5. Connecting CHEMCAD to the Wolfram Cloud for Membrane Calculations

CHEMCAD is a suite of process design software and Mathematica is a powerful computer algebra system for theoretical or numerical solution of advanced mathematical problems. In previous publications, we provided detailed instructions and examples for connecting Mathematica running locally or on the cloud to CHEMCAD. In References 1-3, we showed how to connect CHEMCAD to Excel using Mathematica Link For Excel running locally on the desktop computer. Reference 4 explains how to deploy functions to the cloud. Once deployed to the cloud, functions can be accessed over the internet in Excel, which in turn is connected to CHEMCAD through data mapping. This data set further extends that study by providing an additional example. The example is a simple well-mixed membrane calculation with a fully specified feed stream split by the membrane into retentate and permeate streams similar to Reference 3. To arrive at a solution, we specify the governing equations and invoke the symbolic solver in Mathematica to generate the design functions. The model is flexible since changes to the underlying equations can be easily made to accommodate different mechanical designs in the equipment, different transport mechanisms, or additional components. The results are interesting because a wide range of advanced design and simulation equations can be posed in Mathematica, deployed to the cloud, and then used directly by multiple users running CHEMCAD.

CHEMCAD是一款流程设计软件套件，Mathematica是一款可用于高级数学问题理论求解与数值求解的高性能计算机代数系统（computer algebra system）。在过往发表的研究成果中，我们已提供了将本地或云端运行的Mathematica与CHEMCAD进行连接的详细操作指南与示例案例。在参考文献1至3中，我们展示了如何通过桌面端本地运行的Mathematica Link For Excel将CHEMCAD与Excel建立连接。参考文献4则阐释了如何将函数部署至云端。函数完成云端部署后，即可通过互联网在Excel中进行访问，而Excel又可通过数据映射与CHEMCAD建立连接。本数据集进一步拓展了前述研究，新增了一则示例案例。该案例为一个简单的充分混合膜计算场景：原料流经膜分离为截留液（retentate）和透过液（permeate）两股物流，其设置方式与参考文献3中的案例类似。为求解该问题，我们首先明确控制方程，随后调用Mathematica中的符号求解器生成设计函数。该模型具备良好的灵活性，可通过修改底层方程，轻松适配设备的不同机械设计、不同传质机制，或是新增组分。本研究结果具有较高的参考价值，因为各类高级设计与仿真方程均可在Mathematica中构建，随后部署至云端，供多名运行CHEMCAD的用户直接调用。