Patent Document ID: 9052703
Application ID: 13365060
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A distributed simulation system for simulating the operation of a process network having a set of physical plant elements through which mass flows, comprising: a computer network including a plurality of drops and a communication network that communicatively couples the plurality of drops, wherein each of the plurality of drops includes a processor; and a multiplicity of processor implemented simulation modules, each of the multiplicity of simulation modules including a process model that models the operation of a different one of the physical plant elements, wherein a first one of the simulation modules and a second one of the simulation modules are located in different ones of the plurality of drops; wherein a plurality of the simulation modules are junction node simulation modules that model the operation of a set of different junction nodes within the process network at which flow within the process network converges or diverges, the set of different junction nodes including a plurality of nodes identified as base junction nodes, each of the junction node simulation modules including: a memory that stores a definition of a grouped set of nodes associated with a base junction node, the base junction node being one of the plurality of nodes identified as base junction nodes in the set of different junction nodes within the process network, the grouped set of nodes for the base junction node being less than all of the nodes of the process network and including the base junction node, one or more further junction nodes that are adjacent to the base junction node, and one or more boundary nodes that are adjacent to at least one of the one or more further junction nodes but not adjacent to the base junction node; and a routine that executes on a processor to iteratively solve for the pressure at the base junction node during each of a number of simulation cycles using a set of pressure and flow equations based on the grouped set of nodes for the base junction node, to calculate the pressure at the base junction node; and wherein each of the junction node simulation modules is executed during each simulation cycle.