRES, X
VSMX Solid molar volume TEMP, PRES, X
VVMX Vapor molar volume TEMP, PRES, Y
† The property itself is a valid X-AXIS specification.
†† R = Gas constant

Input Language Guide 43-19

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 Regressing
Property Data

Table 43.7 Common Specifications in VLE or LLE Regression

Property X-Axis Description

GAMMA X Activity coefficient for all components, versus liquid composition

GAMRATIO X Natural logarithm of activity coefficient ratio versus liquid composition
PRES XY Pressure versus liquid and vapor compositions for isothermal VLE data
TEMP XY Temperature versus liquid and vapor compositions for isobaric VLE data
TEMP XX Temperature versus liquid compositions, for both liquid phases, for LLE data
Y X Vapor composition versus liquid composition
Y*X X Product of vapor and liquid compositions versus liquid composition

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

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 Chapter 44

44 Stream Libraries
This chapter describes the input language for using the Aspen Plus stream
library capability. The Aspen Plus stream library lets you access existing
information about stream composition and conditions from a stream library,
instead of entering this data in the STREAM paragraph. You can also create your
own stream library, or you can use one created and maintained by your
Aspen Plus System Administrator.
With the stream library capability, you can:
• Create a library of frequently used feed streams
• Transfer stream information from one simulation to another
• Initialize tear streams
• Isolate a block from a large flowsheet
To create and use a stream library, you must:
• Create the stream library using the STRLIB program
• Use the STREAM-LIB paragraph in your Aspen Plus input file to specify
which streams you want to retrieve from the library
• Reference the stream library for an Aspen Plus run

Input Language Guide 44-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Stream
Libraries

Creating or Modifying a Stream Library

with STRLIB
You can create or modify a stream library using the STRLIB program delivered
with Aspen Plus. Every Aspen Plus run produces a summary file that contains all
the results of the simulation. The STRLIB program copies stream results from an
Aspen Plus summary file into a stream library. You can store data from any
number of Aspen Plus runs in one stream library.

Streams in a stream library are organized into cases. You identify a stream by the
stream name and the case to which it belongs. Usually, each case corresponds to
one Aspen Plus run. However, you can store streams from more than one
Aspen Plus run in a single case. You can also store data from a single run in
several cases.

STRLIB Commands
You can use STRLIB commands to create or modify a stream library. See
Table 44.1 and Description of STRLIB Commands, this chapter, for information
about all STRLIB commands. To view a menu of all available commands, type a
question mark (?) at the STRLIB> prompt. To get online help for these commands,
type HELP.

Table 44.1 STRLIB Commands

Command Description
ADD Add a stream to the library.
CASE Change the current case.
DELCASE Delete a case from the library.
DELSTREAM Delete a stream from the library.
DIRECTORY List the cases in the library and the streams in a case.
DUMP Write stream information to a file.
END End STRLIB and update the library.
EXIT End STRLIB and update the library.
HELP Display interactive help on STRLIB commands.
INITIALIZE Initialize a library.

continued

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Table 44.1 STRLIB Commands (continued)

Command Description
LIST List streams in the summary file.
LOAD Load stream information from a dump file.
OPEN Open a summary file.
PACK Pack (compress) the library.
RENAME Rename a stream in the library.
REPLACE Replace a stream in the library.
QUIT End STRLIB without updating the library.

The following table describes characteristics of these commands:

Characteristic Description

Case sensitivity The Aspen Plus STRLIB program is not case sensitive. You can type your commands in either
upper or lower case.
Partial matching of command You can abbreviate commands. You only need to type enough letters to make the command
unique. If the command you have typed is not unique, STRLIB displays a list of commands that
begin with the letters you type. For example, if you type command D, and there is more than one
command that starts with D, STRLIB lists all commands that start with D.
Incomplete commands If you do not complete a command, or if a word cannot be recognized, STRLIB recognizes as
much of the command as possible and displays a menu of possible command choices.
Canceling commands At any subprompt away from the STRLIB> prompt, you can use the less than character (<) to
cancel one item of the command. For example, if you enter REPLACE, the subprompt will
appear as STRLIB> REPLACE. In order to get back to STRLIB> prompt, enter (<).

Initialization You must initialize a new stream library before you can store any stream data

Input Language Guide 44-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Stream
Libraries

Description of STRLIB Commands

This section describes the commands you can use to create or modify a stream
library.

ADD
Use this command to add a stream to the stream library. The ADD command
copies a stream from the Aspen Plus summary file to the library. The stream to
be copied must not already exist in the current case of the library. You can use
the REPLACE command to replace streams that already exist.
You can specify ADD ALL to copy all streams from the summary file to the
library.
sid 
STRLIB> ADD  ALL
 

CASE
Use CASE to change the current case. Streams in the stream library are
organized into cases. You establish a case when you open a summary file (using
the OPEN command) or by using the CASE command. The ADD, DELSTREAM,
DUMP, RENAME, and REPLACE commands apply to streams in the current
case.
STRLIB> CASE casename

DELCASE
Use DELCASE to delete a case from the library. All streams in the case are also
deleted.
STRLIB> DELCASE casename

DELSTREAM
Use DELSTREAM to delete a stream from the current case in the library. The
stream must exist in the current case.

If you delete many streams from a library, you may wish to use the PACK
command to recover the deleted space. See the PACK command description in
this section.
STRLIB> DELSTREAM sid

DIRECTORY
Use DIRECTORY to list the cases and streams that are stored in the stream
library. If you do not specify a case in the DIRECTORY command, STRLIB lists
the cases in the library, and the number of streams in each case. If you specify a
case, STRLIB lists the streams in that case.

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 Chapter 44

STRLIB> DIRECTORY [casename]

DUMP
Use DUMP to write the information about a stream stored in the library to a file
or to the terminal. STRLIB asks if you want to write to the terminal or to a file. If
you want to write to a file, STRLIB prompts you for the file name. If you specify a
stream ID, the stream must exist in the current case. You can specify DUMP ALL
to dump all streams from a library. Aspen Plus dumps all streams from all cases.

The DUMP command is useful if you want to view the information for a stream,
or if you want to transfer information from one library to another. If you need to
reinitialize a library to increase the maximum number of cases that can be stored,
use the DUMP ALL command first. This causes Aspen Plus to save the contents
of the library. To restore the information, use the LOAD command.
sid 
STRLIB> DUMP  ALL
 

END
Use this command to end the STRLIB session. Aspen Plus updates the stream
library with the changes you make during the session. The END and EXIT
commands are synonymous. (Use the QUIT command to end STRLIB without
updating the library, so the changes made during the session are not saved.)
STRLIB> END

EXIT
Use EXIT to end the STRLIB session. Aspen Plus updates the stream library with
the changes you make during the session. The END and EXIT commands are
synonymous. (Use the QUIT command to end STRLIB without updating the
library, so the changes made during the session are not saved.)
STRLIB> EXIT

HELP
Use HELP to invoke the interactive online help system, to obtain help for
STRLIB commands.
STRLIB> HELP [command]

INITIALIZE
Use this command to initialize a new stream library. When you initialize a
library, you must specify the maximum number of cases the library will contain.
The INITIALIZE command must be entered before performing any operations on
a new stream library.

The INITIALIZE command destroys all data in a stream library. It should only be
used when creating a library, or after using the DUMP ALL command.

Input Language Guide 44-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Stream
Libraries

STRLIB> INITIALIZE numcase

LIST
Use this command to list the streams in the current summary file.
STRLIB> LIST

LOAD
Use this command to load information from a dump file created with the DUMP
command. Aspen Plus loads all cases and streams.
STRLIB> LOAD filename

OPEN
Use this command to open a summary file, so that streams from an Aspen Plus
run can be transferred to the library. You can specify an optional case name in
the OPEN command. If you do not specify a case name, the RUNID from the
summary file is used as the case name.
STRLIB> OPEN filename [casename]

PACK
Use this command to pack the stream library to recover blank spaces created
when streams are deleted. The PACK command is necessary only if you delete
many streams from a library and want to recover unused file space.
STRLIB> PACK

RENAME
Use this command to rename a stream in the library. The RENAME command
applies only to the current case.
STRLIB> RENAME oldname newname

REPLACE
Use this command to replace a stream in the current case in the library, with a
stream of the same name from the summary file. Aspen Plus adds the stream, if
it does not exist in the library.

You can also specify REPLACE ALL to copy all streams from the summary file to
the library, overwriting any streams of the same name that exist in the library.
sid 
STRLIB> REPLACE  ALL
 

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QUIT
Use QUIT to end the STRLIB session. Aspen Plus does not update the stream
library with any changes made during the current STRLIB session. Use the END
or EXIT commands to end STRLIB and update the stream library with changes
made during the session.
STRLIB> QUIT

Running STRLIB
You can run STRLIB both interactively and non-interactively, on all computers
and operating systems.

Running STRLIB Interactively

Enter the appropriate command to run the STRLIB program interactively at your
operating system prompt:
Operating system Command
Windows STRLIB libname

Where libname is the name of the library you want to create or modify. It can be
up to eight characters long.

The file name of the stream library for various operating systems is: libname.slb.
When the STRLIB> prompt appears, you must use the INITIALIZE command to
initialize the maximum number of cases the library will contain. You are then
ready to enter commands. Aspen Plus prompts you for each command. Online
help is available for the commands. (See Description of STRLIB Commands, this
chapter.)

Input Language Guide 44-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Stream
Libraries

Running STRLIB Non-interactively

You can run STRLIB non-interactively, on all operating systems, to create or
update a stream library. Running STRLIB non-interactively automatically adds
all the streams from the summary file produced by an Aspen Plus run to the
library. The command to run STRLIB is:
strlib libname runid [case]

Where:
libname = Name of the library you want to create or modify. If the
librarydoes not exist, Aspen Plus creates and initializes it to
contain10 cases.
runid = Name of the Aspen Plus summary file from which you wantto
transfer streams
case = Case name in the library where you want to add
streams.Specifying the case is optional. If you do not specify
the casename, Aspen Plus uses the runid from the summary
fileas the case name.

44-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 44

Retrieving Data from a Stream Library in

Aspen Plus

Input Language for STREAM-LIB

STREAM-LIB
RETRIEVE keyword=value

Keywords:
CASE STREAMS LIB-ID STATE SUBSTREAMS COMPS TRANSLATE

TRANSLATE COMPS=(cid1 cid2) (cid1 cid2) . . .

Input Language Description for STREAM-LIB

Use the STREAM-LIB paragraph in an Aspen Plus input file to specify the
streams and information to be retrieved from an existing stream library. Stream
libraries can store only material streams. You cannot retrieve information
streams from a stream library.
If you have a STREAM paragraph for a stream, information in the STREAM
paragraph is used instead of information retrieved from a stream library.
RETRIEVE Use to specify the streams to retrieve. You must specify the case the streams belong to in the
library (CASE) and the list of streams that will be filled in (STREAMS). You can also specify the
components, substreams, and state variables to retrieve. You can have any number of RETRIEVE
sentences. To retrieve data from a stream with a different stream ID, you must use LIB-ID to
specify the ID of the stream in the library.
CASE ............................... The case the streams belong to in the stream library. You can retrieve
streams from more than one case by using more than one RETRIEVE
sentence.
STREAMS........................ List of streams in the current simulation, that will be filled with data
from the stream library. Use LIB-ID to specify the ID of the stream in the
library, if the stream ID in the library does not match the stream ID in
the current simulation. If you specify LIB-ID, you can specify only a
single stream with the STREAMS keyword. You can specify
STREAMS=ALL to retrieve all streams associated with the case in the
library.
LIB-ID .............................. ID of the stream in the stream library from which Aspen Plus retrieves
data. Use LIB-ID only if you specify a single stream with the STREAMS
keyword.
STATE ............................. State variables to retrieve for the MIXED substream. Temperature,
pressure, and vapor fraction are all stored in the stream library.
STATE = TP.............................. Temperature and pressure (Default)

Input Language Guide 44-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Stream
Libraries

STATE = TV.............................. Temperature and vapor fraction

STATE = PV.............................. Pressure and vapor fraction
SUBSTREAMS................ List of substreams to be retrieved from the stream library
(Default=all substreams)
COMPS............................ List of components to be retrieved from the stream library
(Default=all components)
TRANSLATE ................... List of component pairs to be mapped between the current simulation and
the stream library. Each pair is enclosed in parentheses. The first
element listed for each pair is the component ID in the current
simulation. The second element is the component ID in the stream
library. This mapping overrides the mapping specified in the translate
sentence.
TRANSLATE Use to specify component mapping between the current simulation and the stream library. The
mapping is used for all streams retrieved, unless mapping is specified with the TRANSLATE
keyword in the RETRIEVE sentence.
COMPS............................ List of component pairs that are to be mapped between the current
simulation and the stream library. Each pair is enclosed in parentheses.
The first element listed for each pair is the component ID in the current
simulation. The second element is the component ID in the stream
library.

Using a Stream Library in an Aspen Plus

Run
You can specify which stream library Aspen Plus uses for a run. You can use only
one stream library in an Aspen Plus run.

For Windows operating systems, Aspen Plus uses the stream library pointed to by
the environment variable USLB. You must set this environment variable in order
for Aspen Plus to use it. The command to set the environment variable is:
SET USLB=libname

Where libname is the fully-qualified file name (disk name, directory name, and
file name) for the stream library

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

44-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 45

45 Insert Libraries
This chapter describes the input language and commands for referencing insert
libraries in an Aspen Plus simulation.
Inserts are Aspen Plus productivity tools that allow you to package a substantial
amount of input for easy access. Many inserts are delivered with Aspen Plus.
(See Chapter 8.) You can also write your own inserts.

To create and use an insert you must:

• Write the insert file. The insert file contains Aspen Plus input language for
the insert.
• Reference the insert from an Aspen Plus input file
• Build an insert library, using the MAKEINS procedure
• Reference the insert library in an Aspen Plus run

Input Language Guide 45-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Insert Libraries

Writing Inserts
An insert consists of one or more Aspen Plus input language statements, followed
by a line with the word END beginning in column one. Some inserts contain only
static input language. Other inserts are more complex. They are true macros with
variables that are filled in, based on arguments passed to the insert.
You can use your computer system text editor to create the insert file. Thee name
of the insert file is insname.ins, where insname is the name of the insert. It must
be a string of up to six characters. The string must follow the rules for Aspen Plus
input language (see Chapter 1), and the rules for file names on your computer
operating system.

This section discusses:

• Static inserts
• Inserts with variable substitution
• Rules for writing inserts

Static Inserts
Static inserts contain the Aspen Plus input language paragraphs you normally
use in an input file. The last line of the insert must be the word END, beginning
in column one.
Static inserts can be used to define and package input language that you use in
many Aspen Plus runs. For example, you can prepare an insert to:
• Define a standard units set. The insert contains the IN-UNITS and OUT-
UNITS paragraphs for the units set that you commonly use.
• Define property parameters. The insert contains, for example, PROP-DATA
paragraphs to define the data for a new component that does not appear in a
data bank. The insert can be shared among users on a project to ensure
consistency of results.
• Build property options. You can create an insert to build or modify a property
option set. The insert contains the PROPERTIES, PROP-REPLACE, MP-
ROUTE and SP-ROUTE paragraphs that specify the option set.
• Store assay information. The insert can contain the ASSAY, BLEND, and
other paragraphs necessary to specify your assay for the Aspen Plus assay
data analysis system. You can store a library of commonly-used feedstocks in
an insert library.

45-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 45

Inserts with Variable Substitution

Although inserts containing static input language are useful for many
applications, it is often desirable to pass parameters to an insert. Inserts in
Aspen Plus can be used as true macros with argument substitution. You can
write input language with dummy arguments that are replaced with actual
arguments, when the insert is invoked in an input file.

