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Problem Statement: How is normal molar flow calculated? Does HYSYS calculate normal molar flow for liquid? | Solution: The normal molar flow is just a representative value of molar flow at the normal conditions (T = 0 C, P = 1 atm). It does not necessarily hold physical meaning of the fluid at that state. The normal molar flow is converted by the factor molar density from the molar flow. The calculation of the normal molar flow is purely based on Ideal Gas assumption. A rough calculation below shows that molar density is ~0.0446 (kgmol/m3).
At T = 0 (C) = 273.15 (K); P = 1 (atm) = 101325 (Pa); R = 8.314 (J/kgmol K)
Molar density = n/V = P/(RT) = 0.0446 (kgmol/m3)
So then, for example a molar flow of 498.4 kgmol/hr will turn into:
498.4 (kgmol/hr) / 0.00446 (kgmol/m3) ~ 11172 (m3/hr), or 11172 Nm3/hr
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: Which are different unit operations supported in Aspen HYSYS V11 EO sub-flowsheet? | Solution: Only Aspen Properties property packages and component lists are supported in the EO Sub-Flowsheet.
The following unit operations are supported in the EO Sub-Flowsheet:
Separators, 3-Phase Separators, and Tanks
Coolers
Heaters
Heat Exchangers
Air Coolers
Fired Heaters
Note: Rigorous EDR models are supported via the Perturbation Layer
Pumps
Expanders
Compressors
Pipe Segments
Control Valves
Mixers
Tees
Adjusts
Sets
Recycles
Stream Cutters
EO Measurement Operations
LNG Exchangers
EO Calculators
Spreadsheets
Balances
Hydroprocessor Beds
Conversion Reactors
ACM (Aspen Custom Modeler) models
Columns:
Distillation Columns
Refluxed Absorber Columns
Component Splitters
Absorber Columns
Reboiled Absorber Columns
Three Phase Distillation Columns
Liquid-Liquid Extractors
Keywords: EO Sub-flowsheet, unit operations, supported, etc.
References: None |
Problem Statement: The default location of the replication queues on an Aspen InfoPlus.21 publisher server is C:\ProgramData\AspenTech\InfoPlus.21\db21\group200\Replication. The files in this folder can become quite large especially when the subscriber node is not running and the publisher is storing data for the subscriber potentially filling the disk drive. | Solution: Beginning in version 11.0 of Aspen InfoPlus.21, you can change the location of the replication queues on an Aspen InfoPlus.21 publisher by using the following steps.
Stop Aspen InfoPlus.21 on the publisher node.
Stop the InfoPlus.21 Task Service on the publisher node.
Create an alternate location for the replication queue files.
Copy the contents of C:\ProgramData\AspenTech\InfoPlus.21\db21\group200\Replication to the alternate location.
Use REGEDIT to add an expandable string value (REG_EXPAND_SZ) named REPLICATION_QUEUE_FOLDER to HKLM\SOFTWARE\AspenTech\NN.0\group200, where NN is the internal version of the Aspen InfoPlus.21 server.
Place the alternate location into REPLICATION_QUEUE_FOLDER
Start the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Task Service
Start Aspen InfoPlus.21.
Key Words
IP21Replication_primary.queue
IP21Replication_secondary.queue
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: How do I fix the error ”The extension UnitOpExtn.VirtualStream is not available...” | Solution: This error means the Virtual Stream extension is not installed. If your simulation does not contain any Virtual Stream unit operations, you can simply ignore this message.
To resolve this error, you must download the extension and register it within HYSYS. To do this:
1) Download the extension from our support website: https://esupport.aspentech.com/S_Article?id=000054414
2) Register the extension within HYSYS by navigating through the following menu:
Keywords: Virtual Stream, Extension, Unit Operation
References: None |
Problem Statement: Is it possible to create a hot button link in Aspen Process Graphics Editor (GE) to the Alerts page in aspenONE Process Explorer (A1PE) or to display the alerts within a Process Graphics page?
This Knowledge Base article shows how to do it. | Solution: The following Hot Link call will open the Alerts page in A1PE:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe http://localhost/processexplorer/WebControls/PBAlerts.asp
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: How to move an Aspen Process Graphic Studio project to another machine/server? | Solution: 1.- Go to the original location of the project and identify the .prx file and its corresponding folder.
2.- Paste the two files on the other machine, following the same location as in the source machine. Then open the project (run the Graphic Studio As Administrator...) and publish it again.
Note: If in the receiving machine the location of the project is different in comparison with the source (Another folder or another drive), make sure that the user has Write Permission to that new project location.
Keywords: Project
Graphic Studio
References: None |
Problem Statement: How can Aspen SQLplus access records in other AspenTech InfoPlus.21 (IP.21) systems without utilizing 'Query' | 'Host' in the SQLplus Query Writer? | Solution: The ability to reference other IP.21 databases from the same query is enabled by configuring a file called links.dat. It is located here:
C:\ProgramData\AspenTech\InfoPlus.21\db21\sql
on the Aspen InfoPlus.21 database system (it will not be on end user, client-only systems). End user systems will use the links.dat on the IP.21 system to which they connect. It is a plain text file. Here is an example of what is in the file:
<link name>,odbc,odbc,DRIVER={AspenTech SQLplus};HOST=<computer name where IP.21 is running>
You can have multiple lines in the file.
Note that the file will not be there by default but it will be created automatically if the wizard method shown below is used. The file lets users put a link name before the record name in a query to be able to designate the specific InfoPlus.21 system which has the desired record.
File Creation
Here is a way to create links.dat using a wizard in the SQLplus Query Writer. This example is done on an IP.21 system with a computer name of HalfTrack connecting to another, different IP.21 system with a computer name of PegasusBridge which, for this example, uses the ADSA name of IP21-Production.
1. In the SQLplus Query Writer, click the Tables button, which looks like this: . Or, click 'Paste Fields...' from the Record menu.
2. In the box that appears, click 'Add Link'.
3. In the 'SQLplus database link' screen provide a Link Name. In this example we will use PegasusBridge:
4. Next, add this string into the 'Data Source Name' field:
DRIVER={AspenTech SQLplus};HOST=PegasusBridge
5. Click OK and the link will be available for use:
Here is what is now in the newly-created links.dat file:
PegasusBridge,odbc,odbc,DRIVER={AspenTech SQLplus};HOST=PegasusBridge
Notice that the ADSA name (IP21-Production) is not present (but it could be used for the link name).
Example Usage
In this first example an end user is connecting to an InfoPlus.21 system called RhinoTank (the host name and the name in ADSA are the same) via the SQLplus Query Writer. This is what is in the links.dat on RhinoTank:
PegasusBridge,odbc,odbc,DRIVER={AspenTech SQLplus};HOST=PegasusBridge
HalfTrack,odbc,odbc,DRIVER={AspenTech SQLplus};HOST=HalfTrack
This lets the end user be able to ask for tags from three different systems (RhinoTank, PegasusBridge, and HalfTrack):
Here is the query and results in case the screenshot is too small:
select Name as Feed from RhinoTank, ip_input_value as Current Value, ip_input_time as Received At: from feed;
write '';
select Name as Feed from PegasusBridge, ip_input_value as Current Value, ip_input_time as Received At: from PegasusBridge.feed;
write '';
select Name as Feed from HalfTrack, ip_input_value as Current Value, ip_input_time as Received At: from HalfTrack.feed;
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feed from RhinoTank Current Value Received At:
------------------------ -------------- --------------------
Feed 55.0 13-JUL-20 17:05:00.0
Feed from PegasusBridge Current Value Received At:
------------------------ -------------- --------------------
Feed 44 13-JUL-20 17:05:00.0
Feed from HalfTrack Current Value Received At:
------------------------ -------------- --------------------
Feed 61 13-JUL-20 17:05:00.0
Notice how the link name is presented before the name of the record (PegasusBridge.Feed and HalfTrack.Feed).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is another example:
Contents of the links.dat:
PegasusBridge,odbc,odbc,DRIVER={AspenTech SQLplus};HOST=PegasusBridge
HTX311FC,odbc,odbc,DRIVER={AspenTech SQLplus};HOST=RhinoTank
Notice in the second line that the link name ( HTX311FC ) is completely different from the server (host) name ( RhinoTank )
Query:
select ip_trend_value, ip_trend_time from ATCAI where occnum < 4;
write '';
select ip_trend_value, ip_trend_time from PegasusBridge.ATCAI where occnum < 4;
write '';
select ip_trend_value, ip_trend_time from HTX311FC.ATCAI where occnum < 4;
Result:
ip_trend_value ip_trend_time
-------------- --------------------
11.37 13-JUL-20 19:33:50.1
2.61 13-JUL-20 19:33:45.1
1.92 13-JUL-20 19:33:40.1
ip_trend_value ip_trend_time
-------------- --------------------
7.04511 13-JUL-20 19:33:50.7
3.44311 13-JUL-20 19:33:45.7
10.8882 13-JUL-20 19:33:40.7
ip_trend_value ip_trend_time
-------------- --------------------
0.277046 13-JUL-20 19:33:52.6
4.56527 13-JUL-20 19:33:47.6
3.50619 13-JUL-20 19:33:42.6
Keywords: multiple tags
multiple records
single query
link.record
link.tag
link.definition
References: None |
Problem Statement: Can Aspen InfoPlus.21 Replication be used to transfer data from normal or history repeat areas? | Solution: AspenTech added this capability in version 11.0. Prior to V11.0, repeat area data could not be replicated from a publisher to a subscriber.
Both the publisher and the subscriber must be at V11.0 or greater for this to work.
In order for history replication to work (for data that is added specifically to history, bypassing the IP_INPUT_VALUE, IP_INPUT_TIME, and IP_INPUT_QUALITY fields) go into the Fields object in the IP.21 Administrator for the specific definition family and set PUBLISH_UPDATES to 'Yes' for IP_TREND_VALUE:
This could also be done through the InfoPlus.21 Definition Editor; double-click the appropriate definition:
Then expand the IP_#_OF_TREND_VALUES repeat area and right click on IP_TREND_VALUE and choose Special | Replication :
And then set Publish Updates to Yes, as shown in the screenshot below. Don't forget to select Record | Save when you are done.
Note: In addition to the above you will need to adjust the IP_MESSAGE_VERSION field in the RepSubscriberDef record on the PUBLISHING system to be
V11
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: Some users are facing problem that Unit excel workbook is being blocked when opening APS or MBO especially for file type Excel 97-2003 Workbooks and Templates. Similar error message as below: | Solution: This problem is due to when open a file that was created in an earlier version of Microsoft Office in newer version.
Select File > Options.
In the Options window, select Trust Center > Trust Center Settings.
In the Trust Center window, select File Block Settings at the left, and then clear the Open or Save check box for the file type that you want to open or save.
Select OK two times.
Try to open or save the file that was blocked again
Notes: Clear the option means allow user to open or save the file. Check the option means block the file.
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: How do I resolve the following error message Another installation process is running when installing Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8? | Solution: From the screenshot above, it can be seen that aspenONE installer is still running when you are trying to install Microsoft .Net Framework 4.8.
Please exist aspenONE installer and proceed with installing Microsoft .Net Framework 4.8 only.
Keywords: Installation, .NET Framework 4.8, SLM
References: None |
Problem Statement: The user installed the last Windows version and now, when we try to open http://localhost:21021/app/multicase/multicase, it shows the page cannot be found. Comparing the registers of the HKEY LOCAL MACHINE, they are a match, and everything seems to be in order. | Solution: Perform the following steps:
Navigate to C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService.
Make the following modifications:
Change MultiCaseDb.mdf to MultiCaseDbOLD.mdf.
-and-
Change MultiCaseFrameDb.mdf to MultiCaseFrameDbOLD.mdf.
Clear the cache for your web browser cache.
Launch Aspen Multi-Case again.
Keywords: Multi-Case; Local Host; Not Launching;
References: None |
Problem Statement: This knowledge base article describes AspenTech's position regarding software compatibility with newly released Operating Systems (OS) or other third-party components (such as a Relational Database, or Microsoft Excel, etc.). | Solution: In most cases, the supported versions of any Windows OS and third-party application will be identified on the AspenTech Platform Support Page: https://www.aspentech.com/platform-support
Some users will ask if a particular version of Aspen Products is compatible / supported on certain version of Windows not listed on the Platform Support page.
In these cases, it is AspenTech's policy that if a product has not been tested on a certain OS/product/platform, then it is not officially supported on that platform. The Platform Support page list the OS/products/platforms that the AspenTech application has been tested with, and therefore is officially supported with.
AspenTech typically does not go back and re-test older versions of its software on newer operating systems/service packs. If, however, Aspen does re-test a released product on a newer operating system/service pack, then a knowledge base article will be published with the latest supported platform information.
Furthermore, supported platforms may change with the release of AspenTech patches. In this case, the release notes for the latest major patch should be checked to verify any newly supported platforms.
There may be some instances where AspenTech Support will attempt to assist users who have problems running their applications on non-supported platforms, however, there is no guarantee that things will work properly - so this would be a use at your own risk configuration.
Keywords: aspenONE
Manufacturing and Supply Chain
Engineering Suite
Asset Performance Management
MES
AES
APM
References: None |
Problem Statement: Known issue: Replace button does not work in Aspen Basic Engineering (ABE) V10 and V11. | Solution: In ABE Datasheet Definer, users may find that the Replace button to iterate through all fields' routes and replace specified strings in these routes does not work. We are working on implementing a fix for this issue in a future release. For the current versions, we provide an executable file that users can run to achieve the same functionality as the Replace button:
1. Download the attached zip file and unzip it into a folder. In the extracted folder, the two key files are Command.txt and ObjectClassReplace.exe. We provide an Excel template file that you can use to test. You will need to place a copy of your Excel datasheet (.xlsm) in this folder when you're ready to apply the workaround.
2. The Command.txt file details the format of the command line to be ran in Command Prompt. Use the example in this text file to write your command line. The example line targets AT Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger.xlsm and the relevant strings. The first string is the value to be replaced in the datasheet fields' routes. The second string is the value you're using for this replacement. For example, we're replacing PIP VEDST003 with HeatCurve in all routes of the above datasheet.
