Topology

The Topology page is used to define the possible routings of material in the scheduling case. Although stream routing is defined in the flowsheet of the supply chain model, you can use the Topology page to override the allowed connections between units for scheduling purposes.

Tip: When you delete a routing between two assets, check the messages in the Diagnostics pane to see whether any activities related to the routing have been deleted.

You can use asset filters to control which assets are shown on the page. Asset filters are created automatically based on the views defined in the schedule parent case, and can also be created manually.

To use an asset filter, select it from the Filter menu in the Assets group of the Home ribbon tab.

Add, delete and rename assets

You can add assets to your Schedule topology even if these assets are not in the original Plan topology. Follow these steps:

1. On the Topology page, click Add Asset in the Assets group of the Home ribbon tab. The Add Asset dialog box opens.

   

2. Choose the type of asset you want to add from the Asset Type list.

   

3. Enter a unique name for the asset in the Asset Name field.

4. Click OK. The new asset is added to the table. The table scrolls to the asset position, and the corresponding row is selected.

You can then connect the asset by editing the Sources and Destinations cells of the row.

To rename an asset added in Schedule, select the corresponding table row and click Rename Asset in the Assets group of the Home ribbon tab. Type the new name in the Rename Asset dialog and click Rename.

Once an asset is renamed, any Tabular columns and calculations containing the asset name are renamed accordingly.

To delete one or more assets added in Schedule, select the corresponding table rows and click Delete Asset in the Assets group of the Home ribbon tab. You cannot delete assets that are part of the original Plan topology.

Assets added in Schedule have an information icon next to their name, with the icon tooltip showing the asset name followed by (added in Schedule).

Tip: You can add, delete and rename assets of five types from the Topology page: blender, feed, manifold, pipeline and tank. You can also add, delete and rename assets of each type from the corresponding pages under Asset Configuration in the left pane.

Connect and disconnect splitters

When you create a scheduling case from a planning case, the whole flowsheet topology is reproduced, including all splitters.

Some splitters can be removed to simplify the scheduling case and represent in a more abstract way the movement of feedstocks between units. You can do so from the Topology page.

Removing a manifold is only possible if the resulting topology is equivalent to the original one. For example, you can remove a splitter connecting a tank to two more tanks, because you can replace it with two separate connections. However, you cannot replace a splitter connecting the output of a process unit to two tanks.

To remove a manifold, click the icon next to the manifold name in the Compact view. To add the manifold back, click the icon. These icons are not available in the Matrix view.

Warning: When you delete a manifold, you must manually reconnect the sources and destinations.
Similarly, when you add a manifold, you must manually connect it to its sources and destinations.

Create a temporary routing

Where a routing is required temporarily (for example, to move material between assets not normally connected in the flowsheet topology) you can create a temporary routing on the Topology grid.

Warning: Any temporary routings you create applies to the whole, current scheduling horizon. Therefore, when creating or removing temporary routings, take care not to invalidate past or future scheduled events.

To create a temporary routing:

5. Roll the schedule forward to the point in time where the routing should be created.

6. Create a baseline at this point in time.

7. Create the routing in the Topology page.

To remove a temporary routing:

8. Roll the schedule forward to the point in time where the routing should be removed.

9. Create a baseline at this point in time.

10. Remove the routing in the Topology page.

Change view

To select a view, use the View drop-down menu.

• The Compact view lets you review at a glance all the sources and destinations for each asset.

  To edit the sources or destinations for an asset, click the icon in the corresponding cell. The Asset Selector dialog window opens. For each asset you want to include in the list of sources or destinations, select the check box in the Selected column. Click OK to confirm your changes.

• The Matrix view is a grid with source assets as rows and destination assets as columns.

  To allow material to flow between assets in the schedule, select the check box at the intersection between the asset source row and asset destination columns. Enabling a check box on the Topology page allows a new transfer of material in the Tabular pane. It is necessary to manually insert a column for the transfer in the relevant views.

  If a check box is not already selected, it appears only when a cell is selected, or when you hover the mouse pointer over the cell.