基于仿生学的优化算法及其在信号处理中的应用

仿生学优化算法是一类模仿生物行为和自然界现象的仿生算法,其目的是求解优化问题的全局最优解。本文首先介绍了各种仿生学优化算法的起源和基本原理,主要包括蚁群优化算法、粒子群优化算法、细菌觅食优化算法、蜂群优化算法、鱼群优化算法、萤火虫群优化算法、狼群优化算法、蝙蝠算法、鸡群优化算法、进化算法、免疫算法、克隆选择算法和小世界网络等。然后总结了仿生优化算法的研究现状,并给出了仿生优化算法在信号处理、图像处理、语音处理和通信网络等领域中的典型应用。最后,归纳了仿生学优化算法的特点,并对如何扩展其适用范围、探索新的仿生学优化算法提出了基本思路,对其发展进行了展望。     

智能优化控制:概述与展望

从模糊优化控制、神经网络优化控制、模糊神经网络优化控制、基于智能优化方法的优化控制等角度, 对国内外与智能优化控制(Intelligent optimized control, IOC)密切相关的研究进行了综述, 在此基础上对智能优化控制的相关概念进行了深入分析, 并对智能优化控制方法进行了分类, 最后, 对与智能优化控制有关的一些重要问题进行了讨论, 并展望了智能优化控制研究未来的发展.     

群智能优化算法研究

群智能优化算法是一种新型的优化算法。该文介绍了几种常见的群智能优化算法,包括粒子群优化算法、蚁群优化算法、人工免疫算法、人工鱼群算法,分析了它们的优缺点及使用情况,提出了群智能优化算法的发展方向。     

数据库索引对象优化方法分析与应用

通过索引对象优化方法的论述,提出解决业务系统性能瓶颈的一种方法。详细论述了数据库索引对象的概念、优化方法,通过索引对象优化案例阐述了优化实施流程、风险防范措施,通过优化结果分析比较验证了索引对象优化方法可行性。     

数据库查询的优化策略探讨

本文从数据库的物理优化、代数优化和规则优化等不同角度,探讨了数据库查询的优化策略,提出了一些查询优化的具体方法.     

数据库查询的优化策略探讨

本文从数据库的物理优化、代数优化和规则优化等不同角度,探讨了数据库查询的优化策略,提出了一些查询优化的具体方法。     

关系数据库系统的查询优化

查询优化是查询处理过程中必须考虑的重要问题。本文讨论了关系数据库系统中的查询优化问题,介绍了关系表达式变换为主的优化方法、查询分解的优化方法、多元查询直接处理的优化方法和合取查询的优化方法,并对这四种典型的优化方法作了一些评述。     

赤铁矿强磁选过程综合自动化系统

针对强磁选过程的特点及工艺要求,基于智能技术提出了实现工艺指标优化的强磁选过程综合自动化系统,讨论了由智能优化、过程控制和过程管理3层结构组成的综合自动化系统的结构、功能和控制策略。采用智能优化设定模型、反馈补偿器及回路控制系统实现了精矿品位、尾矿品位的优化控制。所提出的系统成功应用于某选矿厂强磁选生产过程,实现了强磁选过程的优化控制、优化运行和优化管理,提高了精矿品位,降低了尾矿品位,取得了明显的应用效果。     

DSP体系结构下视觉监控优化方法研究

探讨了智能视觉监控算法在TIDSP平台上的移植方法。详细介绍了算法优化、CCS编译器优化、C代码优化、汇编指令优化及存储器配置优化等优化技术。通过具体的监控实例,在TMS320DM642平台上实现了多个运动目标的实时检测、跟踪算法,结果表明,对DSP进行优化之后其性能获得了指数级的增长。     

计算机神经网络中粒子群优化算法的应用

粒子群优化算法是一种基于群智能的随机优化算法,该种算法和遗传算法相比,具有需要用户确定的参数较少,优化算法简单的优点。因此,粒子群优化算法一经提出,就受到了众多领域的广泛关注,目前,该种算法广泛的应用在模糊系统、模式分类、神经网络训练、函数优化以及其他的众多领域中。文章分析了粒子群优化算法的基本原理,探析了粒子群优化算法在计算机神经网络中的应用,并且对粒子群优化算法进行了改进。     

