Distributed, asynchronous and hybrid simulation of process networks using recording controllers

In this paper we propose a novel approach for distributed process simulation which does not need synchronization by a central coordinator, nor does it require an iterative procedure to ensure stability and boundedness of the simulation error. Instead we rely on inherent passivity properties of process networks and recording-controller (RC) devices to develop a hybrid representation of the underlying continuous dynamics. The RCs are added to the original process system where there are interconnections between different computational agents. RCs accumulate the simulation error between communication intervals, perform error checking, control information flow and update the interconnection variables at discrete intervals so that the errors remain bounded. The distributed simulation framework is used to develop two different simulation strategies: In one case we use distributed simulation with fixed time horizons. In the other case we use update on demand and adapt the time horizons so that the error satisfies pre-specified tolerances. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.