Software and Information Technology
Software Assesses Ecological and Human Health Risks
Breeze Risk Analyst software conducts geographical information systems (GIS)-based analyses of multi-pathway human-health and ecological risk assessments. It provides the modeling framework for both regulatory and nonregulatory applications, including: air toxics risk assessment; permitting of hazardous-waste combustion facilities under Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) using the U.S. EPA Human Health Risk Assessment Protocol (HHRAP) protocol; toxic tort and odor/nuisance litigation; air toxics permitting; etc. The system may be enhanced with the installation of modules that support specific programs with ad hoc risk assessment methodologies, as well as with fate, transport, and exposure equations, and with chemical parameter databases. The software is available in two formats: as a stand-alone application with fully integrated GIS capabilities, or as part of an existing GIS workspace as an Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ArcView Extension.
Appeared In Issue: August 2009
Breeze Software
www.breeze-software.com
Asset Manager Standardizes Communication Interfaces
Version 2.31 of FactoryTalk AssetCentre asset-management software is available with Field Device Tool (FDT) technology to assist manufacturers in the centralized management and maintenance of production environments. The FDT technology standardizes the communication interface between field devices and control systems, which is particularly useful because most facilities use a wide variety of field devices. The process device configuration uses the interpreter device type manager (iDTM) for the HART Communication Protocol to integrate data from the HART device descriptor (DD) file and the graphical FDT for use in any Hart-registered device descriptor. The software allows engineering staff to remotely conduct instrument diagnostics, to view and edit device configurations, and to quickly swap out or reconfigure devices with the last-known good configuration. This increases the reliability of instrumentation, simplifies regulatory reporting compliance efforts, and improves product quality in applications where conditions are tied directly to process parameters such as temperature, pressure and flow.
Appeared In Issue: August 2009
Rockwell Automation
www.ra.rockwell.com
Electronic Dictionary Facilitates Chemical Research
The Dictionary of Chemical Names and Synonyms reduces the amount of time spent identifying a chemical by one of its many common names, synonyms, Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number, or simplified molecular input line entry specification (SMILES) notation. The software contains more than 25,000 chemicals and 150,000 synonyms, representing an increase of more than 4,000 and 20,000, respectively, since the last revision. The dictionary features full-text searching and dynamic indices for rapid identification of chemicals.
Appeared In Issue: August 2009
Synapse Information Resources, Inc.
www.synapseinfo.com
Software Simplifies Batch Operations Across Systems
InBatch Version 9.0 offers a high level of flexibility in managing very complex batching processes, performing operations on top of existing systems. The software complies with the International Society for Automation (ISA) S88 flexible batching standard, and provides users with equipment history, material genealogy, stringent security, Web-based reporting, and the ability to facilitate the design and implementation of systems that meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 21 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 11 regulations. InBatch offers the ability to quickly and easily add additional processing lines, manufacturing cells, and operator nodes.
Appeared In Issue: August 2009
Wonderware
us.wonderware.com
Software Partnership Joins Chemical Kinetics with Flow Simulations
Reaction Design will provide a free version of its CHEMKIN-CFD that has been optimized to work with ANSYS FLUENT to ANSYS customers. Traditional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) algorithms achieve convergence of all the momentum, energy, species and mass conservation equations in a 3-D model through iteration, which can be cumbersome and time-consuming. CHEMKIN-CFD, which is specifically designed to handle stiff gas-phase and gas-surface chemistry, employs a proprietary solver to speed up simulation without sacrificing accuracy. It solves species and energy conservation equations in a closely coupled manner for both transient and steady-state problems. Within a flow simulation, this version of CHEMKIN-CFD solves coupled conservation equations at every cell (or grid point), at every iteration, and at every time-step. ANSYS FLUENT software then performs transport calculations over all grid points, with an option to use transport properties from CHEMKIN-CFD.
Appeared In Issue: August 2009
Reaction Design
www.reactiondesign.com
Ansys, Inc.
www.ansys.com