zwang1995/Aspen-Plus-Automation ? reverse-engineered prompt

Build me a Python tool that automates Aspen Plus simulations on Windows so I can run lots of process cases without doing them by hand.

I want it to open an Aspen Plus model, change operating conditions like stage count, reflux ratio, pressure, and solvent flow rate, then run each case and collect the important results such as product purity, reboiler heat duty, temperature, pressure, and other stream values. It should also catch and save any simulation errors instead of crashing, so I can tell which cases failed.

Please include a working example for an extractive distillation column, like separating 1 butene and 1,3 butadiene with NMP as the solvent. I’d like the code to be organized clearly so I can reuse it for other Aspen Plus models later, and it should rely on Python and the Windows Aspen Plus automation interface. If you need to look up current Aspen Plus automation details online, go ahead and do that.