Fuzzy risk analysis based on the ranking of generalized trapezoidal fuzzy numbers

In this paper, we present a new method for fuzzy risk analysis based on the ranking of generalized trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. The proposed method considers the centroid points and the standard deviations of generalized trapezoidal fuzzy numbers for ranking generalized trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. We also use an example to compare the ranking results of the proposed method with the existing centroid-index ranking methods. The proposed ranking method can overcome the drawbacks of the existing centroid-index ranking methods. Based on the proposed ranking method, we also present an algorithm to deal with fuzzy risk analysis problems. The proposed fuzzy risk analysis algorithm can overcome the drawbacks of the one we presented in [7]. Shi-Jay Chen was born in 1972, in Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. He received the B.S. degree in information management from the Kaohsiung Polytechnic Institute, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and the M.S. degree in information management from the Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung, Taiwan, in 1997 and 1999, respectively. He received the Ph.D. degree at the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, in October 2004. His research interests include fuzzy systems, multicriteria fuzzy decisionmaking, and artificial intelligence. Shyi-Ming Chen was born on January 16, 1960, in Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. He received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, in June 1991. From August 1987 to July 1989 and from August 1990 to July 1991, he was with the Department of Electronic Engineering, Fu-Jen University, Taipei, Taiwan. From August 1991 to July 1996, he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan. From August 1996 to July 1998, he was a Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan. From August 1998 to July 2001, he was a Professor in the Department of Electronic Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan. Since August 2001, he has been a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan. He was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley, in 1999. He was a Visiting Scholar in the Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, Republic of China, in 2003. He has published more than 250 papers in referred journals, conference proceedings and book chapters. His research interests include fuzzy systems, information retrieval, knowledge-based systems, artificial intelligence, neural networks, data mining, and genetic algorithms. Dr. Chen has received several honors and awards, including the 1994 Outstanding Paper Award o f the Journal of Information and Education, the 1995 Outstanding Paper Award of the Computer Society of the Republic of China, the 1995 and 1996 Acer Dragon Thesis Awards for Outstanding M.S. Thesis Supervision, the 1995 Xerox Foundation Award for Outstanding M.S. Thesis Supervision, the 1996 Chinese Institute of Electrical Engineering Award for Outstanding M.S. Thesis Supervision, the 1997 National Science Council Award, Republic of China, for Outstanding Undergraduate Student's Project Supervision, the 1997 Outstanding Youth Electrical Engineer Award of the Chinese Institute of Electrical Engineering, Republic of China, the Best Paper Award of the 1999 National Computer Symposium, Republic of China, the 1999 Outstanding Paper Award of the Computer Society of the Republic of China, the 2001 Institute of Information and Computing Machinery Thesis Award for Outstanding M.S. Thesis Supervision, the 2001 Outstanding Talented Person Award, Republic of China, for the contributions in Information Technology, the 2002 Institute of information and Computing Machinery Thesis Award for Outstanding M.S. Thesis Supervision, the Outstanding Electrical Engineering Professor Award granted by the Chinese Institute of Electrical Engineering (CIEE), Republic of China, the 2002 Chinese Fuzzy Systems Association Best Thesis Award for Outstanding M.S. Thesis Supervision, the 2003 Outstanding Paper Award of the Technological and Vocational Education Society, Republic of China, the 2003 Acer Dragon Thesis Award for Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Supervision, the 2005 “Operations Research Society of Taiwan” Award for Outstanding M.S. Thesis Supervision, the 2005 Acer Dragon Thesis Award for Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Supervision, the 2005 Taiwan Fuzzy Systems Association Award for Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Supervision, and the 2006 “Operations Research Society of Taiwan” Award for Outstanding M.S. Thesis Supervision. Dr. Chen is currently the President of the Taiwanese Association for Artificial Intelligence (TAAI). He is a Senior Member of the IEEE, a member of the ACM, the International Fuzzy Systems Association (IFSA), and the Phi Tau Phi Scholastic Honor Society. He was an administrative committee member of the Chinese Fuzzy Systems Association (CFSA) from 1998 to 2004. He is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics - Part C, an Associate Editor of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine, an Associate Editor of the Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems, an Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Applied Intelligence, an Editor of the New Mathematics and Natural Computation Journal, an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Fuzzy Systems, an Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Information and Communication Technology, an Editorial Board Member of the WSEAS Transactions on Systems, an Editor of the Journal of Advanced Computational Intelligence and Intelligent Informatics, an Associate Editor of the WSEAS Transactions on Computers, an Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Computational Intelligence and Applications, an Editorial Board Member of the Advances in Fuzzy Sets and Systems Journal, an Editor of the International Journal of Soft Computing, an Editor of the Asian Journal of Information Technology, an Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Intelligence Systems Technologies and Applications, an Editor of the Asian Journal of Information Management, an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Innovative Computing, Information and Control, and an Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology. He was an Editor of the Journal of the Chinese Grey System Association from 1998 to 2003. He is listed in International Who's Who of Professionals, Marquis Who's Who in the World, and Marquis Who's Who in Science and Engineering.     