When you write an insert with arguments, you use dummy arguments where you
would normally use values or IDs (such as block IDs, component IDs, or stream
IDs). Dummy arguments in an insert take the form %i, where % is a symbol
indicating a dummy argument and i is the argument number. For example, the
second dummy argument of an insert is expressed as %2.

Rules for Writing Inserts

Use the following rules when writing any type of insert:
• Insert names are limited to six characters.
• An insert can have any number of dummy arguments.
• A dummy argument can appear anywhere within an insert, even as part of a
character string.
• If a dummy argument is to be concatenated with characters on its left, no
special delimiter is required. For example, if TEMP=%1 is used in an insert,
and the first actual argument to the insert is 300, the result is TEMP=300.
• If a dummy argument is to be concatenated with characters on its right, a
special delimiter, the period (.), is required. The period is dropped when the
dummy argument is replaced by an actual argument. For example, if
SPEC=%3 is used in an insert, and the third actual argument is REAC, the
result is REACSPEC.
• When a dummy argument is replaced by an actual argument, the line can be
expanded beyond the usual 80-character limit. In this case, a continuation
line is automatically generated. Continuation lines are not generated for
inline FORTRAN statements.
• An insert can be any length, but must always end with an END statement
that begins in column one.
• An insert can reference other inserts, as long as there is no recursion.

Input Language Guide 45-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Insert Libraries

Referencing Inserts in Aspen Plus

Input Language for INSERT

INSERT arg1 insname arg2 arg3 . . .

Input Language Description for INSERT

Use the INSERT paragraph to reference an insert in your input file.
INSERT Use to invoke an insert. INSERT must begin in column one.
arg1 ................................. Actual argument corresponding to the dummy argument %1. Use an
asterisk (*) to skip arg1 if the referenced insert has no %1 dummy
argument.
insname .......................... Name of the insert. This is the same as the name of the insert file you
create. The name of the insert can be no more than six characters long.
arg2, arg3, ...................... Actual arguments corresponding to the dummy arguments (such as %2
and %3)

Building an Insert Library with

MAKEINS
After you create your insert files, you must build an insert library. Aspen Plus
can only retrieve inserts from an insert library. To create an insert library
execute the following command: makeins. Aspen Plus creates a library called
USER. The file name of the insert library is user.ilb.

45-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 45

Using an Insert Library in an Aspen Plus

Run
You can specify which insert library Aspen Plus will use for a run. The insert
library used is determined by the following rules:
• You can specify the name of an insert library in the environment variable
UILB.
• If you do not specify a library in the environment variable UILB, Aspen Plus
will search for an insert library named user in your directory. If this library
exists, it is used for the Aspen Plus run.

You can set the UILB environment variable so that Aspen Plus can use it. The
command to set UILB is:
SET UILB=libname

Where libname is the fully-qualified file name (disk name, directory name, and
file name) for the insert library.
❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 45-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Insert Libraries

45-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 46

46 Simulation Options,
Limits, and Diagnostics
This chapter describes the input language for specifying simulation options,
limits, diagnostics levels, and system options.
Use this paragraph To specify

SIM-OPTIONS Simulation options and global limits for temperature and pressure
RUN-CONTROL Run time and error limits
DIAGNOSTICS Diagnostic levels and print limits
SYS-OPTIONS System options that affect error checking and inline FORTRAN errors
ACCOUNT-INFO Information for the Aspen Plus run accounting report
DISABLE Deactivate streams, blocks, and other flowsheet objects

Input Language Guide 46-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Simulation
Options,
Limits, and
Diagnostics

Simulation Options

Input Language for SIM-OPTIONS

SIM-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
ENERGY-BAL RESTART FREE-WATER TLOWER TUPPER PLOWER
PUPPER FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL MW-CALC ROOT-EXTR ATM-PRES
BYPASS-PROP STOIC-MB-CHECK STOIC-MB-TOL MASS-BAL-CHECK
NPHASE PHASE PROP-DERIV PARADIGM MAXSOL-CHECK DX-REQUIRED
DN-REQUIRED BRE-FLASH SOLID-DERIV XW-H2OPHASE

Input Language Description for SIM-OPTIONS

ENERGY-BAL ................. ENERGY-BAL=NO................... Performs only mass balance calculations
ENERGY-BAL=YES ................. Performs energy and mass balance calculations
(Default)
RESTART ........................ RESTART=NO.......................... Initializes calculations at each pass
RESTART=YES........................ Uses results from previous convergence pass as
initial estimate for next pass (Default)
FREE-WATER ................. FREE-WATER=NO................... Does not perform free-water calculations
(Default)
FREE-WATER=YES................. Performs free-water calculations
TLOWER ......................... Lower limit on temperature (Default=10 K)
TUPPER .......................... Upper limit on temperature (Default=10000 K)
PLOWER ......................... Lower limit on pressure (Default=0)
PUPPER .......................... Upper limit on pressure (Default=1x1010 N/m2)
FLASH-MAXIT................. Maximum number of iterations for flash calculations (Default=30)
FLASH-TOL .................... Tolerance for flash calculations (Default=1x10-4)
MW-CALC ....................... MW-CALC=NO ......................... Does not calculate molecular weight
MW-CALC=YES ....................... Calculates molecular weight from atomic
number and weight (Default)
ROOT-EXTR.................... Threshold on volume slope of isotherms, below which equation-of-state is
extrapolated (Default=0.1)
ATM-PRES ...................... Ambient or atmospheric pressure for gauge pressure calculations
(Default=101325 N/m2)
BYPASS-PROP............... BYPASS-PROP=NO ................ Performs PROP-SET calculations, even if flash
errors occur

46-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 46

BYPASS-PROP=YES............... Does not perform PROP-SET calculations if

flash errors occur (Default)
STOIC-MB-CHECK ......... STOIC-MB-CHECK= ................ Gives warning messages during input checking
WARNING if reaction stoichiometry violates mass balance
STOIC-MB-CHECK= ................ Gives error messages during input checking if
ERROR reaction stoichiometry violates mass balance
(Default)
STOIC-MB-TOL ............... Tolerance used in checking reaction stoichiometry for mass balance
(Default=1)
MASS-BAL-CHECK ........ MASS-BAL-CHECK=YES........ Performs mass balance check around each block
as it is executed, and again after simulation is
complete (Default)
MASS-BAL-CHECK=NO.......... Does not perform mass balance checking
NPHASE .......................... Maximum number of phases in MIXED substream. Use to override the
default for NPHASE in UOS blocks and input paragraphs.
(See Table 46.1.)
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase calculation
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase calculation
PHASE............................. Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1. Use to override the default for
PHASE in UOS blocks and input paragraphs. (See Table 46.1.)
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L ................................. Liquid
PROP-DERIV................... Specifies the use of analytical derivatives (default) versus finite difference
numerical approximation of the property derivatives.
PROP-DERIV=.......................... Use analytical derivatives (Default)
ANALYTICAL
PROP-DERIV=.......................... Use numerical estimates
NUMERICAL
PARADIGM...................... Specifies the flowsheet solution mode.
PARADIGM=SM ....................... Use the traditional block-by-block sequential
modular approach to solve the flowsheet
(Default)
PARADIGM=EO ....................... Use the new equation-oriented approach to
solve the whole flowsheet simultaneously after
initializing the flowsheet with sequential
modular approach. See Chapter 49 for
Equation-Oriented Solution.
PARADIGM=MIXED ................. This is a hybrid of the two options above. In the
MIXED mode, you can solve hierarchies with
equation-oriented approach but solve the whole
flowsheet with sequential modular approach.
You specify the solution method of a hierarchy
and its subhierarchies with the SOLVE
paragraph in Chapter 49. Note that the solution
method of the SOLVE paragraph is only used

Input Language Guide 46-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Simulation
Options,
Limits, and
Diagnostics

when PARADIGM=MIXED is enabled. Also

note that EO hierarchies are always solved in
the simulation mode.
MAXSOL-CHECK............ MAXSOL-CHECK=YES ........... Limit water solubility in the hydrocarbon
phase. This option prevents water solubility
from becoming unreasonably large due to
extrapolation beyond its range of validity
(usually about 50ºC). (Default)
MAXSOL-CHECK=NO ............. Do not limit water solubility in the hydrocarbon
phase.
DX-REQUIRED................ DX-REQUIRED=NO ................. Do not require calculations of molar fraction
derivatives (d/dxi) in the simulation. This option
can save significant memory. (Default)
DX-REQUIRED=YES................ Require calculations of molar fraction
derivatives (d/dxi). These derivatives are not
currently used by any Aspen Plus equation-
oriented model, but may be used by some
imported models from Aspen Custom Modeler.
DN-REQUIRED ............... DN-REQUIRED=YES ............... Require calculations of molar flow derivatives
(d/dni) in the simulation. Molar flow derivatives
are used in equation-based simulation and
required by most unit operation models.
(Default)
DN-REQUIRED=NO ................. Do not require calculations of molar flow
derivatives (d/dni). This option can save
significant memory.
BRE-FLASH .................... BRE-FLASH=YES .................... Use flash algorithm of Bryan Research &
Engineering when BRE property methods are
used. (Default)
Note: BRE property methods require a
separate license for BRE. This option has no
effect when other property methods are used.
BRE-FLASH=NO...................... Do not use flash algorithm of BR&E.
SOLID-DERIV.................. SOLID-DERIV=NO ................... Do not require derivatives of solid properties
(d/dxi and d/dni) in the simulation. This option
can save significant memory. (Default)
SOLID-DERIV=YES.................. Require derivatives for solid properties (d/dxi
and d/dni). Solid property derivatives are used
in equation-based simulation involving
conventional solids, including electrolyte salts.
XW-H2OPHASE .............. Minimum value of water mole fraction in the water-rich phase, above
which the hydrocarbon solubility model (dirty-water method) is applied.
(Default = 0.98).

46-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 46

Table 46.1 Overriding Defaults for NPHASE and PHASE

UOS Model/Input Paragraph Sentences Keywords

STREAM — NPHASE, PHASE

MIXER PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
FSPLIT PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
SSPLIT PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
SEP PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
SEP2 PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
HEATER PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
FLASH2 PARAM NPHASE†
HEATX FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
MHEATX HOT-SIDE NPHASE, PHASE
COLD-SIDE NPHASE, PHASE
RSTOIC PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
RYIELD PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
REQUIL PARAM NPHASE, PHASE††
RGIBBS PARAM NPHASE, VAPOR†††
RCSTR PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
RPLUG PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
COOLANT NPHASE, PHASE
COOLANT PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
RBATCH PARAM NPHASE, PHASE, NPHASE-ACCUM, PHASE-ACCUM
PUMP PARAM NPHASE
COMPR PARAM NPHASE
MCOMPR PARAM COMPR-NPHASE, COOLER-NPHASE
PIPELINE PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
PIPE PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
VALVE PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
CRYSTALLIZER PARAM NPHASE
USER FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
USER2 FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
CALCULATOR FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
TRANSFER FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
BALANCE FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
PROP-TABLE
FLASHCURVE PARAM NPHASE†
RESIDUE PARAM NPHASE†
PRES-RELIEF PARAM NPHASE, VENT-NPHASE, VENT-PHASE
† If NPHASE is set to 1 in SIM-OPTIONS, the local NPHASE is set to 2.

†† If NPHASE is set to 3 in SIM-OPTIONS, the local NPHASE is set to 2.

††† In SIM-OPTIONS, if NPHASE is set to 1 and PHASE is set to L, the local VAPOR is set to NO.

Input Language Guide 46-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Simulation
Options,
Limits, and
Diagnostics

Time and Error Limits

Input Language for RUN-CONTROL

RUN-CONTROL keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAX-TIME MAX-ERRORS

Input Language Description for RUN-CONTROL

MAX-TIME ....................... Simulation time limit in seconds. This limit applies only to the actual
simulation execution and excludes the input translation. (Default=120)
MAX-ERRORS ................ Error limit for all level 1 and 2 errors. (See Table 46.2.) (Default=50)

Table 46.2 Message Levels

Level Message Description

0 Terminal error Only terminal error messages are listed. Execution cannot continue.
1 Severe error Level 0 and severe error messages are listed. Execution can continue, but subsequent
processing is likely to be erroneous.
2 Error Level 1 and error messages are listed. Execution can continue, but subsequent processing is
likely to be erroneous.
3 Warning Level 2 and warnings are listed. Execution can continue, but a condition has been encountered
that you should be aware of. (For example, a correlation has been extrapolated beyond its
normal limits.)
4 Information Level 3 and brief diagnostic information are listed. Messages allow you to trace the progress of a
run.
5-8 Diagnostic Level 4 and additional diagnostics and information on flowsheet sequencing are listed.
Messages can be used to analyze convergence and simulation problems. The amount of
information listed increases with each level.

46-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 46

Diagnostic Levels and Print Limits

Input Language for DIAGNOSTICS

DIAGNOSTICS
HISTORY keyword=value

Keywords:
SYS-LEVEL SIM-LEVEL PROP-LEVEL STREAM-LEVEL CONV-LEVEL
VAR-LEVEL INSERT SORTED

TERMINAL keyword=value

Keywords:
SIM-LEVEL CONV-LEVEL VAR-LEVEL

MAX-PRINT keyword=value

Optional keywords:
SYS-LIMIT SIM-LIMIT PROP-LIMIT

Input Language Description for DIAGNOSTICS

HISTORY Use to enter diagnostic message levels printed in the history file, and to control printing of the
insert file echo and sorted input echo. The level is defined from 0 to 10. The amount of information
listed increases with each level. (See Table 46.2.)
SYS-LEVEL ..................... Sets level of input translator errors and diagnostics printed in history file
(Default=4)
SIM-LEVEL...................... Sets level of simulation errors and diagnostics printed in history file
(Default=4)
PROP-LEVEL .................. Sets level of physical property errors and diagnostics printed in history
file (Default=4)
STREAM-LEVEL ............. Sets level of stream diagnostics printed in history file (Default=4)
CONV-LEVEL .................. Sets level of convergence diagnostics printed in history file (Default=4)
VAR-LEVEL..................... Sets the level of diagnostics printed in the history file for FORTRAN
variables used in the DEFINE and VECTOR-DEF sentences of
CALCULATOR, DESIGN-SPEC, SENSITIVITY, OPTIMIZATION, and
CONSTRAINT blocks. Diagnostic levels are:
VAR-LEVEL=0,1,2,3,4.............. No diagnostics
VAR-LEVEL=5.......................... Prints values of accessed FORTRAN variables
written back to flowsheet variables (WRITE-
VARS)

Input Language Guide 46-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Simulation
Options,
Limits, and
Diagnostics

VAR-LEVEL=6.......................... Prints VAR-LEVEL=5 diagnostics and initial

values of all accessed FORTRAN variables
(READ-VARS and WRITE-VARS)
INSERT............................ INSERT=YES............................ Echoes insert files in the history file (Default)
INSERT=NO ............................. Suppresses insert echo
SORTED.......................... SORTED=YES.......................... Prints sorted input file (including inserts) in the
history file only when inserts are present
(Default)
SORTED=NO............................ Does not print sorted input file
TERMINAL Use to enter diagnostic message levels printed in the log file or to the terminal. The level is defined
from 0 to 10. The amount of information listed increases with each level (see Table 46.2).
SIM-LEVEL...................... Sets level of simulation errors and diagnostics printed in the log file or to
the terminal (Default=4)
CONV-LEVEL.................. Sets level of convergence diagnostics printed in log file or to the terminal
(Default=4)
VAR-LEVEL .................... Sets the level of diagnostics printed in the log file or to the terminal for
FORTRAN variables used in the DEFINE and VECTOR-DEF sentences
of CALCULATOR, DESIGN-SPEC, SENSITIVITY, OPTIMIZATION,
and CONSTRAINT blocks. Diagnostic levels are:
VAR-LEVEL=0,1,2,3,4.............. No diagnostics
VAR-LEVEL=5.......................... Prints values of accessed FORTRAN variables
written back to flowsheet variables (WRITE-
VARS)
VAR-LEVEL=6.......................... Prints VAR-LEVEL=5 diagnostics and initial
values of all accessed FORTRAN variables
(READ-VARS and WRITE-VARS)
MAX-PRINT Use to set print limits for errors and warnings.
SYS-LIMIT ....................... Maximum number of input translator errors and warnings printed in the
history file (Default=200)
SIM-LIMIT........................ Maximum number of simulation and convergence errors and warnings
printed in the history file (Default=200)
PROP-LIMIT .................... Maximum number of physical property errors and warnings printed in
the history file (Default=200)

