Category Archives: Uncategorized

LIBPF app preview

Work is underway to create a LIBPF mobile app. At the moment we have the storyboard: and a very early prototype of the main page:

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New LIBPF.com headquarters

Starting today LIBPF is temporarily based c/o Faktory Basement, a multi-purpose facility (club, music reharsal / recording and coworking) located in the now abandoned chemical site of Châtillon / Montefibre. Nothing more adequate to the topic of process simulation than … Continue reading

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Debian Wheezy with KDE

The right way to install KDE on Debian Wheezy is to start the right installer by choosing “KDE desktop” under Alternate Desktop Environments under Advanced Options in the CD boot menu. If you haven’t done that, you’ll end with Gnome. … Continue reading

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Apple OS X virtualization with VirtualBox

A long time ago virtualizing Apple OS X was forbidden by the End User License Agreement, with the exception of Server versions of the operating system. Consequently Oracle (the maintainer of VirtualBox) was not very supportive, and many replies on … Continue reading

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Doing RPC in 2013

Some history 18 years ago I bought a book titled “Power programming with RPC”; I was surprised to see that the 1992 book is still available now ! After reading it, at the time I was really excited about RPC … Continue reading

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Analyzing and manipulating settings.xml of LIBPF OPC

LIBPF OPC is the LIBPF module that adds plant control system connectivity via the Classic OPC interface (OPC DA). The module is configured using the LIBPF OPC Configurator, but the underlying configuration data are stored in an XML file called settings.xml. … Continue reading

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Step-by-step guide: adding new files to a LIBPF project

Reference documentation is great, but often boring to read and not helpful to solve specific problems that arise in day-to-day use. To tackle these, a step-by-step guide can be helpful. Here is one such step-by-step guide for adding a new … Continue reading

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The RRSB particle size distribution

In the concrete and coal processing industries the RRSB (Rosin, Rammler, Sperling und Bennett) equation for interpolating PSD (Particle Size Distribution) curves is quite popular. The RRSB distribution is: D=1-exp(-(d/d’)^n) and has this appearance: The name RRSB is used in … Continue reading

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buildbot vs git

If you are pulling code from a git Distributed Version Control System, then there is a known bug in older versions of buildbot, which can hit you if your git version is newer than 1.7.7. This was fixed in the … Continue reading

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The open area for triangular pitch perforated sheets

For heat exchanger tube plates and for sieve trays in columns, the triangular pitch arrangement is common. You can find ready-to-use formulas on the web to calculate the open area of a perforated sheets, such as this one on the … Continue reading

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