MFR (Multipurpose Field Robot) for installing construction materials

The objective of the study was to propose a MFR (Multipurpose Field Robot) in hazardous operation environments. This system combines a basic system composed of a multi-DOF (Degree Of Freedom) manipulator and a mobile platform with an additional module for construction, national defense and emergency-rescue. According to an additional module type combined with a basic system, it can be used in a various fields. In this study, we describe a prototype of construction robot which helps a human operator handle easily construction materials in case of using the cooperation system on construction site. This study introduces an additional module for construction and a robot control algorithm for a HRC (Human-Robot Cooperation). In addition, it proposes a novel construction method to install construction materials with robot on construction site. Seung Yeol Lee received the B.S. degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Myungji University, Seoul, Korea in 2002, and the M.S. degree from the Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea in 2005. He is a Ph.D. degree candidate from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. From 2003, He is currently a visiting researcher in the Research Institute of Technology, Construction Group at the Samsung Corporation, Korea conducting the design and implementation of construction robot and automation system for construction project. His research interests include design, control, and application of construction robots, field robotic systems and ergonomic design of robotic systems. He is a member of the Korea Society of Mechanical Engineers, Architectural Institute of Korea, and Ergonomics Society of Korea. Yong Seok Lee received the B.S. degree from the Department of Precision Mechanical Engineering, Kunsan national University, Kunsan, Korea in 2002, and the M.S. degree from the Department of Precision Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea in 2005. Currently, he is the Post Master in Hanyang University, Korea. His major interests include design and kinematic/dynamic analysis on multi-purpose field robots and service robots. He is a member of the Architectural Institute of Korea. Bum Seok Park received the B.S. degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan, Kyung-gi Do, Korea in 1993, and the M.S. degree from the Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea in 1998. He is a Ph.D. from the Department of Mechatronics System Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea From 2006. He is currently the post-doctor in Hanyang University, Korea. His major interests include embedded robot control system on multi-purpose field robot and service robot. He is a member of the Korea Society of Mechanical Engineers, Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers. Sang Heon Lee graduated with the B.S. degree in Precision Mechanical Engineering from Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea in 1992. He received the M.S. degree in Precision Engineering from KAIST, Taejon, Korea in 1994 and the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from KAIST in 2001. Currently, he is a senior researcher in Samsung Corporation, Korea. His major interests include the kinematic/dynamic analysis on multi-body system, application of field robots, and automation in construction. ChangSoo Han received the B.S. degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University Technology, Seoul, Korea in 1983, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, in 1985 and 1989, respectively. From May 1988 to September 1989, he was a Research Assistant, Robotics Lab in Mechanical Engineering about manufacturing of the high resolution micro manipulator module. In March 1990, he joined Hanyang University, Ansan, Kyungki-Do, Korea as a Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering. From March 1993 to February 1995, he was a Vice President, The Research Institute of Engineering & Technology of the Hanyang University. From August 1996 to July 1997, he was a Visiting Professor, Univ. of California at Berkeley. From September 1997 to February 1999, he was a Director, Hanyang Business Incubator. In August 2000, he joined a Branch President, The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers. In January 2002, he joined a Committee Member, The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers. From January 2001 to December 2001, he was an International Cooperation Director, The Institute of Control, Automation and Systems, Korea. His research interests include design, control, and application of robot, automation systems, and advanced vehicle.     

