FeatureBuilt · in the lab
Process dynamics and batch
Dynamics, control loops, batch recipes.
Use this add-on:
Screenshots and a short video come with the listing (AL.3).
Overview
Process dynamics and batch is planned as an add-on that follows a process plant over time: levels, pressures and temperatures, control loops taken from the P&ID, start-up and upset scripts, and batch recipes scheduled across equipment. It is planned (rows CH.5 and CH.6) and builds on Process simulation. The calculation code for both is written and tested in the repository, but this add-on has no panels yet. It is a study aid, not an engineering approval.
Who it’s for
- Process and controls engineers who want to see a loop respond before it is built.
- Batch and bioprocess engineers planning recipes and equipment use.
- Operators and students who want to try a start-up or an upset on a model.
What you can do
- Nothing is available to people yet.
- Planned (CH.5): follow tanks, reactors and gas vessels over time, with valves and controllers taken from the P&ID's loops, start-up, upset and shutdown scripts, tuning help and trends.
- Planned (CH.6): lay out a recipe as steps, check equipment use against capacity, show a Gantt schedule, and model fermentation and batch mass balances.
Methods and standards
The code in the repository uses a stiff implicit solver with step doubling and Newton iteration, PID control with anti-windup, and tuning rules including Ziegler-Nichols, Cohen-Coon, IMC and SIMC. Batch scheduling is greedy list scheduling, and fermentation uses Monod kinetics.
Data and sources
No data ships. Equipment, kinetic constants and recipes are yours.
Verification
node tools/process-test/test-link.mjs: 139 passed, 0 failed (session process-link_PART_3), covering dynamics and batch among other parts. A stiff test problem from the literature is reproduced. Not yet checked: a worked dynamics or batch example with a printed numeric answer from a textbook.
Limits
Planned, not available. In the written code there is no trends panel, no controller faceplate and no screen that binds P&ID loops; dead time is not simulated, only lags; gas vessels are ideal and isothermal; batch scheduling has no resource levelling beyond a simple list schedule and is not mounted in BimCraft's 4D panel.
Files and formats
Planned: reads the linked process model and the P&ID loops; recipes as plain JSON; a schedule in the shape BimCraft's 4D view reads.
Get started
- Nothing to start with yet. This add-on is planned.
- It needs Process simulation first.
- Watch this listing for the first version.
Languages
No languages are listed for this add-on yet. Its maker may add some.
Works in
| Edition | Works | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Browser (/use) (yours) | Added on demand | Fetched the first time you use it, then kept for offline use. |
| Studio from getcadcraft.com | Added on demand | Fetched the first time you use it, then kept for offline use. |
| Microsoft Store | Added on demand | Fetched the first time you use it, then kept for offline use. |
| Google Play | Added on demand | Fetched the first time you use it, then kept for offline use. |
| iPad and iPhone (App Store) | Included; switch it on | Part of the reviewed app; your list switches it on. |
| Custom build | Added on demand | Fetched the first time you use it, then kept for offline use. |
Comes with
- Process simulation Size when built
- Process engine 2.5 MB
- P&ID 3.3 MB
- Schematics and connectivity 800 KB
Adding it brings these too. Engines are shared: each downloads once for every add-on that uses it.
Needed by: Chemical and process engineering, Food and beverage process engineering, Pharmaceutical and bioprocess engineering.
Versions
| Version | Channel | Date | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0.0 | lab | October 31, 2026 | First version in the Library. |
Licence and maker
CadCraft (CadCraft, first-party). Licence: Apache-2.0. Dependencies carry their own licences, listed on their pages.