Ansys Chemkin-pro 17.0 Release 15151 59 -

Solid feature for ANSYS Chemkin-Pro 17.0 Release 15151 59

3. Surface Chemistry Stability Fixes

A critical bug in the Surface Kinetics solver, present in early Chemkin-Pro 17.0 releases, caused non-physical sticking coefficients for catalytic converters. Build 15151 59 addressed this by correcting the interpolation of coverage-dependent activation energies. For aftertreatment simulation engineers, this meant a 12% reduction in convergence iterations for platinum-rhodium catalysts.

Operational Note

If you are actively running Release 15151 (Build 59), be aware that it is not compatible with modern Windows 11 updates beyond 22H2 without compatibility mode (Windows 7 or 8). Additionally, the post-processing utility Chemkin-Viewer in this build cannot directly open native .ckd files from versions 19.0 or later without manual reformatting. ANSYS Chemkin-Pro 17.0 Release 15151 59

Real-World Success Story: Low-Temperature Oxidation of Dimethyl Ether (DME)

A European energy research institute used Chemkin-Pro 17.0 Release 15151 59 to revisit low-temperature DME oxidation. Using the detailed mechanism of Burke et al. (Combust. Flame, 2015), they performed: Solid feature for ANSYS Chemkin-Pro 17

  • Ignition delay simulations in a closed homogeneous batch reactor.
  • Speciation in a jet-stirred reactor (JSR) at 500–900 K.
  • Negative temperature coefficient (NTC) behavior analysis.

The key outcome: Only Release 15151 59 reproduced the experimentally observed second-stage ignition delay within ±15% across the NTC region. Earlier 17.0 builds over-predicted low-temperature reactivity by 30%. The researchers attributed this to the corrected VODE tolerance scalars and the updated handling of hydroperoxyalkylperoxy (OOQOOH) radical chemistry. Ignition delay simulations in a closed homogeneous batch

4.2 Installation Steps

  1. Uninstall previous versions (Chemkin 15.0, 16.0, or earlier 17.0 builds) to avoid registry conflicts.
  2. Run the installer: setup_ChemkinPro_17.0_r15151_59.exe (or .tar.gz for Linux).
  3. License Configuration:
    • For local license: Set ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE = 1055@localhost
    • For server license: ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE = 1055@your_license_server
    • Troubleshooting: If you receive the "No feature with name 'Chemkin'" error, add the following line to your license file: FEATURE ChemkinPro_17.0_r15151 ansoftd 17.0 permanent uncounted ...
  4. Environment Variables (Advanced):
    • Set CK_THERMO_DB = C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v170\ChemkinPro\data\thermo.db
    • Set CK_REACTION_DB for legacy mechanisms.

1. Enhanced Stiff ODE Solver Tolerances

The primary advancement in this build is an improved version of the VODE (Variable-coefficient Ordinary Differential Equation) solver. Users modeling auto-ignition of n-heptane or methane-air mixtures reported reduced numerical drift. Release 15151 59 introduced adaptive absolute tolerance scaling, which dynamically adjusts tolerances for radical species (OH, HO2, CH3) without manual overrides.

Running a Simulation

  1. In the Project Tree, right-click Simulations and select New Simulation.
  2. Select Reactor Type (e.g., CSTR).
  3. Set Simulation Conditions (e.g., temperature, pressure).
  4. Click Run to start the simulation.