Databases & Databanks

There are several types of entities (objects) that participate in a typical process simulation: materials (components and mixtures), utilities (heat transfer agents, power), consumables, etc. Many of these entities have constant properties and it would be very tedious to have to specify them every time you engage them in a new simulation project. SuperPro Designer supports the use of databanks to alleviate users from this burden. A databank is simply a collection of property descriptions for a set of similar objects stored away in a database file. SuperPro Designer allows users to populate databanks for pure components, stock mixtures, heat transfer agents, etc. so that their members can be easily retrieved and used by future projects. SuperPro Designer’s databanks are collectively kept in database files in MS-Access^® format. Each databank can be populated from the interfaces of the application or by opening the database file directly from MS-Access^®. There are five such different database files that SuperPro Designer currently can use to store and/or retrieve data:

●      The ‘Designer’ database (sometimes referred to as ‘System’ database); not directly accessible by the user; accessed only by the program in special circumstances when requiring critical data for the application that are not present in the ‘SuperPro’ database.

●      The ‘SuperPro (User)’ database (sometimes referred to as ‘User’ or ‘SuperPro’ database).

●      The ‘Process’ database

●      The ‘DIPPR’ database, and

●      The ‘PPDS’ & ‘PPDS BIP’ databases

The ‘Designer’, ‘SuperPro (User)’, ‘Process’ and ‘DIPPR’ databases are preregistered as ‘Data Source Names’ (DSNs) with your operating system automatically during program installation. Each data source is assigned a database file to use as the repository and source for the data. All such database files are kept in a location that defaults to a ‘DBases’ folder under the auxiliary folder that is selected during installation (but can be customized during installation or later). A demonstration version of the DIPPR databank with only 5 components is one of the files copied in that directory. If the full DIPPR database file is already at the user’s disposal or if it becomes available after installation, it has to be reported to SuperPro Designer in order for the application to start taking advantage of its contents. The ‘PPDS’ database type files can only be used if the user has a licensed copy of the PPDS Thermodynamic Property Suite from TÜV SÜD (a U.K. company) installed on his or her system. For information on how to assign a new database file to one of the five data sources used by the application, see Database Registration.

The ‘Designer’ (or ‘System’) database is maintained and periodically updated (from release to release) by our staff at Intelligen and its contents cannot be edited by the end user. The ‘System’ db contains information vital for SuperPro to be functioning properly but end-users aren’t allowed to view and/or modify them. The ‘SuperPro (User)’ database is the file that contains data collections (databanks) for various groups of data that can be accessed by a SuperPro Designer user while developing his/her process models. It contains physical property records for many (over a 1,100) pure components, many ‘standard’ stock mixtures (“Air”, typical buffer solutions used in washing, rinsing, or CIP operations), heat transfer agents (like “Steam”, “HP Steam”, “Cooling Water”, etc.), consumables (like Resins, filter cartridges, etc.), labor & power types. The ‘SuperPro (User)’ database is also there to receive from end users their own descriptions of entities like pure components, heat transfer agents, labor types, consumables as well as descriptions of entire processing sites with available resources at each site.. Users can edit, add or remove items from the list of any of those resources, and keep them there to be used in any of their future process models. For corporate users of SuperPro Designer, prices (costs), or better physical properties, etc. can be maintained at a shared ‘SuperPro (User)’ database file. Once values are updated, it is very simple for any user to update their process model by retrieving the updated values (costs) and re-calculate the economic impact on their model (see Update Resource Prices from SuperPro (User) DB Dialog).

The ‘DIPPR’ database file is an alternative source for pure component properties. It has been developed and maintained at Brigham Young University and distributed by AIChE. You must purchase your own license for the use of the DIPPR database. When you do then you can provide the name and location of your licensed DIPPR file in Database Registration interface. From that point onward, DIPPR will appear as an alternative source to register components into your SuperPro Designer models.