3. After placing your datasheet .xlsm to the folder. Run the Command Prompt using Administrator privilege (you may not need Admin privilege if access to the folder location is not restricted). For convenience, you can change working directory to the folder directory as shown in the screenshot. Otherwise, you can keep referencing the full path. Then provide the command line as explained in step 2 to target your datasheet, including the relevant string modification, and hit enter.
4. The executable will run and produce a MODIFIED.xlsm file. This is the modified version of your datasheet. You can open this file and verify the route change.
Defect VSTS: 476862
Keywords: Datasheet Definer, routes, fields, classview, replace button
References: None |
Problem Statement: We are using V12 APC software with an older license file. For which V12 features will we need a V12 license? | Solution: There are two license keys that are only available in the V12 license that you will need for standard V12 APC products:
SLM_RN_PME_IP64 - This key is required to run V12 Aspen Watch. Starting in V12, Aspen Watch Performance Monitor uses the 64-bit version of Aspen InfoPlus.21 database and related components. Therefore, this key is required for Aspen Watch to connect to the 64-bit IP.21. If this key is missing from the license, Aspen Watch will not run properly and you will see issues noted in this KB article: 000096529
SLM_RN_APC_DLIQ - This key is required to run a Deep Learning IQ application online. You can use the desktop tools for building the Deep Learning IQ model in DMC3 Builder and import it in IQConfig without this key. However, once you deploy the IQ application online and try to run it, it will show licensing issues if this license key is not available.
If you are using V12 Batch APC, there are two additional keys required for that as well, which are part of the V12 license:
SLM_RN_APC_BATCH - This key is required to deploy and run controllers online. License keys are consumed for each Batch Equipment deployed. One or several controllers can be deployed for each Batch Equipment.
SLM_RN_APC_BATCH_USER - This is a zero-token license required to access the Batch APC web workflow and runtime dashboard.
Keywords: APC, advanced process control, v12, version 12, license, keys, deep learning, aspen watch, batch
References: None |
Problem Statement: If you pretend to display only the date from a timestamp of a tag (similar to a 'substring' in SQLplus) in an object of Aspen Process Graphic Studio, follow these steps: | Solution: 1. Select a Text Data object:
2. Double click on the object or right click>Properties.
3. In the properties Window, go to Data tab. There, put the name of the tag from you will retrieve the timestamp in the Name field. In the Attribute field type IP_TREND_TIME:
4. In the General tab, set Total Length to 9 (In IP_TREND_TIME the date of the timestamp is saved as DD-MMM-YY, so 9 characters would be necessary):
5. Click OK and Publish the graphic to aspenONE Process Explorer. The object will display only the date of the timestamp:
Keywords: Graphic Studio
A1PE
Timestamp
References: None |
Problem Statement: How can I confirm if AspenTech SQLplus ODBC drivers (64-bit or 32-bit) are already installed on my computer? | Solution: When creating an ODBC connection it is important to identify if the proper drivers are installed. One quick way to confirm it is by looking at the ODBC Data Source Administrator:
1. For 32-bit driver, open ODBC Data Source Administrator (32-bit) and go to Drivers tab. Check if in that list AspenTech SQLplus appears:
2. For ODBC 64-bit driver, open ODBC Data Source Administrator (64-bit), click on Drivers tab and check if AspenTech SQLplus driver is on the list:
If the drivers are not on any list, you would need to enable a custom installation for the drivers. Please check this article for more information: How do I enable an aspenONE custom installation?
Keywords: ODBC
SQLplus
Drivers
References: None |
Problem Statement: How to use aspenONE Process Explorer Admin that enables searching data directly from aspenONE Process Explorer? | Solution: From the Window Start menu on the aspenONE Process Explorer server, click aspenONE Process Explorer Admin. The ADMIN tool will open in the browser, displaying the Manage Search Data page.
The Search data is broken into these categories: All, Files, Tags, APRM, S95 Tags, and Assets. Here are more details about each category.
Managing All Data:
Use the All tab to manage Search data for all data sources on the web server. This operation is similar to the Files and Tags tabs, but instead of entering or selecting specific tags or files to update, all data will be updated. When managing all data, decide how often to scan: Perform a one-time scan or Schedule a daily scan.
To perform a one-time, on demand scan, just click Start Scan. You will be asked to confirm whether you want to scan all data. Once confirmed, you will see status messages in the message box.
To schedule a daily scan, select the Enable daily file scan and synchronization at: check box. Then select the time of day to scan and click Apply. You will see a message confirming the scheduled scan.
When the scan is complete or successfully scheduled, close the browser window.
Managing Files:
The Files tab lets you manage the search of files that you have saved in aspenONE Process Explorer. This includes plots, graphics, tag lists, or OEE files. You can update or delete a single file or multiple files from the Search database. This is also where you will purge deleted files from the Search database.
Managing Tags:
The Tags tab lets you manage tags on a data source level. You can update tags, add tags, remove tags from the Search database, or remove a data source to prevent all tags on that data source from being included in the Search database.
To update, add, or delete tags:
1. Select the data source for which you want to manage tags.
2. Specify how to scan your tags:
3. To update all tags, select All Tags.
4. To update one or more tags, select Tag Name. Type the tag name in the box and then click Add. You can also paste a list of tags from a document or from an SQLplus query (tags must be separated by a comma and a space; for example, Tag1, Tag2, Tag3) and then click Add. To remove a tag from the working list, select the tag in the lower box, and click Remove.
5. To update tags by InfoPlus.21 folder, select IP.21 Folder. Enter the folder name in the box and then click Add. To remove a folder from the working list, select the folder in the lower box, and click Remove.
6. To update a subset of tags using a wildcard, select By Wildcard (*). Enter the tag criteria including the wildcard (*). The wildcard can be either at the beginning or the end of the string. Click Add. To remove a string from the working list, select it and then click Remove.
7. Do one of the following:
8. To update tags, click Scan Tags.
9. To delete tags, click Delete Tags.
10. Once the operation is complete, close the browser window.
The procedure for the scan or remove APRM Data, S95 Tags, and Assets is the same as the tag scan/remove procedure above.
For more detail information, please review the aspenONE Process Explorer Admin help manual: http://localhost/ProcessExplorer/WebHelp/aspenONEProcessExplorer.htm#html/Managing_Search_Data.htm
Keywords: aspenONE Process Explorer Admin
Data Search
References: None |
Problem Statement: How can I prevent the Aspen Process Data Excel add-in functions from recalculating when opening an Excel spreadsheet? | Solution: A volatile function causes recalculation of the formula each time Excel recalculates.
To disable recalculating the formula when opening the spreadsheet, open the formula, cilck the Advanced option, and uncheck the Make formula volatile option.
Keywords: Aspen Process Data
Excel add-in
Volatile
Make formula volatile
References: None |
Problem Statement: Sometimes, you may encounter below issue when trying to import PIMS generated Access database into Power BI. Are there any settings in PIMS that need to be changed to make the DB readable.
How to solve this issue and connect to Access database with power BI? | Solution: 1. The purpose of the database engine is to allow PowerBI to connect to MS access. You should keep the same version of MS Office and PowerBI. Kindly visit the MS support site regarding this issue via: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=285987
2. Also, if you are using MS Office 32-bit and PowerBI. Please download and install AccessDatabaseEnginefor 32-bit from the below link.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13255
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: How can I create a plot in a1PE that includes tags from several historians. | Solution: Here is the procedure:
1. Open the ADSA Client Config Tool on the ADSA server as an administrator, click the configuration tab, and press the button Public Data Sources.
2. Press the Add button to configure a new data source. For example, use the following steps to add an Aspen InfoPlus.21 data source.
a. Add the “Aspen Process Data (IP.21)” component entering the name of the Aspen InfoPlus.21 server in the Host Name field.
b. Add the “Aspen Process Data Service” component
c. Add the “Aspen SQLplus service component” entering the name of the Aspen InfoPlus.21 server in the Host Name field.
3. Click “OK”
4. Configure the second Aspen InfoPlus.21 data source using the steps listed above.
5. Open the ADSA Client Config Tool on the a1PE server as an administrator. Check “Use Public Data Sources” under System Settings, and enter the name of the ADSA server in the field Directory Server.
6. On the a1PE server, search and open the “AspenONE Process Explorer Admin” and scan the tags from all of the available data sources.
7. Create a new plot and add tags from multiple Data Sources
Keywords: a1PE
Multiple Historians
AspenONE Process Explorer Admin
ADSA
References: None |
Problem Statement: How can I retrieve tag's definition record using a query? | Solution: Run the SQL query below on the Aspen SQLplus, and the output will return the definition record of a tag.
select name, definition from all_records
where name = 'Tag Name';
In the above example, the tag ATCAI belongs to IP_AnalogDef record.
Keywords: Definition record
Aspen SQLplus
all_records
References: None |
Problem Statement: Can Aspen Plus Dynamics handle substreams with solids? | Solution: Unfortunately, substreams with solids (such as CISOLID, NC, NCPSD and CIPSD) are NOT supported.
Aspen Plus Dynamics supports:
Conventional components
Pseudocomponents, assays and blends
Electrolytes (bothTrue and Apparent component approaches)
Polymers
Keywords: Aspen Plus Dynamics; Solid substreams; Solids;
References: None |
Problem Statement: Sometimes, users failed to open any archived APS model which was able to be opened successfully on the machine. Some users may receive a ‘Fatal error’ message but some may not, before APS crashed and forced to close.
How do we troubleshoot and solve this issue? | Solution: First, test with Aspen APS demo model (C:\Users\Public\Documents\AspenTech\Aspen Petroleum Scheduler\Demo) and see if the user can open this demo on the problem machine.
If the user fails to open APS demo model. This issue could potentially be a Microsoft access driver issue, and It is suggested to perform a Microsoft Access Database engine upgrade.
If the Microsoft Access Database Engine upgrade does not work, please go to download Microsoft Access 2013 Runtime from Microsoft at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39358 [microsoft.com]
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: According to KB: What are the different types of matrix files generated in XLP? （https://esupport.aspentech.com/S_Article?id=000066693）
XMps.mps - Holds initial activities for variable
XMps.Xlp - Holds final activities of variables
XMps_New101.Mps - Holds activities of input | Solution: From below example, when there’s no input file provided in PIMS-AO model
The value of T. PGUESS is quoted for the property variable (“Qpppsss”).
The flow variable (“Sxxxyyy”) is all set to 1. Where do these values come from?
Solution
Xmps_xxxxxx.mps is a text file that is written when the reporting option is turned on. It is not used by the solver. The solver uses Xmps_xxxxxx.xlp where the xxxxxx is the parent case number.
The values in the input file used by the solver do not contain the inputSolution values, if those are used. That file is read directly by the solver. The Q-variables have values based on PGUESS or by values throughout the model. The flow variables are using a setting on the XNLP Settings, General tab, called Default Initial Value.
The *.mps file can be written at different times in the process and may or may not contain the inputSolution values, if one is used. However, this file is not used by the solver.
The Xmps_newxxxxxx.mps only has matrix structure and bounds, no values. So the values you see in the matrix analyzer come from initializing the object in the matrix analyzer and are not meaningful. In general, to see initial values for variables, it needs to open the xlr viewer and look at the 0th iteration.
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: This | Solution: describes what firewall ports need to be opened in order to allow greater visibility and access to Aspen Advance Process Control (APC) applications information via the Aspen Production Control Web Server (PCWS) especially when the Process Control Network (PCN) firewall is blocking access.Solution
Download the attached PDF, APC Products Firewall Port Information.
The attached document discusses firewall port requirements for PCWS, Aspen Watch and Aspen Advanced Process Control applications that are deployed between a Process Control Network (PCN) and a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The goal of this document is to allow PCWS web data to be more visible to corporate or Business Lan users.
Note : Please remember that V10 Port Configuration between Aspen Watch and PCWS has been changed. Previously when defining the port for Aspen Watch History Access to PCWS the task used was TSK_DEFAULT_SERVER. Now the task to configure is TSK_ORIG_SERVER. This Information can be found in the attached file (Revision 6 Feb 2021).
Keywords: APC, port numbers, firewall, access, WCF, CORBA, Dais , HPT plots
References: None |
Problem Statement: Are TEMA 10th and ASME codes updated in EDR V11.1? | Solution: Yes, ASME 2019 & TEMA 10th are included in V11.1
Key Words:
TEMA, ASME, EDR
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: When trying to add a FCC (or any other refining block) to Aspen HYSYS, I get the following error message:
“Failed to initialize Aspen Properties ap(r)pdf file” | Solution: This issue happens whenever the block being placed tries to access the Aspen Properties startup directory and it is unsuccessful. To solve this issue, you need to make sure that the Aspen Properties startup directory exists and that it points to a folder to which you have write/read privileges.
Although the issue appears in HYSYS, the startup directory is set directly in Aspen Plus. To check or change its path, please follow the steps below:
Open Aspen Plus (same version as HYSYS)
Click on New to open a blank simulation
Click on File > Options
Select Files, scroll down until the field “Locations”
Change the Default working directory to a place where you have write/read privileges.
Click on Apply and OK
Close Aspen Plus
Once the startup directory folder is correctly set, there should be no issues initializing the Aspen Properties ap(r)pdf file when adding the refining block to the HYSYS Flowsheet.
Note: if you do not have Aspen Plus installed in your machine, you may need to manually change this location from the Registry Editor. The path will change according to your version. For V10, for example, the path is:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\AspenTech\Aspen Plus\36.0\mmgini
Find the registry startupdir and change the path to a suitable location.
Keywords: Ap(r)pdf, Crash; FCC; Refining; Aspen Properties Initialization;
References: None |
Problem Statement: For a DMC3 or DMCplus online controller, the variable details on the PCWS web page show a Transform Parameter called referencePoint. What does this parameter mean and how is it calculated?