An algorithm for similar utterance section extraction for managing spoken documents

This paper proposes a new, efficient algorithm for extracting similar sections between two time sequence data sets. The algorithm, called Relay Continuous Dynamic Programming (Relay CDP), realizes fast matching between arbitrary sections in the reference pattern and the input pattern and enables the extraction of similar sections in a frame synchronous manner. In addition, Relay CDP is extended to two types of applications that handle spoken documents. The first application is the extraction of repeated utterances in a presentation or a news speech because repeated utterances are assumed to be important parts of the speech. These repeated utterances can be regarded as labels for information retrieval. The second application is flexible spoken document retrieval. A phonetic model is introduced to cope with the speech of different speakers. The new algorithm allows a user to query by natural utterance and searches spoken documents for any partial matches to the query utterance. We present herein a detailed explanation of Relay CDP and the experimental results for the extraction of similar sections and report results for two applications using Relay CDP. Yoshiaki Itoh has been an associate professor in the Faculty of Software and Information Science at Iwate Prefectural University, Iwate, Japan, since 2001. He received the B.E. degree, M.E. degree, and Dr. Eng. from Tokyo University, Tokyo, in 1987, 1989, and 1999, respectively. From 1989 to 2001 he was a researcher and a staff member of Kawasaki Steel Corporation, Tokyo and Okayama. From 1992 to 1994 he transferred as a researcher to Real World Computing Partnership, Tsukuba, Japan. Dr. Itoh's research interests include spoken document processing without recognition, audio and video retrieval, and real-time human communication systems. He is a member of ISCA, Acoustical Society of Japan, Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, Information Processing Society of Japan, and Japan Society of Artificial Intelligence. Kazuyo Tanaka has been a professor at the University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan, since 2002. He received the B.E. degree from Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Japan, in 1970, and the Dr. Eng. degree from Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, in 1984. From 1971 to 2002 he was research officer of Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL), Tsukuba, Japan, and the National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan, where he was working on speech analysis, synthesis, recognition, and understanding, and also served as chief of the speech processing section. His current interests include digital signal processing, spoken document processing, and human information processing. He is a member of IEEE, ISCA, Acoustical Society of Japan, Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, and Japan Society of Artificial Intelligence. Shi-Wook Lee received the B.E. degree and M.E. degree from Yeungnam University, Korea and Ph.D. degree from the University of Tokyo in 1995, 1997, and 2001, respectively. Since 2001 he has been working in the Research Group of Speech and Auditory Signal Processing, the National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan, as a postdoctoral fellow. His research interests include spoken document processing, speech recognition, and understanding.     

Sixty years of cybernetics

Fundamental aspects of cybernetics, such as goals, problems, methods, tools, brief history, and correlation with other sciences, are considered. Cybernetics in its classical interpretation is the science of information management, communication, and processing. As cybernetics developed, this definition was formalized as the science of methods and processes of information acquisition, storage, processing, analysis, and evaluation, which allows it to apply to decision making in complex control systems. These systems include all engineering, biological, administrative, social, ecological, and economical systems. The main thesis that determined the goals, problems, subject matter, and development of cybernetics as a whole up to the present is the similarity in management and communication processes in machines, living organisms, and both animal and human societies. First of all, these are processes of transfer, storage, and processing of information, i.e., various signals, messages, and data. Any signal and any information may be considered independently from its particular content and destination as a certain choice between two or more values having the known probabilities (selective concept of information). It allows us to treat all processes on the basis of a unified measure and statistical apparatus. The idea of the general theory of control and communication, that is, cybernetics, is based on this hypothesis.     

