Modelling and simulation of mass and energy flows with Fuzzy-Petri nets – demonstrated for the ceramic industry

Due to the change of legal environmental requirements, an increasing importance is attached to the controlling of mass and energy flows in the industrial production. Suitable methods for illustration and modelling of the material interrelationship in a production system have to be developed to provide strategies for an efficient management of mass and energy flows. The Petri net theory provides a basic method for an illustration of mass and energy network structures. This article describes the basics of the Petri net theory briefly and demonstrates the general applicability for the illustration of industrial mass flows by an example taken from the ceramic industry. Basic approaches for the concept of a Fuzzy-Petri-net model are presented additionally, in order to submit the implementation of fuzzy data occurring in the modelling and simulation of industrial processes. Finally possibilities of the Fuzzy-Petri-net model in the illustration of mass and energy flows are described.