The Virtual Engineering (VE) project provides a set of Python modules to enable users to connect mathematical models of unit operations to predict outcomes for an entire chemical process. This VE approach is currently being developed to support the beginning-to-end simulation of the low-temperature conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to a fuel precursor. More details can be found in the VE documentation.
New users are encouraged to review the Getting Started guide which describes how to create the Conda environment and run the Jupyter Notebook.
First, create a Conda environment from the environment.yaml file by opening a terminal, navigating to the root level of the Virtual Engineering directory, and running
conda env create -f environment.yaml -n [environment name]
where [environment name] is replaced with the desired name of your VE Conda environment. This Conda installs the required packages and pip installs the vebio Python package. Next, activate the environment with
conda activate [environment name]
and launch the Notebook by running
jupyter notebook
When the Notebook landing page opens, you'll be able to open the virtual_engineering_notebook which will guide you through the next steps.
Git has a mechanism for code in a repository to depend on code in another repository. The dependency is known as a submodule. Submodules are specified in .gitmodules (a hidden file on some systems) and are located in subfolders of submodules/ of this repository. Initiate the submodule system with
git submodule init
Then update specific modules with
git submodule update submodules/[name of submodule]
This command will perform a git clone or pull for that module. To run the enzymatic hydrolysis CFD model, update Nek5000. To run the well-mixed "Ligncellulose" model (no CFD), updateCEH_EmpiricalModel. To run bioreactor CFD simulation, update OpenFOAM-dev and ThirdParty-dev. Also see README_OpenFOAM.md.