Methods of handling of in-bulk agglomeration layer image representation for granulometric composition assessment

The analysis of methods of images handling is carried out, the method of dynamic threshold division which is based on the calculation of weight coefficient of points in the local area is suggested. The method of adaptive adjustment of the size of the local area of the image representation is carried out to define the threshold value. Also methods of binary recursive filtration and mathematical morphology to reduce interference are introduced. The article is published in the original. Evgenii Valentinovich Ershov. The first pro-rector, head of the department of PC software, professor of the Cherepovetsk State University. Finished postgraduate studies at the North-Western Polytechnic Correspondence Institute (the city of St. Petersburg) in 1993 and defended a Ph.D. thesis on specialty 05.02.11 “Methods of Control and Diagnostics in Mechanical Engineering.” Circle of scientific interests: the development of methods and principles for the building of multi-functional technical vision systems, their mathematical and software support. Five postgraduate students defended theses under his supervision. Author of 170 scientific and teaching works, including 4 monographs, 85 articles, of which 12 were published in reviewed journals, 39 theses of reports, 2 reports on SRD, 3 patents. Took part in 20 scientific and technical conferences in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Cherepovetsk, Kursk, Tambov, Vologda, Tula, Krasnoyarsk, Yoshkar Ola, and Kemerovo. Vera Vital’evna Selivanovskikh. Docent of the department of PC software of the Cherepovetsk State University. Finished postgraduate studies at the Cherepovetsk State University on specialty “Solid-State Physics” in 2000 and began to study the problem of the optic-electronic control over the quality of metallurgical industry products. Defended a Ph.D. thesis on specialty 05.13.06 “Automation and Management of Technological Processes and Productions” in 2007. Author of more than 30 scientific and teaching works, including 1 monograph, 7 articles, of which 2 were published in reviewed journals, 13 theses of reports. Took part in the scientific and technical conferences in Moscow, Cherepovetsk, Kursk, Tambov, Vologda, Tula, Yoshkar Ola. Oksana Georgievna Ganicheva. Docent of the department of PC software of the Cherepovetsk State University. Finished postgraduate studies at the Cherepovetsk State University and defended a Ph.D. thesis on specialty 05.13.06 “Automation and Management of Technological Processes and Productions” in 2007. Circle of scientific interests: the development and perfecting of methods for the optic-electronic control over the quality of metallurgical industry products. Author of more than 30 scientific and teaching works, including 1 monograph, 7 articles, of which 2 were published in reviewed journals, 10 theses of reports. Took part in the scientific and technical conferences in Cherepovetsk, Kursk, Vologda, Tula, Yoshkar Ola.     

伦理智能体及其设计:现状和展望

智能体一直是人工智能的主要研究领域之一,任何独立的能够同环境交互并自主决策的实体都可以抽象为智能体.随着人工智能从计算智能到感知智能,再到认知智能的发展,智能体已逐步渗透到无人驾驶、服务机器人、智能家居、智慧医疗、战争武器等人类生活密切相关的领域.这些应用中,智能体与环境、尤其是与人类和社会的交互愈来愈突出,其中的伦理和道德问题日益凸显.人工智能应用的伦理风险和挑战引起了人们的普遍关注,伦理智能体是人工智能伦理的重要研究内容.本文从人工智能伦理的工程设计与实现角度,对伦理智能体及图灵测试、伦理智能体的设计范式、伦理智能体的逻辑程序设计、伦理智能体的形式化验证、伦理困境及分析等进行了介绍和讨论.同时,对伦理智能体及设计所面临的挑战和进一步研究方向进行了述评和展望.     

