Running a Simulation on Excel

**FalconPunch** · 04-25-2010, 03:32 AM

Hi everyone. First off, I am very excited about finding this site because I was stuck on this problem for over a week now with very little luck. Hopefully I can solve my problem here with your help.

So a quick background on my situation. I am finishing up my degree in school and part of this requires me to work on this project with my professor. Basically, I am doing this project away from school (long side story which I will not get into), and am not getting much support from my professor other than him telling me what I need to do.

So he wants me to run this simulator on Excel called BOAST-NFR (Can be found under item #4 here: http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies...e/simulat.html). The program basically simulates the performance of a reservoir. Anyhow, I am new to the program, and am running into some problems. Firstly, there are macros embedded into this Excel file and this is my first experience with them.

The problem is that Excel "locks up" when I run the simulation. Let me try to explain what goes on. So on the Excel file, there is an 'input' sheet with a 'run' button to start the simulation. The simulation makes its calculations and outputs the results on a second 'summary' sheet. So after I hit 'run', it brings me to the summary sheet and records data. Here is where Excel "locks" and by that I mean I can't do anything else on Excel, but the simulation continues to run (and it will run until the end of the simulation). On Excel, my cursor constantly has the 'busy' sign on. I can't even minimize the window. I can navigate away from Excel if I do alt+tab, so I don't think my computer is the problem. One feature of the simulator I need to use is this stop/start feature where I can stop the simulation at any point, change some data, and then continue the simulation. So I need to figure out why Excel "locks up."

The simulator is old (I think 1998 or even before old) so I figured the version of Excel matters. I've tried running the simulation on Excel 2000, 2003, and 2007 and the results are all the same. So now I'm thinking I'm somehow doing something wrong. But I have no idea what so I am trying to ask around and hopefully get this problem solved. I would greatly appreciate any help at all. If you need more details, let me know. Thanks for reading.

To summarize/clarify a few things..
1) I am running this simulator on Excel 2000, 2003, and 2007 on 3 different computers with little luck. Each computer is running on a different OS (XP, Vista, and 7).
2) I can get the simulation to run. I just can't get it to stop/restart. According to the user's manual- "Another feature present in BOAST-NFR is to allow the user to stop the program, modify the data file, and then restart the simulation run. This feature can be useful to reduce the computing time for a study that determines the best operating conditions for a reservoir." I need to get this feature to work.
3) Excel 'locks up' during the simulation. Is this normal?

[EDIT] To sum everything up quickly.. I wanted to get the stop/start feature to work. It turns out that pressing the Esc key stops the simulation.. and apparently, this is the stop portion of the feature. Excel 'locking' up during the simulation is also normal. Thanks Alf for the help!

**royUK** · 04-25-2010, 03:35 AM

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**Alf** · 04-25-2010, 05:06 AM

Hi FalconPunch

When this "workbook" of Excel runs the simulation it's "locked" that is "normal". Do you want to work with Excel while the simulation runs? Then go "Programs" -> Office -> Excel and start up another Excel workbook.

How to stop it? I did it by pressing the "Esc" button. You then get a message "Code execution has been interupted" Click on the button marked "End"

Change your input data and hit run again.

HTH

Alf

**FalconPunch** · 04-26-2010, 01:41 AM

Hi Alf. Thank you very much for the help. I was beginning to think that it was normal for Excel to "lock" during the simulation. I do need to continuing working on that workbook while the simulation is running though. The problem is the stop/start feature I was talking about. I figured there would be a 'stop' button somewhere on the workbook, but the Esc key may be the stop button. I tested the Esc key method and the problem is that once I change the data and hit run again, it deletes the old data (I think). I am not sure if this is what my professor wants, but I will ask him about it asap.

Also, I should have mentioned this, but I have contacted the DOE (owners of the simulator) about this problem. Turns out they stopped providing direct support for this simulator since 2002. The guy I spoke with hasn't used the simulator in years, but gave me the contact info for the person who last provided support for BOAST-NFR. Anyhow, I haven't gotten a response from the 'expert,' but I will try asking about this stop/start feature with the original guy I talked to.

Again, thank you for the response. It definitely helped me a lot. I'll ask my professor what he wants, and the DOE guy about this stop/start feature.

If anyone else has any different ideas or thoughts, please feel free to share.