Jump Start: Assay Management in Aspen HYSYS

Petroleum Refining
A Brief Tutorial (and supplement to training and online documentation)

2015 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenONE, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-8225-1215

Jump Start: Assay Management in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining

Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Scope of this Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Example Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Assay Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Adding a New Assay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Manually Creating an Assay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Characterizing Assays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Molecular Characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Reporting Assay Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Reporting Individual Assay Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Plotting Assay Comparison Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Exporting Assay Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Assays in the Simulation Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Attaching an Existing Assay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Creating a New Assay on a Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Additional Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2015 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenONE, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-8225-1215

Jump Start: Assay Management in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining

Introduction
The new Assay Management features in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining allow users to utilize the same assay
library and tools previously only available to Aspen PIMS users. These new features make crude characterization and
management consistent across Aspen HYSYS and Aspen PIMS, maximizing opportunities for optimization. Assay
Management allows users to:
Use the same assays in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining and Aspen PIMS
Get better results for crude modeling using the improved characterization and property calculations of Aspen Assay
Management
Access an extensive database of crudes and crude properties with the new assay library, and easily import data
from other sources
These features are now part of Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining, allowing users to seamlessly integrate it with existing
Aspen HYSYS models for refinery simulation, as well as the planning capabilities of Aspen PIMS.

Scope of this Document

This document is intended as a getting started guide. It will cover the process of adding an assay to an Aspen HYSYS
Petroleum Refining model, characterizing it, and integrating it with the complete process simulation. It will also show you
how to generate plots and extract information about these assays for review. It is not meant as a standalone reference
document. We recommend pairing this guide with a range of other resources, including:
AspenTech knowledgebase items, training, and sample models available in aspenONE Exchange
AspenTech Computer Based Training modules available from within Aspen HYSYS
AspenTech support website (support.aspentech.com)
AspenTech courseware available in on-line and in-person versions
AspenTech Business Consultants
Knowledge of Aspen HYSYS V8 is assumed for this guide. Aspen HYSYS V8.4 needs to be installed for access to the
functionality. If you do not know how to build a flowsheet in Aspen HYSYS, you should first consult reference material on
this subject. We recommend the following:
Jump Start Guide: Getting Started with HYSYS V8
AspenTech support website (support.aspentech.com)
Computer Based Training Module: Getting Started with Aspen HYSYS
Aspen HYSYS training course

2015 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenONE, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-8225-1215

Jump Start: Assay Management in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining

Example Cases
A sample Assay Management case named REFSYS CDU DEMO BACKBLENDED ASSAY.hsc is available in the Samples
folder within Aspen HYSYS V8.4 and should be used for evaluating assay data. For this Jump Start Guide, we will be
creating a HYSYS Petroleum Refining model from the beginning and adding the crude assay.

Assay Setup
When setting up a refining case in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining, the first step is to select and characterize crude
assays. This is done within the HYSYS Properties Environment and will determine the characteristics of the incoming
crude feeds before they can be used in the Simulation Environment. If a user has not defined a complete property package
before creating a new assay, a default component list with hypothetical components and the Peng-Robinson fluid package
will automatically be created and attached to the newly created assay.

Adding a New Assay

First, we need to import the petroleum assay, using the Petroleum Assays button, as shown in Figure 1. This will take
you to the HYSYS Petroleum Refining Assay Summary form where you can view and add assays to your case. By opening
this page, you will get access to the Assay Management ribbon as shown in Figure 2. Here, you can find the New Assay
button in the far left. Click on the dropdown arrow to select between these options:
Import from Library Select an assay from the Assay Library
Import from File Import a supported Excel, CSV, or .AFAM case with assay data
Manually Enter Manually enter data into the Assay Table
By default, clicking on the New Assay button will select the Import from Library option.

Figure 1: The Petroleum Assays button, located in the Home tab in the Properties Environment

2015 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenONE, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-8225-1215

Jump Start: Assay Management in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining

Figure 2: The HYSYS Petroleum Refining Assay Summary form

Once the Assay Library has opened, there will be a large number of assays to select from and multiple ways to filter the
results. In this example, we will import an existing assay from the Assay Library called Bachaquero crude. To find the
specific crude to use in this case, type the name Bachaquero under Assay name and select the correct crude from
the list, which will then be highlighted in yellow. To finalize the selection, click OK in the bottom-right corner, as shown
in Figure 3. After the assay has been imported, you can verify stream properties by checking the Input Assay and
Conventional Results plys in the left-hand Navigation Pane under the Assay name.