文化遗产活化关键技术研究进展

中华民族文化资源丰富、种类繁多且艺术形式多样,源于民族,植根民间,承载着历史记忆,延续着文化血脉,是中华民族的根与魂。文化遗产分布广、流传年代长,具有多样性、独特性和不可再生性等特点,是研究古代人类文明发展的珍贵资料。目前随着信息技术的迅猛发展以及全球化的冲击,其传承形式发生了根本性变化,特别是非物质文化遗产的人际传承方式,因此亟待在资源与媒介、内容与技术之间搭建技术的桥梁,支撑中华文化遗产的数字化传承。本文基于先进的智能计算、数字媒体和虚拟现实/增强现实技术,结合文化遗产的传播过程和艺术特点,对文化遗产收集理解、虚实结合智能展示交互和智慧化平台建设等活化关键技术的发展现状、前沿动态、热点问题和发展趋势进行分析和综述。在文化遗产收集理解方面,针对复杂文物数字化所存在的瓶颈问题,介绍数字化采集与重建关键技术;介绍文化遗产元素、主题和风格等特征提取算法,分析文化遗产的构图特征、分布特征、色彩特征和造型特征等数字化模拟过程中的关键技术,介绍基于语义特征分析、理解和识别的文化遗产理解及建设关键技术。对比和分析传统图形图像处理和深度学习方法在民族文化数字化仿真过程的优缺点,比较算法特点和算法效率,阐述存在的问题和难点,并对民族文化数字化仿真进行展望。在虚实结合智能展示交互方面,针对文化遗产的实体化展示和虚拟化展示特点,结合前沿信息技术,以多模态图像处理、小样本学习以及风格化图像生成方法为技术手段,基于多源异构大数据分析、知识图谱及深度学习等研究,综述文化遗产数字化修复的关键技术。面向文化遗产3D交互展示的需求,结合文本、音频、视频、语义和故事检索,介绍基于内容的自然人机交互技术;通过实时逼真、虚实融合渲染以及基于增强现实技术介绍相应的数字展品虚拟交互展示新技术。在智慧化平台建设方面,针对目前文化遗产智慧化平台系统管理分散导致业务协同不畅、数据缺乏统一规范导致数据难以共享,系统维护难度大、管理成本高以及用户使用不便等诸多问题,介绍文化遗产大数据模型与私有云架构关键技术研究以及相关的智慧平台建设项目。通过以上文化遗产活化的关键技术主动融入国家发展重大战略,有利于挖掘和提升民族文化遗产保护传承技术,促进文化遗产活化技术的合理利用,扩大传播影响,对弘扬中华文明、促进文化繁荣、建设少数民族示范区以及构筑文化自信具有重要意义。     

Efficient algorithms for the dynamic simulation of agitated liquid–liquid contactors

A fast and reliable algorithm has recently been published for the simulation of the unsteady-state behaviour of interacting liquid–liquid dispersions in single continuous and batch-stirred vessels [Ribeiro LM. PhD thesis, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal, 1995].

A streamlined version of the algorithm, applicable to oscillating drop mass transfer behaviour [Regueiras PFR, Ribeiro LM, Guimarães MML, Cruz-Pinto JJC. In: Shallcross DC, Paimin R, Prvcic LM, editors. Proceedings of ISEC'96. University of Melbourne, 1996. p. 1031], simplifies and accelerates the already fast previous one and provides meaningful, precise dynamic simulations of the full drop size distribution, as well as the mean and standard deviation of the solute concentration distribution within each drop fraction.

In this work we give an overview of the difficulties associated with liquid–liquid simulation of agitated dispersions and discuss the application of the streamlined version of our algorithm [Ribeiro LM. PhD thesis, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal, 1995; Regueiras PFR, Ribeiro LM, Guimarães MML, Cruz-Pinto JJC. In: Shallcross DC, Paimin R, Prvcic LM, editors. Proceedings of ISEC'96. University of Melbourne, 1996. p. 1031] to a Kühni pilot solvent extraction column.