Functional Modeling View on Product and Process Engineering in Design and Operations

Abstract

Recent significant developments within process systems engineering demonstrate a need for more-flexible tools to handle the many diverse model-based tasks within product and process synthesis, design, innovation, and operation. Consequently, it is relevant to have a closer look at one of the modeling methodologies that have emerged. This paper addresses functional modeling for the purpose of the object system under investigation. The purpose of functional modeling is to represent the relationsships between the system goal and the underlying phenomena. The role of different aspects of functional modeling within the ongoing development of process systems engineering is analyzed. The fundamental principles of functional modeling for the object under investigation are presented and functional modeling hermeneutics are defined as translating the modeling goal into desired system properties, identifying the theory needed to model the system to represent these properties and identifying criteria for evaluation o...