PerformingMetallurgicalCalculationsonComputerizedSpreadsheets

AlexDoll,P.Eng
http://www.agdconsulting.ca

April3,2000

Abstract
Computerizedspreadsheetsareacommonlyusedtoolintheengineeringindustry.Unfortunately,theyareaverygenerictool,anddo
requirecarewhenusedtoperformprocessengineeringcalculations.Thispaperdescribesmanytoolsandtricksdevelopedinthe
consultingengineeringindustrytomakecalculationsmorereadableandtoperformqualityassurance.

Introduction
Spreadsheetsareaclassofcomputerprogramthatisusedtoperformalargenumberofsimplecalculations.Spreadsheetswereoneof
thefirstclassesofcomputerprogramsdevelopedtooperateonpersonalcomputers,andtheyarestandardequipmentintheofficesuites
offeredbythemajorPCsoftwarecompanies.
Thispaperdescribesanumberofconceptsthatwillmakeprocessengineeringcalculationsperformedonspreadsheetsmorereadable
andlesspronetoerror.Itisassumedthatthereaderisfamiliarwithspreadsheetsandisalreadyabletocreatemoderatelycomplex
calculations.Itisalsoassumedthatthereaderisfamiliarwithprocessengineeringconceptslikematerialbalancesandunitoperations.
ThespreadsheetformulasandnotationsusedthroughoutthispaperarebasedontheLotus123spreadsheetprogram.Mostother
spreadsheetpackageswillhavesimilarfunctionsandsyntax.Thereaderisencouragedtoconsultthedocumentationforhisparticular
softwaretodeterminetheexactformulaandsyntaxtouse.

SpreadsheetConcepts
Thelayoutandorganizationofaspreadsheetbasedcalculationhasahugeeffectonitsoverallusefulness.Manypeoplebuild
spreadsheetswithlittlecareorattentiontolayoutsanddiagramsunderthemistakenassumptionthatthelayoutdoesnotaffectthe
underlyingnumbersandformulas.Sadly,thehumansusingthesecalculationsaresimplemindedcreaturesandseeminglyirrelevant
thingslikelayoutsanddiagramsdomakealargedifferencetothecomprehensionofwhatisbeingcommunicated.
Acalculation,computerizedorotherwise,isreallyapieceofcommunicationbetweentwoormorepeople.Manyengineersareunaware
thattheirscribblesandspreadsheetsoftenneedtobecheckedintheprocessofdesigningafacility,orthatthesedocumentsmayendup
asevidenceincourtifsomethinggoeswrong.Thisisthekeyreasonwhyreadabilityandtransparencyofmethodsusedinacalculation
areabsolutelycriticaltothesuccessofacalculationineffectivelycommunicatingtootherengineersthetrueintentionsandconclusions
oftheauthor.

Readability
Layingoutthespreadsheetinasimple,stepbystepfashionwillmakeobviouswhatwasintendedandoftenassistsdeterminingwhen
somethingiswrong.Printoutsofspreadsheetcalculationsmustalsobelaidoutsothatanotherreasonablycapableengineercan
understandthemethodsofthecalculationandperformmanualcheckswithouthavingthedigitalspreadsheetfile.Spreadsheetcalcs
shouldcontainalltheelementsofhandcalcsincluding,wherereasonable,thegradualreductionofacomplexexpressionintoasimpler
one.
Spreadsheetsthatarelaidoutpoorlycanobscuresmallerrors.Forexample,ifacellcontainsthreeoperationsnestedtogether,thenall
theuserwillseeontheprintoutisasinglevalue.
@SUM(0.15*@AVG(A2..A5),0.15*@AVG(B2..B5))
Inthisexample,the0.15representsaninterestratebutbecausetherateishiddeninsidetheformula,itisnotpossiblefortheusersto
externallyconfirmwhatratewasused.
Reorganizingtheexampleaboveintoamorereadableformwouldlikesomethinglikethis:dividetheformulaover4cells.Thefirst
cell,labelled"AvgA"wouldcontainthesingleformula@AVG(A2..A5)thesecondcell,labelled"AvgB"wouldcontain
@AVG(B2..B5)thethirdcell,labeled"IntRate"wouldcontainjustthenumber"0.15"andthefourthcellwouldperformthefinal
calculation@SUM(IntRate*AvgA,IntRate*AvgB).Bybreakingupacomplexformulaintoseveralsimplerones,itbecomeseasyforthe
usertounderstandtheflowofthecalculationandtounderstandwhenwhatheislookingatcontainsanerror.
Calculationheadings
Allthenormalitemsthatonewouldputonahandcalcshouldbeincludedoncomputerizedcalcs.Theseinclude:
Nameofthecalc(andcalcnumber,ifapplicable)

