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 EXPERT SYSTEMS
IN MINERAL AND METAL
PROCESSING

Proceedings of the IF AC Workshop, Espoo, Finland,

26 - 28 August 1991

Edited by

S.-L. JAMSA-JOUNELA
Outomec Oy (Ltd), Finland

and

A J . NIEMI
Helsinki University of Technology, Finland

Published for the

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF AUTOMATIC CONTROL

by

PERGAMON PRESS
OXFORD NEW YORK SEOUL TOKYO
UK Pergamon Press Ltd, Headington Hill Hall, Oxford 0X3 OBW, England

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KOREA Pergamon Press Korea, KPO Box 315, Seoul 110-603, Korea

JAPAN Pergamon Press Japan, Tsunashima Building Annex, 3-2-12 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan

Copyright 1992IFAC

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the copyright holders.

First edition 1992

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Expert systems in mineral and metal processing: proceedings of the

Workshop of the International Federation of Automatic Control,
Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland, 26-28 August 1991/
editors, Sirkka-Liisa Jms-Jounela, Antti J. Niemi. - 1st ed.
p. cm. (IFAC workshop series; 1992, no.2)
Includes index.
1. Mining engineeringAutomationCongresses. 2. MetallurgyAutomation
Congresses. 3. Expert systems (Computer science)Congresses.
I. Jms-Jounela, Sirkka-Iiisa. . Niemi, Antti J. . International
Federation of Automatic Control. IV. Series.
TN276.E861992 669dc20 92-9318

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 0-08-041704-3

These proceedings were reproduced by means of the photo-offset process using the manuscripts supplied
by the authors of the different papers. The manuscripts have been typed using different typewriters and
typefaces. The lay-out, figures and tables of some papers did not agree completely with the standard
requirements: consequently the reproduction does not display complete uniformity. To ensure rapid
publication this discrepancy could not be changed: nor could the English be checked completely.
Therefore, the readers are asked to excuse any deficiencies of this publication which may be due to the
above mentioned reasons.

The Editors

Printed in Great Britain by BPCC Wheatons Ltd, Exeter

IFAC WORKSHOP ON EXPERT SYSTEMS IN
MINERAL AND METAL PROCESSING

Sponsored by
International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) Committees on
- Applications (APCOM)
- Mining, Mineral and Metal Working Group

Organized by
The Finnish Society of Automation

International Programme Committee

A. Niemi (SF) (Chairman)
M. Aubrun (F)
Z. Chen (PRC)
H. Cohen (UK)
B. Cronhjort (S)
P. Duncan (SA)
M. Hadjinski (BG)
J. Heidepriem (D)
A. Herbst (USA)
H. Koivo (SF)
J. Meech (CDN)
J. Paiuk (RA)
G. Sommer (SA)
P. Uronen (SF)
Y. Yoshitani (J)

National Organizing Committee

E. Saarelainen (Chairman)
S.-L. Jms-Jounela (Editor)
L. Vahtera (Secretary)
S.Junno
M. Kongas
P. Lautala
L. Yliniemi
 PREFACE

Use of experts systems for monitoring and control is increasing rapidly in the mineral and metal
industries. A number of related papers has been presented during recent years, separately in var-
ious meetings and journals. In order to obtain a comprehensive review of the newest results in
this field, the developers and users of such applications were invited to exchange information
and experiences at an IFAC Workshop. This event, the IFAC Workshop on Experts Systems in
Mineral and Metal Processing, took place at the Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Fin-
land, August 26 - 28, 1991.

This Proceedings Volume contains a selection of papers presented at the Workshop. Before this
publication, they have passed a repeated evaluation and screening process. The papers were first
chosen, on the basis of abstracts submitted, by the International Programme Committee for oral
and written presentation at the Workshop. At the final selection of the papers for Proceedings,
the Editor followed the recommendations of the same Committee which were based on reviews
of the full texts of papers by Committee members. A number of papers included here were re-
vised after the Workshop by their authors as required by the Committee.

The Workshop was one of a relatively narrow scope. According to a basic requirement, each
paper had to include contents on both expert systems, neural networks or fuzzy control, and on
mineral and metal processing. This double requirement was followed with almost no excep-
tions, and i.a. for this reason a number of good contributions had to be left out. Despite of this,
39 papers were accepted and duly presented which shows that the theme of the Workshop was
widely recognized as timely and interesting. This Volume contains a condensed subset of 29 pa-
pers.

During the three days of Workshop, the specialists from 23 countries communicated with each
other on their work and interests presenting papers and carrying out intensive discussions.
While the new ties of friendship which were formed and the earlier ones which were confirmed
cannot be reproduced by a written text, it is the aim of the present Volume to stand for the scien-
tific and technological content of the Workshop and to transmit information of newest develop-
ments of expert systems in mineral and metal processing to the professionals all over the world.
At the same time, it provides a permanent record of the level of achievement within a topical
field of the present day automatic control.

Sirkka-Liisa Jms-Jounela Antti J. Niemi

 OPENING ADDRESS
Erkki Saarelainen
Chairman of the National Organising Committee
Chairman of the Finnish Society of Automation

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the National Organising Committee and the Finnish Society of Automation I wish
you all welcome to the first IFAC Workshop on Expert Systems in Mineral and Metal Process-
ing. It is a great pleasure for us to host this event sponsored by the IFAC Applications Commit-
tee and its Working Group on Automation in Mining, Mineral and Metal Processing.

The President of IFAC has nominated Mr. Uolevi A. Luoto, who himself is Advisor and Past
President of IFAC, to represent the Federation and the sponsoring bodies here and we feel very
honoured by his presence. Mr. Luoto will address us at another occasion during the Work-
shop.

Many of you have made a long trip in order to be able to attend the technical sessions and possi-
bly one of the courses connected with the Workshop. I hope that we will be able to meet your
expectations by creating an open and friendly atmosphere for our technical sessions and by pro-
moting new unofficial contacts during our social events.

The interest raised by the Workshop has been an agreeable surprise for us. Although I am not a
specialist of expert systems but more one of automation for metallurgical industry in general, I
may state that its obvious reason is the advance taken place in industrial applications. In spite of
the declining trends we have succeeded in obtaining more than 90 registered delegates from 22
countries. The total amount of papers is about 40 and many of them report on practical work
and results. I leave a closer evaluation of advances in new methods and theory to the real ex-
perts in the auditorium.

In this context, I would like to express our warmest thanks to the authors and chairmen as well
as to the International Programme Committee chaired by Professor Antti Niemi. I also would
like to thank members of the National Organising Committee for their excellent contributions to
the Workshop. Finnish industry and universities have supported the event in several ways
which is highly appreciated.

Special thanks are directed to the personnel of the Finnish Automation Support Ltd for the prac-
tical work and excellent arrangements. We would also like to thank the Finnish Ministry of Edu-
cation for their support and the Helsinki University of Technology for a suitable Workshop site.

Xlll
 OPENING ADDRESS
Paavo Uronen
Vice-rector of the Helsinki University of Technology
Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of Helsinki University of Technology I have the pleasure of welcoming you to this
IFAC Workshop. In this connection, I would also like to introduce to you our University and its
connections with IFAC.

In 1849 the Helsinki Technical School was founded "to offer secondary school education for
youngsters who wish to enter industrial trades". The school was then developed into a Poly-
technical Institute in 1879 and received university status in 1908. The University started the ac-
tivities in downtown Helsinki and was moved in the sixties to this campus designed by the fa-
mous Finnish architect, Professor Alvar Aalto.

Helsinki University of Technology (HUT) is the oldest and biggest technical university in Fin-
land having today about 10,000 students, 150 professors and associate professors and about
1800 other staff members including project personnel.

The University is divided into six faculties according to the corresponding fields of study and
research. They are the Faculties of Information Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical En-
gineering, Process Engineering and Material Science, Civil Engineering and Surveying, and the
Faculty of Architecture. In addition to the faculties we have several separate units serving them
or specialising in certain research topics or special activity. These units include: Library, Com-
puting Centre, Language Centre, Centre for Continuing Education, Centre for Urban and Re-
gional Studies, Radio Research Station, Low Temperature Laboratory and Arctic Offshore Re-
search Centre.

In many fields of research, special institutes of several laboratories have been formed and these
institutes which we have now altogether, carry out interlaboratory and interdisciplinary research
in close co-operation with industrial and other outside parties getting funding mainly from other
than university sources. Also many international co-operative projects, for example, in connec-
tion with the European programs, are going on. The Institute of Industrial Automation in one of
the biggest and most active institutes concentrating so far mainly in manufacturing automation.

In the field of automation HUT has been active and creative since late 80 's. Today automatic
control and system engineering in their various forms are taught and studied in five laboratories,
in addition to the stated institute. Their national and international activities are widespread.

Also IFAC connections of our specialists are active and several IFAC events have been arranged
here earlier: The Conference on Digital Control Applications to Process Control 1971, MMM
Symposium 1983, and the Symposium on Man-Machine Systems 1988, as well as the Work-
shops on Modelling and Control of Biotechnical Processes 1982, Vision Control 1985, Differ-
ential Games 1990,. Also in organising the IFAC World Congress 1978 the role of HUT was
central.

The automation technology as applied to Mining, Metallurgy and Mineral Processing has been
one of the central areas of automation research at HUT, especially in the Laboratory of Control
Engineering led by Professor Niemi. In close co-operation with the Finnish industry remarkable
results and products in this field of automation have been reached.

XV
The development of research and education in technical universities includes some general de-
mands and trends: dynamism, intemationalisation, interdisciplinarity and more effective use of
information technology. The topic of this workshop includes ingredients from all of them, espe-
cially from effective use of information technology. The theme of expert systems or intelligent
control is very actual and popular among control scientists and users today and many interesting
results and further directions of development can be seen. Therefore I look forward to an inter-
esting workshop in Otaniemi and wish you all success.

XVI
 CLOSING ADDRESS
Antti J. Niemi
Chairman of the International Programme Committee

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are approaching the end of our work of three days. I hope you will remember this Work-
shop, not as just another technical event, but as one of high value to yourself, to your firm or to
your University. I also hope that you will remember Espoo, Helsinki and Finland for the new
associates met and the new friendships made.

Although most of you attend the first time an IFAC event in Finland, many of you have partici-
pated the 7th IFAC World Congress in 1978 or the IFAC Symposium on Automation in Mining,
Mineral and Metal Processing in 1983 held here. While the former one covered the whole scope
of control engineering and collected a high number of participants from all over the world, the
latter one was more closely connected with the content of this Workshop. Some of you may al-
so have attended one or more of the other IFAC events organized in Finland since the first one
in 1971.

Your Finnish colleagues joined the development of automation in mineral and metal industries at
an early stage. As the first steps were taken in the early 1960's, these industries were about ten
years late with regard to automation in e.g. chemical, pulp and paper and power generation in-
dustries, but the later advance has been fast and the new methods are today introduced parallelly
to the other branches of process industries. Due to the successful implementation of automation
in the Finnish industries, both the management and the workers and even the common people
take today the automation as a natural step of the technological development, and adverse opin-
ions are almost non-existent in our country. I wonder, if the acceptance of automation is equally
favourable elsewhere, and would consider an international comparison in this respect extremely
timely and interesting.

I have had since those early days the opportunity of participating the development of control of
mineral processes and the compilation of the required models, and to some amount the corre-
sponding work with metallurgical processes. Especially the dynamic models have become
much more detailed and sophisticated during the time passed. Their utilization has already for a
long time been limited by the absence of measuring instruments for many key variables, al-
though considerable developments have taken place in this respect also.
Therefore the control is, for a considerable part, still today based on observations and conclu-
sions of the human supervisor. E.g. the quality and colour of the froth in flotation cells and the
colour of the flame in metallurgical converters can be considered as quantities which are difficult
to measure with physical instruments. The expert systems imply potential to the application of
such variables in control by means of manual or automatic inputs. Another example could be
the flotation rate coefficient which cannot be observed by the human senses at all and which is
difficult to measure, not only by real time measurements but also by analysis of samples in labo-
ratory. By means of appropriate models, one is in a position of deriving rules through which to
base the control on a measurable subset of the quantities on which that factor depends. The ex-
pert systems therefore may add the possibilities of using both the human experience and theo-
retical knowledge for a better control.

XV11
The present Workshop is one of a relatively narrow scope. According to its basic requirement,
each paper had to include contents on both expert systems, neural networks or fuzzy control,
and on mineral or metal processing. This double requirement was followed with almost no ex-
ceptions, and therefore a number of good contributions had to be left out. Despite of this, 39
papers were accepted and duly presented which shows that the theme of the Workshop was
widely recognized as timely and interesting. The papers came from 16 countries which indicates
a relatively even, international distribution. While appreciating highly the work done in each of
these countries, I would especially state the extensive Japanese contribution which proves the
high level and penetration of expert systems in the iron and steel industry of that country.
The presented papers originate fairly evenly from industrial enterprises, universities and re-
search institutes. Especially the industries have provided the Workshop with a good and inter-
nationally representative number of participants, in addition to their speakers. It appears that the
Workshop has succeeded in its central task: the scientists and developers have presented their
new results, and potential exploiters have familiarized themselves with them, in order to subse-
quently apply them in the industry of their branch and their country. The International Pro-
gramme Committee and the National Organizing Committee have recorded this fact with great
satisfaction.
Since the present Workshop can be considered highly successful, the question on continuity of
international information exchange in the field of the Workshop has shown up and has been
brought to my knowledge. Certainly new information and experience will accumulate during
the next years as well. Therefore this question will be discussed by the International Pro-
gramme Committee of the present Workshop this afternoon, and if you feel that a new event of
the same or other type, at a suitable place and time, is needed or not needed, you are asked to
bring your opinion to the attention of a member of the IPC, preferably immediately after the pre-
sent Session; you will find their names on thefirstpages of your folder. The IPC will then de-
cide on a possible further recommendation to the appropriate body of the Federation.
The organizers tested two new features in connection with this Workshop. Thus the abstracts of
preliminarily accepted papers were mailed in advance to all registered participants, and this no
doubt inspired the discussions carried out during the event. As another feature, the IPC will
meet still today in order to preliminarily choose the papers to be included in the Proceedings.
The Committee may then require that individual speakers are asked to complete their papers dis-
tributed here as preprints or to make changes in them and I ask for their understanding and co-
operation.
While the principal aim of a Workshop is the exchange of scientific and technological informa-
tion, organization and much of voluntary effort is required, before it may materialize. I would
like to thank most cordially all authors who have presented papers including the substitute
speakers who have been needed in very few cases only to take up the task as charged by the au-
thor. I also thank all those who have participated in the sessions and discussions, all members
of the International Programme Committee and National Organizing Committee, the Plenary
Speakers, the Chairmen of Sessions, the Members of the Secretariat and, last but not least, the
International Federation of Automatic Control, its Applications Committee and its Working
Group on Automation in Mining, Mineral and Metal Processing, for their sponsorship. I trust
this has been a rewarding experience to all of us.
During these days, everyone of us has adopted new knowledge and new ideas which we may
put to work, after we have returned to our regular working posts. I thank you all for your par-
ticipation and contribution to the success of this Workshop, and wish you a safe and happy re-
turn home.
It remains to me to now declare the Workshop closed.

XVlll
Copyright BFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and GRINDING AND SEPARATION
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

AN EXPERT SYSTEM FOR CONTROL OF A SAG/BALL

MILL CIRCUIT
S.H. Bradford

Department of Mining Engineering, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, UK

Abstract. Within the remote mining areas of Australia the need to provide effective expert help has
increased. This is due to high labour turnover, increasing economic pressures and higher levels of process
technology used. As a counter to this a computer system to provide effective expert help to operators of
semi-autogenous (SAG) grinding mills has been developed. This support system is called HelpSAG. It was
initially developed for a SAG/ball mill grinding circuit on the gold plant at Paddy's Flat in Western
Australia.

The aim of the system is to provide a quick reference manual plus immediate on-line advisory help for the
shift operators. The on-line help is in the form of an interactive trouble-shooting procedure and a mill
power model for throughput optimisation.

This paper discusses some of the problems encountered with the initial system and its further development.
The solutions produced include the development of two separate systems tailored individually for the
separate requirements of shift operators and plant metallurgists. Data is now taken directly from the plant
data management computer setup into the Trouble-Shoot, instead of being manually entered as in the
original system. This direct access to plant data has allowed work to be carried out using the expert system
for closed loop control of the grinding circuit.

Keywords. Artificial intelligence; automatic control; computer control; control engineering applications of
computers; expert systems; hierarchically intelligent control; microcomputer based control; process control.

INTRODUCTION b) Being cheaper over an extended period than the

Throughout industry the increasing economic pressures due to
reducing profit margins has brought about the need to
minimise both capital and operating costs and improve
equipment utilisation. To carry this out, more and better
information is required. The developments in electronics has
provided this, but in doing so has increased the complexity of
problems. This then requires increasingly skilled knowledge
and expertise on the part of the user for correct interpretation
and application. However, the availability of this expertise is
limited not only in the new areas of technology but even in the
well established areas.
Expert systems (Forsyth, 1989) can provide a potential
solution to these problems. Since, their introduction in the
1970's their application has been steady, but it was not until
the 1980's with the reduction in the cost of computing that they
were more widely applied. They are described as computer
programs that try to simulate the reasoning component of
human expertise in a narrowly focused domain and can also
provide an explanation of how a practical decision or
conclusion is reached.
The principles behind expert systems provide a method by
which practical expertise and knowledge can be permanently
captured and utilised to analyse specific problems and to give
detailed solutions. A carefully developed expert system can in
principle give other benefits, such as:-
a) The provision of expert help 24 hours a day, in
multiple locations simultaneously.
equivalent human expert.
c) Producing consistent answers given the same or
similar information.
d) Being able to work in highly adverse conditions.
e) Speeding up the passing of knowledge and
understanding to new personnel.
f) Reducing the time input of professional staff when
training new staff and solving circuit problems.
g) Giving the plant staff a better understanding of the
process and of the system as a whole, with better
morale and confidence and all that flows from this.
The mining industry has not escaped these increased economic
pressures and technological developments, but on top of this is
there are the problems associated with obtaining and retaining
the required expertise on the increasing number of remote
operations.
Within mineral processing these problems and would-be
solutions have often had a detrimental effect on plant revenue
and efficiency and thus decrease profit by:-
a) Operation of the plant outside its optimum
efficiency envelope. This is usually caused by a
lack of process knowledge and understanding in
operating staff. This is compounded by the high
turnover rates and the continual demands on the
professional staff for the training of new personnel.
b) Slow transfer of process knowledge from existing
to new personnel.

1
 c) Loss of knowhow with the regular loss of trained for corrective action beyond their immediate
and experienced personnel. responsibilities.

The loss of experienced staff can have serious repercussions as
outlined above. On most plants training tends to be on the job
and misunderstandings and misinformation about the process
tend to persist from one generation of operators to another.
This is compounded because the detailed knowledge required
to run a plant is often buried in user-unfriendly and often
almost unreadable manuals. Better training and the systematic
collection of accumulated staff knowledge can overcome some
if not all of these problems. This, however, requires a
substantial initial investment in both cost and the time of
supervisory professional staff. For reasons well known to those
with operating experience these tend not to be available on
most plants.
So, even if only a few of the advantages that expert systems
can give accrue, the building of an expert system for a mineral
processing plant operation should be seriously considered.
APPLICATION
The rapid expansion of gold mining in Australia during the
1980's brought an increased demand for technical personnel.
The increased economic pressure has brought about the
introduction of newer and more complex process units, for
example Autogenous Grinding (AG) and Semi-Autogenous
Grinding (SAG) mills, in an attempt to reduce capital and
operating costs (Siddall, 1989). The operation of these process
units is far more subtle than with steel-on-steel (rod, ball mill)
comminution systems and they are only able to deliver reduced
operating costs if they are run at their optimum.
As a result of this Whim Creek Consolidated Ltd, now part of
Dominion Mining Ltd's Meekathara Gold Operations, decided
to co-fund the development of an expert system for a SAG
mill circuit with Orway Mineral Consultants and Mennetech.
They also allowed on-site prototyping at their new Paddy's Flat
process plant. The plant processes gold ores from a wide
variety of sources at rates between 85 and 125 tons/hour
through a two stage SAG/ball mill grinding circuit. All the
plant information monitoring and control is carried out through
a Micromax Process Management Centre (PMC). The PMC
Another criterion for the system was to provide a simple and
friendly interface to the plant operators and metallurgists.
DEVELOPMENT TOOLS
The system was developed using a deterministic expert system
(Menne, 1989) shell called electroMAGNETIC Book (eMB),
which was authored and commissioned by David Menne of
Mennetech in 1985 using Clipper, a Dbase compiler.
Unlike conventional expert systems, which use inference
engines (Forsyth, 1989) and knowledge bases, an eMB puts the
control of the structure in the hands of the expert rather than in
the program software. This done by allowing the expert to
explicitly define the logic links between pages, which hold his
experience and knowledge. These pages also provide an
interactive interface for the finished system by the use of input,
choice and output pages.
The idea behind the system was to allow an expert to develop a
system without any real knowledge of programming and to
keep the operation of the finished run-time program as simple
as possible. The keys required to operate a finished system are
the numeric keys, 'Home', W , 'PgDn' and 'PgUp'.
A management structure producing program was also used
particularly in the development of the Trouble-Shoot to show
the structure and logic used.
SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
The system was developed in three separate parts as defined in
the application section. Figure 1 shows the final structure of
the system. It was initially implemented for a PC XT with
640k, a mono graphics monitor and a hard disk. This was
found to be slow and the system was upgraded to a PC AT
with 640k, an EGA colour monitor and a hard disk.
MAIN MENU

allows computer data screens to be defined showing

graphically trends of process variables in the grinding or
carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit or any other combination of
MICROMAX
AUTOMATION
f FEED MATERIAL
[CHARACTERISTICS]
c OPERATOR
NOTES
MILLING
CIRCUIT

available data. [GENERAL MICROMAX] OPERATING

TKEY DESCRIPTIONS I PHILOSOPHY J

The agreed requirements of the initial version of the expert OPERATION LOGSHEET GENERAL
THEORY
ACTION KEYS SPECIFICS
system were the following:-
DATA ENTRY MILL ] f CIRCUIT
KEYS LUBRICATION} I DESCRIPTION J
a) Quick Reference Training Manual - This
included an explanation of maintenance CURSOR
KEYS
GENERAL JOB]
. DESCRIPTION;
( PLANT "j
[ O P T I M I S A T I]O N
procedures, plant checks and the acceptable values
DISPLAY ACCESS
of operating variables, instructions for use of the KEYS
PMC, an explanation of the theory behind MICROMAX KEY
AG/SAG milling, processing definitions and plant DESCRIPTIONS

control strategies.
b) Plant Optimisation Procedure - Power modelling
program for optimising plant throughput based on
data such as feed material characteristics, mill
speed, ball charge and liner wear.
c) Trouble-Shoot - To give solutions to problems
based on data entered by the operator from the
PMC and other operating data-gathering systems,
to give the reason for the occurrence of a problem
and either give instructions on how to solve it
and/or tell shift operators to contact shift foreman
Fig. 1. HelpSAG System Structure.
The initial theory and knowledge base for the SAG mill
operation was provided by Bernard Siddall of Orway Mineral
Consultants in Perth, WA. All the plant and operator
information was provided by Ivan Hunter, Senior Metallurgist
at the Dominion Mining Ltd's Meekatharra Gold Operations.
A first prototype version was installed at Paddy's Flat in
September 1989. The time taken to develop this was about

2
four months. Two full time computer personnel were involved,
the author and another graduate metallurgist with a computing
background.
Although another month or so could easily have been spent in
further refining the system a decision was taken to commission
the system as soon as it was operational. The reasons for this
was the feeling that testing and development of the system
would be best achieved 'on-line', rather than by submitting the
system to off-line testing.
This initial test period proved to be useful not only in
debugging and refining the system but also in establishing
operator acceptance of the system. On commissioning, along
with spending time on shift with the operators explaining the
system and listening to suggestions, a book was left beside the
computer keyboard to log any faults found in the system, to
note areas not adequately covered and to list any other
suggestions. The feedback, where possible, was introduced
into the system on site. This significantly increased the
acceptance by the operators, because when they were able to
find faults, they were subsequently corrected and their
suggestions were in general implemented.
About a week was needed to commission the system, iron out
problems and add feedback from plant personnel into the
system, which was mainly on the Trouble-Shoot.
To secure the expert knowledge provided, an electronic
security system was incorporated in the site version of the
software. It was designed to restrict the use of the system to a
single machine at any one time.
Quick Reference Training Manual
The Training Manual is broken down into five main sections
and Fig. 1 shows their position and relationships in the system
as a whole. These five sections are:-
a) Micromax Automation - General description of
the PMC, plus key definition and use.
b) Feed Material Characteristics - Mineralogy,
Bond Work Index (WI) figures, other grinding
parameters and general information on processing
problems associated with the various ore types.
c) Operator Notes - Operator information regarding
the primary objectives of the mill operator in terms
of mill operating philosophy and maintenance
requirements. The maintenance includes
description, position, method of measurement and
likely values of hourly checks, plus details of
lubrication routines and daily equipment checks.
d) Circuit Description - A brief description of the
grinding circuit, along with a graphical
representation of the circuit.
e) AG/SAG Mill Theory - Text and graphics
explaining grinding definitions, the fundamentals
of AG and SAG mills, mill control strategies,
techniques for handling problems with over-
viscous pulps and effects of variation of mill
speed, ball load and total mill charge on
throughput and output quality.
Plant Optimisation Procedure
This is mainly used by the shift and plant metallurgists to
optimise the plant throughput based on the feed material
characteristics. It is based on defined mill operating and feed
parameters, eg percentage of critical speed, ball charge, mill
3
loading, slurry SG and liner wear.
Calculations could be carried out on either of the mills
installed in the plant but are specific to the Paddy's Flat SAG
and ball mill combination. The values calculated can be used
as the set points for plant control and the Trouble-Shoot
operation. In addition to being able to do specific power and
weight calculations, the software can generate graphs of mill
speed, ball charge and mill loading vs power draw. These are
illustrated in Fig. 2, and can be used to help visualise the best
operating point.
MILL POWER VERSUS MILL LOAD FOR 5% BALL CHARGE
750-f
700-
I 650-
600-
z
o 550-
g
%
EC 5 0 0 -
450-
o
a, 4 0 0 -
350-
300-
250-
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
MILL LOAD % <Press Esc or PgUp to exit>
Fig. 2. SAG Mill Power Model
Trouble-Shoot
This section provides an interactive Trouble-Shoot procedure
where current process data and trend inputs are asked for by
the system, before diagnosis and a recommended solution is
generated.
Figure 3 shows the broad outline of the Trouble-Shoot
structure. The various Trouble-Shoot procedures are chosen by
the user and the operation of the selected procedure is in the
form of an interrogation. The idea behind this facility is not
only to give answers to problems, but to give the operators a
better understanding of the mechanics of the process and to
confirm for them that the circuit is running correctly. This is
carried out where possible by explaining what is happening in
the mill and how a problem might be avoided, along with the
offered solution.
The first stage in using Trouble-Shoot is to input all relevant
plant information, which includes PMC data and current ore
characteristics details. Following this the variable set points are
defined by the user (usually pre-defined by the metallurgists
from the Plant Optimisation Procedure) eg feed rate, ball load,
power etc. These define the acceptable limits for the system
operation.
Throughout the Trouble-Shoot data input sections emphasis is
made on the importance of accurate data input and the
detrimental effect of significant inaccuracies on system
performance. Like a human expert, Trouble-Shoot can only
base its conclusions on the information it is given. These
problems are displayed and explained at all stages of data
input. Limited error checking in built into the system, which
rejects grossly erroneous data entries. However there is still
basically a fundamental dependence on the user to enter data
correctly.
Having entered and verified all the required plant data, the
system asks whether the problems are with the SAG or the ball
mill. As shown in Fig. 3 there is system override if the power
 electroMAGNETIC Books vl.5 WHIM CREEK Copyright 1985-8
(INTRODUCTION)

(WEIGHT HIGH, POWER DEC. SLOW, REF:-PG12:SHW

( DATAINPUp) VISCOUS)

SAG MILL POWER => 960KW
SAG MILL TRIP OUT
TROUBLE SHOOT
A viscous slurry can cause the grates to block, which will
lead to a mill spill. To reduce the viscosity of the slurry
SAG MILL POWER < 960KW
the water addition rate to the feed is increased to the
value given below
Increasing the water will cause a temporary SAG mill power

) C
SAG MILL BALL MILL
TROUBLE SHOOTS TROUBLE SHOOTS surge and an increase in the BALL mill circulating load.

POWER DRAW ) POWER DRAW

INCREASE SAG MILL FEED WATER ADDITION RATE BY (1/sec)
MILL WEIGHT CIRCULATING LOAD )
PGDN:NEXTPAGE PGURPREVIOUS PAGE W:WINDOWSIZE HOME:FIRST PAGE END:EXTT
DISCHARGE SLURRY
DENSITY J
Fig. 5. Explanation And Solution Page.
MILL DISCHARGE MILL NOISE )

NONE OF THESE
DISCUSSION
BALL CHARGE )

NONE OF THESE
Fig. 3. Trouble-Shoot Structure
draw is higher than or equal to the mill trip warning level.
That is control automatically passes to the SAG overload
Trouble-Shoot which offers more drastic remedies than in
normal operating situations.
Normally the operator is offered the choice of SAG or ball
mill diagnosis (see Fig. 3). An example of one of these trouble
shoots is given in Fig. 4, where the operator is finding that the
SAG mill weight is high, the power draw is slowly decreasing
and the slurry is viscous. As the weight is high the operator
chooses the Mill Weight Trouble-Shoot. The program first
asks the trend of the SAG mill power. On choosing 'decreasing
power', it then asks the speed at which the change is occurring,
and 'slowly' is chosen. The operator is then asked if the slurry
is viscous. On choosing 'yes', the solution is offered. Along
with this an explanation of the problems of a viscous slurry are
given plus the consequences on the circuit of the offered
solution. A solution screen is shown in Fig. 5. A reference is
also given on each screen to show the user the path that has
been taken. On finishing the procedure, the operator can either
return to the very first page of the system or page back to the
Trouble-Shoot choice page and select another option. The
Trouble-Shoot remembers the route that was last taken and the
last set of data even if the system is rebooted.
( CIRCUIT >
ITROUBLESHOOTJ
I WHICH MILL HAS PROBLEMS?]
BALL MILL | | SAG MILL
j WHAT IS PROBLEM WITH SAG MILL?"]
kW
l I I I I I I M TWEIGHT
I MILL TP. T . W
MILL DISCHARGE | WHAT IS SAG MILL POWER DOING?"]
MILL NOISE
BALL CHARGE
INCREASING
NONE OF THESE DECREASING
This report simplifies an essentially very complex procedure
which depended as much on interaction with site personnel as
with fleshing out a pre-defined expert system shell. It has
demonstrated clearly the actual and potential problems faced in
the development of any expert system of this type and also the
benefits for remote operations. These benefits include
increased support available to site staff at all levels and a better
understanding of process, which are essential precursors to
sustainable improvements in plant operation and the resultant
increase in gross revenue and reduction in operating costs.
Some of the actual and potential problem areas are
summarised below. These need to be carefully explored in the
design and specification of any expert system of this type, and
certainly well before site work starts:-
a) Detailed definition of project aims and means of
implementation.
b) User acceptance formula.
c) Knowledge source and methods of data
acquisition.
e) Clear description of system structure.
f) Methods of system development and editing.
g) Deadlines.
The amount of time and money available and the problem to
be solved between them define the scope of the final system.
While clearly there is a basic minimum, the degree of
sophistication of the system is effectively unlimited, and can
be extended until it no longer becomes cost effective. An
attempt to define cost benefits, eg revenue implications per
0.1% increase in saleable product, will help to establish a
realistic budget, and give all concerned a practical yardstick
with which to measure performance.
It may be possible to modify an existing system, provided the
ore treated and the process plant utilised are broadly similar,
1 ,
and this can result in substantial savings. If it is a prototype
| version, its development time and cost is going to be
significantly and possibly substantially higher.

1 HOW IS SAG MILL POWER DECREASING? [ An example of the amount of extra time that was consumed in
SLOW FAST the production of the HelpSAG prototype was shown up by a
time audit carried out by David Menne. He found that only
| IS THE SAG MILL DISCHARGE SLURRY VISCOUST]
about 25% of the time was actually spent in direct
YES NO
development. The time was consumed by familiarisation with
IEXPILANATION AND]
1 so
SOLUTION PAGE expert shell and the problem to be solved, travelling, waiting
for data and software refinement. So, for a similar project
Fig. 4. SAG Mill/ High Mill Weight/ Power Slowly using basically the same system the implementation time could
Decreasing/ Viscous Slurry Trouble-Shoot. be significantly reduced, though allowances should still be
allowed for travel and obtaining of data.

4
From the audit carried out on HelpSAG and other eMB's,
David Menne has found that significantly less time is required
to produce similar expert systems when using the eMB than
with a conventional expert system shell. Although the time
saving is not obvious on smaller expert systems, less than 100
rules, it does become more significant as the size of the expert
system increases. For example to increase the size of a 100
rule expert system to a 400 rule expert system like HelpSAG
using eMB requires 80% less effort. Since unlike conventional
expert systems where the time needed to add equal-sized
parallel branches is the same, the development time for re-used
simple pages/rules is halved after first application.
A problem often overlooked is the acceptance by users, which
is basically a human factor. A lack of sensitivity to this
problem and the exclusion of the users in the systems
development can only limit the system performance or even
result in its failure. With this particular project, operator
acceptance of the system and its successful establishment were
mainly due to an above normal level of operator and
management interest in its implementation. This in itself
followed on from the constructive relationships that already
existed on site between shift operators, maintenance staff and
management at all levels. At Paddy's Flat this is clearly
reflected in the low labour turnover.
The limited availability of high quality knowledge can be a
major inhibiting factor, although knowledge may be drawn
from a number of sources rather than a single source.
Considerable ingenuity may be necessary before a coherent
and consistent knowledge base is assembled. In the particular
case presented here, two separate sources were located and
between them provided a very detailed model for the overall
system. One was a consultant who specialises in the
specification of SAG mill systems, and the other was the plant
manager who dealt with day to day operations.
Normally there is a link person between the expert system
shell and the human expert. This individual is called a
knowledge engineer. His skill lies in drawing out the
knowledge of the expert and converting it to a form that can be
used in the expert shell. This knowledge transfer is usually
carried out in a series of interviews. These interviews tend to
be of limited durations due to other external pressures on the
expert. Because of the time limitations and the need to convert
the technology into a programmable form, the knowledge
engineer effectively becomes an instant expert in the field he is
currently working on. This increases the amount of time
required for development and may even make very complex
problems prohibitive in cost (Aylett, 1990).
Although eMB allows an expert to enter his knowledge
directly, the problem of the availability of expert time
mentioned above still arises. So knowledge engineers and
interview technique were used.
One of the most important factors that affect the performance
of any expert system is the correctness of the data input.
Expert systems tend to be what is called fault intolerant. That
is, they assume that the data presented is correct. The
detection of faulty data can be achieved by further
programming, but as the problem gets more complex the
amount of programming required increases and gets
prohibitive in cost. In reality it is effectively impossible to
think of all the possible data problems especially when dealing
with manual input. The only practical solution is manual
checking and then double checking of the initial input data,
and the rigourous control of any later additions.
The importance of clearly showing the structure and logic
behind the expert system became increasingly apparent with
5
the development of Trouble-Shoot. Although this took extra
time, it facilitated both fault diagnosis and future system
development. The best presentation method was found to be in
graphical form so that the logic used could be easily checked
by the expert. Initially a very large sheet of paper was used and
the screen printouts pasted on, with logic routes between them
clearly shown. Unfortunately this soon proved to be
impractical due to the large number of screens and the amount
of editing that was needed in the beginning. However, a
management organisation chart software package was
available and lent itself well to illustrating the logic structure,
as in Figs. 1 and 3. This provided an effective system and the
speed and ease of development significantly increased.
The importance of deadlines is well documented when
developing any new system. System developers are notorious
for generating improvements and it needs an armslength
manager to decide when the system is essentially workable.
There is a great potential use of these types of expert system,
especially on remote operations in the devloping countries.
Since the system can provide on site expertise, training, uses
relatively low level hardware and a simple man-machine
interface. They may become even more applicable due to the
fact that a lot of these countries want to reduce expatriate
while increasing local personnel.
The system has been accepted well by the operators, though at
times there is still some reluctance to follow the instructions
given in the Trouble-Shoot, particularly if an operator believes
that the advice can be shortcut. This is not necessarily a system
failure, since knowledge has been passed on, even in its
apparent contradiction.
The introduction of the system has also significantly reduced
the call on the professional staff for operator training and from
operators for help with routine circuit problems.
The Plant Optimisation Procedure has also proved effective in
the prediction of successful milling strategies.
Improvements in performance leading to revenue increases and
unit cost savings were not positively identified on the Paddy's
Flat project, mainly because the necessary data logging
procedures were not set up beforehand to establish a bank of
before and after data. There was however a subjective
consensus on site that the system had achieved its targets and
would be both used and developed on a longer term basis.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Since, the commissioning of the initial version of HelpSAG,
the Paddy's Flat flowsheet changed with the inclusion of a
pebble crusher due to the increasing ore hardness. The system
thus required further updating to allow for these changes.
The commissioning time spent on the plant proved very useful
and provided a lot of information for further developments.
It was soon found for example that there was a significant
difference in the demands made on the system by the shift
operators and the metallurgists. As a result two separate
systems were developed.
HelpSAG Plus (Metallurgists) :- Contains the Plant
Optimisation Procedure, the Trouble-Shoot, and the
Training Manual with an enhanced in-depth theory
section, but with optional Standard Instructions and
Operator Duties. It is essentially an office based
system.
 HelpSAG Operator (Operators) :- Contains the
Trouble-Shoot and Training Manual with simplified
theory concepts. The original Plant Optimisation
Procedure was removed.
As described earlier the performance of the Trouble-Shoot
depends heavily on the accuracy of input data. To reduce data
transfer errors the logged process data available from the PMC
were automatically loaded straight from the PMC to the
Trouble-Shoot. This was carried out by a cable link between
the PC and the PMC via a RS232 interface and some low-level
communications programming.
The ability to input plant data directly into the Trouble-Shoot
has brought about the possibilities of closed loop control. This
would be achieved by connecting the expert system to the
highest level of control ie provide the set points for the
controllers (Elber, 1989).
Over the last year or so further Help packages have been
implemented. These are:-
a) HelpSAG Designer - used by Morgardshammar, a
leading Swedish mill manufacturer, for optimizing
SAG/Ball Mill circuits.
b) HelpCIL - Provide technical help for the running
of CIL circuits.
c) HelpLEACH-Provide technical help on the
problems of heap leaching.
d) HelpSAG Plus - A copy has recently been
installed in Ghana on the gold plant of Canadian
Bogusu Resources Ltd.
Other possible developments are HelpFLOAT and
HelpASSAY.
CONCLUSIONS
Bernard Siddall, Orway Mineral Consultants, Suite 8,18
Kearns Crescent, Applecross, Western Australia 6153.
David Menne, Menne tech Pty Ltd, 10 Mayfair Street, Mt
Claremont, Perth, Western Australia 6010.
Ivan Hunter, Senior Metallurgist, Dominion Mining Limited,
10 Richardson Street, (PO Box 465), West Perth, Western
Australia,6872.
Mark Rodgers, Greenbushes Ltd, P.O. Box 31, Greenbushes,
Western Australia 625.
Dr Steve Hall, The Department of Mining Engineering, The
University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham,
England.
Bill Bradford, Bill Bradford and Associates, Penford, New
Road, Tring, England, HP23 5EX.
Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) for the
provision of a standard research award to enable the author to
conduct further research on the application of artificial
intelligence in mineral processing.
REFERENCES
Aylett, R. (1990). Knowledge acquisition tools. Expert
System Applications. June 1990 ,11-14.
Elber, Dr. L. (1989). SAG mill control. SAGSEM 89.
Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Nov-Dec
1989. pp 272-278.
Forsyth, R. I. (1989). Expert Systems - Principles and Case
Studies.2nd ed, 1989. Chapman and Hall Computing,
London.
Menne, D. M. (1989). Deterministic Expert Systems: A
planning tool for project development. The AusIMM
Annual Conference. Perth-Kalgoorlie,Western Australia,
May 1989. pp 175-180.
Siddall, G. B. (1989). A review of SAG milling in
Australia.SAGSEM 89. Murdoch University, Perth,
Western Australia, Nov-Dec 1989. pp 8-22.

This paper has covered briefly the problems involved in the

production of an expert system for a SAG/ball mill circuit on a
remote Australian site.

HelpSAG proved to be a useful tool and showed some of the

benefits that can be brought to mineral processing by the use
of expert systems. This and other developments have
highlighted most of the major potential application areas for
expert systems in mineral processing ie training, on-line
advisers, and process control.

Care must be taken in applying the methods and models

described here to other sites. Expert systems are fault
intolerant, and if not correctly set up will never perform well.
If not applied to the domain for which they were originally
intended they may even be positively damaging.

The main drawback in the implementation of expert systems,

especially the more complex problems, has been development
time and cost. However with improved development
techniques and tools the time and cost can be significantly
reduced. As these reduce the range of possible applications
will increase, thus extending the benefits in terms of on-site
expert knowledge and better process understanding.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the following people and organisations

for giving me the opportunity to get involved in HelpSAG, for
their help during its development and for assistance and advice
in the production of this paper.

6
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

INTUITIVE PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM

PROGRAMMING
R. Spring and M. Franklin

Noranda Technology Centre, 240 Hymus Blvd., Pointe Claire, QC, Canada

Abstract. Natural language and pictorial knowledge representations help make process control
system programming more intuitive. This was shown in the Brunswick Mining mineral
concentrator by the development of a flotation reagent control system built around a process
flowsheet. When an engineer uses a computer "mouse" to change the flowsheet, the control
system changes accordingly. This approach both reduces the programming effort and makes the
control strategy straightforward to understand. The control system required less than one
man-month to develop and paid for itself in under six months. The implementation uses Gensym's
G2(tm) software linked to a Fisher PROVOX(tm) distributed control system.

Keywords. Process control, mineral processing, programming environments, computer graphics

The pictorial approach makes the control system easy to

INTRODUCTION
maintain. If a piece of equipment must be taken out of
service, a process engineer simply uses the computer
The right tool makes any job easier. As control
mouse to reflect the changes on the flowsheet. The
engineers tackle ever more ambitious problems, their
computer makes all necessary adjustments to control
need for appropriate programming tools increases.
parameters based on the new flowsheet.
Software companies (Matthews, 1988; O'Reilly and
Nordlund, 1989; Shewchuk, 1987) have responded by
marketing a number of products . Many of these are
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
based on object-oriented programming because "a
highly self-documenting graphical language that uses
The development of the reagent control system used a
symbolic object-oriented constructs has been shown to
combination of Gensym's G2(tm) software running on a
aid the long-term maintenance of the source program."
V A X s t a t i o n 3500 (tm) c o m p u t e r and a Fisher
(Arnold, 1987) The Noranda Technology Centre and
PROVOX(tm) distributed control system (DCS). This is
Brunswick Mining Limited used one such product, called
shown in Fig. 1. This marriage takes advantage of the
G2(tm), to develop a control system for flotation reagents.
strengths of both components. G2 provides a
programming environment adapted to the control
As a programming tool, G2 made practical the synthesis
problem and the needs of process engineers. The DCS
of a novel control system based on process flowsheets.
provides efficient single-loop control and a robust
Elegantly called the "schematic capture of process interface for the flotation circuit operators. Moreover, by
knowledge" (Moore, 1986), this approach includes the integrating G2 with the existing DCS, the new control
process flowsheet of the Brunswick Mining concentrator system was implemented without the expense of new
in the knowledge base. The flowsheet defines what field wiring and without the need to re-train operators on
process equipment is used and how it is connected. new consoles.
This is an intuitive and efficient programming method that
makes control engineers more productive.
The data communications link between G2 and the DCS
is critical to the success of the overall system. The link
In addition to the plant flowsheet, the control system
uses additional hardware and software purchased from
includes models of the material transport dynamics of
Gensym and Fisher. Together, the various components
each type of process equipment. With this information,
provide the following important features:
the control system compensates for material transport
delays and properly stages the dosage of reagents as
1) Programs (or "knowledge bases" in G2
disturbances propagate through the concentrator.
parlance) have read/write access to the
During a plant shut-down, the system keeps track of the
operator's console and approximately 600
delays caused by the various tanks, pipes, etc. and
field devices such as flow meters, valves,
appropriately stages the shutdown of the reagent
etc. in the Brunswick Mining concentrator.
feeders.

7
 2) Data transmission delays are typically less
than a few seconds.
3) G2 programs and DCS functions are not
synchronized: both continue to run while
waiting for the other to supply data.
4) The communications link is simple to use.
This is in keeping with the overall intention
of simplifying the programming of the
process control system.
ANALOG SIGNALS
To illustrate consider the problem of adding reagents to
the copper-lead rougher flotation circuit at Brunswick
Mining. The ore flowrate into the flotation circuit is not
measured. The nearest upstream measured ore flowrate
is the rod mill feedrate: it is measured by a weightometer
on the mill feed conveyer belt. Under steady state
conditions the mill feed and flotation feed ore flowrates
are equal. However, as shown in figures 2 and 3, when
the ore to the rod mill is interrupted for 20 minutes, the
ore flow to the flotation circuit has a very different
dynamic response. It does not change for several
minutes, then drops down and only fully recovers after
for several hours. If the reagent control system only has
knowledge about the ore flow rate to the rod mill, it must

m it necessarily underdose the reagents to the flotation circuit

for 20 minutes, then overdose the reagents for several
hours afterwards. This leads to poor mineral separation,
PROCESS alters the material balance and further disturbs the
I/O downstream processes.
UNIT

36
CO
\
35 L-^VlAT^
**
LU 34
H
<
DC
INTEGRAL 33
/ 01
OPERATOR
FUNCTION 5
CONTROLLER V CONSOLE o 3?
-1
UL
LU 3 1
cr
O 30
DATA HIGHWAY (CO-AXIAL CABLE) 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00
TIME (a.m.)

Fig. 2: Rod mill feed ore flow rate.

DHI

VAXSTATION 3500
CHIP
ESDS
G2/GSI

Fig. 1: G2-PROVOX communications.

8:00 10:00 12:00

THE REAGENT CONTROL PROBLEM TIME (a.m.)

