Nowadays, simulations have become indispensable for the analysis and optimisation of (bio) chemical processes. However, as a lot of these processes are distributed in nature (i.e., the properties vary both in time and space), their simulation requires the solution of non-linear convection-reaction-diffusion partial differential equations (PDEs). Therefore, this paper compares different solution methods in a comprehensible way in order to provide practical guidelines. Moreover, to stimulate their usage in practice, all techniques have been implemented in Matlab (R), and all test examples have been made available (www.matmol.org). This allows practitioners to rapidly evaluate different methods when setting-up their own process simulation code. Finally, a complex reverse flow reactor case illustrates how these methods can be successfully combined with optimisation approaches. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.