Nameofthepersonperformingthecalc
Dateandrevisioninformation
Spreadsheetcalcsshouldalwaysincludethefilenameanddirectorypathintheprintout.
Manuallysetcells
Onekeythingthatanotherengineerwillneedtoknowwhenviewingaspreadsheetbasedcalciswhichvaluesarecalculatedandwhich
werefixedbytheauthor.Thisisbestaccomplishedbygivinginputcellsadifferentappearancetocalculatedcells.
Therecommendedwayofdenotingfixedcellsistogivethemayellowbackgroundsothattheystand
outfromtherestofthecalc.Iftheoutputofthecalcistobeusedinawaythattheyellowbackground
willnotappearclearly(forexample,ifthecalcresultsaretobefaxed),theneitherafontstylechange
(eg.italics)oraspecialcellborderpatternshouldbeused.
Itisagoodpracticetostatesomewhereinthecalcthebasisofanyinputvalues.Itisnotalways
necessarytostatethisbasisontheprintoutsothebasismaybehiddeninthespreadsheetincell
commentsoronhiddencells.

FlowsheetBasedCalculation
Thevisualappearanceofaspreadsheetiscriticaltotheunderstandingofthecalculation.Most
metallurgicalcalculationsareperformedaroundprocesscircuitsaddingadepictionofthecircuittothecalculationandusingthat
depictiontodirectthelayoutandflowofthecalculationcangreatlyreducethelikelihoodoferrorsappearinginthecalculation.For
nonprocesscalcs,theuseofotherdiagramscanprovidesimilarprotectionagainsterrors.
Massbalancecalculationscanusethedepictionofaflowsheetintwoways.Simplecalculationsshouldsuperimposethecalculation
cellsdirectlyovertheflowsheet,asinexamplecalc#1.Morecomplicatedcalcsshouldusetheflowsheettodefinestreamnumbersand
thenperformthecomputationsinatable,asinexamplecalc#2.
BallMillExample#1

BallMillExample#2

Iteration&Chaining
Numbercrunchingiswhatspreadsheetbasedcalcsdo.Itisthereforesurprisingthatveryfewengineerswhousespreadsheetsto
performcalculationsactuallyunderstandtheunderlyingconceptsinvolvedinaspreadsheetperformingthemathematics.Metallurgical
andprocesscalculationsareamongthemostdifficulttypesofcalculationsthatspreadsheetscanperform,andtheycansometimes
highlightthestrengthsofthedifferentcommercialpackages.
Theconceptsofiterationandchainingsignifytheorderofcalculationofthecellsofaspreadsheet.Theorderofcalculationisonlya
majorconcernifthespreadsheetcontainsacalculationwithcircularreferences(eg.circulatingloadsaroundaballmillcircuit).A
spreadsheetprogramthatexaminesthecalculationbybackwardchainingtodetermineanoptimalorderofcalculation(eg.Lotus123,
CorelQuattroPro)canconvergeacalculationinfarfasterthanaprogramthatdoesnot(eg.MicrosoftExcel,variousWorkspackages,
StarOffice).Incertainverycomplicatedcalculations,onlytheprogramsthatusebackwardchainingwillbeabletocorrectlyresolvethe
calculationregardlessofthenumberofiterations.Thenonchainingspreadsheetscangetcaughtinacircularreferencewhereastep
changeproceedsaroundthecircularreferencefromcelltocellwithoutdampeningout.Anexamplewouldbeaclosedcircuitballmill
feedcalculationcellthatcontainsthevalue100onthefirstiteration,0onthesecondandthirditerations,thenbackto100againand
repeatingthecycle.