46-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 46

System Options

Input Language for SYS-OPTIONS

SYS-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INTERPRET TRACE BLOCK-CHECK

Input Language Description for SYS-OPTIONS

INTERPRET..................... Controls whether inline FORTRAN statements are interpreted at
execution time, or are compiled into the generated FORTRAN program
INTERPRET=YES .................... Interprets FORTRAN statements whenever
possible (Default)
INTERPRET=NO ...................... Compiles all FORTRAN statements
TRACE............................. Controls whether FORTRAN tracebacks will be printed in the history file,
when a FORTRAN error or an Aspen Plus terminal error occurs
TRACE=YES ............................ Prints tracebacks
TRACE=NO .............................. Suppresses tracebacks (Default)
BLOCK-CHECK .............. BLOCK-CHECK=YES.............. Checks unit operation block input for
specification errors and inconsistencies
(Default)
BLOCK-CHECK=NO................ Does not check block input

Input Language Guide 46-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Simulation
Options,
Limits, and
Diagnostics

Accounting Information

Input Language for ACCOUNT-INFO

ACCOUNT-INFO keyword=value

Optional keywords:
ACCOUNT PROJECT-ID PROJECT-NAME USER-NAME

Input Language Description for ACCOUNT-INFO

ACCOUNT ....................... Account number (up to eight digits)
PROJECT-ID ................... Project ID (up to eight characters)
PROJECT-NAME ............ String of up to 32 characters enclosed in quotes (")
USER-NAME ................... String of up to 20 characters enclosed in quotes (")

Deactivating Simulation Objects

Input Language for DISABLE

DISABLE
object-type id

Object types supported:

BLOCK STREAM CONNECTION CONVERGENCE COST-BLOCK
SENSITIVITY TRANSFER FORTRAN UTILITY ECONOMICS
CASE-STUDY BALANCE PRES-RELIEF REGRESSION SEQUENCE
DESIGN-SPEC CONSTRAINT OPTIMIZATION PPTABLE PROP-TABLE

Input Language Description for DISABLE

unit-type.......................... Specifies the type of simulation object to be deactivated. Note that
deactivating an object may cause other objects to be deactivated by
association. See Aspen Plus User Guide, Chapter 11, for more information
on deactivating blocks.
id ..................................... Specifies the id of the object to be deactivated.

46-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 47

47 Report Options
This chapter describes the input language for specifying report options. This
chapter discusses:
• How to tailor the report file
• Batch stream report
• Report scaling
• Print-plots

Input Language Guide 47-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Report Options

Tailoring the Report File

Input Language
TITLE "a title description - up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes"
DESCRIPTION "any amount of text, entered on any number of lines, and enclosed in
quotes"
REPORT reportopt-list [LINES=value] [WIDE=value]

Reportopts:
NOREPORT INPUT NOINSERT NOADA NOFLOWSHEET
NOSENSITIVITY NOPROPERTIES NOBLOCKS NOSTREAMS

ADA-REPORT ada-reportopt-list

ADA-reportopts:
NOCURVES NOCOMPS PARAMS

FLOWSHEET-REPORT flow-reportopt-list

Flow-reportopts:
NODESCRIPTION NOTOTBAL NOCOMPBAL NOFORTRAN
NODESIGN-SPEC NOCONSTRAINT NOOPTIMIZATION NOTRANSFER
NOCONVERGENCE NOSEQUENCE

PROPERTY-REPORT prop-reportopt-list

Prop-reportopts:
NOCOMPS PARAMS PCES PROP-DATA NOPCES NOPROP-DATA
DFMS PROJECT

BLOCK-REPORT block-reportopt-list INCL-BLOCKS=blockid-list &

EXCL-BLOCKS=blockid-list

Block-reportopts:
NEWPAGE NOSORT NOTOTBAL NOINPUT COMPBAL NORESULTS
NOREPORT

STREAM-REPORT stream-reportopt-list PROPERTIES=propsetid-list &

INCL-STREAMS=sid-list EXCL-STREAMS=sid-list
SUPPLEMENTARY supno stream-reportopt-list PROPERTIES=propsetid-list &
INCL-STREAMS=sid-list EXCL-STREAMS=sid-list keyword=value

Stream-reportopts:
NOREPORT WIDE NOSORT NOZEROFLOW NOMOLEFLOW MASSFLOW
STDVOLFLOW MOLEFRAC MASSFRAC STDVOLFRAC STRUCTURE
NOATTR-DESC NOCOMP-ATTR NOSUBS-ATTR

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 Chapter 47

Optional keywords:
PRINT-PLOT HEADING WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE SUBROUTINE

Input Language Description for REPORT

reportopt-list................... List of global report options:
NOREPORT.............................. Suppresses entire report
INPUT ....................................... Specifies that the input file is printed
NOINSERT................................ Suppresses insert file echo when the input file
is printed
NOADA ..................................... Suppresses the assay data analysis report
NOFLOWSHEET ...................... Suppresses flowsheet report
NOSENSITIVITY....................... Suppresses sensitivity report
NOPROPERTIES ..................... Suppresses property report
NOBLOCKS.............................. Suppresses unit operation block report
NOSTREAMS ........................... Suppresses stream report
(Default is to report all sections except the input file)
LINES .............................. Number of lines to be printed per page in the report (Default=60)
WIDE................................ Plot option. This option overrides the default established by the PLOT-
OPTIONS paragraph. (See Print Plots, this chapter.)

Input Language Description for ADA-REPORT

ada-reportopt-list ........... List of report options for ADA report:
NOCURVES.............................. Suppresses the distillation curve report
NOCOMPS................................ Suppresses the listing of generated
pseudocomponents
PARAMS................................... Specifies that the values (in SI units) of all
pseudocomponent property parameters are to
be reported
(Default is to report all sections except the pseudocomponent property
parameter section)

Input Language Description for FLOWSHEET-REPORT

flow-reportopt-list .......... List of report options for flowsheet reports:
NODESCRIPTION .................... Suppresses descriptions of flowsheet
connectivity, report scaling, design
specifications, constraints, and optimization
problems. This option also suppresses
description for Calculator, transfer, case-study,
and sensitivity blocks

Input Language Guide 47-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Report Options

NOTOTBAL .............................. Suppresses total mass and energy balances

around the flowsheet
NOCOMPBAL........................... Suppresses component mass balances around
the flowsheet
NOFORTRAN ........................... Suppresses Calculator block report
NODESIGN-SPEC.................... Suppresses design-spec report
NOCONSTRAINT ..................... Suppresses constraint report
NOOPTIMIZATION ................... Suppresses optimization problem report
NOTRANSFER ......................... Suppresses transfer block report
NOCONVERGENCE ................ Suppresses convergence block report
NOSEQUENCE......................... Suppresses calculation sequence report
(Default is to report all sections)

Input Language Description for PROPERTY-REPORT

prop-reportopt-list ......... List of report options for property report. Use PCES and PROP-DATA
only when the property constant estimation system is used in simulation
or in table generation system (TGS) runs. In simulation or TGS runs, the
default is to suppress the property parameter report and the project data
file reports. Use NOPCES and NOPROP-DATA in stand-alone PCES runs
only. In stand-alone PCES runs, the default is to generate the property
parameter report and the project data file.
NOCOMPS................................ Suppresses the listing of component IDs,
formulas, names, and aliases used in the
simulation
PARAMS................................... Specifies that the values (in SI units) of all of
physical property parameters used in the
simulation are to be reported
PCES ........................................ Specifies that property constant estimation
results are to be reported
PROP-DATA............................. Specifies that a PROP-DATA paragraph
containing the results of property constant
estimation is to be generated
NOPCES ................................... Suppresses the property constant estimation
report
NOPROP-DATA ....................... Suppresses the generation of the PROP-DATA
paragraph
DFMS ........................................ Specifies that the data file management system
input file is generated
PROJECT ................................. Specifies that the project data file is to be
generated
(Default is to report the list of components and suppress the property
parameter report and project data file)

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 Chapter 47

Input Language Description for BLOCK-REPORT

block-reportopt-list ........ List of report options for block reports:
NEWPAGE................................ Specifies that each block report is to begin on a
new page
NOSORT................................... Suppresses alphabetic block sort
NOTOTBAL .............................. Suppresses total mass and energy balances
around the block
NOINPUT.................................. Suppresses the summary of user input and
system defaults
COMPBAL................................ Specifies that the component mass balances
around the block are to be reported
NORESULTS............................ Suppresses block results
NOREPORT.............................. Suppresses the entire block report
(The BLOCK-REPORT paragraph is hierarchical. The default at the top
level is to report all sections except the component mass balance and to
use the new page option. The default for hierarchy blocks is the list of the
above block report options specified for the parent hierarchy.)
INCL-BLOCKS ................ List of unit operation blocks to be included in the report. Blocks are
printed in the order listed. You cannot use both INCL-BLOCKS and
EXCL-BLOCKS. (If you do not use either option, Aspen Plus reports all
blocks.)
EXCL-BLOCKS ............... List of unit operation blocks to be excluded from the report

Input Language Description for STREAM-REPORT

stream-reportopt-list...... List of report options for stream report:
NOREPORT.............................. Suppresses the standard stream report.
Supplementary reports can still be generated.
WIDE......................................... Prints ten streams, instead of five, across the
page. (132 columns are used.)
NOSORT................................... Suppresses alphabetic stream sort
NOZEROFLOW ........................ Suppresses printing of components with zero
flow or fraction
MOLEFLOW, ............................ Specifies whether to report component flows or
MASSFLOW, fractions on a mole, mass, or standard- liquid-
STDVOLFLOW, volume basis. You can use as many of these
MOLEFRAC, options as desired in any stream report.
MASSFRAC, (Default=MOLEFLOW)
STDVOLFRAC
STRUCTURE............................ Specifies printing stream structure information
NOATTR-DESC........................ Suppresses particle size distribution size limits
NOCOMP-ATTR ....................... Suppresses component attribute values
NOSUBS-ATTR........................ Suppresses substream attribute values
(The STREAM-REPORT paragraph is hierarchical. The default for
hi h bl k i h li f i b id INCL

Input Language Guide 47-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Report Options

hierarchy blocks is the list of stream report options besides INCL-

STREAMS and EXCL-STREAMS specified for the parent hierarchy.)
PROPERTIES.................. List of property set IDs. (See Chapter 42.)
INCL-STREAMS.............. List of streams to be included in the report. Streams are printed in the
order listed. You cannot use both INCL-STREAMS and EXCL-STREAMS.
(If you do not use either option, Aspen Plus prints all streams.)
EXCL-STREAMS............. List of streams to be excluded from the report
SUPPLEMENTARY Use to generate supplementary stream reports.
supno .............................. Supplementary report number
stream-reportopt-list...... The same report options listed in the STREAM-REPORT section, for
stream-reportopt-list
PROPERTIES.................. List of property set IDs for the properties to be printed.
(See Chapter 42.)
INCL-STREAMS.............. List of streams to be included in the report. Streams are printed in the
order listed. You cannot use both INCL-STREAMS and EXCL-STREAMS.
(If you do not use either option, Aspen Plus prints all streams.)
EXCL-STREAMS............. List of streams to be excluded from the report
PRINT-PLOT ................... Plots can be generated only when the properties TBPCRV, D86CRV,
D1160CRV and/or VACCRV are included in a PROP-SET listed in the
PROPERTIES propsetid-list for the supplementary stream report.
PRINT-PLOT=YES ................... Generates print-plots of distillation
temperature versus the percent distilled
(Default)
PRINT-PLOT=NO ..................... Does not generate print-plots
HEADING ........................ Heading of up to 64 characters enclosed in quotes. The heading is printed
at the top of the print-plot, and passed to the user stream report
subroutine.
WIDE, GRID, ................... Plot options. Use to override defaults established by the PLOT-OPTIONS
INTERPOLATE paragraph. (See Print Plots, this chapter.)
SUBROUTINE ................. User-supplied stream report subroutine name. For details on writing
user-supplied stream report subroutine, see Aspen Plus User Models,
Chapter 8.

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 Chapter 47

Batch Stream Report

Input Language for BATCH-OPERATION

BATCH-OPERATION
STREAMS sid cycle-time down-time op-time ntrain / . . .

Input Language Description for BATCH-OPERATION

STREAMS Use to designate batch streams, and specify the number of parallel trains for these streams. You
can also enter the following batch times: cycle, operation, and down. You can specify just cycle time,
or any two of the three times.
sid.................................... Stream ID
cycle-time........................ Total time of batch cycle
down-time ....................... Down time during total batch cycle (Default=0)
op-time ............................ Operation time during total batch cycle. An operation time of zero
indicates an instantaneous batch charge or discharge. op-time cannot be
greater than cycle-time.
ntrain ............................... Number of parallel trains for batch operation

Report Scaling
The reports produced by an Aspen Plus simulation can be scaled, using the
REPORT-SCALE paragraph. You can scale a report so that a designated
simulation result obtains a required value. The designated simulation result can
be any flowsheet variable accessed directly using a DEFINE or VECTOR-DEF
sentence. (See Chapter 30.) Or the designated result can be a function of accessed
flowsheet variables computed using inline FORTRAN statements. (See the
Aspen Plus User Guide, Volume 2, Chapter 9, and Chapter 32.) The designated
result must be affected by scaling. (For example, a flow is acceptable; a fraction or
ratio is not acceptable.)

Report scaling affects only the values printed in the report. It has no effect on
simulation computations. Sensitivity tables are not scaled. (See Chapter 36.)

There can be only one REPORT-SCALE paragraph in an Aspen Plus input file. It
applies to the base case and all case studies, but has no effect on sensitivity
reports.

Input Language Guide 47-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Report Options

Accessed flowsheet variables, with the exception of VECTOR-DEF, are in the

units established by the IN-UNITS statement. Unit options in brackets or braces
cannot be used.

Input Language for REPORT-SCALE

REPORT-SCALE
F FORTRAN Declaration Statements
DEFINE fvar vartype keyword=value
VECTOR-DEF farray vectype sid
F Executable FORTRAN Statements
SCALE "expression1" TO "expression2"

Input Language Description for REPORT-SCALE

DEFINE, Use to access a flowsheet variable and equivalence it to the FORTRAN variable fvar. Use fvar in
VECTOR-DEF subsequent FORTRAN statements or SCALE expressions to represent the flowsheet variable.
VECTOR-DEF is similar to DEFINE, except that VECTOR-DEF equivalences an entire stream or
block profile result to the FORTRAN array, farray. At least one DEFINE or VECTOR-DEF sentence
must appear in a REPORT-SCALE paragraph. See Chapters 30 and 31 for a complete description of
the DEFINE and VECTOR-DEF sentences.
FORTRAN Statements Any valid FORTRAN statement subject to the restrictions discussed in the Aspen Plus User Guide,
Volume 2, Chapter 9 and Chapter 32. FORTRAN comments (not shown) can also be used.
FORTRAN statements are needed only if the desired scaling is too complex to be represented using
SCALE expressions.
SCALE Use to establish desired report scaling. The scale factor is:
expression2 / expression1
Where expression1 and expression2 are any valid FORTRAN arithmetic expressions
Typically, expression1 is a single FORTRAN variable and expression2 is the desired value for the
variable. In this case the quotes (") can be omitted. The scale factor is computed after all simulation
calculations are complete. It is applied to all extensive variables in the report, except to those in the
flowsheet section of the report.

