INES - Interface between experiments and simulation

The development of chemical processes is usually based on both experiments (often in pilot plants), and process simulation. Design of experiments, data evaluation and reconciliation, model development and validation are essential steps in this procedure. Different tools and approaches are available for each of these tasks but in the process developer's workflow, they are usually not supported in an integrated way. Therefore, in the project INES, on which this paper reports, a new interface between experiments and simulation for process design was created, and integrated in a tool box which comprehensively supports process design. It contains modules for data selection and reconciliation, sensitivity analysis, and model validation and -adjustment. Methods from the literature are suitably combined to support the overall goal. The chosen methods, their combination and implementation are described and examples are given which demonstrate the benefits of the new interactive tool in the process development workflow.