Digital emulation of analog computer techniques for the solution of kinetic systems

Abstract

AbstractA low‐cost microcomputer and package of assembly language routines has been developed to emulate the structure and performance of a large analog computer. The advantages of the analog computer, as implemented in this scheme, include (1) a significant reduction in the programming effort involved in modeling complex dynamic systems and (2) the control of the simulation and model parameters in a completely interactive and flexible manner. The symbolic nomenclature and schematic representations involving devices, such as integrators, comparators, multipliers, and function generators, offers a powerful alternative to the more conventional numerical methods, that is, to provide very simply the solutions to large systems of differential equations. This approach invariably leads the user to a more thorough understanding of the dynamic character of the system. The technique is illustrated using a chemical kinetics example involving the simulation of laser‐induced fluorescence. The results of this work have provided an assessment of a systematic error that occurs when using induced resonance fluorescence to measure OH concentrations in the troposphere of the earth.