Example screenshot from PCWS variable details page: | Solution: The reference point is a value in engineering units of the variable being transformed. If the object being transformed is with respect to a change from the current value, then the transform uses the current value as the reference value in the calculation.
For example, the Max Steady State Move Limit is calculated in the transform space as:
Transfomed(SteadyStateMoveLimit) = Transformed(
Keywords: referencepoint, reference point, transformations
References: + SteadyStateMoveLimit) – Transform(Reference)
Whereas, the transformed Operator Limits are just:
Transformed(OperatorUpperLimit) and Transformed(OperatorLowerLimit)
These entries don't depend on a reference value because there is no change from the current value being performed. That is, the Operator Limit value is just a value and the Operator Limit in the transformed space is just the transformed operator limit.
Internally online (or in simulation), the current value will be the reference point that is used in the transformation calculation. However, the value displayed on the PCWS is not related to the current value but only used if the offline User Interface doesn’t have a current value available and needs to plot or calculate something where the reference value is used. This displayed value is shown as a default for calculating changes or deltas in the transform space, but only used if the current value isn't available as a reference.
In general, the reference point you see is calculated as per the following:
If the highest value in engineering units and lowest value in engineering units are both greater than zero: reference point = lowest value
If the highest value in engineering units and lowest value in engineering units are both less than zero: reference point = highest value
If the highest value in engineering units and lowest value in engineering units are opposite signs or either one is zero: reference point = (highest value + lowest value)/2
This can be seen by adjusting the highest and lowest values in the engineering limits and redeploying the controller to see the reference point change. From a user perspective, this displayed value is just by default and can be ignored for an online controller as it is not actually being used in the calculations. The actual reference point used in calculations for an online controller is the current value, when it is available.
Defect ID: VSTS 543786
Target for V14 to include an explanation of this parameter in the Help File Entry Dictionary. |
Problem Statement: New model setting preferences have been introduced from Advisor 7.0 which can affect the volume and mass calculations in Advisor.
These preferences may be viewed using the File | Preferences... menu option, in the Model Settings box of the User Tab.
Only superusers may change these values, however, all users may view them.
What is the Weight Reduction Factor and how is it used in Advisor? | Solution: The Weight Reduction Factor is normally only used by International (Non-US) Oil Refineries, and is based on International Petroleum Standards.
The WRF is used to convert liquid densities measured in vacuum to liquid densities measured in air, and is Calculated as follows: DensityAir = DensityVacuum - WRF
The WRF, if supplied, is applicable and used in all mass-to-volume and volume-to-mass calculations, but especially required for custody transfer calculations.
The normal value used for WRF is 0.0011 kg/l (for base temperature of 15 deg C), but a refinery could use a different factor based on company policy, different base temperature, or different base unit of measure for gravity.
Base Units of Measure for the Advisor model should be Metric, either 15 or 20 degrees C.
Kg/l or Specific Gravity (SG) should be the base Unit of Measure for Liquid Density.
Nothing else needs to be done regarding units of measure in Advisor.
Liquid product densities should be entered into Advisor as lab values measured in vacuum. Advisor will convert to densities measured in air, whenever product liquid density is used in a calculation.
The certain calculations mentioned in the online help for Weight Reduction Factor, (...the weight, in specific gravity units of measure, that is subtracted from the liquid gravity property for certain calculations.), are actually all calculations involving a product's liquid density (mass-to-volume or volume-to-mass calculations). If a value is entered for WRF, it is used in every calculation involving liquid product density.
Keywords: Advisor
weight reduction factor
volume calculations
Mass calculations
density
specific gravity
References: None |
Problem Statement: This knowledge base article describes how Aspen Advisor's weight reduction factor (WRF) is used. | Solution: The WRF is used to convert liquid densities measured in vacuum to liquid densities measured in air.
The specific equation used is as follows: DensityAir = DensityVacuum - WRF
Once a value is entered for the WRF it is used throughout the model.
The default value of the WRF is zero.
This effectively disables the WRF calculation until a non-zero value is specified for the WRF.
Keywords: specific
gravity
density
atmosphere
References: None |
Problem Statement: The following error message can be returned when attempting to open an Aspen Operations Reconciliation and Accounting (AORA) model with a user account which does not have Superuser privileges.
A model ModelName must be configured by a SUPERUSER before continuing. Contact your administrator.
** This knowledge base article explains why this message is generated. | Solution: Version 2006.0 of AspenTech's aspenONE software for Aspen Operations Reconciliation and Accounting
or AORA, (formerly known as Aspen Advisor) introduced a new Model Name parameter which must be
configured for each new or upgraded model.
The Model Name parameter is used to distinguish individual Aspen Advisor models as follows:
To provide a unique identifier for each of the AORA models in the AFW Security Manager when Aspen Framework is used to secure the Aspen AORA model database.
NOTE: Starting with the V8.0 Release, all Functionality and Support for Managing the AORA User Security using the AFW Security Manager has been Removed.
To provide a unique identifier for each of the AORA models configured to use the New Audit Trail Generation feature that was added to allow for auditing of AORA plant (model database) configuration changes using Aspen Audit & Compliance.
Instructions for configuring your AORA model database to use the Audit Trail Generation are also provided in the Aspen Operations Reconciliation and Accounting Installation Guide.
For aspenONE V11.0 those instructions are included in Chapter 4 entitled, Configuring for Audit Trail Generation, starting on Page 29 (PDF
Keywords: AFW Security
Aspen Framework
Audit Trail Generation
Model Name
ModelName
Model Settings
Preferences
References: Pg. 33 of 63) of the Install Guide.
IMPORTANT: The Object Audit Schema for the Audit Trail Generation for AORA is also documented in the Appendix of the AORA Release Notes for the aspenONE V7.1 Release.
To provide a unique identifier for each of the AORA models configured to use the Aspen Enterprise Integration Framework (EIF) Adapter to Publish the Reconciled AORA Production Balance data to the reporting framework data warehouse, and also for models that instead use the Aspen Advisor Recon Publisher service to Publish Reconciled AORA data directly back to the data Historian.
New Documentation for the Updated Aspen Enterprise Integration Framework (EIF) Adapter will be posted with the documents distributed for download
from the Support Site starting with the V7.2 Release, and for help with the configuration of the Aspen Advisor Recon Publisher please call AspenTech Support.
OTHER IMPORTANT NOTES:
The error messages and user prompts associated with the Model Name field as of aspenONE V2006.0 and newer aspenONE versions of AORA are By Design.
The Model Name parameter is required for all AORA models regardless of whether or not Aspen Framework Security is used to secure AORA, and is also required regardless of whether or not the AORA model database is configured to use the Audit Trail Generation feature.
In AORA model cases where the AFW Security is used to secure the AORA model database and also when the AORA model database is configured to use the Audit Trail Generation feature, then in both model cases the Model Name text provided must be unique.
Superuser privileges are required to set this parameter. This error message will be returned for all users who DO NOT have Superuser privileges if the Model Name parameter field is not populated.
When logging into a New or Existing AORA model or when Upgrading an Existing AORA model to aspenONE V2006.0 and higher, then if and only if you are logging into and/or upgrading the model using the Superuser account the Model Name parameter value if missing will automatically be added and set by the system to a default value equal to the ODBC DSN Model Name that you have defined for the model database connection.
For more detail on the expected error and message prompts displayed when creating and/or logging into a New or Existing AORA model as the Superuser or when Upgrading an Existing AORA model with the Superuser account, then please review the added notes provided in KB Article 000057133.
This parameter is accessed through the AORA Menu Bar in the GUI via File | Preferences | User as shown below. |
Problem Statement: When Upgrading my Aspen Operations Reconciliation and Accounting (AORA) model database or when
Creating New AORA accounting models, then why do I now receive the ModelName errors and user prompts
associated with the new Model Name parameter that was not available prior to aspenONE V2006.0? | Solution: As noted in KB Article 000064793, the New Model Name parameter was added to the AORA model setting preferences
starting with aspenONE Version 2006.0, and this parameter MUST be configured for each new or upgraded model.
IMPORTANT: TheSolution notes provided below are applicable assuming that you are logging in as the Superuser account when opening or upgrading your existing AORA model.
When creating a New AORA model database, then the system will automatically log you in the first time as the default Superuser account upon completion of the model creation.
** For more information on the purpose of the New Model Name parameter, then please review KB Article 000064793,
which also documents the other error users will receive if the Model Name parameter is missing and they are not logging
in as the Superuser account.
A.) Model Name parameter behavior and prompts displayed for AORA Model Database Upgrades:
When Upgrading your AORA model database (simply open with New Software Version to Upgrade),
then after completion of the automated update of the database tables the following message will be displayed:
During the Upgrade the Model Name parameter value is automatically set by default to be equivalent to the
ODBC DSN Model Name that you have defined and are using to open and login to the AORA model database.
Thus, in the example screen shot shown above the ODBC DSN Model Name that was used to login to and open the AORA model to execute the model database Upgrade was AdvisorUpgrade.
Now, when you click the OK button on the message box noted above, then for aspenONE versions starting with V2006.5 the following message will also be immediately displayed.
(** See KB Article 125257 for more details on the New Equation DLL Selection Feature that was added starting with aspenONE V2006.5):
The Fatal Error warning message for the Equation DLL shown above that is displayed starting with V2006.5 is now by design as well,
and as soon as you click the OK button on the message box to continue processing and the AORA model database finishes loading,
then the Preferences dialog immediately appears to allow you to select the proper Equation DLL for your AORA model basis
(i.e., the Equation DLL for 60F, 15C, or 20C):
IMPORTANT: The Preferences dialog does not automatically appear when creating a New Model.
B.) Model Name behavior and prompts displayed when Creating New AORA Models:
When Creating a New AORA model database the new database will login automatically as the Superuser account and load
without displaying any messages about the Model Name parameter, thus allowing you to open the Preferences dialog manually
to enter your own Model Name parameter value as desired before closing the model.
If you then close and reopen the newly created AORA model database without ever opening the Preferences dialog
to configure (set) a value for the required Model Name parameter, then upon reopening the model database you will
receive the following message prompt.
With respect to the message prompt screen shot displayed above, then again what the message indicates is that the AORA system has now automatically set the value of the Model Name parameter by default to be equivalent to the ODBC DSN Model Name that you have defined and are using to create, open, and login to the New AORA model database. Thus, for the example message prompt shown above the ODBC DSN Model Name that was defined and used to create the New AORA model database and to login again when reopening it was NewAdvisorModel.
Once you click the OK button, then you may open the Preferences dialog and change the Model Name parameter to a name of your choice, and in all cases regardless of what other AORA applications and features are being used it is always recommended that you make the defined Model Name for each AORA model database unique.
IMPORTANT: If you delete or try to leave the Model Name parameter blank and close the Preferences dialog without supplying a value, then you will get the following error:
How to change the existing Model Name parameter value:
1.) Open the Aspen Operations Reconciliation and Accounting GUI.
2.) Login to and Open the AORA model database for which the existing Model Name is to be changed.
IMPORTANT: You MUST login as the Superuser account to be allowed access to change the Model Name value.
3.) Click File | Preferences... from the AORA Menu Bar to display the Preferences dialog.
4.) In the Model Settings section of the dialog form, enter a new yet still unique Model Name value.
5.) Click OK.
Keywords: Create New Model
Model Name
ModelName
Model Settings
Model Upgrade
Preferences
References: None |
Problem Statement: How can I get the Jobs that are stuck in Queued status to execute in Unified PIMS? | Solution: If you've run multiple jobs in Unified PIMS, but they are stuck in Queued status and are not Executing, as shown in the example below:
You need to restart Aspen Unified service by following the steps below. This should solve the issue:
Go to Windows start -> type service
Restart Aspen Unified Agent supervisor service
Launch Aspen Unified again
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: The IP_VALUE_FORMAT and OEE_EVENT_TYPE_FMT fields of the existing OEEDef records show as empty after the InfoPlus.21 upgrades from Pre-V11 to V11, which makes the existing OEEDef records not functional.
Here is the OEEDef record in V10.1. Notice that the formatting of the field is directly specified in the FIELD_FORMAT_RECORD. This means the field formats are hard coded in the definition record and all records defined by OEEDef will use this formatting.
Now, below is the OEEDef record in V11.0. Notice that formatting of some of the fields in the FIELD_FORMAT_RECORD points to another field in the record, which means these formats are configurable in each record defined by OEEDef. For example, the OEE_EVENT_TYPE is pointing to the OEE_EVENT_TYPE_FMT, and the OEE_EVENT_TYPE_FMT is left as empty in V11.0. The IP_VALUE_FORMAT is also left as empty in V11.0, which makes the existing OEEDef not functional.
After an InfoPlus.21 upgrade from Pre-V11 to V11, the new OEEDef fields IP_VALUE_FORMAT and OEE_EVENT_TYPE_FMT will be left empty. | Solution: In order to make the existing OEEDef records functional, we need to manually populate the empty fields of OEEDef records in V11.0.
Here is a SQL query that will populate the empty formatting fields in the existing OEEDef records:
Update OEEDef
Set OEE_Event_Type_Fmt = 'OEE-EventTypes'
Where OEE_Event_Type_Fmt Is Null;
Update OEEDef
Set IP_Value_Format = 'F7.2'
Where IP_Value_Format Is Null;
After running this SQL query in Aspen SQLplus, the existing OEEDef records will be functional.
Also, we recommend to manually configure the OEE_EVENT_TYPE_FMT field to OEE-EventTypes and configure the IP_VALUE_FORMAT field to F7.2 in V11.0. By doing this, the newly created OEEDef records will have both fields configured.
Keywords: InfoPlus.21
OEEDef
IP_VALUE_FORMAT
OEE_EVENT_TYPE_FMT
Aspen SQLplus
References: None |
Problem Statement: How can a design a column with a both tray section and a packing section? | Solution: Use the equipment model for a double diameter tower, specify trays in one section and packing in the other. You may also choose to specify the same diameter for both sections.
