dwsim pro
process simulator

Architecture and new interfaces of DWSIM open-source process simulator.

What is DWSIM Pro?

DWSIM Pro is a commercial sibling of DWSIM open-source process simulator with private support and hosted in the cloud. 

DWSIM simulates the material and energy balances of chemical process plants in steady-state and dynamic mode. Use it for design, engineering and debottlenecking studies, to connect control systems, and for operator training simulators and digital twins.

DWSIM Pro integrates into the simulation framework

Should You use DWSIM or DWSIM Pro?

Both versions address different needs. The following table explains the differences.

Terms and Conditions (Commercial)

DWSIM

DWSIM Pro

License

How you can use the software as an end-user.

GPL (v3)

Named user license

Program version

Which versions you can use as an end-user.

Latest version published on Sourceforge (All older versions available)

Built regularly, closely following every version.

Pricing

How much you pay for the usage.

FREE

Different paid plans available

Support

How you get help with your simulation task or using DWSIM.

Forum support (public), Private support (with valid DWSIM Pro license)

Personal (private) support & Forum support (public)

Access (Technical)

DWSIM

DWSIM Pro

Installation and updates

Where the software is installed and who installs updates.

You install and update on your own machine

We install on our servers

Access

How you start and use the program.

Start the DWSIM program on your operating system (Windows, Linux, MacOS)

Open the DWSIM Pro app in a browser and log in with your personal credentials

Physical Properties

DWSIM

DWSIM Pro

REFPROP is an acronym for REFerence fluid PROPerties. This program, developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology¹ (NIST), calculates the thermodynamic and transport properties of industrially important fluids and their mixtures.

REFPROPTM is based on the most accurate pure fluid and mixture models currently available. See the REFPROPTM website for a detailed list of data and features of REFPROPTM.

Separate REFPROP license required

Calculate phase properties based on simple mole averages of pure fluids with CoolProp libraries. Phase equilibria are calculated considering the mixture as ideal.

Adds rigorous calculations for mixtures using high-accuracy Helmholtz mixing rules and equilibrium calculations using CoolProp’s own flash algorithms.

The Amines Property Package in DWSIM Pro simplifies and accelerates the process of comparing solvent performance by enabling effortless compound substitution, saving time and resources while ensuring accurate evaluation.

Unit Operations

DWSIM

DWSIM Pro

Modelling and simulation of pipe networks connected through nodes with multiple sources and sinks. Rigorous compositional fluid property calculations are done by DWSIM Property Packages.

  • Supports Pipe Segments with Rigorous Heat Transfer calculations, Valves, Pumps, Compressors and Gas-Liquid Separators;
  • Rigorous fluid properties and phase distribution calculated with DWSIM Property Packages
  • Fully-featured Graphical Network Designer
  • Supports Pressure and Mass/Molar/Volumetric Flow specification on endpoints (Sources and Sinks)

Up to 20 network objects

Unlimited number of network objects

Modeling of Air Coolers with three calculation modes: Specify Outlet Temperature, Specify Tube Geometry and Specify Overall UA.

Modeling of Falling Film Evaporators with three calculation modes: Outlet Temperature, Outlet Vapor Mole Fraction and Energy Stream. You can also set the number of equilibrium calculations (steps) inside the evaporator.

Splits an energy stream into two or three other streams.

Mixes up to six energy streams into a single one.

Allows the user to define an expression which, when evaluated as True, will redirect the inlet stream to the first outlet stream, and to the second outlet stream if the expression is evaluated as False.

PPBDesigner simulates the most industrially important liquid-liquid extraction columns such as agitated and non-agitated columns. The column module can be integrated with other flowsheet modules for a complete chemical process flow diagram simulation.

Separate PPBDesigner license required

External Equation Solvers

DWSIM

DWSIM Pro

Pre-installed interfaces for Python’s SciPy  global minimization methods like Dual-Annealing, Basin-Hopping and Differential Evolution.

Pre-installed interfaces for Extreme Optimization‘s Non-Linear System, Non-Linear Optimization and Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) solvers for increased robustness and up to 3x faster solving times.

Extension

DWSIM

DWSIM Pro

Excel Reporting is an extension to generate reports for all objects on the flowsheet. You can customize the objects and properties to show, and select a custom display order. The generated report can be saved to a XLSX worksheet file. It does not require Microsoft Excel to be installed in order to generate the reports.

Capital Cost Estimator is an extension that allows the estimation of Capital and Operating Costs for a Chemical Processing Plant based on data from the currently active flowsheet. 

Features:

  • CAPEX/ OPEX Capital Cost Estimation
  • Yearly Operating Cost Estimation
  • Saving/Loading of Cost Reports
  • Compare multiple Cost Reports
  • Export results to DOC/ODT/XLS/ODS/PDF files
  • Automatic mapping for selected equipments, product/raw streams and utilities
  • Price correction based on CEPCI and IPC Cost Indexes
  • Currency conversion
  • User-defined Equipments, Materials and Utilities

Simulate 365 Applications

DWSIM

DWSIM Pro

The simulation file management system. 

Calculate the multidimensional solution space (hypercube) of a flowsheet simulation.

Separate MSS license required

Run a series of simulations.

Separate DoE license required

Generate any number of flowsheet simulations for classroom exercises or as individualized exams.

Separate THEE license required

Create and replace rigorous first principle models of unit operations or flowsheets by Artificial Neural Networks trained by DWSIM data.

Run Surrogate Models from several sources, e.g., process control systems (PCS; plant data) or process simulators (rigorous first-principle modelssimulation data) in DWSIM.

Extend DWSIM ("Hooks")

DWSIM

DWSIM Pro

Create and run Python scripts in DWSIM.

Create and run proprietary², licensed Python scripts in DWSIM.

Create and run custom² DLL files in DWSIM.

Create your own menus² in DWSIM or extend existing DWSIM menus with your own items.

Implementations of interfaces for Python’s SciPy methods and for Extreme Optimization‘s solvers. See the section above for details.

Use DWSIM with applications based on MALTLAB(R) 

A unit operation implemented in MATLAB can use DWSIM as a graphical user interface (GUI). See PPBDesigner under the above section Unit Operations.

Use DWSIM with applications from selected market-leading software vendors¹.

Or extend DWSIM with functionality¹ that is run on initialization of the flowsheet or extension.

¹Contact us at team@simulate365.com, if you are a software vendor with an application that could nicely integrate with DWSIM.

²Contact us at team@simulate365.com, if you want to extend DWSIM using one of the hooks.

What features or applications should we develop?

Feature Request DWSIM Pro
Simulator used
Process simulation experience
I can complete most of my simulations with DWSIM open source.
How important is private software support?
Confirmation *