A study of integration algorithms in chemical and physiological system dynamics

Solution of many chemical engineering problems requires the use of numerical integration techniques. The most popular integration technique for such problems is the classical fourth order Runge-Kutta that in some cases can be used only with very low efficiency. In the last few years new methods have been developed which seem to be efficient for regular and stiff problems. Some of these new methods were compared in the solution of chemical and physiological systems. The program written by C. W. Gear, which includes two slightly different algorithms for stiff systems and a third algorithm for regular systems was found to be the most stable and efficient in all cases.