Keywords: Trays, packing , tower, column
References: None |
Problem Statement: The Solorigate/Solarwinds supply-chain cybersecurity attack reported in December 2020, has had a major impact to government entities, hundreds (if not thousands) of private sector companies, and the cybersecurity industry as a whole. This incident highlights the threats, risks, and challenges that we in the cybersecurity community are constantly striving to combat. | Solution: Corporate security and response
AspenTech is not a Solarwinds customer and does not use Solarwinds Orion. Although the company is not directly impacted by the Solarwinds compromise, it is important that we step back and learn from this incident.
Despite not using Solarwinds Orion, we are assessing our environment to ensure there are no indicators of compromise or unusual behavior. We are also working with our security vendors to implement countermeasures for Solorigate and the FireEye breach and theft of their red team tools.
While it is not particularly exciting and can sometimes be viewed as security saying “no” to the business, this incident reenforces the importance of a strong vendor management program. We will continue to proactively manage our suppliers and assess the security of the tools and systems we rely on.
Product Security
We take our role as a key supplier and partner to our customers seriously and are constantly striving to reduce risks, improve our processes, and strengthen our security posture. We are reviewing our build processes, code reviews, code signing, and release processes to help reduce risks to our products and by extension risks to our customers.
Secure Development Lifecycle
AspenTech uses the Microsoft Secure Development Lifecycle (MS-SDL) as our primary benchmark. We leverage our technology partnership with Microsoft to continuously monitor and expand our security maturity. MS-SDL is also aligned closely with other standards (e.g. ISA 62443).
Figure 1: AspenTech’s approach to the MS-SDL
Security checkpoints are built into our SDLC process including security risk assessment, threat modeling and design reviews, scanning with SAST and DAST tools, as well as quality and security testing. The final security review also includes malware scanning, code signing, and release certification.
Build processes
Securing the software development build process is a vital component in delivering secureSolutions. It includes multiple controls and processes that ensure only people that need access have access, that source code is safely protected on the developer’s workstations, that DevSecOps processes are monitored, and code modifications are reviewed.
The Product Security Program is coordinated by a Product Security Core team in the CTO Organization, with expertise in AspenTech product design and secure coding best-practices. The core team is supplemented by an extended team with representatives from across the organization including R&D, Product Management, IS, DevOps, and DevSecOps which facilitates implementation of cybersecurity initiatives and fosters an overall culture of pervasive security. There is also a robust role-based security training program that builds and maintains expertise across the entire secure development lifecycle.
Conclusion
We want to share a Microsoft blog post “A moment of reckoning” which indicates that “44% of targets were in the information technology sector”. Attackers are clearly widening their operations to target the supply chain and leveraging “a new generation of private companies” to execute attacks.
With these increasing threats, it is important that security professionals continue to collaborate with each other to share threat intelligence so that we collectively can better respond to incidents, secure our critical infrastructure, and guard against these threats. To that end, we will look for opportunities to share more cybersecurity related information and strengthen our partnerships with customers, vendors, and the cybersecurity industry.
Customers can subscribe to security alerts using a valid AspenTech support account. To subscribe, login to the AspenTech Support Portal and modify your email preferences under the Update My Profile menu item. Select the Security Notifications checkbox to opt-in.
If you have any questions or concerns, the AspenTech Security Emergency Response Team (ASERT) is a process that provides rapid response and reSolution to customer-reported security incidents with respect to AspenTech software. It is staffed with resources from the Product Security and Customer Service teams.
To report a cybersecurity issue, you can submit a ticket or call the Customer Support telephone number in your region and follow the prompts for security issues. You can find a list of contact numbers at https://esupport.aspentech.com/Contact_Phone
Keywords: Solarwinds
Solarigate
Product Security
Supply-chain attack
References: AspenTech Support Center: https://esupport.aspentech.com/s_login
FireEye Solorigate countermeasures: https://github.com/fireeye/sunburst_countermeasures
FireEye red team countermeasures: https://github.com/fireeye/red_team_tool_countermeasures
Microsoft Blog “A moment of reckoning”: https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2020/12/17/cyberattacks-cybersecurity-solarwinds-fireeye/ |
Problem Statement: Is there a troubleshooting guide for Aspen Multi-Case? | Solution: Please download the attached pdf document with some tips for troubleshooting issues related to Aspen Multi-Case.
Keywords: Aspen Multi-Case, troubleshooting guide, multicase
References: None |
Problem Statement: The reactor in my simulation is giving the error:
** ERROR
PHYSICAL PROPERTY PARAMETER DHFORM OR DHAQFM IS MISSING
FOR THE FOLLOWING COMPONENTS:
H2
ABSENCE OF THIS PARAMETER WILL RESULT IN INCORRECT ENTHALPY RESULTS.
However, DHFORM and DHAQFM for Hydrogen (H2) are available in the databanks. Why am I getting this message? | Solution: The missing parameter check is made when the species amount is changed by more than 1e-8 kmol/s. Generally, to avoid the error message, the parameter DHFORM needs to be added for the component.
For H2, the problem is that for some reason “0” was entered for the number of occurrences of Hydrogen (H) in the molecule H2.
This results in the component formula no longer matching H2 and results in the message. There can also be issues with the atomic balance since the H atoms are not properly counted. Removing this erroneous row, eliminates the problems.
The strange 0 atoms is a results of clicking Calculate Bonds on the Components | Molecular Structure | Structure and Functional Group sheet for H2.
Keywords: None
References: : VSTS 111838, 542790 |
Problem Statement: Minimum Recommended Hardware and Software Pre-requisites for new SLM Server Deployment | Solution: Minimum Recommended Hardware for SLM Server:
Operating System
Windows 10 Anniversary Enterprise & Professional (64 bit)
Windows 8.1 Update 1 Enterprise & Professional (64 bit)
Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2016
Windows Server 2012 R2
Ubuntu Server Edition 20.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS / 16.04 LTS
Virtualization
Microsoft App-V 5.1
Microsoft Hyper-V (Server) – not supported in India and China due to no support for USB dongle detection
VMware ESXi Hypervisor Server 6.x
Computer & Processor Intel Core i5 family or faster
Memory (RAM) 16 GB
Hard Disk 120 GB available
Network 100 MBPS
Software pre-requisites for installing aspenONE Software License Manager - V12:
SLM Tools and SLM License Server
Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.8
Microsoft Internet Explorer or any browser
Auto Upload Tool
Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.8
Microsoft Internet Explorer or any browser
Microsoft Internet Information Services
Internet Information Services 6 compatibility component
Metabase Compatibility
WMI Compatibility
Legacy Scripts Component
Legacy Snapin Component
WCF Services .NET Framework 4.5 Features
HTTP Activation
Microsoft Internet Information dependent components
Windows Authentication
Basic Authentication
New users can request for V12 installation media download from Media Upgrade
Detailed instructions on “How to obtain the locking information while requesting Aspen Tech license” can be viewed on KB 82419
Detailed instructions on “How to install Microsoft .NET Framework” can be viewed on KB 144800
Users can also check out the Pre-requisite Viewer for other product pre-requisites.
For hardware or platform specification, download the latest specifications from Platform Support
Keywords: SLMV12, Recommended Hardware, Software, Pre-requisites, IIS, Online Prerequisite Viewer, .NET Framework, SLM Server
References: None |
Problem Statement: How to horizontally scale Agent Service to distribute Agent’s processing load? | Solution: Agent Service can be setup on multiple servers to balance the Agent's processing load. Aspen Mtell installer allows granular install of the Agent Service. Users can opt to install this on the Aspen Mtell Application Server, and/or choose to scale out horizontally to distribute the load to other dedicated Agent Service servers.
Installing Agent Service:
To install the Agent Service, launch aspenONE Installer.
On the Product selection page, select Agent Service.
Click Next and Next to start the installation.
Setup Mtell Application Server machine to use multiple Agent Services:
Launch Aspen Mtell System Manager
Select Agent Services within Configuration Tab
Click Find Services button
Select the Agent Service Server and click Add
Note: You can also use Add Services and type Fully Qualified Domain Name of the Agent Service Server and click Add.
Select the Server and click Update Registration
Select the Server and click Start Processing
Assign Asset to use new Agent Service server:
Launch Aspen Mtell System Manager
Select an Asset within the Equipment tab and click the Details option
Select the new Agent Service within the dropdown.
Select Agent Service for all the Assets which require scaling.
Note: Agents will be scheduled based on the schedules selected within the Mtell application server. All Agent Services will follow single schedules selected in the application server.
Keywords: Load Balance Agent service
Share Agent service
Distribute Agent processing load
References:
How to horizontally scale Training Service to distribute Agent’s training load? |
Problem Statement: Is it possible to configure the timeout when using the sqlplusx utility from a command prompt? | Solution: The command sqlplusx allows users to run SQLplus commands from the MS-DOS command line. The utility is found in the Program Files\AspenTech\InfoPlus.21\db21\code directory. It is documented in the on-line help for SQLplus, accessed from the SQLplus Query Writer tool. However, the on-line help does not include a timeout parameter that can be used with this command.
If you go to a DOS prompt, you can obtain more complete usage information by entering sqlplusx /? from the proper directory.
Usage:
sqlplusx [/h=hostname] [/p=port] [/t=timeout] [SQL command]
Executes an SQLplus command on a remote node.
If /h is not specified, the SQLplus default host from from the query writer. If /h is specified but /p is not specified, then port 10014 is used If /t is not specified, the execution timeout is 30 seconds. SQL command should be enclosed in double quotes.
If SQL command is not specified, the command is read from the standard input. The standard input can be redirected from a file.
Example:
sqlplusx select name from definitiondef
sqlplusx /h=myhost select name from definitiondef
sqlplusx < t.sql
The standard input can be redirected from a file.
Keywords: time out
timeout
configurable
References: None |
Problem Statement: How do you model Methylene Chloride solvent recovery from a waste water stream? | Solution: Methylene chloride is recovered from combined process waste streams before the waste water is discharged to the sewer. A simulation model of the solvent recovery flowsheet provides a tool to target the optimal operating conditions. The process objective is to meet government methylene chloride emissions standards while minimizing the steam usage.
Aspen Plus backup (.bkp) files used to model this process are attached:
Filename
Description
MECL1.bkp
Steam Feed to Primary Tower is varied
MECL2.bkp
Steam Feed to Secondary Tower is varied
MECL.bkp
Optimization is used to minimize the total steam consumption
Process Description
The combined process effluents waste water stream consists of methylene chloride and water. The waste stream is fed into two flash towers in series. Steam is directly injected into the two towers to strip out the methylene chloride. The bottoms of the secondary tower is discharged into the sewer. Government specifications require that the outlet methylene chloride concentration be less than or equal to 150 ppm. The vapor overheads are collected and condensed. A decanter separates the condensate into a methylene-chloride-rich stream and a water-rich stream.
Methylene Chloride Solvent Recovery Flowsheet
Physical Properties
The properties of methylene chloride and water are obtained in the Aspen Plus pure component data banks.
The NRTL-RK property method is used to model the properties. The Renon activity coefficient model, NRTL, is used for the liquid phase physical property calculations. The Renon model is well suited for highly nonideal liquid mixtures. Binary interaction parameters between molecular species are required to predict the liquid phase nonideality. These are retrieved from the LLE-ASPEN binary data bank since liquid-liquid equilibria is important in this process. Since the vapor phase has a little nonideal mixing effects, the Redlich-Kwong equation of state is used for the vapor phase physical property calculations.
Process Operations
Unit Operation
Aspen Plus Block
Primary Tower
Flash2
Secondary Tower
Flash2
Decanter
Flash3
Other Features
The Sensitivity capability in Aspen Plus is used to analyze the effect of the two key process variables - the steam usages of the primary and secondary towers. The sensitivity studies provide insight as to what the optimal operating conditions are.
The Optimization capability is also demonstrated in this example. The process constraint is to meet the government methylene chloride emissions requirement of 150 ppm. The two decision variables are the steam flowrates fed into the primary and secondary towers. The objective function is to minimize total steam consumption.
Simulation Results
In the Sensitivity study varying the primary tower steam feed rate with the steam feed to the secondary tower fixed at 5,000 lb/hr, it can be seen that as more steam is added to the primary tower, the methylene chloride concentration out of the two towers decreases. The target of 150 ppm is reached with total steam usage is reached with a total steam usage of 15,660 lb/hr.
In the Sensitivity study varying the secondary tower steam feed rate with the steam feed to the primary tower fixed at 10,000 lb/hr, it can be seen that the methylene chloride concentration out of the secondary tower decreases as more steam is added. The methylene chloride concentration out of the primary tower remains the same since the steam feed to the primary tower is fixed. The target of 150 ppm is reached with total steam usage at 15,560 lb/hr.
From these two cases, we recognize that the distribution of steam consumption between the two towers has an important effect on the removal of methylene chloride.
In the optimization study, the minimum amount of steam required to meet emissions specifications is 13,154 lb/hr. The distribution is:
Steam Flow
Primary Tower
10733 lb/hr
Secondary Tower
2421 lb/hr
The steam distribution is quite different from that first hypothesized in the sensitivity studies. The simulation model was also able to specify the minimum level of steam consumption required.
The total amount of steam required to meet the 150 ppm emissions standard for the three cases are tabulated below:
Total Steam (lb/hr)
Sensitivity 1
15,660
Sensitivity 2
15,560
Optimization
13,154
Steam savings of 2,406 lb/hr can be achieved via the simulation study. Assuming steam costs $2.50/1000 lb, the estimated cost savings are about $40,000/year.
Model Usage
The model can also be used to study the impact of various other key process variables, such as methylene chloride composition, on the bottoms emissions.
Keywords: dichloromethane
CH2CL2
MeCl2
effluent
References: None |
Problem Statement: Installation of Microsoft SQL Server Express 2005 SP3 guide for Engineering products. | Solution: As part of the Aspen Engineering Suite the user is required (in most cases) to install Microsoft SQL Server Express 2005 SP3 as a prerequisite. AspenTech provides the installation media on the Aspen Engineering Suite V7.3 32-bit DVD.A Attached is a step by step guide to install the software.