Figure 3: The window for selecting crudes from the assay library

2015 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenONE, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-8225-1215

Jump Start: Assay Management in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining

Manually Creating Assays

Since there are a variety of ways that assay information can be entered into a refining model, Aspen HYSYS Petroleum
Refining provides a way for users to manually enter assay data by choosing the Manually Enter option when creating a
new assay. This will open up the New Assay window, giving a number of custom options to format your assay table, as
shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Options for manually entering assay data

There are three options to enter assay data:

Multi Cut Properties This is ideal if you have data for specific assay cuts that you wish to enter, such as Cut Yields.
Here, you can set the number of cuts from your data and enter the boiling point ranges in the table provided.
Single-stream Properties This option is ideal if you want to evaluate an assay from distillation data and bulk
(whole crude) properties to create a single-stream for your model.
Backblending This will open a custom form designed specifically for users who have data from product streams
and wish to simulate a backblended feed by entering pure component, distillation, and property data for specific
products.

Characterizing Assays
Under the Assay Management tab, there are also options for different assay characterizations using the Characterize
button. The options include matching assay cut properties and whole crude properties, and molecular characterization, as
shown in Figure 5.
The default option to characterize when clicking the characterize button will be to match the Whole Crude properties
given in the Input Assay table, which means matching the bulk values that have been given by the user will take
precedence over matching values for specific cuts.

2015 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenONE, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-8225-1215

Jump Start: Assay Management in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining

Figure 5: Different options for assay characterization, including matching assay cut properties

The tables shown under Input Assay can be customized with additional rows for other crude properties for each
specified cut, as shown in Figure 6. The columns can also be customized, with new columns added for more custom cuts.

Figure 6: Option to include additional crude properties by adding rows to the Input Assay data table

Molecular Characterization
When Molecular Characterization is selected, the user is given a list of hydrocarbon molecules present in the crude and
is shown three editable columns: weight percent (Wt %), and the alpha and beta coefficients (Figure 7). In addition,
viscosity coefficients are also available. These three variables can be modified prior to the molecular characterization
step. Once they are selected, you can click the Run Evaluation button to characterize the assay using this data. After
the assay has been characterized using Molecular Characterization, the user can change the characterization method by
unchecking the Molecular Characterization box and using the Characterize button.

Figure 7: The Data Setup tab for Molecular Characterization

2015 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenONE, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-8225-1215

Jump Start: Assay Management in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining

Reporting Assay Data

A useful tool in the new Assay Management feature in Aspen HYSYS is the ability to plot assay data. This tool makes it
easier to visualize the characteristics of a crude stream and it enables users to compare the features of several different
crudes. The properties that can be plotted for assays are shown under the Assay management tab, in the Plot Gallery
section.

Reporting Individual Assay Data

When plotting data from an individual crude assay, you can select the desired plot from the gallery. In this example, we
have plotted a distillation curve for the Bachaquero crude, as shown in Figure 8. You can change the graphs coordinates,
type, legend, text, etc. from the ribbon.

Figure 8: Distillation plot for Bachaquero crude

Plotting Assay Comparison Data

To compare data from more than one crude assay, the second crude must be addedfollowing the procedure we outlined
earlier in this guide. In this example, we will compare Bachaquero and Shengli crudes. After Shengli has been added to
the Petroleum Assays list, you can add it to the plot by clicking Select Assays under the Format tab when the Plot is
selected, as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9: The option to add more assays to a plot is possible using the Select Assays button, highlighted

When the additional assay is included in the plot, you can compare the propertiesin this case the distillation curve of
both assays side-by-side, as shown in Figure 10.

2015 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenONE, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-8225-1215

Jump Start: Assay Management in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining

Figure 10: Plot showing the comparison between the Distillation curve for Bachaquero and Shengli

Exporting Assay Data

Assays can be exported from a HYSYS Petroleum Refining case while in the Properties Environment. Go into the
Petroleum Assays node to access the Assay Summary, select the assays to export, and click the Export button as shown
in Figure 11. The assays can be saved as an AFAM case, which can be imported into another HYSYS Petroleum Refining
case or Aspen PIMS for consistency of models for planning and engineering.

