Question about usage of Mathcad in chemical industry, especially in process engineering

Thanks Henry for the interest for Mathcad and Chemical Engineering.

Some examples you can find in this book

http://www.springer.com/chemistry/physical+chemistry/book/978-3-7091-0530-6

Now we (Victor Korobov and me) have a new same book for students but not in English "Chemical calculation with Mathcad":

See the cover

http://twt.mpei.ac.ru/TTHB/1/Chem/ChemMathcad-Titul.png

Note also that there is a separate Chemical Engineering group for Mathcad here on PTC Community. I know it's not exactly what you were asking, but you might be able to find other like-minded individuals and network with other peers.

http://communities.ptc.com/community/mathcad/chemical_engineering

I hope this helps.

-Alan

I can't answer your question regarding which companies use Mathcad, but I will address how Mathcad is used in the process industry. As I said in my blog "Mathcad's Bread and Butter", it's used for "...calculating whatever you need that doesn't fit into the domain of specialized software." From my experience with Phillips Petroleum (process development and process engineering and pipeline consulting), an engineer needs a good general purpose mathematical tool in addition to the large process simulation packages you mentioned. I had numerous problems that could not be solved by those packages. I think one reason I survived multiple large layoffs was because I solved any problem. This required a good knowledge of the fundamental science, but also a knowledge of mathematical methods and a good math program.

Rather than enumerating examples, let me generalize and say that most of my Mathcad use involved more detailed, "microscopic" analysis of processes or physical phenomena that the "macroscopic" simulations cannot provide. Look at a good book on transport phenomena, such as Bird, Stewart and Lightfoot's book, and you will see numerous examples of theses types of problems.

One example that does overlap with the process simulation software is reactor modeling. The process packages do not simulate tubular reactor with heat exchange at the wall, so I built my own models. Originally I used Fortran. When Mathcad came along, I abandoned Fortran and started using Mathcad. I still used Aspen, Hysys, etc, for simulating the process, but the reactor was designed with Mathcad. I never linked Mathcad with the simulation package, but it probably is possible. See a writeup of my book "Advanced Chemical Reactor Modeling (with Mathcad)" on my website, harveyhensley.com.

One reason Mathcad is so great is that you can assemble multiple calculations into a single working document. The worksheet can be written to show how the results of one calculation feed into the next. When you are through, you have both a document of your work as well as a template for a similar problem in the future. If you try that in Excel, you probably have to really work hard to show how the calculations were made so that even you will be able to use it again in a few years.

There were times when it would have been nice to include the non-ideal solution behavior in some of my "microscopic" models. With the addition of Prode Physical Properties, I will be able to do that more easily for many compounds. This physical property link opens up even more opportunities for Mathcad in the process industry.

I know this doesn't give you many specific answers, but I hope it helps.

Thank you all for the response and the relevant references.

I have a different question, do the majority of engineers use mathcad, ( I guess the answer varies with the field)? Or most of them know multiple software such as maple, Mathematica or even language such us fortran or java. I mean how important is it to be able to know multiple software package in today's job market? Of course the more you know the better, but for what kind of job would require engineer to be able to program in fortran or java for process engineering? Or is a general purpose mathematics software like mathcad is good enough for the majority of the problems? What kind of computer/software knowledge will be the most lucrative for young engineer?

BTW, is there any moment in your career you have the thought: Good that I know mathcad, it saved my job while poor Joe sitting next door have to go! Well, that's probably exaggerated since it is too good to be true.

Thanks

Henry

Good morning,

It is not an easy answer but let me try: I have been working for EPC companies (oil, gas and mining) during the past years, and I must say MathCAD (and in general Math Software) is not included in the basic package that all Chemical (Process) Engineers have in their computers. However, this doesn’t mean that you cannot use it. Normally, you need to show why do you require the software and ask your manager for the approval. Do you think you can prove MathCAD is required in your daily job?

At this point let me explain something: Normally, the use and type of software must be approved for every project you are working with, and, depending of the task, you use only one or two packages. Obviously, this varies form company to company and depends on the license management. Each of these programs has its advantages and restrictions, so part of our job is to identify which tool is better for the job and ask for it before starting a new project. It is also a normal practice to report the time you spend with each software (project budget & control) so you don’t want to use more time than required.

Whit this context, we can review the question: “Do you think you can prove MathCAD is required in your daily job?” Yes, you can. For me it is more convenient (and faster) to develop a MathCAD worksheet to make preliminary calculations (preliminary, but usually accurate), than start from zero using the software and spend some time ($$$) identifying key parameters or the best region to work. My worksheet also lets me verify the equations I’m using (I really don’t like the “black box approach”), the restrictions I must consider and moreover, the worksheet provides me a basis to evaluate if the “specialized software” results are within expected limits.

Please note I’m not mentioning here all the calculations that in my opinion require a Math program (e.g, Transient Models, Matrix operations, etc), I’m referring here of MathCAD like some kind of engineering support program.

Just to finish: “do the majority of engineers use MathCAD?” Well, it is not mandatory, but if you know how to use it and if you can create engineering models on it, certainly you have an advantage over other engineers.

Best regards,

Oscar J.