For Troubleshooting issues with Microsoft SQL Server Express 2005, please see KB 135745.
Keywords: SQL Server Express, Installation guide
References: None |
Problem Statement: How do you run Aspen Properties Excel examples? | Solution: Several examples have been developed to show how the Excel add-in for Aspen Properties can be used for a variety of calculations performed by chemists and chemical engineers.
Each example is contained in a zip file that includes the Excel spreadsheet that performs the calculations, the Aspen Properties file (.aprbkp) that defines the property models, methods and parameters, and usually a Word document that provides detailed documentation and background information.
In order to run an example, perform the following steps:
1. Extract the files contained in the particular zip file into a directory of your choice.
2. Double click on the Excel file to run it.
3. The Aspen Properties Excel add-in automatically updates the path to the .aprbkp file if it is in the same directory as the xls file.
4. The first time you open the excel file, you will typically get two messages. Respond as follows: a. 1st message will ask about updating links. Click No. b. 2nd message will say that aprbkp file is not found. Click OK.
5. Save the Excel file in th same directory. You will not get any messages if the Excel file is re-opened.
Please contact AspenTech if you have problems running these examples, have suggestions to improve these examples or have examples you would like to contribute.
Keywords: Aspen Properties Excel template
Aspen Properties Excel example
References: None |
Problem Statement: How do you model an Acetone solvent recovery process? | Solution: Aspen Plus backup (.bkp) file used to model this process are attached:
Filename
Description
ACETONE.bkp
Acetone Solvent Recovery with Acetone\Water VLE Analysis
Process Description
Acetone, a commonly used solvent in the pharmaceutical industry, is recovered from a water-acetone mixture. The treated aqueous stream after solvent recovery should contain a maximum of 100 ppm of acetone. The column operating conditions required to meet the emissions specification is determined via simulation. The heat exchanger area required for heat recovery is also calculated.
The acetone recovery flowsheet is shown below. The feed stream of the water-acetone mixture is preheated by the bottoms of the distillate column before being fed to the column itself.
The molar reflux ratio and the bottoms flow rate for the column are varied such that the overhead composition is 2% water and the bottoms liquid contains 100 ppm of acetone, respectively.
Acetone Solvent Recovery Flowsheet
Physical Properties
The components defined in the simulation model are acetone and water. The physical property constants for the molecular species are obtained from the Aspen Plus pure component data banks.
The NRTL-RK property method is used to model the properties. The Renon activity coefficient model, NRTL, is used for the liquid phase physical property calculations. The Renon model is well-suited for highly nonideal liquid mixtures. Binary interaction parameters between molecular species are required to predict the liquid phase nonideality. These are retrieved from the VLE-RK binary data bank. The Redlich-Kwong equation of state is used for the vapor phase physical property calculations.
The vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) curve for the acetone/water system can be generated from the parameter values using the Analysis tools. The Plot Wizard is used to plot the results. The VLE curve at 1 bar pressure is shown below.
Vapor-Liquid Equilbrium Curve for Acetone/Water System
Process Operations
Unit Operation
Aspen Plus Block
Distillation Column
RadFrac
Preheater
HeatX
Simulation Results
The model allows the optimal operating conditions for the column to be determined easily. Sensitivity studies can be added to study the impact of changing key process conditions such as inlet feed compositions on the bottoms acetone concentrations.
Keywords: C3H6O tower
References: None |
Problem Statement: Is it possible to model a divided wall column in Aspen Plus? | Solution: Aspen Plus can be used to model divided wall columns.
Attached an example model for a divided wall column. This model runs in either sequential modular (SM) mode or equation oriented (EO) mode. EO is very appropriate for this application since it can converge highly interconnected flowsheets such as this one where SM has problems.
Note that the model is setup as a hierarchy block in order that the column can be depicted as one block with an appropriate custom icon. Double click on the divided wall icon to see how two RADFRAC models are connected to represent the divided wall column.
A model library for the divided wall column is also attached. The model in the library is fully configured. The model library can be used in any flowsheet by selecting divided wall from the
Keywords: column
divided-wall
RadFrac
References: s in the Library menu. Use the Browse button to find the model library (.apm) file if divided wall is not in the list. Once the library has been selected, the divided wall column is on the my columns tab of the Model Library palette. |
Problem Statement: How do you determine the properties for a system of Methanol-Methyl phenyl ether(MPE)-Phenyl propyl ether(PPE)? PPE is not available in any Aspen Properties databanks. | Solution: The basic methodology is as follows:
Estimation
Estimate vapor pressure of PPE. Use PPE.mol file for structure.
Estimate VLE for methanol-MPE (over-ride database parameters).
Use Aspen Properties Excel add-in to compare predictions and data. See the attached files PPE-0.APRBKP and PPE.XLS.
Data Regression:
Fit vapor pressure of PPE.
Fit VLE for methanol-MPE.
Use Aspen Properties Excel add-in to compare fit and data. See the attached files PPE-1.APRBKP and PPE.XLS.
Keywords: Aspen Properties Excel example
Aspen Properties Excel template
References: None |
Problem Statement: How can Excel be used to calculate of pure-component properties? | Solution: Pure component properties are often needed and the Excel add-in to Aspen Properties provides a convenient way to obtain standard pure-component properties.
Outline of Calculation Procedure
Aspen Properties is used to calculate several properties of a selected pure component from those defined in the aprbkp file.
The lower temperature limit of the calculations is the larger of the triple point temperature and 0ºC.
The upper temperature limit of the calculations is 90% of the critical tempearture in Kelvin.
Note that the triple-point temperature and the critical temperature are not yet available in the Excel add-in, so these values have been pasted in from Aspen Properties
Results
This simple example demonstrated the ease with which standard pure component properties may be obtained and visualized
Keywords: Aspen Properties Excel example
Aspen Properties Excel template
References: None |
Problem Statement: Are properties for an aqueous ammonia system correct and accurate enough to model processes like ammonia refrigeration? | Solution: This package presents and evaluates the Aspen Properties physical-property model for aqueous ammonia. The application demonstrates the accurate and reliable physical properties that Aspen Properties provides for this important system and shows how they can be evaluated and studied through the Excel add-in for Aspen Properties.
Correct and accurate representation of the aqueous ammonia system is very important for reliable simulations of processes like ammonia refrigeration. The present package uses the NRTL-RK model in Aspen Properties.
The physical-property model parameters have been fitted to provide an accurate description of the thermodynamic properties of the aqueous ammonia system. The remainder of this report demonstrates the model accuracy by providing comparisons between the model calculations and experimental data. The model calculations have been made using the Excel add-in for Aspen Properties. As an example, the Excel add-in is used to produce the enthalpy-concentration diagram reported in Perry's Chemical Engineer's Handbook.
Phase Equilibrium
The accuracy of phase-equilibrium predictions is very important for reliable process calculations. Figure 1 and Figure 2 compare model predictions to TPxy experimental data. The model provides a quantitatively accurate description of the data, including the high-temperature region. The range of the model is temperatures from about ambient (25 C) up to the critical temperature of ammonia (132.5 C). The model covers the entire composition range from pure water to pure ammonia.
Figure 1 - Pxy Diagram of Ammonia-Water. Comparison of model to Data of Mueller Mueller, G.; Bender, E.; Maurer, G., Ber. Bunsen-Ges. Phys. Chem., 92, 148-160 (1988)
Figure 2 - Pxy Diagram of Ammonia-Water. Comparison of model to Data of Gillespie Gillespie, P.C.; Wilding, W.V.; Wilson, G.M., AICHE Symp. Ser., 83 (256), 97-127 (1987)
Excess Enthalpy
The model describes the enthalpy of the pure components quite accurately. Thus the accuracy of the mixture enthalpy model depends on the accuracy of the excess enthalpy in the liquid phase. Figure 3 presents a comparison between model predictions and data for the excess enthalpy.
Figure 3 - Excess Enthalpy of Aqueous Ammonia. Comparison of model to data of Staudt1 Staudt, H.J., Ph.D. Dissertation, Universitat Kaiserslautern (1984)
The model provides a reasonably good description of the excess enthalpy. At ambient temperature the error is about 250 J/mol, which corresponds to an uncertainty of about ?4 kcal/kg. We thus expect good accuracy for the mixture enthalpy.
Enthalpy-Concentration Diagram
Engineers often use enthalpy concentration diagrams to understand and design chemical processes. Due to the familiarity with and confidence in these enthalpy-concentration diagrams, it is important that Aspen Properties produces an accurate representation of the enthalpy-concentration diagram for aqueous ammonia. In order to do this, the enthalpy reference state for the pure compounds must be shifted to the one used typically used, which is that the enthalpy of liquid water and liquid ammonia are zero at 0 C and -77 C for water and ammonia, respectively. Note that while the enthalpy reference is unimportant for process cycle calculations, the thermochemical enthalpy reference usually used by Aspen Properties must be used to correctly model the heat effects of reacting systems.
Figure 4 has used the Excel add-in for Aspen Properties to produce an enthalpy-concentration diagram for aqueous ammonia that closely matches the one in Perry's Chemical Engineer's Handbook.
Figure 4 - Enthalpy-Concentration Diagram for Aqueous Ammonia Calculated by Aspen Properties
This presents accurate properties for the industrially important aqueous ammonia system and demonstrates that the properties are quantitatively equivalent to those in the enthalpy-concentration diagram reported in Perry's Chemical Engineer's Handbook.
Keywords: NH3
H2O
ammonia
water
refrigeration
References: None |
Problem Statement: Is it possible to use the Aspen Properties Excel Add-In to estimate solubility processes in drug research and production? | Solution: Note: To use the followingSolution, Aspen Polymers Plus must be installed, although no license is required.
This example illustrates how the Aspen Properties Excel add-in may be used to calculate and analyze solubility processes in pharmaceutical research and production. In particular, it presents, evaluates, and uses the Aspen Properties model, NRTL-SAC, for the solubility calculation of ASPIRIN, in solvents and mixed-solvents.
This example demonstrates the following features:
A custom Excel-based interface for correlation of the drug solubility data using the NRTL-SAC model
Prediction of the drug solubility in single solvents and mixed solvents using Aspen Properties Excel Add-in
Analysis of the drug solubility using Aspen Properties Excel Add-in
This example has an attachment which include 4 files.
A word document explaining theory and step-by-step instruction
An Aspen Properties back up file
An Excel spreadsheet, Aspirin-DRS.xls, for regressing parameters, entering data for drug of interest
An Excel spreadsheet, Aspirin-Calculations.xls, for analyzing solubility, phase equilibrium, etc.
If you would like to simply browse the analytical results with Aspirin, open the Aspirin-Calculations.xls file and browse through the workbook to see how the Aspen properties results compare with literature data.
If you would like to use this example to estimate the solubility of your own compound, you need to start with Aspirin-DRS.xls file, enter data for your compound and solvent, and then do a regression to create the Aspen Properties file. Finally, launch Aspirin-Calculations.xls to analyze the solubility.
If you have further interest regarding this topic, there is one day training course. Here is the link to course content: http://support.aspentech.com/supportpublictrain/FrameTrain.asp?CourseInfo.asp?course=course213&key=
Keywords: NRTL-SAC
NRTLSAC
Solubility
excel template
References: None |
Problem Statement: Do you have an example of an end-user interface to ACM in Visual Basic? | Solution: Attached is a simple example in Visual Basic 6. The interface let's the user select a simulation (e.g. tank.acmf). The simulation file is then loaded in ACM (which can be made not visible). The user can then press the run button to run the simulation (asynchronous run). The user can change the value of selected variables (e.g. the feed flowrate, the feed concentration and the value constant). The level in the tank is displayed, as well as a simple animation is used to show graphically the level in the tank. The user can also press the pause button, and the restart button.
The code is attached. Hopefully this can give you some ideas, or at least to show that it is feasible to develop simple graphical interface for people to use a simulation developed in ACM (or Aspen Dynamics) but not interact directly with ACM.
Keywords:
References: None |
Problem Statement: ELECNRTL uses VL1BROC which is the Brelvi-O'Connell model for the Liquid Molar Volume (VLPM) model as shown on the Properties\Property method\ELECNRTL\models sheet.
At 25 C (77 F), ELECNRTL seems to use about 61.5 cc/mole for the molar volume of CO2 as calculated from PHIPC. However, according to Brelvi-O'Connell correlation published in AIChE J v.18, p.1239 (1972), the partial molar volume of CO2 should be 36 cc/ mole in water. Why is ther a difference between the partial molar volume calculated from ASPEN PHIPC and Brelvi-O'Connell correlation? | Solution: The Brelvi-O'Connell partial molar volume for CO2 from Aspen Properties is actually 36.8 cc/mol, which is in good agreement with the Brelvi-O'Connell 1972 paper.
Since CO2 is declared as Henry's component, the property PHIPC does not apply to it; therefore, one cannot use it to backout partial molar volume. PHIPC is calculated for all components in the stream, but is not used in the calculation of fugacity cofficient of CO2 in the mixture. PHIPC applies to solvents only. If PHIPC is used to back out molar volume, it is actually the pure molar volume.
The fugacity coefficient of CO2 in the mixture is calculated using Henry's law. We use the Brelvi-O'Connell model for the infinite-dilution partial-molar volume used for the Poynting correction of unsymmetric (Henry) components. This is called HNRYPC in the system, but we do not have a prop-set property for it; therefor, users cannot tabulate it.
The infinite-dilution partial-molar volume can be extracted from the pressure dependence of PHILMX at fixed composition and temperature, which is calculated in Analysis PT-4 in the attached bkp file. The calculation of the partial molar volume is done, based on the results in PT-4, in the attached spreadsheet.
Keywords:
References: None |
Problem Statement: How to obtain parameters for the COSMO-SAC model used in Aspen Plus? | Solution: The parameters in COSMO-SAC have to be computed from a fairly complicated quantum mechanical calculation, but this calculation must be done only once for a particular molecule. Aspen Plus does not provide these parameters, i.e., Sigma Profile and Molecular Volume, nor can it do COSMO quantum calculations to obtain these parameters. There are some commercial software tools available to perform COSMO quantum calculations. The below is a selected list of references for details on how to calculate these parameters and where you can get these parameters:
Eckert, Frank and Andreas Klamt, Validation of the COSMO-RS Method: Six Binary Systems Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 40, 2371 (2001).
