End-user oriented design of a flow-sheeting computer aid in minerals processing

The program GENFLOW was developed to meet a need in the minerals processing industry for a computer aid suited to the early stages of design. The development of this program was guided throughout by a careful analysis of end-user needs. Its major feature is a concept centred approach. The concepts which the designer uses in evaluating his problem are identified. These are communicated across the man/computer interface through a “concept keyboard”. The program is structured to translate these concepts appropriately in order to solve the problem presented. This approach has considerable impact on some of the standard difficulties of linear simulation and these are discussed.