NEA routinely develops custom computer packages according to client specifications. Such projects generally move through several stages. First, the client describes the operational difficulties or fuel quality impacts they want to be addressed, and exchanges data with NEA so that the technical issues can be resolved quantitatively. The data may be obtained in lab-scale characterization tests, in pilot-scale testing, or from full-scale field testing. It is almost always handled by NEA under a nondisclosure agreement. Then NEA develops an analysis to interpret the client’s database. Once the predictive capabilities are clearly apparent, NEA develops a custom computer package according to the client’s specifications for in-house case studies. NEA continues to support the in-house installation, and will expand the calculation sequence upon request.

Some custom calculation sequences have been based on statistical correlations with more powerful regression variables taken from detailed reaction mechanisms; others used simplified modeling analogs to depict only the essential features; and some impose full chemical reaction mechanisms under NEA’s ChemNet^™ CFD post-processing methodology, both with and without CFD simulations to guide the specifications for a reactor network for the reaction system under consideration. The resolution of the chemical reactions in the ultimate solutions depends on the form and extent of a client’s database, as well as the time and budget available for a particular project. As long as the process chemistry plays a major role in the client’s area of interest, NEA will develop a computer package that accurately resolves the underlying technical issues within constraints of time and budget.