Eckert, Frank and Andreas Klamt ,Fast Solvent Screening via Quantum Chemistry: COSMO-RS Approach, AIChE Journal ,48, 369 (2002).
Klamt, Andreas, Conductor-like Screening Model for Real Solvents: A New Approach to the Quantitative Calculation of Solvation Phenomena , J. Phys. Chem , 99, 2224 (1995).
Klamt, Andreas, COSMO and COSMO-RS, Encyclopedia of Computational Chemistry, Paul von Rague Schleyer, editor, Wiley, New York (1998), pp. 604-615.
Klamt, Andreas, Volker Jonas, Thorsten Burger and John C. W. Lohrenz, Refinement and Parameterization of COSMO-RS, J. Phys. Chem A , 102, 5074 (1998).
Klamt, Andreas and Frank Eckert, COSMO-RS: A Novel and Efficient Method for the a Priori Prediction of Thermophysical Data of Liquids, Fluid Phase Equilibria,172, 43 (2000).
Lin, Shiang-Tai, Quantum Mechanical Approaches to the Prediction of Phase Equilibria: Solvation Thermodynamics and Group Contribution Methods, PhD. Dissertation, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 2000
Lin, Shiang-Tai and Stanley I. Sandler, A Priori Phase Equilibrium Prediction from a Segment Contribution Solvation Model, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res, 41, 899(2002a).
Lin, Shiang-Tai and Stanley I. Sandler, Reply to Comments on A Priori Phase Equilibrium Prediction from a Segment Contribution Solvation Model Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 41, 2332 (2002b).
Panayiotou, Costas, Equation-of-State Models and Quantum Mechanics Calculations, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res, 42, 1495 (2003)
Keywords: COSMO-SAC
References: None |
Problem Statement: After correctly installing Aspen Chromatography 12.1 release on starting the application the user may obtain a cannot find license for AEA_AspenChromatography error.
It is has been found that the installation routine installs but fails to register the licensing component strgxi2.dll located in the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Hyprotech\Shared (exact path may be different) folder. | Solution: Any of the following will resolve the issue:
Open a command prompt in the folder:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Hyprotech\Shared
and enter:
regsvr32 strgxi2.dll
You should be notified of successful registration
Install Aspen Custom Modeler 12.1. The installation process will correctly register this component
Download and install Aspen Chromatography 12.1 cumulative hotfix 1. Part of the patching routine is to correctly register this component.
Keywords: AEA_AspenChromatography, strgxi2.dll, License Management
References: None |
Problem Statement: When creating a custom databank or inhouse databank (inhspcd.dat), the dfms command:
dfms input_file report_file
may fail with a critical or severe error. When opening the report file, there is a line that says INHSPCD (or other databank filename speficified in the DFMS input file) - FILE INVALID. This error line indicates that the DFMS experienced problems creating or writing to the specified file e.g. inhspcd.dat.
This can happen with Windows XP or later versions of Windows. Files and folders are often listed by the XP operating system as Read-Only. Supposedly, this a tracking mechanism used by XP to keep track of folder customization which is something XP does by default. The net result of this is that some programs such as DFMS which runs from the command line or a DOS type enviroment has problems executing since it thinks the target file has a Read-Only status and cannot be changed by DFMS. | Solution: The workaround to this problem is to make sure that the target DFMS file (defined in the DFMS input) does not exist. In other words, either rename or delete the inhspcd.dat file in the Program Files\Aspentech\APRSystem <version>\Engine\Dat folder or use a different filename in the DFMS input file.
We have not yet found a way of turning off the feature in XP that resets the file attributes to read-only and simply changing the inhspcd.dat file attribute to not read-only does not work since XP immediately sets it back to read-only.
Keywords: DFMS, custom, user, usrpp1, usrpp2, custinst, mmtbs
References: None |
Problem Statement: Where are the installation guides installed for AES 12.1? | Solution: Install all the documentation first.
Then, use the Start button to get to your documentation.
For example, Start/Programs/AspenTech/Aspen Engineering Suite/Aspen Engineering Suite/Aspen Engineering Suite 12.1 Documentation will bring up a folder called AES 12.1 Product Documentation.
If you go up one folder to AspenTech, you will find the two user guides called
AES 12.1 Install Guide
and
AES 12.1 What's New Guide
in the directory ...\Program Files\AspenTech.
Keywords:
References: None |
Problem Statement: There are some issues related to obtaining a valid license when aspenDVD 2004 products get installed over AES 12.1 or Heritage-Hyprotech products. | Solution: Running the supplied patch after installing any aspenDVD 2004 products will make the necessary corrections on your PC to prevent these problems from occurring. This will be corrected before the final release.
When to run this patch:
Run this patch after installing any aspenDVD 2004 products on a machine where AES 12.1 or heritage Hyprotech products exist. This patch does not need to be run if installing aspenDVD 2004 products on a clean machine or on a machine where no AES 12.1 products or Heritage-Hyprotech products have been installed.
How to run this patch:
Download the patch file and double click the SLM_Beta2_Patch.exe file.
Keywords: 13.1
2004
beta2
References: None |
Problem Statement: I have noticed that the densities of several components are different in 12.1 than 11.1 using both Rackett and Costald methods. Worryingly, the density of pure water (using a mixture method) seems to be wrong also. This difference is specifically with Pure12 compared to either Pure 10 or Pure 11. | Solution: A number of changes were made to the Rackett and COSTLD parameters in PURE12 databank by re-regressing them against the density data from the DIPPR databank. For water, the regression was done from 273 - 647 K with Average absolute error of 3.9%. However at 25 C, it is not as good as before (about 4%). The original value was specifically fitted at 25 C.
You can switch the databank order on the Components\Specifications\Databanks sheet to use the old values of the parameters.
Keywords:
References: None |
Problem Statement: How to use SQL Plus in Operating Instruction? | Solution: The attached document details the use of SQL Plus in the Batch Plus Operating Instructions. The objective of SQL Plus is to permit users to add any information from the Batch Plus databases to the Operating Instructions templates. SQL Plus is based on SQL (Structured Query Language). SQL Plus statements are added to the standard statements using the Batch Plus toolbar in Microsoft Word. Batch Plus provides a series of key words that permit users to associate the query with the corresponding operation in the recipe. In this manner, when Batch Plus processes the query it knows that the requested information corresponds to the operation that is currently processed in the Operating Instructions. Examples of information that can be added to the standard statements are:
Compositions of vessel contents.
Streams flowrates, compostions, phases, etc.
Emission information.
And any other information that can be obtained from the Batch Plus databases. See the attached document for more details and for specific examples in how to use SQL Plus.
Fixed in Version
Information on the usage of SQL Plus will be added to the on-line help for version 13.1
Keywords: Operating Instruction
SQL
References: None |
Problem Statement: If the license server computer name is changed what should be reported to AspenTech? | Solution: The server name is supplied by your company. It is only needed by AspenTech if you are with a company that has a token license file. AspenTech does supply a utility to facilitate the transmittal the token usage logs that are generated when the software is used. The utility is called Auto Upload Tool and is a part of the installation when the license server is being configured.
If you need us to change the server name in our database, we can do that. You will just need to email us this request to [email protected] including your AspenTech system name. The AspenTech system name can be found on the end of the first line in the license file or by loading the license file into the SLM License Profile and then click on Load Information button. This will populate the top of the display with the company name, AspenTech system name and locking criteria.
Keywords: token usage reporting
license server name
Aspen system name
References: None |
Problem Statement: Why is the System Name field blank when configuring the Auto Upload Configuration Tool(AUT)? | Solution: If the Server Name box is empty the AUT will not work. To fix, run the SLM Configuration Wizard to point to the License Server from which you are collecting the logs. Once is configured, launch the AUT Configuration Tool and the Server Name box should be populated. For instructions on how to use the SLM Configuration Wizard, please see KB 134453.
Keywords: Auto Upload Tool, token, SLM Configuration Wizard, licensing, usage, logs
References: None |
Problem Statement: When I try to make a pivot table from an Excel file that I downloaded from the support. I get this error message: | Solution: SLM Reporter makes Excel files with really long names.
Try renaming the files using shorter names.
Keywords: pivot table
References: None |
Problem Statement: Aspen product will not maximize when initially started but it is running. It should appear as an icon in the computer's monitor tray and also still be in Windows Task Manager. | Solution: There are two solutions to this problem: 1) Try Microsoft Windows key (looks like the Microsoft logo) + the up arrow key on keyboard and the product now shows up maixmize. 2) Look in the tray at the bottom of the monitor's display and identify the icon that belongs to the Aspen product. Right click and you will be given the opportunity to select Maximize. Once it has been maximized it will continue to open in a new window on the computer.
Keywords: Maximize
References: None |
Problem Statement: This knowledge base article lists the support operating systems for aspenONE V8.0 and V8.1 products. | Solution: Supported operating Systems are:
Client:
Windows 7 Enterprise SP1 x86 (32bit)
Windows 7 Enterprise SP1 x64 (64bit)
Windows 7 Professional SP1 x86 (32bit)
Windows 7 Professional SP1 x64 (64bit)
Windows XP Professional Edition SP3 x86 (32bit)
Important: aspenONE V8.0 and V8.1 Software is not supported on Windows 8.
Server:
Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit)
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: How should the zip files associated with downloaded software be 'unzipped'? | Solution: Although, there are several software solutions available to unzip archived files, Aspentech recommends that for the files that are downloaded from the Aspen Support website (support.aspentech.com) you should use the attached executable. This process of unzipping the files will result in the folder structure of the normal DVD that is distributed to you being created and the appropriate files placed in the correct folders.
NOTE: The executable will need to be renamed with an extension of .exe.
Keywords: download
unzip
References: None |
Problem Statement: The verbose installation log is a very useful tool when troubleshooting runtime errors in an msi installation. The installation log is a text file that contains a list of events, property values, components, and features that the Windows Installer evaluates during the installation. The log file helps determine when a particular error occurred in the installation sequence by listing the action that caused the errors.
This knowledge base article documents the general instructions to enable verbose debug logging for an msi install of an individual version 2004 Manufacturing product. This technique is useful when troubleshooting why the installation of a particular product encountered errors. | Solution: 1. Browse to the version 2004 installation CD using Windows Explorer.
2. Open a DOS prompt. Change to the ams70 directory on the CD drive.
3. Type in the correct syntax to run the msi file with the correct arguments (Note: Names of any paths or msi files which contain spaces will need to be enclosed in double quotes when run from DOS.)
The syntax to run an msi file with verbose debug logging is:
Drive:\msiexec /i "Path to msi file" /l*v "Path to output file"
Explanations for each parameter are given below:
Msiexec - This is an executable which will exist on all Windows systems if the Windows installer has been installed. This is the program which actually interprets the msi install package and executes the installation.
/i - This is a command line option to install an msi file.
"Path to msi file" - This path should point to the msi file which needs to be installed. This path needs to be enclosed in double quotes if either the path or the msi file name contains a space.
/l*v - This command line option crease a verbose log. The verbose log may be quite large (1 MB), but will log all available information about the installation process.
"Path to output file" - This is the path to the log file where the verbose messages will be written. Put this path in double quotes if the path or file name contains a space.
The example below runs the Aspen Process Explorer installation then writes the verbose output to C:\apexout.txt.
D:\ams70>msiexec /i "d:\ams70\Aspen Process Explorer.msi" /l*v C:\apexout.txt
When the installation begins, the 'Repair' option can be selected to reinstall the files for the single application.
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: The default DCOM settings of the InstallShield scripting driver have shown conflicts with some local security settings and raise an installation error 1603 that prevents the progress of AspenTech installation or silently causes an incomplete installation of Aspen Plus V7.3 that affects the Aspen Plus Calculation Engine. | Solution: The solution to prevent these installation problems is a two step solution due to the fact there is no way to control which instance of the existing "InstallShield" driver, added by third party software installations, will be used by MS installer during the installation of the AspenTech software.
a). The DCOM settings of the existing "InstallShield" scripting engine are updated with the appropriate settings.
This step can be done with the file "DCOM.VBS" attached to this solution.
b) The InstallShield installer available from the AspenTech installation kit should be updated with a new file which
will set the expected DCOM settings.
USAGE:
1. Download the attached file IISCRIPTZIP and extract to a temporary folder to access the files DCOM.VBS and
IISCRIPT1150.MSI.
2. Run the VBS file attached with this solution in the target machine before launching AspenTech Installer.
3. Prepare the AES v7.x installation media in a network share and replace all the files "ISSCRIPT1150.msi"
present in the original media with the "ISSCRIPT1150.msi" file available from this incident.
3. Launch the AspenTech installation using the updated installation kit.
This solution is applicable to Windows Vista and to Windows 7 x86 and x64.
Keywords: Installation error 1603, Aspen Plus v7.3 incomplete installation, UAC settings, aspenONE deployment errors.
References: None |
Problem Statement: During installation of Aspen Manufacturing Suite (AMS) products on a Windows 2008 system, the installation may stop and show a message box saying :-
"Windows Package Manager error X8007000B"
" An attempt was made to load a program with an invalid format "
After pressing the 'OK' button you might get a new message from the installer :-
" Please refer to the Installation manual to find out how ASP.NET could be enabled " | Solution: Refer to Appendix 'C' of the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Product Family Installation Guide for special instructions on IIS configuration for Windows 2008 systems.
For version 7.3 that would be found in knowledge-base article 131964
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: Installation of Aspen <product name> fails with an error message i.e. "There was a problem with configuring Aspen <product name>. Return code is 1620" | Solution: The error message "Return Code is 1620" usually means the installation package could not be opened, this could be a problem with the DVD ROM or a bad DVD disk.
