An Overview of the Interoperability Roadmap for COM/.NET-Based CAPE-OPEN

The CAPE-OPEN standard interfaces have been designed to permit flexibility and modularization of process simulation environments (PMEs) in order to use process modeling components such as unit operation or thermodynamic property models across a range of tools employed in the lifecycle of chemical process systems engineering. Technical foundations of interoperable software are constantly changing and Microsoft is nowadays declaring .NET and a successor to COM which has been the major platform for numerous CAPE-OPEN components so far. In order to ensure that the CAPEOPEN idea will be applicable to recent technical changes, the COLaN has gathered experiences in the area of CAPE-OPEN implementations making use of .NET. This paper will demonstrate that CAPE-OPEN can be successfully implemented using .NET development tools and highlight how the CAPEOPEN development can benefit from these new technologies.