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 Chapter 47

Print-Plots

Input Language for PLOT-OPTIONS

PLOT-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
WIDE GRID INTERPOLATE

Input Language Description for PLOT-OPTIONS

WIDE................................ WIDE=YES ............................... 132 character width plot
WIDE=NO ................................. 80 character width plot (Default)
GRID ................................ GRID=YES................................ Prints the grid on the plot (Default)
GRID=NO.................................. Does not print the grid
INTERPOLATE................ INTERPOLATE=YES ............... Prints interpolation characters between plot
points (Default)
INTERPOLATE=NO ................. Does not print interpolation characters

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 47-9

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 Report Options

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Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 48

48 Modifying and
Restarting Simulations
This chapter describes the input language for creating an edit run input file. The
Aspen Plus edit run capability lets you retrieve the Problem Definition File
(APPDF) from a previous run, modify or add to the problem, and restart the
calculations.

This chapter also includes instructions on how to run an edit file. It describes how
to restart simulation calculations for a problem that has not yet converged. In
this case many input processing steps are bypassed, and the simulation
calculations begin with the retrieved stream and block results. The edit run
capability saves computer time, and makes it easy to reconverge recycle problems
when you make modifications or perform case studies.

Input Language Guide 48-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Modifying and
Restarting
Simulations

Creating an Edit Run Input File

You must create a new input file for an edit run. This file has EDIT as the first
line. It contains only those paragraphs that change the problem specifications or
run options from the previous run. Table 48.1 lists the paragraphs that can be
used in an edit run. Any paragraph not listed is automatically skipped by
Aspen Plus and has no effect on the run.

In most cases the paragraphs used in an edit run completely replace the
corresponding specifications from the previous run. You must enter the complete
paragraph, just as in a standard Aspen Plus run. In a few cases, as indicated in
Table 48.1, the replacement occurs at the sentence or individual entry level. In
these few cases you need to enter only the specifications that change.

Table 48.1 Paragraphs Used in Edit Runs

Paragraph Replacement Level

ADVENT Paragraph
BALANCE Paragraph
BLOCK Paragraph
BLOCK-REPORT Paragraph†
CALCULATOR Paragraph
CASE-STUDY Paragraph
COMP-GROUP Paragraph
CONSTRAINT Paragraph (Note 1)
CONV-OPTIONS Paragraph
CONV-ORDER Paragraph
CONVERGENCE Paragraph
DATA-SET Paragraph
DEF-STREAMS ††
DEF-STREAM-ATTR ††
DEF-STREAM-CLASS ††
DEF-SUBS ††
DEF-SUBS-ATTR ††
DEF-SUBS-CLASS ††
DELETE Paragraph
DESCRIPTION Paragraph
DESIGN-SPEC Paragraph (Note 2)
DIAGNOSTICS Paragraph
† BLOCK-REPORT options cannot be changed in an edit run. However, INCL-BLOCKS or EXCL-BLOCKS lists can be
replaced.
†† These paragraphs cannot be used to change the stream or substream class and attributes of any streams or flowsheet
sections from the previous run. They can be used in an edit run to define the stream or substream class of new streams or
flowsheet sections.

continued

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 Chapter 48

Table 48.1 Paragraphs Used in Edit Runs (continued)

Paragraph Replacement Level
FLOWSHEET Sentence
FLOWSHEET-REPORT Paragraph
IN-UNITS Paragraph†††
OPTIMIZATION Paragraph (Note 2)
OUT-UNITS Paragraph
PRES-RELIEF Paragraph
PROFILE-DATA Paragraph
PROP-SET Paragraph♦
PROP-TABLE Paragraph
PROPERTY-REPORT Paragraph
REACTIONS Paragraph
REGRESSION Paragraph
REPORT Paragraph
REPORT-SCALE Paragraph
RUN-CONTROL Individual Entry
SENSITIVITY Paragraph
SEQUENCE Paragraph
SIM-OPTIONS Individual Entry
SIMULATE/NOSIMULATE Individual Entry
STREAM Paragraph
STREAM-LIBRARY Paragraph
STREAM-REPORT Paragraph
SUMMARY/NOSUMMARY Paragraph
SYS-OPTIONS Individual Entry
TEAR Paragraph
TITLE Paragraph
TRANSFER Paragraph
USER-PROPERTY Paragraph
† BLOCK-REPORT options cannot be changed in an edit run. However, INCL-BLOCKS or EXCL-BLOCKS lists can be
replaced.
†† These paragraphs cannot be used to change the stream or substream class and attributes of any streams or flowsheet
sections from the previous run. They can be used in an edit run to define the stream or substream class of new streams or
flowsheet sections.
††† In an edit run the IN-UNITS paragraph affects only those values entered in the edit run. Values entered in previous run(s)
are not changed.
♦ You cannot use the PROP-SET paragraph to change entries for an ID defined in a previous run. You can use the PROP-SET
paragraph to define new IDs used in an edit run.

Input Language Guide 48-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Modifying and
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Simulations

FLOWSHEET Paragraph
The FLOWSHEET paragraph is used differently in edit runs. SIM-OPTIONS has
additional entries that are used only in edit runs. Three special paragraphs,
DELETE, SIMULATE, and NOSIMULATE, can be used in edit runs.

Input Language for FLOWSHEET

FLOWSHEET [sectionid]
BLOCK blockid IN=sid-list OUT=sid-list

Input Language Description for FLOWSHEET

Use the FLOWSHEET paragraph in an edit run to change the flowsheet
connectivity. Use the BLOCK sentence to add a new unit operation block to the
flowsheet, or to change the inlet and outlet streams of an existing block. You do
not need to enter blocks where inlet and outlet streams are not changed. You can
introduce new streams into the flowsheet by entering them in a BLOCK sentence.

When the flowsheet is divided into sections, you must enter a FLOWSHEET
paragraph for each added or modified section.
sectionid ......................... Flowsheet section ID (required when the flowsheet from the previous run
contained more than one section)
blockid ............................ Unit operation block ID. Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming
conventions and restrictions.
sid-list ............................. List of stream IDs

SIM-OPTIONS Paragraph

Input Language for SIM-OPTIONS

SIM-OPTIONS keyword=value

Optional keywords:
ENERGY-BAL FREE-WATER RESTART REINIT-BLOCKS
REINIT-STREAMS TLOWER TUPPER PLOWER PUPPER
BYPASS-PROP STOIC-MB-CHECK STOIC-MB-TOL MASS-BAL-CHECK
ATM-PRES FLASH-MAXIT FLASH-TOL NPHASE PHASE PARADIGM

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 Chapter 48

Input Language Description for SIM-OPTIONS

Use the SIM-OPTIONS paragraph in an edit run to reset convergence block and
unit operation block restart flags; to restore tear streams or streams manipulated
by design specifications or by Calculator blocks to their original values; and to
reset any other flowsheet stream to zero flow. It is usually most efficient to begin
calculations with the block and stream results from the previous run. You can
also use SIM-OPTIONS to request mass-balance-only simulation, to change free-
water simulation options, to reduce the flash tolerance, or to increase the
maximum number of flash iterations. (See Chapter 46.)
ENERGY-BAL ................. ENERGY-BAL=NO................... Performs only mass balance calculations
ENERGY-BAL=YES................. Performs energy and mass balance calculations
(Default)
FREE-WATER ................. FREE-WATER=YES................. Performs free-water calculations
FREE-WATER=NO................... Does not perform free-water calculations
(Default)
RESTART ........................ RESTART=YES........................ Uses results from previous convergence pass as
initial estimate for next pass (Default)
RESTART=NO.......................... Initializes each pass
REINIT-BLOCKS ............. List of convergence and unit operation blocks to be reinitialized in the
edit run. If REINIT-BLOCKS=ALL, all blocks are reinitialized.
(Default=no blocks are reinitialized)
REINIT-STREAMS........... List of streams whose original values are to be restored in the edit run. If
REINIT-STREAMS=ALL, all streams are reinitialized. (Default=no
streams are reinitialized)
TLOWER ......................... Lower limit on temperature (Default=10 K)
TUPPER .......................... Upper limit on temperature (Default=10000 K)
PLOWER ......................... Lower limit on pressure (Default=0)
PUPPER .......................... Upper limit on pressure (Default=1 x 1010 N/m2)
BYPASS-PROP ............... BYPASS-PROP=YES............... Does not perform PROP-SET calculations if
flash errors occur (Default)
BYPASS-PROP=NO ................ Performs PROP-SET calculations, even if flash
errors occur
STOIC-MB-CHECK ......... STOIC-MB-CHECK= ................ Gives warning messages during input checking
WARNING if reaction stoichiometry violates mass balance1
STOIC-MB-CHECK= ................ Gives error messages during input checking if
ERROR reaction stoichiometry violates mass balance
(Default)1
STOIC-MB-TOL ............... Tolerance used in checking reaction stoichiometry for mass balance
(Default=1)1

1 This keyword only affects the block used and value entered in the edit run.

Input Language Guide 48-5

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 Modifying and
Restarting
Simulations

MASS-BAL-CHECK ........ MASS-BAL-CHECK=YES........ Performs mass balance check around each block
as the block is executed, and again after
simulation is complete (Default)
MASS-BAL-CHECK=NO.......... Does not perform mass balance checking
ATM-PRES ...................... Ambient or atmospheric pressure for gauge pressure calculations
(Default=101325 N/m2)1
FLASH-MAXIT................. Maximum number of iterations for flash calculations (Default=30)
FLASH-TOL .................... Tolerance for flash calculations (Default=1x10-4)
NPHASE.......................... Maximum number of phases in a MIXED substream. Use to override the
default for NPHASE in UOS blocks and input paragraphs.1
See Table 48.2.
NPHASE=1 ............................... One-phase calculation
NPHASE=2 ............................... Two-phase calculation
NPHASE=3 ............................... Three-phase calculation
PHASE ............................ Specifies the phase when NPHASE=1. Use to override the default for
PHASE in UOS blocks and input paragraphs.1 See Table 48.2.
PHASE=V ................................. Vapor (Default)
PHASE=L.................................. Liquid
PARADIGM ..................... Specifies the flowsheet solution mode.
PARADIGM=SM ....................... Use the traditional block-by-block sequential
modular approach to solve the flowsheet
(Default)
PARADIGM=EO ....................... Use the new equation-oriented approach to
solve the whole flowsheet simultaneously after
initializing the flowsheet with sequential
modular approach. See Chapter 49 for
Equation-Oriented Solution.
PARADIGM=MIXED ................. This is a hybrid of the two options above. In the
MIXED mode, you can solve hierarchies with
equation-oriented approach but solve the whole
flowsheet with sequential modular approach.
You specify the solution method of a hierarchy
and its subhierarchies with the SOLVE
paragraph in Chapter 49. Note that the solution
method of the SOLVE paragraph is only used
when PARADIGM=MIXED is enabled. Also
note that EO hierarchies are always solved in
the simulation mode.

1 This keyword only affects the block used and value entered in the edit run.

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 Chapter 48

Table 48.2 Overriding Defaults for NPHASE and PHASE

UOS Model/Input Paragraph Sentences Keywords
STREAM — NPHASE, PHASE
MIXER PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
FSPLIT PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
SSPLIT PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
SEP PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
SEP2 PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
HEATER PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
FLASH2 PARAM NPHASE†
HEATX FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
MHEATX HOT-SIDE NPHASE, PHASE
COLD-SIDE NPHASE, PHASE
RSTOIC PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
RYIELD PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
REQUIL PARAM NPHASE, PHASE††
RGIBBS PARAM NPHASE, VAPOR†††
RCSTR PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
RPLUG PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
COOLANT PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
RBATCH PARAM NPHASE, PHASE, NPHASE-ACCUM, PHASE-ACCUM
PUMP PARAM NPHASE
COMPR PARAM NPHASE
MCOMPR PARAM COMPR-NPHASE, COOLER-NPHASE
PIPELINE PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
PIPE PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
VALVE PARAM NPHASE, PHASE
CRYSTALLIZER PARAM NPHASE
USER FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
USER2 FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
CALCULATOR FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
TRANSFER FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
BALANCE FLASH-SPECS NPHASE, PHASE
PROP-TABLE
FLASHCURVE PARAM NPHASE†
RESIDUE PARAM NPHASE†
PRES-RELIEF PARAM NPHASE, VENT-NPHASE, VENT-PHASE
† If NPHASE is set to 1 in SIM-OPTIONS, the local NPHASE is set to 2.
†† If NPHASE is set to 3 in SIM-OPTIONS, the local NPHASE is set to 2.
††† In SIM-OPTIONS, if NPHASE is set to 1 and PHASE is set to L, the local VAPOR is set to NO.

Input Language Guide 48-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Modifying and
Restarting
Simulations

DELETE Paragraph

Input Language for DELETE

DELETE
BLOCK blockid-list
CALCULATOR cblockid-list
CASE-STUDY
CONSTRAINT conid-list
CONVERGENCE cvblockid-list
CONV-ORDER
DATA-SET datasetid-list
DESIGN-SPEC specid-list
OPTIMIZATION optid-list
PRES-RELIEF pblockid-list
PROFILE-DATA profdataid-list
PROP-TABLE tableid-list
REGRESSION rblockid-list
REPORT-SCALE
SENSITIVITY sblockid-list
SEQUENCE seqid-list
STREAM sid-list
TEAR sid-list
TRANSFER tblockid-list

Input Language Description for DELETE

Use the DELETE paragraph to remove paragraphs from the previous run. The
DELETE paragraph is hierarchical, but in each DELETE paragraph you can only
delete paragraphs in the same hierarchy.
BLOCK Use to delete unit operation blocks from the flowsheet. When a unit operation block is deleted, use
the FLOWSHEET paragraph to describe the modified flowsheet connectivity that results. After unit
operation blocks are deleted, Aspen Plus automatically deletes any streams that have no source
block and no destination block. Aspen Plus also automatically deletes any design specifications,
CALCULATOR blocks, TRANSFER blocks, SENSITIVITY blocks, CASE-STUDY blocks,
constraints, optimization problems, or REPORT-SCALE paragraphs referencing deleted blocks or
streams.
blockid-list...................... List of unit operation blocks (BLOCK paragraphs) to be deleted from the
flowsheet
CALCULATOR Use to delete CALCULATOR blocks.
cblockid-list.................... List of CALCULATOR blocks
CASE-STUDY Use to delete the CASE-STUDY paragraph.
CONSTRAINT Use to delete CONSTRAINTs. (See Note 1.)
conid-list......................... List of CONSTRAINTs to be deleted

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 Chapter 48

CONVERGENCE Use to delete CONVERGENCE blocks. You must delete any CONV-ORDER paragraphs referencing
these blocks. CONV-ORDER paragraphs are not deleted automatically. (See Note 3.)
cvblockid-list .................. List of CONVERGENCE blocks
CONV-ORDER Use to delete user-specified convergence order.
DATA-SET Use to delete data-fit DATA-SET paragraphs.
datasetid-list ................... List of DATA-SET ID paragraphs
DESIGN-SPEC Use to delete DESIGN-SPEC paragraphs.
specid-list ....................... List of DESIGN-SPEC paragraphs. (See Note 2.)
OPTIMIZATION Use to delete optimization problems. (See Notes 1 and 2.)
optid-list.......................... List of optimization problems
PRES-RELIEF Use to delete PRES-RELIEF blocks.
pblockid-list.................... List of pressure relief blocks
PROFILE-DATA Use to delete PROFILE-DATA paragraphs.
profdataid-list ................. List of PROFILE-DATA paragraphs
PROP-TABLE Use to delete PROP-TABLE paragraphs. You must delete any PROP-TABLE paragraphs that
reference deleted streams. PROP-TABLE paragraphs are not deleted automatically.
tableid-list ....................... List of PROP-TABLE paragraphs
REGRESSION Use to delete data-fit REGRESSION paragraphs.
rblockid-list..................... List of REGRESSION paragraphs
REPORT-SCALE Use to delete the REPORT-SCALE paragraphs.
SENSITIVITY Use to delete SENSITIVITY blocks.
sblockid-list .................... List of SENSITIVITY blocks
SEQUENCE Use to delete user-specified SEQUENCE paragraphs. You must delete any SEQUENCE paragraphs
containing deleted unit operation blocks, CALCULATOR blocks, SENSITIVITY blocks,
CONVERGENCE blocks, TRANSFER blocks, PRES-RELIEF blocks, REGRESSION blocks, or
another SEQUENCE paragraph that is deleted. SEQUENCE paragraphs are not deleted
automatically.
seqid-list ......................... List of SEQUENCE paragraphs
STREAM Use to delete your selected streams from the flowsheet and unit operation blocks. Aspen Plus
automatically deletes any streams that have no source block and no destination block.
sid-list ............................. List of stream IDs to be deleted from the flowsheet and unit operation
blocks
TEAR Use to delete user-specified tear streams. CONVERGENCE blocks that converge deleted tear
streams will be automatically deleted.
sid-list ............................. List of TEAR streams
TRANSFER Use to delete transfer blocks.
tblockid-list..................... List of transfer blocks

Input Language Guide 48-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Modifying and
Restarting
Simulations

SIMULATE and NOSIMULATE Paragraphs

Input Language for SIMULATE and NOSIMULATE

SIMULATE [START=blockid] [STOP=blockid]
NOSIMULATE

Input Language Description for SIMULATE and NOSIMULATE

Use the SIMULATE paragraph to execute only a selected part of the calculation
sequence. Use the NOSIMULATE paragraph to indicate that no simulation
calculations are to be performed.
START............................. First block to be executed. (Default=beginning of calculation sequence.)
Can be hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions and
restrictions.
STOP ............................... Last block to be executed. (Default=end of calculation sequence.) Can be
hierarchical; see Chapter 9 for naming conventions and restrictions.

