Architectural Concept and Evaluation of a Framework for the Efficient Automation of Computational Scientific Workflows: An Energy Systems Analysis Example

Institute for Automation and Applied Informatics (IAI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany

Institute of Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany

Chair of Fuel Cells, RWTH Aachen University, c/o Institute of Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(4), 728; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9040728

Received: 14 January 2019 / Revised: 15 February 2019 / Accepted: 18 February 2019 / Published: 20 February 2019

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cyber Physical Energy Systems)

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Abstract

Scientists and engineers involved in the design of complex system solutions use computational workflows for their evaluations. Along with growing system complexity, the complexity of these workflows also increases. Without integration tools, scientists and engineers are often highly concerned with how to integrate software tools and model sets, which hinders their original research or engineering aims. Therefore, a new framework for streamlining the creation and usage of automated computational workflows is introduced in the present article. It uses state-of-the-art technologies for automation (e.g., container-automation) and coordination (e.g., distributed message oriented middleware), and a microservice-based architecture for novel distributed process execution and coordination. It also supports co-simulations as part of larger workflows including additional auxiliary computational tasks, e.g., forecasting or data transformation. Using Apache NiFi, an easy-to-use web interface is provided to create, run and control workflows without the need to be concerned with the underlying computing infrastructure. Initial framework testing via the implementation of a real-world workflow underpins promising performance in the realms of parallelizability, low overheads and reliable coordination. View Full-Text

Keywords: automation; microservices; computing cluster; energy system; data processing; co-simulation; parallelization; coordination

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MDPI and ACS Style

Liu, J.; Braun, E.; Düpmeier, C.; Kuckertz, P.; Ryberg, D.S.; Robinius, M.; Stolten, D.; Hagenmeyer, V. Architectural Concept and Evaluation of a Framework for the Efficient Automation of Computational Scientific Workflows: An Energy Systems Analysis Example. Appl. Sci. 2019, 9, 728. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9040728

AMA Style

Liu J, Braun E, Düpmeier C, Kuckertz P, Ryberg DS, Robinius M, Stolten D, Hagenmeyer V. Architectural Concept and Evaluation of a Framework for the Efficient Automation of Computational Scientific Workflows: An Energy Systems Analysis Example. Applied Sciences. 2019; 9(4):728. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9040728

Chicago/Turabian Style

Liu, Jianlei, Eric Braun, Clemens Düpmeier, Patrick Kuckertz, D. S. Ryberg, Martin Robinius, Detlef Stolten, and Veit Hagenmeyer. 2019. "Architectural Concept and Evaluation of a Framework for the Efficient Automation of Computational Scientific Workflows: An Energy Systems Analysis Example" Applied Sciences 9, no. 4: 728. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9040728

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Architectural Concept and Evaluation of a Framework for the Efficient Automation of Computational Scientific Workflows: An Energy Systems Analysis Example

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