BackwardChaining
Spreadsheetprogramsthatcalculatebymeansofbackwardchainingdeterminetheorderofcalculationbyexaminingtherelationships
betweencells.Forexample,ifcellA1containedtheformula+B5+D7,abackwardchainingspreadsheetwouldevaluatecellsB5and
D7beforeitevaluatedA1.However,beforeitcalculatedB5andD7,itwouldchecktheformulasinthesecellstoseeiftheydepended
onanyothercells,inwhichcasethosewouldbeevaluatedfirst.
Aspreadsheetthatdoesnotbackwardchainwouldignoretherelationshipsbetweencells.ItwouldcalculatecellA1firstusingwhatever
valueshappentobepresentincellsB5andD7,evenifthosevaluesare"stale".ThenwhenB5getscalculated,ifitsvaluechanges,cell
A1willnotautomaticallyupdateunlessthespreadsheetperformsaseconditerationofthecalculation.
BackwardChainingOrderofCalculation

NotChainedOrderofCalculation

IterationandConvergence
Iterationistheprocessofrepeatingtheevaluationofaspreadsheetuntilit"converges".
Convergenceisdefinedaswhentwoconsecutiveiterationsofaspreadsheetyieldresultsthatareapproximatelythesame.Some
programs(eg.MicrosoftExcel)allowtheusertodefineconvergenceasarelativedifferenceof,forexample,lessthat0.1%inallvalues
relativetothepreviousiteration.Otherprograms(eg.Lotus123)lackthisabilitytodefineaconvergencecriteria,inwhichcasethe
usermustdefineasetnumberofiterationsforthecomputertoprocessandthenexaminetheresultsvisuallytodetermineifthe
calculationhasconverged.
Calculationsthatinvolvecirculatingloads(liketheballmillexampleinanearliersection)mustbeconstructedcorrectlyinorderfor
themtoconverge.Calculationsthatcontainflawsinlogic,imbalancesaroundunitoperations,"forgotten"streams,andothererrorsmay
findthatthedifferencesinvaluesbetweensuccessiveiterationsmayincreaseratherthandecrease.Thisyieldsacalculationwhose
valuesarenonconverging(tendingtowardsinfinity).Itisimportantthattheengineerspecifyanabsolutemaximumnumberof
iterationsthataspreadsheetperformsonacalculationsothatifthecalculationisnonconverging,theengineermaysavethecalculation
beforeinfinitevaluesbegintoappearincells.
Nonconvergingspreadsheetsareusuallytheresultoferrorsinsomecellswithinthecalculationorafaultyunderstandingofthesystem
beingmodelledinthespreadsheet.Insomeveryrareinstances,nonconvergencemayalsobeduetotheinabilityofnonbackward
chainingspreadsheetstocorrectlycalculatecircularreferences.

Someofthequalityassurancetricksoutlinedlaterinthispaper,especiallydoubleentryaccountingandalarms,cangreatlyassistthe
engineerincreatingcalculationsthatconvergereliably.
Balancing
Balancingofcalculationsisconceptalmostuniquetoprocessengineering.Unlikeconvergence,acalculationissaidtobalancewhen,
forallcommodities,thesumofalltheinputstoeveryunitoperationisequaltothesumofalltheoutputsandreactionsforthesameunit
operation.Insimplerlanguage,acalculationbalanceswhenwhatwhateveryouputintosomethingcomesoutagainorreacts.
Balancedspreadsheetsarealmostalwaysconverged,butarenotnecessarilycorrect.Ifthecalculationissetupwrong(incorrectly
mimicstheprocessbeingmodelled),thentheresultsofabalancedandconvergedcalculationwillnotcorrectlymimicreality.
Thefollowingexampledemonstratestwoiterationsoftwosimilarcalculations.Thefirstisbalanced(thesumoftheinputsequalsthe
sumoftheoutputs)butisnotconverged(thevaluesoftheinternalslagrecyclearechangingsignificantlybetweenthetwoiterations).
Thesecondisconverged(thevaluesdonotchangesignificantlybetweenthetwoiterations)butisnotbalanced(thereisanerrorinthe
calculationorthereisanotheroutputstreamthathasnotbeenaccountedfor).
ExampleofBalanceWithoutConvergence