Figure 11: Form showing how to Export assays from a HYSYS Petroleum Refining case

Assays in the Simulation Environment

The main goal of being able to bring in and create assays in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining is being able to evaluate
the behavior of various crudes within a refinery process model. There are a number of ways to use these assays and
their results when using the new Aspen Assay Management. To begin using assays in the simulation, proceed to the
Simulation Environment.

2015 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenONE, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-8225-1215

Jump Start: Assay Management in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining

Attaching an Existing Assay

When an assay has been created and characterized in the Properties Environment, it can be immediately used for
modeling in the Simulation Environment. To bring the assay into the simulation, it must be either attached to a stream or
added to a Petroleum Feeder unit operation.
If the assay will be modeled as a single-stream, you can typically attach it to a material stream in the flowsheet. First,
add a material stream to the flowsheet using the model palette. Then, open up the stream view by double-clicking the
newly created stream and click on the Petroleum Assay option in the Worksheet tab. Once in the Assay form, select the
Attach Existing option which will show a dropdown list where the previously created assay can be selected as shown in
Figure 12. Once a characterized assay is attached, it will define the composition and the properties of the stream so that
the user just has to enter the conditions of the stream for it to be fully defined.
If more than one assay will be used or if the assay will be mixed with another stream, they can be added to a Petroleum
Feeder, shown in the palette in Figure 13. In the Feeder, you can select input feed streams and feed assays (as well as
mixing specifications including a fluid package) and Aspen HYSYS will calculate a product stream that can be used in the
flowsheet.

Figure 12: Attaching an existing assay to a material stream

2015 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenONE, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-8225-1215

Jump Start: Assay Management in Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining

Figure 13: Petroleum feeder shown in the Refining palette

Creating a New Assay on a Stream

In some cases, creating a new assay on a stream may be necessary. To do so, add a stream to the simulation and proceed
directly to the Petroleum Assay option in the stream view. From this form, there are a number of options to add assays,
similar to when creating an assay in the Properties Environment. The user can select Attach Existing, Import from File,
Import from Library, or if they click the Create button, it will open the Manual Entry dialog for the user to begin entering
assay data for the stream. Once the assay has been created on the stream, click the View Assay button at the bottom
of the stream view at any time to open up the assay table for that specific stream. Figure 14 shows the view of the assay
table while in the Simulation Environment.

Figure 14: Image showing the assay table in the Simulation Environment
2015 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenONE, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-8225-1215

Additional Resources
Public Website:
http://www.aspentech.com/products/aspen-refsys.aspx

Aspen Online Training:

http://www.aspentech.com/products/aspen-online-training

On-demand Short Presentations:

Intro to Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining V8.4
https://www.brainshark.com/aspentech1/aspen-refsys-v84

Jump Start Tutorial Series:

Jump Start: Aspen HYSYS V8.0
http://www.aspentech.com/JumpStart_HYSYSV8/

About AspenTech
AspenTech is a leading supplier of software that optimizes process manufacturingfor energy, chemicals,
pharmaceuticals, engineering and construction, and other industries that manufacture and produce
products from a chemical process. With integrated aspenONE solutions, process manufacturers can
implement best practices for optimizing their engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain operations.
As a result, AspenTech customers are better able to increase capacity, improve margins, reduce costs,
and become more energy efficient. To see how the worlds leading process manufacturers rely on
AspenTech to achieve their operational excellence goals, visit www.aspentech.com.

Worldwide Headquarters 
Aspen Technology, Inc.
20 Crosby Drive
Bedford, MA 01730
United States
phone: +17812216400
fax: +17812216410
info@aspentech.com

Regional Headquarters
Houston, TX | USA
phone: +12815841000
So Paulo | Brazil
phone: +551134436261
Reading | United Kingdom
phone: +44(0)1189226400
Singapore | Republic of Singapore
phone: +6563953900
Manama | Bahrain
phone: +97317503000
2015 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenONE, the aspenONE logo, the Aspen leaf logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen
Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. 11-8225-1215

For a complete list of offices, please visit

www.aspentech.com/locations