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A Brief Tutorial (and supplement to training and online documentation)
Shelby Hegy, Product Marketing, Aspen Technology, Inc.
Joshua Glagola, Product Management, Aspen Technology, Inc.
Dave Tremblay, Product Management, Aspen Technology, Inc.
Dan McCarthy, Product Management, Aspen Technology, Inc.
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Jump Start: Activated Economics in Aspen Plus V8.4
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Activated Economics Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Activated Economic Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Setting up Costing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Setting up Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Accessing Activated Economic Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Mapping Unit Operations and Sizing and Evaluating Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Delving into Activated Economics Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Additonal Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
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Jump Start: Activated Economics in Aspen Plus V8.4
Introduction
Activated Economic Analysis is the latest innovation from AspenTech to streamline the process engineering workflow. It
allows users to access the functionality of complimentary energy and economic analysis software without leaving the
Aspen HYSYS or Aspen Plus user environments. This guide will give users a Jump Start on learning how to use Activated
Economic Analysis in Aspen Plus V8.4. If you are an Aspen HYSYS user, please see the analogous guide for Aspen HYSYS.
This document can be found by going here: www.aspentech.com/Activated_Economics_HYSYS_V84.pdf
This is not meant to be used as a stand-alone reference document. We recommend that a range of other resources be
called upon to give the new user a comprehensive view of how to use Activated Economic Analysis. These include:
Activated Economics gives process engineers insight into the capital and operating costs associated with their models
throughout the design process, keeping them on track with the most economically feasible designs before they send
equipment lists and process designs to the estimating department.
By using Activated Economics during design, process engineers gain the advantage of pre-screening their own models
before sending them off to other departments for more thorough cost estimates and analysis. This integrated workflow
increases engineering efficiency by allowing process engineers to quickly screen out infeasible designs based on costs or
constructability of equipment. Ultimately, the workflow of iterating through models based on feedback from other
departments becomes streamlined, allowing everyone on the team (from process engineers to equipment and estimating
specialists) to spend more time working on higher-quality design cases.
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Jump Start: Activated Economics in Aspen Plus V8.4
The default template for Process Economic Analyzer Options is US_IP (United States, Inch-Pound basis). To select a
different template, click Browse. Next, specify a name to identify the scenario. You also have the option of adding a
description and making detailed specifications, such as the operating life of the plant (Figure 2).
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Jump Start: Activated Economics in Aspen Plus V8.4
Setting up Utilities
To improve the accuracy of relative utility cost estimates, you should also set up energy costs for utilities. Aspen Plus V8.4
automatically designates default cost specifications to common utilities. To check that these align with your design, open
the Process Utilities Manager by clicking the Process Utility Manager button in the Simulation group of the Home tab
(Figure 3).
Scroll through the process utilities matrix to view the properties and cost indices assigned to each utility. Any value in blue
can be redefined by user input (Figure 4).
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Jump Start: Activated Economics in Aspen Plus V8.4
The Activation Panel has three tiles; one for energy, one for economics, and one for Exchanger Design & Rating (Figure 6).
You can undock the activation panel or move it to another part of the Aspen HYSYS environment by right clicking on it and
selecting one of the options that appears (Figure 7). This is just one of the many dockable and undockable items in Aspen
Plusallowing for a customizable workspace.
When you click on the Activated Economics tile, a dashboard appears summarizing the estimated relative capital and
utility costs for the current simulation. Figure 8 shows a typical view of the Activated Economics dashboard, which
displays capital and utility costs across the simulation.
The stacked buttons on the left allow you to access three different aspects of Activated Economic Analysis: the Unit Op
Equipment Cost Table, the Unit Op Utility Cost Table, and the Economic Overlay Settings Form (from top to bottom,
respectively).
The Unit Op Equipment Cost Table displays a brief summary of the costs associated with each block or unit operation on
the flowsheet. This is beneficial for determining which pieces of process equipment contribute the most to the overall cost
of the process, allowing users to spend time optimizing the most cost intensive equipment. Equipment costs are displayed
by unit operation or block, meaning that the column will display the cost of not only the column, but also the constituent
equipment parts such as a reboiler or condenser as a single unit in the table (Figure 9).
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Jump Start: Activated Economics in Aspen Plus V8.4
The Unit Op Utility Cost Table, much like the first stacked button, displays a summary of the utility costs for each unit
operation or block in the flowsheet. Here you can quickly relate specific utility types to their appropriate unit operation and
obtain the cost per hour (Figure 10). This allows users to identify major utility cost drivers and look for ways to optimize
energy usage in specific pieces of process equipment.