ExampleofConvergenceWithoutBalance

DoubleentryAccounting
Therearetwokeyconceptstodoubleentryaccounting:anycriticalvalueinacalculationshouldbecalculatedintwoindependentways
(andthetwoanswerscompared),and,inthecaseamaterialbalance,thesumoftheinputsshouldequalthesumoftheoutputsand
reactionsforanygivenunitoperationandfortheentireplant(thecalculationmustbalance).
Massandenergybalancecalculationsareeasytocheckaslongasthecalculationissetupwithdiscreteunitoperationinputsand
outputs.Includinga"sumofinputs"and"sumofoutputsandreactions"checkaroundallunitoperationswillprovideabigcheckon
whetherornotthereareanyproblemsinagivenspot.Similarly,a"sumofinputs"and"sumofoutputsandreactions"tableshouldbe
developedfortheentireplantbeingmodelled.
A"sumofinputs"checkinvolveseitheratableoraSUMstatementthataddsalltheinputsofaparticularcommodityintoaunit
operation.Eachsignificantcommodity(eg.solids,liquor,copper,sulphate)shouldhaveitsownSUMstatement.Thecorresponding
"sumofoutputsandreactions"iscreatedtheway,exceptthatreactionsthatcreateordestroythecommoditymustbeaccountedfor.
Reactionsthatdestroythecommoditywillbeexpressedasbeingpositive,whilstreactionsthatcreatethecommoditywillbeexpressed
asbeingnegative.
Theengineermustcarefullychoosethecommoditybeingcheckedtoensurethatthevaluesenteringandexitingaunitoperationsare
actuallycomparable.Avoidtheuseofvolumetricflowsforcommoditiesassmallfluctuationsintemperatureorpressurecanaffectthe
flowsenteringorleavingaunitoperation.Massflowsarethebestchoiceastheyarenotsubjecttofluctuationswithambientconditions.
BallMillCircuitwithDoubleEntryAccounting

Theballmillexample#3containsinputandoutputsumtablesateachmajorunitoperation.Inthisexample,thetwocommoditiesthat
arebeingcheckedaretonnes/hourofsolidsandtonnes/hourofliquor.
HeatBalanceExamplewithDoubleEntryAccounting

Asecondexample,considertheheatbalancearoundamixingvessel.Supposethetwoheatinputs(cellsB4andB5)enteravesseland
undergoanexothermicreaction.Theheatinthesingleoutputstream(cellB10)iscalculatedbyatemperaturemeasurement.Theheatof
reactioniscalculatedbyacomplicatedfifthorderdifferentialequation(incellB7).Inthisexample,the"sumofinputs"wouldbe
@SUM(B4,B5)andthesumofoutputswouldbe@SUM(B10,B7).Notethatbecausethereactioncreatesthecommodity(akaheat),it
isexpressedasanegativenumberintheoutputsumstatement.
Inthisexample,onewouldexpecttoseeasmalldifferencebetweenthetwosums.Thismaybeconsideredasunaccountedheatflows
(eg.heatflowthroughthevesselwall),asexperimentalerror(thetemperaturemeasurementwasnotaccurate),orasthenormal
differencebetweentheoryandreality(thefifthorderequationnotperfectlymatchingreality).Bydisplayingthetwosumssidebyside,
theengineercanvisuallygaugethedifferenceintheinputsandoutputsanddecidewhetherornotthevaluesarecloseenoughtobe
acceptable.

ModellingofUnitOperations
Flowsheetsareusefulforgivinganoverallviewofwhatishappeninginacalculation,buttheydonotaffordalotofspacefordoing
complicatedcalculations.Ratherthancluttertheflowsheet,itisrecommendedthateachmajorunitoperationbecarefullydrawnouton
itsownpagewithinthespreadsheet.Theinputstothisunitoperationpageshouldbedrawnfromtheflowsheet(orfromtheunit
operationpagesoftheequipmentfeedingthisunitoperation)andtheflowsheetshouldshowtheoutputsfromthisunitoperation.
Putasmallsketchorflowchartofwhatishappeningwithinaunitoperationpage.Justasaflowsheetordiagramaidsinunderstanding
theoverallcalculation,diagramsontheunitoperationpagesassistinunderstandingthenatureoftheinputs,outputsandcalculation
methodsofthisunitoperation.Largecalculationsinvolvingalargenumberofunitoperationswillrequirecarefulmanagementofthe
inputsandoutputsbetweenunitstoensurethattheflowofthecalculationmatchesthepipingnetworkintheprocessplant.Useof
doubleentryaccountingcanbecriticalinidentifyingwhenapipelineintheplanthasbeen"missed"inthecalculation.