The ‘PPDS’ database files are also supported by SuperPro Designer; the database comes in two files: one for Pure Component properties (like DIPPR) and another for Binary Interaction Properties (BIPs), both in MS-Access format. The Physical Property Data Services (PPDS) data have been compiled and commercially distributed by TÜV SÜV, a UK company. When you have a proper licensed copy of the two PPDS db files, you must visit the Database Registration interface to inform your SuperPro Designer about their file names and locations. From that point onward, you can use the PPDS as an alternative source of component registration, the same way as draw components from the ‘SuperPro (User)’ or ‘DIPPR’ database (simply change the ‘source’ databank). Note that you don’t need to explicitly register a BIP for newly registered component. Binary Interaction Property (BIP) coefficient values between a newly registered component and all others present in the model, are imported automatically as soon as a new component is registered, and if the BIP values exist.

The ‘SupePro (User)’ database holds in its contents the following databanks:

●      Pure Components

●      Stock Mixtures

●      Binary Coefficients

●      Heat Transfer Agents

●      Power Types

●      Labor Types

Auxiliary Equipment Types

Consumables

Equipment Materials

Currencies

Sites & Site Resources (Equipment, Labor Types, Heat Transfer Agents, Power Types)

Equipment Spec Sheets from Suppliers (Vendors, Manufacturers)

Equipment Suppliers (Vendors, Manufacturers)

Equipment Type Specifications

Specification Variables

CIP Templates

User-Defined Cost Model (UDCM) for Equipment Purchase Cost Estimation

When users modify an object’s property kept in its ‘SuperPro (User)’ database (e.g. a stock mixture’s price or normal boiling point), this change does not automatically propagate to all process files that may be using this object. Similarly, for users who take advantage of database site objects and their resources (see Section Allocation, and Allocation) allocation does not imply that when the database object’s properties change, it automatically affects the properties of the corresponding object in a preexisting process file. Instead, the program has several interfaces that allow you to update the values of such entities (resources) contained in process simulation files based on the latest information in the database, but this process must be initiated by the user. This is done intentionally in order to protect existing process files from changes in database files that users may not wish to have propagated to their own projects.

For users with files that contain allocations to database sites or any of their resources (see Sites & Resources Databank), the application will check for consistency between the object property values as contained in a process file and their database counterparts if you select File } Check Consistency with Site DB... from the main menu. The ensuing Reconcile with Site DB Dialog informs the user about any inconsistencies that may exist.

For users with files that engage entities from the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database (such as Pure Components, Stock Mixtures, Labor Types, Heat Transfer Agents, etc.) but without explicit section allocation to database sites, they can still bring up a listing of all such resources ‘currently in use’ in a process model file and from there they can selectively update any resources in their files based on the database’s counterpart, or reversely, update the database’s resource record based on the property values as they exist in the file. For example, if you select Tasks } Other Resources } Heat Transfer Agents... from the application’s main menu, you can bring up the List of Heat Transfer Agents Currently in Use. From there, you can select a specific agent and either update its properties based on the current values in the databank (using the button) or request that the databank’ s corresponding record is updated using the values as they exist in the current file (using the button). Similar interfaces (dialogs) exist for the rest of the resources (Power types, Labor types, Consumables, etc.). If you wish to update just purchase or selling prices for all resources, then see Update Resource Prices from SuperPro (User) DB Dialog.

The Processes Databank serves an archive of information about completed processes in a MS-Access^® format that is amenable to search. When a process is archived in the process databank, not every single piece of information is also archived (e.g. scheduling dependencies, process times are not). Besides the operational parameters kept for a process model, the databank also maintains a set of keywords associated with each record. Such keywords can be carefully selected to make it easy to later trace back a process model from a keyword. The Processes Databank can be used to compile a catalog of completed projects so that they can be easily searched later (based on their contents, keywords, etc.).

To avoid unintentional access to data, all database files are password-protected (see Database Passwords). The ‘Designer’ database password can be provided upon request to users interested in expanding or modifying the database using MS-Access^® directly (bypassing the interfaces of SuperPro Designer) or for users who would want to access the data from other applications (by code), but it is not a recommended practice since any inappropriate modifications in the ‘Designer’ database can result in rending the program unable to function properly. For typical use, it is highly recommended that the databases (and the databanks contained therein) be updated and maintained from the interfaces that SuperPro Designer provides, or at least, restricted to modifications of the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database. All these interfaces can be accessed through the Databanks menu.