A network theory for the structured modelling of chemical processes

A structuring methodology for dynamic models of chemical engineering processes is presented. The main ideas of the methodology were outlined in a previous publication for the class of well-mixed systems. In this contribution, the methodology is extended to spatially distributed systems and to particulate processes. Furthermore, the structuring principle is used to make a conceptual link between the macroscopic world of process simulation and the microscopic world of molecular simulation. It is shown that a uniform structuring principle can be applied to the modularisation of most classes of chemical engineering models. The structuring principle can be used as a theoretical framework for the implementation of modular families of chemical engineering models in modern computer aided modelling tools.