One of the ways I recommend learning Process Simulation, specifically Aspen Plus & HYSYS is by reading books. They might be E-Books or Physical Books, whatever you choose, they will help you through this hard stage of life 🙂
I have read several of them and here are my notes. I also added some books that might interest you, but that I haven’t read already.
NOTE: The books are not ordered in any specific order if you were wondering…
Aspen Plus: Chemical Engineering Applications
by Kamal I.M. Al-Malah
This is one the first books I read regarding Aspen Plus. It is simple and straight to the point.
Price: $120 USD approx.
The Good
- Very ordered book
- Straight to the point approach
- Excellent balance between theory and exercise
- Electrolytes & Polymer topics are present
The Bad
- Very low content on Aspen Dynamics. Not so many unsteady state analysis
- No economic or financial analysis
- Does not explores the physical environment extensively
The Ugly
- Expensive!
- This is based on Aspen Plus V8.8 so you might have to adjust several new versions (V9, V10, V11)
Learn Aspen Plus in 24 Hours
by Thomas A. Adams II
I read this one as it stated 254 hours, sounds very millenial “low investment required, extremely high returns granted” but of course it is not the case. It is literally IMPOSSIBLE to learn how to use a Software such as Aspen Plus or HYSYS in a single day.
Price: $35USD approx.
The Good
- Encourages you to read it all by 1-2 days
- Strongly based in Unit Operations
- Includes Capital Cost / Financial Analysis
- Includes Solids & Electrolytes
- Relatively Cheap
The Bad
- No content of Polymers or others (petroleum assays or so)
- No Aspen Dynamic at all. No control analysys
- I will not say this is a “advanced” material course, but definitively an intermediate
- You do NOT learn this in 24 hours
The Ugly
- It is sometime chaotic, images are randomly added and no margins are set
- Aspen Plus V9.0 is used, gotta verify for V10 and V11
Teach Yourself the Basics of Aspen Plus
by Ralph Schefflan
I like the name, it is objective, you can teach yourself the basics Aspen Plus 🙂
I like this one, but you must go directly to the exercises, I think it has A LOT of theory or written text which could have been ignored
Price: $70 USD approx.
The Good
- Includes Data Regression Tools
- Mostly based in Unit Operations
- Includes Optimization analysis
- EO (Equation Oriented) study GREAT!
- Very well ordered
The Bad
- No content of Solids, Polymers or others (petroleum assays or so)
- No Aspen Dynamic at all.
- No control analysis
- In my opinion, it has more theory than practice/exercises
The Ugly
- Slow pace, not recommended for inpatient people
- Aspen Plus V8.8 is used, gotta verify for V9, V10 and V11
Using Aspen Plus in Thermodynamics Instruction: A Step-by-Step Guide
by Sandler
One of my favorites if you want to explore the Physical Property Environment.
If you want to learn more on simulation, this is NOT the book for you!
Price: $70 USD approx.
The Good
- Explores the physical property environment
- Great Pace
- Good Exercise-Theory balance
- Lots of exercises & homework
- Excellent for thermodynamic analysis as well!
The Bad
- Does not goes to the simulation environment that much
- Not so many explained/detailed exercises
- Only focuses in physical environment
- Not so many blocks or unit operations are analyzed
The Ugly
- Aspen Plus V8.0 is used, gotta verify for V9, V10 and V11
Distillation Design and Control Using Aspen Simulation
by William L. Luyben
If you are willing to dive into Distillation Columns of all types, this is THE book you need!
In my opinion, this is one of the best written texts for Aspen Plus Simulation (of Distillation Columns) and I would really love if the author would write more on general use of Aspen Plus
Price: $110 USD approx.
The Good
- Explores the physical property environment from a thermodynamic (VLE) & distillation point of view
- Steady State simulation
- Rate Based Simulations Analysis
- Economic analysis
- Dynamic analysis
- Basic Columns, Multiple Componenet, Reactive Distillation, Petroleum Refining, and more!
- Excellent Exercise-Theory balance
- Safety analysis
The Bad
- Contains a lot of Distillation Theory, so you might have to skip that if you already know about it, which I hope is the case
- Only covers Distillation, no other type of process
The Ugly
- Older version than Aspen Plus V8.0 is used, gotta verify for V9, V10 and V11
Learning Aspen Plus from ZERO
by Chemical Engineering Guy
I will be creating an E-book on learning Aspen Plus and/or HYSYS eventually.
If you are interested, please subscribe to the waiting list here
The Good
- It will be Workshop based
- Very BASIC – INTERMEDIATE – ADVANCED structure
- Relatively Cheap $10-20 USD
The Bad
- Still in creation 🙁
The Ugly
- No ugly, just beautiful
Some other books...
Some books you might like, and that I have pending to buy/read…
Have you read any of these books? What was your experience? Did you liked them? Did they help you to learn Aspen Tech Software?
Comment in the section below!