Aspen HYSYS® Petroleum Refining V8.

4:
Improve Refinery Yield, Product Quality, and Profitability
Webinar Q&A
This document summarizes the responses to questions posed before and during the webinar. Additional
questions should be directed to AspenTech Support.

®
Q: Is it possible to transfer assays from the assay manager in Aspen HYSYS to Aspen PIMS?
A: Yes, the same assay manager component is present in both products. The assays accessible to you
from Aspen HYSYS are also accessible from Aspen PIMS. You can also export assays created in Aspen
HYSYS and then import them into the assay management component in Aspen PIMS.
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Q: Is the data in the assay library based on actual feedstocks or are they gathered from different
sources?
A: We have licensed the rights to use assay data for actual feedstocks from a variety of sources, all
available in the assay library. You can also download assay data from other sources from within the
assay management component. We’ve recently added 350 additional assays from Eni data sources via a
patch for V8.4.
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Q: Do we have Alberta Bitumin in the assay library?

A: No, we do not have Alberta Bitumin in the library today. If you have information or lab analysis results
on the crude, we can characterize it in Aspen HYSYS.
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Q: What are the Delayed Coker models based on?

A: Delayed Coker models have been developed in-house by AspenTech R&D in consultation with
leaders in this field. We do not use licensor’s data in these Delayed Coker models.
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Q: How do you interface outlet streams from atmospheric and vacuum towers with FCCU?
A: If the atmospheric and vacuum towers are in a different Aspen HYSYS case than the case that
contains FCCU, you will have to export the outlet stream as “.afam” file from the tower case and import it
into FCCU case.
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Q: Is the assay manager only supposed to be used with assay analysis from labs, or can we use it
for analysis of intermediate products as well?
A: You can export any intermediate product stream as an assay and visualize using the assay manager.
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Q: How do available feeds and cuts get input into petroleum refining for simulation? Is it in
electronic exchange or manually input?
A: We allow you to download assays directly from published data sources such as that from Exxon Mobil,
BP, etc. We also have a library of 650 assays packaged into the product. We have recently released a
patch for V8.4 that brings in 350 additional assays from Eni sources. If you have specific LIMS data, you
will have to enter the data manually. If the LIMS data is in an excel table, it can be copied and pasted into
the data import screen.
Q: How do you calibrate the model from test run data?
A: Right now, we don’t have the functionality in Delayed Coker and Visbreaker models to manage data
from multiple sets of data. Only one set of data can be entered for calibration at this time.
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Q: Are there any new approaches to naphtha reforming? Are the major reforming technology
providers for process/catalyst/yields/severity schemes incorporated into Aspen HYSYS?
A: Our naphtha reformer model can be configured by the user in a number of ways. We allow the user to
choose a semi-regeneration or continuous regeneration unit. The user has control over the number of
reactors and can choose to include the hydrogen recontactor or the stabilizer tower as part of the model.
For more information about the naphtha reformer, please view the recorded webinar “Optimize Refinery
Profitability with a Rigorous Set of Refinery Reactors in Aspen HYSYS® Petroleum Refining V8.4”.
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Q: We collect blends of waste gasoline, diesel, lub oils, etc. Is it possible to use the Aspen HYSYS
software to purify this blend and receive gasoline, diesel, and lub oils?
A: Aspen HYSYS has a number of property packages and separation models that you could use to purify
oils in these ranges. Of course, it would depend on the process you are using for purification.
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Q: How does the new assay manager handle typical crude assay manager formats, such as .CRU
files? Can the files be directly imported or tied to Aspen Assay Management or is the
manual/external conversion to simulation format required?
A: We have a conversion tool that can convert assay data into a planning template (.CSV) format. Third
parties can export this planning template (.CSV) format and with our conversion tool, can convert these
files so that they can be read by assay management in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining.

There are two links to download these tools. The first is the link to the Assay Converter. However, the
user will also need to download and install the HYSYS V8.4 CP1 patch that has a fix so that the assay
manager can read the file that gets converted.