Notes
1. When you replace or delete a CONSTRAINT in an edit run, you should also
replace the OPTIMIZATION paragraph that references the CONSTRAINT.
When you delete an OPTIMIZATION paragraph, you must delete all
CONSTRAINTs referenced by the OPTIMIZATION.

2. When you replace or delete a DESIGN-SPEC or OPTIMIZATION paragraph

in an edit run, and that DESIGN-SPEC or OPTIMIZATION paragraph is
referenced by a user-specified CONVERGENCE block, you must replace or
delete the CONVERGENCE block in the edit run. System-defined
CONVERGENCE blocks are automatically deleted.

3. When you delete a CONVERGENCE block, you should also use a DELETE
paragraph to delete any tear streams associated with that block. When you
replace a CONVERGENCE block in an edit run, and change the set of tear
streams converged by that block, you should also use a DELETE paragraph to
delete the streams that are no longer torn.

48-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 48

Running an Edit Run Input File

The command used to run an edit run input file is similar to that described in the
ASPEN run command, Chapter 2. You must enter the ASPEN run command and
its qualifiers as lowercase in UNIX operating systems, unless otherwise specified.
For Windows operating systems, the ASPEN run command is case insensitive.

Operating system Command

Windows ASPEN input_file [runid]

Where:
edit_input_file = A file written in Aspen Plus input language that defines
the paragraphs to be added, modified, or deleted. (See
Table 48.1.) The default file type is .inp and does not
need to be included in the command line.
runid = Identifier for the previous simulation program to be
edited. The runid must have the file type .appdf. You
must always specify this parameter for EDIT runs. To
maintain your previous simulation results, you must
copy your original simulation files into a separate set of
identifiers.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Input Language Guide 48-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Modifying and
Restarting
Simulations

48-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 49

49 Equation-Oriented
Simulation
This chapter describes the input language for Equation-Oriented paragraphs. All
of them, except for GLOBALSCRIPT, can be entered at the Plant level or the
Hierarchy level.

The following paragraphs are descibed in this chapter:

• EO-OPTIONS – Set options for the EO Configuration.
• INIT-VAR-ATTR – Change open variable attributes.
• EO-PORT – Define the variables that make up a port.
• SPECGROUPS – Define variables in a SpecGroup and set their
specifications.
• EOSENSITIVITY – Configure the set of independent and dependent EO
variables for sensitivity analysis.
• LOCALSCRIPT – Define local scripts.
• GLOBALSCRIPT – Define global scripts.
• SCRIPTMETHOD – Define script methods.
• EO-CONV-OPTI – Specify Equation-Oriented convergence parameters.
• SOLVE – Specify SM or EO solution and EO run mode

Input Language Guide 49-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Equation-
Oriented
Simulation

EO-OPTIONS Paragraph

Input Language for EO-OPTIONS

EO-OPTIONS
PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
COMPS EO-FORM SPARSITY LIGHT-KEY HEAVY-KEY DEP-COMPS
DERIV-METHOD SOLVE-METHOD CHECK-FREE-W PASS-THROUGH
NEG-COMP-CHK NEG-FLOW-CHK INLET-PHASE FLASH-FORM
L2-COMP-MODE L2-COMP VFRACX-TOL VFRAC-TOL FLOW-TOL
ON-SMEO-DIFF MIN-PRES PRES-TOL

MODEL-OPTION modeltype keyword=value

Keywords:
COMPS EO-FORM SPARSITY LIGHT-KEY HEAVY-KEY DEP-COMPS
DERIV-METHOD SOLVE-METHOD CHECK-FREE-W PASS-THROUGH
NEG-COMP-CHK NEG-FLOW-CHK INLET-PHASE FLASH-FORM
L2-COMP-MODE L2-COMP VFRACX-TOL VFRAC-TOL FLOW-TOL
ON-SMEO-DIFF MIN-PRES PRES-TOL

SECTION-OPTI sectionid keyword=value

Keywords:
COMPS EO-FORM SPARSITY LIGHT-KEY HEAVY-KEY DEP-COMPS
DERIV-METHOD SOLVE-METHOD CHECK-FREE-W PASS-THROUGH
NEG-COMP-CHK NEG-FLOW-CHK INLET-PHASE FLASH-FORM
L2-COMP-MODE L2-COMP VFRACX-TOL VFRAC-TOL FLOW-TOL
ON-SMEO-DIFF MIN-PRES PRES-TOL

Input Language Description for EO-OPTIONS

PARAM Use to specify equation-oriented options at the plant or hierarchy level. See below for keywords.
MODEL-OPTION Use to specify equation-oriented options for all instances of a model type. See below for keywords.
modeltype....................... UOS model type, such as FLASH2 or MIXER.
SECTION-OPTI Use to specify equation-oriented options for a flowsheet section. See below for keywords.
sectionid ......................... Flowsheet section id.

The following keywords are used for the PARAM, MODEL-OPTION, and
SECTION-OPTI sentences.
COMPS............................ Component group for a list of components which can be active in the plant
or hierarchy

49-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 49

EO-FORM ........................ Equation-oriented formulation

EO-FORM=STANDARD........... Standard formulation. Compositions in terms of
mole fractions. Stream variables named using
Aspen Plus stream names.(Default)
EO-FORM=EOPML .................. For RT-Opt 10.0 / DMO compatibility.
Compositions in terms of mole fractions. Stream
variables named using PML convention.
EO-FORM=MOLEFRAC........... For RT-Opt 10.0 compatibility. Compositions in
terms of molar fractions. Stream variables
named using PML convention. Some reduced
functionality.
EO-FORM=MOLEFLOW.......... For RT-Opt 3.0 compatibility. Compositions in
terms of molar flows. Stream variables named
using Aspen Plus stream names.
SPARSITY ....................... Used to set the dependence of thermodynamic properties on state
variables and compositions while evaluating derivatives.
SPARSITY=FULL..................... Temperature, pressure and composition
dependence
SPARSITY=COMP-INDEP....... Temperature and pressure dependence
SPARSITY=WATER-SOLU...... Temperature, pressure and composition
dependence for water, temperature and
pressure dependence for all other components
LIGHT-KEY...................... Component ID of the lightest distributing component
HEAVY-KEY .................... Component ID of the heaviest distributing component
DEP-COMPS ................... Component group of components for which fugacities are composition-
dependent. Pure component fugacities are used for all other components.
DERIV-METHOD ............. Preferred derivatives method, Analytic or Numeric. Update methods
should not be used for Degree of Freedom run modes (Optimization or
Reconciliation).
DERIV-METHOD = Model derivatives (Jacobian) are determined
ANALYTICAL ........................... from coded analytic expressions. Generally the
preferred method. (Default)
DERIV-METHOD = Alternate method for calculating Jacobian.
NUMERICAL............................. Useful when there is concern that analytic
derivatives are causing convergence difficulties.
Usually slower than analytic derivatives, more
subject to precision issues.
DERIV-METHOD = Use Schubert method for updating Jacobian,
UPDATE-ANALY...................... with analytic derivatives for Base Jacobian. Use
when Jacobian calculation is rate limiting step.
May result in more iterations and be less robust
than calculated derivatives.
DERIV-METHOD = Use Schubert method for updating Jacobian,
UPDATE-NUMER..................... with numerical derivatives for Base Jacobian.
Use when Jacobian calculation is rate limiting
step. May result in more iterations and be less
robust than calculated derivatives.

Input Language Guide 49-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Equation-
Oriented
Simulation

SOLVE-METHOD............ EO solution method. Specifies if open, closed, or neither method should be

used with desired action and message level on failure.
SOLVE-METHOD = Open solution method; on failure use
OPEN-PERT-IN ........................ Perturbation with information messages.
(Default for most blocks)
SOLVE-METHOD = Open solution method; on failure use
OPEN-PERT-WA ...................... Perturbation with warning messages.
SOLVE-METHOD = Open solution method; on failure stop with
OPEN-NOPERT........................ error messages.
SOLVE-METHOD= Closed solution method; use Perturbation layer
PERTURBATION...................... around closed model. (Default for Design-Spec
blocks)
SOLVE-METHOD= Ignore during EO solution.
DO-NOT-CREAT ......................
CHECK-FREE-W............. Check if only water appears in a stream when Free-Water=Yes. If so, turn
off Free-Water in VLE calculations, and do not consider the existence of
any other components.
CHECK-FREE-W = YES........... Check for presence of only water (Default)
CHECK-FREE-W = NO ............ Do not check for presence of only water
PASS-THROUGH............ Forces an APStrm model to be in pass-through mode, creating both input
and output streams.
PASS-THROUGH = YES.......... Create both input and output streams
PASS-THROUGH = NO ........... Do not create both input and output streams
(Default)
NEG-COMP-CHK ............ Negative composition check/Value used to check for negative mole
fractions and issue warnings during the report phase. (Default=-1x10-8)
NEG-FLOW-CHK ............ Negative flow check/Value used to check for negative mole flow and issue
warnings during the report phase. (Default=0.0)
INLET-PHASE ................. Phase for the Material port. If unspecified, the phase will be obtained
from the upstream conditions.
INLET-PHASE = V.................... Vapor only
INLET-PHASE = L.................... Liquid only
INLET-PHASE = MIXED........... Vapor-Liquid or Vapor-Liquid-FreeWater
depending on the block’s free-water option
ON-SMEO-DIFF .............. Indicates action to take in certain cases where the EO results differ from
the SM results. This applies in overspecified FSplit, RStoic, RYield, Sep,
and Sep2 blocks when the SM run renormalizes the specifications; the EO
model uses the renormalized specifications based on conditions at
initialization, though the conditions may change at the final solution. This
also applies in HeatX blocks with phase-dependent heat transfer
coefficients if the phase changes between initialization and solution
conditions.
ON-SMEO-DIFF = .................... Use the result from SM calculations. (Default)
USE-CLOSED
ON-SMEO-DIFF = USE-OPEN. Use the result from EO calculations.

49-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 49

The following keywords are used for the PARAM, MODEL-OPTION, and
SECTION-OPTI sentences, but apply only to the blocks which can perform
flashes in EO: Stream, Analyzer, Flash2, Flash3, FSplit, Heater, HeatX, Mixer,
Pump, RStoic, RYield, Sep, and Sep2.
FLASH-FORM ................. Flash formulation.
FLASH-FORM = PML............... The original EO flash formulation, supporting
two-phase and two-phase-free-water flashes.
(Default for two-phase and two-phase-free-
water flashes.)
FLASH-FORM = SMOOTHING The smoothing flash uses a smoothing function
for the phase fractions near the phase
boundary. The parameters VFRACX-TOL and
VFRAC-TOL affect the accuracy of this
function. (Default for three-phase flashes.)
L2-COMP-MODE ............. Method of choosing a key component for a three-phase flash. In FLASH3,
the key component is specified via the block's L2-COMP keyword and this
keywords is not used.
L2-COMP-MODE = AUTO........ Aspen Plus chooses a component. (Default)
L2-COMP-MODE = NONE ....... A key component is not chosen.
L2-COMP-MODE = COMPID ... One or more components are specified with the
L2-COMP keyword.
L2-COMP......................... List of component IDs as the key components for a three-phase flash.
Used only when L2-COMP-MODE is COMPID. Not used in FLASH3.
VFRACX-TOL .................. Smoothing tolerance for the extended vapor fraction used in the two-
phase free-water flash and the three-phase flash when the FLASH-FORM
is SMOOTHING. (Default 10-5)
VFRAC-TOL .................... Smoothing tolerance for the phase fractions used in the two-phase free-
water flash and the three-phase flash when the FLASH-FORM is
SMOOTHING. Reducing this value improves the accuracy of the flash
near the phase boundaries, but makes the problem more non-linear.
(Default 10-3)
FLOW-TOL ...................... Smoothing tolerance for preventing molar flows from becoming zero, used
in the two-phase free-water flash and the three-phase flash when the
FLASH-FORM is SMOOTHING. Used only in the Heater and HeatX
models for computing the pressure drop parameter. (Default 10-4 kmol/s)
MIN-PRES ....................... Determines which system is used to handle pressure drop specifications in
blocks with multiple inlet streams.
MIN-PRES = YES ..................... A smoothing function is applied repeatedly to
the pressures of the inlet streams in order to
determine the minimum inlet pressure.
(Default)

min( X 1 , X 2 ) = 1 ( X + X ) + ( X 1 − X 2 )2 + β 2 
2
 1 2


Input Language Guide 49-5

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Equation-
Oriented
Simulation

MIN-PRES = NO ....................... The inlet stream with lowest inlet pressure at

initialization has its pressure drop made
Constant. May lead to problems if another inlet
stream subsequently has a lower pressure.
Used for compatibility with Aspen Plus 11.1.
PRES-TOL....................... Smoothing tolerance β in smoothing function for calculating minimum
inlet pressure. The smoothing tolerance must be small enough to
maintain accuracy but not so small as to create numerical difficulties, and
the default is reasonable for most applications.

