Process calculations require a lot of manual work

This is a good suggestion; it seems that there aren’t many people left who can do calculations by hand these days. I feel like I can’t write very well these days. *There is an inclination to use a computer for typing and output.

Manual calculation should not be abandoned; relying solely on software sometimes makes it impossible to remember the physical meaning of formulas

I really feel this – these days there are many software tools used for process calculations, and people have neglected manual calculation; as a result, their understanding and mastery of many things remain shallow, especially among young people.

During my last business trip to Germany, an expert in process design told us that the foundation for using simulation software is the ability to perform these calculations manually; otherwise, it’s impossible to assess the results of the simulations

Personal insights: By using calculation methods outlined in manuals or based on fundamental principles, it is possible to determine the range of deviation between theoretical and actual values. **Most of the empirical data contained in design manuals comes from the former Soviet Union, and the safety margins specified there are usually quite large. In my opinion, Japanese calculation manuals offer a higher level of reliability and better economic efficiency. The heat exchanger section of the \"Petrochemical Design Manual\" (Volumes 1, 2, 3) (Lanzhou Petrochemical Machinery Research Institute) is an excellent resource for heat exchanger design; it’s a shame that it’s hard to find these days. Aspen’s calculations specify relatively large safety margins, typically over 20% for heat exchangers, which can serve as a reference. However, the economic efficiency in practical applications is not ideal.

Agreed; the premise of using simulation software is that one knows how to perform the calculations

Well, the idea is good, and the management also encourages it, but the workload is huge :(

Personally, I think when there aren’t many projects, it’s possible to encourage everyone to practice doing calculations by hand. But these days, each design firm has a huge number of projects, so it’s already quite good if people can use software for the calculations; in some cases, they probably don’t even bother using software and rely on experience and guessing instead. :lol

Yes, there are so many projects these days, and the duration of many of them is unbelievably short. Some people already don’t have a solid foundation in manual calculation, and now they have even less time and ability to do it manually. The results obtained are usually characterized by a large margin of error, and they are not as precise as those of foreigners.

All the German engineers I’ve worked with use EXCEL to enter the data and perform calculations themselves. Rarely use simulation software

I also feel that software is unreliable; I prefer to do the calculations manually. However, with EXCEL, it’s convenient to change parameters and use multiple values for verification.

I remembered a saying: One must always rely on oneself; only by being self-reliant can there be a future

I calculate by hand and run a simulation later for double checking. Don’t rely on the simulation results, believe me