Technical Support

Interacting with OLI Technical Support

OLI Systems, Inc. has been providing software for the chemical industries since 1971. During that time, technical support has been a primary focus. To help facilitate the user interacting with OLI’s technical support document, there are some things that the user should know.

There are many tools to interact with Tech Support. These tools are:

• Live phone support
• E-mail support
• Web based support
• Web based knowledge base
• Web based live training & support
• Off-line web based training
• FTP Site to upload and download files

Before contacting Tech Support, the user should be prepared to send the files that are causing the problems. These files are different depending on the program being considered. Sending the files may also cause some virus protection programs to strip the files from E-mail.

OLI File Structures

OLI Analyzers

The files used by the OLI Analyzers are binary files. Some of these files may cause a virus protection alert when being E-mailed to OLI. This situation will be discussed later in this document.

Table 1 Analyzer File Extensions version 3.0 and later

Program	File Extension
OLI Studio(contains Stream, Corrosion and EVS)	.oad

For versions before 3.0 there are four (4) Analyzer programs. Each has its own file extension. You will need to turn on File Extensions in Windows. See the Appendix on how to turn on the extensions.

Table 2 Analyzer File Extensions version 2.0 and earlier

Program	File Extension
Stream Analyzer	.sta
Corrosion Analyzer	.cra
Lab Analyzer	.laa

ScaleChem

ScaleChem has several files that are of importance. One of the files is a binary file (SCA) and is most commonly sent for technical support. Other files are text files and they may be required occasionally.

Table 3 ScaleChem Files

Extension	Type	Description
.sca	Binary	Primary ScaleChem file
.osc	Text	Primary output file
.dat	Text	Brine data input to solver

ESP

ESP creates two classes of files. The first set is for the chemistry model. The second set is for the process model. All files are text

Table 4 Chemistry Model files

Extension	Class	Description
.mdl	User input	Model definition file. This file contains the user’s input chemistry
.mod	Generated/modifiable	This is a text version of the chemistry model. It can be modified by the user
.dbs	Generated/non-modifiable	This is the numeric version of the database. It can not be modified by the user.

Table 5 Process Model files

Extension	Class	Description
.bin	User input	This is the process input file.
.bst	Output	This is the stream output file. This file generates the stream listings
.dbs	Generated/non-modifiable	This is the numeric version of the database. It can not be modified by the user.

Extension Class Description .bin User Input This is the process input file. .bst Output This is the stream output file. This file generates the stream listings .bre Output This is the block report file. The block reports come from this file. Also, this file is used to Restart multistage unit operations .bou Output This is the block output file. The process trace listing (the order of blocks) is found in this file. All the stream and block information is stored in this file. Rarely sent to OLI .TEA Output Tear Stream restart file. This is available only in ESP v7.0.30 or later. Rarely sent to OLI

OLI Databook Structure

The OLI Databooks are a series of 39 files for each databook. The first three characters of a databook must be unique in a folder and must not be the same as any database stored in the following folder:

C:\Program Files\OLI Systems\ESP X.X\Databanks

Assuming that the default installation folder is c:\Program Files and X.X is the current version number.

As an example, we will look at the structure of an OLI database NASALTS

NASALTS is a collection of 39 files.

Table 6 OLI Database Structure File Type File Type NASVP.RAW Vapor pressure raw data NASALTS.SYN Species Synonyms NASSYN.NDX Index to synonyms NASALTS.STR Species Structure NASSTRU.NDX Index to structures NASALTS.SOU Species solubility data NASSOU.NDX Index to solubility data NASALTS.SOR Species source data NASSOR.NDX Index to sources NASALTS.REF Reference data NASSOLU.RAW Solubility raw data NASALTS.REC Database record structure NASREF.NDX Index into references NASALTS.RDX Redox data NASMATS.NDX Index to material code symbols NASALTS.NDX Index of allspecies NASMATN.NDX Index to material code numbers NASALTS.MAT Material codes NASMATC.NDX Index to material code charges NASALTS.ION Ion Codes NASLID.NDX Index to lattice identification NASALTS.INT Species interaction data NASIONS.NDX Index to ion code symbols NASALTS.EQS Equation types NASIONN.NDX Index to ion code numbers NASALTS.DOC Reference data NASACTI.NDX Index to activity interactions NASALTS.DIC Database structure file NASFORM.NDX Index to formulas NASALTS.DDB Pure component data NASEQS.NDX Index to equations NASALTS.COP Coprecipitation data NASDENS.RAW Density raw data NASALTS.CND Electrical Conductivity data NASDENS.NDX Index to density data NASACTI.RAW Interaction raw data NASCP.RAW Heat Capacity raw data NASINT.NDX Index of interactions. NASCAS.NDX Index to CAS numbers

As you can see, some files are named NASALTS (e.g., NASALTS.DIC) but others are named with only the first three letters – NAS (e.g., NASREF.NDX). This is important if you send the files to OLI for analysis.

To send the files to OLI, you first need to search for all the files. Using NASALTS as a reference, the search would be

NAS*.*

This may return more than 39 files. This is allowable, please place all the files into an archive such as WinZip and send them to OLI.

Aspen HYSYS

Aspen HYSYS files have an .hsc file extension. This file should be sent to OLI. If you have a private databank, this also needs to be sent to OLI, see OLI Databank Structure above.

Aspen PLUS

Table 7 File types required by OLI File Type File Extension OLI Chemistry model (Wizard) .cwa OLI Chemistry model (standard) .mdl and .mod OLI Generated Chemistry .dbs Aspen Backup file (flowsheet) .bkp Note: you need only send either the Wizard files or the Standard files, not both.

If you have a private databank, this also needs to be sent to OLI, see OLI Databank Structure above.

Unisim Design

Unisim Design files have an .usc file extension. This file should be sent to OLI. If you have a private databank, this also needs to be sent to OLI, see OLI Databank Structure above.

Chemistry Wizard (Non-Aspen PLUS)

Table 8 Stand-alone Chemistry Wizard files File Type File Extension OLI Chemistry model .cws OLI Generated Chemistry .dbs

If you have a private databank, this also needs to be sent to OLI, see OLI Databank Structure above.

File Uploads

With recent increases in security, sometimes it is impossible to send the required files to OLI. If this happens please use the following web site: http://support.olisystems.com/upload.aspx

Live Phone Support

OLI Systems, Inc. is located in Northern New Jersey, United States. Our office hours are 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time (New York).

Our phone numbers are:

Support: 973-539-4996 extension 24 (USA) Fax: 973-539-5922 (USA)

E-mail Support:

You can contact OLI via E-mail for a variety of reasons. The Emails are on the main OLI website www.olisystems.com and on the support website support.olisystems.com

Web Based Live Training and Support

OLI Systems has partnered with AQSim to use Microsoft’s LiveMeeting facility to conduct live training. To use LiveMeeting, you will need to check to see if you can support the plug-in for Internet explorer.

FIRST TIME USERS: Install the Windows-based Meeting Console before your meeting: http://r.office.microsoft.com/r/rlidLiveMeeting?p1=7&p2=en_US&p3=LMInfo&p4=DownloadWindowsConsole

This will allow you to use the LiveMeeting facility.

Occasionally you will need to use OLI’s teleconferencing facility. OLI will supply the phone numbers as required.

Appendix

How to turn on file extensions in Windows 2000 and XP?

From My Computer select Tools and then Folder Options. Click on the View tab. Uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types.

Figure 1 Click the Apply button and then OK.