The objective of flotation reagent control is to meter the
reagents in proportion to the ore flow rate. The major
difficulty is the large and variable material transport delay
in the control loop. Engineering and economic
considerations severely limit the number of places where
the ore flow rate can be measured, whereas reagents are
added at numerous locations. There can be any number
of tanks, pipes, etc. between the point where an ore flow
is measured and the point where reagent is added. This
is of little consequence under steady state conditions.
But, during transients the measured ore flow rates may
be very different from the ore flow rates where reagents
are added.
Fig. 3: Flotation feed ore flow rate.
CONVENTIONAL CONTROL
Automatic c o m p u t e r control has long been a
preoccupation in mineral concentrators. (Kay, 1975;
Konigsmann, 1976; Le Guen 1975; Lewis, 1971; Trusiak,
1981) and conventional proportional-integral (PI) control
is successfully applied in many cases. However, PI
control is ill-suited to applications with significant
non-linearities or dead-time such as the foregoing
flotation reagent example. Various other control

8
algorithms have been used, such as Dahlin's method,
minimum variance, adaptive, multi-variable, inferential,
model-reference, dead-time c o m p e n s a t i o n , etc.
(Franklin, 1988; M o r a r i , 1988; Siverns, 1984;
Stephanopoulos, 1984)
Unfortunately, all these methods are highly mathematical
and "the human understanding of a system and its
mathematical description are often alien, resulting in a
lack of comprehension and loss of confidence in control
decisions." (Francis, 1984) Consequently, the conception
and implementation of advanced control strategies
becomes a slow, painstaking process. Once fielded, the
systems then require staff with extensive computing skills
to maintain.
THE INTUITIVE ALTERNATIVE
As an alternative to the entirely mathematical formalisms
used in conventional control systems, the system
developed at Brunswick Mining uses a flowsheet and
near-English models. For example, to estimate the
instantaneous mass flow into the copper-lead rougher
flotation circuit, the control system uses the flowsheet
shown in Fig. 4.
WIQ-G101
T L1-CU-PB-RHGR
COND-1
Fig. 4: Portion of flowsheet for control system.
The flowsheet is supported by a collection of models for
all the types of equipment used in mineral processing
circuits: rod mills, hydrocyclones, flotation cells, etc. The
models are defined by the user in near-English language
statements. They can be as complex or simple as
desired. For example, the following is a model for the
material transport through a rod mill.
9
the d i s c h a r g e o r e f l o w of any rod mill = the average
value of the f e e d o r e f low between 3.5 minutes ago
and 1 minute ago.
This model captures the essential dynamic behaviour of
rod mills including the time delay and variable ore
inventory. Figure 5 compares the step response of the
model to a conventional first-order plus dead-time model
and an actual measured response. (Flament, Hodouin
and Spring 1985; Spring, Larsen and Mular, 1985)
1.2
LU
!< 0.8
00
1 st
y\
Q0.6 ORDER '/
MODEL ~ \ ' / MEASURED
HI 0.4
o
5 0.2
LLI
O
z 1 2 3 4 5
TIME SINCE FEED CHANGE (minutes)
Fig. 5: Mill Step Responses.
As mediums of e x p r e s s i o n , the flowsheet and
English-language models have greater intuitive appeal
than a conventional computer program. With them, the
control engineer is more productive. He can spend more
effort solving the control problem and less effort solving
the computer programming problem.
COUPLING OF G2 AND THE DCS
The G2 program and the DCS work hand-in-hand. For
example, referring to Fig. 4, the object labeled WI-G101
represents the measured ore flow rate into the rod mill.
The DCS sends this measurement to the G2 program at
unpredictable time intervals varying between a few
seconds to a minute. The G2 program records the time
series of these measurements. Using the time series and
material transport models such as the above rod mill
model, the G2 program maintains estimates of the
instantaneous ore flowrates at all downstream locations.
The object labeled WIQ-G101 represents an estimated
ore flow rate that the G2 program provides to the DCS.
Conventional ratio and PI controllers in the DCS then use
the estimated flow to meter reagents to the copper-lead
rougher flotation circuit.
 CASE STUDY
The advantage of the flowsheet approach was proven
when Brunswick Mining was faced with a three-week
shutdown of the Line No. 2 rod mill. Normally the rod mill
shutdown would have meant a loss of production or a
major reconfiguration of the DCS. However, with the G2
programming tool, a simple piping change allowed
Brunswick to continue at almost full production.
As shown in Fig. 6, the Brunswick Mining concentrator is
divided into three parallel lines, each with its own grinding
and flotation sections. When the Line No. 2 rod mill was
shutdown, engineers took advantage of excess grinding
capacity in Line No. 3 to partially compensate for the loss
of the Line No. 2 rod mill. The Line No. 3 grinding section
was operated at a higher than normal rate and its
product was divided between the Lines No. 2 and No. 3
flotation sections.
CASE STUDY
LINE No. 3 LINE No. 2 LINE No. 1
i. 1 1
zjzi \
GRINDING
FLOTATION
Fig. 6: Parallel lines at Brunswick Mining.
Before the flowsheet-based control system was
implemented, the reagents in a particular line were
metered according to the signal from the rod mill feed
weightometer in the same line. In this case, the
temporary piping change would have necessitated a
major reconfiguration of the flotation reagent controllers.
However, with the new control system, the piping change
was quickly reflected in the control system's flowsheet
schematic. The system could then immediately correctly
estimate the flows into the flotation section of each line
and add the appropriate amounts of reagents.
10
ECONOMIC BENEFITS
The flotation reagent control system makes Brunswick
Mining's metal recovery less sensitive to ore flow
interruptions due to plugged ore feeders, equipment
maintenance, ore shortages, etc. For example, an
analysis of operating data for the eleven months
preceding the implementation of the reagent control
system showed a strong correlation between zinc
recovery and rod mill shutdown frequency: zinc recovery
dropped 1.3 percent for every shutdown per day.
However, after the new control system was implemented,
zinc recovery dropped only 0.5 percent per shutdown
per day. The control system reduces zinc loses by
compensating for material transport delays and
maintaining the correct reagent-to-ore ratios throughout
the circuit at all times. The value of the greater average
metal recovery is estimated at over $CAN 500,000
annually. The project costs were about $CAN 250,000,
so the payback period is less than six months.
Above and beyond the immediate monetary benefit, the
use of flowsheets and English-language models makes
the control system more user-friendly. This encourages
plant metallurgists and control engineers to experiment
with new control strategies and make better use of the
control system.
CONCLUSIONS
The flotation control system at Brunswick Mining is easy
to understand and maintain because it uses flowsheets
and English-language models in its programming. The
models describe how ore is delayed in each piece of
process equipment; the flowsheet describes how the
equipment is connected. Together this information
provides the control computer with all the information it
needs to correctly stage reagent dosages during plant
startups and shutdowns. The results is a lesser
sensitivity to ore disruptions and greater metal recovery.
REFERENCES
Arnold, J.A., Brandl, D.L, Jefferys, S.A., "The next
generation of process control programming",
ISA 1987, Paper #87-1192.
Flament, F., Hodouin, D., Spring, R., "The SPOC Manual
- Chapter 7.3: RTD and Mixers Computer
Programs", Minister of Supply and Services
Canada, 1985.
Francis, J.C., Leitch, R.R., "ARTIFACT: A real-time shell
for intelligent feedback control", Proceeding of
the BCS Conference on Expert Systems,
1984, pp. 151-162.
Franklin, M.W., "Adaptive Control of Flotation Circuits",
Control Systems 88, Montreal 1988, pp.
133.. 136.
Kay, K.R., Paterson, J.G., "Computer control at the
Clarabelle mill", CIM Bulletin, Feb. 1975, pp.
113-.
Konigsmann, K.V., Hendriks, D.W., Daoust, C ,
"Computer control of flotation at Mattagami
Lake Mines", CIM Bulletin, March 1976, pp.
117-121.
Le Guen, F., "The control of a flotation process", CIM
Bulletin, April 1975, pp. 113-
Lewis, C.L., "Application of a computer to a flotation
process", CIM Bulletin, January 1971, pp.
47-50.
Matthews, B., Lindenfelzer, P., Hawkinson, L, Moore, R.,
"Process control with the G2 real-time expert
system, Proceeding of the First International
Conference on Industrial and Engineering
Applications of Artificial Intelligence and
Expert Systems, June 1988, Vol. I, pp.
492-497.
Moore, R.L, Kramer, M.A., "Expert systems in on-line
process control", Chemical Process Control -
CPCIII, Elsevier 1986. pp. 839-867.
Morari, M., "Advances in process control theory",
Chemical Engineering Progress, October
1988, pp. 60-67.
O'Reilly, J.J., Nordlund, K.C., "Introduction to SLAMII and
SLAMSYSTEM", Proc. of the 1989 Winter
Simulation Conference, MacNair, E.A.,
Musselman, K.J., Heidelberger, eds.
Shewchuk, C.F., "MASSBAL MKII: New process
simulation system", Pulp and Paper Canada,
88:5(1987), pp. T161-T167.
Siverns, S.L, "Modelling and control of industrial mineral
crushing and grinding circuits", Master of
Engineering Thesis (Chemical Engineering),
McMaster University, 1984.
Spring, R., Larsen, C , Mular, A., "The SPOC Manual -
Chapter 4.1: Industrial ball mill modelling",
Minister of Supply and Services Canada,
1985.
Stephanopoulos, G., Chemical Process Control, An
I n t r o d u c t i o n to t h e o r y and P r a c t i c e ,
Prentice-Hall, 1984.
Trusiak, A., "Computer control of Brunswick Mining's No.
12 Cu-Pb flotation circuit", Proceedings of the
13th annual meeting of Canadian Mineral
Processors of CAN MET, Ottawa, Jan. 1981,
pp. 96-113.

G2 is a trademark of Gensym Corporation.

PROVOX is a trademark of Fisher Controls International.

VAXstation 3500 is a trademark of Digital Equipment

Corporation.

11
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991
THE CONTROL OF MINERAL PROCESSING PLANTS
USING NEURAL NETWORK TECHNIQUES
W. Stange
Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, University ofWitwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Abstract. The use of neural networks in the control and
monitoring of two minerals processing operations is described.
The application of nets, coupled with a novel control scheme,
to the control of hydrocyclone classification proves most
successful. The neural net is used to develop a model of
cyclone operation, allowing model based control to be
performed. The monitoring of adsorbent activity in a CIP
adsorption plant is also described. A neural network can be
trained to monitor carbon activity on-line, using only
measurements which are currently practical to perform. The
success of this approach depended on the use of physically
meaningful grouping of variables as network inputs.
Keywords. Neural nets; process control; mineral processing;
adsorption; hydrocylones; CIP.
INTRODUCTION
Circumstances are forcing mineral processing operations to
become increasingly efficient in terms of economic
performance, safety, environmental impact and so on.
Automatic control may assist in the attainment of these
worthwhile objectives, although it is often difficult to
successfully implement sophisticated control systems due to
the complexity of such processes. This paper discusses the way
in which neural networks may be used to control two common
processes in the minerals industry; hydrocyclone classification
and in-pulp adsorption. The results presented indicate that
neural net technology can play a very useful role in the control
of such systems.
Neural Nets
A neural net can be visualised as a means of correlating
patterns or relationships between sets of input and output data.
A net consists of a number of layers of nodes (or neurons) as
shown in Fig.l. Data is fed to the input layer, while outputs are
obtained from the output layer. One or more intermediate or
hidden layer(s) of neurons are used to connect the input to the
output layer. Each neuron receives a number of input signals
which are summed and transformed using an appropriate
function. Before being transmitted to the next layer, these
signals are modified by a weighting factor.
Fig. 1 : Typical Neural Net
Output Signals
ft fl
o
Adjustable
Connection
Weight
Input Signals
13
A net is trained by presenting a sequence of input signals and
the associated outputs to the network. Weighting factor values
which minimise the difference between the required and
predicted network outputs are then found. A trained net
consists of the numerical weighting factors on each connection
and an appropriate structure (number of input, output and
hidden layer neurons) which gives a good match between
required and predicted outputs.
This may be seen as the estimation of adjustable model
parameters in order to fit a set of data, where the form of the
model does not need to be specified explicitly. This provides,
in principle, the ability to adapt to changing circumstances if
on-line training data is used. As more data is supplied, for
example in an on-line control system, the predictive ability of
the net can be enhanced and extended significantly. Other
advantages of nets include using simulated data for initial
training, as well as the use of complex, nonlinear and "noisy"
data.
This paper endeavours to illustrate typical applications and
benefits using nets, rather than a more formal and detailed
examination of the properties of nets themselves. Where
possible, the robustness and reliability of the net is
investigated. The network used here was a Pascal
implementation of the back propagation algorithm run on a
80386/80387 microcomputer.
CONTROL OF A HYDROCYCLONE CLASSIFIER
The hydrocyclone is one of the most widely used and flexible
devices in minerals processing. This device, although based on
complex phenomena, is relatively simple to operate. Due to
this inherent complexity mathematical models of these devices
are normally empirical in nature, although some progress has
been made using a fluid dynamics approach. Empirical models
(Plitt 1976) work well when calibrated for the particular
circumstances.
Good cyclone operation is only possible if fluctuations in the
feed stream are minimised. It appears as though good control
of cyclones is one of the most neglected areas in the industry.
Given that cyclones may have a significant impact on the
efficiency of one of the most expensive processes in the
industry, i.e. grinding, this is certainly cause for concern. The
problem of poor cyclone performance probably arises due to
the operational simplicity of the cyclone, resulting in a lack of
care and attention in a plant environment.
A typical single stage hydrocyclone installation is illustrated in
Fig.2. A sump or tank is fed with material, which is then fed to
a hydrocyclone (or several cyclones in parallel). The normal
control objective is to control the tank level as well as the
product size specification in one of the cyclone product
streams, despite fluctuations in the circuit feed.
In recent work (Stange, Moys and Hinde 1991) the control of a
hydrocyclone circuit for the preparation of backfill material is
examined using dynamic simulation. In this application,
cyclones are used to de-slime tailings material. This must be
done properly or severe consequences may result. Good
cyclone control is thus crucial. It was found that the solid to
liquid ratio in the cyclone feed, and the pulp flowrate through
the cyclone both have a significant effect on cyclone
performance. This made it impossible to use conventional
SISO techniques which rely only on simple measurements such
as pulp density and pressure.
A single stage circuit can be controlled effectively under a
wide range of conditions using the following strategy (shown
in Fig.2):
Control of sump level using a variable speed pump
Control of product size specification using dilution water
addition rate
This strategy requires an on-line measurement of the product
size distribution. Such devices are expensive and are often
difficult to maintain. A more practical approach was therefore
developed.
Fig 2: Single Stage Cyclone
Dilution water
Model Based Control of a Hydrocyclone Using a Neural Net
Studying the dynamic responses to various feed perturbations
for the above control strategy, it was found that the control
effect is to change the cyclone operating pressure and feed %
solids in such a way that the product size remains constant as
shown in Fig.3. This illustrates the cyclone pressure required to
maintain a given product size specification for various values
of the cyclone feed % solids, for 3 different feed size
distributions (normal, coarse and fine). Figure 3 also shows the
overflow % solids measurement which, at a given operating
pressure and feed density, is a measure of the nature of the feed
size distribution. Thus, a measure of the feed and overflow %
solids allows the cyclone operating pressure which will provide
the required product size distribution to be predicted.
This suggests the following model based cyclone control
strategy:
PID control of the sump level by manipulation of dilution
water.
PID control of the cyclone operating pressure by
manipulation of the pump speed.
The use of a model to estimate the cyclone operating
pressure required for the measured feed and overflow
percent solids, which is used to update the pressure setpoint
in the PID loop. This is shown in Fig.4.
The data in Fig.3 was used to train a net, in which the inputs
were the feed and overflow pulp densities, and the output was
the pressure. The average error between measured and
predicted cyclone pressures ranged between 6.2 and 7.9 kPa
depending on the number of hidden nodes used. Figure 5
shows the training curve obtained for 2,3 and 6 neurons in the
hidden layer, as well as for different learning rates. The
learning rate and number of hidden nodes do not affect the
ability of the net to learn much for this case.
14
Fig 3 : Relationship Between Cyclone
% Solids and Pressure
100 150 200
Cyclone Pressure, kPa
Feed Size Distrib.
- Normal Fine
Constan
t %-10u
m in U/F
The neural net control system was tested by introducing a step
change in the feed stream pulpflowratefor different feed size
distributions, outside of the range of the distributions used to
train the net. A typical dynamic response curve for the system
is shown in Fig.6, where a net containing 2 hidden 3nodes was
used. The feed flow was stepped from 110 to 80 m /hr at t=1.0
hr and then to 140 m3/hr at t=1.5 hr with a "fine" feed size
distribution. Good control of the cyclone product size
distribution results, considering that no direct measurement of
the size distribution is made. Observation of the dynamic
circuit responses using the nets with different numbers of
hidden nodes (2,3 and 6) showed that the number of hidden
nodes had no significant effect on the control system
behaviour.
For this relatively simple application, a neural net works at
least as well as other techniques. The advantages of the net
approach are that a satisfactory model of the system can be
developed without having to specify the form of the
correlation. The net can be trained using simulated data in very
reasonable times on a microcomputer and the calculations
required to find the net prediction in an on-line system are
simple. Obviously, instead of using simulated data, real data
collected by plant sampling or on-line measurement could have
been used. Such data would contain much more error than that
produced by simulation.
Neural Net Control Using Noisy Data
The effect of noise in the training data was investigated by
adding random noise to the simulated data. Four different error
levels were tested; 5,10,15 and 25% respectively. Each set of
noisy data was used to train the network using 2 hidden
neurons. The average error between the net predictions and the
perturbed data varied from 18.3 to 21.9 kPa, which is
significantly larger than the 6.2 to 7.9 kPa error obtained using
the simulated data. In addition, the net tended to learn more
slowly with the noisy data. The nets developed using noisy
data were then used in the dynamic simulator to test the
behaviour of the control system. The feed flow was stepped
from 110 to 80 m3/hr at t=1.0 hr and then from 80 to 140 m3/hr
at t=1.5 hr for all tests. Both "fine" and "coarse" feed size
distributions were tested. The following table summarises the
results obtained.
Fig 4 : Model Based Control
Residue
ap
Variable
speed
pump
Y -
. -
&) (S) \ )
v
L Yi i
1
1 Model
Backfill product
 Fig 5 : Influence of Hidden Nodes and Fig 6 : Dynamic Response with Neural
Learning Rate on Convergence Control. Steps at t=1.0 & 1.5 hrs

Average Error in P, kPa

-
. - / . -
r
*l
n

v. v
*1

' 1
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 1.75 2 2.25 2.5 2.75 3
Time, hrs
Nodes
, Learnin
g Rate
a) 2 (E-0.9
) b)2(E=0.3
) c) 3 (E=0.9
)
d) 3 (E=0.3
) e)6(E=0.9
) )f 6 (E=0.3
) Pressure
, kPa Feed % Solid
s

TABLE 1 Control System Behaviour With "Noisy" Data

The output of the net would be the pressure required to operate
Ave. Feed Size Ave. % -10 the cyclone (at the given feed and overflow densities) at the
Error, % Distribution microns appropriate size setpoint as illustrated in Fig.7. The on-line
measures of density, pressure and size would then be used to
0 Fine 9.92 0.28 train the neural net on-line. This approach has the following
0 Coarse 9.91 0.30 advantages:
5 Fine 10.72 0.50
5 Coarse 9.18 0.25 The net is trained initially using simulated data, minimising
10 Fine 11.09 0.61 time consuming and possibly disruptive plant dynamic
10 Coarse 8.65 0.29 testing.
15 Fine 11.34 0.69 The net can be trained on-line to adapt to changing plant
15 Coarse 8.53 0.31 conditions. The net can "learn" how to deal with new
25 Fine 11.47 0.77 situations in an on-line manner.
25 Coarse 8.43 0.31
Inference of cyclone feed size distribution. A network could be
The average value, as well as the standard deviation, of the structured and trained such that given inputs such as the
product size distribution during each simulation is shown. As cyclone pressure, feed and overflow densities and a
the error in the training data increases, the offset due to the measurement of the product size, a prediction of the cyclone
cyclone feed size distribution becomes more prominent. The feed size distribution is output. This is obtained at no extra cost
standard deviation for the fine feed also increases as the error in terms of instrumentation, as the same instrumentation used
in the training data increases indicating larger variations in the for the primary control scheme is utilised. Another net is
product size distribution. However, control is still remarkably simply trained to use these measurements and provide some
good, with an error of 1.5% -10 microns (relative to the indication of the cyclone feed PSD.
desired setpoint of 10% -10 microns) for the 25% error case. Inference of a second size distribution point. Most PSMs
Observation of the dynamic responses showed that no measure only a single product size point. A measurement of
instabilities developed as the error in the training set was two size points provides significantly more information. A net
increased; the effect is merely that the ability of the net to could be trained, with similar inputs to those described above,
correct for the nature of the feed size distribution is not as to provide some inference of a second point. Again, there is no
good. extra instrumentation cost.
Application in a circuit with multiple modules. Many milling
Neural Net Control with On-line Measurement of PSD plants are constructed as several parallel modules. Using the
In many cases a particle size monitor (PSM) may be installed above approach, one module could be equipped with all the
in order to provide an on-line measurement of the product necessary instrumentation to train a neural network on-line.
particle size distribution if this has a critical influence on The other modules would be equipped only with the
downstream processes. PSM instrumentation is readily instrumentation required to measure the network inputs. The
available and works well if properly maintained. The network trained on the well instrumented circuit could then be
possibilities of using the control strategy described above when used to implement control which is just as effective on the
an on-line measure of the product size distribution is available other modules. The reduction in instrumentation cost and
is therefore explored. maintenance becomes significant as the number of modules
On-line training of the net. The most obvious option is to use increase.
the same strategy as discussed above : Back-up for instrumentation. An appropriately trained network
Control of the sump level by water addition, can be used as a replacement or back-up for the PSM when this
is taken off-line ensuring good control under all circumstances.
On-line calculation of the required cyclone feed flowrate
using a neural net, with appropriate pressure and density Future Directions
measurements, These methods are potentially an efficient general approach for
Use of a variable speed pump to achieve the required the control of hydrocyclones, irrespective of the application.
cyclone flowrate. Plant data is being collected to verify the approach used and to
train an appropriate network. Research, utilising dynamic
The on-line measurement of PSD (together with the other simulation as an experimental tool, is presently being
required measurements) would then be used to update and train conducted to determine how this strategy would function in a
the neural net on-line. The net is then a system model which recycle grinding circuit. Due to the inferences which nets may
allows compensation to be made for the variable interactions. allow regarding unmeasured variables, this would combine
The neural net would be structured slightly differently. Inputs well with an expert system control approach.
would consist of:
The desired product particle size measurement, as an
adjustable setpoint
The cyclone feed density
The cyclone overflow density

15

Fig 7 : Neural Network Control
with PSM Measurement
CONTROL OF AN ADSORPTION PROCESS
Adsorption systems play an important role; e.g. resins for the
recovery of gold and uranium, activated carbon to recover gold
etc. The carbon-in-pulp process (CIP) is widely used in many
countries for gold recovery. The heart of a CIP plant is the
adsorption circuit. The modelling of this process on an
industrial scale has been studied in detail (Stange and others
1990).
A typical CIP plant is illustrated in Fig.8. The adsorption plant
consists of a number of CSTRs in series. A batch of adsorbent
(carbon) is retained within each CSTR using a mechanical
screening system. The pulp flows through the CSTR and the
gold is adsorbed from solution onto the carbon. The carbon is
moved countercurrent to the pulp flow in a periodic manner,
resulting in efficient scavenging. The highly loaded carbon is
eluted to remove the gold and then regenerated to restore the
adsorption capacity, or activity, of the carbon. Regenerated
carbon is returned to the circuit.
The rate of adsorption of gold onto carbon is dependent on the
kinetic and equilibrium properties of the system. Factors such
as the size of the carbon particle, intensity of mixing, the
carbon pore size distribution etc. will affect the kinetic
processes. In any given plant, these kinetic factors should
remain approximately constant. Simulation work has shown
that the system is often more sensitive to changes in the
equilibrium parameters than in the kinetic parameters. It is
possible, even probable, that the equilibrium parameters for a
given system will change with time. This may happen due to
the fouling of carbon by other adsorbed components, poor
regeneration or unexpected contamination of the pulp.
Normal operating practice is to take routine manual samples in
order to evaluate the efficiency of process operation. If
problems are suspected, more intensive testwork is carried out.
This is often performed in a laboratory and subject to delays of
days or weeks. Such delays may result in the carbon
undergoing significant fouling before conclusive results are
obtained. Several weeks or months of careful operation may be
required to restore carbon activity. Significant loss of revenue
may take place during this period.
A Basic Adsorption Model
The behaviour of a single adsorption CSTR may be represented
by the following differential mass balance:
dCjt)
s Q{t){Cf{t)-C{t))-Mc{t)R{y,C)
dt
(1)
where C is the gold solution tenor in the tank, Cf is the solution
tenor in the tank feed, y is the loading of gold on the carbon, Vs
is the volume of solution, Q is the solution flowrate, M<. is the
mass of carbon and R is the rate of adsorption onto the carbon.
16
The rate expression R can be quantified using an appropriate
expression, which can vary dramatically in complexity. For the
purposes of this exercise, the complexity of the rate equation is
not an important issue. The modelling of the CIP adsorption
system is discussed in detail by Stange and colleagues (1990).
A simple expression for R was used in this work which has the
following form :
R=k\C-^
(2)
where k is a kinetic parameter and A is an equilibrium
parameter, corresponding to carbon activity.
Fig 8 : CIP Flowsheet
cyanide Leach
Feed Pulp
Elution
t=i z>
Elect rowinning Regeneration
I X Xfr=
Pulp
Carbon
Eluate
CIP Adsorption
A Neural Network for Monitoring Carbon Activity On-Line
Can a neural network be used, together with appropriate
on-line data, to monitor carbon activity on-line ? An exact
measure of the activity is not required; a relative measure is
sufficient to serve as an early warning system for the plant
operators.
It has been demonstrated on an industrial scale that on-line
measurements of the mass of carbon as well as the gold
concentration in solution can be obtained. It is not practical to
obtain an on-line measure of gold on the carbon although this
has a significant effect on the rate of adsorption. The model (1)
and (2) above shows the variables which play a role in
adsorption. Ignoring the problem of measuring the loading y
on-line, an obvious first approach is to develop a network
where the quantities Mc, Q, C, Cf and y are network inputs and
A (a measure of the carbon activity) is the output.
A net trained on single stage data. An appropriate training set
containing 208 points was developed using the simulator
described by Stange and others (1990) and appropriate
parameters, for a single adsorption stage operating under a
range of conditions. A network with inputs (Mc, Q, C, Cf and
y), 5 hidden nodes and one output, A, was trained. Values of A
ranged from 2 000 g/t to 20 000 g/t and the trained net was able
to achieve average errors in the predicted values of A of about
820 g/t.
This appeared to be accurate enough for monitoring purposes.
However, when the network was applied to simulated data
from a 5 stage plant in which a continual change in the
parameter A was simulated, it was found that the network
predictions did not correlate with the simulated value of A at
all. It was concluded that the network was not able to
successfully abstract the essential features of the system in this
way.
A network trained OJI multiple stage data. Data was then
generated by simulation of a 5 stage CIP plant under various
operating conditions. The quantities M<., Q, C, Cf and y from all
5 stages, together with the corresponding values of A for each
stage, were used as training data. This resulted in a large data
set of 2400 points. It was found that the network did not train
satisfactorily, achieving average errors in A of 1 400 g/t. This
is not surprising, given the enormous variation in magnitude in
some of the data items (C and y) over the 5 stages of the plant.
This could be up to 3 orders of magnitude.

Fig 9 : Carbon Fouling in Stages 1 to 3
15% Error, 1 Network/stage
A, g/t (Thousands)
^ifV
V* Oa:* ^ S3
Time, Hrs
Stage Numbe
r Fig 10 : Carbon Fouling in Stages 1 to 3
I.Actual 2,Actua
l 2,Net
3,Actua
l 4,Actua
l 4,Net
A separate neural network was then trained on the data from
each stage. Five data sets corresponding to each CIP stage were
produced and used to train 5 different neural networks. Each
set consisted of 120 points and trained well, with average
errors in A ranging from 100 to 160 g/t. When the nets were
applied to the data from a simulated plant, they were able to
predict the simulated trend in the carbon activity reasonably
well. Figure 9 illustrates the correspondence between the
values of A used in the simulator and those predicted by the
network. When testing the prediction, a random error of 15%
was introduced into the network inputs. In addition, the plant
feed conditions were also perturbed in a random fashion, in an
attempt to simulate reasonably realistic plant conditions.
Figure 9 illustrates a simulated case where fouling of the
carbon in the first three stages takes place. The correlation
between the simulated conditions and the net predictions are
sufficiently close to meet our objectives. The change in the
activity in stage 1 affects the network prediction quite
significantly for stage 2, and less significantly for stages 3 and
4.
A rate based training approach. Although the above approach
works reasonably well, it has several flaws. A large number of
parameters are introduced into the system as a network must be
trained for each stage. It has also been assumed that an on-line
measurement of the gold loading on the carbon y, is available.
This cannot be achieved at present and is unlikely to be
achieved in the future. Is there a way to modify the approach to
reduce the number of network parameters which must be
estimated, as well as to avoid the use of the carbon gold
loading y as a network input ?
Over a short time period, equation (1) can be simplified by
assuming negligible accumulation in the liquid phase:
^iCf(t)-C(t)) = R(y,C)
=Z
The term on the LHS of (3) is an approximation to the rate at
which gold is loading onto the carbon (e.g. grams of gold per
ton of carbon per hour). All quantities in this group can be
measured on-line. The LHS of (3) is approximately equal to R,
which depends on y, C and equilibrium and kinetic parameters
A and k. This suggests that a network with inputs of Z and
solution tenor C, and output A, can be trained.
The data obtained from the simulator was combined into a
single training set of 600 points. The network had two inputs
(the rate quantity Z and the solution tenor C), 3 hidden nodes
and one output (the carbon activity parameter A). The network
trained well, achieving an average error in A of 330 g/t. This
method has a significant advantage over the previous approach,
in that only one network for all adsorption stages is required,
the size of the network is smaller and uses only inputs which
can be measured on-line.
This trained network was then tested, as shown in Fig. 10, using
simulated data. The network inputs were again subjected to
random error and the simulated plant feed conditions were also
perturbed randomly. The network is able to track the parameter
A sufficiently accurately for our purposes even without an
on-line measure of the gold loading y. Thus, the original
tL objective has been achieved; using only quantities which can
be measured on-line (C, Q and Mc) a neural network has been
trained which can given a reasonable on-line indication of the
carbon activity. The technique described above should be
applicable to other adsorption processes which operate on
similar principles.
15% Error, Rate Approach, 2 Inputs
A, g/t (Thousands)
12
o a - B D - B b - - - - * ^ ; * - * *
10 +
Q a *
a
8
** /
6
4
2
0 10 20
Time, Hrs
30 40 5
Stage Numbe
r
*
1,2,3-Actual
3
, Net
I.Net
4,Actua
l
+
0
2,Net
4,Net
CONCLUSIONS
It has been shown that neural networks have the potential to
play a very useful role in the area of mineral processing
control. For this purpose a network can be regarded as a model
of general form which is able to abstract the relevant features
from a training set. This training set can normally be generated
by computer simulation, but can also be supplemented or
replaced by plant or experimental data. This avoids the issue of
finding a correct form for the model, which is a significant
advantage given the complexity of many mineral processing
operations.
A network was used as part of a novel method for cyclone
control. Given a measure of the pulp density in the cyclone
feed and overflow, the network is able to predict at what
pressure the cyclone should be operated at in order to maintain
a given product size distribution specification. The predicted
pressure becomes the setpoint of a conventional PID loop in
which pressure is controlled by pump speed. This procedure
was developed and tested by simulation which showed that
very good control results. The major advantage of the
technique is that it reduces the requirement for an on-line
particle size measurement. If an on-line measurement of
product size does exist, the technique can be extended in a
number of ways.
The use of neural networks for the monitoring of carbon
(3) activity in a CIP adsorption plant was also studied.
Conventionally, the only way of monitoring this parameter is to
take carbon samples and perform laboratory tests on them, with
the associated delay. A number of different approaches were
attempted for this exercise. In the first experiment, the network
inputs were assumed to represent single plant variables, such as
the mass of carbon in a tank, the gold tenor in solution and so
on. Networks were trained on data from a single as well as
multiple adsorption stages. For various reasons, this approach
was not judged successful.
An approach in which the single plant variables were combined
into physically meaningful groups and used as the network
inputs was then developed. A single network could be trained
which could predict the performance of a multiple stage plant
with sufficient accuracy. The most important conclusion that
can be drawn from the neural network for carbon activity is
that care should be taken when structuring the network inputs
and outputs. For this case much better results were obtained
when logical groupings of variables were used as network
inputs, rather than simply mapping all the significant variables
with network inputs on a one-to-one basis.
17
Overall, it is believed that neural network technology has a
significant role to play in the control of processing plants.
However, such techniques are not perfect and care must be
taken to structure the network and it's associated inputs and
outputs in a meaningful way. One of the uses of this
technology is to model data which is complex so that
phenomonological models describing the data would be
difficult to derive. However, it is felt that networks should not
be used to replace deterministic models of a process (if these
exist and are well proven) simply as a matter of convenience.
In addition, networks should in no way detract from research
efforts aimed at understanding and quantifying the many
complex phenomena in minerals processing.
An area in which there is significant potential for further
research is the development of techniques or principles for the
on-line training of networks.

REFERENCES
Plitt, L.R. (1976). A Mathematical Model for the Hydrocyclone
Classifier. CIM Bulletin, vol. 69. no. 776. pp. 114-123.
Stange, W.W, Moys, M.H. and Hinde, A. (1991) The Use of
Dynamic Simulation in the Development of Control Systems
for Backfill Plants. To be published in J. S. Afr. Inst. Min.
Metall.
Stange, W., Woollacott, L.C. and King, R.P. (1990)
Towards more effective simulation of CIP-CIL processes, Part
: A population balance based simulation approach. J. S. Afr.
Inst. Min. Metall. December 1990.

18
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

AUTOMATION EXPERT SYSTEM FOR AIR SEPARATION

PLANT
K. Tashiro*, T. Terasaki**, M. Watabane*** and N. Andot

^Nippon Steel Corporation, Kitakyusyu-City 804, Japan

**Fujifacom Corporation, Tokyo 191, Japan
***Fujifacom Corporation, Tokyo 151, Japan
^Fuji Electric Co. Ltd., Tokyo 191, Japan

Abstract. We i n t r o d u c e the e x p e r t system for an a u t o m a t i c c o n t r o l of a i r

s e p a r a t i o n plant in iron works. An a i r s e p a r a t i o n plant is used for s e p a r a t i n g
oxygen, nitrogen, argon and other inert gasas from liquefied a i r by u t i l i z i n g their
boiling point difference. Operators of a i r separation plants must always take care
of keeping the product p u r i t y s t a b l e , and a l s o must immediately i n c r e a s e or
d e c r e a s e product gases on demand. Generally t h i s p l a n t ' s d e t a i l s t r u c t u r e is
unknown, so operators are controlling by t h e i r experience and i n t u i t i o n . Therefore
it was necessary to reduce the operator's mental and physical load.
We transformed o p e r a t o r ' s knowledge ( i . e . experimental control method of s k i l l e d
operators ) into production r u l e s of AI Work S t a t i o n . In oder to simultaneously
control three a i r s p a r a t i o n p l a n t s by one AI Work Station, the system is divided
into four expert systems. We have r e c e n t l y developed the expert system for a i r
separation plants of Yawata Iron works. Due to a p r a c t i c a l use of t h i s system, the
plant operation has been s t a n d a r d i z e d , the manual i n t e r v e n t i o n of o p e r a t o r s is
minimized, and energy-saving operation is r e a l i z e d in the iron and s t e e l making
industry.

Keywords. A r t i f i c i a l intelligence; Automatic control; Computer control;

Knowledge engineering; Real time computer systems; Steel industry;

INTRODUCTION d i f f i c u l t owing to t h e development of t h e

The a i r separatin plant is used for separating
oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and other inert gases
by u t i l i z i n g their boiling point ( oxygen -183C
, nitrogen -188C , argon -185C ) differences
after 1iquefying a i r .
The g r e a t e r part of the oxygen demand in iron
and s t e e l making i n d u s t r y i s a p p l i e d to the
blowing in a converter.
The automation system for the a i r s e p a r a t i o n
plant has conventionally been g r e a t l y demanded
for the purpose of m a i n t a i n i n g the product
p u r i t y s t a b l e , s a t i s f y i n g t h e demand of
i n c r e a s i n g or d e c r e a s i n g p r o d u c t g a s e s to
immediately meet an independent change of the
demand of subproducts (oxygen, n i t r o g e n ) , and
also reducing the o p e r a t o r ' s burden.
In t h e s e y e a r s , t h e a p p l i c a t i o n e x e c u t i o n
examples of the expert system have been reported
as a means of approaching the area where the
automation has conventionally been regarded as
knowledge engineering and computer technology.
We have recently developed and commercialized an
automation expert system for the a i r separation
plant of Yawata Iron works by using the r e a l -
t i m e c o n t r o l AI Work S t a t i o n ' F E C S - A I '
(manufactured by Fuji E l e c t r i c Co.)to meet the
correspondence to an independent change of the
demands of oxygen and n i t r o g e n , the minimized
i n t e r v e n t i o n of o p e r a t o r s , and power-saving
o p e r a t i o n in t h e i r o n and s t e e l making
industry. 'FECS- main object is to construct
system, for automatic control process in many
f i e l d , using h e u r i s t i c knowledge acquired from
s k i l l e d o p e r a t o r s and p r o b l e m - o r i e n t e d
mathematical methods.
This paper will report t h i s automation expert
system for the a i r separation plant. This system
has been developed by the j o i n t work of Fuji
E l e c t r i c Co., and Nippon S t e e l Corporation,
Yawata.

19
 AN OUTLINE OF AIR SEPARATION PLANT
The air separation method will be described
referring to Fig.1.
Air as a raw material is boosted to a pressure
of about 6 atg. by a compressor after passing
an air filter, and then, it is cooled and
washed in a water wash cooling tower. After
carbon dioxide gas and moisture have been
removed by the adsorption in a molecular sieve
adsorption bath, air is fed into a main heat
exchanger to execute the heat exchange with
product gas and exhaust nitrogen. Next, it is
cooled down to about -170C , and supplied to
the lower column of the rectifying column. This
rectifying column is provided with plural
rectifying trays (porous plate trays), and
coarse rectification is done in the lower
column.
As a result, a liquefied air containing about
40% of pure oxygen is pooled at the bottom of
the column, while nitrogen gas of 99.999% is
separated to the column top. The liquefied air
is fed to the upper column of the rectifying
column. A part of nitrogen is fed to the main
heat exchanger, and then, mixed with the
product nitrogen gas being generated at the
upper column top by generating the cold required
for the plant by means of an expansion turbine.
Then, it passes the main heat exchanger again
to be the product nitrogen gas at normal
Exhaust Product
Oxygen nitroRen nftrofcen
compressor - +
Bag filter
Raw air
compressor
Fig. 1. Tobata No.10 air separation plant process flow
20
temperature. The residual nitrogen gas at the
lower column top is condensed to be liquefied by
means of liquid oxygen which is pooled at the
b o t t o m of the upper c o l u m n . This liquid
nitrogen is divided into two direction. One is
used as a reflux liquid in the lower column,
while the other is used as a reflux liquid in
the upper column.
In the upper column, the final rectification is
done, so that the liquid air supplied from the
lower column enriches oxygen by means of the
rectifying action as the liquefied air lowers
through the rectifying trays. It finally becomes
liquid oxygen having the purity of about 99.6%
to be equivalent to the purity of the product
oxygen, and it is collected at the bottom of the
c o l u m n . T h e c o l l e c t e d liquid o x y g e n is
evaporated by the heat of lower column nitrogen
gas. A part of this liquid oxygen is drawn out
as a product oxygen gas, and sent to demand
destinations with pressure after passing the
main heat exchanger.
On the other hand, the evaporated gas ascending
through the rectifying trays enriches nitrogen
as it ascends. A part of this evaporated gas is
drawn out as exhaust nitrogen in the vicinity
of the upper part, and diffused into the open
air after passing the main heat exchanger. The
residual evaporated gas continues lifting. It is
finally drawn out as a product nitrogen gas of
99.999% at the column top, and it joins the
Argon compressor
Hydrogen
0 O O
product nitrogen gas being generated from the Assume that the separation efficiency is 100% in
lower column. The raw argon gas drawn out of the a p l a n t , and we o b t a i n , 0.21M A = Mo .
h i g h e s t e n r i c h e d argon p o r t i o n at an On t h e o t h e r hand, t h e e q u i l i b r i u m of t h e
intermediate portion of the upper column is thermal balance is represented by the following
introduced into the crude argon column, where it equation.
is coarsely rectified up to the purity of about
96% by the same action as in the rectifying MA IA + QL == ( MO + MN ) I ON + QI (3)
column, and then, fed to the argon purification MA (IA - ION ) + Q. = Q. (4)
unit as product argon of 99.999%.
Lo Liquid oxygen quantity
Q. Cold loss quantity
CHARACTERISTICS OF AIR SEPARATION PLANT (including heat exchange loss)
Q. Cold supply quantity
The air separation plant liquefies raw air, and IA Air enthalpy
separates oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and other I ON Enthalpy of separated gas
inert gases by means of the rectifying action
utilizing a boiling d i f f e r e n c e of Lo is kept constant under a thermally balanced
thermodynamic physical properties. Accordingly, state. Assuming that the air separation plant is
it is important for keeping the plants table to an air purifier, a disturbance of the thermal
stabilize the thermal balance and material balance appears as a change of L . .
balance.
Q, = Q, - ( MA ( IA " I ON ) + Q> ) (5)
In the air separation plant, it is possible that Lo = Q, / ( IA - ILO ) (6)
the disturbances of the thermal balance and
material balance cause the disturbances of the I Enthalpy of liquid oxygen
purity of separated gas. The relation of the
thermal balance - material balance - separated Assume t h a t t h e c o l d has become e x c e s s i v e
gas purity will be described, referring to Fig. 2 without changing a i r f l o w MA and s e p a r a t e d gas
and Fig.3. g u a n t i t y Mo , MH , an i n f l u e n c e to a f f e c t the
p u r i t y i s r e p r e s e n t e d by t h e f o l l o w i n g
The following equation holds true about the equation.
material balance-to-product purity relat ion.
0.21MA - Xo ( Mo + Lo ) (7)
MA = Mo + MN (1) Xo = 0.21MA / ( Mo + Lo (8)
0.21MA = XO MO + MN (2) Xo P u r i t y of oxygen

MA - Air flow A disturbance of the thermal balance affects the

Mo MN - Separated gas flow r e c t i f y i n g a c t i o n to change t h e l i q u i d gas
Xo Xn - Purity of oxygen r a t i o (reflux l i q u i d L/evaporated gas G) which
in separated gas i s t h e most i m p o r t a n t f o r t h e s e p a r a t i o n
efficiency. The r e l a t i o n between generally well-
known l i q u i d gas r a t i o and t h e s e p a r a t i o n
efficiency is shown below.

Cold
loss
Thermal introduction of
open air, sunshine, etc
Thermal loss in unit,

f
changeover, etc.
Heat exchanger loss

o
3
/
2: &./ / (x 3 ,y 3 )
/ U(x2,y2)
>, / V
/ / L i ( , y )

X ( 2 -mol
Cold ,{> L Reflux liquid
supplement
Q Evaporated gas
Generation o f coldness by an
expansion tu rbine L/G- Liquid gas ratio

Fig. 2. Air separation plant model Fig. 3. Rectifying action on multistage

rectifying trays

21
 Excessive cold -* Liquid gas r a t i o : Large Expert system structure
-* High boiling point substance (oxygen)
Purity decreases. In order to simultaneously control three oxygen
Low boiling point substance (nitrogen) plants by one FECS-AI, the system is divided
Purity increases. into four expert systems in total to share
Undercold - Liquid gas r a t i o : Small individual functional burdens, and this multi
- High boiling point substance (oxygen) expert system is constructed to execute
Purity increases. parallel operation.(See Fig.4)
Low boiling point substance (nitrogen)
Purity decreases. Increase/decreas
e Purit
y adjustmen
t LO leve
l
Plant
Argon Nitroge
n Oxyge
n Argon Nitrqgen n adjustmen
l Oxyge t

A disturbance of thermal balance a f f e c t s both

material balance and s e p a r a t i o n e f f i c i e n c y to -~*Q ^ 1 OT-7 increase
J decreas
e ES
/1
] i 1 7 OT-8
OT-
adjustmen
t operatio
n
cause the s e p a r a t e d gas p u r i t y to change as A E
S -
described above.
fs 1
|
OT-
8 increase
decreas
e ES

1
/ 1
|j

- ^
n.
The air separation plant operation is controlled
for t h e purpose of p u t t i n g a l l c o n t r o l l e d
v a r i a b l e s within allowable ranges to c o l l e c t #Q J OT-JL
O increase/decreas
e adjustmen
t operatio
n ES

oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and other inert gases

1 1 1 1 1 1
from the plant as products with secured purity. Fig. 4. Multi expert system configration

These c o n t r o l l e d v a r i a b l e s a r e r e l a t e d t o
respective manipulated variables complicatedly,
and they i n t e r f e r e with each o t h e r . A p u r i t y
change occurs a f t e r passing p l u r a l r e c t i f y i n g
trays, and there is a noticeable delay time.
Accordingly, the plant s t a t u s is f i n a l l y judged
from the o p e r a t o r ' s o p e r a t i o n experiences to
s e c u r e the p r o d u c t gas p u r i t y most
p r e f e r e n t i a l l y , and t h e n , the p r o d u c t gas
q u a n t i t i e s are manipulated to be suppressed
within allowable r a n g e s in c o n v e n t i o n a l
operation. Also, s l i g h t o v e r - a c t i o n caused by
t h e d e c i s i o n and o p e r a t i o n of i n d i v i d u a l
operators occurs unavoidably.
Performance and Scale of ES
The contorl of ES is executed with a few minute
cycle. The computer receives the process data
and infers. The controller controlls the air
plant according to the inference results ( i.e.
set values ).
To keep real-time performance, we have developed
the supervisory program. The program is
watching the plant conditions. When the process
values exceed their allowable values, the
purity adjustment ES is executed in response to
the supervisory program's instructions.

On the other hand the increase/decrease ES is

AUTOMATION MEANS usually suspending their action. When operators
must increase or decrease product gases on
Reasons for the application of AI demand, the increase/decrease ES is execute in
response to operator's instructions. Table 1
We decided the application of the expert system shows the performance and scale of ES.
for automating the plant by taking the following
four points into consideration.
TABLE 1 Performance and scale of ES
1. It is technically impossible to represent all
control systems of the plant by numerical Name of Expert system Cont rol frequency Throughput Number of rule
( minite ) ( second )
models.
OT-7.OT-8
adjustment operation 1 2 220
2. The expert system can be judged as effective OT-7
for systematizing experimental control methods increase/decrease 3 2 229

of ski lied operators. OT-8

increase/decrease 3 2 346

3. Since only a few air separation plants have OT-10

Increase/decrease 1 2 183
been automated until now, the control accuracy & adjustment

level is presumable to be improved by the TOTAL 978

addition and modifications of knowledg base in
Note: Increase/decrease ES is executed by operators instruction
the future. For this purpose, the expert system
will be more flexible. Addition, modification,
and other changes are comparatively easy. The
knowledge base is described in Japanese and Features of the functions of expert system
mathematical formula like Fortran.
1. Multi i n c r e a s e - d e c r e a s e o p e r a t i o n ES .An
4. The application of the expert system to the operation change system is necessary to flexibly
automation of air separation plants has not been meet a change of t h e unbalanced demand or
reported yet, and this expert system will be frequent demand of oxygen and n i t r o g e n as a
verifiable as effective in an actual plant. need to a i r separation plants in iron and steel

22
m a k i n g i n d u s t r y , and we h a v e r e c e n t l y SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
constructed a multi increase/decrease operation
expert system which can execute a l l operation Fig.6 shows the hardware configuration of the
change p a t t e r n s . a u t o m a t i c o p e r a t i o n f a c i l i t i e s in an a i r
separation plant.
2. Predictive control type adjustment ES . When
a process change is delayed and the lag time
changes according to manipulated v a r i a b l e s and s t a t lno
OT-7 OT-8 OT-10 AI Work S t a t i o n , r RP Y [ J : !!!""
o t h e r v a r i a b l e s l i n e in the a i r s e p a r a t i o n M
Ml I K tX OCS
: CRT operato r statio n
p l a n t , the c o n v e n t i o n a l PID c o n t r o l system CRT CRT CRT ~
CRT
m syste
DOS: Data bas statio
DPCS-FI: Optical datawa
n
y
I I FECS-
e Ai
cer
causes e x c e s s i v e o p e r a t i o n and r e s u l t a n t l y OCS G500/32F
DBS
causes the maintenance of the process s t a b i l i t y
to be d i f f i c u l t . Accordingly, whether abnormal
process condition values and the recovery after
operation can be predicted in the same way as
in conventional operators or not is important PCS

for maintaining the process s t a b i l i t y .