Alarms

Automationofthedebuggingofcalculationsoftenprovidesbetterspreadsheets,faster.Oneofthekeytoolsinautomationofdebugging
isplacingalarmsinthecalculationthataretriggeredwhencertainkeycellshavevaluesoutsideofanacceptablerange.Alarmscanalso
beusedtocomparevaluesandreportnonsenseconditionslikepipeswithdifferentfeedanddischargerates.

LayingAlarms
AlarmsaresimpleIFstatementsthattestforbadconditionsanddisplaymessagesiftheyarepresent.Atypicalalarmwilllooklikethis:
@IF(H21>100,"TankOverflowing!","")
TheconditionbeingtestedisthevalueincellH21.Ifitisgreaterthan100,thenthecellwilldisplaythemessage"TankOverflowing!",
otherwiseitwilldisplaynothing.Thisisthekeyconceptinanalarm,itwillstayblankuntilitistriggered.
Alarmsarebestusedtohighlightconditionsinthecalculationthatmayappeartobevalid,butthatsimplywon'tworkintherealworld.
Examplesofconditionsthatalarmscanbeusedtoannouncearenegativetanklevels,overflowingtanks,backwardflowdownapipe,
anddiscrepanciesindoubleentryaccounting.
Itisoftennecessarytodenotethepresenceofanalarm,evenifitisinactive.This
willavoidthealarm'scellbeingmistakenforbeingblankandhavingthecontents
overwritten.Changingtheshadingofthecelltoalightorangecolouris
recommended.
Alarmsarecommonlyusedtocomparevaluesforexample,comparingthesumof
inputstoaunitoperationtothesumofoutputsforaunitoperation.Thereisatrickto
performingcomparisons:whatmustbetestedisnottheequalityofthetwovalues,
butrathertheirrelativedifference.Considertheexampleofthesumofinputs(cell
D5)equals8.00andthesumofoutputs(cellD6)equals8.0001.Analarmwrittenas
@IF(D5=D6,"Error","")willalmostnevershutoffastherewillalwaysbeminor
differencesincellvalueswhenacalculationhasconverged.Thisalarmsisbetterwrittenas@IF(@ABS(D5D6)<0.01,"Error","")
wherethe0.01istheengineer'sarbitrarychoiceofwhatconstitutesa"significant"difference.
Thepersonrunningthespreadsheetmustbemadeawarethatsomethingbadhashappenedwhenanalarmhasbeentriggered.Thisis
bestdonebychangingthetextformattingofthealarmcellsothatthealarmappearsinalarge,highcontrastred,boldprint.Alarms,if
theyaretriggered,shouldbelocatedonthespreadsheetinpositionswheretheyarehighlyvisibleandwheretheywillappearonthe
printout.Thiswillalertpeopleviewingtheresultsofthespreadsheetthatsomethingunusualishappeninginthecalculation.

