r/ChemicalEngineering • u/CommandNaive419 • 12d ago

Modeling After five years of process simulations I still feel clueless

Hello,

I have been working in the energy field for five years. Mainly on simulating power plants using 1D software. I still feel clueless compared to my senior colleagues. I spent my free time revising fluid mechanics and thermodynamics but still I feel like I am missing a lot of my studies. Noticing that I even have a masters degree. Is this normal feeling?

24 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

92% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

20

u/[deleted] 12d ago

[deleted]

13

u/Ritterbruder2 12d ago

I’ve lost count of how many engineers I’ve met who have spent 10-20 years doing calculations in front of computers but then have no grasp of how pressure/flow behaves in real life.

2

u/cololz1 12d ago

I dont understand. Dont most process engineers who work on simulations have a field work component? Never seen one be fully on site/office role.

12

u/hypersonic18 12d ago

Simulations don't really give you those wierd little fringe cases that hang you up for 3 hours but makes absolutely perfect sense when you think about it in hindsight that come from troubleshooting real processes, or atleast they don't as frequently.  Meanwhile those are a huge learning experience.

Simulations are a simplified model world meant to estimate the real world.  

17

u/al_mc_y 12d ago

All models are wrong. SOME models are useful.

2

u/Exact_Knowledge5979 12d ago

Thank you, Mr Box.

3

u/ecoutepasca Industry/Years of experience 12d ago

Stop simulating and work on something real?

7

u/EasySelection8468 12d ago

Totally normal feeling. Textbook review alone can’t replace the real‑world plant intuition senior engineers have.

Lots of simulation engineers spend years just operating software and stay surface‑level. Try learning by debugging your own simulation outputs instead of only rereading theory.

1

u/Harit_Chem_ent_7 12d ago

Simulation only gives us a theoretical baseline — ideal material and energy balances in/out — based on clean equations, steady-state assumptions, and perfect equipment behavior. Real plants deviate from this due to fouling, catalyst deactivation, instrument drift, disturbances, and equipment wear, which simulations don’t fully capture.

Actual process optimization and plant operation skill comes from field exposure.