This expert system judges the process conditions
as abnormal when t h e s e v a l u e s exceed t h e i r
allowable values (PH inrush). It p r e d i c t s the
process conditions according to the arrival time
to t h e a l l o w a b l e v a l u e s (PH) in c a s e of
abnormal v a l u e (PHH) or r e c o v e r y a f t e r t h e
l i n e a r approximation by the method of l e a s t
square based on past data. (See Fig.5)
Then, t h e s y s t e m d e t e r m i n e s m a n i p u l a t e d
v a r i a b l e s or operation methods by s o r t i n g the
arrival time into ranks.
By combining t h i s s t a t u s decision method with
the s e l e c t i v e control method described below,
t h i s system executes the process s t a t u s control
without any o v e r s h o o t phenomenon due to an
excessive operation and other f a i l u r e s .
3. S e l f - s e l e c t i o n c o n t r o l type a d j u s t i n g ES.
Since the air separation plant is characterized
with strong mutual interference action between
process s t a t u s , an o r d i n a r y c o n t r o l method,
which i n c r e a s e s or d e c r e a s e s t h e oxygen
generation q u a n t i t y for a d j u s t i n g the oxygen
purity, affects the purity of other elements to
cause a s t a b l e running f a i l u r e depending upon
the plant conditions.
It i s , therefore, necessary for a i r separation
p l a n t s to always keep t r a c k of a l l p r o c e s s
conditions and also control them by selecting or
combining the adjusting operation methods, each
time multiple faults occurred, for example. The
present adjustment work ES contains a control
method which is similar to the human concept as
the most noticeable merit of the expert system.
plant plane plant
OT-7 OT- 1 0
OT- 8
Fig. 6. Air separation plant automation
system configuration
This system c o n s i s t s of the d e c e n t r a l i z e d
d i g i t a l computer (PCS), CRT o p e r a t o r ' s s t a t i o n
(OCS), process data base s t a t i o n (DBS), and AI
Work S t a t i o n (FECS-AI), and connected by an
optical dataway (DPCS-F). The present automation
system i s d e s i g n e d as an o n l i n e c o m p u t e r -
instrumentation system (MICREX).
FECS-AI is designed as an expert computer system
where AI t o o l (EIXAX) i s mounted in UFAS
consisting of F u j i ' s 32-bit super-microcomputer
FASMIC-G500/32F. 'EIXAX' is sort for ' e f f e c t i v e
industrial application aimed expert system shell
for advanced control system'. I t s main object
is to c o n s t r u c t system, for automatic control
p r o c e s s in many f i e l d s , u s i n g h e u r i s t i c
knowledge acquired from s k i l l e d o p e r a t o r s and
problem-oriented mathematical methods such as
l i n e a r programming and s t a t i s t i c a l a n a l y s i s .
I t s g r e a t e s t f e a t u r e l i e s in the fact t h a t a
system can be constructed simply by assembling
s p e c i f i c r u l e s and models of a i r s e p a r a t i o n
p l a n t s , s i n c e t h i s system employs a r u l e &
model-based AI t o o l (EIXAX) as t h e l e a d i n g
component.
The FECS-AI system c o n s i s t s of two CPUs whose
functions are provided for online and o f f l i n e

(Fault detection) (Recovery detection)

PHH
PH inrush ..-'''

PH
^-^^' Program stops
running in ! Allowable range
dead band I
: (dead band)
PL
>i
Preparation of a PHH arrival time Prepara tion Predic- \
gradient by the is predicted from of a gr adient tion of ',
linear approxima- a gradient in the same PH ; PLL
tion of past data way as in arrival
by the method of fault detec- time
least square tion

Fig. 5. Process fault detection and recovery detection predictive method

23
uses separately. Accordingly, an offline system
develops and tests EIXAX rules as its major
functions without affecting any online system.
This function is absolutely necessary for an AI
system where the system level is presumed to be
sequentially graded up. Since this system is
constructed in a computer system, the offline
TABLE 3 Energy-saving effect by automated operation
system can execute tests using online real-time
data.
This system is also provided with a dynamic test
environmental function (plant simulator)
consisting mainly of a transfer function type
plant model, which is useful for improving the
system testing efficiency and reliability.
EVALUATION OF AUTOMATION SYSTEM
Table 2 and 3 show the OT-8 automated operation
results by this system in and after February,
1989.
Results of the automated multi increase-decrease
operation
No manual intervention has been done due to an
purity error or other failure, irrespective of
considerable increase/decrease operation
results.
This proves that this system fully satisfies the
automated functions of multi-increase/decrease
operation required for air separation plants in
iron and qtPAl making industrv.
TABLE 2 Increase/decrease operation result
Change pattern Monthly average
operation frequency
Independent increase/ 62
decrease of O2
Independent increase/ 38
decrease of N2
Simultaneous increase/ 21
decrease of O2 and N^
Simultaneous operation A 0
of O2 increase and
N2 decrease
Simultaneous operation 7 0
of O2 decrease and
N2 increase
Preferential operation
of Ar
h 0
Automation results of adjusting operation
Manual intervention has partially been done due
to compound adjustment o p e r a t i o n or the
magnitude of disturbances. However, the accuracy
is almost satisfactory in the present stage. By
improving the control accuracy level through
the a n a l y s i s of result data, the manual
intervention ratio may be reduced to zero in the
same way as in increase/decrease operation.
Energy-saving effect by automation
Owing to a practical use of this system, the
plant operation has been standardized without
any dispersion of the action due to individual
differences of operators and excessive operation
of raw air by taking an allowance into account
for maintaining the purity.
By shortening the increase/decrease operation
time and minimizing the raw air operation, the
system decision and adjustment results will be
at least e q u i v a l e n t to those of skilled
operators as an energy-saving effect.
Physical unit of Reduction of Annual reduction
Name of plant reduced air cost of cost
(Air Nm3/02Nra3)
(yen/02Nra3) (1,000,000 yen)
OT-7 0.18 0.063 6
OT-8 0.16 0.056 7
OT-10 0.10 0.013 3
Note: The annual reduction of cost is given, assuming that
the rated operation is continued for one year.
CONCLUSION
We a p p l i e d t h e AI system t o a u t o m a t e a i r
separation plants operation as an f i r s t attempt
in iron and s t e e l making industry.
We a l s o planned to i n t r o d u c e an AI system,
because i t i s impossible for a i r s e p a r a t i o n
p l a n t s to accurately keep track of an internal
s t a t u s change by p r e s e n t s e n s o r s and i t i s
d i f f i c u l t t o c o n t r o l a l l a u t o m a t i o n by
mathematical models. The automated operation has
been continued favorably with an energy-saving
effect, and i t s introduction effect is more than
expected.
This system will r e a l i z e an o n l i n e r e a l - t i m e
automated o p e r a t i o n system over a range from
the demand and supply prediction of oxygen and
nitrogen to the a i r separation plant operation.
Manual intervention
frequency
0
This system has shown remarkable progress in
establishing a final operation system.
0
The level of the knowledge base constructed by
0 p r e s e n t AI t o o l ' has been graded up
s e q u e n t i a l l y in the online mode through t r i a l
and commercial r u n s . This system has been
constructed in a short term by using fEIXAX'. As
a r e s u l t , the probability of knowledge base and
t h e f l e x i b i l i t y in a d d i n g and m o d i f y i n g
knowledge base have been verified. On the other
h a n d o p e r a t o r s w e r e r e l e a s e d from t h e
observation and the operation. Therefore i t was
a b l e t o r e d u s e t h e o p e r a t o r ' s mental and
physical load.
I t w i l l be f u l l y expectable to apply t h i s AI
s y s t e m t o p l a n t s which a r e d i f f i c u l t t o
represent by using mathematical models in the
future.
REFERENCES
T a s h i r o , k . , N. Ando, and M. Uekusa (1990). An
e f f i c i e n t c o n t r o l e x p e r t system for a i r
s e p a r a t i o n p l a n t in i r o n w o r k s .
I n s t r u m e n t a t i o n and Automation, Vol.18,
No.13, pp. 42-48 (in Japanese).
J a p a n I r o n and S t e e l association,
Instrumentation and Control Congress (1990),
Inst. 101-4-1 (in Japanese).
24
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

MODELLING AND CONTROL OF MINERAL PROCESSING

PLANTS USING NEURAL NETWORKS
J. Thibault*, F. Flament** and D. Hodouin**

* Department of Chemical Engineering, Laval University, Sainte-Foy (Quebec), Canada G1K 7P4
**Department of Mines and Metallurgy, Laval University, Sainte-Foy (Quebec) Canada G1K 7P4

Abstract. This paper considers the identification of the dynamics and the inverse dynamics of a simulated
grinding circuit, using feedforward neural networks. Various control strategies based on the plant and plant
inverse neural models, with and without adaptation, are presented. Finally, the results of some control
strategies are evaluated and discussed.

Keywords. Mineral processing; grinding simulation; neural controller; feedforward neural network; plant
neural model; plant inverse neural model.

INTRODUCTION 1987; Hodouin et al., 1988). The simulator is written in APL,

Model based control has now gained sufficient notoriety to be
accepted and implemented in traditional processes with relati-
vely good success. Some processes offer greater difficulty
for finding an acceptable plant model because they are highly
nonlinear and time-varying. In addition, it is not always ob-
vious to decide on a structure of a proper model. An in-
dustrial grinding circuit, where ore grindability may
significantly vary over time and recycle streams are present,
is indeed a difficult process to model and control. It is impor-
tant to react as quickly as possible to changes in the process
in order to alleviate upset in the downstream processes.
A promising alternative for the modelling of complex systems
seems to be artificial neural networks which have the ability to
capture the nonlinear dynamics of the process from the
input/output data set. The network architecture that appears
to offer more potential for the type of engineering problems
encountered in identification and process control is the
feedforward neural network. This network normally con-
sists of several layers of processing units (or artificial
neurons) where neuron connections occur only between
adjacent layers as schematically shown in Fig. 3 for one of
the network used in this investigation. The squares simply
indicate that each input is distributed to the neurons of the
next layer. The neurons, represented with circles, perform a
simple task which consists of performing a weighted sum of
all the inputs, and then applying a transfer function to this
sum. In essence, a feedforward neural network can simply
be viewed as a nonlinear model and the parameters of the
model are the weight connections between neurons of adjac-
ent layers. For a detailed description of feedforward neural
networks, the reader is referred to Lippman (1987),
Wasserman (1989), and Widrow and Lehr (1990).
An experimental program has been set up to investigate the
control of a simulated industrial grinding circuit using a num-
ber of control strategies based on feedforward neural net-
works. This paper briefly describes the main control strate-
gies that were evaluated, and the results obtained with some
of them are presented and discussed.
which compromises greater flexibility for slower execution (as
it is an interpreted language). The choice lies in its interactive
and modular structure, which both allow a rapid program
development and an easy implementation of new features, by
including new modules.
The user accesses the various input modules through con-
venient menus and windows. These modules refer to the set-
up of model parameters and definition of the control strategies
and the various noises generated by sensors and actuators.
The unit models contained in DYNAFRAG are: rod mill, ball
mill, fixed-separation curve classifiers, hydrocyclones, mixers,
sump boxes, pumps, pipes and conveyor belts.
The dynamic model of the process basically consists of a set
of mass balance equations for the pulp, the water and the
particles of different mineral hardness. This implies 50 to 100
simultaneous differential equations to be solved.
Simulated Plant Flowsheet
For this study, the units listed in Table 1 were implemented in
the simulator in an arrangement depicted in Fig. 1. In addi-
tion to these major units, five actuators (aj) and eight sensors
(rrii) are part of the simulated circuit as they introduce dyna-
mic components to the system response. These items are
also listed in Table 1 and illustrated in Fig. 1. Finally, five
internal variables (pj can be manipulated within the simulator,
in order to easily introduce realistic perturbations to the pro-
cess (see Table 1 and Fig. 1).
Actuators (uj and sensors (rrij) are simulated using additive
noises (^ or n) to the desired actions (manipulated variables)
or to the measured values. Various types of noise are pro-
vided within DYNAFRAG and more specific models or time
series can be programmed by a user with some experience in
APL language. The available noise patterns are: white noise,
step, ramp, AR, MA, ARMA models, PRBS and PRTS series.

THE GRINDING DYNAMIC SIMULATOR

General Description
The dynamic simulator used is the PC version of the general
dynamic grinding circuit simulator DYNAFRAG (Dube et al., Fig. 1. DYNAFRAG simulator plant flowsheet.

25
 Table 1: Main features of DYNAFRAG simulated circuit. pure delays (15 s for cyclone feed pipe). Their values can be
modified interactively, whereas the pump characteristics must
still be programmed.
unit models
Belt conveyor to rod mill Table 2. Definition of fresh ore composition
Rod mill + water addition point
Sump box + water addition point
Hardness Size distr'n
Variable speed pump
Cluster of hydrocyclones Hard Coarse
Ball mill + water addition point Component 1: Normal Normal
Pipes Soft Fine

actuators Hard Coarse

Component 2: Normal Normal
u1 Fresh ore feed rate controller
Soft Fine
u2 Water addition valve to the rod mill
u3 Pump speed controller
Hydrocyclone model. A steady-state model is perfectly jus-
u4 Water addition valve to the sump box
tified for the hydrocyclones as their response time is much
u5 Water addition valve to the ball mill shorter than that of the other main units (ball and rod mills).
sensors The model used by DYNAFRAG is Plitt's model, which implies
ml Ore flowrate to the rod mill the calculation of the cyclone pressure drop, the
underflow/overflow pulp distribution, the classification cut-size
m2 Pulp level in the sump box
(d50c)' t n e s o | i d s separation efficiency and the water short
m3 Volumetric pulp flowrate to the cyclones circuiting. A different model for the fine particle short-circuit-
m4 Volumetric percent solid in cyclone feed ing to the underflow is also implemented in the simulator
m5 Volumetric pulp flowrate of cyclone overflow (Finch et al., 1985; Hodouin et al., 1986). All calculations are
m6 Volumetric percent solid in cyclone overflow based on the cyclone dimensions and operating conditions.
m7 Percent passing 200 Mesh (75) in cyclone over- Five adjustable coefficients permit the calibration of the model
flow to the available grinding circuit data. The cyclone dimensions
and the model parameters can be modified interactively.
m8 (not assigned yet)
perturbations Ball mill model. This model is the most important feature of
p1 Composition of the ore fed to the circuit the simulator, as it determines (through both the rod mill and
p2 Size distribution of the ore fed to the circuit the ball mill) most of the dynamic behaviour of the circuit.
The dynamic model of the ball mill is based on the description
p3 Specific gravity of the ore fed to the circuit
of three particular phenomena (Dube et al., 1987): 1) the mill
p4 Sump/pump behaviour content mixing, 2) the mill pulp volume variation and 3) the
p5 Hydrocyclone behaviour grinding kinetics. The mixing properties are described by a
series of two perfect mixers in the case of the ball mill and
four in the case of the rod mill. The pulp volume variation
The Unit Models within the mill is modeled by a series of interactive tanks
(Hodouin et al., 1988) and the grinding kinetics by the break-
Ore description. The ore is assumed to be composed of two age and selection functions model.
components, each having its own characteristics in what con-
cerns flowrate, size distribution, hardness and specific gravity. The Control Strategy
Such a feed ore model permits the study of the influence of The control strategy used in this study consists of one local PI
changes in hardness, size distribution and specific gravity loop to control the sump box level by the pump RPM and of
(perturbations) on the quality of the final product and on the one neural network to control the cyclone overflow fineness
process behaviour. The ore hardness is implemented in the by the water addition to the sump box. In this study, the
grinding model through the selection function values whereas circulating load level is not controlled. Obviously, there is an
the circuit feed size distribution is directly used in the calculat- interaction between the controllers. A water addition
ions. Ore specific gravities are not at present directly used in increase, applied to improve the product fineness, will result
DYNAFRAG, but they will be implemented later in the cyclone in an increase of the pulp level in the sump box. The PI loop
model. Both ore hardness and feed size distributions are will respond by increasing the pump speed to avoid overflow-
categorized in three levels: hard, medium and soft (for ing. It is interesting to notice on Fig. 2 that the pair of vari-
hardness), and coarse, medium and fine (for size distribution), ables (water addition, product fineness) demonstrates a
as shown in the computer menu reproduced in the Table 2. strong non minimal phase behaviour. We have observe that
such a behaviour cannot be controlled efficiently with a PI
Rod mill feed conveyor model. The conveyor is modelled controller only.
using a pure delay of 35 seconds. At present, the simulator
does not permit to modify this value interactively.

73 =^~~^ " ' " ,

f V__
Rod mill model. The rod mill is modelled using two identical
ball mills in series. A kinetic model is used for each ball mill.
The model parameters used, were obtained by retrofitting
71 i
experimental size distribution data provided by a company. 69 m7
At present, these values cannot be entered or modified
interactively. They must be introduced in the source code. 67 ~
0 1 2
Pump sump box and pipe models. The pump model corres-
ponds to the pump characteristic curves. The sump box is Time (hours)
represented by a cubical open perfect mixer, with a maximum
capacity of 10 m 3 (2 m x 5 m 2 ). The connecting pipes Fig. 2. % passing 200 mesh following a step change of
(suction and discharge ends) are modelled using variable the water addition to the sump box.

26
 NEURAL BASED CONTROL STRATEGIES

This section briefly describes the various control strategies

that were evaluated in this investigation. However, only a few
will be illustrated in the results and discussion section. All
neural based control strategies rely strongly on the iden-
tification of an accurate neural transfer function. Therefore,
before describing each of the control strategies, a brief ac-
count on the identification methodology is presented. m7 ( t +)1

Identification Methodology
This is undoubtedly the most important aspect since the
design of effective controllers depends greatly on how well
the dynamics of the controlled process is known. The identifi-
cation of neural models is akin to the identification of linear
systems using ARMA models. In fact, traditional convolution
and ARMA dynamic models are equivalent to a two-layered
linear feedforward network model (Bhat and Mc Avoy, 1990).
For the identification of the neural plant dynamics and its
inverse, it is respectively assumed that the output and the ( b ei s)
manipulated variable can be reconstructed from a finite num-
ber of past values of the input and output. A typical architec- Fig. 3. Feedforward Neural Network used as a DNC
ture of the neural transfer function of the grinding circuit is
presented in Fig. 3. The controlled output of the plant, at the Direct Neural Controller
next sampling instant, is predicted from the current and two Once a neural transfer function of the plant (Fig. 3) has been
past values of the output (m7 - the percent passing 200 mesh identified, it can be used as a one-step ahead predictive con-
in cyclone overflow), three values of the manipulated vari- troller where at each sampling instant, a control move is
ables (u4 - water addition to the sump box), sufficiently determined in order that the estimated output of the plant
delayed and three values of an internal variable (the circulat- equals to the desired setpoint (Ydstie, 1990). The direct
ing load). The pure delay between the manipulated and con- model can also be used recursively in model based predictive
trolled variables was found with experimentation and cross- control strategies where an optimization routine is used to
correlation function to be equal to one sampling period. determine the optimal sequence of future control moves to
When the structure of the neural network is selected, the minimize an objective cost function, subject to some inequality
identification process boils down in finding the values of the constraints. However, only the first control move of the se-
connection weights, and Wjk, of the feedforward neural quence is implemented. A new optimal sequence is then
network that minimize the sum of squares of the errors bet- computed at the next sampling instant and so on. This is the
ween the predicted and target output, using an optimizing basic configuration of a direct neural controller, denoted
procedure. In this investigation, backpropagation and quasi- DNC
Newton were used. A good neural transfer function contains the main features of
the dynamics of the plant since it has learned from an
Table 3 - Input/output information of neural models unsteady state data set. However, there is no guarantee that
there will be no offset under steady state conditions. To al-
Input DNC INC IDNC leviate this problem, a pure integrator can be added in parallel
Neurons to the DNC as presented in Fig. 4. The lower portion of the
diagram is the direct neural controller and the upper part is
1 m7(t) m7(t+1) Am7(t+1) the parallel integration loop. The control move is then the
2 m7(t-1) m7(t) Am7(t) additive contribution of the manipulated variable calculated
3 m7(t-2) m7(t-1) Am7(t-1) with the neural transfer function and the output of an
4 u4(t) m7(t-2) Au4(t-1) integrator as described by the following two equations:
5 u4(t-1) u4(t-1) Au4(t-2)
6 u4(t-2) u4(t-2) 1 (Bias)
7 CL(t) u4(t-3) -
8 CL(M) CL(t) - < W 0 " W " 1 ) + K[m;{t) - m7(t) (2)
9 CL(t-2) CL(t-1) -
10
11
1 (Bias) CL(t-2) -
I - 1 (Bias)
I ^>
Output m7(t+1) u4(t) Au4(t)
Neuron

Neurons
in hidden 6 6 6 <,
I layer l -O

Number of 56 61 36 OPTI Ml ZI NG
Parameters -<t> PLANT
ROUT
I NE

For the model of the inverse plant dynamics and the inverse FUTURE m
.
differential plant dynamics, the list of input and output varia- 4, no
t
bles, used with the network, is given in Table 3. All these
NEURAL
variables were scaled into the range of 0 to 1 or -1 to 1. The
number of neurons in the hidden layer was set to six. Table 3 MODEL
also provides the number of parameters to identify. The num-
ber of parameters is significantly larger than the number of Fig. 4. Diagram of a DNC-I strategy.
parameters normally found in ARMA models.

27
This controller is denoted as DNC-I (Direct Neural Controller
with Integration). Similar results would be obtained if only the
weight associated with the bias of the output neuron was
modified by backpropagation using the measured offset. Both
correction schemes are excellent when it is believed that the
dynamics of the system has not significantly changed from
the dynamics that prevailed at the time of identification.
Another alternative is to use the prediction error of the con-
troller (m*7 - m7) to directly adapt the neural transfer function
of the plant. This has the advantage that both the dynamics
and the offset are considered simultaneously in the adaptation
of the model. However, if the process is nearly under steady
state conditions, it is possible that the neural model will
unlearn the dynamics of the plant trying to correct for the
offset. Care must be exercised to make sure that the learning
data are sufficiently informative about the dynamics of the
system. This control scheme is denoted as DNC-A (Direct
Neural Controller with Adaptation).
The online neural model adaptation can be performed in two
different manners. In the first adaptation scheme, at each
sampling instant, the most current prediction error is used to
correct the connection weights of the neural model with a
single backpropagation iteration. In the second adaptation
scheme, data contained in a fixed length moving window are
used to adapt the network by performing a number of itera-
tions with one of the learning algorithm. The weighting of the
data within the moving window can be uniform, triangular or
exponential.
An identical control strategy can be used with a neural model
that has learned with a data set containing changes of each
of the input/output variables, between two consecutive sam-
pling instants that is a first order differentiation, instead of the
values of the variables. Therefore, rather to evaluate the
control move to give the target output, the optimizing routine
calculates the change in the control move that will return the
output of the process to its desired setpoint, provided no
constraints are being violated. In other words, an incremental
control move is calculated to predict a network output that is
equal to the negative of the current error signal. This control
scheme, denoted as DDNC (Direct Differential Neural
Controller), has the disadvantage to learn the average dyna-
mics over the full operating range of the process since the
knowledge of the dynamics of the process, acquired by the
network, is independent on the level of operation. This may
result in a loss of performance during the transient behaviour
of the process but may show an improvement under steady
state conditions by reducing possible offsets. However, the
addition of the level of operation as an input to the network
would improve the dynamic performance. This control stra-
tegy could also be used in conjunction with adaptation.
Inverse Neural Controller (INC)
An important feature of neural networks is the possibility to
generate the inverse plant dynamic model from input/output
data sets, and to calculate explicitly the manipulated variables
in order to bring the process output back to its setpoint value.
There are no iterations involved. For the grinding circuit, the
inverse plant dynamics was modelled with a feedforward
neural network with the input and output variables listed in
Table 3. The INC is a feedforward controller that anticipates
the control action that will produce the desired output of the
plant.
The INC can also lead to an offset under steady state con-
ditions and there is no way for the network to know if the
correct control move was determined. A pure integrator,
similar to the DNC-I can be added to correct the offset. This
controller is denoted as INC-I. The inverse plant model can
also be adapted based on the difference between the actual
and the desired outputs of the plant (INC-A). However, with
the inverse model, the plant is located between the neural
model and the error signal of the plant output so that the
learning rules, such as backpropagation, cannot be used
directly to adapt the inverse neural model (Chen and Pao,
28
1989; Saerens and Soquet, 1989). The problem is in the
evaluation of the error signal on the manipulated variable that
corresponds to the error signal available at the output of the
plant. Many schemes, to evaluate the error signal on the
manipulated variables, have appeared in the literature
(Thibault and Granjean, 1991). The approach that was
retained in this investigation relies on the evaluation of the
Jacobian obtained analytically by differentiating the equations
of the feedforward neural network. In order to adapt the
weights of the inverse neural model, using the back-
propagation algorithm after each sampling, the estimated
error on the control move (u*4 - u4) at the previous sampling
instant has been determined from the error on the output
(y*7 - y7) determined at the current sampling instant with the
following relation, using the nomenclature of both Fig. 3 and
Table 3:
[u^-uAit_,)--[m;it-m7}^ (3)
The partial derivative can be calculated from the inverse neu-
ral model which has learned to give explicitly the control move
ut. If the position of the target output value m7t+1 in the input
layer of the neural network is i=n, an estimate of the plant
inverse Jacobian can be obtained by the following equation:
J 1 J
(, S,
^,,, ^'' Wiy */ w \
LH J LH
l'=1 ; -J
where su and sm are the scaling factors applied respectively
to u4 and m7 before being presented to the neural network.
Indices i and j refer to the position of the neurons in the input
and hidden layers which contain respectively / and J
neurons. X and H are respectively the outputs of the input
layer (scaled variables of Table 3) and of the hidden layer, f
is the derivative of the nonlinear transfer function. It is
important to note that the correction of the network, performed
at time t, considers the error on the manipulated variable at
time t-1 because it is necessary to wait the number of
sampling periods corresponding to the pure delay between
the input and output of the process, in this case equal to one
for a sampling period of 2 minutes.
Similar to a DDNC, an Inverse Differential Neural Controller
(IDNC) can also be used where input/output variables, fol-
lowing a first order differentiation, are used for teaching the
network. The main advantage of this strategy id the natural
incorporation of the constraint on the control action. The list
of variables used with this network are given in the last
column of Table 3.
Another interesting control strategy, is to use both the direct
and the inverse models of the plant dynamics in an internal
model control {IMC) structure (Bhat and Mc Avoy, 1990).
ILLUSTRATIONS AND DISCUSSION
Training Data Set
The training data set was generated using DYNAFRAG. After
a steady state has been computed, the water addition to the
sump box (u4) was manipulated at a sampling rate of 2 min-
utes according to a white noise. It was centred for a first
experiment around 88 m3/h and for a second experiment
around 98 m3/h. In both experiments, the noise standard
deviation was 5 m3/h. The various sensors signals were
recorded in data files during 10 hours. Then, cross correla-
tion studies have demonstrated high positive correlations at
lag 1 between u4 and m7 (the final product fineness) and
between u4 and the circulating load CL (computed from the
values of sensors m3, m4, m5, m6 and the ore specific
gravity). These results were used to test different patterns of
neural networks for their applicability to control the final prod-
uct fineness.
Direct Neural Controller
Here, the objective of the neural network is to mimic the
grinding circuit behaviour and to predict the future product
fineness. Several input layer patterns were tested and the
best compromise between a good prediction and a small
number of input neurons was obtained using the past 3
values of m7, the past 3 values of u4 and the past 3 values of
CL (see Table 3 and Fig. 3). Six intermediate neurons were
found to be sufficient.
The network was then implemented in DYNAFRAG as a cont-
roller. On Fig. 5 is shown the response of the controller to a
change of set-point from 67.3% to 68% passing 200 mesh in
the final product. As can be seen, the controller response is
originally fast, but the new steady state obtained is not at the
requested set-point of 68%.
1 2
Time (hours)
Fig. 5. Variations of the controlled (m7) and manipulated (u4)
variables for a setpoint change under DNC strategy.
To remedy to the problem, an integrator was introduced. A
calibration of the integrator constant K (see Eq. 2) was then
performed. On Fig. 6, the sums, over 4 hours of processing,
of the squared deviations to the set-point are plotted for vari-
ous values of the integrator constant. A value of 0.5 was
retained as a good one. The corresponding controller
response can be found in Fig. 7. By comparison to the
results of Fig. 5, the improvement is drastic on a long term
basis.
! DNC-I
6
8 2
a 2
0
0 0.5 I 1-5 2 25
Integrator constant value
Fig. 6. Sum of squared deviations to setpoint as a function
of the integrator constant under a DNC-I strategy.
Time (hours)
Fig. 7. Variations of the controlled (m7) and manipulated (u4)
variables for a setpoint change under a DNC-I stra-
tegy (K=0.5).
29
Inverse Neural Controller
The neural network purpose is here to inverse the process
dynamics and to predict which action should be taken to
obtain the desired process output. After having tested several
network patterns, a good compromise was obtained with the
network described in Table 3. The past 3 values of the pro-
cess output (m7), the past 3 values of the action (u4) and the
past 3 values of the circulating load (CL) are again used. But
in addition the first neuron is fed, during training, with the
value of m7 resulting from action u4, the value being learned
at the network output layer. During prediction, the same
neuron is fed with the desired set-point value.
The network was implemented in DYNAFRAG as a controller.
On Fig. 8 is shown the response of the controller to a set-
point change of 67.3% to 68% passing 200 mesh in the final
product. As can be seen, the controller response is good but
again a slight bias exists at steady state.
1 2 3
Time (hours)
Fig. 8. Variations of the controlled (m7) and manipulated (u4)
variables for a setpoint change under INC strategy.
An integrator was implemented to remedy to the bias pro-
blem. For calibration, the same procedure as before was fol-
lowed and the results are presented in Fig. 9. The value of
0.5 was retained and the corresponding process output is
given on Fig. 10. By comparing Fig. 10 to Fig. 8, one can
see that the improvement is mainly obtained during the first
two hours after the change of set-point.
. * : - _ _ ' ___I__L__A__:_^_____J____i_'_IJ
.
|
\im-i j
.2 6
! 1 !;
> .
j
!
; !
;
...|* 1: *
a
:=>
f| i
0
rhvrri""
0 1 v;'i"V","r1":v;'.'t"
0.5 rviv; 1.5 2 2.5
Integrator constant value
Fig. 9. Sum of squared deviations to setpoint as a function
of the integrator constant under an INC-I strategy.
Inverse Neural Controller with Weight Adaptation
The following application is derived from the previous one.
When a neural controller is used without any integration, a
bias may be observed on the set-point. In the present case,
at least two reasons may explain this phenomenon. First, the
new steady state does not correspond to a state learned by
the network at training time. Second, due to the strong non
minimal phase behaviour and to the procedure followed to
train the network, only the high initial gain was in fact learned.
When the new steady state is almost reached, the network is
just not capable of providing the correct action which corre-
sponds to a much smaller gain. There are two dynamical
behaviours, onlv one of which was learned.
 CONCLUSION

All model based control strategies require the availability of a

good dynamic model. If the process is time-varying, it is
necessary to adapt online the model for proper performance
of the controller. Neural networks offer both ease of adap-
tability and plasticity in their structure to be used successfully
1 2 for modelling the dynamic behaviour of complex processes.
Time [hours) With neural networks, the model is able to self-organize to
match the underlying dynamics of the process. This paper
presents a series of control strategies, based on feedforward
Fig. 10. Variations of the controlled (m7) and manipulated (u4) neural models, for the dynamics and the inverse dynamics of
variables for a setpoint change under an INC-I a simulated industrial grinding circuit. Some of them are
strategy (K=0.5). illustrated and discussed.

It is shown that a neural network dynamic model of the plant

To overcome such a difficulty, as well as any difficulty
resulting from a change of state of the process, a possible
solution consists in adapting on line the network weights. In
Fig. 11 is shown the response of the controller to a change of
set-point from 67.3% to 68% passing 200 mesh. The network
used here was the same as in the previous section except
that weight adaptation was performed at each control step.
The adaptation coefficients were 0.1 for the hidden layer
weights and 0.01 for the output layer weights. We have
observed that high values have to be avoided, especially at
the output layer, to prevent oscillatory responses. In the pre-
sent case, it can be seen that the response is very fast (less
than 30 minutes) and stable, and that the set-point bias is
corrected.
and the inverse plant can serve as an efficient controller pro-
vided that it is coupled with some offset correction scheme
such as a pure integrator in parallel to the neural controller or
a neural network adaptation routine. It is believed that neural
network will find wide use in process control and mineral
processing is certainly one area that can greatly benefit from
this new technology.
REFERENCES
Bhat, N. and T.J. Mc Avoy (1990). Use of Neural Nets For
Dynamic Modeling and Control of Chemical Process
Systems. Computers Chem. Eng., 14, 4/5, 573-582.
Chen, V.C. and Y.-H. Pao (1989). Learning Control With Neu-
ral Networks. Proc. 1989 IEEE Int. Conf. Robot. Autom.,

t
u4 m7 Vol.3, 1448-1453.
Dube, Y., R. Lanthier and D. Hodouin (1987). Computer
100 68.1 Aided Dynamic Analysis and Control Design for Grinding
Circuits. CIM Bulletin. 80, 905, 65-70.
m7 i
94 67.7 Finch J.A., A.R. Laplante and R. del Villar (1985). Modelling
^u4 cyclone performance curves with a size dependent cor-
88 67,3 rection factor. SME-AIME Annual Meeting, New York,
February 1985.
0 1 2 3 4 Hodouin D., S. Caron and J J . Grand (1986). Modelling and
Time (hours) Simulation of a Hydrocyclone Desliming Unit. First World
Congress on Particle Technology, Nrnberg, Fed. Rep. of
Germany, April 16-18.
Fig. 11. Variations of the controlled (m7) and manipulated (u4) Lippmann, R.P. (1987). An Introduction to Computing With
variables for a setpoint change under INC-A strategy. Neural Nets. IEEE ASSP Mag., April, 4-22.
Saerens, M. and A. Soquet (1989). A Neural Controller Based
On Back-Propagation Algorithm. Technical Report,
IRIDIA-NN 005, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 23 June.
Thibault, J. and B.P.A. Grandjean (1991). Neural Networks in
Process - A Survey. IFAC Symp. ADCHEM, Toulouse,
France, October 14-16.
Wassermann, P.D. (1989). Neural Computing: Theory and
Practice. Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Widrow, B. and M.A. Lehr (1990). 30 Years of Adaptive Neu-
ral Networks: Perceptron, Madaline, and Backpropaga-
tion. Proc. of the IEEE, 78, 9, 1415-1442.
Ydstie, B.E. (1990). Forecasting and Control Using Adaptive
Connectionist Networks. Computers Chem. Eng., j 4 , 4/5,
583-599.

30
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and IRON- AND STEELMAKING
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

CONTROL OF ELECTRIC ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN

STEEL INDUSTRY USING KNOWLEDGE BASED
TECHNIQUES
P. Koponen*, R. Viherma**, T. Rm*** and P. Uronenf

^Technical Research Centre of Finland, Laboratory of Electrical and Automation Engineering, Espoo, Finland
**Outokumpu Oy, Tornio, Finland
***Mikkeli Technology Centre, Mikkeli, Finland
tHelsinki University of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Espoo, Finland

Abstract. Highly varying electric power consumption is characteristic to steel production and it is
expensive to meet these peak loads. It seems possible to predict the short term power demand and to
use these predictions to control the plants so that expensive simultaneous peak loads can be avoided.
In order to test this idea we built a prototype system.

There are several reasons for applying knowledge engineering to this problem. Object oriented
programming is powerful in the development and maintenance of the system and its prediction and
structure models. The models of the steel making processes as well as the decision making knowledge
are often heuristic. Also prototypes are needed in order to get the design feedback from the end users.

In this paper the problem and the prototype are described. The prototype mostly consists of Lisp-
programming structured with frames. We have used rules only in one knowledge base. Good user
interface development tools turned out to be essential for the prototype building.

The purpose of the prototype is to provide a basis for the definition of the real system. The prototype
demonstrates a proposed solution but leaves some questions unanswered. Nevertheless the prototype
shows how power can be predicted and that these predictions are important in controlling the peak
loads.

Keywords, steel industry; metals production; power management; prediction ;knowledge engineering.

INTRODUCTION the criterium of the choice.

The electric power taken by arc furnaces and rolling mills
highly varies with time. These variations in power demand
are due to the batch like operation cycle of these proces-
ses. Simultaneous power consumption peaks are very
expensive to meet when there is a shortage of power
production capacity as the case often is in Finland during
a severe winter. The current practice is to impose tem-
porary power restrictions on the plants at a short notice in
a previously agreed order. Although this practice by large
gives remarkable savings in power expenses it cannot take
into account the production situation of the plants and
often causes unnecessary or badly scheduled production
restrictions.
In principle, the coincidences of the peak loads can be
prevented or met cost effectively, if the loads are predicted
a few hours ahead. To put this principle into practice is far
from easy, however. The predictions are uncertain and
frequently changed by the operating decisions and distur-
bances of the controlled plant. Suggested power restric-
tions must then be computed based on these predictions.
Because of the time dimension the actual number of pos-
sible power restriction alternatives becomes too large for
exhaustive search. Moreover, the relative cost of different
predicted alternatives must be approximated, because it is
The optimal control of the electric energy consumption of
a steel plant has strong interactions with the control of the
steel production. The scheduling of the production itself is
the primary goal and the control of peak electricity loads
is only one additional feature of it. This is the case
especially in highly integrated steel plants that produce a
wide spectrum of steel grades.
The short term forecasting of power is discussed in the
literature (David 1988; Gross and Galiana, 1987; Rahman
and Baba, 1989) but in none of these are the predictions
based on the production plans of steelmaking. Nor is the
peak load control considered in any paper about steel
plant scheduling systems, for example (Numao and Mori-
shita, 1988; Sztrimbely, Weymouth and Ponzo 1989;
Takahashi and others, 1989).
The potential for savings in electricity costs increases, if
more plants are added into the system. These can be other
base metal plants or even power plants. The predicted
total load helps them adjust their operation according to
the probable marginal cost of the electricity. The predic-
tions also make it possible for them to choose the best
method and time to change their own power level.

31
Knowledge based techniques have some advantages in this
kind of a problem where heuristic reasoning is used be-
cause of incomplete knowledge of the process-, cost- and
decision-models. Object oriented modelling helps keep the
simulation and prediction programs modular and trans-
parent by giving a chance to imitate the structure of the
modelled reality in the program structure. The Lisp-based
tools give flexibility that is very important in prototyping
but on the other hand the programs must be rewritten
using more conventional programming techniques in order
to meet the requirements of the steel plant environment.
We built a prototype peak load control system with a Lisp-
based expert system development environment. We use
this prototype in the analysis and definition of a planned
real system. With the prototype we collect and test the
ideas and views of different specialists and users of the
planned system.
ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS
The system will be used for planning the short term elec-
tricity consumption of many organizationally and geo-
graphically distributed plants. Some of these can even
belong to separate companies. This requires that the rules
on how to share the restrictions and benefits are agreed
upon. Of course, when there are remarkable benefits to
share it will not be impossible to reach an agreement.
However, the system should be able to give a firm foun-
dation to the estimation of these benefits.
This also helps users understand when the system is worth
much attention and when its suggestions can be ignored
without significant losses. Every plant wants to know the
predictions of power restrictions but it is usually con-
sidered too difficult to manually input the system with the
short term information these predictions need. This is a
challenge for system development and integration. A
reasonable balance between these conflicting requirements
should also be found and accepted.
PROCESSES
The arc furnaces need very much electric energy. Usually
they operate in repeating batch cycles which is also seen in
their power consumption, figure 1. The shape of the curve
depends on the size of the batch, the raw materials and
the quality produced. The addition times of scrap or other
raw materials can also vary. Wait and maintenance times
change the intervals between batches. Because of these
variations the prediction methods based only on past
power measurements fail. It is also important to check
whether the planned power restrictions would have ad-
verse effects on the steel quality (through chemical com-
position and temperature) in the particular process.
The power consumption of converters and refinement
processes is much smaller than that of the arc furnaces.
The regularity of their operation is also disturbed by the
reasons described above. The material flow to these ope-
rations and further to continuous casting can be disturbed
by power restrictions imposed on arc furnaces upstream. It
may also happen that problems in these units force the
steel furnace upstream to wait. So their indirect effects on
the control of power consumption cannot be ignored.
Hot rolling is also a potential target for power restrictions.
Typical power consumption of a rolling mill is shown in
32
figure 2. The power prediction can be based on the
planned production and scheduled down times. If the
power restrictions are known in advance, it is possible to
avoid unnecessary preheating with its associated costs and
quality effects. The power demand of cold rolling and so
the potential for restrictions is usually smaller.
As the value of the product increases and energy intensity
decreases downstream the material flow, figure 3, the
average costs caused by power restrictions tend to rise.
However, the actual cost of a particular restriction is often
very far from the average because it follows the production
situation. Meeting an urgent order or avoiding problems in
later production phases can be much more important than
the market value of some intermediate product.
Occasionally all the possibilities to restrict the power taken
by a steel plant can be expensive. That is why it is
tempting to include other processes like electrolysis and
power plants into the system and use the peak load predic-
tions in order to optimize their operation and power level.
MODELLING AND PREDICTION
It has been demonstrated with a small experiment even
before the prototype that object oriented programming
makes the modelling and simulation of this problem easy
to understand, develop and maintain. Autonomous objects
communicate with each other by sending messages. That
makes it possible to make changes in one object without
changing others. Classification and generalization by in-
heritance save code. A small example of a class hierarchy
is in figure 4. Application specific definitions of relations
between objects make the program easier to understand.
For example the grouping of the units is easily changed if
it is defined using an appropriate inherited parts relation.
A simplified example of the use of a parts relation is in
figure 5. In it the power of a unit is defined to be the sum
of the powers of its parts. Similarly the material flows
between process units and plants can be effectively
modelled. These principles have then been used in the
prototype but maybe not enough.
The methods chosen for modelling the individual plants
must be chosen according to the behavior of that parti-
cular plant. For example statistical methods alone do not
help much when predicting the power consumption of arc
furnaces or rolling where the shape of the curves is nor-
mally quite deterministic and the difficulty lies in predic-
ting the start and break times.
The power taken by arc furnaces and rolling mills can be
predicted, because they repeat their characteristic power
trend curves in their batch like operation cycle. Their
power consumption can also be restricted by postponing
the start of the operation cycle or limiting the power taken
by arc furnaces. The power of these units is predicted by
modifying the typical power consumption curve of a batch
with heuristic rules derived from operation experience.
Short term operation plans of the units are used as input
for these predictions.
The electric power taken by continuous casting is very
small compared to the arc furnaces. However, the power
restrictions to arc furnaces can prevent the melt from
coming in time to the casting and this has to be taken into
account when deciding about the target of a power restric-
tion. The modelling of the material flow from arc furnaces
trough converters and refinement processes to continuous
casting could help avoid this problem, figure 3. The
material flow has not yet been modelled in the prototype.
Base loads usually consist of many different small loads
that are difficult to control as a whole. We plan to use
statistical methods to forecast their hourly total power.
The optimization and decision making in the prototype
needs also approximate predictions of the benefits and
costs of different decision alternatives. These are often
much more difficult to get than the power predictions.
This is because they depend dynamically on the production
situation and the cost or benefit of a decision that has
additional delayed effects also depends on later decisions.
For example consider delaying a load now so that it will
increase the total power in some future hour. In order to
avoid excessive complexity we plan to neglect the effect of
other decisions when we calculate a delayed cost or
benefit of a decision. In the future these connections of
costs need to be modelled, implemented and tested in the
prototype before it is feasible to put the optimization
principle into practice.
DECISION MAKING IN THE
PROTOTYPE
Different predictions are transferred from the power pro-
duction and process plants to the centralized parts of the
system. These consist of the planned power level and the
possibilities to change the power including the price es-
timate of these changes. All these power consumption
needs are then combined as are also the power acquisition
possibilities. Then all those power consumption needs are
recommended that give more benefit than the cost of its
acquisition. The recommendations and the combined
predictions are then distributed to the plants.
The individual plants form their own plans on the basis of
their own production situation and the information given
by the centralized part. They then use these plans to com-
pute their predictions concerning the power consumption
and possibilities to change it.
The prototype consists of four knowledge bases that are
implemented with frames and Lisp-code, figure 9. There is
so far only one rule base that is used in determining the
price of bought power.
INTERFACES
Modelling the interfaces in the prototype
One of the main goals of the prototype is to help in the
definition of interfaces between all the different systems
and their users. Here the scope of the prototype is of
course restricted only to the solution of the peak load
control problem. A simplified example of the structure of
this model in the prototype is in figure 6.
The prototype is not intended to be connected with the
existing systems. Rather some parts of the program could
later be rewritten and embedded there.
Integration with process control systems
The peak loads cannot be controlled without disturbing
33
the operation of the processes. However, the cost of these
disturbances should be smaller than the cost of the respec-
tive peak loads. The problem is that the cost of these
restrictions strongly depends on their timing and on the
operation of the plants. So the peak load control is an
additional constraint in the scheduling of the process. User
interfaces and maintenance are other reasons for close
integration of the peak load control with the production
control.
The system will also need a significant amount of time
variable input data in order to be able to predict the
power consumption. If the data is in some other system, it
should be taken from there rather than asking someone to
feed that data into the expert system. For example produc-
tion plans and equipment maintenance schedules signifi-
cantly contribute to the accuracy of forecasts and can
prevent unnecessary power consumption restrictions.
In the prototype a suggestion for the interfaces between
the peak load control system and the process control
systems is modelled. That is why we have built models of
the operation of the controlled plants from the point of
view of power consumption. We plan to develop these
models further.
User interfaces
One major challenge in developing this system is that it
will have many different user groups who will need dif-
ferent access to it. Transparency, understandability and
good explanations are necessary in order to convince the
process operator or supervisor to give the necessary input
data and to follow the advice given. The prototype user
interfaces can also be considered as tools for knowledge
acquisition because they help the domain experts check
that their ideas work or have been correctly understood.
The results available to the users are predictions of power
and its associated marginal costs as well as planned power
consumption restrictions. Some summary reports are also
planned. Some of the planned power restrictions will be
given to the process control system automatically but also
then the process operator will be notified and he always
has the possibility to cancel the suggested power restric-
tion.
The prototype user interfaces are used to clarify the ope-
ration of the prototype to the different users and domain
specialists. They are then asked how the system should
function, what information and how it should be presented
to the users and is it possible to feed the system with the
information it requires from them. Some examples of the
user interfaces of the prototype are in figures 7 and 8
(with texts translated from Finnish).
RESULTS
The first major version of the prototype was evaluated in
November 1990. A definition of a load prediction system
based on it will be made in 1991. However, we have not
yet decided to further develop the centralized decision
making part. Simulation models and other refinements of
the prototype would be needed, before its load control
principle could be adequately tested, its appropriate com-
plexity determined and its possible unstability detected.
The major remaining problems seem to be predicting the
costs and benefits of a decision and defining the interfaces
to other systems and operators.
An additional purpose of the prototype is to teach the
participants knowledge engineering. In this respect the
project has succeeded. The prototype has also clarified the
peak load control problem to different domain specialists
and contributed to improvements in the existing peak load
control system.
EXPERIENCE AND FUTURE
CHALLENGES
Prototyping
The prototype approach is useful. However, the prototypes
should be kept inside the phases of the system develop-
ment. They should also be properly defined before their
implementation is started. It is important to plan the
restriction of the scope of a large prototype and its decom-
position into smaller systems as early as possible. The time
schedule tends to be weighed too much compared to the
contents and quality of intermediate phases of the proto-
type and the time and tools required for testing are often
underestimated. The problems result from the fact that
prototypes are typically used when it is not possible to
define the system in advance.
Object oriented programming
Object oriented programming is very useful in the proto-
type because model based simulation, complex user inter-
faces and flexible maintenance are required. Different
structure models (like in figures 3,5 and 6) and inheritance
models (for example figure 4) are essential in the proto-
type. Separate class hierarchies for visual appearance on
the screen and for the connection of the user-interface
module to the other parts of the program are needed in
order to achieve this modularity.
Predicting
The prototype and its background information has shown
us that the power consumption of a steel plant can be so
well predicted that it is feasible to control the loads by
using these predictions. We are seeking further possi-
bilities to improve the accuracy of these predictions. Pre-
dicting the costs or benefits of a decision is much more
difficult. However there even very rough estimates will
help prevent the very expensive choices.
Knowledge acquisition
The traditional methods for knowledge acquisition are
time consuming and prone to errors. Even expert system
development tools for problems of medium size or com-
plexity are too difficult to learn and use for a domain
specialist and a knowledge engineer is needed to master
both the tool and the principles of expert system tech-
nology. Usually knowledge engineer spends much time
learning the basic terminology and principles of the subject
matter. On the other hand it is not easy to tell the domain
specialist what kind of knowledge is needed to make the
expert system work. This knowledge acquisition bottleneck
makes the development and maintenance of expert systems
expensive and slow.
34
Effective division of the tasks among knowledge engineer
and domain expert is very important because of the
limited availability of competent domain experts. It is also
important to analyze the knowledge immediately before
more is gathered.
Lacking versatility of tools
Unfortunately there is not yet any expert system shell that
would meet all the requirements of this application. What
we would like to have is a system development tool that is
easy to use, flexible, reliable and supports object oriented
modelling, scheduling, prototyping of user interfaces and
comparison of decision alternatives. Significant portions of
the built system would rather be embedded into existing
process control systems and maintained by the plants' own
personnel. Experience is needed in order to avoid spen-
ding too much effort on the details of the tools instead of
the application itself.
User interface design
The operators and supervisors of the steel industry can
better understand the proposed plan of an interactive
system from a prototype interface than from written docu-
mentation. More than half of the implementing of the
prototype has been required by user interfaces although
there are high level tools for it in the expert system
development system that we use.
Distributed expert systems
This kind of a system should be well integrated in the
process control system. An appealing way to meet this
requirement is to distribute parts of the system in different
process plants and let these parts communicate with each
other. There are very few tools that support this approach.
We have modelled a distributed system structure in our
prototype. However, it can only be used as a test bench for
the ideas that then must be rewritten with more conven-
tional tools.
Reasoning under uncertainty
In the control of the peak loads of steel production it is
essential to take into account the uncertainties in pre-
dicted power and costs. In the predictions there is uncer-
tainty both in timing and level of the electric power. It is
caused by disturbances, uncertainty of the models and later
process control decisions. The estimates of power and
costs resulting from a control action can seldom be made
very accurate. The uncertainty should not be neglected in
this problem where the costs often steeply depend on the
timing of actions.
There are several representations of uncertainty that are
used in expert system technology (eg. Bayesian statistics,
belief functions and fuzzy logic). They all seem to lead to
too inefficient, limited, unrealistic and complex modelling
of uncertainty in this case. So we use very simple
approaches in the prototype. Roughly speaking we predict
the maximum possible power consumption because it is
more important in our application than the most probable
one.
 CONCLUSIONS Fbwer
HW/k
From the prototype and knowledge gathered we conclude

fflilfL tf\ r\
that it is possible to build a system that predicts the power

n rt\
Lildil
consumption of steel plant for controlling the peak loads. S+
However, there will be many difficulties in building a
power consumption optimization system that works in the
real industrial environment. Further research would be
needed in order to test and develop the load scheduling
approach suggested in the prototype. The feasible com-
plexity of a real system depends on the savings potential
and the difficulty of the problem. We think that building a
prototype using object oriented programming is a good
approach when solving this kind of complex problems.
* time/h
-, batch
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This project is funded by the Finnish Ministry of Trade

(KTM) and Industry and the members of the Association Figure 1. Typical power consumption of an arc furnace.
of Finnish Steel and Metal Producers. Also Imatran
Voima Oy (IVO) has financially supported it.

