APECS

APECS is the first simulation software to combine the disciplines of process simulation and computational fluid dynamics (CFD).  This unique combination makes it possible for engineers to create “virtual plants” and to follow complex thermal and fluid flow phenomena from unit to unit across the plant. Advanced visualization software tools aid in analysis and optimization of the entire plant’s performance. This tool can significantly reduce the cost of power plant design and optimization with an emphasis on multiphase flows critical to advanced power cycles.

A government-industry-university collaboration (including DOE, NETL, Ansys/ Fluent, Aspen Technology, Alstom Power, Inc., Carnegie Mellon University, Iowa State University, and West Virginia University) has made APECS commercially available.  It is currently in use by 12 organizations worldwide. APECS users in the chemical industry are analyzing the impact of complex reactor mixing and fluid flow phenomena. Cycle engineers in the power industry are using APECS to design and optimize conventional and next-generation power plants. In the research community, APECS is used for research on reduced-order modeling strategies for CFD, development of stochastic analysis and multi-objective optimization capabilities for process/CFD co-simulation, and integration of process/CFD co-simulation with immersive 3D virtual engineering software.

A recently completed three-year collaborative project between DOE and the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform in the United Kingdom combined APECS and the U.K.’s Virtual Plant Demonstration Model (VPDM) to develop compatible virtual plant co-simulation software platforms for application to advanced fossil-energy power generation systems.