Application of advanced control methods in the pulp and paper industry — A survey

Digital computers have been used for process control in the pulp and paper industry for more than 20 years. This paper reviews the applications of advanced control methods to pulp and paper unit process control reported during the last decade. Modern control theory and adaptive control theory are most often applied to paper machine and headboxes. However a large number of reports deal only with simulated or laboratory scale processes. Indeed very few industrial applications are reported. Some of the reasons for this are analyzed and future trends briefly discussed.     

Process control in conventional oil and gas fields—Challenges and opportunities

This paper presents some key operational challenges in the upstream petroleum industries in which advanced control and model-based optimization has or may have a significant impact. A broad array of distinct applications are discussed and opportunities for process control methods are identified. This includes stabilizing control on an individual well level, model-based optimization for production allocation and long term recovery control.     

A review and comparative study of upwind biased schemes for compressible flow computation. Part I: 1—D first—order schemes

Summary First-order upwind biased formulations for simulating 1-D compressible flows are presented within a unified framework. A detailed study and comparison of the different formulations is important, as high-resolution extensions are known to inherit both the good and bad features of the first-order formulations used for their construction. The most popular flux difference splitting, flux vector splitting and some recently proposed hybrid splitting methodologies are considered. A finite element solution approach is adopted, as this provides a framework for the multidimensional extension of the solvers. Representative one-dimensional test cases are considered in order to provide evidence of the effectiveness and performance of the formulations. The results that are presented, together with the corresponding exact solutions, provide a set of benchmark test cases for comparison purposes.     

Principles in the Evolutionary Design of Digital Circuits—Part I

An evolutionary algorithm is used as an engine for discovering new designs of digital circuits, particularly arithmetic functions. These designs are often radically different from those produced by top-down, human, rule-based approaches. It is argued that by studying evolved designs of gradually increasing scale, one might be able to discern new, efficient, and generalizable principles of design. The ripple-carry adder principle is one such principle that can be inferred from evolved designs for one and two-bit adders. Novel evolved designs for three-bit binary multipliers are given that are 20% more efficient (in terms of number of two-input gates used) than the most efficient known conventional design.     

Failure analysis expert system for onshore pipelines. Part – I: Structured database and knowledge acquisition

In this article is described a knowledge-based system or expert system for failures identification in onshore pipelines. This expert system is called Failure Analysis Expert System (FAES). The FAES development has been split in two parts. In the present part I, the database structure and knowledge acquisition process are described, while in second part, the End-User interface and learning algorithm will be described.The proposed FAES includes a structured database with document processing of typical failures of pipeline collected from failure analysis reports and which were supported by expertise of failure analysis experts. A total de 854 cases of onshore pipeline failures were considered for FAES development; 683 cases for training and 171 cases for testing. Several failure mechanisms were identified with the following frequency order: external corrosion, internal corrosion, third parties, erosion, material failure, and vandalism. For machine learning, an inductive learning algorithm through Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was used.     

A hierarchical—multilevel approach to the development and ranking of systems in the tanning industry

Large-scale, complex systems arise in the design, modeling and planning of many resource allocation problems in the areas of water resources management, energy production and distribution, industrial production, health delivery and landscaping of new cities, to mention a few. This paper applies a hierarchical—multilevel approach to the design and modeling of plant operations in the tanning industry; the decomposition of the overall system into “independent” subsystems that address plant operations, hide collection itineraries, and waste water treatment options; the development of alternative regional plant systems and the selection of a preferred system. Each system is evaluated with regards to specified multiple criteria and compared with the other candidate systems as the preferences of a decision-maker are brought into the analysis.     

Design of piezocomposite materials and piezoelectric transducers using topology optimization—Part I

Summary Currently developments of piezocomposite materials and piczoelectric actuators have been based on the use of simple analytical models, test of prototypes, and analysis using the finite element method (FEM), usually limiting the problem to a parametric optimization. By changing the topology of these devices or their components, we may obtain an improvement in their performance characteristics. Based on this idea, this paper discusses the application of topology optimization combined with the homogenization method and FEM for designing piezocomposite materials. The homogenization method allows us to calculate the effective properties of a composite material knowing its unit cell topology. New effective properties that improves the electromechanical efficiency of the piezocomposite material are obtained by designing the piezocomposite unit cell. This method consists of finding the distribution of the material and void phases in a periodic unit cell that optimizes the performance characteristics of the piezocomposite. The optimized solution is obtained using Sequential Linear Programming (SLP). A general homogenization method applied to piczoelectricity was implemented using the finite element method (FEM). This homogenization method has no limitations regarding volume fraction or shape of the composite constituents. The main assumptions are that the unit cell is periodic and that the scale of the composite part is much larger than the microstructure dimensions. Prototypes of the optimized piezocomposites were manufactured and experimental results confirmed the large improvement. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics     

A Framework for Certification and Audit of Application Service Provider—ASP

Application service provider (ASP), network-based application rental service provider of information system (IS), has appeared as a new business style in information technology (IT) market. However, there are two main differences between the ASP model and traditional IS model. First, the relationship between ASPs and customers in ASP model is more temporary than in traditional IS model. Second, information resources of ASP's customers are located at the public network and data center. In these reasons, it is important that third parties need to certify and audit an ASP for successful implementation of the ASP model. This paper investigates characteristics of the ASP model and designs the framework for certification and audit of ASP. It is examined how the framework can remove potential threats and risks of the ASP model, and how the framework can be compared with traditional approaches.     