To know more details about the error code, please visit the following Microsoft article that describes list of error codes and error messages for Windows Installer processes
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/229683
Please copy the disc contents to a network drive and try installing again from the network drive. If the problem persists, please request a new set of DVDs
Keywords: Error
Installation error
Return Code is 1620
References: None |
Problem Statement: When running V7.2 SeparateProdKit, the program cannot locate any product msi file to be separated. | Solution: There is an issue with the version of the SeparateProdKit.exe on the V7.2 DVD. To resolve the issue do as follows:.
1) Copy AspenOne V7.2 DVD1 to your system
2) Copy the following folders from AspenOne V7.1 DVD1 core folder
(X:\aspenONEV7.1dvd1\AES\aspenonev7.1dvd1\core) to the core folder under AspenOne V7.2
ADS
dotNET11
dotNET20
dotNET30
dotNET35
IEWebControls
mdac26
MSMQ
vcredist_x86_VS2008SP1
3) Copy the content of V7.1 ...Core\SQL2K5Expr to V7.2 .....Core\SQL2K5Expr
4) Download the attached file and double click to run
Keywords: SeparateProdKit
MSI
Separate
References: None |
Problem Statement: When packaging a recipe, the Run Plan Assignment dialog does not display the available Run Plan(s). | Solution: Templates containing the strategy items must be assigned to the Strategy.
Once the Template(s) are assigned to the Strategy the Run Plan will be available for packaging assignment.
Important: The Templates assigned to the Strategy must include all Items that will be added to Nodes in the Strategy. Items that are not included in the Templates will not be available for adding to Nodes in the Strategy.
Keywords:
References: None |
Problem Statement: Aspen Transition Manager Server services could not be started after installation. The following error message appears when trying to manually start the service.
No other log or error on the server indicates what is the cause of this problem. | Solution: The services could not started due to an error during the installation that results in the ATM_service entry to not be added to the DCOM settings. To verify this, open Windows Run (Windows button + R) and type in dcomcnfg and press enter to open the DCOM configuration page (see below).
Navigate to Console Root | Component Services | Computers | My Computer | DCOM Config and locate all entries starting with ATM. Shown below is the listing for a system that would have the error in starting the ATM_Service.
Here is the listing for a system without errors
As one can see, the ATM_Service entry is missing for the system with error. The only way to fix this error is to re-install APS/APR.
Keywords: ATM Server Services, Error 1053, DCOM Configuration
References: None |
Problem Statement: What is the best practice of configuring Aspen InfoPlus.21 PUT records to be used in Aspen Process Sequencer or Aspen Transition Manager? | Solution: Aspen Process Sequencer writes values to IP.21 records throughout the sequence, with only those specific values being required to be written out the DCS at that point of time. A simple IOPutDef record with multiple entries on a schedule would not work here because such a configuration would write out all entries in the list at every PUT execution. There are several ways of configuring Infoplus.21 PUT records to be used for Aspen Process Sequencer during a sequence:
One dedicated IOPutDef for each tag to be written to the DCS, with a COS trigger on the time stamp field. This ensures a write even if the value is the same.
One IOPutDef for a group of related tags, which writes all tags listed in the record at the same time when the record is activated. Any tag in the group can be used as the COS trigger for the write operation. Notice that only one COS trigger can be specified per IOPutDef and when every the trigger is activated, all tags in the record will.
One IOPutOnCOSDef record for all tags to be written, so only individual values that change are written. In this case, the value field in the "IO VALUE RECORD&FLD" field is a COS pointer. Issue with this approach is that if the same value is repeatedly written to a tag in IP.21 by Aspen Process Sequencer, there is no COS trigger after the first write, so nothing is sent to the DCS until there is a change.
One dedicated ATM_PutDef for each tag you require to write to DCS. ATM_PutDef is a special PUT that does not require any ScheduleDef/COS to be activated. The value is written to DCS every time that the value of ATM_RECORD field is written by Aspen Process Sequencer, even if it is the same value.
Options 1 or 4 are the recommended method to configure PUT records for Aspen Process Sequencer .
Keywords: IOPutDef, ATM_PutDef, Aspen Process Sequencer, Aspen Transition Manager
References: None |
Problem Statement: Where can I download the WebEx Player? | Solution: To view any WebEx Recording File (.wrf), you will need the WebExA Player installed on your computer. If you do not have WebEx Player installed on your computer, visit the WebEx web site at https://welcome.webex.com/client/wbxclient/atrecply.msi to download the latest version of the free player.
Keywords: webinar, web seminar, recordings
References: None |
Problem Statement: What are the minimum system requirements to access AspenTech eLearning Portal (Litmos)? | Solution: The following are the minimum requirements to access AspenTech eLearning portal:
Internet connection
Provide an exception to aspentech.litmos.com site in your corporate network, if blocked
Use the following browser:
Internet Explorer version 8 and above
Firefox version 40 and above
Safari on Mac version 1.2 and above
Google Chrome
Adobe Flash Player 9+ to view multimedia content
Enable JavaScript and cookies on your browser
AspenTech eLearning portal provides comprehensive on-demand digital training to solve your complex process engineering and operational problems. To learn more, visit the website.
If you continue to have issues accessing AspenTech eLearning portal, then please contact us at [email protected]
Keywords: Litmos
eLearning
References: None |
Problem Statement: How do I subscribe to AspenTech email notifications? | Solution: Users who are interested in getting notifications about following topics can subscribe online on our Support website to get email notifications.
Webinars: Receive invitations to AspenTech webinars to learn how leading companies are optimizing design & operations.
Events: Stay up to date on industry conferences, seminars, and customer relations events.
News & Views: Get notifications on new blogs, white papers, case studies, and more.
Feedback & Influence: Provide feedback on our products and services to help us improve your AspenTech experience.
Technical Support eBulletin: Stay up to date on important technical support information – including product news and patches – relating to your AspenTech products.
Training Opportunities: Our Training team might reach out to you to promote training classes that are available in your area.
Upgrade Notifications: Get notified when an upgrade to your software is available.
Technical Support Advocate (TSA) Invitations: Get invited to case reviews as part of the Premier Plus Support offering.
Security Notifications: Receive updates and announcements related to known cybersecurity threats or issues related to your AspenTech solutions
1. Login to https://esupport.aspentech.com/
2. Click on Support and select Update My Profile
3. Click on Email Preference Center
4. Type in your Email Address and select any notification options based on your interest.
Keywords: marketing email
notifications
email alerts
subscription
References: None |
Problem Statement: How to delete roaming profile for a specific user login? | Solution: User may encounter some issues which are due to roaming profile corrupt issue. To address this issue, customer has to delete roaming profile on both local and roaming server.
Note: User will lose user's preference and setting when a user profile is deleted. Make sure there are backup of all the user files. This task should be followed only by IT administrator.
Deleting user profile on user's machine:
1. Login to user machine with Local Administrator account.
2. Right This PC and select properties
3. Click on Advanced System settings
4. Select Advanced Tab and click on Settings button within Users Profiles
5. Select the user account which has issues and click Delete
6. Click Yes confirming that you want to delete this profile.
Deleting user profile on roaming server:
1. Login to Active Directory
2. Open user's account
3. Go to Profile's tab
4. Copy Profile Path
5. Go to the Profile Path and rename the user profile
Creating new user profile:
1. Ask the user to login to his machine using his account
2. User profile will get created on user machine.
3. Ask the user to logout of the machine.
4. Roaming profile will get updated on roaming server.
Keywords: Roaming profile
user profile
corrupt profile
References: None |
Problem Statement: Economic Evaluation のインストールの際にエラーが出力され、インストールできない。
"Error 1320: The specified path is too long C:ProgramData\Document\AspenTech" | Solution: 1. C:\ProgramData\の下にあるDocumentsフォルダの名前を変更してください。（例：Doc）
2. ProgramDataが見つからない場合ですが、[コントロールパネル]－[フォルダーオプション]の[表示]タブより[隠しファイル、隠しフォルダー、または隠しドライブを表示する]をONにして[OK]ボタンを押してフォルダの表示設定を変更してください。
隠しファイルを表示する
https://support.microsoft.com/ja-jp/help/14201/windows-show-hidden-files
3. Retryボタンを押してEconomic Evaluationのインストールを再実行してください。
Keywords: ProgramData
64-bit
Error 1320
Long filename
Economic Evaluation
Japanese
日本文
References: None |
Problem Statement: Do AspenTech support in-place operating system upgrades if AspenTech Software are already installed? | Solution: AspenTech does not support the in-place upgrade of the Operating System (for example: upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10) when AspenTech software is already installed on the machine. AspenTech recommends uninstalling Aspen Software before upgrading the operating system then reinstall AspenTech software after installing all the prerequisites software.
Keywords: OS Upgrade
Software issue after OS upgrade
OS installed
OS Update
References: None |
Problem Statement: How to change language on a Chrome browser | Solution: This Article explains how to change the language on your Chrome browser.
1. Launch Chrome and go chrome://settings/
2. Scroll down to Advanced
3. Scroll down to Languages and expand Language
4. Click Add language
5. Type the language name and select the language. Click Add
6. Select German and Check Display Google Chrome in this language
7. Close and reopen Chrome for the changes to take effect.
Keywords: Browser language
change language
References: None |
Problem Statement: How to change the language on a Windows 10 Operating System | Solution: This article explains how to change the language on a Windows 10 Operating System.
1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Time & Language.
3. Click on Region & language.
4. Under "Languages," click the Add a language button.
5. Use the search box to find the language you want to use.
6. Select the language, and click the Next button.
7. Check the Set as my Windows display language option.
8. Check the additional features you want to install.
9. Click the Install button.
10. Under "Windows display language," make sure the new language is selected.
11. Under "Country or region," select your location if it doesn't match with your current region.
12. On the right pane, click the Administrative language settings option.
13. In the "Administrative" tab, click the Copy settings button.
14. Under "Copy your current settings to," check the Welcome screen and system accounts and New user accounts options.
15. Click the OK button.
16. Click the OK button again.
17. Restart your device.
Keywords: Language install
Change language
References: None |
Problem Statement: What is the format of the email message when the Auto Upload Tool has successfully sent the token usage logs? | Solution: Below is an example of the email that the customer would get saying that the usage log has been received by Aspentech.
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2015 1:22 PM
To: <customer name>
Subject: RE:AspenTech License Usage Log: AspenTech_TesterAUT_<email address of sender>_c17f6e50-2675-419e-b777-78295883da71.zip
======================================================================
AspenTech_TesterAUT_<email address of sender>_c17f6e50-2675-419e-b777-78295883da71.zip  has been received.
=== This is an auto generated mail. Please do not reply. ===
=== Send support request to [email protected] === ======================================================================
Keywords: email
AUT
Auto Upload Tool
token usage reporting
token usage logs
References: None |
Problem Statement: Where can I find aspenONE product documentation? | Solution: Electronic documentation for any aspenONE products can be found within each product under the Help option or F1 function key.
Documentation for installation and configuration of a product comes with the media download and can be found in the Documents folder.
All product documentation, such as Product Release Notes, Product
Keywords: None
References: , User Guides and Installation Guides, can be located on the Aspentech support website (http://esupport.aspentech.com) by clicking the Support link at the top, then clicking Product Documentation under the Find the Answer section.
A section labeled Browse for Documentation will be displayed. Select your product from the drop downs and click the Go button to display all available documentation for your product.
KeyWords
help files
aspenONE documentation |
Problem Statement: You are unable to download AspenTech software using the Electronic Software Distribution (ESD) system. You may get an error message "Please try again to save to a different location," without actually being able to choose a download path to your local machine. | Solution: This error is normally seen when your company's network firewall settings are preventing the Download Manager feature of the ESD from working properly. A possible workaround is to disable the Download Manager by following these simple instructions:
Step 1:
· Go into your Control Panel on your PC, and open up “Akamai Netsession Interface Control Panel”, highlighted below:
· Click on the “Preferences” tab, and click the “Stop” button, highlighted below:
Step 2:
· Go back to the download page, http://support.aspentech.com/esd/, and click the “Download Now” button
· A different Download Manager screen will appear, shown below, basically telling you that you need the Download Manager to continue. Don’t worry about this, just click the link at the bottom where it says “If you cannot complete the installation, click here”
· The aspenONE Download Manager will appear again, with only one link to download using your browser. Click that link, it will ask you to choose what you want to do at the completion of the download, “Open” or “Save”. Once you have made your choice, your download will start.
Keywords: AspenTech Download
ESD
Akamai Netsession
Download Manager
References: None |
Problem Statement: What is a dump file and what is the use of a dump file in terms of Aspen applications ?
Here is the screenshot of a sample minidump file seen in a debugging environment: | Solution: PURPOSE OF DUMP FILE & ITS USES:
A dump is a snapshot of an application at the point in time the dump is taken.
It shows what the software was executing, what modules were loaded, and if saved with heap contains a snapshot of what was in the application’s memory at that point in time making a dump with heap potentially more useful for diagnosing an issue (dumps with heap do however have the disadvantage of being much larger files making them harder to upload/email).
Dumps are primarily used for debugging issues that occur only machines the developer does not have access to (e.g. a crash occurs when running on a customer’s computer, but does not occur on the developer’s computer).
Dumps are not only useful for Aspen application crashes, another common example is capturing a dump of an Aspen application that is hung/hanging and later crashing.
Dumps are primarily used for debugging issues that occur on machines that the developer doesn’t have access to.
For example, our Aspen Developers can use a dump file from a customer's machine when they can’t reproduce the customer's crash or hang on their machine/environment.
Dump files are different for 32 bit & 64 bit machines, so exact OS bit dump files must be submitted to Aspen Team when the software is crashing or hanging.
How to create a dump file ?
There are many tools for creating dumps, the easiest method is using the Task Manager on Windows Vista and up followed by Windows SysInternals ProcDump (free from Microsoft)
A dump is ultimately created by Windows regardless of the tool used to create it, so “a dump is a dump” regardless of what tool is used Since ProcDump is the most configurable tool for collecting dumps, and is relatively easy to obtain and use, you can refer this article on how to collect dumps with ProcDump: https://esupport.aspentech.com/S_Article?id=000047007
Conclusion:
In short, dump files are useful when you want to report the software crash or software hanging issue for Aspen applications to Aspen software developers so they can fix the problem and provide root cause analysis for the issue occurring on your system.
