Unit-I
Introduction
Mrs. Vaidehi Parikh
Assistant Professor,
Department of Chemical Engineering,
MSU, Vadodara
Objective
• What is modelling?
• What is simulation?
• What is Optimization?
What does ‘Model’ Mean?
We wanted to list most important activities of chemical engineering
which are impossible without mathematical modeling.
• process design • ensure an easy technological transfer of the
• process development process
• reduction of manufacturing costs • increase the quality of process management
• production planning and scheduling • reveal abilities to handle complex problems
• reduction time and costs in all stages of the • improved process monitoring
process life-cycle • predicting product qualities
• the increase of process efficiency • continuous process optimization
• calculations of operation benefits • contribute to reducing pollution
• process troubleshooting • improve the safety of the plants
• equipment sizing • market new products faster
• allow a better and deeper understanding of the • reduce waste emission while the process is
process and its operation being developed
• support for the solutions adopted during the • improve the quality of the products
process
• education of engineers
• development and exploitation
• ensure a high quality of training of the
operators.
What does ‘Simulation’ mean?
Simulation
• A simulation model will include:
• Model inputs that are uncertain numbers/ uncertain variables
• Intermediate calculations as required
• Model outputs that depend on the inputs -- These are uncertain functions
• Simulation is imitation of some real thing, or a process.
• The act of simulating something generally involves representation of
certain
• key characteristics or
• behaviors of a selected physical or abstract system.
• Simulation involves the use of models to represent real life situation.
Reasons for simulation:
• Experiments on real systems are too expensive, too dangerous, or the
system to be investigated does not yet exist
• E.g. investigating ship durability by building ships and letting them collide is
a very expensive method of gaining information;
• training nuclear plant operators in handling dangerous situation by letting the
nuclear reactor enter hazardous state is not advisable.
• The time scale of the dynamics of the system is not compatible with
that of the experiment.
• E.g. It takes millions of years to observe small changes in the development of
the universe, whereas similar changes can be quickly observed in a computer
simulation of the universe.
Reasons for simulation:
• Easy manipulation of parameters of models (even outside the feasible
range of a particular physical system)
• E.g. Then mass of a body in a computer-based simulation model can be
increased from 40 to 500 Kg at a keystroke, whereas this change might be hard
to realize in the physical system.
• Suppression of disturbances
• Allow isolating particular effects and gaining a better understanding of effects
of particular interest as a result
• E.g. simulation of free-fall objects ignores the effect of air resistance.
Phases and Steps of Simulation
• Phase1. Develop Simulation Model
• Step-1: Identify the problem
• Step-2: Formulate the problem
• Step-3: Collect and process real system data
• Step-4: Formulate and develop a model
• Step-5: Validate the model
• Step-6: Document model for future use
Phases and Steps of Simulation
• Phase2. Design and Conduct Simulation Experiment
• A test or series of tests in which meaningful changes are made to the input
variables of a simulation model so that we may observe and identify the
reasons for changes in the performance measures
• Step-7: Select appropriate experimental design
• Step-8: Establish experimental conditions for runs
• Step-9: Perform simulation runs
• Phase-3: Perform Simulation Analysis
• Step-10: Analyze data and present results
• Step-11: Recommend further courses of actions
Advantages of Simulation
• It is useful for sensitivity analysis of complex systems.
• It is suitable to analyze large and complex real life problems that
cannot be solved by the usual quantitative methods.
• It is the remaining tool when all other techniques become intractable
or fail.
• It can be used as a pre-service test to try out new policies and decision
rules for operating a system.
Disadvantages of Simulation
• Sometimes simulation models are expensive and take a long time to
develop.
• The simulation model does not produce answers by itself.
• It is the trial and error approach that produces different solutions in
repeated runs .
• It does not generate optimal solutions to the problems.
Optimization
• Its objective is to select the best possible decision for a given set of
circumstances without having to enumerate all the possibilities.
• Involves maximization or minimization as desired
• How can a large manufacturing company determine the monthly product mix
at its Indianapolis plant that maximizes corporate profitability?
• Design of civil engineering structures- such as frames, foundations, bridges,
towers, chimneys and dams for the minimum cost.
Components
• Decision variables
• Variables in the model which you have control over
• Objective function
• A function (mathematical model) that quantifies the quality of a solution in an
optimization problem
• Constraints
• Conditions that a solution to an optimization problem must satisfy
• Restrict decision variables by defining relationships among them
• Find the value of the decision variables that maximize(minimize) the
objective function value, while staying within the constraints.
Thank You