49-6 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 49

INIT-VAR-ATTR Paragraph

Input Language for INIT-VAR-ATTR

INIT-VAR-ATTR
INITIALIZE vname keyword=value

Optional keywords:
VALUE LOWER UPPER STEP BOUND-TYPE SBWEIGHT PHYS-QTY
UOM SCALE

Input Language Description for INIT-VAR-ATTR

INITIALIZE Use to specify the attributes of open variables.
vname.............................. Name of the open variable (Required)
VALUE ............................. Current value of the variable
LOWER............................ Lower bound
UPPER............................. Upper bound
STEP................................ Step bound
BOUND-TYPE ................. Bound type
BOUND-TYPE = HARD............ Do not violate the upper and/or lower bounds
when solving a non-square (optimization or
data regression) problem. (Default)
BOUND-TYPE = RELAXED..... Relax upper and/or lower bound. If the initial
value is outside the bound, set the bound to the
initial value.
BOUND-TYPE = SOFT............. Same as relaxed but add a penalty term to the
objective to try to drive the value back to the
bound.
SBWEIGHT...................... Soft bound weight
PHYS-QTY....................... The physical quantity that the variable represents, for example, mole
flow, temperature, or pressure. These types correspond to the standard
Aspen Plus types.
UOM................................. Units of measure (standard Aspen Plus units), based on the physical type
of the variable. Internally, all values are stored in SI units.
SCALE ............................. Scale factor used by the solver

Input Language Guide 49-7

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Equation-
Oriented
Simulation

EO-PORT Paragraph

Input Language for EO-PORT

EO-PORT portid
EO-PORT keyword=value

Optional keywords:
VAR VALUE TYPE COMPONENTS THRU PHASE PHYS-QTY UOM

Input Language Description for EO-PORT

EO-PORT Use to define the variables that make up a port. A port is an arbitrary collection of variables. Ports
can make connecting groups of variables easier.
VAR ................................. Open variable name
VALUE............................. Initial value
TYPE ............................... Type of port
TYPE = MOLE-FLOW .............. Material stream (flow basis)
TYPE = MOLE-FRAC ............... Material stream (fraction basis)
TYPE = HEAT........................... Heat stream
TYPE = WORK ......................... Work stream
TYPE = GENERIC .................... Generic collection
COMPONENTS ............... Comp-Group ID. Correction for the component list if the global component
list is not being used.
THRU............................... Whether to include all variables from VAR in this EO-PORT sentence
through VAR in the next EO-PORT sentence.
THRU = YES............................. Include all variables.
THRU = NO............................... Do not include all variables. (Default)
PHASE ............................ Phase for the material port. If unspecified, the phase will be obtained
from the upstream conditions.
PHASE = V ............................... Vapor only
PHASE = L................................ Liquid only
PHASE = VL ............................. Vapor and Liquid
PHASE = VLW.......................... Vapor, Liquid, and Free-Water
PHYS-QTY ...................... The physical quantity that the variable represents, for example, mole
flow, temperature, or pressure. These types correspond to the standard
Aspen Plus types.
UOM ................................ Units of measure (standard Aspen Plus units), based on the physical type
of the variable. Internally, all values are stored in SI units.

49-8 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 49

SPECGROUPS Paragraph

Input Language for SPECGROUPS

SPECGROUPS
SPEC-GROUP specgroupid keyword=value

Optional keywords:
ENABLED COMMENT

SPEC-CHANGE specgroupid keyword=value

Optional keywords:
VAR SPEC

Input Language Description for SPECGROUPS

SPEC-GROUP Use to override default variable specifications. Each spec group must not change the net
specification of the problem.
specgroupid ................... Spec group name
ENABLED........................ Whether the spec group is enabled or disabled
ENABLED = YES ..................... Spec group is enabled (Default)
ENABLED = NO ....................... Spec group is disabled
COMMENT ...................... Optional comment associated with the spec group
SPEC-CHANGE Use to add a variable to a spec group.
specgroupid ................... Spec group name
VAR ................................. Open variable name
SPEC ............................... Change applied by the user to change the initial specification
SPEC = CALC .......................... Calculated
SPEC = CONST........................ Constant
SPEC = INDEP ......................... Independent
SPEC = MEAS.......................... Measured
SPEC = PARAM ....................... Parameterized
SPEC = OPTIM......................... Optimized
SPEC = RECON ....................... Reconciled

Input Language Guide 49-9

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Equation-
Oriented
Simulation

EOSENSITIVITY Paragraph

Input Language for EOSENSITIVITY

EOSENSITIVITY sensitivityid
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
OBJECTIVE EVALJCBN FORCESPECS

LIST keyword=value

Optional keywords:
INDEPVAR DEPVAR

Input Language Description for EOSENSITIVITY

PARAM Use to specify optional parameters.
OBJECTIVE .................... Optional ID of an objective function. If specified, the sensitivity of the
objective to the independent variables is calculated.
EVALJCBN...................... Do/Do not evaluate the Jacobian before calculating sensitivity.
EVALJCBN = YES ................... Evaluate the Jacobian (Default)
EVALJCBN = NO ..................... Do not evaluate the Jacobian
FORCESPECS ................ Whether to force variable specifications in the INDEPVAR and DEPVAR
lists
FORCESPECS = YES .............. Force the specifications (Default)
FORCESPECS = NO................ Do not force the specifications
LIST Use to list the independent and dependent variables for sensitivity analysis
INDEPVAR ...................... List of independent variables. The selected variables must be fixed or a
degree of freedom in the current mode.
DEPVAR.......................... List of dependent variables. The selected variables must be free in the
current mode.

49-10 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 49

LOCALSCRIPT Paragraph

Input Language for LOCALSCRIPT

LOCALSCRIPT scriptid
SCRIPT “any amount of text entered on any number of lines and enclosed in
double quotes”

Input Language Description for LOCALSCRIPT

SCRIPT Use to enter the script lines

GLOBALSCRIPT Paragraph

Input Language for GLOBALSCRIPT

GLOBALSCRIPT scriptid
SCRIPT “any amount of text entered on any number of lines and enclosed in
double quotes”

Input Language Description for GLOBALSCRIPT

SCRIPT Use to enter the script lines

Input Language Guide 49-11

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Equation-
Oriented
Simulation

SCRIPTMETHOD Paragraph

Input Language for SCRIPTMETHOD

SCRIPTMETHOD
SCRIPTS keyword=value

Keywords:
METHOD TYPE LOCALSCRIPT GLOBALSCRIPT FILE

Input Language Description for SCRIPTMETHOD

SCRIPTS Any number of SCRIPTS sentences may be entered. Each one describes a new METHOD.
METHOD ......................... Name of a script method
TYPE ............................... Type of script
TYPE = LOCALSCRIPT ........... If entered, LOCALSCRIPT must be specified.
TYPE = GLOBALSCRIPT ........ If entered, GLOBALSCRIPT must be specified.
TYPE = FILE............................. If entered, FILE must be specified.
LOCALSCRIPT ............... ID of a LOCALSCRIPT paragraph
GLOBALSCRIPT............. ID of a GLOBALSCRIPT paragraph
FILE................................. Name of a file

49-12 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Chapter 49

EO-CONV-OPTI Paragraph

Input Language for EO-CONV-OPTI

EO-CONV-OPTI
PARAM keyword=value

Optional Keywords:
SOLVER

SM-INIT keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MAXIT WAIT NACCELERATE PRINT-LEVEL QMIN QMAX
MAXIPASS TOLINI SKIP-INIT MAXFITER

DMO-PARAMS mode keyword=value

Optional keywords:
RESCVG OBJCVG MAXITER MINITER CREEPFLAG
CREEPITER CREEPSIZE PRINTLEVEL PRINTFREQ SCREENFORM
SEARCHMODE HESSIANSCL HESSIANUPD LINESEARCH LINESRCMODE
LSMODEITER VARSCALE TRUSTMODE TRUSTITER TRUSTRAMPIT
TRUSTSIZE ADCVMETH ADCVITER ADCVOBJCVG ADCVRESCVG
QPMICROINF QPMICROTOL QPMICROMAX QPSTATS QPDEPDIAGS
ACTIVERPT BOUNDRPT IPSIRPT ACTIVESAVE ACTIVEINIT
RIGORUPD QPITER QPHESSIANUPD QPCONVTOL USEDROPTOL
DROPTOL PIVOTSEARCH PIVOTANAL ANALTHRESH PIVOTTHRESH
PIVOTZERO FACTORSPEED BTF MINBTFSIZE DENSITYRATIO
SINGULARHAND LUSTATS FREEONLY FACTORSPACE ACTIVESPACE
IWORKF RWORKF CWORKF

LSSQP-PARAMS mode keyword=value

Optional keywords:
RELEPS RFEASB RFINFB MAXITER MINITER MAXLSF
MAXQPF NFEASB NFINFB KPTLEV KPLLEV KPFREQ
KPNTOP MDHESS TAUHYB LSCOPT TRBND CHGBND
CHGMAX BNDAPP INICHK LSIZEB1 LSIZEB2 FSCALF
ETASKP RRLOW RRHIGH BSMALL ZPERTF IFDTYP
IFDITER IFDFREQ DELTLS MAXLSC ALFALS IXSCS
BIGSCL SMLSCL KMUDEC VMUINI VMUMIN VMUFAC
KFOWDG KBKOUT LEWBAS BNDADJ GNPMAX QPINFE
SPDROP NCSRCH SINGT1 SINGT2 TOLBAS TOLANA
LCHBAS NBDBAS BASFLP MSMETH MSFREQ NUMDER
DPERTF XPMIN DERDIF DERMIN LUBNDS BIGBND
LINCST NNDCMP

Input Language Guide 49-13

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
 Equation-
Oriented
Simulation

Input Language Description for EO-CONV-OPTI

PARAM Use to specify the EO solver.
SOLVER .......................... Lets you specify which EO solver to use
SOLVER = DMO....................... Use the DMO solver (Default)
SOLVER = LSSQP ................... Use the LSSQP solver
SM-INIT Use to specify the sequential-modular (SM) initialization parameters at the hierarchical block and
flowsheet levels.
MAXIT.............................. Maximum number of flowsheet evaluations (Default=3)
WAIT................................ Number of direct substitution iterations before the first acceleration
iteration (Default=2)
NACCELERATE.............. Number of consecutive acceleration iterations (Default=2)
PRINT-LEVEL ................. Level of errors and diagnostics printed in the history file (Default from
DIAGNOSTICS paragraph)
QMIN ............................... Lower bound for the Wegstein acceleration parameters (q) (Default=–5.0)
QMAX .............................. Upper bound for the Wegstein acceleration parameters (q) (Default=0.9)
MAXIPASS ...................... Maximum number of sequential-modular initialization passes (Default=2)
TOLINI ............................. Tolerance for sequential-modular initialization (Default=1x10–3)
SKIP-INIT ........................ Skip sequential-modular initialization if block and streams have been
previously initialized (Default=YES)
SKIP-INIT = NO ........................ Do not skip initialization
SKIP-INIT = YES ...................... Skip initialization
MAXFITER ...................... Maximum number of iterations after failure of equation-oriented solution,
to switch back to sequential-modular (Default=2)
DMO-PARAMS Use to specify parameters for controlling the accuracy, performance, and robustness of the DMO
solver.
mode ............................... Run mode.
mode = DEFAULT.................... Default for all run modes
mode = SIM .............................. Simulation mode
mode = PARAM ....................... Parameter estimation mode
mode = RECON ....................... Data reconciliation mode
mode = OPTIM ......................... Optimization mode
RESCVG.......................... Residual convergence tolerance (Default=1x10–6)
OBJCVG.......................... Objective function convergence tolerance (Default=1x10–6)
MAXITER......................... Maximum number of SQP iterations allowed (Default=50)
MINITER .......................... Minimum number of SQP iterations allowed (Default=0)
CREEPFLAG................... Creep mode. This mode is very effective for making the optimizer moves
more conservative. It is particularly helpful when the problem diverges
CREEPFLAG = ON .................. Use creep mode
CREEPFLAG = OFF................. Do not use creep mode (Default)

49-14 Input Language Guide

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 Chapter 49

CREEPITER .................... Number of iterations to perform creep mode (Default=10)

CREEPSIZE..................... Creep mode step size, as a fraction of the full step size when in creep
mode (Default=0.1)
PRINTLEVEL................... Diagnostic printing level for variables and residuals
PRINTLEVEL = BRIEF............. Print 10 worst residuals (Default)
PRINTLEVEL = FULL .............. Print all variables & residuals.
Warning: Using the Full option can result in
very large amounts of output.
PRINTFREQ .................... Diagnostic printing frequency for variables and residuals. Print variables
& residuals at every nth iteration. (Default=1)
SCREENFORM................ Output for the iteration log. File output shows more significant figures
than terminal output.
SCREENFORM = FILE............. Print to file
SCREENFORM = TERMINAL.. Print to terminal (Default)
SEARCHMODE ............... Hessian initialization mode
SEARCHMODE = Hessian initialized with small values. Moves
AGGRESSIVE .......................... problem to bounds faster than Normal mode.
Preferred for highly constrained optimization
problems with few DOF at solution. Ideal
applications are well-posed online real-time
optimization problems.
SEARCHMODE = NORMAL .... Hessian initialized with identity matrix.
Balances efficiency and robustness. Well suited
for general-purpose optimization problems.
Typical applications are offline optimization or
online problems that start very far from soln.
SEARCHMODE = ADVANCED Hessian initialized with 2nd order information.
Recommended for problems with many degrees
of freedom at solution and/or quadratic
objective function. Ideal for data reconciliation
problems (both online and offline). (Default)
SEARCHMODE = SCALED ..... Combination of the Aggressive and Advanced
modes. Recommended for highly constrained
optimization problems with few degrees of
freedom at solution and nonlinear objective
function.
HESSIANSCL .................. Used defined factor for scaling the identity matrix. Used with Scaled
Hessian initialization mode only. (Default=1)
HESSIANUPD.................. Number of Hessian updates stored before reinitializing (Default=10)
LINESEARCH.................. Line search algorithm
LINESEARCH = 0..................... The well known exact penalty line search. It is
too conservative for most practical problems.
LINESEARCH = 2..................... A proprietary line search designed to initially
favor the convergence of residuals over the
objective function improvement

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LINESEARCH = 3..................... A proprietary line search designed to balance

robustness with efficiency (Default)
LINESEARCH = 4..................... A line search designed to attempt enforcing
bounds on cases with no degrees of freedom. It
should be used only in cases where there are
multiple solutions to a problem and the desired
one lies within the bounds.
LINESRCMODE .............. Line search mode for step control.
LINESRCMODE = NORMAL.... Original method (Default)
LINESRCMODE = Modified method that tends to take larger steps
AGGRESSIVE ..........................
LINESRCMODE = Modified method that tends to take smaller step
CONSERVATIVE......................
LSMODEITER ................. Number of iterations to perform step control. 0 for Normal step control
mode; > 0 for Aggressive or Conservative step control mode. Default
depends on selected step control mode: 0 for Normal, 5 otherwise.
VARSCALE ..................... Whether to use variable scaling
VARSCALE = ON..................... Use variable scaling (Default)
VARSCALE = OFF ................... Do not use variable scaling
TRUSTMODE .................. This switch enables the application of a trust region that will limit the
optimization moves for the OPTIM variables only. The size is specified as
a fraction of the original variable bound range.
TRUSTMODE = ON.................. Use trust mode
TRUSTMODE = OFF ................ Do not use trust mode (Default)
TRUSTITER..................... The number of iterations the trust region will be applied with a fixed size
(Default=2)
TRUSTRAMPIT ............... The number of iterations, following the fixed iterations, over which the
size of the trust region is gradually increased until it reaches the original
variable bound range (Default=2)
TRUSTSIZE..................... This is the range that the OPTIM variables are initially allowed to move
(for all the fixed iterations), expressed as a fraction of the original variable
bound range (Default=0.1)
ADCVMETH..................... Method for terminating the optimization moves while closing any
remaining residuals
ADCVMETH = NONE ............... Do not terminate optimzation moves (Default)
ADCVMETH = ANY .................. Terminate if threshold specified in ADCVITER,
ADCVOBJCVG, or ADCVRESCVG is reached.
ADCVMETH = ITERATIONS.... Terminate if threshold specified in ADCVITER
is reached.
ADCVMETH = OBJECTIVE ..... Terminate if threshold specified in
ADCVOBJCVG is reached.
ADCVMETH = RESIDUAL ....... Terminate if threshold specified in
ADCVRESCVG is reached.

