blackblox 0.2.0

Simple simulator for black box process models

BlackBlox

BlackBlox is a calculator for "black box" systems, ranging from single unit processes to factories with branching chains of processes.

Unit Processes

Unit processes are the smallest"block" in BlackBlox. Each unit process has a set of inflows and outflows and a set of specified relationships between the process flows. Then, given a quantity for one inflow or outflow, the quantities of the remaining inflows and outflows can be calculated.

Defining unit processes

A unit process is defined by two tables:

Calculations Table

The first specifies the relationships between inflows and outflows, with each row listing two substances; whether each substance is an inflow, an outflow, or a flow internal to the unit process; the type of calculation that would generate the quantity of the second substance if the quantity of the first substance is known, and the name of the variable (if any) used in that calculation.

The calculation types must be those available in the program's calculator library. The substance variable names are user specified. It is also possible to define special substance names (e.g. "fuel") to allow the substance to be defined in the variables table (e.g. "fuel type") and also have properties defined elsewhere (e.g. HHV and combustion emissions).

e.g.

KnownQty	k_QtyFrom	UnknownQty	u_QtyTo	Calculation	Variable
clinker	output	CaO	tmp	Ratio	CaO_Clinker
CaO	tmp	CaCO3	tmp	MolMassRatio	none
CaCO3	tmp	meal	input	Ratio	CaCO3_Meal
clinker	output	energyFuel	tmp	Ratio	fuelDemand
CaCO3	tmp	CO2	output	MolMassRatio	none
energyFuel	tmp	fuel	input	Combustion	combustEff
clinker	output	electricity	input	Ratio	elecDemand

Some Calculation Types

• Ratio: Multiplies the known quantity by a ratio (specified in the variables table)
• Remainder: Multiples the known quantity by 1/ratio (requires 0 ≤ ratio ≤ 1)
• MolMassRatio: Multiples the known quantity by the ratio of the molar mass of the unknown quantity to the known quantity. Both known and unknown substance names must be valid chemical formulas.
• Addition & Subtraction: Which require that the second substance has a calculated quantity before this calculation can occur.
• Combustion: A special calculation that uses additionally specified data to calculate the energy provided from fuel combustion as well as emissions of combustion gases.

Variables Table

The second provides the values of the variables named in the calculations table. Separating the values into their own table allows for the same unit process to be run in different configurations(e.g. different efficiencies or fuel types).

e.g.

scenario	fuelDemand	fuelType	CaO_Clinker	CaCO3_Meal	combustEff	elecDemand
meta-units	(mj /t clinker)	name	(t/t)	(t/t)	(%)	(mj/t clinker)
default	3.6	coal	0.75	0.8	1	0.2
EU-old	3.6	coal	0.75	0.8	1	0.2
EU-bat	3	charcoal	0.65	0.8	1	0.1
EU-typ	3.2	coal	0.67	0.8	1	0.1

Balancing unit processes

Balancing a unit process calculates the quantity of all inflows and outflows of that unit process. To balance a unit process, the following arguments must be provided:

• the quantity of one inflow or outflow
• the name of that inflow or outflow substance
• whether the substance is an inflow or outflow
• the name of the configuration scenario to use from the variables table.

All arguments besides the quantity can be optional, if default values have been specified for the unit process.

Unit Table Library

A library table with a list to the locations of all the unit processes available will allow you to not have to enter in the data every time the unit process function is called.

e.g.

name	product	productType	varFile	varSheet	calcFile	calcSheet	meta-notes
kiln	clinker	output	excelData/cementUnits.xlsx	var clinker kiln	excelData/cementUnits.xlsx	c clinker kiln	none
blender	cement	output	excelData/cementUnits.xlsx	var cement blender	excelData/cementUnits.xlsx	c cement blender	none
mixer	meal	output	excelData/cementUnits.xlsx	var meal mixer	excelData/cementUnits.xlsx	c meal mixer	none

Process Chain

A process chain is a linear collection of one or more connected unit processes, where an outflow of a preceding unit process is an inflow of the following unit process.

Defining a chain

A process chain is defined by a table with a list of unit processes with an inflow and outflow to each, where the outflow of a unit process must be the inflow into the next unit process. When the process chain is first used, an initializalion process creates each of the unit processes, if they do not already exist, and verifies that the inflows and outflows specified in the chain table exist for the corresponding unit processes.

e.g.

Inflow	Process	Outflow
CaCO3	mixer	meal
meal	kiln	clinker
clinker	blender	cement

Balancing a chain

Balancing a chain calculates the quantity of all inflows and outflows of each unit process in the chain, either from first inflow to last outflow or from last outflow to first inflow. To balance a chain, the following arguments must be provided:

• the quantity of one inflow or outflow to the chain
• the name of that inflow or outflow substance
• the name of the configuration scenario to use from the variables table.

All arguments besides the quantity can be optional, if default values have been specified for the process chain.

Balancing a chain returns a dictionary with both the calculated inflows and outflows for each unit process, as well as the the overall inflows and outflows.

Generating a chain diagram

After a chain has been defined, a process flow diagram of the chain can be generated.

E.g.

