Material Charts & Tables
Material Consumption & Material Output Charts
You can view in a chart the detailed rate of consumption for a given material by selecting } } } (Entering Material Consumption Chart (Single Batch)) or } } } (Entering Material Consumption Chart (Multiple Batches)) from the main menu of the application. In a continuous process that contains batch procedures the same chart can be displayed by selecting } } } from the main menu. Before the chart is presented, you will be prompted to choose:
1. A material amongst all registered ingredients (pure components or mixtures), and
2. The consumption origins that you wish to be included when collecting consumption rates (see Entering Material Consumption Classification).
Besides the actual consumption rate curve, users can chose to see at on the same chart the following lines:
1. A time-averaged consumption rate line (averaged over a user-specified periodic window); for example, users may be interested in seeing the consumption rate of a given buffer in 8-hour average values. Such lines can provide insight in designing the production rate of the replenishing process.
2. A cumulative amount line: Amount total may be of interest when considering inventory capacity. Users may also specify a time period after which the accumulated amount gets reset to 0.0.
The style of the consumption chart dictates exactly which lines will be plotted. As part of the chart’s style you can also specify the rate units and the amount units to be used for the chart, as well as the visual characteristics of the lines (color, thickness, etc.) The time-line parameters used (absolute vs relative time scale, minor/major intervals & gridmarks, etc.) are, by default, those kept by the process document. They can, of course, be customized for the consumption charts if needed. The chart’s style can be changed through the Material Chart Style Dialog.
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The unit choices for plotting rates and cumulative amounts are ‘remembered’ by the application in association with the material being plotted. In other words, you can specify a set of units to be used when viewing component-A (e.g. kg/h for rate and kg for amounts) and a different set of units to be used when viewing component-B (e.g MT/day and MT). This option is available from the y-values tab of the Material Chart Style Dialog. On the other hand, the rest of the properties of the graph style (line characteristics, time line properties, etc.) will be used for all material charts (regardless of the material chosen).
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Default Number of Batches
See Default Number of Batches.
Time Line
See Time Line.
Zooming / Time Scale
See Zooming / Time Scale.
Exporting Chart’s Data
See Exporting Chart’s Data.
Exact vs Discretized Consumption Data
If you are exporting consumption and/or inventory data, before you select the destination file for the data, you may also want to chose to discretize the data to an interval of your choice. One of the most common reasons for exporting consumption data is to combine data from different processes in order to view the cumulative effect on a central utility server (e.g. for high pressure steam). If you do not discretize the data, then each process will export values that will be changing at different time steps making it very difficult to combine them. On the other hand, choosing a common discretization interval, will provide a common platform for all the exported processes and making the addition of the data very easy. The choice of exporting exact vs discretized data is done in the Export Resource Tracking Data to Excel Dialog.
Copying / Exporting Chart As Picture
See Copying / Exporting Chart As Picture.
Print / Print Preview
See Print/Print Preview.
The counterparts of entering (consumption) charts are the exiting (output) charts. Such charts are of particular importance when tracking waste and waste amounts (e.g. emissions). The output charts can be generated by selecting } } } (Exiting Material Output Chart (Single Batch)) or } } } (Exiting Material Output Chart (Multiple Batches)) or } } } from the main menu of the application. Before the chart is presented you will be prompted to choose:
1. A material amongst all registered pure components, and
2. The material output classification that you wish to be included when collecting output rates, see Exiting Material Output Classification.
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When generating an output chart, the list of choices for ingredient includes pure components only. Stock mixtures do not have a presence anywhere other than at the input locations for a process (input streams, equipment contents, agents selected directly for an operation).
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Just as in the case of consumption charts, besides the rate curve, you can choose to include a time-average rate curve and/or a curve tracking the cumulative amount produced. The settings for which lines included in the chart along with visual choices for the lines as well the time-line characteristics are all part of the style of the chart (Material Chart Style Dialog).
Material Consumption Inventory & Material Output Inventory Charts
When considering the consumption of a material, it is often of importance to design inventory capacity and/or select a preferred replenishing rate so that the process never runs out of material and at the same time, excessive amounts of storage are avoided. SuperPro Designer will not design the inventory system for you automatically. The time-averaged consumption rate curve and time-reset cumulative curve presented on the consumption chart provide good clues on what should be your targets for replenishing rate and storage capacity correspondingly, see Material Consumption & Material Output Charts. However, it is up to the user to provide the application with a suggested inventory strategy then the application can generate an inventory chart that will show material amounts in the holding tank during one or several overlapping batches. The following inventory information needs to be specified before an inventory chart is generated:
1. Storage capacity
2. Initial contents
3. Lower & upper limits on storage capacity (if anything other than 0% and 100%)
4. Supply (replenishing) rate
5. Supply (Replenishing) policy: Need a start time when policy activates and an on/off triggering mechanism (either tied to inventory level or tied to a regularly timed schedule).
Inventory parameters are specified through the Entering or Exiting Material Dialog: Inventory Data tab.
You can view inventory charts by selecting } } } (Entering Material Inventory Chart (Single Batch)) or } } } (Entering Material Inventory Chart (Multiple Batches)) from the application’s main menu. In a continuous process that contains batch procedures the same chart can be displayed by selecting } } } from the main menu.
For the basic common services offered by all time charts (setting the number of batches, zooming in/out, adjusting the time scale, copying the chart as picture, copying chart data to Excel, printing, etc.), see Material Consumption & Material Output Charts.
Similar inventory charts can be generated on the output side of the process, by selecting } } } (Exiting Material Inventory Chart (Single Batch)) or } } } (Entering Material Inventory Chart (Multiple Batches)) or } } } from the application’s main menu. This time, besides selecting a pure component, the user must also provide a holding capacity and a removal strategy (essentially the same items of information as for the supply inventory above, items 1 through 5).
Material Consumption (Demand) Tables
The process keeps a detailed log of all materials present. If you wish to have a direct view of all the materials present currently, you can open the process explorer and pick the ‘Matl’ tab of the Process Explorer Toolbar. This tab will present a quick reminder of all the pure components and/or stock mixtures registered.
If you are interested in seeing the total demand for materials then you should visit the List of Entering Materials (& View of Total Consumption Demand) dialog shown when you select } from the flowsheet’s context (right-click) menu or } } from the application’s menu. This dialog will itemize all materials currently registered in the process, their total demand (per batch or per year), their price and total cost. The totals presented can be customized to include contributions from only some origins (e.g. ‘Raw Materials’ only).
If you are interested in tracking down the locations and rates where a given material is being consumed, then select } from the application’s main menu. This will bring up the Entering Material Demand Breakdown dialog that presents in a tree-like view (with top nodes each material) the demand for each material and how all the exact sources where they are needed. Once again, the presented amounts can be customized to only aggregate material from certain origin(s) and they can include / exclude only the materials of your choice.
Material Production (Output) Table
In order to view total outputs for materials exiting the process, select } from the flowsheet’s context (right-click) menu or } } from the application’s menu. This will bring up the Entering or Exiting Material Properties Dialog that presents in a list all materials currently registered in the process, their total output (per batch or per year) and their selling price or waste treatment cost. The totals presented can be customized to include contributions from only some origins (e.g. ‘Raw Materials’ only).
If you are interested in tracking down the locations where a given material is being consumed, then select } from the application’s main menu. This will bring up the Entering Material Demand Breakdown dialog that presents in a tree-like view (with top nodes each material) the demand for each material and how all the exact sources where they are needed. Once again, the presented amounts can be customized to only aggregate material from certain origin(s) and they can include / exclude only the materials of your choice.