CombiningAlarms
Largecalculationsmayencompasslargeareasofaspreadsheetandbeseveralpagesdeep.Itisimportanttokeepthealarmcellscloseto
thepartofthecalculationthatgeneratesthevaluesbeingmonitoredinthealarm.Thismeansthatthealarmsmaybeburiedseveral
pagesdeeponcomplicatedcalculationandmaynotbevisiblewhentheyaretriggered.
Itisagoodpracticetohaveasinglestatusareawheretheprogressofthewholecalculationmaybemonitored.Alarmscanbe
"concatenated"(aka'added')togethertogiveanoverallalarmstatusforagivenpage.Aformulatoconcatenatealarmsoperatesthe
samewayasaformulatoaddnumbers,exceptthatthe"&"symbolisusedratherthanthe"+"symbol.Forexample,iftherewere
alarmsincellsE4,I8andO10ofapage,theoverallalarmcellforthepagewouldlooklike:
+E4&I8&O10
Notethebeginning"+"signtotellthespreadsheetthatthisisaformula.ThisexampleisformattedforLotus123thesameformula
forMicrosoftExcelwoulduse"="totellthespreadsheetthatthisisaformula.So,inExceltheexamplewouldlooklike:
=E4&I8&O10
Evenplacingtheseoverallpagestatusalarmsmaynotbevisibleenough.Ifthecalculationincludesseveralpages,thenitmaybe
necessarytobuiltasingleallencompassingalarmcelllocatedinahighlyvisiblepartofthespreadsheet(forexample,onthemainpage
ofthespreadsheet).Theformofthisalarmissimilartotheformulasabove,exceptthatitshouldbetheoverallalarmsforthevarious
pagesthatgetconcatenated.Forexample,ifeachpagehasitsoverallalarmcellintheA1cell,thentheallencompassingalarmcell
wouldlooklikethis:
+A:A1&B:A1&C:A1&D:A1

ErrorTrapping
Errorvaluesinspreadsheetsarecreatedbysuchoperationsadividingbyzero,takingalogarithmofanegativenumber,andsoon.
Calculationsthatinvolvealargenumberofcircularreferencesrunariskofbecomingpopulatedwitherrormessages(eg.ERRorNA).
Engineersshouldalwaysexpectthattheseerrorswilleventuallycreepintotheirspreadsheets,andthereforeshouldtakemeasuresto
protecttheircalculation.

CriticalJunctions

Justasahighwayhasintersectionwherebadthingsmayhappen,spreadsheetswithcircularcalculationshavejunctions.Ajunctionis
definedasacellwithinaspreadsheetwhoseformuladependsononeormoredownstreamcells.Byplacingspecialerrortrapsatthese
junctioncells,theengineermaypreventerrorspropagatingthroughoutacalculation.
ThecodeforanerrortrapconsistsofanIFstatementthatchecksforanerrordownstream,adefaultvaluetodisplayifadownstream
errorispresent,andaformulatoexecuteiftherearenoerrorsdownstream.In123,thecodewilllooklikethis:
@IF(@ISERR(H21),100,H21/100*A3)
Theexpression@ISERR(H21)willreturn"true"ifthevalueofcellH21isERR.This"true"valuewillresultintheformulareturning
thevalue'100'.Ifthereisnoerrorpresent,the@ISERR(H21)willreturnfalse,whichwillresulttheexpressionH21/100+A3being
evaluatedinstead.Notethatinthisexample,thecellA3isnotbeingcheckedforerrors.IfthelayoutofthecalculationissuchthatA3is
"upstream"ofthecellwearecalculating,thenwemayignoreit.If,however,thevalueinA3didhaveapotentialtocauseerrorsto
propagatetothiscell,thentheengineershouldmodifythecheckingroutinetolookforanerrorincellA3too.Changingtheformulato:
@IF(@ISERR(H21+A3),100,H21/100*A3)
issufficientasifeitherofH21orA3containanERRvalue,thentheadditionwillresultinERRaswell.Notethatthespreadsheetcan
evaluateadditionfasterthanmultiplication,thusyourspreadsheetwillrunfasteriftheformula@ISERR(H21+A3)isusedinsteadof
@ISERR(H21/100*A3).
Thelocationsofcriticaljunctionsiscrucialtothesuccessofyourerrortrapping.Youmusthaveenoughtrapsatcriticalpartsofthe
spreadsheettopreventerrorspropagating,butnotsomanytrapsthattheybegintoslowdownthecalculationofthespreadsheet.Inthe
ballmillcircuitexampleusedpreviously,thecycloneunderflowandsumpdischargecellsarethecriticaljunctionsandshouldbefitted
witherrortraps.Alltheothercellscanoperatewithouterrortrapsasanyerrorsthattheygeneratewouldhavetotravelthroughthetwo
criticaljunctionsthatalreadyhavetraps.
Choosedefaultvaluescarefully.Theyshouldsizedapproximatelytowhattheformulawouldnormallyresultin(ifvaluesaretoolarge
orsmall,thenotherdownstreamformulasmayendupevaluatingtoERR).Thevalueshouldalsobereadilyvisiblesothatyouhavea
visualcluethatsomethingiswrongandthatthetraphasbeensprung(forexample,acellwiththevalue100.00willlooksuspicious
whereas93.70wouldappear"normal").Ifthetrapissprung,thenthedoubleentryaccountingandalarmsdiscussedinearlierchapters
shouldalertyoutothefactthatsomethingiswrong(itisimportantthattheybebuiltintothecalculation).