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: When installing the aspenONE download media on a Windows 7 computer and using the Windows 7 zip extractor, the aspenONE Media becomes corrupt and the error message "Setup.exe is not a valid Win32" will appear when running setup.exe. This error is specific to the Windows 7's zip extractor, because it does not support a large compressed files. | Solution: AspenTech's Best Practice for downloading the aspenONE media, is to include the aspenONE Self-Extractor. Click the checkbox labeled "Include ZIP extractor", and then click the Download button. For more information, visit our Knowledge Base article entitled "aspenONE Download Center FAQ" (KB 42552).
Note: The aspenONE Self-Extractor also includes a checksum to verify that the download is complete, for more information about checksum, visit KB 42675.
The picture below is an example of the aspenONE Self-Extractor.
Note: Windows 10 and other software extractors, such as 7Zip, can be used for large compressed files.
Keywords: Setup.exe, Installing, aspenONE Download Media, Win32
References: None |
Problem Statement: Esupport center allows AspenTech registered users set up language preference. The website will automatically switch into that language. Meanwhile, the KB solutions you searched for in support center will present in that language if it has that version. | Solution: After we log on support center, go to My Profiles in the left panel. In Language section, choose English or your preferred language.
In this case, we choose Chinese. After saving the settings, we will receive an email from [email protected] that records this change.
Now the web page has been switched to Chinese. And if we search for KB solutions of Aspen Plus, we will see this type of Chinese KB solution.
Keyword
Support Center
Language Preference
KB solutions
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: How many ways license can be locked? | Solution: Licenses can be locked in three different ways (Locking Criteria):
Physical Host or Dongle-Free (normally the SLM Server’s main Ethernet Card address).
Virtual (a combination of locking parameters on the Virtual Machine).
Dongle (USB Device).
Keywords: License, Locking Information, Dongle
References: None |
Problem Statement: Does AspenTech validate Microsoft patches for capability with AspenTech software? | Solution: AspenTech does not explicitly test all patches from Microsoft with all of our products. However, security related patches are supported.
Like most companies, our corporate IT rolls out Microsoft patches periodically. As we develop and test our software, we are doing so with systems that are getting periodically updated with the latest patches that our corporate IT deploys. If we encounter an issue, we will work with Microsoft to address it.
Keywords: Microsoft Patch
AES
MSC
aspenONE
Engineering
Manufacturing and Supply Chain
References: None |
Problem Statement: How does Aspen Process Sequencer maintain the RT_Strategy table? | Solution: Aspen Process Sequencer will manage entries in the RT_Strategy table by flushing the table at opportune times. There is no need to delete entries from the table by hand.
Aspen Recipe Explorer, Tools|Options Run tab also has a setting for configuring the number of ?completed? packages that the system should maintain.
Keywords: APR, ATM, transition manager, process recipe
References: None |
Problem Statement: Does Aspen Process Sequencer have a watchdog and what configuration is required? | Solution: Yes, Aspen Process Sequencer has a process similar to a watchdog that monitors the status of packages. This is a built-in feature that does not require any additional configuration.
When a package is started a record defined by ATM_ASYNCDef is created in the Aspen InfoPlus.21 database. The record, ATM_ASYNCxxx (where xxx is the Package identifier) is filled with download destination information from the Recipe. Each ATM_AsyncDef record feeds ATM_IP21 asynchronous updates. ATM_IP21 in turn feeds the updates back to ATM_EXEC. ATM_IP21 will check every 15 seconds to see that a COS has been received. If after 45 seconds, a COS has not been received, an alert is sent back to the client and the package is stopped.
Here is a description of Aspen Process Sequencer processes.
ATM_IP21
Responsible for performing any Aspen InfoPlus.21 write operations. If there are no Packages, ATM_IP21 will not appear in the task list. The process runs on the Aspen InfoPlus.21 computer, which may or may not be local to the Aspen Process Sequencer server.
ATM_ADMIN
Interacts with Aspen Recipe Explorer, and is the main server process for Strategy development and editing. The process starts the ATM_EXEC process when creating a Package at the Run Level.
ATM_EXEC
Handles Packages that are created at the Run Level through ATM_ADMIN. The process remains running until Packages are no longer running and are deleted. If there are no packages in the system, ATM_EXEC will not appear in the task list.
Keywords: ATM, APR, Process Recipe
References: None |
Problem Statement: How do I manually send the license usage logs to AspenTech? | Solution: You may submit your log files manually to the AspenTech Customer Care Team by sending them to [email protected]. If you are registered for the Aspen Licensing Center, you will be able to access the usage reports.
Important: when emailing your usage logs to the customer care team, please provide the System Name, Server Name, log start date, log end date and customer company name to enable them to upload the log files associated with that information.
Please Note: We are unable to process log files received without system and server names. The system name is an identifier assigned by AspenTech for the License Manager. The Server name is the machine name of the server hosting the SLM software.
Q: How can I locate my SLM System Name?
A: You can retrieve your SLM license System Name through one of the following two options:
The system name is located at the end of the first line in the license file. Manually reading the license file.
Supply the location of where the license is located at the top and then click `Load Information? which will populate the top section of the form with the company name, system name and lock mechanism. Using the Aspen SLM License Profiler.
Q: How do I locate the usage log files?
A: Follow the steps below to collect the usage log files.
Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\AspenTech\SLMServerLogs folder on the license server
Select all the file that starts with lserv*.* and omit/exclude those with .md5 extension and ZIP them.
If there is no lserv.log file in the folder, the usage logging may not have been enabled or the location is set to another path.
Right-click on My Computer and select Properties,
Click on "Advance System Setting" on the left side-menu.
Click on "Environment Variables" button at the bottom.
Look for LServOpts under System Variable. This will show you the location of the usage log files.
If there is no LServOpts found, then create a new enviroment variable using the below parameter.
Name: LServOpts
Value: –l "C:\Program Files(x86)\AspenTech\SLMServerLogs\lserv.log" -z 5m -lfe
Before sending the SLM logs to AspenTech you may need to mask confidential data, such as user names or IP addresses from those files to meet privacy regulations. KB article 130280 explains how to mask user information when sending the logs automatically via the Auto Upload Tool or manually via e-mail.
Keywords: token usage logs, manual submission, scramble for privacy
References: None |
Problem Statement: Why is the ALC Auto Upload Tool (AUT) unable to upload the token usage logs to AspenTech?
You may see an entry in the LogProcessorTrace.txt file like this:
Note: LogProcessorTrace.txt will be located in the following folder location: C:\Program Files (x86)\AspenTech\ALC
<Date Time> Start Processing Log File.
<Date Time> Getting All Log Files, directory C:\Program Files (x86)\AspenTech\SLMServerLogs\
<Date Time> GetLogFileStartEndDate, Open File Error: C:\Program Files (x86)\AspenTech\SLMServerLogs\lserv.log
<Date Time> No Start Date or End Date Error: C:\Program Files (x86)\AspenTech\SLMServerLogs\lserv.log
<Date Time> Getting New Log Files
<Date Time> New log files not found Error: | Solution: This may be caused by the windows service that is capturing the license denial information (SLM Usage Log Data Win Service), this service is using lserv.log file at the time AUT is trying to send the token usage logs to AspenTech.
Follow below steps to resolve this issue:
1. Go to services.msc
2. Right click SLM Usage Log Data Win Service and select properties
3. Change the Startup Type: Manual and click Apply
4. Restart the server.
5. Reconfigure the AUT tool with same settings.
6. The next scheduled update will be successful.
Keywords: Auto Upload Tool
Aspen ALC Auto-upload schedule service
SLM Usage Log Data Win Service
References: None |
Problem Statement: How do I resolve the error message, "A system reboot is pending. Please reboot the computer before installing additional products" when installing aspenONE V8.0 and above products. This message still appears after rebooting. | Solution: Note: Using the Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide problems that may require you to re-install Windows to correct them. Modifying the Windows Registry should only be performed by experienced Administrators.
Launch Registry Editor As Administrator, Click start -> Type regedit and right click on Regedit and select Run As Administrator.
32-Bit versions of Windows:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
64-Bit versions of Windows:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
Delete AspenTechReboot key then close the registry and start the installation by clicking setup.exe.
Keywords: system, reboot, pending, V8.0, installation, computer, runonce, registry
References: None |
Problem Statement: Which aspenONE products have been localized to different languages? | Solution: Customers are interested in having access to translated versions of many of our products. aspenONE software is available in multiple languages to shorten learning curves and accelerate process optimization. We localize our software's in Portuguese, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French and Korean languages.
Click on below link to view localization information for each product version:
aspenONE V12 Localization - Product & Language Matrix
aspenONE V11 Localization - Product & Language Matrix
aspenONE V10 Localization - Product & Language Matrix
aspenONE V9 Localization - Product & Language Matrix
Keywords: Software
Translate
Localize
Internationalization
Local
Transl
localization
translations
References: None |
Problem Statement: You may see messages similar to the following logged by the store process in the message log file located on an Aspen Cim-IO server:
CIMIO_SF_CFG_UPDATECFG_LOAD, Error loading scanner information
CIMIO_SF_CFG_REG_KEY_UPDATE, Error creating store file configuration key in registry | Solution: The account used to start the Cim-IO server tasks on the Aspen Cim-IO server does not have privilege to update system registry entries. Change the account used to start the Cim-IO server tasks to one that may update system registry entries.
Key Words
registry
cannot delete store file
Keywords: None
References: None |
Problem Statement: Example of how the physical property flash monitor is called in a user model | Solution: Attached is an example of how the physical property flash monitor is called in a user model
This example illustrates how the Aspen Plus physical property flash monitor is called from a user model for a Pressure-Heat Duty (PQ), Temperature-Pressure (TP), Pressure-Vapor Fraction (PV) and a Temperature-Vapor Fraction (TV) flash. The pressure is set equal to the stream feed stream pressure. The temperature and vapor fraction are passed to the user routine as the first and second block parameters, respectively. The heat duty is read from a heat feed stream with the residual heat being placed in an outlet heat stream. This example also demonstrates how to:
Write to the Control panel,
Utilize block parameters in the Graphical User Interface that are passed to the user routine, and
Write to the report file (runid.REP) using the IPASS variable and report file header (RPTHDR) utility..
This routine supports one material feed stream, one material product stream, and a single product heat stream. Two real parameters, temperature and vapor fraction, are passed to the routine. The heat stream is used to define the flash duty for the PQ flash.
The integer parameter is used to set the flash type: 1=PQ, 2=TP, 3=PV, 4=TV.
Keywords: None
References: : Scopus 102349
SUBROUTINE USRFLS (NSIN, NINFI, SIN1, SIN2, SIN3, SIN4,
$ SINFI, NSOUT, NINFO, SOUT1, SOUT2, SOUT3, SOUT4,
$ SINFO, NSUBS, IDXSUB, ITYPE, NINT, INT, NREAL,
$ REAL, IDS, NPO, NBOPST, NIWORK, IWORK, NWORK,
$ WORK, NSIZE, SIZE)
C |
Problem Statement: How do I get number of agents, assets and sites information from Aspen Mtell Database? | Solution: The PowerShell script will help to provide number of agents, assets, sites The PowerShell script is designed to run on any Aspen Mtell client machine
1. Download CST_GatherMtellData.ps1 and config.xml in same folder location. Ensure you have write permission within the folder.
2. Open and edit the config file with company name, SQL server name/instance, and database name, and then save
a. You can find the input DatabaseName and DatabaseServer from Mtell System Manager (see below) or Agent Builder. You'll need to press Database Connection in the top ribbon.
b. Note: DatabaseServer = Data Source (APM in the below image)
3. Right click and run the PS1 script.
4. We attempt logging in with MtelligenceUser, if this fails, you will be prompted to log in to the SQL database via the script.
Keywords: CompanyName
PowerShell
script to get list of alert
script to find all agent names
list of asset
References: None |
Problem Statement: What do the start and end time mean in a Semi-regen Reformer? | Solution: The start and end time are the start and end times of the catalyst run. Respectively, the coke content in the catalyst at the beginning and end of the catalyst run.
These entered values are only used to calculate the decontamination parameters in this form, therefore they do not affect the reactor calibration results as the reactor is calibrated based on specific data on the composition and properties of the raw materials, the products obtained, the material balance and the C and H balance, as well as the specified operating mode of the reactor (it is the coke on catalyst at the midpoint that is actually affecting the yields).
However, some data must be entered into these cells, otherwise the reactor will not start counting. That is, in the start time and end time cells the user will have to enter.
For example:
If the values 1 and 60 are used then these will be the time between the regeneration period of the catalyst operation.
If the user sets a Start Time of 10 days and an End Time of 15 days, it means that the model has not regenerated for 10 days since the operation begins and on the tenth day the regeneration begins, which would last 5 days (completing the 15 days).
For further information please refer to the article: What are the midpoint weighting factors of the reactors?
Keywords: Start Time, End Time, Semi-regen Reformer, Catalyst, Calibration
References: None |
Problem Statement: Traditional Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations (like Ansys Fluent) have been limited by the calculation of thermodynamic properties for uncommon compounds or non-ideal operating conditions. | Solution: The method of integration is based in the intercommunication of both programs using a third party like Microsoft Excel VBA, Intel Fortran or Matlab as nexus, and it is going to work as follows: Ansys Fluent sends the physical variables (pressure, temperature and composition) to Aspen HYSYS or Aspen Plus, which are going to calculate all properties at the PVT conditions given by Ansys, then these properties are sent again to Ansys to be implemented in the CFD simulation again. This process is going to be repeated in a loop until all points in the mesh are converged.
For further information of automation please refer to the following articles:
Aspen HYSYS V7.3 - Customization Guide (still applicable)
Aspen Plus V12 User Models
Keywords: Asnsys Fluent, Connection, VBA, Fortran, Matlab
References: Manual |
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