The Economics Overlay Settings buttonrepresented by a grey gearwill bring up a form allowing you to select the
highest three to ten unit operations in the model by operating cost, capital cost, installed cost, or weight and identify them
visually on the flowsheet with a green circle (Figure 12). The display checkbox in the dialogue form turns the circles on and
off. By default, the overlays will appear over the three unit operations with the highest operating cost as soon as Activated
Economics is finished evaluating the flowsheet. The functionality of this button is duplicated in the economics ribbon on
the far right in the Overlays group (Figure 11).
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Jump Start: Activated Economics in Aspen Plus V8.4
Figure 11: Select the criteria to find your highest cost unit operations
Hovering over the green circles on the flowsheet with your mouse will display a summary of costs for the selected unit
operation. This is useful for quickly identifying where optimization will be needed to increase cost savings in the process
model (Figure 12).
To map unit operations to equipment, first be sure that the Economics Active box in the Economics Solver group is
checked. This will enable the economics software which works under the hood to power Activated Economic Analysis.
Next, click the Map button in the Integrated Economics group (Figure 13).
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Jump Start: Activated Economics in Aspen Plus V8.4
Figure 13: The Map button note that Economics Active must be checked.
This will bring up the mapping dialogue form. For your initial mapping, use the default mapping option. When the
mapping equipment form launches, review and change the default mapping as necessary to appropriately represent your
process. When you are done, click OK (Figure 14).
Once the equipment is mapped, it must be sized. To do this, click the Size button in the Integrated Economics group
(Figure 15).
When sizing is complete, click the View Equipment button to open the Results Summary Equipment form. Here, in
addition to reviewing the sizing of the equipment, you can also define materials of construction (default setting is Carbon
Steel). Defining materials of construction ensures consistency between the estimating and process groups, and allows
process engineers to see the cost impact of different materials of construction to evaluate the optimal cost optionas
material of construction is a major driver in equipment costs. Once a material of construction has been selected, it will
appear as blue in the tablejust as all other user input variables (Figure 16).
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Jump Start: Activated Economics in Aspen Plus V8.4
Finally, you must evaluate to determine the relative costs for each piece of equipment and the operating costs. To do so,
click the Evaluate button in the Integrated Economics Group shown in Figure 15. The Integrated Economics workflow is the
custom/manual workflow to compliment Activated Economic Analysis, which will go through the mapping, sizing, and
evaluation steps automatically based on simulation defaults.
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Jump Start: Activated Economics in Aspen Plus V8.4
Toggle through the tabs on this form to see a summary of information relating to each piece of equipment represented in
the simulation. It is very important to review the error fields to ensure an accurate estimate. If errors are present, the
economics dashboard will display a caution sign under the capital cost total (Figure 17). Clicking this will also bring you to
the Results Summary Equipment form, where red Xs will show which pieces of equipment are in error. Hovering over the
red X with your mouse will show the specific error message for more detail (Figure 18). The nametag for each piece of
equipment also acts as a hyperlink. Clicking one will bring you to the specific equipment tab for that item where you can
enter more detailed information (Figure 16).
Figure 18: Evaluation Error Flagging and The Results Summary Equipment form
If youd like to view investment metrics for the process, there is a drop-down arrow at the bottom of the economics
dashboard. Clicking on this will open a drop-down menu displaying the operating profit, the payout period for the process,
and the designated return on investment percentage (Figure 19).
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Jump Start: Activated Economics in Aspen Plus V8.4
To generate a report, click on the Investment Analysis button in the Economics tab in the ribbon (Figure 20). Once you are
satisfied with your results, the information can be handed over to a costing specialist, who can use Aspen Capital Cost
Estimator for a more detailed analysis.
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Jump Start: Activated Economics in Aspen Plus V8.4
Additional Resources
Public Website:
www.aspentech.com/products/activation
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About AspenTech
AspenTech is a leading supplier of software that optimizes process manufacturingfor energy, chemicals,
engineering and construction, and other industries that manufacture and produce products from a
chemical process. With integrated aspenONE solutions, process manufacturers can implement best
practices for optimizing their engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain operations. As a result,
AspenTech customers are better able to increase capacity, improve margins, reduce costs, and become
more energy efficient. To see how the worlds leading process manufacturers rely on AspenTech to
achieve their operational excellence goals, visit www.aspentech.com.
Worldwide Headquarters
Aspen Technology, Inc.
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Burlington, MA 01803
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phone: +17812216400
fax: +17812216410
info@aspentech.com
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phone: +97317503000
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Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-4582-1113 www.aspentech.com/locations