ErrorRecovery
Itispossibletocleanupaspreadsheetonceithasbecomeinfestedwitherrorsbutitisalotofwork.
Thefirststepinrecoveringthecalculationistoinstallerrortrapsatcriticaljunctionsasdescribedintheprevioussection.Thiswillhelp
isolatethepartofthecalculationthatisgeneratingtheerrorandwillhopefullyallowtheotherpartsofthespreadsheettooperateas
normal.Keepisolatingsmallerandsmallerpartsofthecalculationuntilasmallpartofthecalculationisnowfreeoferrors.Continue
addingerrortrapsuntillargersectionsofthespreadsheetbegintooperatenormallyandyoucanidentifythepartofthecalculationthat
isgeneratingtheerror.Thenfixtheformulathatisgeneratingtheerrorandhopefullythecalculationwillreturntonormal.
Ashortcutthatcanbeusedwithrecoveringfrompropagatederrorsistohardwiresomeoftheformulas.Copytheformulatoanearby
blankcellandthenoverwritetheoriginalformulawithavaluesimilartowhatitwillnormallyevaluateto.Thiswilltrickthe
downstreamformulasintocalculatingrelativelynormalvalueswhiletheengineerishuntingdowntherestoftheerrors.Oncethe
spreadsheethasbeencleanedoferrors,thenthecopiedformulasshouldberecopiedoverthemanuallyenteredvaluesinthe
calculation.

IterationDampening
Iterationdampeningisatechniqueofforcingacomplicatedcalculationtoconvergequickerthanitwoulddoonitsown.Thistechnique
isdangerous,though,andmustbeusedinconjunctionwiththedoubleentryaccountingandalarmsthathavebeendescribedpreviously.
Thereareoftenkeycellsinacalculationthathavevaluesthatvarywidelyasacalculationiteratestowardsconvergence.Thesecellscan
beforcedtonotvaryoutsideofagivenrangeforexample,acellthatshouldyieldasmall,positivenumbercanbelimitedsothatits
valuedoesnotdropbelowzero.ThisisdoneusinganIFstatement:
@IF((A3+H21/100)<0,0,A3+H21/100)
Notethatthisexpressiondoesnotplaceanupperlimitonthevalueinthecell.Itisusuallynotnecessarytoputanupperlimitonacell's
valueasthelowerlimitisusuallyenough.Tomakemattersworse,itiscommonthattheunitsofmeasureusedinanengineeringcalc
willchangeasthecalculationevolves,andachangeinunitsusuallycausesmoregriefwithanupperlimitthanwithalowerlimit.
Thecalculationwillnotbalancewheniterationdampeningisoperatinginacell.Itisimportanttohavedoubleentryaccountingand
alarmssetuparoundanycellwithiterationdampeningcodetoalerttheuserwhendampeningisinprogress.Itispossibleforiteration
dampeningtoallowacalculationtoconvergewithoutbalancingsotheengineermustwritethespreadsheetinawaythatdetectsand
announcestheproblem.

Conclusion

Computerspreadsheetsarepowerfultoolsthatcanbeextremelyusefultoengineers.Theymayalsobeextremelydangerousif
calculationsarenotproperlyimplemented.Theorderofcalculationofaspreadsheetprogramissometimescriticaltosolving
calculationsusingcircularreferences,
Simpletoolslikelayoutbasedcalculationsandalarmscanmakethecommunicationofideasinacalculationmoresuccessful.Other
simpletools,likedoubleentryaccountinganderrortrapping,canmaketheresultsofacalculationlesspronetoerrors.