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ADCVMETH = ALL................... Terminate if thresholds specified in

ADCVITER, ADCVOBJCVG, and
ADCVRESCVG are reached.
ADCVITER....................... Number of iterations before activating the advanced convergence method
(Default=100)
ADCVOBJCVG................ Objective function convergence tolerance threshold before activating the
advanced convergence method (Default=1x10–6)
ADCVRESCVG................ Residual convergence tolerance threshold before activating advanced
convergence method (Default=1x10–6)
QPMICROINF .................. Flag controlling the automatic micro-infeasibility handling in the QP.
QPMICROINF = ON.................. Turn flag on
QPMICROINF = OFF................ Turn flag off (Default)
QPMICROTOL................. Absolute relaxation of an infeasible bound in the QP when micro-
infeasibility handling is enabled (Default=1x10–12)
QPMICROMAX ................ Maximum number of micro-infeasibility handling attempts that can be
done in one DMO iteration (Default=5)
QPSTATS ........................ Diagnostic printing level for the QP subproblem.
Warning: Using the ON option can result in very large amounts of
output, including the Jacobian.
QPSTATS = ON........................ Turn QP diagnostics on
QPSTATS = OFF...................... Turn QP diagnostics off (Default)
QPDEPDIAGS ................. Flag controlling warning messages on linear dependencies when an active
set change causes a singularity
QPDEPDIAGS = YES............... Messages are written to both OUT file and
terminal (Default)
QPDEPDIAGS = OUT .............. Messages are written only to OUT file
QPDEPDIAGS = NO................. No messages are written
ACTIVERPT..................... Flag that controls the reporting of the active set at the end of iteration
zero. It is written to the <prob>.out file.
ACTIVERPT = YES .................. Report the active set
ACTIVERPT = NO .................... Do not report the active set (Default)
BOUNDRPT..................... Whethwer to report all bounds in the act file
BOUNDRPT = YES .................. Report the bounds (Default)
BOUNDRPT = NO .................... Do not report the bounds
IPSIRPT ........................... Flag that controls the reporting of the variables and equations that are
the most likely cause of the infeasibility
IPSIRPT = NO........................... Reports no information on the cause of the
infeasibility
IPSIRPT = BRIEF ..................... Reports top 3 variables and equations that are
the most likely cause of the infeasibility
(Default)

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IPSIRPT = FULL....................... Reports all variables and equations that are the
most likely cause of the infeasibility.
Warning: Using the FULL option can result in
very large amounts of output.
ACTIVESAVE .................. Whether <prob>.set file is written every time the QP subproblem
successfully converges in Opt or Recon cases. This file contains info on
which variables were active at bounds. It can be used with "restore active
set" param to initialize active set of another run.
ACTIVESAVE = YES................ Write the file
ACTIVESAVE = NO.................. Do not write the file (Default)
ACTIVEINIT ..................... Flag to initialize the active set based on the <prob>.set file as an initial
guess of the active set.
ACTIVEINIT = YES................... Use <prob>.set to initialize the active set
ACTIVEINIT = NO..................... Do not use <prob>.set to initialize the active set
(Default)
RIGORUPD ..................... Number of constraint updates before a rigorous analysis phase
(Default=25)
QPITER ........................... This parameter indicates the degree of completeness in finding the
optimal active set at each QP iteration (for the first 10 iterations). The
values are between 1 and 10 with 1 being the most incomplete.
Note: A number smaller than 10 will increase efficiency but with a
potential degradation in robustness. (Default=10)
QPHESSIANUPD ............ Number of QP Hessian updates kept (Default=20)
QPCONVTOL .................. Internal QP tolerance. Warning: Changing the value from the default
may degrade solution performance and robustness. (Default=1x10–10)
USEDROPTOL................ Whether to drop small nonzeros
USEDROPTOL = ON................ Drop small nonzeros
USEDROPTOL = OFF.............. Do not drop small nonzeros (Default)
DROPTOL ....................... Non-zero drop tolerance used to remove small Jacobian values. A larger
tolerance will reduce the number of non-zeroes and decrease factorization
time. If the value is too large, then the accuracy of the Jacobian will be
reduced. This may lead to an increase in the number of iterations and/or
singularities. (Default=1x10–20)
PIVOTSEARCH ............... Maximum number of columns used in pivot search (Default=10)
PIVOTANAL .................... Determines Jacobian pivot reanalysis strategy
PIVOTANAL = LOW................. Analysis with fill-in monitoring (Default)
PIVOTANAL = MEDIUM........... Analysis with no fill-in monitor
PIVOTANAL = HIGH ................ Analysis at every iteration
ANALTHRESH ................ This parameter controls the automatic reanalysis of the Jacobian by
monitoring fill-in. It is invoked once the number of non-zeroes has grown
by a factor equal to this parameter. (Default=2)
PIVOTTHRESH ............... Pivot selection criterion for improved pivot stability. Values near zero
emphasize sparsity and values near one emphasize stability. (Default=0.1)

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PIVOTZERO .................... Minimum pivot element for near singular problems. If this parameter is
set to a positive value, any pivot whose modulus is less than the 'Zero
threshold' will be treated as zero. (Default=0.0)
FACTORSPEED .............. Linear Matrix factorization method.
FACTORSPEED = NORMAL... Optimizes pivot at every iteration (Default)
FACTORSPEED = FAST ......... Uses original pivot sequence if possible. This
can be faster.
BTF .................................. Whether to perform block triangularization
BTF = YES................................ Perform block triangularization (Default)
BTF = NO.................................. Do not perform block triangularization
MINBTFSIZE ................... Minimum size of a block created during block triangularization
(Default=1)
DENSITYRATIO .............. Switch from sparse to full matrix processing when the ratio of number of
non-zeros in the reduced matrix to the number that it would have as a full
matrix is greater than density ratio. (Default=0.7)
SINGULARHAND ............ Strategy for addressing singular problems
SINGULARHAND = NORMAL. Proceed with a passive approach (Default)
SINGULARHAND = ACTIVE ... Active set strategy modification (Optimization
cases)
SINGULARHAND = Address structural singularities as well
STRUCTURAL..........................
SINGULARHAND = NONE ...... Abort at any singularity
LUSTATS......................... Diagnostic printing switch for linear algebra
LUSTATS = ON ........................ Print linear algebra diagnostics
LUSTATS = OFF ...................... Do not print linear algebra diagnostics (Default)
FREEONLY ..................... Whether to include constants (fixed variables) when solving
FREEONLY = YES ................... Include constants (Default)
FREEONLY = NO ..................... Do not include constants
FACTORSPACE .............. Workspace allocated for the solution of the linear system of equations.
Problems with excessive fill-in may require a higher number. (Default=6)
ACTIVESPACE................ Workspace allocated for part of the active set strategy (Default=2)
IWORKF .......................... Integer work space size multiplier (Default=1)
RWORKF......................... Real work space size multiplier (Default=1)
CWORKF......................... Character work space size multiplier (Default=1)
LSSQP-PARAMS Use to specify parameters for controlling the accuracy, performance, and robustness of the LSSQP
solver.
mode ............................... Run mode.
mode = DEFAULT.................... Default for all run modes
mode = SIM .............................. Simulation mode
mode = PARAM ....................... Parameter estimation mode

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mode = RECON ....................... Data reconciliation mode

mode = OPTIM ......................... Optimization mode
RELEPS .......................... Relative optimization convergence tolerance (RELEPS) used in the Kuhn-
Tucker error (KTE) criterion: KTE<=RELEPS * max(0.01, |f|) where f is
the objective function value. (Default=1x10–4)
RFEASB .......................... Tolerance on iteration constraint violations. Limit above which feasibility
correction will be applied after every iteration. (Default=0.01)
RFINFB............................ Tolerance on final constraint violations. Limit above which feasibility
correction will be applied at the end of the optimization calculation.
(Default=1x10-6)
MAXITER......................... Maximum number of SQP iterations allowed (Default=30)
MINITER .......................... Minimum number of SQP iterations allowed (Default=2)
MAXLSF .......................... Maximum number of consecutive SQP iterations with line search failure
before terminating LSSQP (Default=10)
MAXQPF ......................... Maximum number of consecutive SQP iterations with QP failure before
terminating LSSQP (Default=10)
NFEASB .......................... Maximum number of feasibility corrections allowed at each SQP iteration
to try to keep constraint violations below the Iterative Constraint
Violation Tolerance (Default=2)
NFINFB............................ Maximum number of feasibility corrections allowed to try to reduce
constraint violations below the Final Constraint Violation Tolerance after
the optimization calculation is terminated (Default=5)
KPTLEV........................... Control panel print level. 1-3 is minimal information, 4 is default
information, and 5 is full information. However, other system values are
accepted. (Default=4)
KPLLEV........................... Print level for EO solver report file. 1 (Minimal information) through 8
(Full constraint vector) (Default=5)
KPFREQ.......................... Control the frequency of printing full var/constr. vectors to the EO Solver
Report file. The first and last vectors are always printed when requested
by the KPLLEV parameter which can be set from the Command Line in
the Control Panel. (Default=1)
KPNTOP.......................... Control the number of top entries to print in top entry outputs in the EO
Solver Report file (Default=10)
MDHESS ......................... Hessian approximation option. Generally, this should only be changed for
the DRPE case.
MDHESS = 0............................. Use general BFGS update to approximate the
Hessian
MDHESS = 2............................. Always calculate Gauss-Newton-type Hessian
approximation (Default)
MDHESS = 3............................. Use Gauss-Newton-type Hessian approximation
for initialization but update it with BFGS
update
MDHESS = 4............................. Selectively choose between BFGS update or
Gauss-Newton-type Hessian approximation
TAUHYB.......................... Parameter for deciding whether to use Gauss-Newton-type Hessian
approximation for Hessian approximation option=4. (Default=0.1)

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LSCOPT .......................... Line search options (Default=4)

LSCOPT = 1 ............................. Same as option 3 for the first ITRBND
iterations, where ITRBND is the parameter for
the Number of Bounded Iterations. Perform
only step bounding with CHGMAX thereafter,
where CHGMAX is the parameter for specifying
the Step Size Limit.
LSCOPT = 2 ............................. Same as option 4 for the first ITRBND
iterations. Perform only step bounding with
CHGMAX thereafter.
LSCOPT = 3 ............................. Exact penalty function
LSCOPT = 4 ............................. Exact penalty function with Powell's Watchdog
relaxation (Default)
LSCOPT = 5 ............................. Exact penalty function with second-order
correction
LSCOPT = 6 ............................. Exact penalty function with trust region control
LSCOPT = 7 ............................. Exact penalty function with trust region control
and second order correction
ITRBND ........................... Number of initial iterations when the Initial Step Size Limit is used to
limit search steps. This parameter, along with the parameter for Initial
Step Size Limit, can be used to reduce the step size during the initial
iterations.. (Default=3)
CHGBND ......................... Initial limit on the optimization step size (CHGBND). The step size is
limited such that ak|dk| <= CHGBND * max(1,|xk|). This is a relative
step size limit. A negative value for CHGBND implies an absolute step
size limit.. (Default=0.25)
CHGMAX ......................... Step size limit (CHGMAX) after the initial Number of Bounded Iterations.
The step size is limited such that ak|dk| <= CHGMAX *max(1,|xk|).
(Default=0.5)
BNDAPP .......................... Approach to bounds allowed in one iteration. (Default=0.99)
INICHK............................. Iteration count (INICHK) to check if the problem should be reinitialized.
LSSQP checks the problem status at the current iteration, INICHK
iterations ago and 2*INICHK iterations ago. (Default=20)
LSIZEB1 .......................... Whether to resize the Hessian after first iteration
LSIZEB1 = YES ........................ Resize the Hessian (Default)
LSIZEB1 = NO.......................... Do not resize the Hessian
LSIZEB2 .......................... Hessian sizing option to specify whether identity matrix or initial Hessian
scaling factor is used to set initial Hessian.
LSIZEB2 = SCALED ................ Use initial Hessian scaling factor (Default)
LSIZEB2 = IDENTITY............... Use identity matrix
FSCALF ........................... Initial Hessian scaling factor, FSCALF. If positive, initial Hessian set to
FSCALF*I, else set to |FSCALF|*FSCALV*I where FSCALV is estimate
of magnitude of objective function. If FSCALF = 0, value of -0.1 is used.
(Default=0.01)
ETASKP........................... Range-space to full step ratio above which BFGS update will be skipped
(Default=0.95)

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RRLOW ........................... Low limit of yTs/sTBs to limit the BFGS update (Default=0.2)
RRHIGH........................... High limit of yTs/sTBs to limit the BFGS update (Default=100.0)
BSMALL.......................... Smallest diagonal in Choleskey decomposition of the projected Hessian
(Default=1x10–8)
ZPERTF........................... Perturbation factor for projected Hessian calculation (Default=0.0001)
IFDTYP ............................ Finite-difference Hessian approximation type. The frequency of this
calculation is determined by the Finite difference frequency parameter.
IFDTYP = HES-NON................. Projected Hessian, non-multiplier version
(Default)
IFDTYP = HES-NON-DROP..... Same as HES-NON, but drop bound
contribution
IFDTYP = HES-MUL................. Projected Hessian, multiplier version
IFDTYP = DIA-NON.................. Diagonal approximation, non-multiplier version
IFDTYP = DIA-NON-DROP ...... Same as DIA-NON, but drop bound
contribution
IFDTYP = DIA-MUL .................. Diagonal approximation, multiplier version
IFDITER........................... First iteration at which finite differences are used for Hessian
approximation (Default=0)
IFDFREQ ......................... Finite difference frequency. Finite differences are used at every nth
iteration. (Default=0)
DELTLS........................... Actual to predicted merit function reduction ratio below which a line
search step will be rejected (Default=0.1)
MAXLSC.......................... Maximum number of line search cutbacks allowed per SQP iteration.
When this limit is reached, the SQP iteration continues with the final step
size. (Default=1)
ALFALS........................... Minimum step cutback ratio per line search iteration (Default=0.25)
IXSCS .............................. LSSQP internal variable and constraint scaling options.
IXSCS = 0 ................................. No internal variable or equation scaling (in
addition to the scaling performed by models
and/or executive)
IXSCS = 3 ................................. Derive variable scaling from initial x0; derive
constraint scaling from Jacobian
IXSCS = 4 ................................. No variable scaling; derive constraint scaling
from Jacobian (Default)
IXSCS = 5 ................................. Derive variable and constraint scaling
simultaneously from Jacobian

BIGSCL ........................... Big number to limit scaling (Default=1x1010)

SMLSCL .......................... Small number to limit scaling (Default=1x10–8)
KMUDEC ......................... Options for adjusting penalty parameters
KMUDEC = 0 ............................ Do not allow penalty parameter to be decreased
KMUDEC = 1 ............................ Allow penalty parameter to be decrease
gradually (Default)

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KMUDEC = 2 ............................ Use Lagrange multiplier as penalty parameter.

