Fluid to item and item to fluid converter

[leonize_meiring]

Good day I have a model where both my fluid to item and item to fluid cvonverter has to convert based on a label called ton - the fluid to item (should make 1 fluid = x ton - which the silo should then decrease with (x ton) and the item to fluid should take 1 item and convert it to x ton - which the silo content then has to decrease) - I attached the model

[moehlmann_fe]

Because the separator ("Unload_elevator") is in split mode the Send to Port option works as "First Available". You need to enforce a round robin distribution so a copy of each truck is send to the ItemToFluid object. The logic of the ItemToFluid breaks if a truck converts to more fluid than it is allowed to contain. To fix this we can increase that limit and control the ports so that only a single truckload is handled at a time.

I also checked the empirical distributions for the quantity per truck. None of the distributions fit the data really well, so it might be better to just use the "continuous empirical" mode, generating random values solely based on the data set. Otherwise you will get unrealistic amounts (like 80+ tons) from time to time.

[leonize_meiring]

I still have 2 issues on the tonages that I cant seem to solve 1. Combiner expecting all inputs instead of dynamic input selection

At my load elevator, I’m using a combiner to merge inputs from one of three upstream processes.
Which process feeds into the combiner should depend on a parameter (so it changes dynamically).

Issue:
The combiner currently expects input from all three processes plus the fluid-to-item converter, which causes it to block — the truck stops and waits indefinitely after a few cycles.

Question:

• How can I configure the combiner to accept input from only one of the upstream processes at a time (based on the parameter), instead of waiting for all inputs?

• Is there a way to dynamically reassign the combiner’s required input ports during runtime?

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2. Validating that truck tonnage matches loaded/unloaded tonnage

I’m trying to validate that the tonnage assigned to each truck matches the tonnage actually loaded or unloaded through the fluid-to-item and item-to-fluid converters.

What I want:
A table showing:

• Truck ID

• Activity (Loading / Unloading)

• Truck tonnage (assigned)

• Tonnage transferred (from converter)

• bin ID - Bin content (to ensure that the bins are increasing/decreasing correctly)

What I tried:

• A list, but the converter’s timing and tonnage values aren’t being written to it.

• A global table, but I can’t get a one-to-one mapping between truck and transfer data.

• A statistics collector, but it also can’t capture data from the converter directly.

Question:

• What’s the best way to create a validation table that dynamically logs truck ID, activity, and tonnage (both assigned and transferred) and how to do it (I am a rooking in modelling and tried to search for videos explaining the concepts but couldn't find any helpful ones)

Also it seems that the fluid to item is not working in the correct way - since the output should be more then the input - 1 fluid should be converted to x amount of tiny blocks - that should go in the truck

[moehlmann_fe]

1. You can place a queue between the processors and the combiner to 'merge' the ports into one. By closing/opening the queue's input you can limit the total quantity of trucks in the queue and combiner to 1. You can change how many items need to be received by the combiner through ports 2+ during the model run. Check out the "Update Combiner Component List With Labels" option in the On Entry trigger. A combiner always needs a single item (container) through port 1 and the total number of ports can't be changed dynamically.

2. Since the fluid is generated/used over time and multiple inputs/outputs might overlap, it is not possible to tie any change in input/output to a specific truck. I would suggest to plot the cumulative delivery/demand quantity and the total output/input statistic of the ItemToFluid and FluidToItem objects.

I increased the port rates of the ItemToFluid object so it has a chance keep up with the incoming trucks, so the chart better exemplifies this. I also deactivated overspill on the fluid conveyors.

I think I said that the FluidToItem should output many items each representing a small amount of fluid originally. But that is not necessary. Setting the amount of fluid per item before the input is opened works.