Aspen Plus® Simulation Software - An Advanced Course for Learners

By Prof. Prabirkumar Saha | IIT Guwahati

Learners enrolled: 377 | Exam registration: 6

ABOUT THE COURSE:

Aspen Plus is a process modeling tool used for process monitoring, optimization and conceptual design, especially by chemical process industries. This is a simple course on Aspen Plus Simulation engine that will teach one how to model the most common unit operations of a chemical plant. Basic unit operations such as Pump, Reactor, Valve, Heater, Distillation Column etc. have been demonstrated in the first course “Aspen Plus^® simulation software - a basic course for beginners” which have been helpful for students, teachers, engineers and researchers in the area of R&D and Plant Design/Operation. The proposed course is the advanced version of the first course. It is didactic, with a lot of applied theory and case studies. At the end of the course one will be able to setup a simulation, run it, get design parameters, optimize and get results. This is highly recommended for those who are willing to take a career in simulation/modeling via software.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Final year UG chemical engineering students and PG stu- dents having chemical engineering background. People from chemical process industries may also get benefitted with this course.

PREREQUISITES: People having successfully completed MOOC titled “Aspen Plus^® simulation software - a basic course for beginners” NPTEL ID 103103209

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: All chemical process industries such as Reliance petrochem, Shell, IOCL, etc.

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Chemical Engineering Computational Chemical Engineering
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	19 Jan 2026
End Date :	10 Apr 2026
Enrollment Ends :	26 Jan 2026
Exam Registration Ends :	13 Feb 2026
Exam Date :	26 Apr 2026 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Recapitulation of Aspen Plus^® basics

Week 2: Stream multiplier, stream duplicator, stream class changer, Stream analyser, stream selector, load stream manipulator, charge balance, measurement block, design spec, calculator and transfer

Week 3: Crystallizer, crusher, screen

Week 4: Dryer, granulator

Week 5: Classifier, Fluidized bed

Week 6: Cyclone separator, Venturi scrubber, Centrifuge

Week 7: Rotary vacuum filter, crossflow filter, hydrocy-clone

Week 8: Fabric filter, electrostatic precipitator

Week 9: Batch models, User Models

Week 10:

Case study 1: Batch drying process
Case Study 2: Crushing and grinding
Case Study 3: Pipeline exercise

Week 11:

Case Study 4: Multicompression system
Case Study 5: Pneumatic conveying

Week 12:

Case Study 6: Fluidized bed reactor
Case Study 7: Aspen dynamics for distillation control studies

Books and references

1. Al-Malah, K.I.M (2016),“ASPEN PLUS^® Chemical Engineering Applications”,Wiley.

2. Schefflan, R. (2016).“Teach Yourself the Basics of Aspen Plus”,AIChE, Wiley.

Instructor bio

Prof. Prabirkumar Saha

IIT Guwahati

Prof. Prabirkumar Saha received his Bachelors of Engineering degree in Chemical Engineering from Jadavpur University, India in 1992 and his Masters of Technology and Ph. D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, in 1994 and 1998, respectively. He has got 26 years of post-PhD experience both in industry and academia. Prior to joining his present job, he had undertaken professional responsibilities at the National University of Singapore, General Electric (USA) and Cranfield University (England). Currently, he is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati. He has published about 70 refereed journal and conference papers. His research interest covers process control and liquid membrane based separation process. Prof. Saha is a recipient of Fulbright-Nehru Award for International Education Administrators. He is a Senior Life Member of American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He is also fellow of Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers and Institute of Engineers (India).

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: : April 26, 2026 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Guwahati .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team