This may work better for some problems
VMUINI ............................ Initial line search penalty parameter (Default=0.001)
VMUMIN .......................... Minimum line search penalty parameter (Default=1x10-8)
VMUFAC.......................... Penalty parameter multiplier factor from Lagrange multiplier
(Default=2.0)
KFOWDG......................... Accumulated line search counts to force a watchdog step. This relaxes the
line search criteria and allows the merit function to decrease.
(Default=10)
KBKOUT.......................... Number of iterations to wait for merit function to improve before backing
out of a forced watchdog relaxation. (Default=20)
LEWBAS.......................... Type of basis for range-space representation
LEWBAS = ORTHOGONAL .... Orthogonal basis (potentially more stable)
(Default)
LEWBAS = COORDINATE ...... Coordinate basis (less overhead especially for
problems with large degrees of freedom)
BNDADJ .......................... Adjustment to bounds to create a feasible region when a QP subproblem is
infeasible (Default=1x10–5)
GNPMAX ......................... An artificial weighting factor to drive the QP problem to the feasible
region. In rare occasions, it has to be increased to avoid a small feasibility
index (Default=1x106)
QPINFE............................ A QP infeasible parameter. If +ive, new search direction is determined by
minimizing the sum of absolute violations. This can be helpful when
trying to find a feasible solution to an initially infeasible optimization
problem. (Default=0.0)
SPDROP.......................... Matrix elements with absolute value smaller than this drop tolerance are
dropped by the sparse linear solver (Default=1x10–15)
NCSRCH.......................... Maximum number of columns/row to search for pivot (NCSRCH). > 0:
search up to NCSRCH columns; < 0: search up to -NCSRCH
columns/rows; = 0: unlimited search (Default=5)
SINGT1 ............................ Matrix elements with absolute value less than this cutoff value are not
allowed to become pivot elements when selecting a basis
(Default=1x10–8)
SINGT2 ............................ Matrix elements with absolute value less than this cutoff value are not
allowed to become pivot elements during numerical factorization
(Default=1x10–10)
TOLBAS .......................... Threshold pivot tolerance when selecting a basis (Default=0.1)
TOLANA .......................... Threshold pivot tolerance for the rare case of reanalyzing a matrix
(Default=0.1)
LCHBAS .......................... Whether to allow basis reselection
LCHBAS = YES........................ Allow basis reselection (Default)
LCHBAS = NO.......................... Do not allow basis reselection
NBDBAS.......................... Number of bound violations for insensitive dependent variables before
basis reselection (Default=10)

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BASFLP .......................... Growth of the largest sensitivity matrix element to trigger a new basis
selection. The parameter to allow basis reselection must be set to Yes. Set
this number to a larger value to prevent LSSQP from reselecting the
basis. (Default=100.0)
MSMETH ......................... Matrix scaling method
MSMETH = 0............................. Scale with MC19AD
MSMETH = 1............................. Scale with row and then column equilibration
(Default)
MSMETH = 2............................. Scale with column and then row equilibration
MSFREQ ......................... Matrix scaling frequency.
MSFREQ = 0............................. No matrix scaling
MSFREQ = 1............................. Scale matrix before a basis selection (Default)
MSFREQ = 2............................. Scale matrix before an analyze call
MSFREQ = 3............................. Scale matrix before both basis selection and
analysis calls
NUMDER ......................... Numerical derivative option. Users should use the numerical derivative
options provided by the executive. Potential nonzero in the gradient that
are actual zeros should be set to small values for options 2 and 4.
NUMDER = 0 ............................ No numerical derivative calculation (Default)
NUMDER = 1 ............................ Use numerical derivative for Jacobian
NUMDER = 2 ............................ Use numerical derivative for Jacobian and
gradient
NUMDER = 3 ............................ Verify Jacobian at the initial point
NUMDER = 4 ............................ Verify Jacobian and gradient at the initial point
DPERTF .......................... Relative perturbation size for numerical derivative calculation
(Default=1x10-6)
XPMIN ............................. Absolute perturbation size for numerical derivative (Default=0.01)
DERDIF ........................... Relative tolerance for reporting derivative errors (Default=0.001)
DERMIN........................... Absolute tolerance for reporting derivative errors (Default=0.01)
LUBNDS.......................... Bounds present flag. Determines whether to consider variable bounds
when solving in simulation mode.
LUBNDS = YES........................ Consider variable bounds (Default)
LUBNDS = NO.......................... Do not consider variable bounds
BIGBND........................... Big number to identify fake bounds (–BIGBND, BIGBND).
(Default=1x1020)
LINCST............................ Linear constraint flag. Determines whether equality constraints are
linear.
LINCST = YES.......................... Equality constraints are linear

LINCST = NO............................ Equality constraints are not linear (Default)

NNDCMP ......................... Number of equality constraints that should not be used to eliminate
variables (Default=0)

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SOLVE Paragraph

Input Language for SOLVE

SOLVE
PARAM keyword=value

Optional keywords:
METHOD SEPSEQ

RUN-MODE keyword=value

Optional keywords:
MODE

OPT keyword=value

Optional keywords:
OPTOBJ

REC keyword=value

Optional keywords:
RECOBJ

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Input Language Description for SOLVE

PARAM Use to specify the sequential modular or equation oriented solution method for a problem or
hierarchy block.
METHOD ......................... Method of solution to the problem or hierarchy level.
METHOD = SM ......................... Use a sequential modular solution path
(Default)
METHOD = EO ......................... Use an equation oriented solution path
SEPSEQ .......................... Force convergence algorithm to sequence all objects within this hierarchy
structure together, independent of objects outside this hierarchy
structure.
SEPSEQ = YES ........................ Force
SEPSEQ = NO.......................... Do not force (Default)
RUN-MODE Use to specify the equation-oriented run mode.
MODE .............................. Equation-oriented run mode.
MODE = SIM............................. Simulation mode (Default)
MODE = PAR............................ Parameter estimation mode
MODE = REC............................ Data reconciliation mode
MODE = OPT............................ Optimization mode
OPT Use to specify the ID of the objective for optimization.
OPTOBJ .......................... Objective function used for Optimization run mode. In Simulation mode,
this Objective is used but with decision variables fixed.
REC Use to specify the ID of the objective for data reconciliation.
RECOBJ.......................... Objective function used for Reconciliation run mode. In Parameter
Estimation mode, this Objective is used but with decision variables fixed.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

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 Chapter 50

50 Measurement Blocks
This chapter describes the input language for MEASUREMENT blocks.

Use the MEASUREMENT block to associate model variables with the actual
plant measurements. The model variable could be stream or block variables. For
each measurement identified by a tag name, measurement block can either:
• Calculate the offset, given the measured value and the accessed model value.
• Calculate and set the model value, given the measured value and the offset.

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 Measurement
Blocks

MEASUREMENT Block

Input Language for MEASUREMENT

MEASUREMENT mblockid
DEFINE fvar vartype keyword=value
PARAM MODE=value
CONFIGURATION idx keyword=value

Keywords:
ENABLED TAGNAME DESCRIPTION PLANT PHYSQTY
Optional keywords:
PLANT-UOM

CONNECTION idx keyword=value

Keywords:
SM-MODEL EO-MODEL
Optional keywords:
MODEL-UOM

OFFSET idx keyword=value

Keywords:
VALUE
Optional keywords:
UOM PHYSQTY

BLOCK-OPTIONS keyword=value

Keywords:
SIM-LEVEL TERM-LEVEL

Input Language Description for MEASUREMENT

mblockid ......................... Measurement block ID
DEFINE Use to access a flowsheet variable and equivalence it to a FORTRAN variable, which is used in
subsequent CONNECTION sentences to represent the accessed model variable. See Chapter 30 for
a complete description of the DEFINE sentence.
fvar .................................. Name of the FORTRAN variable.
vartype ............................ Variable type. You can use any variable type allowed for the define
sentence. (See Chapters 30 and 31.)

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PARAM MODE .............................. Specify the calculation mode. The possible calculation modes are:
MODE = CALC-MODEL........... Calculate and set accessed flowsheet variables
(Model variable)
MODE = CALC-OFFSET.......... Calculate the difference (offset) between the
model variable and plant/measured values
MODE = CALC-PLANT............ Calculate plant values by summing offset and
model values
MODE = PARAM-OFFSET....... Calculate plant or offset values. (Measured-
parameterized pair. See Chapter 22 of the
Aspen Plus User Guide for more information.)
CONFIGURATION Use to specify and configure a measurement in a MEASUREMENT block.
idx.................................... Measurement number
ENABLED........................ Specifies whether a given measurement is enabled. Measurement block
will process only measurements that are enabled.
ENABLED = YES ..................... Measurement is enabled
ENABLED = NO ....................... Measurement is disabled
TAGNAME ....................... Tag name for the measuring instrument. A string of up to 12 characters
enclosed in quotes. In Equation-Oriented (EO) mode, measurement
variable names are constructed from a tag name and a description. To
avoid duplicate variable names, tag name must be unique for each
measurement.
DESCRIPTION................. A brief description (up to 80 characters, enclosed in quotes) of the
measuring instrument.
PLANT ............................. Measured plant value.
PHYSYQTY ..................... Physical quantity of the variable being measured. A string of up to 16
characters in quotes. The default is the physical quantity of the
associated model variable. See Chapter 3 for physical quantities.
PLANT-UOM.................... The unit of measure for plant value. A string of up to 16 characters
enclosed in quotes. The default is the IN-UNIT for physical quantity of
the model variable. See Chapter 3 for units of measure.
CONNECTION Use to associate a Sequential Modular (SM) model variable with an Equation-Oriented (EO) model
variable. This sentence is required when the Measurement block is running in EO mode.
idx.................................... Measurement number
SM-MODEL ..................... FORTRAN variable name for accessed flowsheet variable, limited to six
characters.
EO-MODEL...................... Equation-Oriented model variable which is equivalent to the specified
Sequential Modular flowsheet variable. Used in EO mode. A string of up
to 32 characters enclosed in quotes.
OFFSET Use to specify the plant value deviation from the model variable for measurements. The OFFSET
sentence is required for each specified measurement when the block’s mode is CALC-PLANT or
PARAM-OFFSET and offset values are non-zero.
idx.................................... Measurement number
VALUE ............................. Offset value

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Blocks

PHYSQTY........................ Physical quantity of the offset value. A string of up to 16 characters

enclosed in quotes. (See Chapter 3.)
UOM ................................ Unit of measure of the offset value. A string of up to 16 characters
enclosed in quotes. (See Chapter 3.)
BLOCK-OPTIONS Use to override the diagnostic message levels established by the DIAGNOSTICS paragraph. (See
Chapter 46.)

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50-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 51

51 Utility Blocks
This chapter describes the input language for UTILITY blocks.

Use the UTILITY block to define variable utilities, where it is assumed that there
is a large source of the utility available for use. Many unit operation blocks can
use these utilities to represent the supply of heating, cooling, or electricity they
require.

Input Language Guide 51-1

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Utility Blocks

UTILITY Block

Input Language for UTILITY

UTILITY uid GENERAL
COST price-type=value

Price types:
PRICE ELEC-PRICE ENERGY-PRICE

PARAM keyword=value

Keywords:
UTILITY-TYPE BASIS COOLING-VALU PRES-IN PRES-OUT T-IN T-OUT
VFR-IN VFR-OUT DEGSUB-IN DEGSUB-OUT DEGSUP-IN DEGSUP-OUT
CALOPT

COMPOSITION compid fraction / compid fraction / ...

Input Language Description for UTILITY

uid ................................... Utility block ID
Note: In input files from older versions of Aspen Plus, other utility types
besides GENERAL may appear after the uid. This input will still work,
but these utility types are superseded by the GENERAL utility type
described here, with the specific type such as WATER specified in the
PARAM sentence using the UTILITY-TYPE keyword.
COST Use to specify the purchase price of the utility. Specify only one of the following types of cost.
PRICE.............................. Price specified in units of $/mass, the direct mass cost of the utility. Do
not use with PARAM UTILITY-TYPE=ELECTRICITY.
ELEC-PRICE ................... Price specified in units of $/electrical energy. Use only with PARAM
UTILITY-TYPE=ELECTRICITY.
ENERGY-PRICE ............. Price specified in units of $/energy, the cost per heating or cooling value of
the utility. Do not use with PARAM UTILITY-TYPE=ELECTRICITY.
PARAM UTILITY-TYPE................. The type of utility. The possible types are:
UTILITY-TYPE = WATER......... Cooling water
UTILITY-TYPE = ...................... Electricity
ELECTRICITY
UTILITY-TYPE = OIL................ Heating oil
UTILITY-TYPE = GAS .............. Natural gas
UTILITY-TYPE = COAL............ Coal

51-2 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Chapter 51

UTILITY-TYPE = ...................... Refrigerant

REFRIGERANT
UTILITY-TYPE = STEAM ......... Steam
UTILITY-TYPE = GENERAL .... Any composition of components defined in the
simulation.
BASIS .............................. Basis for composition specification. Use only with
UTILITY-TYPE=GENERAL or REFRIGERANT.
BASIS = MASS......................... Composition specified in mass units
BASIS = MOLE......................... Composition specified in mole units
BASIS = STDVOL .................... Composition specified in standard volume units
CALOPT .......................... Method for determining heating or cooling value of utility. Do not use
with UTILITY-TYPE=ELECTRICITY.
CALOPT = DUTY ..................... Heating or cooling value is specified.
CALOPT = FLASH ................... Heating or cooling value is calculated by Aspen
Plus based on inlet and outlet conditions you
specify. Specify two conditions from
temperature, pressure, and vapor fraction for
each of inlet and outlet. Temperature may be
specified as temperature, degrees of subcooling,
or degrees of superheating.
COOLING-VALU ............. Heating or cooling value for utility in energy/mass units. Not used for
UTILITY-TYPE=ELECTRICITY
T-IN .................................. Inlet temperature of utility. When CALOPT=FLASH this is used to
determine the heating or cooling value of the utility. When
CALOPT=DUTY this is only provided to other programs using this utility
data, such as Aspen Pinch.
T-OUT .............................. Outlet temperature of utility. When CALOPT=FLASH this is used to
determine the heating or cooling value of the utility. When
CALOPT=DUTY this is only provided to other programs using this utility
data, such as Aspen Pinch.
PRES-IN .......................... Inlet pressure of utility.
PRES-OUT ...................... Outlet pressure of utility.
VFR-IN ............................. Inlet vapor fraction of utility.
VFR-OUT ......................... Outlet vapor fraction of utility.
DEGSUB-IN ..................... Inlet degrees of subcooling of utility.
DEGSUB-OUT ................. Outlet degrees of subcooling of utility.
DEGSUP-IN ..................... Inlet degrees of superheating of utility.
DEGSUP-OUT ................. Outlet degrees of superheating of utility.
COMPOSITION Use to specify the composition of the utility with PARAM UTILITY-TYPE=GENERAL.
compid ............................ Component ID.
fraction............................ Fraction of this component, in the basis specified by PARAM BASIS.

Input Language Guide 51-3

Aspen Plus Version 12.1
Utility Blocks

Accessing Variables in UTILITY

Many Aspen Plus features enable you to sample or change block variables.
Chapter 30 describes how to access variables. The following tables list variable
names and other information needed to sample and/or change variables for this
block.

Block Input
Sentence Variables ID1

COST PRICE, ELEC-PRICE, ENERGY-PRICE —

PARAM COOLING-VALU, PRES-IN, PRES-OUT, T-IN, T-OUT, VFR-IN, VFR-OUT, —
DEGSUB-IN, DEGSUB-OUT, DEGSUP-IN, DEGSUP-OUT
COMPOSITION FRAC cid

Block Results
Description Sentence Variable
Total amount of the utility required in mass/time (not applicable to ELECTRICITY) RESULTS REQUIREMENT
Total cost of the utility in $/time RESULTS COST-RATE
Total energy usage in energy/time. RESULTS ENERGY-RATE
Electrical power required (only for ELECTRICITY) RESULTS ELEC-RATE
Heating or cooling value of the utility RESULTS H-C-VALUE
Inlet temperature. RESULTS T-INCALC
Outlet temperature. RESULTS T-OUTCALC
Inlet pressure. RESULTS PRES-INCALC
Outlet pressure. RESULTS PRES-OUTCALC
Inlet vapor fraction. RESULTS VFR-INCALC
Outlet vapor fraction. RESULTS VFR-OUTCALC
Inlet degrees superheated. RESULTS DEGSUP-IN-C
Inlet degrees subcooled. RESULTS DEGSUB-IN-C
Outlet degrees superheated. RESULTS DEGSUP-OUT-C
Outlet degrees subcooled. RESULTS DEGSUB-OUT-C

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51-4 Input Language Guide

Aspen Plus Version 12.1