ASCEND

Web Page: http://ascendwiki.cheme.cmu.edu/Student_projects

Mailing List: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ascend-sim-users

ASCEND provides an open-source modeling environment to aid scientists and engineers to debug and solve difficult equation-based models. There is an object-oriented modelling language in which a user can enter their equations, and then a Python/GTK GUI that can be used to inspect, debug, and solve the resulting model. More details at

http://ascendwiki.cheme.cmu.edu/ASCEND_overview

The ASCEND team is an un-funded group of collaborating academics and professionals. The project first started at Carnegie-Mellon University in the 1970s and since then was developed across 15 different PhD projects under the leadership of Em Prof Art Westerberg, now retired. The core group is now John Pye, Ben Allan, Art Westerberg and Krishnan Chittur, with a couple of the GSOC2009 crew also still involved.

Projects

• FPROPS FPROPS is a library for calculating thermophysical properties using helmholtz functions for pure substances. Currently FPROPS has very limited library for few components and it fails during saturation curve calculations.
• Improvement on Canvas-based modelling for Ascend This project aims at carrying forward the last years GSoC project. The major focus would be on enhancing the usability and functionality of the Canvas Based Modeller for Ascend. In terms of usability, a priority would be integration with the current Ascend PyGTK interface. In terms of functionality the project would focus on addition of type-checking, addition of canvas components, customised block appearances and consideration of models with closed circulation loops.
• Prototype Compiler - ASCEND GSoC Application Current ASCEND compiler, coded using Flex/Bison is highly effective, but has a huge and difficult code that is hard to understand, maintain and extend. Using more modern language description and parser generation tool like ANTLR can result in a modular, maintainable and fast compiler. Additionally, some of the objectives of next-generation ASCEND syntax can be incorporated in the solution.
• Thermophysical properties database ASCEND has native models to support thermodynamic correlations. Using ASCEND syntax makes it difficult to maintain and browse the list of available chemical species. An alternative is sought such that the chemical property data be moved to separate data file.