Current challenges in the design and control of multiscale systems

Multiscale modelling is a new emerging field in process systems engineering. Although the idea of linking events occurring across time and length scales is not new, the numerical solution of these models is challenging because of computational limitations and the difficulty in coupling modelling methods with different characteristics. Although an extensive set of tools are currently available to improve the performance of processes described using continuum models, most of these tools are not suitable to design and control a multiscale process. This work presents the approaches that are currently available to perform multiscale modelling and identifies the key challenges that need to be addressed to improve the performance of macroscopic processes by controlling events occurring at the atomistic, molecular and nanoscopic levels.