REFERENCES

David A.K.(1988). Load forecasting under spot pricing.

IEE Proceedings, vol 135. Pt C,No 5, pp.
369-377.

Gross G.and F. D. Galiana (1987). Short term load fore

casting. Proceedings of the IEEE, vol 75 no
12, pp. 1558-1573.

Numao M., S. Morishita (1988) Scheplan-A Scheduling

expert for steel-making process. International 3 time/h
I i t
Workshop on Artificial Intelligence for In- maintenance maintenance
dustrial Applications 1988, pp. 467-472 (unscheduled)

Rahman S. and M. Baba. (1989). Software design and Figure 2. Typical power consumption of a hot rolling mill.
evaluation of a microcomputer-based auto-
mated load forecasting system. IEEE Transac-
tions on Power systems. Vol 4 No 2. pp. 782-
788.

Sztrimbely W. M., P. J. Weymouth and T. Ponzo (1989).

An Expert Systems Approach to Rule-Based
Dynamic Process Plant Scheduling. In M. Y.
Demeri (Ed), Expert System Applications in
Material Processing and Manufacturing. The
Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, pp.
211-217.

Takahashi T., M. Konishi, S. Tamura, H. Hanaoka and H.

Nakagawa (1989). Scheduling for steel making
process using mathematical programming
method. Preprints of the 6th IFAC Sym-
posium on Automation in Mining. Mineral
and Metal Processing 1989. pp. 133-138.

35
 Mine - -CH Sintering and peletizing I

j FeCr-furnace
n L FeCr-furnace

I <l i>C storage

Scrap, additives -->{ Stcel-furna

i:
Laddie-furnace |
{ Continuous-casting &~

Legend: \
V
Hot-rolling
;
|
-^C storage :

slow inter action HI storage

remarkable interaction
_fc.
Cold-rolling ~"| [>~ storage

Figure 3. The material flow of a steel plant.

e-consumption-units

, e-production-units
e-management-units ;
~-simulation-units - Sendzimir-mill-I
cold-rolling-mill
" units-with-e-contracts Sendzimir-mill-II

arc-furnaces d ^
, continuous-casters
unit-processes ' - power-plants
-refining-processes
. walking-beam-furnace
steel-plant hot-rolling-mi 11 roughing-mill
-FeCr-furnaces Steckel-mill
- steel-furnaces ^^^. arc-furnace
steel-melting-shop converter
^ ^ * " continuous-caster
^ Iaddle-furnace
-A00-converters

\ cold-rolling-mi Us
rolling-mills -zzZ power = power +
hot-rolling-mi I Is k kO

Figure 4. Example class hierarchies. Figure 5. An example of a parts relation.

1 V
Electrolysis

Figure 6. The in the prototype modelled distribution of the system.

36
 pfice demand supply

i i i i | i i i i | i i i i | i i i i | i i i i | I I I I | I I I I | I I I I |
50 10 150 200 250 300 350 400

hourly power MW

Figure 7. The marginal price balance display.

Figure 8. A display of power demand and supply stackbars.

Figure 9. Modules of the prototype (Knowledge bases).

37
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

DEVELOPMENT OF A SCHEDULING EXPERT SYSTEM

FOR A STEELPLANT
K. Stohl*, W. Snopek*, Th. Weigert** and Th. Moritz**

*VOEST-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau Gesellschaft m.b.H., Dept: ET AI, Turmstrasse 44, A-4031 Linz, Austria
**Research Institute for Symbolic Computation, Johannes Kepler University, A-4040 Linz, Austria

Abstract. This paper describes the development of the scheduling expert system VASE
(Voest Alpine Scheduling Expert). It deals with a LD-steelplant, comprising 3 LD-convert-
ers, 3 secondary metallurgy aggregates and 2 continuous slab casters. We selected this
domain to gain experience in applying expert system technology to large-scale manufac-
turing problems with stringent constraints. We describe our initial prototypes, and point
out problems encountered during their development. Our initial prototypes pointed out
that the scheduling problem could not be solved by conventional programming techniques
or by expert system technology alone. A combined approach of expert system technology,
conventional programming, and data base management proved to be the adequate solu-
tion. Conventional parts were solved in C, for the knowledge-based parts we used NEX-
PERT OBJECT and as the data base we used ORACLE. Comparisons between schedules
produced by h u m a n experts and schedules done by the computer showed t h a t the compu-
ter is much faster and does not make mistakes as h u m a n experts do. Although there is
still a potential for improvement the comparison showed that the quality of the expert
system's schedules is a t least as good as t h a t produced by the most experienced h u m a n
experts (neglecting their mistakes).

Keywords. Automation; Expert Systems; Knowledge Engineering; Metallurgical Indus-

tries; Steel manufacture; Scheduling;

THE SCHEDULING PROBLEM Typically a converter produces for a designated

IN STEELMAKING
The Steelmaking Process
The steelplant of VOlEST-Alpine Stahl Linz has
three LD converters, whereof normally two produce
and one functions as stand-by. After tapping the
crude steel is treated at one or two of the three sec-
ondary metallurgy aggregates (ladle furnace, condi-
tioning stand, vacuum treatment stand) and finally
the steel is cast at one of the two continuous slab
casters, whereof one is singlestranded and the other
is twostranded. All casters are equipped with width-
adjustable moulds. The heats can be cast in
sequence as long as they are delivered in time to the
caster and the thickness of the slabs does not
change. Casting might also be interrupted due to
the chemical composition of certain steelgrades.
Interruptions of the sequence of less than about
three minutes may be tolerated, otherwise casting
has to be stopped and the casters have to be read-
justed. This takes about one hour and should there-
fore be avoided. The resultant strand is cut into
slabs of predefined length. The processing of the
slabs is not part of the scheduling described here.
caster. One route r u n s via the conditioning stand,
the other includes the ladle furnace. Both routes
overlap at the vacuum treatment stand (however,
not all h e a t s require vacuum treatment). Deviations
from the standard routes are sometimes necessary
to meet time constraints.
The Scheduling Process
Daily a production schedule for the next 24 hours
h a s to be established. Currently this is done by the
h u m a n experts (dispatchers) and takes about three
to four hours.
Scheduling starts with a pool of several hundred
orders characterized by steel grade, weight and slab
dimensions. The orders are prepared by the rolling
mill and should be produced within designated time
intervals. An order constitutes only a partial heat.
Two or sometimes three of them have to be combined
to form a single heat (= 140 metric tons of steel).
Various metallurgical criteria determine how orders
may be combined to a heat.

39
Heats are then arranged into production sequences.
Complex criteria determine whether two heats may
be cast consecutively. Otherwise casting has to be
interrupted; prior to continuation steel tubes are
put into the mould to separate adjacent heats to pre-
vent intermixing of steel of different grades (this is
referred to as "quality separation"). Interruptions of
less than about three minutes can be tolerated and
do not force new preparation of the casters. Ibo
large deviation of the chemical composition between
adjacent heats may force a change to a new tundish.
If there is no tundish ready to use, which happens
when the utilisation time of the preceding tundish
was too short, the sequence ends.
The dispatchers, through experience, have devel-
oped planning strategies which allow them to gener-
ate production sequences that are legal in the sense
of not violating the metallurgical constraints. Their
strategies are geared towards meeting the following
goals.
Aims of Scheduling
Scheduling has various, sometimes conflicting aims:
- Maximization of the length of casting sequences. If
possible, the casters should cast all the time.
- Minimization of quality separations in a tundish.
- Minimization of tundish changes in a sequence.
This means a maximization of the utilisation time of
each tundish. The limit is the life time of a tundish.
- Minimization of variation in the width of the slabs
in a sequence.
- No violation of production rules, both when com-
bining steel orders to heats and when arranging
heats to production sequences.
- Minimization of waiting times of the converters. If
possible, the converters should produce all the time.
These goals have a direct correspondence in produc-
tion costs: Large variations in the width of slabs,
tundish changes, and quality separations lead to
waste of material. Violation of metallurgical con-
straints may result in products not meeting any
order. Maximization of throughput reduces the pro-
duction costs.
Knowledge in Scheduling
As indicated above various criteria have to be con-
sidered during scheduling. Correspondingly we can
identify different types of knowledge in the schedul-
ing process.
Metallurgical knowledge. Market demands require
40
high quality steel with narrow tolerances for the
allowed chemical composition.
Various constraints determine whether production
orders may be combined to heats, and which heats
may be cast consecutively in the same sequence.
Typically, these constraints deal with the chemical
composition of the desired steel. They also prescribe
which corrective measures (quality separations,
tundish changes) are required to consecutively cast
heats which violate these constraints.
If
the overlap of the carbon tolerances
of several orders is lower than a limit
Then
they must not be combined to a heat
If
the median carbon concentrations of
two consecutive heats differs by more
than a limit
Then
a quality separation is required
Fig. 1 Examples of metallurgical knowwledge
In addition, experience with the plant has taught
acceptable tolerances in casting certain grades of
steel (such as minimal and maximal casting veloci-
ties, or allowed variations in the width of a slab).
The constraints, described so far deal with the needs
of the casters and the tundishes respectively. In
addition, there are constraints dealing with the
other aggregates of the plant. They typically depend
on the chemical composition of the desired steel as
well.
Treatment times and (if necessary) waiting times for
various production steps are given as standards,
which have to be met.
Planning knowledge. Dispatchers have developed
strategies which allow them to meet the throughput
requirements of the plant while meeting the quality
constraints for the steel to be cast. Since dispatchers
do not have the time to try a large number of permu-
tations of several hundred orders they have devel-
oped heuristics describing schedule schemata which
are likely to yield successful sequences. Scheduling
for the dispatchers is applying these schemata to
the set of heats.
Scheduling knowledge. Various constraints are typ-
ical for any scheduling problem. For example it is
not possible to treat a heat at two different aggre-
gates at the same time. There are due dates which
must not be missed, etc.
Difficulties in Scheduling
At a minimum, 150 orders have to be combined to
heats to form a schedule. The resulting heats have
to be arranged to a legal schedule. Often several
combinations are possible which might result in
radical differences in the' schedule later on. Nor-
mally there are about 20 different steelgrades in the
pool for one day (the Linz-plant produces about 2000
different steelgrades).
The dispatchers cannot check the multitude of pro-
duction constraints for the scheduled sequence. As a
result dispatchers often combine orders illegally to
heats and they often build sequences of heats t h a t
must not be cast in this order. Negative effects on
the quality or expensive corrective actions are the
consequence.
Due to the differences in the time it takes to pro-
duce, treat and cast a heat, stops of the sequence are
unavoidable. The dispatchers are not able to calcu-
late the expected production times for each heat of a
given sequence. Therefore these - in principal fore-
seeable - stops and the required new preparation of
the caster cannot be predicted by the dispatchers.
This is a disadvantage because such (predictable)
stops might otherwise be used to produce certain
steelgrades which, due to their chemical composi-
tion, also force such stops.
Why an Expert System
The dispatchers work at their limits, but the market
demands (small tolerances for the chemical compo-
sition, j u s t in time delivery) are still increasing.
Therefore a computer aid >r the dispatcher's sched-
uling activities is necessary. Expert system technol-
ogy seemed to be the best way to meet the challenge,
for several reasons.
- Conventional scheduling methods (such as job
shop scheduling) were not possible due to the strin-
gent constraints on consecutive heats.
- Metallurgical knowledge was already available in
rule form.
- Planning strategies could easily be captured in
rule form.
- The planning strategies were imprecisely formu-
lated and sometimes conflicting. An iterative devel-
opment style (prototyping) was required.
- Scheduling constraints are sometimes changing.
Moreover at the beginning of development these
were neither complete nor consistent. It had to be
possible to change the knowledge base easily.
41
INITIAL PROTOTYPES
First Prototype
As a first development step we took the available
parts of the metallurgical knowledge, and put it into
the knowledge base. With this knowledge it was pos-
sible to select all combinable orders relatively to a
specific order ("combining rules") and to select all
sequenceable heats relatively to a specific heat
("sequencing rules"). Additional knowledge in the
knowledge base was determined how to select the
best order from the set of feasible orders ("best next
order rules").
Scheduling with this first prototype was done in the
following way. All orders of the pool were loaded into
the knowledge base. An initial order was selected by
the user. Then the systemrepeatedly performed the
following steps. It decided whether it should look for
an order to start a new heat (applying the "sequenc-
ing rules" and the "best next order rules") or for an
order to complete a h e a t (applying additionally the
"combining rules"). The so found heats were added
to the actual schedule. If the schedule couldn't be
continued, the prototype removed the last found
order from the sequence and looked again for a next
order. If this was not possible too, it asked the user
what to do.
The prototype proved t h a t the problem could in
principal be solved with expert system technology,
allthough the dispatcher's schedules were better
than the system's. We had to add missing knowl-
edge, like knowledge about tundish changes, deal-
ing with the lifetime and with the minimal
utilization time of a tundish, as well as some other
aggregate specific knowledge.
The improved version of the first prototype rendered
much better schedules, but still they were not satis-
factory, because they weren't as good as the dis-
patcher's. In addition the speed of the system was
quite low (about 50 minutes for one schedule). Plan-
ning time for a whole production sequence (for one
day) with this system was shorter than the dis-
patcher's planning time, but dispatchers have to
react quickly to disturbances in the steelmaking
process. For this task our system couldn't be of any
help.
Supplementing the prototype we started to develop
a program, t h a t takes a sequence of heats as input
and calculates the time required for the individual
steps in producing, treating and casting of the heats.
We needed such a program to be able to predict
interruptions of the sequence because of time con-
straints. We decided to implement this complex task
by conventional methods.
For each h e a t the minimal and maximal casting
time are calculated, taking into account limits for
the casting velocity and the changes in the widths of
consecutive slabs. Also quality separations and
tundish changes have to be considered because they
influence the minimal and maximal allowed casting
velocity.
Next, we calculate all treatment- and waiting-times.
The goal is to produce the heats as fast as possible
but as slow as necessary in order for the sequence
not to stop.
Second prototype
Before dispatchers begin to schedule, they build
groups of similar orders. Many planning strategies
deal with groups of orders as well. This alternative
approach seemed to be promising and was the start-
ing point for our second prototype.
THE CURRENT SYSTEM - VASE
Basic Ideas of VASE
Based on the experience gained with the initial pro-
totypes described above, we decided not to try to
improve the existing prototype but to develop a new
system. The new system was to be developed as a
"hybrid" system, i.e., only the "intelligent" part of
the scheduling process (the planning strategies of
the dispatchers), should be kept in the knowledge
base. The rest was to be put in external C-routines.
This should result in
- Clear separation of the different types of knowl-
edge and therefore an easier maintenability.
- Much better performance due to the use of C.

We developed a pattern matching algorithm to build

groups of similar orders. Similar means t h a t these Components of VASE
orders can be cast in arbitrary order without any
corrective actions at the caster. These groups Fig.2 gives an overview of the components of VASE.
became the new input for the expert system.

The method of scheduling changed slightly. The first

step was now to load information about the groups,
like "vacuum treatment is necessary for all orders in
[ Preprocessing |
the group" into the knowledge base. Then a loop was
| of orders I
started. Based on some simple criteria one or more
of these groups were selected to become the new
pool. The system then performed the same actions
as the first prototype. After finishing one tundish,
all remaining orders were put backinto the initial
pool, and the expert system selected one or more of I Scheduling Calculation \
of heats of production
groups to become the new pool.
times J
As the scheduling was based on preprocessed data it
was easier to implement planning strategies. The
addition of planning strategies and the use of groups
were the major improvements of the second proto-
type. Besides we made some further little enhance-
ments of the knowledge base.

The schedules generated by the second prototype

were much better t h a n those generated by the first
prototype. They were always correct but if a dis-
patcher's schedule was correct it was preferable.
Performance was improved, but the system still was
too slow.
Fig.2 Structure of VASE
Preprocessing of the set of orders. VASE begins with
a set of orders. A C program preprocesses the orders
and prepares the relevant knowledge for schedul-
ing. The following actions are preformed:

Results of the initial prototypes - Transformation of a set of orders to a set of heats

All though the expert system scheduled much faster
than the dispatcher, it was too slow for use in prac-
tice. The number of rules now was so big t h a t main-
tenance of the system turned out to be not as easy as
expected. All types of knowledge were freely inter-
mingled in the system.
- Grouping of heats of equal chemical composition to
"cliques"
- Generation of information about the cliques
- Generation of information about the relationships
between the cliques, e.g., clique x and clique y may
be cast in arbitrary order without quality separation

42
- Arrangement of similar cliques in metacliques, so
that all heats of one metaclique might be cast in
arbitrary order
All metallurgical knowledge is included in this C-
program. If other parts have to use such knowledge,
they use condensed information that is generated
here. Should the metallurgical knowledge change
only the preprocessing routines have to be updated.
Knowledge base. The knowledge base holds the
planning strategies, which describe what kind of
orders yield successful production sequences. The
planning strategies are used to rank the various
cliques according to their suitability for adding
them to the actual schedule.
If
Desired caster is twostranded
Then
begin sequence with heats that require
vacuum treatment
Fig. 3 Example for planning strategies
Scheduling of heats. The ranking of the cliques is
taken by a C-program, which identifies the meta-
clique containing the best ranked clique. The heats
of this metaclique are then scheduled using con-
densed information generated by the preprocessing
step. Only correct sequences of heats are established
and the differences in the widths of the slabs are
minimized.
The program stops if either the tundish is fully uti-
lized or if the metaclique is empty. Then control is
handed back to the knowledge based component.
Calculation of production times. Production times
are now calculated for the resulting schedule. In
addition, further integrity checks are performed on
the schedule. The calculated time points are written
into the data base, the knowledge based component
is informed whether the sequence can be cast and if
there are time restrictions for the next heats due to
the calculated results.
These results influence the ranking of the remain-
ing cliques, which is done next.
Schedule optimizer. There are criteria for schedul-
ing which refer to a complete schedule and not to
individual heats and they cannot be considered dur-
ing scheduling. It is possible to improve schedules
by shifting tundish changes, by changing the order
of the tundishes or by inverting the sequence of
heats of a tundish.
Results of VASE
On the one hand dispatchers are not able to check
43
and fulfill all production rules manually, therefore
their schedules sometimes include illegally com-
bined orders and heats in an illegal order. On the
other h a n d dispatchers sometimes deliberately vio-
lated production rules because they know or hoped,
t h a t these violations have no negative effect on the
quality of the slabs. This led to a reformulation of
the production rules. This reformulation was
repeated since the first tests of VASE.
The production rules had to be made relatively sim-
ple for manual scheduling, because they cannot be
adhered to by men otherwise. Now, they can be as
complex as required, because there is almost no
limit in the number and in the complexity of the
rules for the computer.
Allthough dispatchers frequently violate production
rules, in relatively simple situations the dispatchers
are able to establish legal schedules. In such situa-
tions comparisons between VASE and the dis-
patcher showed that VASE's schedules are as good
as the dispatcher's, sometimes better. But the
strength of VASE lies of course in difficult schedul-
ing situations, when the dispatcher is not able to
generate correct schedules.
Calculation of the times necessary for the various
production steps could not be performed by the dis-
patchers. VASE provides this information and can
adapt schedules by utilizing knowledge about
expected stops in a sequence.
All tests showed t h a t VASE is now fast enough to
help also in rescheduling situations. It takes about
one minute to establish a schedule for one day.
LESSONS LEARNED
The following summarizes our experiences during
the development of VASE. These lessons should
equally apply to other expert system projects for
similar problems.
- First of all we saw, we could solve our problem
using expert system technology.
- At the beginning of development knowledge about
scheduling was ill-structured and incomplete. The
chosen prototyping approach made it possible to
tackle the problem. During development old knowl-
edge was re-examined and new knowledge was dis-
covered, a process which is typical for many expert
system projects.
- If the knowledge base grows very big, (i.e. it con-
tains many rules and objects) performance problems
might occur. A generous amount of main memory
and a fast machine are helpful.
- Knowledge representation in rules only does not fit
complex problems. Therefore the choice of a tool or a
programming language should also be based on
whether alternative forms of knowledge representa-
tions are available.
- A crucial point in building an expert system is
knowledge acquisition. It is very important to have
highly motivated experts. Prototyping helps in this
process, because one sees early, whether the prevail-
ing acquired knowledge is correct or not. Prototyp-
ing also helps to motivate the expert, because he can
see how his ideas are used to solve the problem.
- Filling the knowledge base is more than only trans-
lating the expert's knowledge in rule form. The
knowledge engineer has to know exactly how the
inference engine is working.
- Prototyping proved to be very helpful in building
an expert system. It helps in knowledge acquisition
and allows to test new ides quickly (without recod-
ing as often in conventional programming).
- It is often said that maintenance in expert systems
can be done easily, l b indeed make maintenance
easy it is very important to structure the knowledge
base in different modules and to use different forms
of knowledge representation for different parts of
the problem solution. Also it is very important to
have a tool that offers powerful debugging methods.
- Stand alone expert systems often are not sufficient.
They have to be embedded in standard software like
databases and they should give the possibility to
integrate them with conventional software.
- In literature one can often read about the explana-
tion component of expert systems. We saw that this
component is often not sufficient for the user of the
expert system.
- Some expert system shells offer consistence checks
of the knowledge base. Typically these checks are
done in too trivial a fashion.
- Expert systems should not be limited to one (espe-
cially the developer's) machine. Of course it easier to
develop an expert system on a workstation, but
often the target machine might be a PC. Moving
between platforms has to be done easily.
- We saw that using backward chaining as inference
strategy makes it easier to develop and maintain a
system, allthough the risk to program the knowl-
edge base very algorithmicly is high.
- NEXPERT OBJECT proved to be a good choice. It
offers different forms of knowledge representation
(rules, classes and objects), can be easily embedded
in other software and has powerful debugging fea-
tures.
- It is often quite straightforward to translate the
rules into a conventional program, if this turns out
44
to be necessary (e.g. because of performance rea-
sons), especially if one uses backward chaining as
inference process.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
Improvements of VASE
We plan to improve VASE in two ways. First we
want to include missing knowledge. Secondly prac-
tice with VASE will help to develop or uncover new
scheduling knowledge, which also will be includea-
ble.
A very important topic will be the addition of real
time features. This means that VASE should be able
to react to events in the production process. Prob-
lems in the production process may require heats to
be rescheduled; sometimes it will be sufficient to
shift the production times. This is currently done by
the dispatchers.
Scheduling Shell
We started to develop a scheduling shell, which
facilitates the development of a scheduling system.
The shell will already contain domain independent
scheduling knowledge. Adaptations to an existing
facility by adding domain specific knowledge will be
simple. The shell will be coupled with a consistency-
and completeness checker (developed by RISC-
Linz). It will reduce the development time for a
scheduling system for our personnel.
CONCLUSIONS
The development of VASE showed that expert sys-
tem technology is an adequate approach to solve
complex scheduling problems (in a steel plant). The
increasing market demands (narrower tolerances
for the chemical composition, just in time delivery)
makes it more and more difficult for the human
experts to adhere the rules of production. The use of
VASE guarantees that all production prescriptions
are fulfilled and will therefore lead to a planable
quality control in the steel plant. VASE has been
designed for easy adaptation to new scheduling con-
straints.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We want to thank Dipl.Ing. J. Neuwirth, VOEST-
Alpine Stahl, whose scheduling knowledge made
the development of VASE possible. We also want to
thank the various dispatchers for their assistance
during the development of the system.
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

AN EXPERT SYSTEM TO AID OPERATION OF BLAST

FURNACE
T.H. Choi*, S.H. Yi*, I.O. Lee*, H.G. Lee** and J.G. Jin***

^Department oflronmaking, RIST, Pohang, Korea

^Department oflronmaking, POSCO, Pohang, Korea
***Department of Instrumentation & Control, POSCO, Pohang, Korea

Abstract. An expert system has been developed to support the

blast furnace operation in the integrated iron and steel making
works. In the present study, the knowledge bases were built up,
which diagnosed the formation of a lower part inactive zone and
and the unstable condition of inner furnace gas flow. In order to
enhance the diagnostic resolution and the robustness to counter-
act various furnace abnormalities, the data acquired by several
sensors, which were installed in the blast furnace, they were
pre-treated before using them as input sources for the diagnosis.
The developed expert system diagnosed the real on-line process
of the blast furnace operation rapidly and precisely.

Keywords. Artificial intelligence; expert system; knowledge

engineering; blast furnace operation.

INTRODUCTION 2) difficulties in revising the existing models

The control for sound blast furnace operation
tends to depend on operator's experience during
operation. However, the men's abilites to make a
quick judgement and to take appropriate actions
against the gradual changes of in-furnace condi-
tions are limited technically as well as psycholo-
gically. As a result, different measures could
made by each operator for similar in-furnace
conditions. Until now, many numerical and statis-
tical models attempted to simulate the in-furnace
conditions of the blast furnace, but they could
not overcome the following limitations;
1) difficulties in expressing the knowledge of
experienced operators quantitatively,
by themselves.
In order to compensate for the limitations of the
conventional approaches, the expert system which
solves the problems in a specific field based on
the knowledge and experience of the operators, has
emerged with its most useful features.
An on-line based expert system which applys the
knowledge engineering methods, was equipped to the
existing computer system of POSCO (Pohang Iron &
Steel CO.) No.3 B.F. since April of 1990.
In this report, the procedures of system integra-
tion will be described including the pre-treatment
processing of data and knowledge base, which were

BF P/C AI Processor

Machine(A60) Tool(ElXAX 11)

Temp.

YEWCOM
-8000 Data Data Inference Engine
Gathering Processing ">

1
Data Base
A
KB

Operational Actions
_(^1VC CRT

Fig. 1. Overall structure of the expert system.

45
mainly performed by the statistical analysis of
past operation data as well as with the know-how
of operation experts.

STRUCTURE OF THE EXPERT SYSTEM

Figure 1 shows the configuration of the expert

system for No. 3 B.F. at POSCO. The system
comprises of a process computer, AI(Artificial
Intelligence) processor, DDC(Direct Digital
Controller) and PLCCProgramable Logic Controller).

The process computer collects operational data

from the sensors and then, transfers them to the
AI processor. Those operational data are pre-
treated for final reasoning about the current
in-furnace condition, combining with knowledge
bases. Approximately 700 points of sensor data are
stored for every minute in the process and 200
points of these are selected as the pre-processing
data used for discriminating each in-furnace
condition. The results from the hourly reasoning
are displayed on the end user's graphic terminal.

The system has a unique advantage in separating

the operation system from the development system,
which facilitates the pretesting in advance and
rapid inference.

DATA PROCESSING

A blast furnace consists of very complicated

facilities which require the operator's attention.
Its main feature is a long time-lag of about 5 to
6 hours between charging raw material at the top
of the furnace and discharging hot metal at the
bottom. Also it is difficult to describe the in-
Fig. 2. Sensor data processing.
furnace conditions from the explict data reading
through the sensors. As a result, most operators
believed that each sensing data only stood for the
instantenous change of the in-furnace conditions, In order to understand the transition of indices
which has resulted in incomplete diagnosis. calculated in the primary and secondary processing,
the correlation between each index was analysed
As a means to solve the limitations on the sensing and the level, fluctuation, gradient and integral
and conceptualizing of the data trend recognition value were compared at this stage. The results
which was done through the operator's own experi- were stored in the memory and used as actual data
ence, a data pre-treatment process is required for reasoning.
prior to the system integration.

In the present study, various cases of markedly

changed in-furnace conditions were gathered and
analyzed statistically. The basic concept of data
pre-treatment processing is illustrated in Fig.2.
As seen in the figure, the sensor data were proce-
ssed in three steps.
Primary Processing
In this processing, four types of processing
methods were applied to determine the specific in
-furnace patterns. These were as follows;
a) circumferencial balance
b) vertical balance
c) standard deviation
d) comparison of level & variation
Each index was calculated by comparing sensor data
to definite standard value.
Secondary Processing
Characteristics of the index connected with a
change of in-furnace condition, such as fluctu-
ation, duration and relationship were analyzed by
the use of a statistical method.
Tertiary Processing
CONSTRUCTION AND FEATURES OF
THE KNOWLEDGE BASE
Basic Conception
The procedure on the abnormal behavior of in-
furnace conditions can be divided into three
stages as shown in Fig.3, which were deduced from
operational experience and performance data
accumulated over a long time. The profile of gas
flow within the furnace is usually changed by
external disturbances, related to raw materials
quality, burden distribution, e t c as the first
stage of abnormal conditions.
The furnace irregularities can be recognized by
the unusual behavior of sensing data. In more
severe situations, the degree of deviation between
current and standard gas flow profiles becomes
greater, accompanying the worse permeability and
excessive heat load on the counter part of the
furnace. Finally, such abnormal phenomena inevi-
tably bring about frequent slips and drops, and a
lessened wind rate due to the deterioration of gas
permeability.
The aim of the system is to prevent unstable
furnace conditions by the early detection of the
variation in gas flow profiles (e.g. circumfer-

46
encial and vertical balances etc.) which are
regarded as the typical cause of advanced abnor-
malities in blast furnace operation.
The knowledge base was built up to diagnose the
abnormal conditions of blast furnace operations
with respect to the formation of inactive zone at
the lower part of the furnace and the unstable
conditions of inner furnace gas flow.
Variation of circumferential
First balance
st ace
Variation of vertical balance
diagnosis. In the first stage, the variations on
circumferential and vertical balance were investi-
gated in order to diagnose the primary phenomena
of the unstable conditions and to prepare the fol-
lowing action guidances. In the second stage, the
blowing condition and heat level were investigated
and action guidances were proposed to prevent
unstable gas flow.
Figure 5 shows the structure of the knowledge base
for the unstable gas flow diagnosis.
(First stage diagnosis)
Vertical balance KS First action guidance

V Circumferential
Burden distribution
control - I
Short term fluctuation of shaft balance KS
Second temperature & pressure

0
stage
Permeability change

0 (Second stage diagnosi s)

Blowing condition KS Second action guidance

Third SIip & drop
stage
Heat level variation Burden distribution
Heat level KS control - 11

Fig. 3. Procedure on the abnormal behavior of

in-furnace conditions.
Fig. 5. Configuration of the knowledge base
of unstable gas flow diagnosis.

DIAGNOSIS OF THE FORMATION OF INACTIVE

ZONE AT THE LOWER PART OF THE FURNACE
The knowledge base consists of two stages of
diagnosis, as follows. In the first stage, the
initial phenomena of inactive zone formation were
diagnosed such as the decreasing of the lower
shaft temperature, the deepening of the central
gas flow and the lowering of the root of cohesive
zone. Due to the results of this diagnosis, action
guidances were proposed to prevent the fluctuation
of the shaft temperature and the pressure profile.
In the second stage, the deepening status of the
inactive zone formation was diagnosed and action
guidances were proposed to prevent long term
unstable conditions.
Figure 4 shows the structure of the knowledge base
for the inactive zone formation diagnosis.
RESULTS OF THE APPLICATION ON A REAL
BLAST FURNACE
Consideration about Blast Furnace Application
This expert system was implemented to the on-line
process by using the EIXAX knowledge engineering
environment, FORTRAN and C languages, etc. A FUJI-
A 60 workstation was exclusively connected to the
existing process computer. In order to make the
expert system user-friendly and to provide useful
information, an user environment was developed,
such as the setting of standard data for diagnosis
and the display of the diagnosis results on a CRT
(Cathode Ray Tube) monitor. The knowledge bases
have 310 rules and 13 frames.
Results of the Application

(First stage diagnosis)
Lower shaft temp. KS
Central gas flow KS
Cohesive zone KS
V By contrast,
(Second stage diagnosis)
Short term variation KS
Heat level KS
First action guidance
Burden distribution
control
Second action guidance
0/C, PCI, Vb control
This expert system makes inferences, judgments and
action guidances every hour based on the data
acquired at 10 minutes intervals.
Figure 6 shows the diagnosis results of the inact-
ive zone formation and operation trend. There, the
operator could not recognize the initial phenomena
of inactive zone formation which caused the decre-
ase in lower shaft temperature and the bed permea-
bility, etc., resulting in no operator's actions.
the expert system detected the
initial phenomena and suggested the action one day
before.
As seen in Fig. 7 illustrating the diagnosis
results of an unstable gas flow, the expert system
also detected the unstable furnace condition very
well and suggested the action guidance in time.

The blast furnace operation results with and with-

Fig. 4. Configuration of the knowledge base
of inactive zone diagnosis.
DIAGNOSIS OF THE UNSTABLE CONDITIONS
OF THE INNER FURNACE GAS FLOW
This knowledge base also consists of two stages of
out the application of expert system were compared
in Fig.8. There were a lot of slip, drop and unst-
ableness of heat level without the expert system.
However, the number of slips and drops decreased
remarkably after the application of the expert
system, and the furnace was more stabilized than
when it was operated without the expert system.

47
 400
Cross sonde |
temp. No.l
( ' C) 3001

(lower zone)

Certainty 8|
factor of
diagnostic
results(%)

'90 12/19 20 22 23 24 26
Time(day)
Fig. 6. Operation trend and diagnostic results in case of
inactive zone formation.

Cross sonde
temp, no.l
( * C) 260

220

2.

*+*S
K(lower)

Throat temp.
( * C)
100

300

SP1 (kg/erf)
3.1

Certainty 80
factor of
diagnostic 40 Charging mode
results(%) (by operator)
change(by E/S)
0
<J0 9/9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Time(day)

Fig. 7. Operation trend and diagnostic results in case of unstable

gas flow.

Without theapplication With the application

of expert system of expert system

F.R.(Kg/t-p)

H.M.T..( ' C)

...
(-)

SI ip & drop
(-)
20

90.1 4 5
Time (month)
Fig. 8. Comparison of blast furnace operation results with
and without the application of expert system.

48
 CONCLUSION

The expert system developed in this study showed

rapid and precise diagnosis of a real on-line
process for blast furnace operations. And the
system's prevention guide to the future furnace
irregularities turned out to be very useful for
the blast furnace operation. Also, it was possible
to improve the standardization of each operator's
knowledge.

REFERENCES

AMANO.S. (1990). Expert System for Blast Furnace

Operation at Kimitsu Works. ISIJ interna-
tional, 3a. 105-110.
CH0I,T.H. (1991). An Expert System to Aid Blast
Furnace Operation Using Artificial Neural
Network Techniques. HWAHAK KONGHAK, 29,
270-283.
LEVINE.R.I. (1986). Developing an Artificial
Intelligence System. A Comprehensive Guide
to AI and Expert Systems. McGRAW-HILL, N.Y.,
10pp.
NAKAJIMA,R. (1987). Development and Application of
Blast Furnace Operation Control Expert
System Making Use of Artificial Intelli-
gence. ISLL, 73, 2100-2107
SAT0,T. (1985). Operation Control System for
Blast Furnace at Ohgishima. NIPPON 0AN
TECHNICAL REPORT, 44, 1-12.

49
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

A HYBRID EXPERT SYSTEM COMBINED WITH A

MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR BOF PROCESS CONTROL
T. Yoshida*, H. Tottori*, K. Sakane*, K. Arima*, H. Yamane** and M. Kanemoto**
^Electronics and Information Systems Division, Nippon Steel Corporation, Chikko Yawata-cho, Sakai,
Osaka-fu 590, Japan
**Technical Division, Sakai Works, Nippon Steel Corporation, Chikko Yawata-cho, Sakai, Osaka-fu 590, Japan

Abstract, Nippon Steel Corporation has developed the new blowing control system
which incorporates empirical knowledge of operators in its knowledge base. The
system applies a rule-based reasoning technique to improve the output of the
presently available mathematical models. It also utilizes fuzzy reasoning to
estimate the in-furnace reactions, for which a mathematical model can hardly be
utilized. As a result, it has become possible to perform blowing control more
accurately than does the operator.

Keywords. Knowledge engineering; Real-time expert system; Fuzzy system;

Blowing control; Refining process.

INTRODUCTION chemical composition of steel and the tempera-

The application of computer control system and
the development of sub-lance measuring tech-
nique has remarkably improved the accuracy of
blowing control in the basic oxygen furnace
(BOF). Recently, requirements for blowing
control have become increasingly severe to
meet the increase in continuous casting ratio
and the widespread use of hot metal pretreat-
ment. In order to satisfy such requirements,
the blowing control accuracy must be further
improved.
The conventional blowing control system con-
sists of two subsystems. The first subsystem
is static control model based on the informa-
tion obtained before the start of the blowing.
The second subsystem is dynamic control model
based on the process signals representing the
state of the refining during the blowing.
The static control model calculates the
initial condition of the raw material charging
and oxygen blowing based on heat balance and
material balance using statistical processing
method. This model performs calculations using
only quantitative data obtained from sensors,
and qualitative data is not reflected. There-
fore, the output for the control contains some
errors due to the inaccuracy of the model.
The dynamic control model predicts the blow-
end carbon content and temperature based on
the measured values of carbon content and
temperature using sub-lance during blowing. It
calculates the amounts of the coolant charging
and the volume of the oxygen blowing based on
the predicted values. Among the actual in-fur-
nace reactions, only the temperature rise of
steel and decarbonization reaction are consid-
ered in the conventional dynamic model. It has
been well known that the slag formation reac-
tions are closely related to the blow-end
ture. As the slag formation reactions are not
reflected in the conventional model, this sets
another limit on the accuracy of the predicted
values of the blow-end carbon content of steel
and the temperature. Moreover, it is very
difficult to predict and control the blow-end
phosphorus content and manganese content of
steel using this model. In view of these
problems, in the actual operation, an operator
determines control values using his empirical
knowledge and know-how, in addition to the
calculation results by blowing control models.
However, the accuracy of control depends on
the skills of the operator.
Nippon Steel Corporation has developed the new
blowing control system by applying knowledge
engineering. The feature of the new system are
as follows:
(l)In the static control model, rule-based
reasoning has been applied to systematize
the empirical operator's knowledge for
correcting of error factors in control
values.
(2)In the dynamic control model, fuzzy
reasoning is applied to the new model
with practical dimensional size, that
follows changes in in-furnace reaction.
This paper describes the newly developed hy-
brid expert system for blowing control combin-
ed with mathematical model and the application
results in the actual BOF operation.
OUTLINE OF BOF BLOWING PROCESS
AND BLOWING CONTROL SYSTEM
The outline of BOF equipment is shown in Fig.l.

51
 Exhaust gas analysis
Gas analyzer
(Mass spectrometer)
Process
computer p^y3-Slag
A ^ - ^ Molten
i steel
L
-0
-o
Bottom blowing
gas rate
Exhaust gas flow rate
Gas flow meter
Fig. 1. Outline of BOF process
Scrap and hot metal are charged from the
vessel mouth. Then, pure oxygen is blown into
the molten metal through the main-lance.
Coolant and flux, such as iron ore, manganese-
ore, lime, and fluorspar, are charged in order
to control the slag formation reaction and
adjust the values of chemical compositions and
temperature in molten steel. Bottom-blowing
equipment which blows carbon dioxide gas into
the molten steel through the nozzle is provid-
ed to promote the refining reaction by agitat-
ing the molten steel. In the final stage of
the blowing, the sub-lance is inserted into
the furnace to measure the temperature and
carbon content of molten steel.
The configuration of conventional blowing con-
trol system is shown in Fig. 2. Before the
start of the blowing, the static control model
calculates the volume of the oxygen blowing,
the amounts and timing of the flux and cool-
ant charging, the pattern of the lance height,
and the pattern of the bottom-blowing gas
volume based on the material balance and heat
balance. This model is unable to adjust the
Control period
of dynamic modell
A reaction is related to the formation of slag
Start of blow
Sub-lance measurement End of blow
Fig. 2. Conventional blowing control.
course of refining following the variations in
the reactions during the blowing. Therefore,
the static control model is usually utilized
to specify the initial condition of the blow-
ing as auxiliary to the dynamic control model.
The dynamic control model calculates the
volume of oxygen and the amount of coolant re-
quired to hit the blow-end carbon content and
the temperature on the basis of the measured
values of steel by sub-lance.
Actually, because of the continuity of blow-
ing, the two models are mutually dependent
strongly on each other. For example, when the
*c*- static model has poor accuracy, the control
action during blowing increases, and the con-
tinuity of the blowing is impaired by dis-
turbance in the in-furnace reactions. If such
a condition continues, the accuracy of the
static model gets worse, and as a result, the
total accuracy of blowing control also gets
worse.
The static control model is expressed by
Eq. (1).
[Control value] f(Xi ,x2 , , x n ) (1).
In the Eq. (1), f is function based on materi-
al and heat balance, ,2,, are quanti-
tative data automatically obtained from sen-
sors, and e is an error term. The error is
statistically processed and is mainly caused
by qualitative factors which are not reflected
in function (f), such as, furnace heat retain-
ing condition, a condition of slag remaining
in furnace. In the actual operation, the
operator corrects this error term.
The accuracy of the dynamic control model
depends largely on the following three in-fur-
nace reactions.
The first is decarbonization reaction. In the
dynamic control model, the relationship
between decarbonization efficiency (dC/d02 )
and carbon content of steel is expressed by
Eq. (2):
dC [1 - exp {-(C-a2)/a3} ] , (2)
dO,
Control
where ai ,a2 ,a3 are parameters.
Target
period I J
of static
The second is temperature rise. In the dynamic
model model, the relationship between temperature
rise efficiency (dT/d02) and decarbonization
efficiency is expressed by Eq. (3):
dT
d02 a
* ^ d02 ; (3)
where a4 , as are parameters.
The dynamic model determines the control val-
ues by solving Eq.(2) and (3) using measured
values of temperature and carbon content as
the initial values.
The third is slag formation reaction. This
A
which consists of lime and oxides of iron,
phosphorus, manganese, silicon, etc. It has
significant effect on decarbonization
52
and temperature rise reactions, and causes the
parameters in Eq.(2) and (3) to fluctuate.
However, an accurate theoretical model of this
reaction has not been developed. Therefore,
not only the accuracy of the control values of
temperature and carbon content gets worse, but
also the control of phosphorus and manganese
contents is difficult. In the actual opera-
tion, the operator estimates the condition of
slag formation, corrects the parameters of
dynamic model, and controls the contents of
phosphorus and manganese based on his empiri-
cal knowledge.
In order to solve those problems in the con-
ventional blowing control and enable the
accuracy of temperature and carbon content
control to be improved and the control of
phosphorus and manganese contents to be auto-
mated, Nippon Steel Corporation has developed
a hybrid control system which incorporates the
existing mathematical models and systematized
knowledge of skilled operators.
SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
The configuration of the newly developed hy-
brid control system is shown in Fig. 3. This
system consists of the existing process con-
trol computer and a newly installed computer
for the expert system. The process control
computer collects and transmits process data
to the expert system computer. The expert sys-
tem computer consists of three subsystems
process data receive processing, mathematical
model, and reasoning. Data received from the
process computer is stored in an intermediate
file, which is a data base for heats of the
immediate past. The reasoning subsystem con-
sists mainly of production rules and frames.
Fuzzy reasoning is performed by calling the
LISP function from the production rules. The
results of reasoning are displayed on the dis-
pay terminal for operation guidance. The math-
ematical model subsystem is called from the
reasoning subsystem. In the new system, the
mathematical models are installed in the
expert system computer for high speed calcula-
tion.
-
Expert system
process computer
-computer
r\
-On-line system-
Data Date , . .
collec- reception |_j\ ' [ Reasoning
tion^ subsystem
fftftfD Intermediate!
T~T
Mathematical!
Process file model
data subsystem
Copy
i-Off-line system^
Reasoning
U
subsystem
JZL
Mathematical
L
Qualitative
data input
model
subsystem |
Fig. 3. Configuration of the new system.
THE NEWLY DEVELOPED BLOWING
CONTROL SYSTEM
In the new control system, knowledge of opera-
tor is divided into three functional groups.
First group compensates the static model, sec-
ond estimates and controls the slag formation,
and third corrects the parameters of dynamic
model. Figure 4. shows the diagram of the new
blowing control system.
Reasoning Compensating the Static Control
Model
The conventional static control model is ex-
pressed by Eq. (1). In Eq. (1), e is error
term, and it is determined by statistically
processing. This term depends on two groups of
factors. The first group of factors are not
reflected in the model, because they are
qualitative data and difficult to be expressed
using mathematical model. For example, the
furnace heat retaining condition, the remain-
ing slag condition in the furnace, the opening
of the bottom-blowing nozzle, are very diffi-
cult to be quantitatively measured, and so it
is very difficult to express them by mathemat-
ical model. The second is the group of factors
which depends on changing of reaction and er-
rors of quantitative data between and during
blowing. In the new system, first group of er-
ror is systematized using production rule.
As a result in actual operation, the accuracy
of static control is improved about 0.3% in
equivalent scrap ratio.
TABLE 1 Control Result of Reasoning
for Static Model
New Conventio-
Item system nal system
Equivalent X -0.06 -0.37
scrap ratio(%) 1.12 1.13
In this way, it has become possible to improve
the accuracy of model by systematizing quali-
tative information using symbol processing
method and combined with mathematical model.
Operation Reasoning for Estimating and Controlling the
guidance
Slag Formation
Conventionally, the slag formation is estimat-
ed based on the oxygen balance in the furnace
continuously. The amount of oxygen accumulated
in the furnace is calculated based on the
difference between the amount of oxygen input-
ted in the furnace (i.e., oxygen supplied
through the lance, and so on) and the amount
of output oxygen from the furnace (i.e., oxy-
gen contained in the exhaust gas). As the
amount of oxygen accumulated in the furnace is
related to the slag oxidation parameter, it is
53
 -30 ~ 40 min.-
Blowing sequence

Scrap charging Hot metal Start of blow Sub-lance blow-end Composition

charging measurement- measurement
T

Static model Dynamic model

Heat balance Sub-lance

Estimation and measurement
Conventional Material balance control of slag results
formation by
control
Determination of
I operator
4
Determination
the amount of Compensation when to turndown,
the oxygen, flux by operator Compensation the amount of
and coolant by operator flux and coolant

---O-
Reasoning for slag Reasoning for
Reasoning for static model formation dynamic model Leaning
of fuzzy
ES fuzzy Setting of blowing control Estimation of ' Compensation member-
end-point slag formation for dynamic ship
model with
control Compensation for static model| Action for function
the result of
with qualitative information slag formation estimation of
control slag formation

Fig. 4. Diagram of the new blowing control system.

used in the estimation of the slag formation.
However, it is not accurately estimated using
only the amount of oxygen accumulated in the
furnace, because the slag formation is affect-
ed by the chemical composition and temperature
of hot metal, the condition of slag in the
furnace, the amount of flux charging, and so
on.
know-how that contains such words as "large"
and "good" which can hardly be described quan-
titatively, the new system applies fuzzy rea-
soning. The relationship between the process
information (Xi ) and the slag formation is
expressed by the following fuzzy rule:
If Xi is A, then slag formation is B. (4)

In order to make the accurate model of slag The fuzzy rules used in this system are shown
formation, there are two problems. The first in Table 2.
is that this model is non-linear model and the
number of the dimension of state variables is
very large. Secondly, it is difficult to mea- TABLE 2 Fuzzy Rules for SI ag Formation
sure all of the data required to specify the Estimation
system state. Therefore, it is difficult to
make practically accuete model.
Conclusion
The new model has solved the problems by in- Condition part
part
Rule Weighted
stalling operator's empirical knowledge. No. Range Degree of mean
Factor Status - slag of rules
Min. Max. formation
The knowledge obtained by hearing from operat-
1-1 Large Nearly good
ors contains some degree of fuzziness as the [Si] in hot
2 Medium 0.15% 0.40% Normal 0.5
following example: metal
3 Small Nearly bad

When the silicon content of hot metal is 2-1

Hot metal
Large Nearly good

relatively large, it is very likely that 2 temperature Med ium 1450C 1150C Normal 0.5
3 Small Nearly bad
the condition of slag formation will
become good. 3-1
Oxygen
Large
Learning from
Good
2 accumulated Medium
preceding heats
Normal 1.0
in furnace
Moreover, operators estimate the slag forma- 3 Small Bad

tion using fluctuation of the pressure at the 4-1 Large Nearly good
Quantity of
food of BOF which is not theoretically 2 fluorspar Medium 1.5 t/ch 0 t/ch Normal 1.0
reflected to furnace reaction. However, it is 3 Small Normal
indicated that the slag formation is active 5-1 Large Good
Amplitude
when the hood pressure is changing widely, and 2 of hood Medium
Learning from
Normal 0.5
the slag formation is poor when the hood 3
pressure
Small
preceding heats
Bad
pressure is stable.

