An interactive method and apparatus are disclosed through which a fluid
purification system operator inputs the system's parameters and the
method then identifies one or more fluid purification equipment packages
which will be optimized at the component level to the operator's specific
requirements. The invention includes a relational database containing
data on fluid purification equipment, the components thereof and
ancillary equipment, and associated operational software to which the
operator gains access through a computer and which then presents to the
operator a series of questions relevant to gas purification equipment and
system requirements. The questions are such that the responses elicited
from the operator for each question determine what the successive
questions will be and what optimal components will be identified. The
software and databases may be in memory on the computer, embodied on CDs
or DVDs run by the computer, or accessed through the Internet.