Introduction

Thermodynamic property calculations form the foundation of every simulation in DWSIM. A general-purpose process simulator must handle a wide range of chemical systems—from single-component water/steam applications to multicomponent, multiphase mixtures encountered in petroleum refining, petrochemical, and specialty chemical processes.

DWSIM can model phase equilibria involving a solid phase, a vapor phase, and up to two coexisting liquid phases (VLLE). External CAPE-OPEN property packages may extend or restrict the set of supported phase configurations.

The following sections describe the thermodynamic models, transport-property correlations, and numerical methods employed by DWSIM.