.svg)
.svg)
Chemical process design demands precision long before construction begins. CHEMCAD is an advanced process simulation software platform that helps engineers model, analyse, optimise, and validate chemical processes throughout the engineering lifecycle.
From conceptual design and FEED studies to equipment sizing, process optimisation, and economic evaluation, it enables teams to make informed engineering decisions while reducing project risk.
Despite careful planning, inaccurate thermodynamic models, equipment sizing errors, or inefficient process designs can lead to costly redesigns and operational issues. CHEMCAD helps engineers identify and resolve these challenges early through high-fidelity process simulation, giving project teams greater confidence before capital investment.
In this guide, we'll explore how CHEMCAD supports every stage of process engineering—from early concepts to long-term plant performance—and why it has become a trusted solution for engineering organisations across Australia and around the world.
CHEMCAD is a chemical process simulation software platform that enables engineers to design, simulate, optimise, and validate industrial processes before construction. It combines rigorous thermodynamic modelling, equipment sizing, process optimisation, and economic evaluation to reduce engineering risk, improve efficiency, and support better investment decisions throughout the entire plant lifecycle.
Key Takeaways
There is an undeniable need for speed, safety, and efficiency in process engineering. Engineers can meet these requirements through simulation, testing their designs virtually before they invest in physical plants.
In the current chemical engineering environment, pressure from tight profit margins and regulatory requirements means that faster development cycles are a priority.
Fortunately, advanced process simulation software addresses this issue, allowing engineers to develop, analyse, and optimise process flowsheets virtually. This results in lower development costs, less time and fewer risks for projects.
Australian process industries struggle with specific problems such as remote site locations, water scarcity and high energy costs, making plant design extremely challenging. Coupled with increasingly stringent state Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, designs can be costly in terms of financial penalties and operational inefficiencies.
To avoid fines and cut operational costs, Australian engineers face the tough task of ensuring that all mass and energy balances are precise during the conceptual design stage. They also need to develop water-recycling loops and reduce carbon emissions during the conceptual design stage.
CHEMCAD delivers value throughout the engineering lifecycle by combining advanced simulation with practical engineering tools.
Some of its key benefits include:
CHEMCAD supports engineering projects across a wide range of industries, including:
Its flexibility allows engineers to model both conventional and highly specialised industrial processes using the same simulation platform.
It's hard to find software with both an intuitive interface and detailed calculations. Engineers need one go-to solution to help them on their everyday design tasks.
CHEMCAD provides a robust suite of easy-to-use process engineering software and serves as a key component in the Engineering Software Solutions category, which is linked to other sub-categories such as CAD and Project Management.
Developed in 1967 as CHESS under the US Navy, CHEMCAD has developed over four decades into the C++ powerhouse we see today. Datacor acquired the software in 2021 and recently unveiled CHEMCAD NXT.
Instead of paying extra for modules as is common with other software options, CHEMCAD includes a unified workspace and integrates both steady-state and dynamic CHEMCAD process simulation studies. Engineers use CHEMCAD to perform heat and mass balances, determine equipment sizing, and conduct thermo physical calculations and batch distillations.
Taking a blank flow sheet and turning it into a workable plant design involves a systematic engineering process. In many ways, the early design steps can influence the success of a project.
In the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) stage, engineers use software such as CHEMCAD to translate initial design concepts into basic engineering packages. This process engineering software helps engineers quickly build a flow sheet by dragging and dropping unit operations, configuring feed streams, and selecting thermodynamic models.
Let's say an engineer is building a specialty chemical plant in Queensland and needs to investigate three alternative process routes quickly. They can use this process engineering software to simulate each route and select the flow sheet that has the lowest energy consumption.
It allows them to establish a strong case before committing to FEED, eliminating the possibility of expensive changes down the track.
Once the preliminary flow sheet is set, attention must be given to equipment specifications. Mechanical and thermal calculations must be done to verify the physical equipment performs as intended.
CHEMCAD is also equipped with features required for equipment sizing as the project progresses from FEED to detailed design. These include CC-THERM (for heat exchanger rating and sizing), amongst others.
This ensures that the design details correspond to the real site specifications. It closes the gap between theory and practice.
No equipment sizing is useful without good underlying physical properties. Every successful simulation requires robust thermodynamic modelling. The success or failure of a chemical simulation is entirely dependent on thermodynamic accuracy.
CHEMCAD includes a physical property database covering over 2,270 chemicals and offers a selection of thermodynamic methods from equations of state to activity coefficient models.
