An application of expert systems techniques to the on-line control and fault diagnosis of a mixing process

An application of expert hierarchical control is described in this paper. The control is implemented in a two-level configuration, where the lower layer performs direct regulation control and the upper layer performs supervisory functions. In the regulation layer, a rule-based controller performs the regulation task, where the controller is constructed upon causal relations between subsystems. The control action is inferred from the measurement of both controlled and noncontrolled variables. In the supervisory layer, the main function is a fault diagnosis system which diagnoses faults on-line. The diagnosis is based upon reasoning from the structure of the system and the functions of its components, and efficient diagnosis is achieved by dividing the system into several subsystems. The overall technique has been successfully implemented on a pilot scale mixing process under on-line computer control.