Reading a process
Two things tell you how much to trust a design: how far it has been taken, and who has checked it. The Atlas shows them on four separate axes.
Research output, not engineering advice
Every design, drawing, inventory and footprint in the Atlas is research output, made to study and compare processes. None is an approved engineering design; none may be used for construction, operation, procurement or safety decisions. Many values are estimates, and passing the toolkit's automated checks is not a review. Safety-critical aspects (oxygen service, pressure relief, hazardous areas) always need an independent engineering and safety review.
Four axes
Each axis is set in its own way and none stands in for another: a design can claim more than its evidence supports, pass every automated check without a review, or be at a late project stage with little checked evidence. The names follow the ChemE-as-Code glossary.
| Axis | Values | Set by | Source of truth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calculation maturityHow far the checked evidence goes; each level builds on the one before. | Sourced · Balanced · Predictive · Engineering | Evaluated by cheme maturity | checks/maturity.json |
| Design maturityHow far the library claims the design has been taken; capped by the evidence. | Concept · Screening · Basic engineering · Detail engineering · Operating reference | Claimed in the manifest, checked against the calculation maturity | process.yaml maturity |
| Project stageWhere an engineering project is in its workflow; a stage is reached when its gates pass and it is signed off. | concept · basic · detail | plant.yaml stage (the template lists concept, basic, detail), signed off by cheme check --stage <stage> --write | checks/status.json |
| Review statusWho has checked the design. Passing automated checks is not a review. | Not independently reviewed · Internally reviewed · Peer reviewed · Industry validated | People only, with review records | process.yaml validation.status |
Calculation maturity
The level the checked evidence supports, evaluated by core's cheme maturity. A process page shows each level with its criteria.
| Sourced | A sourced process description: the flowsheet and design basis are valid, and every feed is given with a source. |
| Balanced | A balanced conceptual flowsheet: the process rules pass, every mass and component balance closes within its tolerance, and every reactor and separator rests on sourced data. |
| Predictive | A converged predictive simulation, current with its inputs, with every reactor and separator predicted by a model, the property methods inside their benchmarked ranges and the energy balance closed. |
| Engineering | A preliminary/basic engineering package (equipment list, datasheets, P&IDs, process links) on top of the levels below. Not detailed engineering, and not a review. |
Design maturity
How far the process's manifest claims the design has been taken. Where the evidence supports less, the Atlas says the claim exceeds it.
| Concept | Research | An idea or first flowsheet; numbers are rough. |
| Screening | Research | Balances and estimates good enough to compare options. |
| Basic engineering | Engineering | Engineering deliverables (P&IDs, lists, layout) drafted and checked by tools. |
| Detail engineering | Engineering | Design detailed for procurement and construction. |
| Operating reference | Engineering | Describes a plant in operation. |
Project stage
An engineering project moves through the stages its plant.yaml lists (concept, basic and detail in the project template). Each stage has gates that the toolkit checks, and a stage is reached when it is signed off. A process page shows the stage whose gates were checked next to the results.
Review status
| Not independently reviewed | No independent engineering review yet. Automated checks passing is not a review. |
| Internally reviewed | Reviewed within the ChemE-as-Code team. |
| Peer reviewed | Reviewed by independent experts or a peer-reviewed publication. |
| Industry validated | Checked against an operating plant or by its operator. |
LCA data quality
| Placeholder factors | The characterisation factors are examples, not real data. The numbers show the method, not the footprint. |
| Partly assumed factors | Some factors are assumed; see each contribution for its source. |
| Published factors | All factors come from published datasets or EPDs. |
| No factors | No contribution is characterised, so no factor stands behind any number. |
Preliminary inventories
An LCI activity marked Preliminary has exchanges with no background mapping yet (or, for a market, a supplier that has). They are exported unlinked and count no burden, so the inventory is incomplete. A footprint of exactly 0 with nothing characterised is shown as "not computed", never as a zero footprint.