For example, in a catalytic hydrogenation process involving a multi-component system, a choice must be made for the thermodynamic package. In a glucose-to-sorbitol process, the non-ideal aqueous behaviour of the sugar-water system must be modelled. This highly polar, non-ideal system can be effectively modelled in CHEMCAD using activity coefficient models such as NRTL and UNIQUAC to prevent inaccurate tray calculations in columns and conversions in reactors.
While a valid flowsheet may be all you need for an initial process design, to optimise your operation and achieve the highest possible profitability, you will need to tweak your process variables to find the optimal operating window.
The software, a sophisticated process optimisation solution, comes with a powerful sensitivity analysis package that allows engineers to adjust a single variable, such as feed temperature or operating pressure, and track its impact on product purity or utility usage.
Say you've got a distillation column trying to separate ethanol from water. If that reboiler uses a ton of steam, you're quickly eating into your profits. But your engineer can run a sensitivity analysis in CHEMCAD and chart out your reboiler duty against the reflux ratio.
Looking at that graph, they can figure out where to optimise the reflux ratio. They find that an optimum reflux ratio can save 15% steam while still hitting your 99.5% ethanol purity target.
And engineers don't have to stop there - CHEMCAD can link to external solvers like MATLAB. Thanks to its open ecosystem, the VBA SDK in CHEMCAD can even call a MATLAB function to perform tasks such as complex real-time optimisation or model predictive control!
Ultimately, the technical feasibility must also make business sense. Tying the physical flowsheets to financial aspects enables project managers to secure financing and capital investment.
CHEMCAD performs economic evaluation by determining the ROI of:
Because simulation data is tightly coupled with the cost models, it empowers project managers to understand the financial implications. You can create accurate cost-benefit analyses for your stakeholders. It becomes possible to justify your engineering choices with financial visibility, which helps you secure funding for your project.
But the work doesn't stop once your process flow sheet is put into construction. Today, dynamic simulation models can be used to keep your facility running efficiently and produce your product on a day-to-day basis.
[ FEED & Conceptual Design ] ➔ [ Detailed Design & Sizing ] ➔ [ Plant Start-Up & Training ] ➔ [ Operations & Digital Twin ]
While the plant is operating, process engineers use the Data Reconciliation function in CHEMCAD. The tool allows fine-tuning of steady-state models based on real-time measurements captured by the plant instrumentation and, by performing parameter regression, constructs a very precise Digital Twin.
Plant operators leverage this Digital Twin to diagnose problems, train operators in a risk-free virtual environment, and anticipate equipment maintenance needs.
To go from an idea to proven confidence, you need solutions that marry the rigour of technology with the practicality of business. That's what Cortex Engineering Software, a leading Cortex software company, brings you. ChemCAD solutions help de-risk your projects, optimise plant designs and achieve optimal economic performance.
Ready to improve your plant's efficiency and achieve ultimate economic confidence? Get in touch with our engineering specialists at Cortex Engineering Software to see how we can revolutionise your engineering workflows. Book a personalised demo with us today and start your journey to confidence!
CHEMCAD is software for process engineers, used to design, model, and simulate chemical processes and to optimise their operation. CHEMCAD can perform heat and mass balance, equipment design for plants, and static and dynamic simulations. With CHEMCAD, teams can construct safe, efficient, and cost-effective plants.
CHEMCAD process simulation software offers users a centralised platform that combines a database of 2,270 chemicals with robust thermodynamic models. Designers drag-and-drop unit operations together to build a virtual flow sheet of a real-world plant.
Yes, engineers use CHEMCAD to optimise processes - it's the most comprehensive tool to do so! You'll find that CHEMCAD comes with tools like sensitivity analysis and optimisation built in, enabling engineers to explore different variables, save energy, and run their facilities at the highest profit margins.
Chemical engineering simulation is widely used in: oil and gas refining, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, bioprocessing, water treatment, and power generation plants, among others. It's a must-have technology for companies, large and small, that want to increase their plant's performance and reliability.
A chemical engineering simulator lets engineers evaluate and test process designs in a simulated environment before implementation. This helps them identify equipment bottlenecks, properly size equipment, and improve relief system design. By identifying potential issues before implementation, companies can reduce costs and avoid costly modifications and shutdowns in the field.
Yes. CHEMCAD handles projects from concept through FEED to equipment sizing. While in the plant, you use its data reconciliation features to create real-time Digital Twins. That will improve production daily and resolve equipment problems.
