The Working Area of the Ansys Chemkin environment is where the Diagram View is displayed for the Model builder, and also where parameters that define the geometry and chemistry of a reactor model can be entered in panels. User preferences and parameter profiles are also edited in the Working Area.
The Reactor Model icons are used to build reactor networks in the Diagram View. When icons are part of a Diagram View, they will have different display states, depending on the operations underway as well as the diagram context for the Reactor. Table 2.6: Icon States During Diagramming provides a brief description of common states.
Table 2.6: Icon States During Diagramming
Icons | Description |
|---|---|
| Normal State. In this state there is no highlight or border, and the icon is the same as it appears in the Model Palette. This indicates that the reactor component is in the middle of a reactor network or is an inlet, or has not been selected by mouse click. |
| Highlight State. The icon is highlighted by a thick cyan outline. The reactor has been selected by a mouse-click. Any subsequent action by the user will be applied to the reactor as appropriate. |
| Error State. The icon has a thick orange outline. In this case the reactor connectivity did not properly validate during the Update Project operation. The Message Area or a message box should contain diagnostic information. |
Reactors show progress as the network analysis proceeds. When the reactor network is running, the reactor icon highlight color shows the current status of the run. These colors are defined in the Colors tab of the Preferences panel, but default behavior is shown in Table 2.7: Icon States While Running.
Table 2.7: Icon States While Running
Icons | Description |
|---|---|
| Cluster Completed. The icon has a thick green outline. The cluster analysis has completed. |
| Completed with Error. The icon has a thick red outline. The Message Area or a message box should contain diagnostic information. |
| Clusters in Current Tear Loop. The icon has a thick blue outline. In this case the reactors indicated are part of a group of clusters being iteratively solved using a tearstream algorithm. |
| Currently Running. The icon has a thick cyan outline. The reactor is currently being processed. |
Every open flow reactor is required to be connected to at least one gas inlet and a product-exhaust outlet. For this purpose, an inlet can be an External Source of Inlet Gas, represented by the 
icon, the outlet of a Flow Splitter, represented by the 
icon, or the exit of another open reactor.
Some reactors allow more than one inlet stream. To split the flow at a reactor outlet, the Flow Splitter can be used, where the user specifies the fraction of the flow represented by each connection out of the Splitter. The total flow out of a splitter must be accounted for by the sum of streams to other reactors and to any Outlet Flows.