In order to effectively express the operator's

54
 "Medium" "Nearly Bad" "Nearly Good"
Reasoning Compensating Dynamic Control Model
"Bad" "Normal" "Good"

The dynamic control model is expressed by

Membership functions
of condition part (A)
0 + Degree of
slag forma-
Membership functions tion
of condition part (B)
Eq. (2),(3). In Eq. (2),(3), ai ,a2 ,a3 ,a* ,a5
are parameters. These are affected by the slag
formation. In the new model, these parameters
are determined using the estimated value of
the slag formation.

As a result in actual operation, accuracy of

Fig. 5. Membership functions for values of blow-end carbon content and tempera-
slag formation estimation. ture are improved in comparison with the con-
ventional model. It is assumed that the pract-
ical model for blowing control is realized by
| [RULE 1] if Xi is Big then Degree of slag formation is Good]
applying fuzzy reasoning.

;-\
. 1'
1.0
0.8
/
measured
.., l APPLICATION RESULTS
IN ACTUAL OPERATION
value ^

n-
|[RULE 2] if Xi is Medium then Degree of slag formation is Moderate]
The result of the blow-end temperature control
using the new system is shown in Fig. 7. in
0.2 comparison with the conventional system. The
0 i^L 0 center of variance of temperature controlled by the new
gravity
system decreased from 11.6 degrees to 8.2
[RULE 3] if Xi is Small then Degree of slag formation is Bad]
degrees.
The chemical cmposition control results is
shown in Fig. 8. and Fig. 9. The variances in
carbon, phosphorus, and manganese contents
Condition *-r+ Conclusio
part I part decreased, in comparison with the conventional
system.
Fig. 6. Mapping and synthesis of
membership functions.

V 1680
New system
As shown in Fig. 5, fuzzy set (A) in the con-
2 1660 a Conventional
dition part is given by three levels of mem- system
bership functions, and fuzzy set (B) in the CO

.jfK
SJ 1640
conclusion part is given by five levels of
membership functions.
The way deriving fuzzy set of a conclusion
I
1620
part from a fuzzy set of a condition part is m
o
as shown in Fig. 6. +J 1600
i -l
P
The weighted means of all of the fuzzy rules <S 1580
1580 1600 1620 1640 1660 1680
are summed to get a value of a slag formation.
Target of temperature at blow-end (C)
The membership function for oxygen accumulated
in the furnace quitely changes with past heat-
s. Therefore, the new system learns the mem- Fig. 7. Result of blow-end
bership functions for conclusion part of fuzzy temperature control.
rule 3-1 to 3-3 and 5-1 to 5-3 using a learn-
ing method. The method is parallel displacing
the membership functions to minimize differ- 60
ence between the actual results of slag forma- New System
tion in past heats and their calculated value- S ^ 50 h D Conventional
s. system
o o 40

The slag formation is controlled by the esti- 30

_
D
mated results obtained by the above-mentioned
20 D
"D" eQ , D ft D
method, in order to control blow-end phospho- Q G
rus and manganese contents, because they 10
are closely related to the slag formation re-
1 1 1 1
action. The control law is production rule 10 20 30
based on the operatorfs empirical knowledge.
[C] at the blow-end ( 10
-2 % )

As a result in actual operation, the accuracy

of blow-end phosphorus and manganese contents Fig. 8. Result of blow-end carbon
is improved compared with the conventional and phosphorus control.
method.

55
 ^80r produced satisfactory results in an actual
2 New System
D
operation.
g o 60}- Conventional
system

40 h D
u u
a
REFERENCES

20 - Iso, H., Y. Jyono, M. Kanemoto, Y. Ueda, T.

1 1
0 10 20
2
[C] at the blow-end (x 10" %)
Fig. 9. Result of blow-end carbon
and manganese control.
The results of control are summarized in
Table 3. As shown in Table 3, the new control
system shows better results than the conven-
tional system.
The new system applying symbolic and fuzzy
method based on operator's empirical knowledge
is proved to be a effective method for model-
ing an in-furnace reaction of BOF which a
quantitative mathematical model is not
perfectly obtained.
Yoshida, and K. Isogami (1987). Dynamic
1 refining control by analysis of exhaust
30
gas from LD converter. Trans. Iron
Steel Inst. Jpn., 27, 351-356.
Iso, H., U. Ueda, T. Yoshida, S. Osada, S.
Etoh, and K. Arima (1988). Refining con-
trol of top and bottom blowing converter
by manipulating bottom-blown gas flow ra
te. Trans. Iron Steel Inst. Jpn., 28,
372-377.
Kanemoto, M. , H. Yamene, T. Yoshida, and
H. Tottori (1990). An application of
expert system to LD converter process.
Trans. Iron Steel Inst. Jpn., 30, 128-
135.
Shimada, M. , S. Oishi, N. Iwano, K. Naito and
M. Maeda (1969). Computer control of
BOF. Seitetsu Kenkyu, 266, 136-141.

TABLE 3 Comparison of Results

a t Blow -end

New Conventio-
Item system n a l system

Number of h e a t s 64 53

Blow-end X 1623.8 1623.4

temperature(C ) 8.2 11.6

Blow-end X 17.2 16.6

[C] (X10" 2 %) 2.7 3.2

Blow-end X 31.6 28.4

[P] (X10_3%) 5.0 5.6

Blow-end X 57.1 54.3

[Mn] (X10" 2 %) 5.8 7.5

CONCLUSION

By applying knowledge engineering in BOF blow-

ing control, Nippon Steel Corporation has
developed a hybrid expert system combined with
the presently available mathematical model.
The feature of the system are as follows:

(l)The static control model is compensated

using rule-based system.

(2)The slag formation is estimated using fuzzy

reasoning.

(3)The dynamic control model is compensated

using fuzzy reasoning.

We demonstrated that the new system has

56
Copyright BFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

KNOWLEDGE BASED MODEL OF THERMAL STATE OF

METALLURGICAL LADLE
M. Hadjiski*, K. Spassov* and D. Filev**
*Sofia Technology University, Department of Automation of Production, Sofia, Bulgaria
**Central Laboratory of Bioinstrumentation and Automation, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria

Abstract The paper deals with an approach t o k n o w l e d g e -based models

const ruct ion usi ng b o t h a m a t h e m a t ica 1 model a n d addi t iona 1 emp i rica 1 a n d
e x p e r t data., A c o m p l e t e m a t h e m a t i c a l ma del o-F t h e t h e r m a l state of the
!-efractory 1 i ning o f t h e m e t a 11 u r g i c a 1 1 ad 1 e for t h e new t y p e of Direct
C u i-1" e n t L a d 1 e F u r n a c e ( D C L F ) h a s b e e n w o r k e d o u t T h e LI n c e r t a i n t i e s
:
connec:ted w i t h t h e e x t e n t o f t h e 1 i ni n g erosion,, t h e coeff i.c ients of
c o n v e c t :i. v e a n d r a d i a n t h e a t t r a n s f e r? t h e 1 i q u i d steel t e m p e r a t u re, and
11"ie p o s s i b 1 e v a r i a t i o n s in t h e t e c h n o l o g i c a l s t a g e s d u r a t i o n a r e u s e d to
obtai n m e m b e r s h i p f unct :i.ons ancl ru 1 e base of a k n o w l e d g e - b a s e d fuzzy
model of t h e ladle,; T h i s model is u s e d to estimate the mean thermal
c a p a c i t y a n d t h e i n i t i a 1 t h e r m a 1 s t a t e o f 1 a d 1 e:' s 1 i n i n g , w h :i. c: h is ve r y
useful for ladle m e t a l l u r g y control. Simulation experiments data are
displayed

K e y w o r d s F u z z y m o d e 1, K n o w 1 e d g e base Lad 1 e m e t a 11 u r a v , M a t h e m a t ica 1

m o d e 1 , R u 1 e b a s e , Thermal stte

INTRODUCTION metal bath w i t h the aid of DC e l e c t r i c arc

heating system to achieve the target
In the last few y e a r s ladle m e t a l l u r g y has temperature [ !
been w i d e 1 y u s e d in hi gh q u a 1 :i. t y st ee 1 2.. To calculate the current steel
production T h e a p p e a r a n c e of a new type t e m p e r a t. u r e du r i n g t r eat me nt and i ts
0 t: D i r e c t Cu r r e nt La d 1 e Fu r n ace (DC L F) p e r d i t i o n o n t h e b a s i s CD f a p r o c e s s m CD d e 1
CD f f e r s new p CD S S i b i 1 i t i e s fo r steel and r a r e di rect m e a s u r e m e n t s o f t h e 1 i.qui d
d e s u 1 p h u r i z a t i CD n u n til ve r y 1 CD W metal temperature
c o nc e nt r at i o ns .& o b t a i n e d T he CD t h e r The met a 11 ur g i ca I. ladle :i. n ever y cycle
advantage is the thermal efficiency of p a s s e s t h r o u g h four t e c h n o 1 o g ica1 stages
DCLF and reduced thermal erosion of the C F i g 2) w i t h d i f f e r e n t du r at ion.
1 i n i ng w h i c h i s due to t he c CD n s t r u c t i v e A s DCLF" w o r k s a s a buffer b e t w e e n t h e
p e c u l i a r i t y of the electric arc heating ni e 11 i n g f u r n a c: e (B O F , E A F) a n d c o n t i n u o u s
system (Fig 1) (Bavov P. and co w o r k e r s , c a s t i ng mac h i ne., t he st ag e du r at i CD ns j .
19 8 4) n 1" h e wo r k i ng CD U t, p at e nt i ng and
C i::1 4) c a n fo e q u i t e d :i. f f e r e n t f r om
int.)"oduct:i.CDn o-F DCLi::r is i n d i c a t i v e CDf t h e
nom i na 1 du r at i o ns dep e n d i ng on t he
need to develop modern control system
o p e r a t i on condi t ions a n d s:i. tuat ions.
ensur :i. ng ternperature and ehemica 1
composit:i.CDn of the 11 quid metal,, at the
There are different approaches to the
target v a l u e s in time
ladle's initial thermal state estimations!
1., The usi ng of stat ic regression
The analysis of Ladle Furnace (LF)
m o d e 1 s i n w h i c h t h e d u r a t i CD n s j . C i ~1., 4 )
aggregates investigations (Bakakin.,
M o r CD s h i 1 o v a n d G a 1 p e r in, J. 9 8 1 , B i rat and ar e i nc 1 u ded . as f ac t o r s - Th i s ap p r oac h
P e t e n i e -f: s 19 8 7, P f e i f e r a n d c o 11 e a g u e s,, g i ves i n s u f f i c i e n 1". ace u r a c y bec ause
19 8 7 ) a n d o u r CD W n e x p e r i m e n t a 1 e x p e r i e n c e considerable influence of other
< S a v o v;| 19 S 4? I-l a d .j i :i. s k i ., Bp assov and t e c h n o l o g i c a l f e a t u r e s of t h e melt are not
Savovj, 1989) have s h o w n that the thermal t a k e n i n t o c: o n s i d e r a t i o n.,
state of the metallurgical ladle has a 2 T he a p p 11 c a t :i. o n CD f a na 1 yt i c a 1
c o ns1 d e r a b l e inf1uence on t he st ee1 m o d e 1 s T h e t h e r m a 1 p r CD C e s s e s i n t h e m e t a 1,
ternerature in s e c o n d a r y s t e e 1 m a k ing. T h e t he s 1 ag and t he i nsu 1 at :i. on can be
est i ma t i CD n o f t he i n i t i a 1 t he r ma 1 s t t e o-f desc r i be d us i ng a na 1 yt i c a 1 m CD d e 1 s of
the ladle b e f o r e t a p p i n g CBOF or E A F ) . is dif f e r e n t c o m p l e x i t y CBakaki n, HCDroshii 1 CDV
of p a r t i c u l a r importance because the a n d G a 1 p e r i n , 19 81., B i r at and P e t e n i e f?
measur ed t emper atur e o f 1 i qu i c:i m e t a 1 i s 1984,, Hadjiiski, Spassov and Savov, 19891,
i n s u f f i c i e n t t o s o l v e t h e next important Pfeife!" ancl co 1 leagues, 1987) . Their
p r o b 1 ems sat i sfac t a r i 1 y s c CDmp a r a t. i v e a n a 1 y s i s i n d i c a t e s t hi a t with
1. T CD c a 1 c u 3. a t e t h e e 1 ec t r i c e ne r q y t h e s a m e c o m p u t i n g c o n d :i. t i o n s (initial a n d
a m CD u n t n e e c:l e d t CD b e i n t r o d u c: e d nto t h e boundary conditions, numerical v a l u e s of

57
t h e r m c \ p h y s i c a l tconstants,, test signals, m e t a 1 dur i ng t h e me 11,, it i s possi b3.e to
etc- ) the <a n e >c i i me ns io n a1 mode1s a re say
sufficiently iaccurate The pure
model b a s e d a|p p r CD a c h s LI f f e r s f r om (5) $(T,o> * i m
:
i n s u f f i c i e n t a c c iuracy b e c a u s e o f t h e lack
of a f f e c t i v e ada|p t i ve t u n i n g p r o c e cJ u r e s |t D u r i n g t h e t i m e that t h e ladle is e m p t y ,
w h i e h are due t o t he i nsuff i c i e nt num be r b o u n d a r y c o n d i t. i o n s a r e a c t i n g o n t h e
of mel a s u r e m e n t s under greatly altered i n s i d e o f t h e ladle w h i c h are determined
regime> condition* by i" a d i a t i o n h eat t r a n s -f e r wit h
i . T h e u< e io f l< n o w 1 e d g e b a s e d m o d e 1 environment
b a s e d o n t h e b a s is of fuzzy sets (Dubois
a n d Pr ade,{ 1980 , F i 1 e v j, 199 0,, X a f a r o v,, (6 ) )4>
# (T ,, 0) A ( (0 <T r. 0) + 2 7 3 ) 4- <#^ ,. ..-i-273
Dorohov and Ma rkov, 198,, Lee,, 1990,
Skala., 1978, T o m g, 1978) has been selected T h e g e n e r a l i z e d c o e f f i c i e n t A is o b t a i n e d
From va.r i o n s a p p roaches to know 1 adge-based by tak i ng i nto aecount am i s s i v i ty
m o d a l i . n g ( B r i s t o 1., 19 8 4;t l< a f a r o v ,, D o r a h o v c o e f (' i c i e n t s a n d c o n f i g u r a t i a n f a c t o r s
a n d Mi r k o v . 1986 >i i n a c y 1 i n d e r (K r e i t h a n d B l a c k , 19 8 0) .,

The approach, described below,, c a n be D u r i n g t h a heat i n g o f t h e 1 adle it is

regarded a s a step towards a better c o n s i d e r e d that t h e g a s b u r n e r i s o f a n
t.i n d e r s t a n d i n g o f h o w t CD C O m b i n e k n CD W 1 e d g e i nvar iab1a heat i ng power and t he exceedi ng
of d i ffere nt o r i g i n s, so as to ma k e CDf a g i v e n t a m p a r at ur e o f t h e i ns i c:le
moda1ing mora t r u s t w o r t h y . s u r f a c: e i s i m p CD S S i b 1 a

H e i- e t he t he r ma 1 stte of 1 a d 1 e:' s O^T.O) <#

(7) b
i nsu 1 at i CDn i s reqar ded a s a c o n t i n u o u s
dynamic system of which we have e<Ti0)= T 2 Tb
'b
cons i de r a b 1 e p re 1 i m i nar y i n f o r m a t i CD n
c onc e r n i ng t he p oss i b 1 e be hav i o r in where j,, is the time instant when $(T!>C*3
d i f f e r a n t c o m b i n a t i CD n s o f t h e i n p u t s? aehleva maxima1 possib1e value tb>
whosa c haractsr is i rregu1ar and
p a r i o d i c a 1 "!" h e u n c e " t a i n t y, w i t. h w h i c h r e1a t i v e heat f1ow,,
t he i n i t i a 1 a n d boundar y cond i t i o n s o f
e v e r y c y c l e c a n be d e t e r m i n e d a s well as The mat hemat ica1 mode1 <I) + < 7) can be
some parameters which are difficult to so Ived numer i c a 11 y by be i ng t r a nsf CD r ma d
m e a s u r e H such as for i n s t a n c e the extent into a system of algebraic equations In
of t he lad 1 e:" s erCDSi CDn m a k a f uzzy m a d e 1 :i. ng t he cCDnt r i but i CDn t in i s is dona accCDr d i ng to
a p r e f e r a b l e a l t e r n a t i v e in t h e a c c u r a c y t he met hod of cont ro1 v o1ume (Pat a nk a r
19 B 0) ,, w h i c h i s a f u 11 y i m p 1 i c i t i nt ag r a 1
race w i t h a p u r e model based approach,,
method with a guaranteed convergence.

0u r ow n axp er i a nc e and s i mu 1 at i o n
MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF A e x p a!- i m e n t s fo r a m u 11 i t u d e CD f
METALLURGICAL LADLE c om b i nat i o ns CD f . s how t hat ac t i ve
The thermal processes in t h e wall and dynamic: pre:)cesses of heat transfer are
bottom o f t h e m e t a l l u r g i c a l ladle (Fig,, 1) t a k i n g p 1 a c e i n a n i n s u 1 a t. i o n lay e r wit h
t h r oug h eq u i v a 1 e nt t r a n sfo r mat i o ns c oma t o t h i c k n e s s o f 15 cm ( F i g 3 ) . In t h e rest o f
one dim e n s i CD n a 1 t he r ma 1 c o n d u c t i v i t y,, t li e r ef r ac t o r y 1 i n i ng the r e is a
m u 11 i --1 a y e r ,, c y 1 i n d r i c: a 1 w a 11 w i t h CD U t p r ac t i cally sta t i ona r y t he r mal
i nt a r na 1 s o u r c e s,, das c r i ba d by the c o n d u e t i v i t y,, w i t h v a r i o u s t emp e r at u r e
fo H o w i ng d i ffe r a nt i a 1 aq uat i o n d i f f e r e n c e s T h i s r e s u 11 i s i n c CD n f o r m i t y
w i t h t he data o b t a i ned f r o m B i rat a n d
P e t a q n e i. f (1987) a n d P f e i f e r a n d a t h e r s
><T> r )
dB(-r>^ (1984)
(1)
T dr
rr 0r TI")e m e t a 11 u r g ica 1 lad 1 e h a s a s p e c i-f::ic
character istics:
w h e r e t h e initial c o n d i t i o n is
1 T ha r ef r ac t o r y 1 i n i ng bac omes
e r CD de d du r i ng t h e p r oc a s s i ng of t he 1 i qu i d
(2) $<0,(r> (r) metal (stage 1). This leads to a
n o n - - s t a t i CD n a r y c h a n g a in t h e the r m a 1 s tte
7"he bCDundar y condi t i on o n t he o u t s i de o-f of t h e ladle,, For this reason the
the ladle is date rm ina d by nat u ra1 i nsu1 a t i o n t h i c k n e s s r e g a r d s a s an i nput
convection i n t ha fu Z Z y mo da 1
2 Parameters o f t h e first stage
(3) ^(T!.R) C<<S<T-R> 3air> (1 i q u i d met a 1 t reat ma nt ? F1 g 2) -- dur at i o n
0 n t h e i n s i d e o f t h e 1 a d 1 e, t h a b CDdary
Un
7 .. a n d steal temperature & ., can
m'
be
condition depends on the stage the 1a d 1 e nag lee:te- d as an inputs in the model due to
is in (Fig 2) Dur i ng t he p r o c ess i nq al ways i , >40 mi n and t he t her rna 1 ba 1 ance
s t a g e t lie ladle i s f u 11 o f 1 i q u i. d nie tali' of i nsu1 at ion' s active layer
w i c h i s s t j. i- r e d i n t e n s i v e 3. y w i t ]-h g o an is to be
achieved and may be assumed constant
(Ar) F o r t h i s reason, a m o d e l c a n be
1hr e a t e n o f a n i dea 1 m i xtur e i ng CDf the because of the temperature control system,
1 i q u i d m e t a 1 "i" h a r e f CD r e i t c a n b e a si umed The thermal model of the ladle is
t h a t t h e t a m p a r a t LI r e CD f t h e i n s i d e of the solved w i t h a s u p p o s i t i o n o f a con s t a n t
ladle is equal to t h e t e m p e r a t u r e of the thermal p CD wer of the gas burner CW-ISOOO
liquid metal kW). If tl"ieI"e is a deviat ion f rom this
(4) $<*0) - $m<T>
value,, w i t hout i nt r o duc i ng a naw
independ ant input factor,, the result
Ta k i ng t he mea n t amp a r at u r a of t ha
effect c a n b a t a k e n i n t o a c c CD U n t by
iquid

58
 d e s c: r i p t i o n CD f t h e 1 ci e a 1 a b j e c t c a si b e
c: o r r e o t i n g t h e i n t e r v a I 7,,,. d e f o r m e d by way of a c h a n g e in parameters
, af f , b. B y i n t r o d u c i n g s u i. t a b 1 e p r o c e d u r e s o f
conformity between the prototype and the
r e a 1 o b j a c t., t h e r a s p e c t i v e members h i p
where t h e .,,. is determi ned a s a f unct :i.on f unct i o n s u ( x) <:::an be determ i ned The
of t he de v i at i D n of t h e bu r ne r p owe r W f LA r t h e 1- d a v a 1 o p m a n t o f S k a 1 a? s met ho d
m a k e s it p o s s i b l e to t a k e into account
(9) 7.,, - p-riW) a dd i t i CD na 1 emp i r i c a 1 dat a and ex p e r t
k n o w I e d g e., " h e m e m b e r s h i p f u n c t i o n s a r e
Using t he m a d e 1 wo rke d o u t , so1LAt ions w e r e f o r m e d in such a way a s to have t h e
0 b t a :i. n e d f o r a 1 a r g e n u m b e r o f r easo na b I a f: o 11 o w i n g p r CD p a r t i e s s
c o m b i n a t i a n 3 b e t w e e n t h e :i. n t e r v a l s . a n d I,, "!" o m e e t c o n d i t :i. o n s sat do w n
1 be-fare hand. T h i s m e a n s that the m e m b e r s h i p
t hi e t h i. e k n e s s a f t h e a c: t i v e 1 a y e 1 o :: t h e f u n c t i o n s m u s t b e i n c o n f CD r m i t y wit hi t h e
1 adIe., T h e s & r a s u I t s a r a idealized data nCDm :i. na 1 par ametar s of t ha mCDda I of va 1 u e s
about t h e thermal s t a t e of t h e ladle and a
1 i D !- i i n f o 1" m a t i o n a b o u t t h a c: r e a t i o n o f 2 , T h e e ;< p e r i m e n t a 1 i n f CD r m a t :i. o n a n d
i t s f u z z y fnocie 1 T h a i r i m m a d i a t e u s e a s the a m p i r :i. c a 1 d a t a ara .j u s t :i. n i t i a 1
skeleton data base for situation i n -f a r m a t i a n a b o u t -f LI r t h a r p r o c e s s i n g of
c a n t !- a 1, u s e d in some c: a s e s is the m e m b e r s h i p functions,, H e r e belong the
LA n ace is p t a b 1 e, d u e to t h e i n s u f f i c :i. t p o s s i b l e d e v i a t i o n s of t h e t h e r m o - p h y s i c a l
a c c u r a c y o f t h e m o d e 1,, d u e t o c CD n s t a n t s i n t h e m o ci e l , t h e c h a n g e in t h a
s i m p 1 i f i c a t i D n s i. n t h e m o d a 1; t h i c k n e s s o -f: t h a r ef r ac t o r y 1 i n i ng , t h e
b o LI n d a r y c: o n d i t i o n s and mo r e c h a n g e i n t hi e b o u n d a r y c CD n d i t i o n s
p a r t i c u 1 a r 1 y t he c o e 1" f i c i a n t US O f hi e a t 3 A d d i t i o n a 1 c o n c:l i t i o n s o -f: t he
t r a n s f e r ^ a n d e s p e c i a l 1 y f o r 11"! e :i. n s i d e membership functions c a n be imposed on
:
o-f t h e l a d 1 a a r a g i v a n a p r a x i m a t a 1 y 5 t he i r s h a p e and 1 ocat i CD a s we 11 a s dur i nq
t he d i rect in a a s LI r a m e n t s of t ha p r o c e s s i n g p r o c e d u r e (Skala, 1 9 7 8 , To rig,
i n s u 1 a t i o n t e m p a r a t u r e t hi a u g h p a s s::. b I e a r a 1978) ,, I n t h i s way a m p i r i c a 1 c! a t a a n d
a c: D m p I a ;; e n g i n a a r i n q p r o b 1 e m:; e x p e r t k n o w l e d g e c a n be t a k e n account of
t he i nsulat ion a r a s i o n data ara c o nc e r n i ng t he p CDSS i b 1 a ma x i mum and
s t a t ist i c a 1 1 y aver age and cQnsi derab1e m i n i n u m d u r a t i o n o f: t a c h n o 1 o g i c: a 1 stage
d e v i a t i o n s a r a p o s s i b 1 a; 7 , ,, T h a in e t a 11 u r g :i. c a 1 la d 1 a i s r e g a r d e d a s
t hi a s a I u t i a n o -f: t h e i n v e r s e p r D b .1 a m
a m u 11 i f a c t o r o b j a c t w i t h 4 i n p LI t s a n d 4
b y w a y a f a q u a t i o n s a f t h e t hi a r m a . b a 1 a n o e
o u t p u t s (Fig 5 ) .
of t h e ladle of the b a s i s of temperature
T ha ci u r a t i o n CD -f:: t h e t e c h n o 1 o g :i. c a 3.
m a a s u r erne n t a. o f t hi a 1 :l. q u i. c::l m eta 1 is
s t a g e s . <i=2,3., 4) (F'i q u 2) a s well as
:i. nac:c:ur ate dua t o t ha sma 11 possi b 1 e
number" of m e a s u r e m e n t s ; t hi a t h i c: k n ess CD f t he :i. n s u 1 a t i o n ma r k a d
f a r t hi e s a m a r aas o n (t h e s rn a 1.1 p,...::::: d, a !" a c o n s i d e r a d t CD b e t hi a i np u t
n u m b a 1- a -f: m e a s u r a m e n t s ) ,, t h e a dapt i v e
f a c t o r 13. T h a o u t p u t f a c t o r s a r e s how n in
! o c a d u r a s,, t h r a u g h a c u r r a n t a s t i m a t i o n
F ig 5 a n ci a r e s
o f t hi a p a 1-" a m e t e r s , a r a i. n is u i'f :i. c: i e n 11 y
effect ivs. ^ m a a n i n t a q r a 1 t a m p e r a t. LA r a o f the
a c t i v a p a r t o -F t h e i n s LA 1 a t :i. o n |i
Bear i n g i n m i n d a 11 t hi i s, i t i s a pa d i a nt ^ . ( i = 1,2., 3) t amp e r at u r es in t hi e
for the thermal s t a t e of the ladle to be
t h r e e z o n e s of t h e a c t i v e part of the
estimated by m e a n s of a k n o w l e d g e based
t hi e r f n a 1 i n s u 1 a t i CD n,,
mo de 1 us i ng c o ns i de r a b 1 e a pr i or i
" hi e b a s i s o -f t he f o r ITS a t i o n o -f: t h e
i n f CD 1- m a t i a n T h i s a p p r o a c h na c e s s i tte s
m e m b e r s h i p f u n c t i o n s is a set of s o l u t i o n s
f u rt ha r de v a 1 o p m e n t o f t h a i deas, pu t
CD f t hi a m a t h e m a t i c a 1 m o d a 1, w i t h d i ffe r t
forward from Sei insky and Guez (1989),
c CD m b i n a t i o n s CD f t h e i n p u t v a r i a b 1 e s H 1" hi e
m a mtaa r s h i p f LA n c t i o n s a n d t h e r u 1 e b a s e a r e
CD t a i n e d by t a k :i. n g i nt o ae c ou nt t hi e
BASIC CONCEPTS e m p i )" i c a 1 c:lata,, a x p e r t k n o w 1 acJga a n d t h e
v a r i a t i o n o f t hi a paramete rs o -f the
T hi e r e 1 s c CD n s i d e r a b l e e x p e r i e nc a i n t he i d e a 1 :i. z e d t h e r m a l m o d e 1
c o n s t r u c t i o n of f u z z y m o d e l s on t h e basis
of e x p e r i m e n t a l data (Czogola and P e d r y c z ,
19 81 , F :i. 1 a v , 19 9 0, K a f a r o v, Do r o hov a n d
Markov,, 1986,, S k a l a , 1978, ' Tang, 1978) DECISION MAKING LOGIC
T hi a b a s 1 c s t r LI C t LA r a 1 a 1 a m a n t s o f s u c h
: D e c :i. s i o n m a ki ng logic is basa d on
mo de 1 s a r a s how n i n F i g 4 A ma j o r
dete r m i n i ng the s i m i. 1 a r i t y between t he
p r o b 1 em j st a n d i ng i n t hi a way o f t hi e
i nt e ns i ve ap p I i c at i o n of t ha t hi a o r y a f newly obtained data about the input
fuzzy s e t s is t h e fact that the adequacy v a r i a b l e s p. <i--:L,4) and the N rules r.
* 1 1
of t !e mam be r s h :l. p f unc t i o ns i. s d i f f" i c u 11 o b t a i n e d about eve r y c o m b i n a t i CD n o f i LA t
to check (Dubais and P r a d e , 1 9 8 0 , K a f a r o v ,
Dorahov and M a r k o v , 1986) v a r i a b l e s P. , (i- 1,N, j"" 1 , 4 ) , w h i c h take
the form CDubo is and P r a d e , 1980)
I n t hi i. s c o n t r i b u t i o n , t h e d a t e r m i n a t i o n o f
t h e m e m b e r s hi :i. p> f u n c t i o n s f o 11 o w s, as a
( 11) !-1 . ;: IF (P
11. , 3.,'ZP P ....14
13' k 1 fjl .
, P . ) THEN
v
g e ne r a 1 d i r ec t i o n t ha mat ho d p r op ose d by
S k a l a ( 1 9 7 8 ) , w h i c h is based on t h e idea (i-~l,N, k^0,3)
of t h e setting down of a p r o t o t y p e (ideal
object). w hi a r e u p p a r s c r i p t L. m e a n s t hi e nom i na 1
P. . are linquistic variables,, the vector
v a1 lJ u e of input and output variables As
w h e r e x <e X e l e m e n t s of t h e u n i v e r s a l
o
set o f t h e i n p LA t v a r i a b 1 e s p "-"= (p , p.~., p ~r, p )
X, b~ -" p a r a m e t e r s of t h e ideal object The

59
 nominal periods are taken 7^=100 min,
must be qualified as a membership
f u n c t i o n , a s foilowss 7 o~ 5 0 min, 7-,.= 180 min, 7^=30 min.

f 1

J
j
J
p
A e c o r d i n g to e m p i r i c a l data,

mm per 100 min metal

the

treatment.
average
s p e e d of e r o s i o n of the lining t a k e n is 1
The
(12) . <x> = -
t h e r m a l s t a t e of t h e ladle is m o d e l e d for
a p e r i o d of 3 0 m e l t s , w h i c h is determined
The p r o x i m i t y of t h e p. data w i t h t h e P. .
by t h e a d m i s s i b l e extent of e r o s i o n of the
element is d e t e r m i n e d by the similarity r e f r a c t o r y lining. T h e output temperature
operator Idn (Dubois and Prade, 1980, #o is presented according to the
Skala, 1 9 7 8 ) 5
experimental data with 7 linguistic
variables &
(13) Idn (p./P. .) ~ U (u (x.) W n (x.)) 0
j 1 j w j J * ' frb j j The fuzz ification of the mean integral
t e m p e r a t u r e a r o u n d t h e nominal values of
w h e r e x. is the* s p h e r e of definition of
J the linguistic variables takes into
t h e p a r a m e t e r ^, () is membership
account both expert knowledge and the
ij accuracy of the measurements. The
f u n c t i o n of j input p a r a m e t e r in i rule. t e m p e r a t u r e of the 1iqui d metal is in
he s i m i1a r i t y of t he e t i r e i np ut vector r e?a 1 i t. y m e a s u red with a accuracy of no
with all data from the i rule is m o r e t h a n 5 * C On the other hand errors
obtained as a generalization of (13) as a 1-e a d m i s s i b l e i t h e estimati0 f the
foilows: t emp e rat u r e of t he 1i quid met a1 w i t h i n the
b o u n d a r y 2 0 " C . D u e to t h e heat transfer
I d
(14) Idn (/.) = n (p./P. .) w i t h t. he I i i n g t h e s e data g i ve the basis
of the choice of membership functions
with t h e following designation for the v
o
c o m p o n e n t s of t h e vector of t h e i-rule
(i=l,N) I t he c a s e of a 100 1 0 ladle concerning
in the paper, the correlation of the
(15) P . = (P. , ,.^,.,,,. .)
9 9 t h e r m a l c ap ac i t i e s is ap r 0 i mat e1y 2x1
11 12 13 * 14
his r esuIt allows f0r t he mem be r ship
The membership degree function ^ () of
f u n c t i o n s to be t a k e n a s trapeziums with
bases of 20 C and SO C, situated
the output temperature (k-0,1,2,3) is
s y m m e t r ica11y a r o u n d the nomi na1 v a r i a b 1 e s
obtained from t h e expressions .
( 1 >6 s u < In d (/ p 3 *o
< V p i * <V>
k i = l,N ^ki The membership functions of the input
E x p r e s s i o n (16) is t h e b a s i s on w h i c h the v a r i a b l e s 7 . (i=i,5) w e r e o b t a i n e d on the
participation of every i rule is
b a s i s of t h e ideal images received from
e s t a b l i s h e d in d e t e r m i n i n g the functions
the mathematical model, the accepted
of t h e membership extent ^() of the
ling LI i s t i c vari a b 1 e s d t he e pert
output temperatures
knowledge. The admissible intervals of
alteration of the input variables are
DEFUZZYFIER
from the expefU' The m e m b e r s h i p f u n c t i o n s
0 bt a i ne d a r e s how i F ig. 6..

T h e d e t e r m i n i n g of an estimation of the
Using all p o s s i b l e c o m b i n a t i o n s among the
output t e m p e r a t u r e from (16) can be
nom i na 1 a 1Lies of t he i np u t 1 i ng u i st i c
carried out according to different
variables 4J 240 nominal output
a l g o r i t h m s . In t h i s paper is calculated
L
by taking the weighted average of the t e m p e r a t u r e s v& . a r e c a l c u l a t e d with the
oi
t e m p e r a t u r e of all t h e r u l e s and c a n be aid of the mathematical model. The
derived a s 2
f u z z i f i c a t i o n of every is done on the
basis of empirical knowledge, computer
h simulation with varying termo-physical
(17) $ *
constants in the analytical model and
optimization procedures. Membership
functions ($.) a r e obtained to have

"oi
(k=0,1,2,3)
t r a p e z i u m form with b a s e s of 2 0 C and 160
C;, placed symmetrically around - This
FUZZY MODEL OF MEAN
is t h e way to form the mean integral
INTEGRAL TEMPERATURE
t e m p e r a t u r e ' s ru1e b a s e ,
The estimation of the mean integral
temperature ^ is necessary for the
FUZZY MODEL OF THE INITIAL
balance calculation of the necessary THERMAL STATE OF THE LADLE
a m o u n t of e l e c t r i c e n e r g y which must be
i n t r o d u c e d into t h e metal bath. The e s t i m a t i o n of three temperatures of
t h e i n s u l a t i o n layer makes it
In order to d e r i v e t h e ideal images from
p o s s i b l e t o set down trustworthy initial
the mathematical model, the following

60
c: o n d i t i o ns o f t h e t ha r ma 1 mo de 1 i. n t he m o d e 1 j::) r e c i s J. o n w j. t h m o r e t he n 30 "A i n
control s y s t e m of t h e ladle r e 1 a t i o n t o p u r e e x p a r t ap p r o a c h .

The a b o v e m e n t i o n e d mathematical model T h e t h e r m o p h y s i c a 1 c: o n s t a n t s i n t h e m o d e 1

p r o v i d e s f u 11 a p r i o r i i n f a r m a t i o n a b o u t h a v e b e a n v a r i e d up t o 3 0 + 5 0 "A a t t h e same
the ideal images of the vector i np ut at a vac t o r s -C p , 3.. An a na 1 og ous
: " ^B-\9 Bo $ -r* w**n e v e r y cmD*na^ *n -f: ^, e c r i ter ion to <19) have been used
i np u t va r i a b 1 es p: (j. ~~ 1 , 4 ) T he ap p r oac h
i n t he f a r m i ng of a f uzzy mo de 1 of t he (
i n i t i a l thermal state is analogical to <20) J.U . - V N <P-rt, > </?
ff y m i ^ ' k u m j K '
^
IM
t h a t o f t h e mean i n t e g r a l t e m p e r a t u r e The
following procedures have been carried i = i s 2 , 3 ,, .j == 1, 2,, 3 H k == 0 , 1, 2 ,, N 3.3 5
out
where N is t he nufnber of expar i ments.
1 T h e member s h i p f u nc t :i. o n s of all
F i g u !" e 8 i 11 u s t r t e t he c omp a r at i v a
i n p u t v a r i a b l e s are p r e s e n t e d ( F i g . , 6 )
analysis wo r ke d o u t-.. R a s u 11 s ar e
2 . Mew out p ut mem be r s h i p f u n c: t i o n s
s u m m a r i z e d i n 1" a b l e /
a r e o b t a i n e d f o r e a c h o f t hie ternper a t ur es
i he '.- oh i i n n i J , .'-1 -IM L'.-J the
_ v
"'u Ni W ! ulf, tn f ' c n':d ft" di h D p i upO<_,i -d flu * V mode : u f liif t O MM q [ r i J
1
icii'!; LS :ui f j .v.' M y : ^ " ; i'--' u -"tr
MIL' lu-mpei a L u i .-*>, LIui-_> t o i m.i nrj I h
> "*- * > n t c c j i =" _ ; i l in i* r >*
J ndrjp-'ntli-M^t l u J t ? ba<='."j 1
I TiU l i l t I f 11 <-, L-i !>f. i." ' i f i i ^ l ' . ' d W l i h ! / ' V r
- 1 he I U J P S a n d mr^mbrM S ! I unt L i ' M i . ,
16. 'C p i ' i LU o-i., '.A,hicl - : iji n : - pur i^-it to
a I o v e i . i t / i - H p: u c i ' i ' m q fron I h r ^ nee
6 ' \ + 0 '"'"' f i h-1 i u u J c c c ' i : i . The- fno. it I
c o r r e I iW Ljn
J J C j ' j i t o r-iDLlin." fflhii 7) (V C LUIS ' C-
1
q U L C I i. y t i i l T i > ' i f a , I J y t J ' v I KH K .

CONCLUSIONS
SIMULATION RESULTS
Knowledge based models of the mean
Simulation experiments have been worked
out t o obtai n qua1i ty and quantity i n teg r a 1 t e m p e r a t u r a a n d :i. n i t i a 1 t h a r m a 1
c o nc 1 us i o ns a bout t he i nf 1 ue nc a of s t a t e o f t h e l a d l e h a v e b e e n w o r k e d a Lit
the p a r a m e t e r s on t h e fLizzy models for a new t y p e o f D i r e c t Currant Ladle
F' u r n a c e (D C L.. F ) - "!" h a r e s u I t s o b t a j. n e d s h o w
1,, 7' h e n u m b s r o f i np ut 1 i ng u i st i c that t h e c o m b i n a t i o n of data of of a
v a r i a b l e s of each of t h e i n p u t s , have been m a t h a m a t i c:: a 1 m c^ d e l , e m p i r i c a 1 r e s a a r c h a n d
change d, w h :i. c h i s e q u i. vale n t t o v a r y t h s
number of rules N. a x p e r t n o w J. e d g e is
2 "I" h e 1 o c a t i o n s o : t h a nom i na 1 better r e s u l t s than t h e p u r e modal based
approach
v a 1 ueB of 1 :i. n g u i s t i c va r i a b 1 es 7 have
been varied REFERENCES
3- Parameters o f the membership
f i q u r e s o-f: i np u t 1 i ng u i st i c va r i a b 1 e s a n d B a k a k i n., A , B H o r o s h i 1 o v a n d G., G a 1 p e r i n
r u l e s have been analyzed., (19 8 1 ) ,, ivi a t h e m a t i c: a 1 m o d e 1 o f t he
t hi e r m a 1 p r oc asses in sac o n da r y
hean s q u a r e error have been used a s a is t e a 1 m a k i n g .. I z v e s t i a V U Z - Cher nai a
c r i t aria n of t he m o d e 1:' s a d e q u a e y,, m e t a l l u r g y a , 4 , 143 147 (in R u s s i a n ) -
c a l c u l a t e d o n t h e data s e t d i f f e r e n t from B i r a t , J.!:::' and J P e t e g n i a f:: ( i 9 8 7) .,
t he nom i na 1 va 1 ues C o m p o r t a m e n t t h a r m i q u a d e 1 "' a c i a r , d a
1 a o c h a et d u r a p a r t i t a u r d e c o u 16 e
I n c o n t i n u a = R e v u e d e M e t a l 1 u r g i e - C I T ,
/ " A o u t - S e p t a m b r e, 6 2 5 6 4 5
BristolHE. (1989)1 Objects, rules and
m "F p!" oc: ess c o nt r o 1. Proc of t h e A C C , USA.
w h e r e ft (p.) and $ (p.) are values of the
o v h
j o j CzogolajE. and W.Pedrycz (1981). On
mean integ r a 1 teinper a t u r e o-f the i d e n t i -f i c a t i o n i n -fuzzy s y s t e m s a n d
m a t In e m a t i c a 1 a n d r e s p e c t i v e 1 y o f t h e f u z z y i t s a p p 1 i c:at i o n s i n c o n t r o 1 p i"ob 1 e m s
model at t.hie s a m e i nput p a r a m e t e r s vector Fuzzy Sets and Systems,, 16,,
p . (j 1, 4) . The n u fn b e r o -F e x p e r i m a n t s n A c a d e m i c P r e s s , N e w Y o r k >,
Du bo i s j, D . a n d H - P r a de (1980) . F u z z y S e t s
v a r i e s f rom 135 t o 6 2 5 .
and S y s t e m s : T h e o r y a n d Apllications
A c: a d e m i c: P r a s s N e w Y o r k ,
I r r eg u 1 a r 1 oc at i o n of t he nom i na 1 va 1 ues
FilevHD (1990). Towards the consept of
J
p " a n d ~" mor e de n s a 1 y at t he beg i nn i ng q u a s :L 1 i n a a r f u z z y s y s t e m s . Pr oc o f
t h e Int Conf o n F u z z y Logic a n d
of wor k i ng a r e a , is pre-ferab 1 e due to N e u r al N e t w o r less. I i z u k a, J a p a n
n o n --1 i n e a r i nf 1 ue nc e o -f: t h& i np u t
H a d j i i s k i , !v! :i K Spa s s o v and P. S a v o v
p a r a m e t e r s (p.. a n d p^> ,
(1989) ,. M a t h e m a t i c a 1 mo de 1 o f t he
t h e r m a 1 p r o c e s s e s i n 1 ad 1 e m e t a 11 ur gy,.
Number o f 1i nguist i c variab1es i s of g r e a t Modern Steelmaking and Casting
i m p o r t a n c e for t h e model accuracy With Tec h n o l o g i es - I V Int Conf- J une
the number of linguistic variables 15 1 7 , A1 b e n a., B u 1 g a r i a. ( i n B u 1 g a r i a n)
(Z, 3? 3,5) t hi e.mi n i m u m v a l u e o f t h e e r r o r Kafarov ! ! y u ,, I.Dorohov a n d E. M a r k o v (1986)
(19) is 2 3 4 C . w h i l e w i t h (3,4,4,5) t h e S y s t e m A n a l y s i s of C e m i c a l Process
e r ror d ec r e a s e s t o 1 6 , 0 6 " C (Fig. 7 ) . C o n t r o l C A p p l i c a t i o n of F u z z y Sets}.
N a u k a., M o s c o w., ( i n R u s s i a n)
An a p p r o p r i a t e choice of membership K r e i t H F a n d W . Z - B 1 a c k (1980) Basic Heat
f u n c t i o n s p a r a m e t e r s c a n improve? t h e f u z z y T r a n s f e r H a r p e r a n d R o w, N e w Y o r k..

61
Lee,, C. C. < i 990) I nte 11 i q e n t c o n t ro 1 b a s e d S e 1 i n s k y,, J,. a n d A,, G n e z (19 8 9) ,, "!" h e r l e o f
o n f u z z y 1 o g i c a n d n e u r a I n e t t h e o r y. a p !* i D r i k n a f l e d g e a f p 1 a n t d y n a m i c s
Proc* of Int Conf on Fuzzy Logic and :i. n n e u r o c o n t r a 1 e r des i g n.. P r o c # o f
Keural Networks,. lizuka., Japan,, CDC Tampa,, Florida., USA,,
Pfeifer, Hu FFett,, H Schfer,, KJi,Heinen Ska 1 a,, A.. (197S) On many va 1 Lied 1 og ic ,
(1984). Modell Zur Thermischen f u. z z y s e t s,, -f:: LI z z y 1 o g i c: s a n d t h e i r
Simulation Von Stahlgie., Stahl und ap p 1 i c a t i o n.. F u z z y Set s a n d Syst e m s .
Eisen,, 24, 1279-1287. V o 1. 1,, A c a d e m i c: F:' i- e s s,, M e w V o r k.
Patankar,, S (1980) . Numerical Heat Transfer Tang ,, R (1978) ,, Sy nt h e s i s of f uzzy made 1 s
and F l u i d Flow., Hernisphere., N e w YDI-k f o i" i n d u s t r i a 1 p r oc esse s some
Savov,, P. (1984) Met. had o f t reat i ng a n d p r e s e n t r e s u l t s . Int J G e n e r a l Syst*
! e f i n :i. n g I :L q u i d m e t a I a 11 y e s by vol. 4.
d i r e c t c u. r r s n t e 1 e c t r i c a r c h e a t. i n g,.
US Patent 4 462 878
= T 80
Pi 2_
T
P2 3_
METALLURGICAL I
= T
P3 4 LADLE 2
P4 - < ^
*3 "

Fig. 5 Metallurgical ladle as a multi factor object

kOfiun)

M _.
f AR60N

Fig. 1 Sketch of DCLF

TOfmSnj

k= ==d
" f-
U~-
l- h-

EMPTY
\l I
EMPTY
J
l- - fl
LADLE LADLE 7 /<0 itO 200 250 fmln]

\
K
- - f
- T> -
-1 _^
/ ' "' \
/
Fig. 2 Technological stages through which
the ladle passes within one working cycle
\ 2QCcmJ
1
5 '
/k
Fig. 6 Membership functions of the inputs

rffcjf
20 i

0 ft HfH,.l\.IWh fl ft.
-
Mil "," y y
V I L)

'.'

35 dcm] Fig. 7 Mean quadratic error of the fuzzy model

Fig. 3 Temperature distribution in the refractory in comparison with analytical model
lining at the end of every stage of one cycle

RULE
BABE

MEMBERSHIP
FUNCTION DEFUZZIFIER

Fig. 8 Comparative analysis

'>0c
DECISION
,* c C *, a,v" ^ C
L.061 C
14 50 12.77 12. 12
Pi 16 06
! P2 29 50 22.48 21.05
Fig. 4 Structure of the fuzzy model
Table 1 Results of comparative analysis

62
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and CONTINUOUS CASTING AND
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991 ROLLING

APPLICATION OF EXPERT SYSTEM TO REAL TIME

COLD COIL TRANSPORTATION CONTROL IN
FINISHING LINE
Y. Anabuki*, R. Owaki* and H. Sakiyama**

*Plant Control Technology Section, Mizushima Works, Kawasaki Steel Corporation, Kawasakidori 1-chome,
Mizushima, Kurashiki 712, Japan
^Electrical Steel Technology Section, Mizushima Works, Kawasaki Steel Corporation, Kawasakidori 1-chome,
Mizushima, Kurashiki 712, Japan

Abstract. Expert system (ES)-assisted control has fully automated the operation of
transportation facilities on the electrical steel finishing line, in the Mizushima Works of
Kawasaki Steel Corporation. The system forms the optimum schedules for transferring slit
coils and transfers them all on-line by 24 monorail-type coil carriers under its control. In
order to obtain the necessary response for real-time use, control rules are divided into groups
according to their functions, and only designated rule groups are made to run at one time,
securing a response of less than 3 seconds. The adoption of ES has enabled the system
successfully to handle the complex operations of the line, and reduced the man-months
required for software development to one half compared with using conventional
programming language. The system has been working smoothly, and contributing greatly to
the high-efficiency operation of the line, since its commission in March 1990.