Bidirectional edges problem: Part I—A simple algorithm

The bidirectional edges problem is to find an edge-labeling of an undirected network,G=(V, E), with a source and a sink, such that an edge [u, v] E is labeled (u, v) or (v, u) (or both) depending on the existence of a (simple) path from the source to sink that visits the verticesu andv, in the orderu, v orv, u, respectively. We provide several algorithms for this problem in the current paper and the sequel. In this paper we show the relation between this problem and the classical two-vertex-disjoint-paths problem and then devise a simple algorithm with a time complexity ofO(|E|·|V|²). In the sequel we improve the time complexity toO(|E|·|V|). The main technique exploits aclever partition of the graph into a set of paths and bridges which are then analyzed recursively.The bidirectional edges problem arises naturally in the context of the simulation of an MOS transistor network, in which a transistor may operate as a unilateral or a bilateral device, depending on the voltages at its source and drain nodes. For efficient simulation, it is required to detect the set of transistors that may operate as bilateral devices. Also, sometimes it is intended to propagate information in one direction only, and propagation in the wrong direction (resulting in asneak path) can cause functional error. Our algorithms can be used to detect all the sneak paths.This research was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grants DMS-8703458 and CCR-9002819.     

Customized query auto-completion and suggestion — A review

Nowadays, with the widespread use of the internet, users meet their information needs with the help of search engines. Users tend to retrieve the most relevant results by entering short phrases in the search engines. Customizing the retrieved results helps attain this goal. In this study, research works in the fields of query suggestion, particularly query auto-completion have been studied with special attention to customization. First, the sophisticated customizing features were classified into four dimensions: time, location, context, and demographic features. Then, related works were investigated regarding algorithm, dataset and evaluation measures. Regarding the literature, we found that the research works employing context or time as sophisticated features for customization are more than those using location or demographic features. While the location dimension has been recently taken into consideration, using other dimensions has a long background. Moreover, in the related works, the AOL dataset and Mean Reciprocal Rank (MRR) are known as the most frequent dataset and evaluation measure, respectively.     

A system of processes related by cause and effect Part I. The model†

This paper develops a mathematical model for a system composed of product producing processes. The system is divided into subsets of processes called cycles. In each cycle the processes are linearly ordered and related by a cause and effect relationship where a change in any one process propagates from process to process throughout the entire cycle. This cause and effect relationship is a structure on processes of a cycle which asserts that each process of the cycle performs a step in a sequence of steps that finally load to the main product for which the cycle is identified. It is shown here that this model exhibits many of the empirical properties we would expect. It obeys a conservation law. Also in its state of equilibrium reserves are unchanged and it is neither efficient nor inefficient. There are also additional empirically expected phenomena which it exhibits. With this model the system is also shown to be able to insulate itself from environmental stimuli which could be regarded as a state of sleep or hibernation. Clearly such a model has application to many disciplines including biology, economics and ecology.     

Exact optimal grillage layouts — Part I: Combinations of free and simply supported edges

In the first instalment of this three-part study, a comprehensive treatment of analytically derived, exact optimal grillage layouts for combinations of simply supported and free edges is given. In part two, grillages with combinations of simply supported, clamped and free edges will be considered.Notation k constant in specific cost function - M beam bending moment - r radius of circular edge - R ⁺,R ^–,S ⁺,S ^–,T optimal regions - x, x _j coordinate along a beam (j) - slope of the adjoint deflection at pointD in directionDA - t, v coordinates along the free edge - adjoint deflection - angle between long beams and free edge - angle between free and simply supported edges - curvature of the adjoint deflection - , angles for layouts with circular edge - total weight (cost) of grillage - coordinate along a beam in anR ⁺ region - distance defined in Fig. 3     

SADDLE: A computer-aided structural analysis and dynamic design language—Part I. design system

The SADDLE system is a tool for computer-aided optimal design of structural and mechanical systems. The system is divided into four parts—the preprocessor, the ‘analyzer’, the ‘synthesizer’, and the postprocessor. The structural model and the design data are generated by the preprocessor. The analyzer uses the finite-element method to compute deflections and stresses in the structure. The synthesizer solves the design problem that is cast into a nonlinear programming format. The postprocessor is used to examine the analysis and design results. Different parts of the system interact via a global database. This study presents the design system configuration. In a companion study, the data management part is presented in detail. The user-interface for design is examined first. The design problem formulation, in the nonlinear programming problem context, is presented. The use of utility libraries to achieve this objective with a minimum programming effort is also explained. The article concludes with two numerical examples that belong to two different classes of design problems—a minimum weight design problem and a min-max problem.     

Application of SVM in Feather and Down Category Recognition

Currently, feather and down category recognition is often done by man with a microscope, but this method has some disadvantages. Applying SVM （Support Vector Machine） to feather and down category recognition is proposed in this paper, feather and down category recognition is done by computer automatically. After image processing, the triangle nodes of two-value image of feather are to be recognized with SVM, then the triangle nodes which have been recognized will be matched and the distance between the matched triangle nodes is calculated. In the end, the feather and down category is recognized. In order to improve recognition rate, we retrain it when training SVM.     

A posteriori optimization of parameters in stabilized methods for convection–diffusion problems – Part I

Stabilized finite element methods for convection-dominated problems require the choice of appropriate stabilization parameters. From numerical analysis, often only their asymptotic values are known. This paper presents a general framework for optimizing stabilization parameters with respect to the minimization of a target functional. Exemplarily, this framework is applied to the SUPG finite element method and the minimization of a residual-based error estimator, an error indicator, and a functional including the crosswind derivative of the computed solution. Benefits of the basic approach are demonstrated by means of numerical results.