Second industrial fluid properties simulation challenge announced

The challenge is on! On September 10, a group of researchers from 3M, BP, the Dow Chemical Company, DuPont, Mitsubishi Chemicals, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced the problems for the Second Industrial Fluid Properties Simulation Challenge. Academic groups, research laboratories, and scientific software companies from around the world now have one year to predict vapor pressures and heats of vaporization, gas solubility, and enthalpies of mixing for materials specified by the contest committee.

The purpose of the contest, organized in conjunction with AIChE's Computational Molecular Science and Engineering Forum and the Theoretical Subdivision of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Physical Chemistry Division, is to objectively assess current capabilities for the prediction of fluid properties, and to promote the use of molecular simulation, which was identified as a "promising technology" for predicting materials properties in the Vision 2020: Roadmap for the Chemical Industry. The problems focus on industrially-relevant properties, and the competition's three sections challenge entrants to predict vapor pressures and heats of vaporization for two different materials; to predict the solubility of gases in liquids; and to predict heats of mixing for an amine in both hydrocarbon oil, and in water, over a range of concentrations at different temperatures, Accurate experimental measurements of all properties will be taken at NIST and the Dow Chemical Company during the year, and used to judge predictions made by the contest entrants.

Modeling groups from academia, industry, and government laboratories are encouraged to participate. Contest problems, rules, and complete registration information can be found on the NIST Web site at http://www.cstl.nist.gov/ FluidSimulationChallenge/index.htm. Manuscripts must be submitted by September 10, 2004, and the winners will be announced and prizes awarded at a special session at the AIChE Annual Meeting, which will be held in November 2004 in Austin, TX.