Keywords. Expert system; computer control; real-time computer system; transportation

control; steel industry; electrical steel finishing line

INTRODUCTION Mizushima Works has also been automated by ES.

The wide ranging and rapidly changing needs of
customers, with the consequent short-term life cycle
of products, have recently become a feature of the steel
industry. In step with this, a flexible and efficient
programming method is required in information
management systems. To meet this requirement, the
expert system (ES), which utilizes expert's knowledge
stored in the knowledge base of a computer, has been
applied to many tasks such as fault diagnosis in
machines, and to the solution of designing and
planning problems (Koroku,1990). However, almost
all of these applications are used off-line systems, with
a few exceptional on-line use examples.
Kawasaki Steel Corporation Mizushima Works has
applied ES to real-time t r a n s p o r t a t i o n control
systems, for example, flatcars on the billet condition-
ing line and No.l EGL (electrolytic galvanizing line)
coil yard are controlled by ES. The advantages of
applying ES to t r a n s p o r t a t i o n control can be
summarized as follows (Tsushima,1885):
(1) The complex transportation control can be
systematically planned in stages by knowledge.
(2) The productivity for creating software can be
improved.
(3) The system is sufficiently flexible for easy
modification.
With these expectations, the coil transportation
system for the electrical steel finishing line at the
This application is described in the present paper.
BACKGROUND TO THE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE EXPERT SYSTEM
Outline of the Finishing Line
The purpose of the electrical steel finishing line is to
slit the coils according to a customer's order, and to
assure the quality by inspecting the surface of the
coils. With the aim toward a flexible manufacturing
system (FMS) , this is the most up-to-date finishing
line, with the slit coils automatically being trans-
ported by monorail carriers suspended from C-hooks
( see Fig. 2 ). Full automation has been achieved with
automatic coil inspection and wrapping.
The material flow down the finishing line is shown in
Fig. 1. The coils are slit on two slitting lines (SL),
with the coil grade being decided by surface
inspection, according to the information from the
automatic surface inspector on the annealing line.
According to the width, the flow of the slit coils is
divided in the following two ways:
(1) Narrow coils ( 40-500mm width )
After separation by the coil separator (CS), the
narrow coils are stored in the automatic warehouse
(AW), and then transported to the packaging line
(PL), according to the order lots. The maximum
transportation rate from SL to AW is 80 coils per
hour, and from AW to PL is 30 coils per hour.
(2) Wide coils ( 500-1270mm width)

63
After separation from the narrow coils, the wide coils
are transported to the coil yard by flatcar, and then
transported to PL.
Any defective slit coils are transported to the welding
and recoiling line (WR), where they are recoiled after
removing the defects.
Fig. 2 shows the layout of the finishing line, which
features the following facilities.
(1) Automatic coil transportation by carriers
The narrow coils are automatically suspended from C-
hooks and transported by 24 monorail-type carriers to
prevent any defects due to transportation.
(2) Tracking checks by barcode readers
In order to assure precise coil tracking, barcode
readers are utilized to check the coils at the CS and
automatic coil inspection positions.
(3) Automatic coil inspection and wrapping
Before the coil packaging, the coil products are
automatically inspected and wrapped, to assure
quality.
(4) Automatic warehousing
The narrow coils are automatically stored in AW,
which has 4 cranes and about 1500 shelves, and can
supply coils to any facilities on the line.
Objectives of Transportation Control
The most important objective of transportation
control was to operate the facilities on the line at
maximum efficiency, utilizing 24 carriers. To achieve
smooth coil transportation, the following aspects,
which are shown in Fig. 3, had to be considered.
(1) Carrier congestion control
Because the exclusive carrier waiting equipment was
not going to be used, the transportation timing
between carriers had to be strictly controlled, so that
there would be no carrier traffic congestion.
(2) Carrier deadlock control
Carrier deadlock had to be avoided on the WR
monorail line, where carriers move in both directions.
(3) Maximum efficiency of AW control
In order to attain maximum AW efficiency, the 4
automatic cranes would need be operated under the
most appropriate working ratio control.
(4) Automatic transportation route changes
A product coil, if it is rejected by coil inspection on the
way to PL, would need to be automatically returned to
AW with the same order lot coil products.
The transportation control method that was required
would need to operate in real time and automatically
make the optimum coil transportation schedules. In
addition, the system would have to provide complex
transportation control of 24 carriers, which requires a
substantial acquisition of knowledge.
ES was therefore chosen, because it can acquire the
deep knowledge efficiently, and be constructed step
by step.
SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
Assignment of Computer System Functions
64
Resident in a process computer (PC), the ES achieves
real-time transportation control by sending definite
carrier movement orders to a direct digital controller
( DDC ), after deciding on the optimum transportation
schedule for coil transportation orders from an on-line
computer (OC), which supervises all product infor-
mation. In accordance with the product order from
OC, PC controls all facilities on the line, including the
automatic coil inspector and coil wrapper.
OC Functions
(1) Transportation orders are sent from OC to PC, coil
by coil, when the transportation demands occur at
each facility on the l i n e . These are macro-
transportation orders, which indicate the coil
transportation terminals, for example, from SL to
AW, from AW to PL, and from AW to WR.
(2) All coil production schedules and coil storage
states on the line are supervised by OC. Also managed
by PC, the coil storage states in AW are easily
recovered by down-loading data from OC to PC and
vice versa, in case of coil tracking problems.
(3) By utilizing the barcode readers, tracking checks
at each facility are made by OC, which compares the
actual coil number detected with the scheduled coil
number. If these numbers don't coincide, the coil
information that is needed to operate the facilities
will not be sent from OC, which prevent operation
with wrong information.
PC Functions
(1) According to a coil transportation order from OC,
PC makes the optimum transportation schedule and
carries it out in real-time by utilizing the ES. The ES
decides the transportation carrier and timing in real
time, in order to fulfill the order in the shortest time,
and then sends the carrier movement order to DDC at
appointed points on the route to the terminal.
(2) The tracking of coils and carriers on the line is
supervised by PC. Each coil number is checked by
automatic barcode readers to control the flow of coils
strictly so that the wrong coils are not transported.
(3) The coil storage states in AW are also managed by
PC so that a double-check of the tracking is made. As
a result, any t r a c k i n g problems can be easily
recovered from.
(4) PC supervises the operation states of all facilities
on the line, in order to detect any problems in the
machines in an early stage. As a consequence, they
are only monitored by the display screen of PC, to
unify the man-machine interfaces.
DDC Functions
(1) Under the control of PC, DDC operates the
carriers and cranes in real time.
(2) DDC achieves the perfect carrier control, so that
there is no chance of a collision even after a wrong
transportation order from PC.
(3) By dividing the railway into 2m tracking sections,
precise carrier tracking can be done by DDC. To
assure accurate tracking, the number of each carrier
is checked by carrier-number readers t h a t are
installed at regular points along the railway.
System Configuration
According to the assignment of functions j u s t
mentioned, the system configuration for the finishing
line was determined as shown in Fig. 4. The features
of the computer system are as follows:
(1) PC is a HIDIC V90/45 with back-up computer, and
the expert shell used is EUREKA- II (Electronic
Understanding and R e a s o n i n g by Knowledge
Activation, version 2), developed by H i t a c h i
(Funabashi, 1988). The number of rules for ES is 310
in all.
(2) For PC input and output signal processing, front
end processor (FEP) to control the data transfer
between PC and DDC is installed in the system.
(3) Data communication between PC and trans-
portation DDC is made through a serial connection
with a modem, and to parallel with a process input
and output device (PI/O). The carrier position signals,
which need a fast response, are sent from DDC to PC
through PI/O. On the other hand, the transportation
orders, which don't need a fast response, are
transmitted from PC to DDC, through a modem.
(4) The automatic machines, e.g. the automatic
inspector, are controlled via serial communication.
Their operation orders are sent collectively to DDC as
transportation patterns to reduce the number of
communication transactions.
OUTLINE OF THE EXPERT SYSTEM
Development Method
ES was applied in this case to the new plant, so that no
operation expert existed. Therefore, the prototype
approach was adopted to construct the ES, in order to
teach the complex transportation knowledge most
effectively. The prototype transportation model was
made in a work-station, after the first teaching of
k n o w l e d g e h a d b e e n c o m p l e t e d by a d e s k
examination, and this knowledge was tested by
simulation with the prototype model. In this way, the
transportation knowledge was progressively modified
to perfect the control rules. The work-station was a
2050, and the expert shell used was EUREKA-II
developed by Hitachi.
By modeling each facility on the line, the simulator
shown in Fig. 5, could produce coil transportation
requests from any facility at any time. The movement
of each carrier was simulated to match actual
movements so that event generation at the appointed
place and time could be achieved. The features of the
simulator are as follows:
(1) The operation of the facilities on the finishing line
was modeled fairly well by the simulator so that the
transportation requests from each facility on the line
could be simulated at any time.
(2) The time needed to move a carrier from one place
to another in the simulation was nearly equal to the
actual time.
(3) The simulated results were displayed on a screen,
in which the tracking picture of the line is shown as if
65
the carriers were actually moving (see Fig. 6). The
movement of the carriers would be locked, if the
transportation knowledge was incomplete. The
transportation capacity, e.g. the number of carried
coils per hour, was also shown on the screen so that
the simulated results could easily be investigated.
By acquiring knowledge through simulation, the
transportation control rules could be improved step
by step in order to construct the complete knowledge
base. The debugger of EUREKA-II enabled the
development of the ES on a work-station to be very
easily carried out. The trace of any production rule at
any inference step could be analyzed by the debugger,
with multi-window operation to assist the simulation
process.
Configuration of the Expert System
Assurance of fast response. To secure fast response
for real - time control, the number of the rules, which
are made to run at one time, should be reduced to as
small a set as possible. Because the maximum
transportation rate is 110 coils per hour ( 80 coils per
hour from SL to AW, plus 30 coils per hour from AW to
PL), this gives an interval of about 30 seconds
between each coil on the average, so that the response
time needed to be less than 3 seconds. The methods to
secure such a rapid response are shown below.
Division of functions: According to its functions, the
transportation control system was divided into two
subsystems. One which is written in non-procedure-
oriented language, called the ES support system,
makes simple transportation schedules, and the other,
written in the EUREKA-II procedure-oriented
language, called ES, makes more complex trans-
portation schedules. The simple schedules involve
transportation control with no high degree of
judgment, which make carriers simply move ahead,
for example. On the other hand, the more complex
schedules imply high-level control, to judge the trans-
portation timing and terminal of one carrier from the
state of other carriers in real-time. The information
flow of ES is shown in Fig. 7. After deciding the
arrival information by the tracking program, only the
intricate problems are transferred to ES to create the
complex schedules. By using ES only for handling
complex work, the response time for real-time use was
assured to maximize the advantage of ES .
Division of control rules: In addition to the division of
control functions, the control rules of ES themselves
are divided into 37 groups according to their
functions, as shown in Fig. 8. Only a designated rule
group with a maximum of 44 of the total 310 rules is
made to run at one time, so that rapid response of the
transportation control system can be achieved.
Information flow. The information flow of ES is
according to rule-based forward reasoning control
system.
After receiving the transportation order from OC,
the transportation database is produced, and ES is
activated.Then, after making transportation route
from the schedule production rules by ES, the first
carrier movement order is sent to DDC. When the first
movement order has been completed, DDC sends to
PC the arrival information for the appointed position,
which is then used to judge the subsystem to create
the next movement order. If this involves a junction
position, which needs high-level judgment for smooth
control, the information is sent to ES for making
complex schedules. If this is not the case, the
information is transferred to the ES support system
for making simple transportation schedules. After
reiteration of the same information flow and
completing the transportation order, the transport-
ation result is sent to OC from PC.
Any unoccupied carriers are controlled by ES without
orders from OC. ES judges the availability of waiting
positions (positions 212, 424 and 223 in Fig. 3, for
example ) at certain time intervals, and moves the
unoccupied carriers to these positions when available.
Transportation Control Methods
The basic principle of the transportation control by ES
to achieve the smooth flow of coils is that no carriers
should wait on a rail section where occupied carriers
could move. With no exclusive carrier waiting
facilities, the following methods were applied to the
control.
Congestion control: In order to prevent traffic
congestion, imaginary carrier waiting positions at the
212, 424 and 223 positions shown in Fig. 3 are
allocated. The loaded carriers don't go through these
positions in principle, so that the unloaded carriers
can wait there after their job without occurring any
congestion. In addition to these positions, one of the
pair of storage positions for each crane, which operate
as coil transfer positions between carriers and cranes
in AW, are allocated as waiting positions, so that coils
can be taken out without loss of time. Furthermore,
the storage of coils is always possible in one of these
positions to avoid congestion.
Deadlock control: The railway around WR is for two -
way traffic, along which the carriers can move back
and forth. Therefore, to prevent any dead-lock of
carriers, positions 501 and 502 in Fig. 3 are allocated
as temporary carrier waiting positions to achieve
smooth coil transportation to and from WR. Two of the
examples of deadlock control are shown in Figs. 9 and
10. Fig. 9 shows the case of moving carrier A to
position 522 against the movement of carrier B out of
WR. While carrier B is between positions 501 and 522,
carrier A waits at position 502, and then begins to
move to position 522, after carrier B has moved off the
WR railway. In the case of simultaneous movement
from positions 522 and 525, carrier A temporarily
moves to 501 from 502, letting carrier C move off the
WR railway, and then again moves to 502, so as not to
interfere with carrier B. In this way, the deadlock of
carriers is avoided to achieve the smooth movement of
66
all carriers on the WR monorail line.
Maximum efficiency of automatic warehouse control:
To achieve the most efficient operation of AW, the 4
automatic cranes should be operated under an equal
working ratio system, which uses the cranes in a
cyclic operation to store the coils. By waiting for the
packaged coils in front of PL, a transportation time
lag from AW to PL is avoided to maximize the
efficiency of taking out coils from AW. Furthermore,
in the case of simultaneous operation of storing and
t a k i n g out coils, a crane should be operated
continuously to store and take out (a double-command
operation), to give the most efficient control. In order
to minimize the movement time, the nearest shelves
to a storage position are selected.
Automatic transportation route changing : A product
coil that has been rejected by the coil inspector on the
way to PL is automatically returned to AW with the
same order lot of coil products. After the inspection by
the operator, the order cancellation is sent from OC
and the transportation route of this order is auto-
matically changed.
RESULTS OF APPLYING
THE EXPERT SYSTEM
Productivity in creating the software. Making the
most use of the expert shell stored in the work-station
enabled the investigation of knowledge to be done by
simulation with a prototype model, so that the ES
knowledge base could be constructed step by step. As a
result, the complex transportation rules for the new
plant, for which no expertise in operation existed,
could be systematically built up in about half the
man-months t h a t would have been needed by
conventional programming language, as shown in
Fig. 11.
Quality of the software. Transferring the prototype
ES to PC, for which the control rules had been
perfected by simulating on a work-station, assured the
quality of the software. As proof of this, no software
problems have occurred since the system was applied,
and ES had contributed greatly to the smooth
operation of the line.
Software maintainability. The control rules are
written in Japanese in the knowledge base, and the
modification of operation methods has been easy,
resulting in high maintainability for the software.
Response time. To ensure a fast response, in addition
to restricting the functions of ES, the control rules
were divided into groups according to their functions.
This has resulted in a response time in 97% of cases of
less than 3 seconds, as shown in Fig. 12. With the 3%
exception for simultaneous event control, which
needed more t h a n 3 seconds for response, the
transportation control in real time has been
successfully achieved.
 CONCLUSION

The ES method was applied to the r e a l - t i m e

transportation control on an electrical steel finishing
line, resulting in a systematic analysis of the complex
operation method for the carriers. Development of the
system took half the man-months that would have
been required by conventional p r o g r a m m i n g .
Simulation of the prototype ES on a work-station was
effective for acquiring the necessary knowledge to
establish the operation procedure for the new plant,
which was vital as no operation experts existed. The
ES method is expected to be a most effective means
for systematically analyzing complex transportation
control in factory automation.

REFERENCES

Koroku, M. ,T. Yamanaka, K. Yoshimura, and T.

Tamura ( 1990 ). Trend of artificial intelligence for
practical use and Hitachi's activities. The Hitachi
Hyoron, 11,1-8 (in Japanese )

Tsushima, I. ,T. Tashiro, N. Komada, K. Baba, and S.

Takakura (1985 ). Application of rule based control to
flow line control - Billet conditioning line control -.
Trans, of SICE, 10,107-114

Funabashi, M. and K. Mori (1988). Knowledge based

control system and software for building expert
systems"EUREKA-II". Hitachi Review, 4, 267-274

[Annealing! 'Vj Coil yard

line ./i

H -A--
.IWide!"
No. 2 SL No. 1 SL | coils L
No.lWR

Normal route
Slit coils ! - H CS
Exceptional route .?.
j Narrow j
! coils ! No.2WR No.3WR
Automatic
warehouse
Automatic
coil inspection
-*
SL: slitting line CS: coil separator and wrapping
WR: welding and recoiling line PL: packaging line
Coil products

Fig. 1 M a t e r i a l flow down the finishing line

C-hook carrier

Coil Specifications
Width: 40-500mm j Automatic
Diameter: 548-1150mm ! coil inspection j
Weight: 3000kg max. |and wrapping
SL: slitting line
WR: welding and
recoiling line
PL: packaging line
Fig. 2 Layout of the finishing line

67
 Imaginary
carrier waiting
position
Transport
position
Two-way
traffic

Automatic
coil inspection
and wrapping

Fig. 3 Technical subjects of transportation control

OC: on-line
computer Coil transportation
PC: process i expert system
computer
FEP: front end PC (32Mb) :OCj PC (32Mb) i(310 rules)
processor Backup On-line
DDC: direct
digital
controller

. . , , <CTT)
Data bus
FEP (8Mb)| FEP (8Mb) Disk \ /
SL.WR Transportation
control control

i/o- I/O
Modem
(CRT) X4
j X4 ^ X4 PI/O: process
input and
"SkWRDDC"] ; Transportation DDC | output
device

Fig. 4 System configuration of the computers for the finishing line

i Display of Simulated Results

L _ __ J

Fig. 5 Configuration of the tracking simulator

HBC2 HBC1 KBC1 I|KBC

2

HAB2 HAB1 KAB1 KAB2

Tr'tTNo.
wmJBJ**? uu 5 ] 4
0 I-IO
1 1 -Q
21-3Q
2

rtf Stt
mL
A 72
h" ggswi
B 72
C 71
D 731
E 761
F 72
G 0

* 4o foteuo 4-0 4-tiHo--'

Fig. 6 Simulated results displayed on the screen

68
 ] Process computer f

Transportation
! On-line U-4 order- File control
; computer receiving program! program

Transportation Transportation Transportation

database p"| expert order-
program system sending program|
Complicated
problem
Transportation [ Tracking j
results- program Expert system
receiving I (judgement of | Qbln .le,support program
program I complications)l ?P L
i _ iproblem

Results Transportation [
! controller !

Fig. 7 Information flow of the expert system

Automatic transportation 37 rule groups

expert system 310 rules in total
Reasoning Order-receiving rules
control
rule groups Slit coil transfer
schedule production rules
Carrier transportation
schedule production rules

Transportation pos. 212-pos. 201

j u d g e m e n t rules t r a n s p o r t a t i o n rules
pos. 209-^pos. 512
transportation rules
Reasoning completion a n d
j u d g e m e n t r u l e groups
pos. 424-H>pos.212
transportation rules
(pos.: position)
Fig.8 Configuration of t h e expert system

Coil t r a n s p o r t i n g carrier

V O J V O J \ o J
(1) A is moving to 502 (2) A waits a t 502 (3) After B is out of WR line,
A begins to move to 522

Fig. 9 Carrier deadlock control for t h e case of

moving carrier A to position 522 a g a i n s t
the m o v e m e n t of carrier B Coil t r a n s p o r t i n g carrier

(1) A waits at 502 (2) A moves to 501 (3) A moves to 502

in order to let C go again in order not
out of WR line to interfere with B,
and then moves to 522
Fig. 10 Carrier deadlock control for the case of
moving carrier A to position 522 a g a i n s t
the simultaneous movement of carriers B and C

69
 with conventional with expert system
programming language
Fig. 11 Comparison of productivity for system development

Fig. 12 Response of the expert system

70
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

EXPERT SYSTEM FOR MANUFACTURING ORDER

DETERMINATION IN HOT-ROLLING PROCESS
H. Fujimoto*, S. Arai*, K. Sanou* and N. Fukaya**
^Systems Laboratory, Systems Planning and Data Processing Department, Kawasaki Steel Corporation,
Tokyo, Japan
** Systems Engineering Division, Kawasaki Steel Systems Research and Development Corporation, Chita, Japan

Abstract. We have developed an expert system for determining manufacturing order in the
hot-rolling process of seamless steel pipe based on the knowledge engineering. The purpose
of this expert system is to decide optimal manufacturing order, satisfying various require-
ments. This kind of decision making is one of the synthesis type problems which are known as
the hardest one for a practical use. We paid close attention to the professionals for their ability
of optimized problem solving using various broadened and unstructured standards, and then
attended to systematize with the knowledge-based system technology. In this development,
we confirmed effectiveness of the expert system in relation to problems involved in sequence
composition, and developed its inference method.

Keywords. Artificial intelligence; expert systems; synthesis methods; inference processes;

production control; heuristic programming; steel industry

INTRODUCTION guage which attaches importance to universal applica-

We have constructed those full-scale systems oriented
for planning and administrating the management of a
steelworks integrally and consistently as a whole, re-
sponding to the diversified users' requirements and
facing the complicated production processes more and
more. Those operations in which a high level determi-
nation or decision must be made, however, have re-
portedly turned out to be difficult to systematize with
the conventionally available technologies only, and
they have been still left unsystematized. We have rec-
ognized that the expert system (hereinafter referred to
as the ES for short) would work effectively on such
operations as referred to above. The ES has been so
far applied to some operations in reality. Our tackling
with the ES has been started since 1982, and espe-
cially in business computer applications we began to
make a substantial study on the applicability of the ES
five years ago. So far we have developed an in-house
ES structuring tool (Midori, 1991), based on the C-lan-
bility and compatibility, and have prepared a develop-
ment guide summarizing the approaches to systema-
tize the ES, thereby contributing to the application de-
velopments. As an example of applying both the ES
structuring tool and the development guide, we have
taken up a small-sized seamless pipe rolling sequence
composition ES. First of all, this paper will describe
the overview of the system for small-sized seamless
pipe rolling sequence composition, then a description
will be given concerning those sequence composition
problem dissolving methods.
OUTLINE OF SEAMLESS PIPE
ROLLING SEQUENCE COMPOSITION
Rolling Process
Our seamless pipes may be broken down into three
categories by material: carbon steel, alloy steel and

71
 Fig.l Seamless Steel Pipe Manifacturing Process
stainless steel(Hiroaki, 1990). They have been used
for a variety of purposes, such as various pipelines,
line piping, boilers, heat exchangers, oil wells, general
structural members, mechanical structural members,
material pipes and landslide preventives. These seam-
less pipes are produced either in small diameter or in
medium diameter seamless steel pipe rolling mills ac-
cording to their outer diameter. This paper will pertain
to small diameter seamless steel pipe rolling sequence
composition. Fig. 1 shows the production process of
seamless steel pipes. The base material columnar bil-
lets are supplied by our Mizushima Works. These bil-
lets are heated in a rotary heating furnace to be pierced
with a piercer mill to produce a cored steel pipe, which
is in turn rolled on both external and internal surfaces
with a mandrel mill for bore formulation and stretch-
ing. Then, the pipe is heated in a reheating furnace
and rolled to a specified pipe diameter and thickness
by a hot stretch reducer (HSR). Finally, the pipe is cut
into a specified length after cooled down on the cool-
ing table, to be shipped as finished product after sub-
jected to non-destructive inspection.
Operations of Composing a Rolling Sequence
Three sizes of billets are used as materials to produce
a seamless steel pipe of different outside diameter and
of different plate thickness. Three rolling chances are
given to each type of billet every month (totaled at
nine rolling chances). One rolling chance rolls ap-
proximately 400 lots of materials. Each lot covers a
72
series of orders subject to the identical ratings of out-
side diameter, plate thickness, length, and material.
The term, rolling sequence composition, means that a
production sequence is determined in each rolling
chance. Fig. 2 shows a flow of the conventional opera-
tions. An expert of the rolling sequence composition
maps out a plan of rolling sequences enough to cover
approximately three working days, which cover one
rolling chance, to compose one sequence of rolling.
To determine a rolling sequence, a task in the main-
frame is first perform to establish a provisional rolling
sequence, which an expert corrects manually in ap-
proximately 11 hours (two working days). After satis-
fying every requirement specified in the product
specifications and for production technology, the ex-
pert determines such an optimum sequence to maxi-
mize the productivity.
Problems Involved in the Current Sequence
Process section Technical section
Fig.2 Current Operation Flow
Composition
The conventional rolling sequence composition has
been supported by the "Rolling Scheduler," a subsys-
tem in the steel pipe production management system.
This system has determined a rolling sequence, based
on the limitations of equipment in the rolling process
and on those general restrictions which determine a
rough frame of processing steps. It outputs a provi-
sional rolling sequence table. Coupling the recently
diversified and the upgraded product specifications,
the problems specified below have turned out con-
spicuous.
Defects in "Rolling Scheduler". Since those days
when the "Rolling Scheduler" was initially developed,
the environments have changed as described below.
As a result, the rolling scheduler has not been per-
forming its original target functions:
1. A configuration of ratings have greatly changed.
2. An accumulation of rolling technologies have re-
quired rolling timing to be set delicately.
3. More importance has come to be attached to quality
than to working efficiency.
The expert is overloaded with his operations.
As a derivative of the problems referred to above,
many hours were required to manually correct the out-
puts of the "Rolling Scheduler."
No knowledge built up for scheduling. Since the de-
fect of the "Rolling Scheduler" resorts to a human
manual correction, the knowledge about scheduling
has turned out inherent to experts. On the other hand,
engineering expertise, process-control-oriented ex-
pertise and productivity-oriented expertise have been
owned by different experts, respectively.
OVERVIEW OF THE SYSTEM
Principles of Systematization
Prior to the systematization, we decided to adopt a
system development policy as described below, taking
into consideration the problematical characteristics in-
volved in a rolling sequence composition.
Modeling experts' map-out methods. Composing a
rolling sequence is one of the typical composite type
challenges considered difficult to put into practical
73
use, because a composition generally explodes,
thereby making it difficult to obtain an optimum an-
swer within a practical time limit. Dissolving this
problem, an expert has been using a wide range of
unstructured operation standards properly to flexibly
practice the solution toward the problem. Upon sys-
tematization, we have set our eyes to this point and
decided to apply the knowledge engineering ES tech-
nologies. In other words, the operations by an expert
try to be put into an expert system as far as practicable,
based on the conventional rolling sequence composi-
tion steps. This has been aimed at not only reducing
the sequence composition time but also enabling any
unskilled worker to compose a rolling sequence.
Distributed processing in mainframe and worksta-
tions. We have thought that the existing "Rolling
Scheduler" should be restructured. On the other hand,
it is assumed that the ES is to operate on a workstation
(hereinafter referred to as WS for short). It is neces-
sary, therefore, to clarify the way of processing with
the mainframe in which the conventional system can
operate.
We have decided to adopt distributed processing in
both the mainframe and a WS for the following rea-
sons:
1. Processing in the WS requires the data owned by the
existing system. The distributed processing form,
however, may be taken readily with the WS connected
on line to the mainframe, if processing in the WS is
positioned as a subsystem in the existing production
control system.
2. A CPU load on the mainframe is reduced, thereby
allowing a suppression of cost increases for the main-
frame.
3. With WS data edited in the mainframe beforehand,
it is possible to process a large volume of data without
the necessity of bringing it into the WS.
These have been aimed at effectively using computer
resources, and improving the development efficiency
and maintainability.
System Configuration
Fig. 3 shows a configuration of the system, which
 Mainframe System UNIX Workstation
Production
Planning Selected Data
Data Base

hQH
Production Data
Planning Determining
Select Fixed Quantity
System Temporary Knowledge
3CT Rolling
A sequence
Maintenance

Listing
Rolling
Selected
Data
B Temporary
sequence
Q Fixed Quantity
Data
sequence

Determining
Rolling sequence

User Defined
Function Knowledge
Update
Rolling
sequence
Rolling Rolling sequence Data
sequence Data

Fig.3 System Image of Mainframe and Workstation

Table 1 System Size problems involved in the rolling sequence composi-

Classification Program Size Application tion development.
Language

HOST COBOL approx. existing system

1500 steps interface

WS COBOL approx. provisional Problems Definitions

3500 steps scheduler
Informix approx. external parameter
maintenance
(4GL) 4500 steps
approx.
The problems involved in this case are defined as fol-
user-defined functions
C-language 6500 steps
to be used in rules lows:
approx. description of
ES tool
800 rules knowledge
Object. The seamless steel pipe production equipment
reported herein has been processing three sizes of bil-
comprises a mainframe and WSs. A file transfer sys- let materials. When and how much these round billets
tem is employed to give and take data between main- are to be rolled have been determined subject to the
frame and WS. limitations of the equipment. This is called the "roll-
ing chance" which defines a rough frame of the quan-
An ES structuring tool made in-house is incorporated tity in which one rolling chance should compose a se-
in the WS, and also, COBOL and Informix have been quence. The object is a collection of those sequential
introduced to structure peripheral systems. orders whose billet is identical in outside diameter,
Table 1 shows sizes of the system. plate thickness, length and other ratings. Such a col-
lection of orders is called a "lot," and each lot has a
certain number of restrictive items.
The problem is how to sequence the lots in one rolling
chance. Approximately 200 to 500 lots are to be se-
quenced in one rolling chance.

METHOD OF DISSOLVING Restrictive requirements. Those requirements for a

PROBLEMS INVOLVED IN
SEQUENCE COMPOSITION
In systematizing the system reported herein, a critical
challenge was how to model experts' planning meth-
ods. A description will be given below concerning the
rolling sequence composition, which will turn out re-
strictive in determining the sequence, could be sum-
marized into two categories: product specification re-
quirements and limitations of the equipment.
These requirements can be classified into four catego-

74
ries by restrictions. Restrictions which comprise a to-
tal of approximately 50 items are:
1. Priority.
2. Quantity.
3. Position.
4. Relations to preceding and following lots.
Evaluation items (objective functions). After satisfy-
ing every requirement, evaluation items in sequence
composition are as follows;
1. Quality.
2. Delivery date.
3. Productivity.
From all these definition, we found the frame of roll-
ing sequence composition problem, which is to ar-
range objects satisfying every requirement and maxi-
mizing evaluation items.
Problem Dissolving Model
Difficulties of dissolving the rolling sequence compo-
sition problem are to satisfy many conflicting require-
ments. It occurs often that satisfying some require-
ments fails to satisfy other requirements. The conven-
tional system has settled this problem by setting the
priorities. Now that, the environments have changed,
the conventional system has not been performing its
targets.
Experts' heuristics comprises their knowledge and ef-
ficient steps. A problem-dissolving model encounters
with a problem: how to efficiently use the processing
time. These are described below.
Structuring a sequence composition. Experts' knowl-
edge about the sequence composition could be sum-
marized into product specifications and production
ES Knowledge Product specifications
'reduction technologies
Fig. 4 Expert System's Knowledge Configuration
75
technology requirements as shown below. It may be
structured, furthermore, as a collection of knowledge
in more detail. Fig. 4 shows a configuration of the
knowledge about a sequence composition. The
knowledge is expressed subject to approximately 800
rules of an "IF - THEN" form. One collection of the
knowledge about the sequence composition is called"
a rule set."
Each rule set is defined as a collection independent of
any other rule sets, thereby securing both readability
and maintainability.
Sequence composition inference method. To dissolve
the problems involved in a sequence composition, it is
difficult to find a solution within a practical range of
time limits since an explosion will take place when we
should try to verify every sequence composition pos-
sible. A model, which imitates the steps of an expert,
has been structured to employ a trial-and-error type
sequencing method accordingly.
The system reported herein has its sequence compos-
ing functions dividable into the following two, if
roughly classified:
Provisional schedule. An entire framework (number
of roll-changing cycles, timings, etc.) is to be deter-
mined. In accordance with the generally applicable
rules in that framework, rolling lots are to be assigned
to make a provisional rolling sequence. The functions
of generally applicable rules are:
1. Determining a lot which has a starting point,
2. Sequencing from thin to thick products,
3. Taking productivity into consideration, and so on.
In this stage, restrictive requirements have not been
checked in detail yet; some problematical portions ex-
ist.
Priority restriction
Quantity restriction
Position restriction
Priority restriction
Quantity restriction
Final schedule. Based on the findings in the provi-
sional schedule, experts' know-how and quantitative
knowledge are used to determine a sequence while
satisfying the restrictive requirements definitely. The
term, quantitative knowledge, means the parameters
to which the experts' knowledge has been converted,
and it has been set as the information which may be
changed frequently.
The expert system is applied in making the "Final
Schedule." Inference principles are as follows:
In relation to the provisional rolling sequence, some
lots may fail to satisfy the restrictive requirements.
These lots are to be taken out and inserted into appro-
priate positions.
The techniques of inserting lots into appropriate posi-
tions are based on the principle of selecting the most
productive position out of those positions which sat-
isfy the restrictive requirements. If a position in a roll-
ing sequence, which is using mandrel bar or HSR roll
of the same size as that of a lot desired to be inserted,
should be selected to save the labor who change the
tool. As a result, the sequence can be composed with-
out adversely affecting the productivity.
Lots are to be moved from position to position in
turns, with priority given to the lot required the most.
Fig. 5 shows the steps of processing the inference por-
tion on the above principles. In other words, a lot
whose restrictive requirements are considered desir-
Listing the rolling lots whose pipe making
timing is changed
Giving priority sequence to the rolling lots
whose pipe making timing is changed
Scheduling the rolling lot to which the first
priority has been given
3Z
Dissolving the some of the rolling lots whose
pipe making time is changed
Carrying out a similar process once a
sequenced status have been altered
J EVALUATION
(Until restrictive requirements have been satisfied)
Fig. 5 Inference Process Row
76
able to dissolve initially is moved to the most desir-
able one of the positions to which this lot is movable.
This process is repeated until any lot satisfys the re-
strictive requirements, so that a rolling sequence can
be determined.
Rolling sequence composition inference method de-
scribed here is one of the effective methods dissolving
sequence composition problems.
Speeding up Inference Processing.
The processing efficiency of a system is critical sub-
ject upon which whether the system is effectively
functioning or not. An improvement of efficiency, es-
pecially in inference processing, is influential over a
model configuration of inference. Besides, it has an
impact on an internal structure of the ES structuring
tool. As a solution to this problem, we have improved
the efficiency as described below, so that an inference
may be processed in a reasonable period time.
Suppressing a redundant startup of rules. Some rules
need to process repeatedly in an inference cycle, but
others need to process only once. For an example, the
rules to search for a position need to process many
times; those to set data in a frame of knowledge base,
however, need to process only once. These rules have
been arranged in an order and those unnecessary proc-
essing have been eliminated.
Suppressing an operation of the rule sets. Rule sets are
composed to process by turns according to the se-
quence of processing. Some of them, however, do not
need to get to be executed, depending on current
exsisting in the data to be processed. For an example,
to process an order containing no medium alloy steel,
the rule sets relating to medium alloy steel do not need
to process. This problem has been dissolved to process
before proceeding to the inference by determining the
rule sets.
Tuning a function. In relation to those functions used
frequently and whose execution time is long, their in-
ternal algorithm has been improved. This has allowed
the processing time to be reduced while cutting off the
working memory.
The system was put into operation in August, 1990.
Since then, the system was evaluated based on its op-
erating conditions. Results outputted by the system
have been at a level nearly equal to the sequence com-
position prepared by experts. We have evaluated the
system as capable of making an inference comparable
with that of an expert. Evaluation results could be
summarized as follows:
Evaluating results of the ES. The reasonableness of
restrictive requirements, production yield, and pro-
ductivity have been taken into consideration as the
factors for evaluating the execution results. An expert
has been preparing a rolling sequence composition
while simultaneously taking the above factors into
consideration. Therefore, the results, equivalent to
those of an expert, have been obtained. The confor-
mance rate of inference results has been compared
with the rolling sequence composition made by an ex-
pert and the system. As a result, we have evaluated it
at a level nearly identical to that of an expert. Thus, the
system has enabled us to perform an operation compa-
rable with an expert's.
Evaluating the execution performance. The process-
ing time has been taken up to evaluate the execution
performance. Normally one to two hours has been
taken to prepare a rolling sequence composition on the
system. Approximately three hours or more have
been required in the case with a high content of spe-
cial steel, such as stainless steel, then the initial target
has been nearly achieved.
Evaluating operation. The system has allowed us to
execute a rolling sequence composing operation with-
out the experts' knowledge. The knowledge about
scheduling, could be summarized into the knowledge
about production technologies, the process control,
and the productivity. It has enabled us to respond
readily to a change in rolling sequence composition
requirements.
In this development, we obtain the results as follows:
Confirming effectiveness of an expert system. A roll-
ing sequence composition has been deemed as one of
the problems whose systematization has been said to
be difficult with the system technologies heretofore
available. The expert system has been proven effec-
tive in dissolving the problems. There are many simi-
lar problems and cases in bisiness application fields
which will turn out to have a possibility of systematization
77
Developing the sequence composition inference
method. A seamless steel pipe rolling sequence com-
position has typical factors considering sequence
composition problems. So that, an inference method
described here is able to apply similar problems and
cases. For instance, a problem replacing seamless
steel pipe with slab or coil will have same require-
ments and object functions.
CONCLUSION
A small-sized seamless steel pipe rolling sequence
composition has been introduced to the reader as a
case of applying the expert system to the problems
involved in a sequence composition, in the field of
production control. In this development, we con-
firmed effectiveness of an expert system. Now we are
convinced that any other similar sequence composi-
tion problems are dissolved by the inference method
described here.
The result reffered to above has been successfully ob-
tained. Nevertheless, we have many problems remain
unsolved in constructing an expert system which
completely merged with the conventional software
resources within the limitations of both the hardware
and the software. To dissolve these problems, we will
continue studying the applicability of the ES.
REFERENCES
Forgy, C.L. (1982). A First Algorithm for the Many
Pattern/Many Object Pattern Match Problem. Artificial
Intelligence, Vol. 19, pp 17-37
Hiroaki, K., and Shigeki, A. (1990). Seamless Stainless Steel
Pipe. Kawasaki Steel Giho, Vol. 22, pp 291-293
Kazuhiro, F. (1988). Knowledge Programming. Kyouritu-
syuppan Co.
Midori, K. (1991). Problem Solving Tool based on Inference
Mechanism. Kawasaki Steel Giho, Vol. 23, pp 82-83
Satoshi, F., and Katuaki, S. (1988). An Application of Expert
System to Shipment Planning. Operations Research, Vol. 33,
No. 1, pp 33-39
Shinya, A., and Satoshi, F. (1988). Applications of Expert
System at Kawasaki Steel. Kawasaki Steel Giho, Vol. 20, pp
76-81
Yasuhiro, S. (1990). Recent Progress in Pipemaking
Technology Developed by Kawasaki Steel Corporation.
Kawasaki Steel Giho, Vol. 22, pp 219-227.
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

EXPERT SYSTEMS FOR THE AUTOMATIC SURFACE

INSPECTION OF STEEL STRIP
R. Haataja*, M. Kerttula, T. Piironen and T. Laitinen

Rautamukki Oy New Technology, P.O. Box 217, SF-90101 Oulu, Finland

Abstract. Surface inspection technology for flat steel products is

considered in this paper. Rautaruukki New Technology has developed its own
machine vision inspection technology which is based on line scan imaging,
very fast image processing facilities and sophisticated knowledge-based
classification algorithms for surface defects. Automated tools which
utilize expert systems and graphical user-interfaces, are added to the
system to assist the development of new machine vision applications.

Expert systems are applied in the knowledge extraction and in the

implementation of defect classifiers. The domain-specific classification
rules can be modified by an expert system which is capable of providing a
complete decision tree classifier with executable source code. Graphical
visualisation of the classification scheme is made possible. Real defect
images are used as the input data for this system. The resulting
classifier software can be transferred into the real surface inspection
system for application testing. Experience of these tools, as well as of
the first implementation of the inspection system in the pickling line of
Rautaruukki's Hmeenlinna thin sheet mills, is discussed. This system,
called Smartvis, is now being commercialized. At the end, an optional
classification method utilizing neural networks, is considered in the case
of detecting periodical defects like roll marks. The expert system (ES)
tools including neural nets have been tested in laboratory environment.

Keywords. Surface inspection; quality control; classification; acquisition

of knowledge-based information; rule-based systems; expert system
technology; programming languages; user interfaces; commercial expert
systems; neural networks.
INTRODUCTION based on real defect classes but rather on
more general symbolic groups. In addition,
Visual surface inspection is required in the adjusting of these systems used to be
several manufacturing stages of strip and very laborious which has also aroused
sheet metal products. Traditionally human suspicion towards this technology.
inspectors have done the job due to the
lack of automatic systems. Many problems Due to the lack of good commercial
are related to human inspection, e.g. solutions, Rautaruukki started the
inspection criteria differ by person, development of new generation surface
performance fluctuates in the course of inspection systems in co-operation with the
time, it may be difficult to find good VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland)
personnel due to the boring work, and fast and the University of Oulu at the end of
production speeds (> 300 m/min) are 80's (Piironen,Haataja,Kernen, 1989;
impossible or risky to use. Piironen,Laitinen,Haataja, 1990; Piironen
and others 1990). Based on previous studies
The development of fully automatic it became evident that to be successful the
inspection started ca. 10 years ago. The surface inspection system must include many
first inspection systems are, however, adaptive and intelligent features; the
merely defect detection devices unable to illumination should be optimal to maximize
identify the type and cause of defects. the contrast of defect images; the digital
Later on some manufacturers have offered preprocessing must be very fast (> 1 giga
systems with some classification operation/sec) to allow real time
capability, but the classification is not operation; the customizing and tuning must

* occupation since August -91:

Vaasa Institute of Technology, Wolffintie 30, SF-65200 Vaasa, Finland

79
be flexible due to varying process
conditions and inspection requirements.
The surface inspection system developed by
Rautaruukki is based on high resolution
line scan imaging, a special illumination
system, advanced digital filtering methods,
rule-based decision tree classification and
automated development support (Mkinen and
co-workers, 1991) . One key idea is to
differentiate just the critical and most
significant defect types so that the
classification is still based on real
defect classes. This considerably
simplifies the software of the system
increasing, as we believe, also the
reliability of the classification.
The system, called Smartvis, is an
inspection system which also includes a
development system to assist the
customizing process. Automated tools
utilizing expert systems and graphical user
interfaces are added to the system to
systemize and boost the development and
tuning of a new application, which
typically takes 1-2 years per system (in
the mill!). Expert systems can be applied
both in the development phase - primarily
for knowledge extraction and rule
generation - and in the real time operation
for automatic defect classification and
surface quality evaluation. Neural networks
offer a new choice for implementing one
part of the classifier. However, the basic
system utilizes a rule-based classifier.
RULE-BASED CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
The basic inspection system
Basic components of the surface inspection
system are the illumination unit, one or
more semiconductor cameras, image
processing unit, operating panel, colour
monitor, image recorder and PC based
reporting station (Fig.l). Image processing
functions are handled by a high speed VME
computer unit with image processors
allocated for special processing. The other
functions are separated from the image
processing and handled by one or more PC's.
The system structure is modular allowing
optimal configuration for each application
(Mkinen and co-workers, 1991) .
The system uses special illumination to
enhance the visibility of defects. A line
scan camera is used to image the surface.
The video signal from the camera is
digitized and processed in order to detect
and classify defects. Information on the
line speed is required to compensate for
speed variations and follow the position of
the strip. Additional process and
production data can be used to control the
inspection (Fig.2).
The main functions of the system are:
80
1. Informing the operator of defects that
require immediate process control actions.
2. Informing the following process stages
about defects that require changes in
process parameters.
3. Preparing coil- or sheet-specific defect
reports for the quality control and
production personnel.
Surface defect detection
Surface defects on metal strips are divided
into the three main groups:
1. Three-dimensional defects like
lamination defects, cracks, roll marks and
small dents (or pits) which are usually the
most critical, both for the product quality
and process control.
2. Two-dimensional defects like discoloured
spots, dirt stains, which are usually less
critical, but must be detected in some
cases.
3. Large area defects, which can have e.g.
texture-like appearance.
4. Surface flatness deviations.
The system under consideration is most
suitable for inspection of the faults in
the first two categories. In the production
of some end products like galvanized and
colour coated steel it is most useful to
also detect some texture-like defects, but
the basic method does not support these
kind of defects. A parallel method based
either on statistical algorithms like FFT
and texture analysis, or e.g. on neural
nets is then needed, and is under
development.
Decision tree approach
Decision tree classification is a widely
used approach to classification in pattern
recognition, especially when the number of
features and classes is large. Pattern
recognition approaches can be divided into
two main categories: decision theoretic
(statistical) and syntactic (structural).
Decision tree classification is viewed as
a subclass for the former case, and can be
described by Fig.3 (Kerttula,1990). The
main goal of a decision tree classifier is
to classify an unknown sample into a class
using previously stated knowledge. This
knowledge is presented in a form of
decision rules or functions
( F u , R o s e n f e l d , 19 8 4;
W u , L a n d g r e b e , S w a i n , 19 7 5;
Quinlan,1986,1990).
A decision tree classifier is basically a
multistage-classifier which applies simple
decision functions to different features at
each stage and moves to the next according
to the result. This sequence continues
until a terminal node is achieved. This
strategy can be best described by a tree
diagram (Quinlan,1986,1990) .
A typical tree structure is described in
Fig.4, where decision nodes are shown as
ellipses and feature nodes as triangles.
Decision nodes hold classes to which
feature nodes apply their decision
functions at each stage. A terminal node is
reached when a decision node holds only one
class (Kerttula,1990;Swain,Hauska, 1977) .
The following principles apply to a knowledge extraction from domain experts in
decision tree structure:
1. There is just one root node in a tree.
2. Every node which is not a root node has
a single parent node.
3. There are no cycles in a tree.
4. A path from the root node to any given
terminal node is unique.
There are two possible ways to design a
tree classifier. When the classification
problem is relatively small i.e. the number
of features and classes is about ten, the
domain expert can pretty easily form the
required decision rules. In a larger
problem, formal tools are needed.
When a decision rule is based only on a
single feature, simple distance
measurements between classes are used to
determine the class boundaries. Means and
variances for all features in each class
are calculated and the results are
represented in a so-called coincident
feature plot (Fig.5). Based on this plot,
the final decision steps can be chosen. The
interactions between several features can
be used to advantage, and they are obtained
based on covariance matrices, which show
how different features respond to one
another in one class. The classifier can be
improved by adding another feature to a
decision rule. In general, wide trees that
use several features at each node, reflect
the relative weight given to classifier
accuracy, whereas deep trees, that use a
small number of features at each node,
reflect the weight given to efficiency
(Kerttula,1990/Swain,Hauska,1977).
Rule-based classification
Defect classification is based on the
features of individual defect candidates
and their geometrical relationships, which
are calculated in the image processing
stage. The features include polarity, area,
position, width, length, orientation,
mutual distances and repeatibility of
defects. In a typical cold rolling process
there are ca. 50 defect types which easily
leads to overlapping in the defect feature
space. Performance of the classification is
very much dependent on the quality of the
81
illumination and image processing. Examples
of defect types are illustrated in Fig.6.
The generation of classification rules
requires a large number of samples of
different defect types in order to define
the key features of each defect class
(Fig.7) . The expertise of the quality
inspection personnel must be incorporated
in the analysis of the sample material.
KNOWLEDGE EXTRACTION METHODS
There are several techniques used for
different fields. The methods can be
divided into different categories which are
based primarily on individual or group
decisions. The emphasis of the method can
be either in interviewing or in observa-
tion. In the first method we simply
speaking directly ask how the expert makes
decisions, while in the latter method we
first let him make decisions and try to
observe the logical behaviour of the expert
(Forsythe,Buchanon,1989).
In the observation method the given task
may just cover non-directly the problem of
application to get genuine results.
Observation techniques can eliminate the
well known problem that an expert
frequently acts differently to how he
thinks or says to act.
A method that suits well in this kind of
quality inspection application is based on
multiple experts. The defect rules are
seldom so absolute that all the experts
would classify the defects in the same way.
Thus it is obvious that to eliminate biased
results, the validation should be done
correctly, preferably based on multiple
experts and on all expert groups including
end users, supervisors etc.
The main benefits of using multiple experts
are:
- expertise covers a larger domain
- group judgements tend to be better than
individual
- group has better ability to recognise and
reject incorrect solutions and
suggestions
- contradictions and overlaps can be
clarified more easily
- group work can save the time of
individuals
One method designed for this purpose is
called the Abaque de Regnier method, and is
based on non-direct interview. A commercial
PC program supporting this method exists.
 GENERATION OF RULE BASED
CLASSIFIERS
Smartlearn: Decision tree design
environment
An increased number of defect classes and
varying application areas have arisen the
need for new design tools faster and more
efficient than manual methods. A new
approach for the off-line design of a
decision tree classifier is presented here.
When starting the development of a new
decision tree design environment, the
following goals were set:
1. Definition of the rules with graphical
user interface.
2. Visualization of defined classes and
possibility to verify and test
generated decision trees off-line.
3. Possibility for supervised learning;
either from real defect samples or
knowledge defined by a quality person or
both mixed.
4. Automated conversion of a decision tree
into software.
A software tool called SMARTLearn was
developed utilizing a Windows environment,
because that offered excellent support for
visualization and interfacing. A typical
sequence for the generation of a new
classifier with SMARTLearn is the
following:
1. The user picks up a gray level defect
image to the main window. Images for the
program can be produced in several
different ways; it can be grabbed from live
video tape or transferred from the Smartvis
system.
2. Defect segmentation operations are
performed on the defect image to extract
different defects from the background.
Operations simulate those of Smartvis.
3. The user selects all the defects that he
wants to be classified. Defect and defect
feature parameters are shown in a child
window and the user can decide whether or
not to select this defect for an example
file. Before adding a defect to an example
file a class name for the defect has to be
given (Fig.8).
4. If necessary, the user can also add his
own expert knowledge to the example file.
This is done by a Expert Knowledge child
window (Fig.9), where the user can define
variation limits for each feature parameter
for different classes.
5. When all examples are given, example
files can be fed to the rule generator.
Rule generation is done based on an
iterative method with information-driven
evaluation function (Quinlan, 1986). The
82
rule generator visualizes the decision tree
created by a graph and allows the user to
modify and prune it to find the most
efficient version.
6. The complete decision tree can be tested
with different defect examples in the PC
before automatic code generation. Finally
classifier code is embedded in the Smartvis
software in the VME environment.
Experience
Several classifiers were generated using
SMARTLearn in our laboratory environment.
Both different simulated defect samples and
pure expert knowledge were used as teaching
material.
In small classification tasks (i.e. max 10
classes) tree generation succeeded even
with small example sets. In Fig.10 a
decision tree for 5 defect classes defined
by a quality person is shown. In Table 1 32
examples of these classes are presented,
and in Fig. 11 a decision tree generated by
SMARTLearn with previous samples is given.
Figure 11 indicates that the generated tree
is compact and efficient. With larger
problems (i.e > 10 classes) number of
examples per class usually had to be from
20 to 100 to achieve reasonable results.
Sometimes statistical pruning was needed
for wide trees.
Classification from merely expert knowledge
was reasonable only if the limits defined
by the expert were well covering. That
means exact limits at least for the half of
the features should be given. Too many
"don't cares" make the tree too large and
incomplete. However, mixing well defined
expert classes with real examples
succeeded.
As a result the design phase of a tree
classifier has considerably improved -
there is now the possibility to choose from
several tree structures and verify their
performance, in shorter development time
than before. In addition the SMARTLearn
tool is not only tied to the decision tree
classifiers: the features collected in
example files are ready to be handled by
other classifiers, like neural networks,
too.
The pure decision tree classifier uses
"hard rules" for defect classification. In
future work addition of fuzzy logic based
"soft rules" will be tested to evaluate how
reliable the classification results are in
the case of incomplete information.
 A NEURAL NETWORK CLASSIFIER
Background
Neural networks (NN) offer an interesting
way to solve pattern recognition problems
without the need to develop exact
algorithms or rule-bases. Nevertheless,
there still remain the problems how to
choose the optimal network structure, input
vector (features, parameters) , how to teach
the network, and in the end how to validate
the performance of the network. The same
type of problems naturally exist when using
conventional classifiers.
A case study was made to test neural
classification for detecting periodical
surface defects in the laboratory
environment. Commercial software (by Hecht
Nielsen Computers Inc.) was utilized.
Periodical defects
Repetitive i.e. periodical defects are
typical in hot and cold rolled metal
processing, and they are caused by
defective rolls or extra material particles
in machinery, or they can also be formed
mechanically when coiling or storing the
strip. The periodical defects are met in
machine direction, usually from the same
longitudinal sector. The distance between
the defects may vary from a few metres to
tens of metres. An instant on-line
detection of strong periodical defects
would yield significant economic savings
due to reduction in material losses,
process damage and maintenance costs.
Methodological aspects
The inspection window length in machine
direction can be assumed based on the
production line machinery and process
model. In the cross-machine direction the
strip is divided into a suitable number of
sectors to save computing time. In the
teaching phase, periodical and non-
periodical defect vectors are taught to the
NN by examples. Verification of the
classifier can be done by any other defect
vectors other than by those used for
teaching.
Testing experiences
HNC Inc's NetSet II simulator was used for
tests, the goal being to classify a 64-bit
binary input vector. Test data was
synthesized based on real defect data
gathered by the actual Smartvis system in
the pickling line in Hmeenlinna. Off-line
laboratory tests gave remarkable
classification accuracy (ca. 100%). In the
same study also three other methods based
83
on a heuristic algorithm, binary matching
and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) were
tested in the same manner with good
accuracy, too. In the final comparision of
these methods the possibilities of real-
time implementation has to be taken into
account. Naturally, the performance has to
be verified also in a real operation
environment without test simplifications.
CONCLUSIONS
Design and implementation of surface
inspection systems is a long and
complicated process. A major problem is the
collection of an adequate data base of
defect images from the process for the
teaching of classification rules. Another
problem area is to transfer inspection
instructions, as they are understood by a
human, to the quantities measurable by the
image processing system.
As the application area requires much
domain expertise, expert systems (ES) are
a natural approach. In the Smartvis
inspection system ES has been applied in
roughly two ways: first off-line for
generating rule-based classifiers, and
secondly in real-time for classification.
In future the optional way to use neural
classification would thus compensate for
the rule-based ES's by NN's, while the
design process would still be done using
off-line ES's.
Early experiences indicated that the
developed software tool for decision tree
design can considerably reduce time, cost
and application-dependent work on the
process line. Based on our experience at
least partly automated design process is a
necessity and a condition for professional
new application management.
REFERENCES
Forsythe,D.E., and B.G. Buchanon (1989). Knowledge
Acquisition for Expert Systems: Some Pitfalls
and Suggestions. IEEE Trans, on Systems, Man and
Cybernetics, Vol. 19, No 3.
Fu,K.S., and A. Rosenfeld (1984). Pattern Recognition and
Computer Vision. IEEE Computer, October, 274-282.
Kerttula,M. (1990). Decision Tree Classification in Pattern
Recognition. In post-graduate seminar report (in press),
University of Oulu, Department of Electrical
Engineering, Oulu, Finland.
Mkinen,M.,Piironen,T.,Laitinen,T., and R. Haataja (1991).
High-Speed Adaptive Surface Inspection System. AISE
Spring Conference 1991, April 22-24, Dearborn,
Michigan, USA.
Piironen,T.,Haataja,R.,and E. Kernen (1989). Defect SPEED / POSITION PROCESS
CONTROL
detection in cold rolled steel strips. Proc. of the TRANSDUCER
SIGNALS
21st International Symposium on Automotive Technology
- strip start
and Automation (ISATA), Wiesbaden, FRG, Nov. 1989,
pp. 1749-1763.
PRODUCTION
Piironen, T.,Laitinen,T., and R. Haataja (1990). Machine DATA
strip length
vision based inspection of surface defects on strip and
strip width
sheet products. Automation Days, Helsinki, Finland, quality class
17-21.9.1990.

Piironen,T.,Silven,0.,Pietikainen,M.,Laitinen,T., and E. ALARMS TO

PROCESS
Strmmer (1990). Automated visual inspection of rolled PERSONNEL /
metal surfaces. Machine Vision and Applications, 3, CONTROL
247-254. process control
actions
QuinlanJ.R. (1986). Induction of Decision Trees. Machine
Learning, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, USA.
INSTRUCTIONS
1, 81-106.
TO NEXT
PROCESS STAGE
QuinlanJ.R. (1990). Decision Trees and Decision Making. - machinery / strip
IEEE Trans, on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Vol. 20, damages
No.2, 339-346. - e.g. lower speed

Swain,P.H., and H. Hauska (1977). The Decision Tree DEFECT REPORT

Classifier: Design and Potential. IEEE Trans, on FOR EACH COIL
Geoscience Electronics, Vol. GE-15, No.3, July, position of defect
142-147. (width, length,
STATUS OF coordinates)
THE PROCESS
type of the defect
- strip end
Wu,C.L.,Landgrebe,D.A.,andP.H. Swain (1975). The decision - strip stops repeatibility
tree approach to classification, NASA-CZ-141930, May.

Fig. 2. Data flow model of the inspection system.

Illumination unit

>jlMlliWill J

Operator Color Video Printer Reporting Modem

panel monitor hardcopy station

Fig.l. The basic components of the inspection system

84
 Feature Classifi-
Pattern L Vector cation
Feature Classifica-
Extraction tion

Pattern
Samples
^h
Feature
+
Learning
Recognition

Analysis
{

Selection

Fig.3. A decision -theoretic pattern recognition system.

c^ct>
*X^~ D,E,F^)

A,B,...,H classes
4,7,8,9,10 features

Fig.4. A simple decision tree structure.

A = class 1 car
B = class 2 bus
A,B,C,D means of the classes
C = class 3 airplane
******* variances of the classes
D = class 4 house

Feature 1: * * * * * A* * * * *
AREA **B**
*****c*****
***D***
Feature 2: * * * * A* * * *
BRIGHTNESS **B**
*****c*****
**D**
Feature 3: * * * A* * *
SURFACE ****B****
ORIENTATION *C*
****D****
Feature 4: * * A* *
TEXTURE ****B****
******c******
*****D*****
0.00 -+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--1.00

Fig.5. A coincident feature plot.

85
 SEAM

: ABRASION
RIGHT HORIZONTAL SCRATCH

'i I I I
SPILL DARK 1
VERTICAL A i

SCRATCH \

| 1 1
( r) ;
1

i
SPILL I
1
ROLL MARK

\
\
no other
blobs near /
/
MM
Fig.6. Examples of defect classes.

INSPECTION CLASSIFICATION
SYSTEM PROGRAM
classification
defect features rules defect type
CLASSIFICATION
TEACHING SYSTEM CONTROL

7
SYSTEM

inspection criteria, process

defect types control alarms
displays
defect
QUALITY CONTROL reports
OFFLINE ONLINE

Fig. 7. Generation of classification rules.

86
 Expert Knowledge
Give Your Limits for Different Features.
When giving Exact Value, fill both Sides with the Value !

Min. Max.
Width 20 Give Class Identification
forgiven Features.
Height 20
Class for Features:
40 Area *
large_spot
0.2 Aspect *
When ready, Add limits
Surr. Area * Example File.
Orientation *
Adtf is Example Fife
Left Dist. *
Right Dist. * Do You Want to Save
Limits for Future Use ?
Angle *
Members
* ;Sav& Limit 1

Fetch Limits from File

Polarity: Dark
Get Limits
O Bright

Ouit

Fig.9. Expert Knowledge child window.

diag__s cratch

YES / \ NO

large_spot small__spot

Fig.10. Manually designed decision tree.

87
 Area >= 30.0
I
NO > small_spot
I
YES> Aspect >= 4.2875
I
YES> ver_scratch
I
NO > Height >= 34.0
I
YES> hor_scratch
I
NO > Orientation >= 1.7
I
YES> Width >= 7.5
I I
I YES> diag_scratch
I I
| NO --> large_spot
NO --> large_spot

Fig.11. Decision tree generated by SMARTLearn.

TABLE 1 Teaching Data for Decision Tree Generation

NO. Width Height Area Aspect Surr.area Orient. Left dist. Right dist. Angle Members Class
1 99 4 272 24.750 396 1.456 165 0 0 * hor_scratch
2 55 8 229 6.875 440 1.921 37 170 178 * hor_scratch
3 175 16 2029 10.938 2800 1.380 85 3 * * hor_scratch
4 169 10 1156 16.900 1690 1.462 87 6 * * hor_scratch
5 10 128 612 0.078 1280 2.092 19 234 * * ver_scratch
6 5 99 271 0.051 495 1.827 201 57 89 * ver_scratch
7 4 101 319 0.040 404 1.266 253 6 * * ver_scratch
8 4 6 12 0.667 24 2.000 151 107 124 * small_spot
9 6 105 412 0.057 630 1.529 6 249 * * ver_s cratch
10 4 54 152 0.074 216 1.421 60 198 88 * ver_s cratch
11 55 8 229 6.875 440 1.921 37 170 178 * hor_scratch
12 7 16 42 0.438 112 2.667 148 107 106 * large_spot
13 19 21 278 0.905 399 1.435 92 152 97 * large_spot
14 17 10 87 1.700 170 1.954 39 207 23 * diag_stracth
15 3 4 12 0.750 12 1.000 43 216 60 * small_spot
16 20 16 218 1.250 320 1.468 4 238 * * large_spot
17 13 16 111 0.813 208 1.874 22 226 52 * diag_stracth
18 25 29 239 0.862 725 3.033 230 7 * diag_stracth
19 21 2 45 10.500 42 0.933 160 83 179 * hor_s cratch
20 8 12 42 0.667 96 2.286 37 217 119 * diag_stracth
21 23 31 139 0.742 713 5.129 110 129 51 * diag_stracth
22 24 23 186 1.043 552 2.968 17 222 135 * diag_stracth
23 7 6 33 1.167 42 1.273 197 59 37 * diag_stracth
24 2 4 11 0.500 8 0.727 98 163 90 * small_spot
25 70 6 257 11.667 420 1.634 110 83 * * hor_scratch
26 35 4 78 8.750 140 1.795 132 96 179 * hor_scratch
27 11 37 233 0.297 407 1.747 88 163 83 * ver_scratch
28 8 2 18 4.000 16 0.889 200 54 179 * small_spot
29 209 14 2426 14.929 2 92 6 1.206 2 51 * * hor_scratch
30 4 4 12 1.000 16 1.333 222 37 26 * small_spot
31 5 4 18 1.250 20 1.111 228 30 179 * small_spot
32 8 10 62 0.800 80 1.290 182 74 64 * large_spot
33 10 8 73 1.250 80 1.096 222 31 6 * large_spot

88
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

COIL TRANSFER EXPERT SYSTEM FOR A HOT STRIP

MILL FINISHING LINE
M. Hosoda*, T. Kuribayashi*, F. Hirao** and K. Takenaka**
*Kashima System Planning Department, System Engineering Division, Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd., Kashima-gun,
Ibaraki, Japan
**System Engineering Division, Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd., Osaka, Japan

Abstract. Sumitomo Metal Industries has developed a coil transfer system that
utilizes knowledge engineering. The new system, installed on a hot coil finishing line
at Kashima Works, features an "expert system" to improve the efficiency and labor
productivity of material handling operations. Built around a knowledge base of approx-
imately 8000 steps, it provides real-time control of tasks previously left to humans.
The expert system is closely linked to the coil storage control system. Furthermore,
it automatically creates coil transfer plans for the finishing line as a whole a task
traditionally left to humans. The objective of transfer control is, in a general
sense, to increase the material handling efficiency and productivity at the finishing
line as a whole. The expert system has done much to realize these benefits early on.
One great advantage is flexibility-software modifications are easy and quick. Another
is that the automated system can be built around the experience of operations. With
its flexibility, its application of knowledge engineering to production planning, and
its real-time control, we believe that such coil transfer system will prove to be a
significant development in the field of material flow planning.

Keywords. Knowledge engineering; expert system; Knowledge base; Real-time control;

Transfer system; Hot coil finishing line; Artificial Intelligence.

finishing and processing lines, and materials

INTRODUCTION
From quite some time back, Sumitomo Metals has
benefited considerably in terms of total cost
minimization by the introduction of automated
systems, generally to increase yield. However,
the environment surrounding the steel industry
continues to change; we are challenged with
demands for further cost reductions and
strengthened non-price competitiveness (ability
to flexibly respond to varying customer require-
ments) .
On the finishing lines at the hot strip mill of
our Kashima Steel Works, Sumitomo Metals has
adopted a "knowledge engineering" approach to
automate materials flow scheduling and opera-
tions previously performed by people. The result
is a coil transfer expert system that operates
in real-time utilizing a large-scale knowledge
base. The system was put into operation in
September, 1988. Not only has the system met its
operating objectives outlined above, it has also
provided a solid foundation for further system
developments to quickly and dependably accommo-
date recent changes in the field of materials
handling.
flow between them is complex; production moves
along at a swift pace and a great many coils
must be handled; and the only system in place to
keep track of these coils was designed primarily
for record-keeping. We felt that, in order to
solve these problems, the systemboth mechani-
cally and conceptuallyhad to be rebuilt from
the basics.
Our basic objective in this development was the
provision of a system that: transfers, in a
timely manner, coils produced on the flow of
material between processes. To this end, our
developmental objectives were:
(1) Enhancement of storage yard control and
automation of transfer equipment;
(2) Realization of materials flow based on oper-
ating know-how and optimized in terms of the
system as a whole;
(3) Ability to respond flexibly to changes in
production.
Below we describe the software development cen-
tering mainly on knowledge engineering.
BACKGROUND BEHIND THE INTRODUCTION OF
KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING

DEVELOPMENTAL OBJECTIVES Coil tracking, coil yard management, issuing

Various plans have been drawn up to strengthen
operations at the hot strip mill, the core of
flat product activities at the Kashima Works.
One of these called for a fundamental review of
finishing line operations to improve material
flow and reduce labor requirements.
There were several kinds problems associated
with materials flow at the finishing operations:
the finishing lines actually consist of several
commands to load coils onto lines and ship them
from linesnearly all finishing line operations
were performed in accordance with operator
judgement. Operators situated in each zone would
check to see what had already been done to the
coils, how the equipment was operating, where
the transfer cranes were, and how the conveyors
were running; they would use their knowledge,
gained through experience, to judge what they
saw; and they would issue commands in accord-
ance. However, the amount of information to be

89
processed is vast; the situation is always
changing; and decisions are made in terms of the fee
No.ISkinpass
situation at each zone. Clearly, a rational No.2 Pickling
system of scheduling was required, a system that No.1 SIitting
No.1 Pickling
incorporates the operating know-how and experi-
ence of each operator to comprehensively cover lD-
the entire finishing operation. Wrapp i ngc.
:Air-cooling

On a related development, it was determined that -B-Loop

coil cars were to be installed to speed the flow 110.2 SI itt iIng
of material between zones. However, we had no No.1 S h e a r i n g N k . 2 Skinpafc
accumulated know-how as to the operation of coil
cars. We thereby decided that the new system, as Water-cooling
No.2 Shearing o 3
developed, must be flexible; that is, it must be N S k i n p
s a s

easy to add or modify software to accommodate

Conveyer
new operating practices that may be established
as we gain experience.

If is for these reasonsspecifically, ease of Fig. 1. Layout of Finishing Line

incorporating operator knowledge and ease of
system modificationthat we chose to adopt an
expert system. The expert system we chose for
this project was MARKS II-RT, a system developed Rollins Sect ion
by our company that features high-speed infer-
Ma i n conveyer
ence under real-time environments.
Vater Coo 1 i n g Air C0 01i n

OUTLINE OF CONTROL SYSTEM Skinpass Line

Coil transfer in finishing line Pickling: Line
Slitting L ine
Fig. 1 shows the layout and rough dimension of
the finishing lines. Four working zones are in Wrapping. Line [Shearing Line
the finishing lines. The pickling (PC) zone
contains tow pickling lines, a skinpass line and
a slitting line. The cooling (CL) zone where Co Id Strip Mi 11 | | Shipping
coils are conveyed from the hot rolling mill has
large air-cooling coil yards, which are also
used for temporary storing of coils, and a
wrapping line. The shearing (SH) zone has a
shearing, skinpass, and slitting line. The Fig. 2. Coil Transfer Flow
skinpass (SK) zone has water-cooling coil yards
besides a skinpass and shearing line.
TABLE 1 Number of Transfer Equipment
Fig. 2 shows the flow of coils. A typical flow
of a hot coil is as follows. At first, a hot PC zone CL zone SH zone SK zone
rolled coil is cooled by air or water in the
cooling zone or the skinpass zone, and the Crane 3 6 3 4
surface of the coil is treated in the pickling Coil car A-Loop: 8 cars B-Loop: 4 cars
line. Then, the coil is processed through the
skinpass line and the slitting line. Finally the
product is wrapped and shipped.
station. A-loop has twenty-one stations and B-
The coil yards have a vast capacity for the loop has thirteen. The loading or unloading
accumulation of several thousands coils, and operation of a coil is performed when the coil
many coils are brought in the yards every day. car stops at a station.
Therefore, the search for the specified coils
and the transfer of the coils were very trouble- System Configuration of Control System
some work before the development of the comput-
Fig. 3 shows a newly developed microcomputer
er system in the finishing line.
system for the coil finishing lines. This con-
Transfer Equipment trol system is a very large-scale distributed

Coils in the finishing lines are transferred by

cranes, coil cars and conveyers. Table 1 shows
the number of transfer machines in the finishing
lines. The cranes share the transfer within one S-NET (Sumitomo-Network)

zone. Some conveyers can carry coils both within

one zone and across zones, and other conveyers Database |, Expert I,1 Commun Test
are responsible for the coil transfer at the Management System cation Control
(80286) (80286) (80286) (80286)
entrance and the exit of each finishing line.
The coil car system was introduced at the renew-
al of the finishing lines, because the capacity
of the coil transfer had to be increased. The Qh 30
dimensions and the number of cars in the coil Sk inpass Wrapping Coil Crane CoiI Car
car system were determined by the simulation of Cont rol Control Tracking Linkage Control
(80286) (80286) (80386) (80386)
the operation research technique. There are two (80286)

looped tracks, "A-loop" and "B-loop", and a

total of twelve coil cars travel in one direc-
tion on each looped track. Each coil car carries
one coil and is controlled to stop at the fixed Fig. 3. System Configuration

90
system, which consists of 12 80286-based micro-
computers and 6 80386-based microcomputers, and
is responsible for the coil flow management and
the transfer equipments control of all the fin-
ishing line. This system contains an expert
system.
This expert system occupies the main part of
this control system and is embedded in a 80386-
based expert system machine. It is coupled
closely with the conventional computer system
through communication facilities to get the
information or the knowledge data. The informa-
tion about the finishing schedule are obtain
from the mainframe through the communication
machine. The instructions about crane operations
are sent from the expert system machine to the
crane linkage machine and displayed in front of
crane operators. The instructions about coil car
operation are sent to the coil car control
machine, and the cars are controlled fully
automatically.
EXPERT SYSTEM
System Configuration
The system configuration of the expert system
machine is shown in Fig. 4. This diagram is sim-
plified to show only tasks directly relate to
the expert system. MARKS-II has three types of
linkage with conventional systems, which is
described in procedural language such as PL/M,
Fortran and C. Both the expert system and the
conventional system execute on the same comput-
er, and can interface with each other very well.
Fig. 4. Expert System Machine Configuration
Transfer demand is given through the network
from the main-frame. In this computer, "Demand
Receive Task" is activated on receiving the
demand, and saves the received demand to a RAM
file. When "Inference Driver Task" is activated
periodically, it retrieves the differential
transfer demands from a RAM file and divides the
demands into more than one transfer unit. All of
these demands, including transfer units, are
asserted into the knowledge data objects in the
form of facts by the assert-fact procedure
(called-type). After that, the driver task
activates inference engine by activating-infer-
ence procedure provided as the called-type
linkage.
"Data Gather Task" is activated independently by
interrupts as soon as the external situation
changes, and stores the gathered data to the
variable area.
When the inference engine in MARKS-II is acti-
91
vated, it scans the variable area and reflects a
change, if any, on data objects (polling-type).
After that, the inference engine applies the
knowledge units, in which the applying condition
is satisfied, in the listed order. The coils
which are being conveyed are referred to through
polling-type linkage. In the knowledge unit of
"crane-scheduling", if the rule shown above is
satisfied with one of many transfer units and
fired, the conventional procedure is called to
give instructions to the crane (calling-type).
Functions
This expert system has three main functions. The
first is to select a coil to be transferred. The
coil must be transferred to an inlet conveyer
without delay so that each finishing line may
work without discontinuity and must be removed
immediately at the exit of each process to pre-
vent the remaining coils from disturbing the
process operation. Furthermore, the process
condition in another zone should be considered
in the coil selection, because the coil is
sometimes transferred across the zone by using a
coil car or a conveyer. Thus the expert system
needs the information about the conditions of
each process, the crane information on the
position, operation and the kind of lifting
tools, the conveyer information on available
location and operation, and the coil car infor-
mation on the location and loading state of each
car. The information is too much for an expert
operator to grasp instantaneously, and the
expert system is the most profitable for this
task.
The second function is to determine a loading or
unloading station to/from a coil car in the
looped track. The efficiency of the coil car
operation depends upon the following three fac-
tors. The first is the number of in-service coil
cars. Vacant coil cars must be minimized. The
second is the delay time between the stopping of
a coil car and the operation of a crane. Each
crane should lift or put down a coil when a car
stops. The last is the interval between coil
cars. If coil cars travel close together, a car
should wait when the preceding car stops. There-
fore, the selection of the station must be per-
formed in consideration of these factors.
The last function is to keep transport equip-
ments operating as efficiently as possible.
To sum up these judgements must be done instan-
taneously in place of human experts.
Knowledge Base Configuration
Since the system is to handle a vast amount of
information concerning cranes, coil cars, coil
transfer commands, and the like, we chose to
unitize/modularize the rule base by function.
This helps simplify maintenance.
Knowledge Data Object
This expert system is a real-time control system
in the category of planning problem, so we take
production system an inference engine, and adopt
frame and fact as a fundamental knowledge data
object.
Transfer Equipments Object
Transfer equipments, cranes and coil cars, have
much information. But the information is struc-
tured and a great portion of it is common to all
the cranes or all the coil cars. So we represent
them by frame concisely as shown in Fig. 5. In
 CRANE
status : idle
work null
coiI-no: 0
PC-CRANE CL-CRANE fSH^RW"
is-aus :CRANE is-aus :CRANE is-aus CRANE
wk-zone: PC wk-zone: CL wk-zone SH
tool : xx tool : yy tool
PC01 PC02
instance-of:PC-CRANE instance-of:PC-CRANE
sequence-no: 1 sequence-no: 2
location : 100 location : 230
Fig. 5. Crane Represented by Frame
"crane" frame in the upper-most row, common
information concerned with a crane should be
described, so that these information could be
inherited to the lower frames. In the second
row, the special information about the cranes in
each working zone is described. Cranes which are
not a concept but actual transfer equipments are
described in the third row.
Transfer Demands
The coil orders of each manufacturing equipment
are scheduled in a main-frame computer, and the
transfer demands are given by lots via communi-
cation machine. These demands are asserted and
retracted frequently, so we represent them in
the form of fact.
This expert system aims to schedule the opera-
tions of transfer equipments such as a crane or
a coil car, so we divide the received demand
into more than one transfer unit corresponding
to each transfer equipment. Each unit is made an
object of scheduling. The division can be proc-
essed in a fixed procedural way, so we would
make this in conventional language. But in this
process, the concrete transfer equipments are
not determined, nor the loop-station. In deter-
mining which crane or coil car is to be used,
the rules of the expert system are used. It is
convenient to put all information about one
demand together and save it.
So we represent all the information, such as
time constraints and selection priority, by the
fact named "transfer", and each transfer unit
information, such as starting/destination posi-
tion and the kind of equipment, by the fact
named "trans_unit". The following are examples.
The first item in each fact is the Fact name or
type and all other items are replaced by actual
numeric or string values in the process of
inference.
FACT(transfer coil-no work-code
from-time to-time
work-order{if specified} priority)
FACT(trans_unit coil-no working-zone
kind-of-starting-position location-of-it
kind-of-destination location-of-it
kind-of-trans-equipment step-of-scheduling)
The last parameter of "trans_unit" indicates the
present transferring condition listed below.
(1) Transfer forbidden
(2) Transfer ready (not-scheduled)
(3) Transfer machine assigned (scheduled)
(4) Being transferred
The rules use this parameter and make a transi-
tion between these conditions. The goal of the
expert system is to assign a transfer machine to
a ready coil. In other words, the goal is to
change the condition parameter from "Transfer
ready" to "Transfer machine assigned", and to
replace some other parameters as an actual ma-
chine name or a concrete position considering
XX the various environmental condition. Then the
result of inference is sent to the cranes or the
coil cars.
Rules
The operational rules of transfer equipment and
expert's knowledge about scheduling are repre-
sented by rules. Many rules are defined through
interviewing expert operators to realize the
functions mentioned above. Furthermore many
rules are added during the test period.
To increase the operational efficiency of
cranes, the movable area is specified to each
crane. This reduces the out-of-service period of
cranes.
To increase the operational efficiency of fin-
ishing processes and transfer machines, the
cranes should be assigned according to the
following priority. The first is to lift a coil
from a coil car. The second is to place a coil
on a coil car. The third is to remove a coil
from the process outlet, and the fourth is to
charge a coil at the process inlet. This priori-
ty rank was determined, because the operation of
coil cars is anticipated as the bottleneck of
the whole transfer system. If the finished coil
remains on the outlet of the line, the process
must be stopped. Therefore the remaining coil
should be removed immediately to prevent it from
disturbing the finishing process of the next
coils.
A rule was defined, about coil car assignments,
that a coil car must be left vacant if it fol-
lows three successive in-service cars. This rule
results in the coil car assignment being easily
performed at any station without time delay. The
fraction of vacant coil cars can be adjusted in
consideration with the finishing line's condi-
tions. When a coil is scheduled to be trans-
ferred from a conveyer to a coil car, the load-
ing station may be re-scheduled to the forward
position if it takes an unexpected amount of
time for the crane to make the previous opera-
tion.
An example rule to assign a crane in CL zone is
shown below, where V() means the polling type
linkage with conventional system and
conveyer(X).coil(Y) indicates the coil number at
the Y-th saddle on the X-th conveyer.
RULE No2-conveyer-to-loop-3
?f <- FACT(trans_unit ?coil-no 2 No2conveyer
?from-loc A-loop-station ?to-loc
crane not-scheduled)
FACT(territory ?crane CL <?from-loc
>?from-loc)
FRAME(?crane
@is-a crane
@wk-zone CL
status idle)
V(conveyer(2).coil(>=10&<=15&#MAX)
<>0&?coil-no)
FRAME(?car
@is-a car
@loop A-loop
status ( i d l e or refuge
@zone ?zone)
TEST(( ?to - l o c - ?zone>=0) and
92
 (?to-loc - ?zone<10))
retract-FACT ?f
assert-FACT(trans_unit ?coil-no 2 No2conveyer
?from-loc A-loop-station ?to-loc
?crane scheduled)
This rule means that when a unit transportation
is demanded from No.2 conveyer onto an A-loop
coil car and the crane which is responsible for
that territory is idle, the coil being trans-
ported exists between the 10th and the 15th
saddle on No.2 conveyer and there is a coil car
which is idle and near the station, the coil
which has the biggest number of saddle is se-
lected and the unit is scheduled.
dynamically reviewed. At the same time, the
system examines new transfer demands, cross
reference them with various restrictions, and
determines which demands can be honored. From
these demands, the one with the most priority
points is selected. The remaining demands are
examined by inference to determine whether any
transfer demands exist that are optimal in terms
of the efficiency of materials transfer as a
whole. (This inference includes considerations
of actual and predicted crane position, actual
and predicted coil car position, distance coil
is to be moved, special operations, and other
factors.) If so, these demands are allocated as
appropriate to cranes and coil cars. Finally,
the statuses of cranes and coil cars thus speci-
fied are revised, after which those statuses are
held as they are until the next event. Statuses
are assigned on a one-to-one correspondence with
each operating crane and coil car.

Knowledge Unit System Characteristics

We divide our knowledge base into some units in The system is characterized by the use of var-
order to increase the maintainability. The divi- ious methods to speed up the inference processes
sion also helps to limit the rule firing within and create a real-time transfer control system
a knowledge unit and to suppress the unexpected capable of handling the diverse and flexible
firing. The knowledge units are as follows. demands of the work floor. These methods are
described below:
(1) Restriction in facility
(2) Restriction in charging order External input variables. The system uses exter-
(3) Coil car assignment nal input variables to take in crane tracking,
(4) Crane assignment coil car tracking, conveyer tracking, and other
event information. Consequently, the number of
The rules for the crane assignment include com- such variables is immense, as can be seen in
plicated logic, and the unit of the crane as- Table 2. To perform polling for all of this data
signment has the largest numbers of rules of 95 would create problems for real-time processing.
in this expert system. Knowledge base scale and Here, we used the following methods to speed up
knowledge unit configuration are shown in Table processing:
2. - Use a polling cycle of once every 10 seconds
(normally, polling would be performed every time
a knowledge unit is shifted);
TABLE 2 Outline of Knowledge Base - Omit polling of some data kept in tables and
defined as external input variables;
- Omit polling of areas with no data within
FDATA FACT 4 ?. (t v p e s ) external input variable tables;
BASE FRAME Z(tvpes) - Omit polling of meaningless "0" data.
PL/M data 7758
(Variables) Rule Description. The description parameter
RULE Event Reflection 45 Ru les section of many of the rules is quite long.
BASE Useless data Cut 4 3 Rules Consequently, to increase matching efficiency,
Work Limitation 4R Rules we placed facts with many inferential changes at
Tota 1 Schedule Limitation 68 Rules the end of the parameter section. Furthermore,
1 1 3 7 4 r u 1 e s Car Control 77 Rules we made the fact configuration such that facts
8000steps Decide Crane Work 95 Rules including wildly changing elements are separate
from those containing other elements.

Use of Many External Functions. Editing and

After all the relevant rules are applied in a
knowledge unit, the rules in the next knowledge
unit are applied. The switching of knowledge
units is controlled by the metarules. The coil
car assignment is estimated as more crucial than
the crane assignment, so the knowledge unit of
the coil car assignment is executed earlier than
that of the crane assignment.
processing of character strings in the rule
execution section are done completely by exter-
nal functions, all of which can be called di-
rectly from within the knowledge base. In addi-
tion, built-in functions have been provided to
derive, from data that fits the parameters in
question, minimum and maximum values without
having to resort to complex rule descriptions.

Inference Flow Discussion

Inference is performed in 10-second cycles. In
one inference cycle, 19 knowledge units are
sequentially activated; inference is performed
repetitively until there are no more rules to
execute. The average time for one inference
cycle is about six seconds.
The overall inference flow is as follows. First,
an external event changes the status of a crane,
coil car, coil, conveyer, or the like. Then,
based on event information, (predetermined)
priority points for each transfer demand are
It is true that the operating speed of expert
system is slower than that of conventional sys-
tems, but the development period of expert sys-
tems must be much shorter than that of conven-
tional systems. Expert systems enable the trial
test of the prototype at an early stage. And the
modifications and additional changes are easily
performed to develop the final system. Therefore
expert systems are suitable for applications
where logic is updated frequently or changed by
the environmental conditions. In fact we have
developed this expert system in only ten months,

93
and we estimate that the period is less than a
half in comparison with the conventional system.
During the test or adjustment phase, various
modifications were needed according to the in-
crease of production, but the modifications have
been achieved easily in a short period. This has
confirmed the expert system's feature of easy
maintenance.
On the other hand, it is difficult to test or
verify the logic of the rules in the development
of the expert system. Therefore, the offline
simulation tool, including the model of finish-
ing lines and the expert system, has been de-
veloped, and the logic of rules have been justi-
fied in the offline test. In this manner, the
logic were verified and the system could be
smoothly shifted to online environment. This
method of testing should be applied to the
development of expert systems in general.
REFERENCES
Forgy, C.L. (1982). Rete:a fast algorithm for
the many pattern/many object pattern
matching problem.
Fumiki, H. (1990). An expert system for effi-
cient coil transfer in finishing line of hot
strip mill. ISIJ International, Vol.30,
167-172.
Kazuki, T. (1988). Expert system building tool
for process control:MARKS-II. Workshop
on Artificial Intelligence for Industrial
Applications, 376-381.
Tamao, Y. (1987). Expert system building tool
for process controloverview--. IPSJ,
1721-1722.

BENEFITS

Use of this system has allowed us to increase

the overall efficiency of materials flow at the
finishing lines as a whole; it has also contrib-
uted significantly to the rationalization of
finishing operations. More specifically, we
obtained a reduction of lead time (-2.8 days)
and in materials handling personnel (-86 people)
through; establishment of coil yard management
based on an automated system of record-keeping;
automation of coil transfer commands; introduc-
tion of coil cars; implementation of automatic
operation and control; and other such action.

The adoption of an expert system played an ex-

tremely large role in helping us to complete
this project quickly. Needless to say, flexibil-
ity and speed with regards to the addition of
modification of software were invaluable; we
also found the expert system to be beneficial in
allowing us to construct an automatic system
that incorporates existing operating know-how in
a form favored by the operators. Through this
project, we established the effectiveness of
expert system for scheduling-type systems.

CONCLUSION

Only five months after the creation of a proto-

type, a flexible materials flow system fully
matched to the needs of the workplace was com-
pleted. We believe that this coil transfer
expert system, characterized by the application
of knowledge engineering to scheduling and the
introduction of an expert system for real-time
control, suggests one approach for future mate-
rial flow scheduling systems.

To cope with the increasing harshness of the

environment surrounding the steel industry and
to meet ever stricter demands for product quali-
ty, we plan to devote even more energy to the
development of new systems that exploit the
advantages of expert systems.

94
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING AN EXPERT SYSTEM TO

TROUBLE-SHOOT QUALITY PROBLEMS IN THE
CONTINUOUS CASTING OF STEEL BILLETS
S. Kumar, J.A. Meech, I.V. Samarasekera, J.K. Brimacombe
The Centre for Metallurgical Process Engineering, The University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T174

ABSTRACT

The important features of knowledge engineering an expert system to diagnose quality problems
in the continuous casting of steel billets are described. The paper considers the process used to
extract knowledge from the Experts, the experiments employed to represent knowledge in different
ways, the strategies adopted to accumulate evidence and the methodologies to present coherent
recommendations to both experienced and inexperienced operating personnel.

Expertise was derived from diverse sources. On the one hand fundamental knowledge about heat
transfer, solidification and mechanical behaviour of steel is applied to identify the origin of a quality
problem in the process; on the other, heuristic knowledge associated with billet characteristics,
machine design and operating factors is required to focus on the problem causes. Integration of
these two different types of knowledge was essential in developing a useful system.

From the Experts' viewpoint, this exercise provided them with a formal representation of their
knowledge to solve quality problems and identified new areas for future research. Moreover, the
Experts actually generated new ideas about the domain which previously were unrecognized. For
the users, this system serves two important functions - as a diagnostic tool for analysing quality
problems and as a teaching tool for new operating personnel.

Keywords. Expert System; COMDALE/X; Knowledge Units; Knowledge Acquisition;

Knowledge Representation; Evaluation and Testing of Expert Systems; Continuous Casting of
Steel Billets; Quality Problems in Billet Casting; Cracks; Rhomboidity; Breakouts.

INTRODUCTION KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN

In the continuous casting of steel billets, emphasis
on quality control is a prerequisite in today's
competitive environment to meet customer
specifications and to reduce operating costs. The
goal of high quality cannot be realized, however,
without knowledgeable operating and
maintenance personnel who understand their
casting system. Similarly, the expertise these
individuals possess should be considered
invaluable, and a method to retain and transfer
this expertise within an organization can be of
great advantage.
There has been significant research into the
control of billet casting which has correlated
certain process operating parameters with
different quality problems. Although the resulting
literature is well-documented, transfer of this
fundamental knowledge to operating personnel is
difficult eventhough numerous short courses on
the subject have been given. There is a need then,
for an expert system to guide operators in
analysing quality-related problems and in
providing them with a ready source of
fundamental knowledge related to the operation
of the casting machine. Such a system has been
developed with this purpose in mind.
Continuous casting is a heat-extraction process in
which molten steel is converted into a solid
semi-finished product. The steel is cooled in three
stages: a water-cooled copper mould, one or more
water spray zone(s) and finally in air by radiation
heat transfer. Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram
of a billet casting machine. During processing,
the solid steel is subjected to thermal and
mechanical stresses which can give rise to quality
problems in the billet such as cracks (Brimacombe
and Sorimachi, 1977, Brimacombe, Hawboltand
Weinberg, 1980 and Bommaraju, Brimacombe
and Samarasekera, 1984), rhomboidity
(Brimacombe and Samarasekera, 1988) and
breakout of liquid steel through the solid shell
(Samarasekera and Brimacombe, 1987). Figure
2 shows a rhomboid billet and the types of cracks
that might be observed.

This paper presents the important aspects of

knowledge engineering involved in the
development of this system. The various stages
of knowledge acquisition are described together
with the approach taken to structure the problem
domain. The knowledge representation
techniques available in the development tool,
COMDALE/X, are highlighted. Testing and
evaluation of the system by the Experts and the Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of a billet casting
Users is summarized. machine.

95
Fundamental knowledge related to heat transfer,
solidification and the mechanical behaviour of
steel are important topics in analysing these
problems. In addition, operator experience in the
plant provides a valuable source of heuristic
knowledge about the process, particularly site
specific issues. In this expert system, integration
of knowledge from these two diverse sources was
attempted to provide useful advice for operators
experiencing quality problems.
TRANSVERS
E MIDFAC
E CRAC
K "look-up" table. With a desire for a system
LONGITUDINA
L MIDFAC
E CRAC
K possessing
CRAZ
E CRACK
S TRANSVERS
E CORNE
R
CRAC
K used by the Experts in the analysis of quality
CENTRELIN
E CRACK
MIDWAY CRACKS
PINCH-ROL
L CRACKS
OFF-CORNE
R INTERNA
L CRACK
S
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of a rhomboid
billet showing various types of cracks.
KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION
Knowledge acquisition has been defined as the
transfer and transformation of problem-solving
expertise from some knowledge source to a
computer program (Hayes-Roth, Waterman &
Lenat 1981). In our case, this process consisted
of four principal stages: definition of the problem
domain, acquisition of background knowledge on
continuous casting, development of the expert
system and testing and validation in the field.
During the first stage, the Experts outlined the
problem area and the need for an expert system to
diagnose quality problems in billet casting.
During system development, the knowledge base
was structured, coded into rules, evaluated by the
Experts and modified. This was an iterative
process where the knowledge base was subjected
to numerous revisions as well as expansion. The
final stage involved testing of the Expert system
by the Knowledge Engineers, Experts and
End-Users. Feedback obtained from these
evaluations was incorporated into the expert
system.
Definition of Problem Domain
The problem identification stage was driven by
the Experts who wanted a system to help transfer
their knowledge to industry. The Experts defined
the problem domain and the need for an expert
system to diagnose quality problems in billet
casting and to train less experienced operating
personnel. It was envisaged that the system could
be used as a consultant by users and so provide
the Experts with more time for other activities.
Thus, the problem modality was well-defined and
the Experts were ready and willing to participate
in the development process.
Background knowledge on continuous casting
The Experts provided the Knowledge Engineers
with literature on continuous casting of steel
billets- operations, design and product quality.
One of the Knowledge Engineers also attended a
short course provided by the Experts and their
colleagues in Vancouver. This established a
practical understanding of the problem domain
and helped considerably in subsequent
discussions with the Experts during development.
Buchanan and others (1981) have pointed out that
communication problems during knowledge
96
acquisition can be severe when the Knowledge
Engineer has far less knowledge about the domain
than the Experts. In this work, steps were taken
to ensure that this was not an issue.
An outline of quality problems, comprising the
origin of defects, their causes of formation and
suggested remedies for prevention, was prepared
by the Knowledge Engineers. This preliminary
categorization is summarized in the appendix.
Although these tables contain the major elements
of the knowledge domain, the methodology for
diagnosis is much more complex than a simple
human-like thought and
communication processes, considerable effort
was expended to structure the actual approach
problems.
Expert System Development
The problem domain consisting of cracks (internal
and surface), rhomboidity and breakouts was
broken down initially into individual modules -
each of which could be worked on independently.
Accordingly, development began with an
examination of midway cracking as this problem
was considered to be relatively simple and
well-understood. The Experts initiated the
knowledge acquisition process by identifying that
midway cracks were caused by reheating of the
billet surface.
The focus then, was aimed at analysing
spray-related issues that are less complex than are
mould disorders. It quickly became apparent,
however, that poor mould operation could also
contribute to midway cracks. In the end, midway
cracks turned out to be the most complicated
problem from the viewpoint of diagnosis and
knowledge representation.
The Experts outlined the steps followed in dealing
with midway cracks and explained the
significance of operating parameters involved at
each stage. The initial scheme to analyse midway
cracks originating in the radiation zone is
summarized in Table 1. Factors such as spray
length, water flow rate, steel temperature and
composition were considered to be important, and
based on this information, a small prototype was
developed.
TABLE 1 Initial Scheme proposed bv the
Experts to analyse Midway Cracks
originating in the Radiation Zone.
STAGES DETAILS |
1 Input Distance of the outer tip of the crack from the billet
surface
2 Compare Measured distance with solid shell thickness profile
3 Establish Location of crack origin in the machine
I4 Input Model-predicted billet surface reheat for radiation zone
Spray parameters - zone length and water flow rate
High temperature strength of steel - Mn/S ratio
Cast structure - Superheat level
5 Analyse Compare input parameters with values specified by the
experts
6 Correlate Generation of midway crack with the operating
parameters
Conclude Conclusions and justification
L
Almost immediately, questions were raised about
the solid-shell thickness profile and the surface
temperature distribution. In the prototype, it was
assumed that the users would have prior
information about these predictions. Since the
system simply informed the users when operating
parameters were "high", "low", or "okay", its
usefulness was nothing more than a check-list
with input based on intuition rather than
measurements or analysis. Thus, the first stage
of implementation was not very successful.
The knowledge base was reviewed and emphasis
was re-focused on the consultation process
followed to deal with a client rather than on actual
details of the data. The system was modified to
provide conclusions and suggest remedial actions
in the same way as the Experts. The knowledge
base was re-structured to facilitate examination of
all parameters in the analysis. In addition,
information for the users was incorporated into
the system in the form of explanations,
screen-messages and customized rule
descriptions, using the user-interface facilities of
COMDALE/X.
At this stage, the expert system was capable of
handling only typical situations which cause
midway cracks to form - high reheat of the billet
surface, high superheat of steel and poor steel
ductility at high temperature. The Experts were
consulted on other situations where midway
cracks might be seen viz. when both spray and
steel parameters were satisfactory, when only
steel parameters were satisfactory and when only
spray parameters were satisfactory. The Experts
felt that it was impossible for midway cracks to
form when both spray and steel parameters were
satisfactory.
However, when a problem related to steel quality
was evident and the spray parameters were
satisfactory, the Experts believed that reheating
must be related to a mould disorder. Under these
circumstances, the presence of dark and bright
patches on the billet surface at the mould exit,
representing over-cooled and under-cooled
regions respectively, would confirm a
mould-related problem. The overcooled regions
can reheat excessively in the radiation zone below
the sprays, leading to midway cracks. Therefore,
expansion of the system was necessary to include
knowledge dealing with mould parameters
(distortion, oscillation, taper and lubrication).
It was clear that the users would not be in aposition
to predict either billet surface reheat levels or the
solid shell thickness profile needed for the crack
analysis. Therefore, a heat-transfer mathematical
model for billet solidification was developed to
predict these profiles. The model uses operating
parameters as inputs and predicts solid shell
thickness and maximum reheat temperatures at
key locations in the casting machine. The
alternating direction implicit finite-difference
method is used to solve the unsteady-state
heat-conduction equation in two-dimensions
(Patankar, 1980) over one quarter of the billet
section. The transverse section was discretized
into a 30 x 30 mesh with a time increment of 0.10
seconds. A typical output profile for a test
situation is shown in Fig. 3.
Distance from the meniscus ( m )
Fig. 3. A typical output of the mathematical
model showing predicted solid shell
thickness and billet surface
temperature profiles
(Casting Speed - 25 mm per second;
Section Size - 150 mm square)
97
Until this stage, the focus was on the radiation
zone. But midway cracks have also been observed
in the spray zone or in the region between the
mould and the sprays (submould). For the
Experts, it was difficult to visualize the origin of
midway cracks in the spray zone because cooling
rates in this region are high and therefore, the
billet surface is unlikely to reheat. If midway
cracks do initiate in the spray zone, the Experts
surmised that only one factor could influence
billet surface reheating -poor spray maintenance
(damaged or blocked spray nozzles). The system
was expanded to include this situation. This
completed the prototype for midway cracks and
the next problem was selected for development.
It was pointed out by the Knowledge Engineers
that more than one quality problem might be
observed at the same time. This meant that the
plan to have a separate module for each problem
was inappropriate. There was need for a general
strategy to handle any combination of quality
problems.
Combinations of Quality Problems
Based on the knowledge summarized in the
appendix, the domain was divided into two broad
groups. The first group consisted of those
problems that require a detailed analysis of the
mould and/or the spray cooling system.
Off-corner cracks, transverse cracks and
depressions, midway cracks, rhomboidity,
diagonal cracks and breakouts are included in this
category. The second group deals with very
specific issues for which a detailed analysis of the
mould and/or the sprays is not needed.
Longitudinal corner cracks, longitudinal midface
cracks, pinch-roll cracks, centreline cracks and
craze cracks are in this group.
The knowledge base was organized into three
modules as shown in Fig. 4 to handle
combinations of quality problems and to
accommodate the memory limitations of the
operating system, MS-DOS 4.01. This
classification was based on three different
approaches identified for the diagnosis process
that require detailed mould and/or spray analysis.
Module 1 is designed for situations where no
midway cracks are present but any combination
of off-corner cracks, transverse cracks and
depressions, breakouts, rhomboidity and
diagonal cracks are observed. In this situation,
QUALITY PROBLEMS REQUIRING
DETAILED ANALYSIS
OH-come
r Crac
k Midwa
y Crack
s
Transvers
e Defect
s
Rhomboidit
y
Breakout
s
[ Midwa
y Crack
s |
Fig. 4. Scheme for diagnosing quality
problems requiring detailed mould
and/or spray analysis.
 only a detailed analysis of the mould is necessary,
KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION
although the system can provide warnings about
possible spray maintenance problems. Module 2
Knowledge representation involves the
examines cases that include midway cracks with
development of structures that assist in coding
any other type of quality problem. Mould issues knowledge into the system so that intelligent
are examined first followed by a detailed spray behaviour is exhibited. The main knowledge
analysis to address midway cracking problems. items used in this expert system can be grouped
into structural, procedural, external and
Module 3 deals with midway cracks as the sole meta-knowledge (Meech, 1990). Structural
quality problem. In this case, the spray system is knowledge consists of rules (statements and
examined first. If a spray problem is uncertain, procedures ), and facts (classes and keyword
then mould issues are examined. As well, the triplets). These units provide the various
mould may be examined if required by inference connections between facts in the expert system as
of the system or by request of the user. If such a it searches for final conclusions. Procedural
request is not desired but the system detects certain knowledge units are employed to direct the
mould disorders, a severe warning message is inferencing process for a number of
issued. In all three modules, there are rules knowledge-specific tasks. External knowledge
dealing with quality problems that do not require provides an interface for the system to interact
detailed analysis of the mould or the sprays. with external programs while Meta-knowledge or
Adverse mould-shell interaction is the root of "knowledge about knowledge", gives useful and
most mould-related problems. A thorough appropriate explanations and justifications to the
"breadth-search" of factors related to adverse user. The knowledge units available in
mould-shell interaction, both at the meniscus and COMDALE/X are shown in Fig. 6.
away from it, is conducted. Figure 5 shows the
factors examined. The important issues are KNOWLEDGE
mould-tube distortion, oscillation characteristics,
mould lubrication and taper.
Object
s Attribute
s Value
s Degre
e ot Belie
f
I- , I
ADVERSE MOULD-SHEL
L
INTERACTIO
N Keywor
d Triplet
s Exclusiv
u e sets t x c l
-Logical JMull
i.choice sets
Mulli

I Si
I n
I
Keyword Triplet
s
- C o n d i t ino S t a t e m esn t Logica
l Connective
s
-ii -Predicate
Function
s
s / Operator
s

Keyword Triplet
s
- Conclusio
n S t a t e m esn t Certaint
y Factor
s
MOULD TAPE
R MOUL
D DISTORTIO
N MOUL
DLUBRICATIO
N Assignments
- Else S t a t e m esn t Function
s

Inferenc
e Strategie
s
1: Cooling WaterVelocit
y Flowrate 1: Negative Strip Time
2: Cooling WaterQualit
y j 2: Oil Distributio
n 2: Mould Lead Input/Outpu
t Strategie
s
3: Mould Tube Alignment 3: Oil-Physical Propertie
s 3: Nature of oscillatio
n ere Communication Control
4: Type of Mould Constrain
t ' Oil System cleanliness A: MetalLevelVariatio n 1
S: Mould WallThickness M e t a - K n o w el e d g
6: Positio
n of MetalLevel Triplet Representation
s
6: Mould Coolin
g Water
7: Mould Coppe r Temperatur
e Customized Question
s
8: Mould Design Tolerances 1 Customized Rule Description
s
Customize
d Explanations

Fig. 5. A general outline of mould-related Fig. 6. Knowledge units available in

factors contributing to quality COMDALE/X Development Tool.
problems in billet casting.