Factory

A factory is a collection of one or more connected process chains, where the inflow of outflow of any unit process within any chain can be the inflow or outflow of any other chain. A factory has a single main chain, and zero or more auxiliary chains. By specifying an input or output quantity to the main chain, it is possible to calculate the inflows and outflows of all processes within the chain.

Defining a factory

A factory is defined by two tables: one that lists the chains (and their file locations) and another that lists the connections between the chains. Factory data can be in seperate spreadsheets or in a single excel workbook.

Factory chains table

This table specifies the location of the proces chain data used in the factory, as well as the primary product and whether that product is an inflow or outflow of the chain. The first chain of the chain list is assumed to be the main product chain, but otherwise it doesn't matter. The chains can either be in the same file, if an excel workbook, or in a seperate file.

e.g.

ChainName	ChainProduct	Product_IO	ChainFile	ChainSheet
cement	cement	outflow	here	Cement Chain
CO2capture	CO2	inflow	here	CO2 Capture
power	electricity	outflow	here	Power Chain

Factory connections table

The factory connections table specifies how the chains connect, including the origin process chain and unit process, the destination chain, the connecting product, and whether the product is an inflow or outflow of the origin and destination. The connections table is order depedent, and the first chain should always be the main chain.

e.g.

OriginChain	OriginProcess	Product	Product_IO_of_Origin	Product_IO_of_Destination	DestinationChain
cement	kiln	CO2	outflow	inflow	CO2capture
cement	all	electricity	inflow	outflow	power
CO2capture	all	electricity	inflow	outflow	power

Balancing a factory

A factory is balanced on a single quantity of the main product and using a single scenario of variables for the whole factory. Balancing a factory returns a nested dictionary with the inflows and outflows of the factory, every chain, and every unit process. Optionally, the data can be outputted to an Excel workbook with sheets for:

• Total factory inflows and outflows
• A matrix for all inflow from every unit process
• A matrix for all outflows from every unit process
• Inflows for each chain unit process and chain totals (per chain)
• Outflows for each chain unit process and chain totals (per chain)

Generating a factory diagram

After a factory has been defined, a process flow diagram of the factory can be generated. However, due to the limitations of the diagram rendering software, they are unlikely to be pretty.

E.g.

Industries

The largest block is currently an "Industry", which is a collection of one or more factories that produce one or more products.

Defining an Industry

An industry is defined by a factory list table, which has the name of each factory and location of its data.

E.g.

Factory Name	Factory File	Factory Chains Sheet	Factory Connections Sheet
cementFactory	excelData/cementFactory.xlsx	Chain List	Connections
duplicateCementFactory	excelData/cementFactory.xlsx	Chain List	Connections
otherCementFactory	excelData/otherCementFactory.xlsx	Chain List	Connections
clinkerFactory	excelData/clinkerFactory.xlsx	Chain List	Connections

Balancing an Industry

An industry can be balanced by specifying the output product quantity for each factory, and the scenario of variables for each factory. It is possible to specify each of these absolutely for each factory, or relative to the total output of each product. It is possible to mix absolute and relative specifications in an industry, but it must be the same for each product. It is also possible to batch-balance the industries on the same output quantity but using different scenarios of variable.

E.g. Absolute Product and Scenarios

Factory Name	Factory Product	Product Qty	Scenario
cementFactory	cement	500	EU-typ
otherCementFactory	cement	200	EU-old
duplicateCementFactory	same_cement	500	EU-typ
clinkerFactory	clinker	50	EU-bat

E.g. Relative products and scenarios

Factory Name	Factory Product	Product Qty	Scenario
industry	cement	1200	EU-typ
cementFactory	cement	0.4
otherCementFactory	cement	0.5
duplicateCementFactory	cement	0.1
clinkerFactory	clinker	50	EU-bat

Balancing an industry returns a dictionary with the inputs and outputs of every factory and sub-block. It is also possible to output the industry data to a set of Excel workbooks, one for each factory (as described above), and one for the industry as a whole, with matricies of overall inputs and outputs by factory and for the industry in total.

Evolving an Industry

Evolving an industry allows for the specification of a start timestep industry state and an end timestep industry state, using the same format for balancing an industry. BlackBlox can then calculate both annual and cumulative inflows and outflows, assuming a linear change between start and industry state. It is possible for one state to have a different set of factories than the other, as long as all the factories were listed in the industry factory list table.

Evolving an industry outputs the same Excel files as does balancing an industry —one set for each the start and end state—, as well as a file with the cumulative and annual inflows and outflows listed by year, both for the industry as a whole, and for all factories.

Forthcoming Features

• Specifying evolution growth rates rather than absolute values
• Multi-step evolution of industries
• Plotting data from industry evolution
• Cleaner code with beter documentation
• Comparison of industries (static and evolution)

Current limitations:

• The current available calculation types are:
  • Ratio calculaitons (known Qty * known ratio)
  • Remainder calculations (known Qty * (1-known ratio)
  • Molecular Mass Ratio calculations (known Qty * (mol mass of unknown / mol mass of known)
  • Combustion calculations (mass of fuel use, and emissions of CO2 and waste heat, based on specified fuel type, energy demand, and efficieincy)
• Recycling flows are not supported.
• Chains can only balance if the specified flow is a substance name that is uniquely an input or uniquely an output of the chain.
• Industries only can evolve linearly.