Mould-tube distortion is related to cooling water Decisions to use specific facets such as exclusive
quality and velocity, the nature of the mould sets, fuzzy sets, restrictions, default values, etc.
constraint system, copper composition, wall to represent various facts, were made as the
thickness, metal level, tube alignment and design knowledge base expanded across the domain. The
tolerances (Brimacombe, Samarasekera and availability of procedures to control the inference
Bommaraju, 1986). The analysis of oscillation process - breadth search versus depth search,
characteristics involves evaluation of forward chaining versus backward chaining is a
negative-strip time, mould lead and the nature of major asset of the COMDALE/X Development
oscillation marks - depth and uniformity across Tool. Of particular importance is the flexibility
the billet surface. Important parameters dealing of the tool to allow knowledge accumulation
with lubrication in the mould are oil flow options that are domain-specific (Meech, 1989).
conditions (flowrate and distribution), physical The method developed to establish belief in a
properties of oil (boiling point, flash point and spray-related problem is described below.
viscosity), and maintenance of the oil-distribution
Belief in a spray-related problem
system. Finally, an analysis of the type of taper
and its magnitude is conducted. Taper can
The appearance of midway cracks in a billet
influence the formation of both off-corner cracks
suggests that solid steel close to the solid-liquid
and transverse defects.
interface has been subjected to tensile strains
during processing. The generation of the tensile
This development had a major impact on the strains is frequently caused by reheating of the
project as it presented to the Experts a structure strand surface due to a sudden reduction in heat
that was very similar to their own. For the first extraction. Reheating causes surface expansion
time, they were able to observe links between which is constrained by the interior of the
various quality problems that had not been solidifying shell such that a tensile strain is
considered previously in their analysis. This
generated close to the solidification front where
strategy was also beneficial as it significantly
reduced the amount of coding necessary as per the the steel has low ductility at temperatures within
earlier plan since only three modules were needed. 50 C of the solidus temperature (Thomas,
Brimacombe and Samarasekera, 1986).

98
The level of surface reheat determines the
magnitude of the tensile strain generated and
therefore the intensity of a cracking problem.
Thus, it was considered that belief in a high strain
level is equivalent to the degree of belief in a
"high" reheat. Belief in a "high" reheat level is
determined by defining a fuzzy set for the
adjective "high":
Radiation Zone 0 50 75
Reheat
Temperature
(C)
Degree of 0 25 50
belief in a high
reheat (%)
A low Mn:S ratio and a high steel superheat are
two operating factors that can aggravate the
cracking susceptibility of steel when the reheat
level is high (Brimacombe, 1976). Although the
presence of a high strain level is mandatory for
crack formation, problems with composition and
superheat can lead to cracking at lower strain
levels i.e., at lower reheat levels. On their own,
superheat and composition problems are not of
concern since cracks cannot initiate in the absence
of a tensile strain.
/ /
/ /| c
B
A
100 150
75 100 INITIA
L BELIE
F IN SPRAY-RELATE
D STRAI
N PROBLE
M ( %)
Fig. 8. A schematic sketch illustrating the
calculation of final belief in a
spray-related tensile strain problem
following the detection of a mould
disorder.
OBC : Belief in a spray problem due to reheat, high
superheat and composition problem
OAC : Modified belief in a spray problem due to the
definite presence of one or more mould
disorders
Thus, the contribution of belief in these effects
on increasing or decreasing belief in a
spray-related strain problem is considered to be
similar. The influence of a mould problem on
belief in a spray problem is taken into account only
after the effects of superheat and high-temperature
strength of steel have been considered.

STRUCTURE OF THE EXPERT SYSTEM

F IN HIGH REHEA
BELIE T DUE TO THE SPRAY
S ( %)
Fig. 7. A schematic sketch illustrating the
calculation of degree of belief in a
spray-related tensile strain problem
from belief in high reheat in the
radiation zone, high superheat and
composition problems.
OCD : Initial belief in a tensile strain problem due to
belief in high reheat
OBD : Modified belief due to definite high superheat
"OR" definite composition problem
OAD : Modified belief due to definite high superheat
"AND" definite composition problem
The effect of composition and superheat on belief
in a spray-related strain problem is shown in Fig.
7. In the methodology adopted, belief in a
spray-related strain problem can be increased
Figure 9 outlines the general methodology
adopted in this system to analyse quality
problems. At the start of a consultation, the
system acquires operating parameters with the
help of an external program. The heat-transfer
model then is executed to calculate the solid shell
thickness profile and the surface temperature
distribution for the billet. An output file is created
to interface with the expert system shell,
COMDALE/X. The user is then prompted to
desciibe the quality problems and to select the
most important one. Output from the
mathematical model, as well as the quality
problems entered by the user, are "imported" into
the "main" module of the expert system.
OPERATIN
G PARAMETER
S
INPUT
1
HEAT TRANSFE
MODE L
R QUALIT
Y PROBLEM
INPUT
S

above the belief in a "high" reheat when a

composition and/or superheat problem is present.
If a "high" reheat "might not be" present (i.e.
degree of belief < 50 percent), then belief in a MAIN MODUL
E
strain problem can only be increased if the
Analysis of specificit
y associated
certainty of a composition or superheat problem with the most important proble
m
is greater than 50 percent. Thus, when there is
uncertainty about the presence of "high" surface
reheat (degree of belief = 50 percent), the absolute
presence of one or both of these problems will
increase belief in a strain problem to 70 or 90 MODUL
E1 | | MODUL
E2 | | MODUL
E 3 ~j
percent respectively.

Belief in a spray-related strain problem can also

be decreased if the system detects a mould
disorder. Figure 8 shows this influence. When
uncertainty exists about a spray problem (degree
of belief = 50 percent), the absolute presence of
a mould problem will lower belief in the spray Fig. 9. A general flow-sheet representing the
problem to 30 percent. structure of the expert system.

99

In the "main" module, the system verifies the
quality problem(s) entered by the user. In the case
of midway cracks and pinch-roll cracks for
example, the user is asked questions on the
distances of the outer tip of the cracks from the
billet surface. This establishes initiation sites for
midway cracks and confirms or denies an
observation about pinch roll cracks.
For the most important quality problem, the
system addresses issues related to frequency of
the problem with regard to particular strands,
grade of steel, time in the heat, location and
orientation. One of the three analysis modes is
then selected depending on the combination of
quality problems observed. Prior to presenting a
summary of the analysis in the "report" module,
the system provides the user with an opportunity
to examine all final conclusions and to probe into
the knowledge base to obtain justification for each
piece of advice.
EVALUATION OF THE EXPERT SYSTEM
The expert system was evaluated informally by
the Experts and the Knowledge Engineers during
its development. Here, the computer program
was tested and weak areas of the knowledge base
were identified and modified. At a later stage in
the development, the expert system was installed
in five Canadian steel companies for formal
evaluation. This proved that the system was
capable of successfully linking dominant
problems at several sites with expected causes.
Company
Comments on the analysis
"A" The system related a problem with
rhomboidity to plugged spray
nozzles. The operators solved this
problem by improving the spray
cooling water quality.
"B" Off-corner cracks were found to
originate near the mould exit. The
system suggested a mismatch
between spray and mould heat
extraction rates due to a large gap
between the mould exit and the first
spray nozzle.
"C" The heat transfer model calculated a
high reheat in the radiation zone.
Midway cracks were seen in the
radiation zone. The cause of this high
reheat was a short spray zone.
The users also identified a number of issues related
to modification and future expansion:
* Expansion of the present knowledge base
to include other quality problems -
centreline segregation, laps, bleeds,
blowholes and pinholes.
* Errors in the code - omission, misprints,
incorrect units, etc.
* Need for additional user-friendly features
- graphical output profiles of billet surface
temperature and solid shell thickness.
* Need to recognize different levels of
expertise among the possible users.
100
REFINEMENT OF DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE
This knowledge engineering exercise was
beneficial in many ways. It led to a formal
representation of the Experts' knowledge; a
structure evolved that was easy to understand and
explain to others. During knowledge acquisition
and system development, some new ideas about
the domain were uncovered while several obscure
issues were clarified. Some examples of these are
as follows:
* A new classification scheme for quality
problems in billet casting has evolved. The
problems are divided into two groups; those
that have complex origins and those where
very specific issues need to be examined.
With this strategy, all combinations of
quality problems can be handled.
* The presence of scale deposits on the cold
face of the mould and poor mould lubrication
were linked. When scale deposits are present
on the cold face of the mould, the mould
operates hotter than normal and therefore,
the lubricating oil vaporizes or burns before
reaching the metal level. Thus, a problem
with mould lubrication can be related to poor
water quality.
* A novel inferencing strategy was developed
in the analysis of midway cracks to integrate
the influence of important parameters such
as surface reheat temperature, superheat
levels and steel composition.
SUMMARY
An expert system has been developed to guide
operators in analysing quality-related problems
and in providing them with a ready source of
fundamental knowledge related to the operation
of the casting machine. Important outcomes of
this knowledge engineering exercise are:
(a) Fundamental and heuristic knowledge
required for problem solving have been
integrated during system development.
(b) The formal structuring of the knowledge
base had a major impact on the domain as
it presented the Experts with a structure
that was very similar to their own thought
process. The methodology evolved can
handle combinations of defects in billet
casting.
(c) The knowledge structure provided the
users, for the first time, with a consistent
interpretation of the domain knowledge.
(d) This system provided an opportunity to
establish new links between quality
problems and new ideas about the
knowledge domain have evolved.
Future efforts in expanding this system will
examine the application of this knowledge to a
real-time on-line monitoring and control system.
By providing this assistance to the quality-control
process, significant improvements in productivity
and product quality are likely to occur.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are greatly indebted to Stelco Steel,
Ivaco Rolling Mills, Slater Steel, Sidbec-Dosco
Inc., Courtice Steel, Western Steel, Hatch
Associates and the Natural Sciences and
Engineering Research Council of Canada for
support of this study. Gratitude also is expressed
to Comdale Technologies Inc. for their assistance
with the software.
 REFERENCES

Bommaraju, R., Brimacombe, J.K. and Buchanan, B.G., Barstow, D., Bechtal, R.,
Samarasekera, I.V. (1984). Mould behaviour and Bennett, J., Clancey, W., Kulikowski, C ,
solidification in the continuous casting of steel Mitchell, T. and Waterman, D.A. (1983). In :
billets: . structure, solidification bands, crack F.Hayes-Roth, D.A.Waterman and D.B.Lenat
formation and off-squareness. ISS Transactions. (Eds.), Building Expert Systems. Reading,
5, pp.95-105. Massachusetts, USA: Addison-Wesley,
pp. 127-167.
Brimacombe, J.K. (1976). Design of continuous
casting machines based on a heat-flow analysis: Hayes-Roth, F., Waterman, D.A. and Lenat, D.B.
state-of-the-art-review. Canadian Metallurgical Eds (1983). Building Expert Systems. Reading,
Quarterly. 15, pp. 163-175. Massachusetts, USA: Addison-Wesley.
Brimacombe, J.K., Hawbolt, E.B. and Weinberg, Meech, J.A. (1989). Conflict resolution and
F. (1980). Formation of off-corner internal cracks knowledge accumulation in expert systems. In :
in continuously-cast steel billets. Canadian R. Rao and G. Dobby (Eds.), Processing Complex
Metallurgical Quarterly. 19, pp.215-227. Ores. Pergamon Press, London, pp.575-585.
Brimacombe, J.K. and Samarasekera, I.V. (1988). Meech, J.A. (1990). Expert Systems for teaching
Fundamental analysis of the continuously casting and training in the mineral industry. Minerals
process for quality improvements. Proceedings Engineering. 3, pp. 129-136.
of Indo-US Workshop on Principles of
Solifdification and Materials Processing. Patankar, S.V. (1980). Numerical Heat Transfer
Hyderabad, India, Oxford and IBH Publishing and Fluid Flow. New York, USA : Hemisphere
Company, New Delhi, India, pp. 179-222. Publishing Corporation.
Brimacombe, J.K., Samarasekera, I.V. and Samarasekera, I.V. and Brimacombe, J.K. (1987).
Bommaraju, R. (1986). Optimum design and Mould design to prevent breakouts in the
operation of moulds for the continuous casting of continuous casting of steel billets. Report to
steel billets. Fifth International Iron and Steel Stelco Edmonton Steel Works. Unpublished
Congress, Washington D.C., USA, 69th Work.
Steelmaking Conference Proceedings.
ISS-AIME. 69, pp.409-423. Thomas, B.G., Brimacombe, J.K. and
Samarasekera, I.V. (1986). The formation of
Brimacombe, J.K. and Sorimachi, K. (1977). panel cracks in steel ingots: a state-of-the-art
Crack formation in the continuous casting of steel. review. ISS Transactions. 7, pp.7-20.
Metallurgical Transactions B. 8B, pp.489-505.

APPENDIX : QUALITY PROBLEMS IN BILLET CASTING

A Internal Cracks. B Midway cracks.

1 QUALITY LOCATION CAUSES INFLUENCING 1 QUALITY LOCATIONS CAUSES INFLUENCING 1

PROBLEMS OF FACTORS PROBLEM FACTORS
CRACKING Mould exit or in Reheating of the Mismatch between the 1
Midway
Off-comer Lower part of Bulging of the Thermo-mechanical behaviour Crack the gap between billet surface mould and the sprays: due |
Crack the mould or solid shell and of the mould; Adverse the mould and the to design or maintenance |
very close to the hinging at the mould/shell interaction; Deep sprays problem; Poor design of |
mould exit off-comers and non-uniform oscillation cooling jacket near the
marks; Steel composition and mould exit; Steel H
superheat composition and superheat |

Diagonal Crack In the spray Non-uniform Thermo-mechanical behaviour Upper portion of Reheating of the Poor spray maintenance : |
zone shell of the mould; Adverse the sprays billet surface bent or plugged spray II
generated by mould/shell interaction; nozzles; Steel composition
the mould Asynchronous intermittent and superheat 1
boiling in the mould; Deep and Lower portion of Reheating of the Sprays : design and
non-uniform oscillation marks; the sprays or the billet surface due maintenance issues; Steel
steel composition and superheat radiation cooling to the sprays composition and superheat
Asymmetric Poor spray design and zone
spray cooling maintenence; Steel Reheating of Thermo-mechanical 1
composition and superheat dark overcooled behaviour of the mould;
Centreline Near the point Sudden Inadequate spray cooling near patches Adverse mould/shell
Crack of complete decrease in the point of complete generated by the interaction; Deep and
solidification the centreline solidification; Steel mould non-uniform oscillation
temperature at
the point of
composition and superheat
_ marks; Steel composition
and superheat
complete
solidification
Pinch-roll Close to the Squeezing on Excessive pinch roll pressure;
Crack pinch rolls a strand with Steel composition and
liquid core superheat
Unbending Close to the Unbending on Excessive bending strains;
Cracks point of a strand with Steel composition and
unbending liquid centre superheat; High casting speed

101
 Q Surface Cracks. D Rhomboiditv and Breakouts.

QUALITY ORIGINS CAUSES INFLUENCING | QUALITY ORIGINS CAUSES INFLUENCING 1

PROBLEMS FACTORS PROBLEMS FACTORS

Transverse In the mould Pulling action on Thermo-mechanical behaviour | Rhomboidity In the mould Non-uniform Thermo-mechanical behaviour 1
Crack (and the strand as a of the mould; Adverse | and/or the shell generated of the mould; Adverse I
depression) result of binding mould/shell interaction; Deep | sprays in the mould mould/shell interaction;
or sticking in the and non-uniform oscillation | Asynchronous intermittent j
mould marks; Steel composition and Q boiling in the mould; Deep and I
superheat fl non-uniform oscillation marks; |
Mould-tube alignment; Steel i
Longitudinal In the mould Reheating of the Large comer radius; Presence |
superheat J
Comer Crack billet comer due of comer "key holes"; Mould |
to a large tube alignment; Asynchronous 8 In the sprays Asymmetric Poor spray design and 1
mould/shell gap intermittent boiling in the | spray cooling maintenence; Steel superheat J
mould; Deep and non-uniform H
Breakouts Close to Thin shells Thermo-mechanical behaviour
and / or oscillation marks; |
obtuse-angle generated at the of the mould; Adverse
Thermo-mechanical behaviour
comers of obtuse angle mould/shell interaction; Deep
Presence of thin of the mould; Adverse the strand comers due to and non-uniform oscillation
and weak shell at mould/shell interaction; Steel I asymmetrical marks; Mould-tube alignment;
the hotter comers composition I
cooling in the Steel superheat
| Longitudinal In the mould Excessive Presence of scratch or gouge mould
| Midface Crack reheating of a marks on the inner surface of 1
Close to Local reduction Adverse mould/shell interaction;
localized portion the mould wall transverse in the shell Deep and non-uniform
of the billet depressions oscillation marks;
thickness due to
surface. or deep Thermo-mechanical behaviour
the presence of
| Craze Crack In the sprays Grain boundary High level of Cu, Sn or low oscillation depressions or of the mould
embrittlement melting impurity in steel marks on the deep oscillation
due to the billet surface marks
presence of Cu,
Close to any Inadequate Insufficient dwell time in the
Sn or low
weak spot in amount of shell mould; Entrapment of slag or
melting
the shell thickness at the scum between mould and billet
impurities in
mould exit
steel.
Mould Operators' error Poor metal control
overflow

102
 Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE-BASED TECHNIQUES TO THE

SCHEDULING OF STEEL ROLLING
O. Lassila*, P. Mattila**, L. Pesonen**, M. Syrjnen* and S. Trm*

* Laboratory of Information Processing Science, Helsinki University of Technology, Otakaari 1,

SF-02150 Espoo, Finland
**Rautaruukki Oy, Raahe Steel Works, SF-92170 Raahe, Finland

Abstract: This paper describes a knowledge-based production scheduling system built for the
plate rolling mill of a large Finnish steel manufacturer. The chosen scheduling algorithm (the
activity-based scheduling method) had to be modified because the dominating production con-
straints in steel rolling differ from those of job-shop manufacturing, the original application
area of the method. The continuous nature of the production process as well as some resources
need special treatment w h e n constructing a timetable. The resulting scheduling algorithm is
outlined in the paper.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Rolling Mills, Steel Manufacture, Production Control, Micro-
computer-based Control

1. INTRODUCTION ble solution is to invest in both vertical and lateral

communication systems (Kerr 91).
Steel manufacturing differs in many ways from job-
shop -like production. The end products of steel works This paper describes a general framework for produc-
lack internal structure, i.e. they are not composite ob- tion planning for Rautaruukki's Raahe Steel Works
jects, and the production process is far from assembly- and a knowledge based scheduling system for plate
oriented. Instead, it splits larger units into smaller ones, rolling mill that was built during 1989 - 1990. Helsinki
e.g. meltings into slabs and slabs into plates. University of Technology and Rautaruukki Oy have
carried out this project together using frame-based
In addition, the dominating constraints in steel manu- scheduling software developed at the Laboratory of In-
facturing are typically other than those in job-shop pro- formation Processing Science.
duction. There are, for example, strong connections be-
tween successive manufacturing operations in several
points of the process and important technological con- 2. STEEL MANUFACTURING PROCESS
straints that limit the possible operation sequences on
some resources. A commercial job-shop -oriented Rautaruukki's Raahe Steel Works is composed of sev-
scheduling system is not the best alternative for manag- eral different production units as illustrated in figure 1.
ing that kind of a manufacturing process. The end-products of the plant consist of hot rolled steel
plates and strips. The production process can be divided
The traditional w a y to
manage the s u b s y s t e m
"" " " "
- "
T
interactions in produc- " - ",
-- " "' "1 " -
" "

"
"' >
'"'"'' ""'"'
tion plants is to use in- Strip

\7
termediate buffers to re- Strip !
, ,$t#p$^ Loading products
duce the need for coordi-
: Raw
t mill
nation. H o w e v e r , the
global trend t o w a r d s
Ore Blast Steel f Jkbs

7\,f.
Post

shop
K
shorter delivery times furnaces processing 1
and increasingly c u s - i \
tomer oriented products Cote i i i i i i l i i t I. t a l e s - -. Plate
products
has caused more and Loading
more pressure to decrease
Coking
iiilliii
stocks and throughput Coal
times and has thus cre- plant \sPost
ated a need for more so- processing 2
phisticated methods for
coordination. One possi-
Figure 1: Rautaruukki's Raahe Steel Works

103
into two fairly independent parts: the process up to the
blast furnaces and the process after them. The task of
the blast furnaces is to provide sufficient amounts of
even-quality raw iron to the steel shop.
The primary production management problems deal
with the process starting from the steel shop where raw
iron is processed to different types of molten steel and
cast to steel-slabs. The weights of the meltings are signif-
icantly larger than the average weights of delivered
products and therefore the steel grades produced must
be selected so that they satisfy the requirements of a
wide range of end-products. This is an optimization
problem the goal of which is to find a set of steel grades
and a product mix that match each other and satisfy a
set of external constraints such as due dates, cost min-
imisation, even quality, and even material flow and re-
source load.
and produces plates which are of the size specified in
the customer order. In the beginning of the process the
slabs are heated to the proper rolling temperature. In
the rolling mill the hot slab is rolled to specified plate
width and thickness. After rolling, about half of the
plates are normalized. Plates are levelled and after that
they arrive to a cooling bed where they spend a time
proportional to their thickness. The cool plates are then
moved either to the mechanical cutting line or the
flame cutting cell.
Plates can be processed through the plate mill using dif-
ferent routes. Some routing choices are determined by
the properties of the plate, such as thickness or width,
and some can be chosen during scheduling.
Part of the operations, especially in the beginning of the
line, must be done immediately after the previous op-

To further complicate the

task, the selection of the di- Hot
mensions of the slabs is sub- leveling
mill 2
ject to two different kinds of
pressures: first, the rolling
mills prefer slab dimensions
which match the dimensions
of the end-products to mini-
mize the waste, and second,
the steel shop wants to mini-
mize the changes of the di-
mensions of the slabs be-
tween different castings.

From steel shop the slabs are

moved to strip and plate
mills where they are rolled in
hot rolling mills into thin
steel plates and finally cut
into customer d i m e n s i o n s
and packed for dispatching.
The process of the strip mill
is fairly process-like as the
slabs move through the pro-
cess in fixed routes and in the
release order. The plate mill
Loading
is more complicated because t hall
the routes of plates can vary a
lot and different product
mixes may cause bottlenecks Figure 2: The plate rolling process
in different parts of the pro-
cess. There is thus a clear need for a detailed scheduling
system in the plate mill. eration has been completed. That makes planning more
difficult because decisions concerning individual opera-
tions of an unbreakable sequence cannot be made sepa-
The production planning at the plate mill initiates a rately but the focus of attention must, instead, be in
task called slab design, deciding which plates are cut complete operation sequences.
from selected slabs and how the cutting is done. This is
The plate rolling process contains some resources that
again an optimization problem where the goal is to
pose strong constraints on some properties of successive
minimize the amount of steel wasted. The heat plan-
reservations (so called adjacency constraints). There are
ning in the steel shop is also based on slab design. In
two classes of adjacency constraints the first of which in-
addition, the production of the plate mill needs careful
cludes constraints that limit the set of operation pairs
scheduling in order to satisfy complex technological
that can be performed within some time period in the
constraints and to effectively utilize the production fa-
same resource and the latter consists of constraints lim-
cilities.
iting the operations that can be performed with same
resource regardless of the time spent between them. In
2.1. Plate Rolling Mill plate mill the pusher resources (reheating furnaces,
normalization furnace and cooling beds) belong mostly
Plate rolling mill (figure 2) takes as its input steel-slabs
to the first category and the hot rolling mill to the latter.

104
The operation of pusher resources (figure 3) is as fol-
lows: the slabs or plates move through the resource one
after another and they get a special treatment (such as
heating or cooling) during the time they spend inside
the resource. Typically several slabs or plates can be in-
side the resource simultaneously. The throughput of
the resource can be maximized by minimizing the dif-
ferences between consecutively processed items.
In heating resources, for example, thick plates need a
longer treatment and the plates following the thick
ones get a treatment of a similar length. It is therefore
beneficial if the thick plates can be processed in batches.
In some pusher resources there are an additional dan-
ger of overheating, i.e. also the maximum time a slab or
plate can spend inside the resource is limited. In prac-
tice this means that slabs or plates that differ much with
respect to the critical property (thickness) cannot be
processed close to each other.
<M11 liii
Figure 3: A pusher resource
The adjacency constraints of the rolling mill are caused
by the wear of the work rolls (figure 4). These rolls have
to be changed every now and then and the new work
rolls have different capabilities than the old rolls. To
maximize the quality of the plates (e.g. constant thick-
ness) and to minimize the probability of failures the
order in which slabs are processed must be planned
very carefully.
In the beginning of a rolling cycle work rolls are slip-
pery and require slabs with low rolling pressure. When
the work rolls have warmed up the increasingly diffi-
cult slabs are processed and as the work rolls wear only
narrower and thicker plates can be rolled.
Figure 4: The rolls of the rolling mill
The current planning system focuses almost exclusively
on the sequence constraints of the hot rolling mill. The
result of the planning is a rolling sequence, the order in
which the slabs are processed in hot rolling mill. The
sequence is basically determined by the dimensions of
the slabs and plates but some heuristic rules are also ap-
plied to balance the load in other parts of the produc-
tion process. In practice, however, unexpected bottle-
necks arise and special actions are required to manage
those situations.
The bottlenecks of the process vary and almost any ma-
jor resource in the line can turn into a bottleneck de-
pending on customer orders. Therefore a scheduling
system is a more justifiable alternative for solving the
production management problems than investment in
new resources which, in the case of steel industry, tend
to be expensive.
3. PLATE-MILL SCHEDULER
Knowledge-based systems - a knowledge-based sched-
uler being one - can be thought of as consisting of two
distinct parts: a problem solver (independent of the ac-
tual problem) and knowledge about the problem to be
solved. In the case of factory scheduling, the problem
solver is a more or less general scheduler, and the
knowledge is contained in the system as a detailed
model of the target manufacturing process.
Object-oriented programming and m o d e l i n g lend
themselves well to the implementation of knowledge-
based schedulers. To represent the structure and proper-
ties of a manufacturing process is fairly straightforward
using object-oriented - or more specifically frame-based
- techniques. In addition to structural relationships and
attribute data, a model also consists of different kinds of
constraints that pose limits to how different things can
be arranged in a schedule, and preferences that guide
the schedule formation.
In our approach, w e have used frame-based modeling
to describe the whole scheduling problem: the manufac-
turing facility with all its products, resources, produc-
tion procedures, constraints and preferences. This has
enabled us to add a large amount of detail information
to our model and, for example, to create special resource
classes that closely represent the performance of the ac-
tual machines. These details can be effectively utilized
in scheduling process.
The scheduler was implemented using the Common
Lisp language (Steele 1990) and a frame system called
BEEF (Lassila 1990). The scheduler runs on high-end
Macintosh workstations. At the end of the project the
possible connection between Macintoshes and IBM
mainframes was planned but not implemented.
Scheduling <> User-
Kernel Interface
>k I\
1'
Domain
Model
Figure 5: Structure of the DOM scheduler
The scheduler consists of roughly three distinct parts
(depicted in figure 5): the scheduling kernel takes care of
scheduling, based on the information contained in the
domain model, a rich object-oriented representation of
the manufacturing process; the system can be manipu-
lated and monitored through an interactive, window-
based and mouse-driven user-interface. The basic de-
sign objective was to clearly separate these three parts. It
is also possible to use several scheduling kernels simul-
105
taneously in case the scheduling process needs to be dis-
tributed.
The connection between the user interface and the
other parts of the system is very loose. It is in principle
possible to run the scheduler without the user interface.
The connection is based on so-called demon mecha-
nism of the underlying frame system: changes in the
scheduler's data-structures (that is, frames) are automat-
ically transmitted to the user interface objects, without
the scheduler or the model having to know about this.
The plate-mill scheduler was originally planned to
work as a part of a distributed scheduling system and its
top-level control structure is designed with this goal in
mind. The scheduler communicates with the external
world - for instance, with the user or with the other
parts of a distributed system - by sending and receiving
messages. These messages are processed and turned into
a queue of appropriate tasks and the queue is then pro-
cessed according to priorities of the tasks. This control
structure gives the scheduler the flexibility that is re-
quired in a distributed problem solving environment.
4. SCHEDULING METHOD
Initially the plate-mill scheduler was based on the activ-
ity-based scheduling method (subsequently referred to
as ABS) which is a general scheduling method based on
the analysis of constraint interactions (Keng, Yun and
Rossi, 1988; Sadeh and Fox, 1989).
The background of ABS lies in constraint satisfaction
problems (Mackworth, 1977) that form a category of
problems studied within the field of artificial intelli-
gence. The production scheduling problem is viewed as
a set of variables (here the start-times, durations and re-
sources of operations) whose possible values are limited
by different constraints (the due dates of customer
orders, limited capacities of resources and precedence
constraints between operations in same operation-
graph). The goal is to find a value assignment for vari-
ables that satisfies all constraints.
The production scheduling problem belongs to a sub-
class of constraint satisfaction problems called con-
strained resource problems (Keng and Yun, 1989) where
the domains of variables overlap and one value can
only be assigned to one variable. Consequently the vari-
ables compete of the same values. The competition can
lead to conflicts: two activities want to reserve the same
capacity and one of them has to give it up.
Since the domains of the variables are finite - caused by
finiteness of available time and capacity - the conflids
can lead to a dead-end situation where all possible val-
ues of a variable have been assigned to other variables.
If this happens there are basically two possibilities. The
first is to backtrack, that is, a previously made decision
is retracted and a new alternative is tried. The second al-
ternative is to relax some of the constraints (for in-
stance, the due dates) which increases the domain of the
variable.
4.1. Basic algorithm
The name of ABS is derived from the particular way
that the overall scheduling task - consisting of a set of
customer orders - is decomposed into subtasks. A sub-
106
task is created for each manufacturing activity that be-
longs to the operation-graph of some order. These sub-
tasks are then processed one-by-one. This fine-grained
decomposition allows the scheduler to change its atten-
tion from one bottleneck to another in a very flexible
way.
The basic ABS algorithm proceeds as follows. At each
cycle
1. the activity that is the most difficult to schedule is
selected and
2. a position (that is, resource, start-time and duration)
for the activity is selected so that the other un-
scheduled activities would be as easy to schedule as
possible.
In the end of each cycle a commitment to the selected
reservation is made and the influences of the commit-
ment are propagated. If a conflict is detected - i.e. the
time-window of some activity vanishes - the last deci-
sion is retracted and the best remaining position is tried.
If there are no remaing positions then decision before
the last one is retracted and so on. The basic algorithm
is thus based on backtracking search.
4.2. The analysis of the competition
There are two things that are done in ABS to avoid con-
flicts. First, the competition situation is repeatedly ana-
lyzed during the schedule generation process and sec-
ond, a control strategy that minimizes the likelihood of
conflicts is used.
The analysis is carried out by computing the estimated
load impacts of activities and estimated load distribu-
tions for resources. First the time-windows of activities
- that is, the time intervals during which the activities
have to be performed - are computed by propagating
the earliest possible start times and latest possible end
times in the operation graphs. The load-densities for
the activities are then computed with the aid of their
local start-time preferences. A load-density is a temporal
distribution that reflect the likelihood that an activity is
being performed at different time points.
The load-densities of those activities that use same re-
source are added up to yield the load-density of the re-
source. These load-densities show the probable loca-
tions of bottlenecks.
4.3. Control points and decisions
As described above there are two main control points in
the ABS-algorithm: the selection of the next activity
and the selection of the next reservation. Both of these
selections can be done in different ways, see for example
(Sadeh and Fox, 1989).
In activity selection a good heuristic should reflect the
probability of the future lack of any positions for the
activity. A good estimate is, for instance, an activity
resource reliance heuristic which rates those operations
most difficult that have the largest share in resource
bottlenecks.
In the above formulation the efficiency of the schedule
generation process is the only concern. In practice, how-
ever, the quality of the resulting timetable is an impor-
tant factor which has to be taken into account in the se-
lection of the position for an o p e r a t i o n . A mixed
heuristic should be applied w h e r e the difficulty of re-
maining operations and the quality of the decision are
combined.
4.4. Modifications
In the course of the project it turned out that the actual
constraints in steel rolling differ significantly from
those constraint classes taken into account in basic ABS-
algorithms a n d s o m e basic a s s u m p t i o n s behind the
method were u n w a r r a n t e d in this case (for further dis-
cussion see (Trm, Lassila and Syrjnen, 1991)). While
it was possible - in principle - to create schedules with
the algorithm it performed poorly what came both to
the quality of the schedules a n d the efficiency of the
scheduler.
The problems originated from two very basic features of
the ABS-method: (1) the type of decomposition used
and (2) the order in which the next activity and the next
reservation are determined.
The activities that belong to unbreakable operation se-
quences cannot be treated individually by the algorithm
as the decisions concerning one of the activities m a y
vastly reduce the freedom with the others. If the algo-
rithm uses local heuristics (that evaluate single activi-
ties) only the first activity of a sequence is considered in
making a decision that influences all the activities, re-
sulting in s u b o p t i m a l reservations for the remaining
activities.
This problem can be solved by using a different decom-
position. Instead of single manufacturing operations,
the algorithm regards the whole unbreakable sequences
as complex activities. The estimates are c o m p u t e d for
whole operation sequences and they are scheduled in
one cycle. This modification had a positive effect both
on the quality of timetables and on the efficiency of the
scheduling algorithm.
The second p r o b l e m concerns the constraints dealing
with adjacent reservations in the s a m e resource. The
basic ABS-algorithm tends to make reservations so that
they fill the available time horizon evenly. It is difficult
to guide that kind of process so that good reservation
sequences are constructed. It turned out that if the selec-
tion phases in the algorithm are "reversed" (that is, the
start-time of the next reservation at most critical re-
source is selected first a n d the actual operation only
after that) the adjacency preferences can be followed
more faithfully.
4.5. The final algorithm
The final algorithm used in plate-mill scheduler em-
ployed the two modifications that were described above.
A major concern was the efficiency of the scheduling
system. A lot of tuning was d o n e to reduce both the
time spent in scheduling process and the m e m o r y re-
quired.
The determination of alternative routes of the plates
was left to the process p l a n n i n g p h a s e before the
scheduling phase. Only simple cases where the sched-
uler chooses between alternative resource (such as dif-
ferent cooling beds or flame cutting machines) were left
to be determined at the scheduling time.
107
One slab is scheduled as an unbreakable operation se-
quence from the beginning to the end of the process.
At each cycle
1. the loose start time of the next reservation in most
critical resource is determined
2. the activity sequence is selected based on (a) the fit
to the selected time-point, (b) the load densities and
(c) the local preferences of the operations
In the end of the cycle a commitment is m a d e and in-
fluences are propagated. In case of conflicts due-dates of
orders are relaxed which means that the schedule can be
completed without backtracking.
5. DISCUSSION
A result of the scheduler project was a prototype of a
scheduler for the plate mill of Raahe Steel Works. The
p r o t o t y p e has s h o w n that the p r o d u c t i o n p l a n n i n g
problem in the plate mill can be solved with the aid of a
knowledge-based system. The scheduler uses several
criteria w h e n m a k i n g s c h e d u l i n g decisions and the
timetables are therefore s o m e w h a t different from their
h u m a n - m a d e counterparts where some particular
technological preferences are stressed exclusively.
The plate-mill scheduler is able to function as one part
of a hierarchical distributed scheduling system that has
been sketched to Raahe Steel Works. The b o u n d a r i e s
given by the overall master schedule for the whole steel
works are posted as goals to different production units
(steel s h o p , rolling mills, etc.) that make detailed sched-
ules of their internal activities. In case of conflicts (i.e. if
the goals c a n n o t be met) t h e s c h e d u l e r s of t h e
production units can negotiate between each other to fix
the p r o b l e m s or if the conflicts a r e too large the
production unit can report its inability to meet the goals
and master schedule is modified a n d n e w goals are
created.
The plate-mill scheduler project confirmed the well-
k n o w n fact that it is extremely important to acquire the
users' acceptance to the system. A good user interface
and user controllability are i m p o r t a n t issues but even
more important is the users' participation to the pro-
ject. Without it the system is likely to confront resis-
tance simply by being u n k n o w n and a foreign inven-
tion.
The modifications that had to be m a d e to the original
scheduling algorithm suggest that it might not be wise
to try to build very general schedulers. Different con-
straints d o m i n a t e different p r o d u c t i o n processes a n d
the c o n s t r u c t i o n process of a s c h e d u l e r s h o u l d be
driven by the actual constraints. Scheduling is a compu-
tationally complex task and there is a trade-off between
the time spent a n d the quality of the result. A good
scheduler avoids unnecessary work by simplifying its
task where possible.
There a r e , h o w e v e r , m a n y c o m m o n p a r t s (mecha-
nisms, object-types, user interface widgets) that exist in
most schedulers. O u r current research is directed to-
wards building a scheduler toolkit, an extensible object-
oriented class library, that includes both descriptions of
d o m a i n objects (resources, orders, operations) and im-
plementations of several useful mechanisms (to per-
form time bound propagation, to conduct complex
searches, to maintain load distributions etc.). The main
goal of the research is to provide clear interfaces to dif-
ferent mechanisms so that the system can be extended
with a minimum need to rewrite existing program
code.

REFERENCES
Keng N.P., D.Y.Y. Yun and M. Rossi (1988). Interaction-
sensitive planning system for job-shop scheduling. In
M.F. Oliff (Ed)., Expert Systems and Intelligent Manufac-
turing, North-Holland, pp. 57-70.
Keng N.P., D.Y.Y. Yun (1989): A Planning/Scheduling
Methodology for the Constrained Resource Problem, in
proc. of Eleventh International Joint Conference on Ar-
tificial Intelligence (IJCAI-89), Morgan Kaufmann, pp.
998-1003.

Kerr R. (1991). Knowledge-based Manufacturing Man-

agement, Addison-Wesley.
Lassila O., M. Syrjnen, S. Trm (1991). Coordinating
mutually dependent decisions in a distributed sched-
uler. In: E. Eloranta (Ed.): Advances in Production Man-
agement Systems, North Holland, pp. 257-265.
Lassila O. (1990), The BEEF Reference Manual - A Pro-
grammer's Guide to the BEEF Frame System. Report
TKO-C43, Laboratory of Information Processing Science,
Helsinki University of Technology, Otaniemi (Finland).
Mackworth, A.K. (1977): Consistency in Networks of Re-
lations, Artificial Intelligence 8
Sadeh, N. and M. Fox (1989). Focus of attention in an ac-
tivity-based scheduler. Proceedings of the NASA Con-
ference of Space Telerobotics.

Steele G.L. Jr. (1990). Common LISP: The Language

(second edition). Digital Press.
Trm, S., O. Lassila, M. Syrjnen (1991): Adapting the
Activity-Based Scheduling Method to Steel Rolling. In:
G. Doumeingts, J. Browne, M. Tomljanovich (Eds.),
Computer Applications in Production and Engineering
(CAPEf91), North Holland, pp. 159-166.

108
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and GENERAL APPLICATIONS
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

EXPERT SYSTEM FOR COAL BLENDING

E. Nakata*, H. Fujimoto** and K. Terazono***

*Systems Engineering Division, Kawasaki Steel Systems Research and Development Corporation,
Kurashiki 712, Japan
*Systems Laboratory, Systems Planning and Data Processing Department, Kawasaki Steel Corporation,
Tokyo 100, Japan
*Coke Technology Section, Ironmaking Department, Kawasaki Steel Corporation, Kurashiki 712, Japan

Abstract: The application of an expert system to plan coal blending for coke production
is described. The object of this coal blending plan is to produce coke of stable quality at
low cost while maintaining the optimum use of the coal yard. The monthly coal blending
planning work previously depended on an experienced operator's expertise, and the
expert system approach has helped to reduce planning time and has standardized the
planning method. The effectiveness of the expert system in comparison with linear pro-
gramming was confirmed by the following advantages:
1. Every fact that was difficult to express by a fixed formula could be expressed as a
rule.
2. Calculation time was shortened.
3. Every solution could be derived by limiting its searching scope.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; expert systems; mathematical programming; produc-

tion control; blending; cokemaking

PREFACE DEFINITION OF THE SYSTEM AND ITS AIMS

The steel industry has had to adapt to many changes in
its surroundings, like the effect of the oil crisis in 1973
that spurred the saving of resources and energy. It is
now moving into the age of greater product sophistica-
tion, a wider range of products, and a shorter lead time
to production.
With the aim for integrated and totally planned control
of the entire steelworks operations, the Mizushima
Works of Kawasaki Steel Corporation (KSC) has been
developing a large scale system. By the end of 1990,
Mizushima had accumulated COBOL programs con-
sisting of some 30 million steps.
However, some processes involving human judgment
and decision-making have been beyond the reach of
EDP using conventional systems approaches. While
these tasks left out of EDP applications can be handled
by skilled employees (experts), they will be a future
bottleneck to achieving further integration.
Definition of the Coal Blending Plan
Japan imports most the coal needed for coke making
from Australia, Canada, U.S.A., U.S.S.R., and China.
KSC determines its annual purchase plan by linear
programming (LP), which yields the optimal coal
blend for minimum cost, that is needed to supply suffi-
cient coke quality for blast furnace use. This LP selects
from about 50 coal brands, but the coal yards cannot
usually stock all these brands. Therefore, the coal
blending plan needs to be formulated every month.
The coal blending plan involves setting up proper
blending ratios for each bed for a 2-months period.
About 25 beds are used, each bed including about 20
coal brands selected from approximately 40 brands. It
is needed to attain the coke quality and quantity that is
defined by the plan for blast furnace operation and the
synchronized plan for coke oven production.

After recognizing that expert systems (ES) could solve
this problem, we applied ES to various tasks with suc-
cessful results. This paper focuses on the development
of COMPASS-88 (Coal Mixing Plan Artificial Intelli-
gent System Developed in '88), a coal blending pro-
gram that has recently been put into commercial opera-
tion.
Aims of the System Development
Blending is performed according to inventory informa-
tion for the coal yard (quality and quantity of each coal
brand) and the plan of coal shipment designed at the
head office (arrival date, prospective quality and ton-
nage by brand). Fig. 1 shows the environment of the
blending plan. The aim of the blending plan is to manu-
facture stable quality coke at minimum cost with the
highest possible yard operation efficiency.

KSC has developed models to forecast coke strength

109
 since the constraint conditions change depending on
Tokyo Head Office
the requirements for cost minimization, quality
fluctuation minimization, etc.
Coal Optimum ship
2. Depending on the type of coke, some blending ratios
purchasing delivery
are treated as zero percent instead of some numbers
system system
due to the constraints of quality fluctuation and
workability, so that it becomes arduous to derive a
Blast furnace
formula. Even if a numerical formula can be de-
production
rived, its calculation takes a long time.
Berthing 3. Although there exists a model to estimate the coke

plan
plan
Coke oven
production
plan
Coal & coke
Bed stacking
quality control
program
system
Coke Pmnfiss
Cornputer
Fig. 1 Environments of the coal blending design
from the coal brands, blending condition, and coke
oven operation conditions. However, these models'
forecasting accuracy is limited, because the blending
plan needs to be set up for the coals before its tonnage
and quality has been confirmed.
Accordingly, experts have manually formulated the
blending plan to mitigate operational risk. These ex-
perts have the required skill for brand selection and
blending ratio set up under many restricting conditions.
Most of this expertise was difficult to standardize, and
the planning work has been akin to a black art. Since 2
days were required to formulate a 40-day plan, it was
difficult to re-formulate the plan rapidly to meet
changes in the aimed coke quality and in the incoming
ship arrival schedule.
The aims in developing a blending system were as fol-
lows:
(1) To shorten the planning time for various quality
targets and coal arrival plans;
(2) To relieve experts from routine planning work;
(3) To standardize the planning procedure.
Reasons for Applying ES
Generally, the linear programming (LP) method is
considered suitable for a problem that involves distrib-
uting limited resources effectively, like a blending
plan. If a formulation is possible and the solution can
be obtained within a practical time, LP is most likely to
be used. The head office of KSC in fact uses the LP
method for total cost minimization in the annual coal
purchasing plan.
In practice, we found it difficult to form a suitable
model for the system in our plant by using LP for the
following reasons:
1. It is difficult to express by a fixed numerical formula
quality from different grades of coal, the formula is
a multi-dimensional polynomial with grade parame-
ters, creating the non-linear programming task with-
out a guaranteed solution.
For these three reasons, we decided to adopt the
method used by the human experts. With the use of ES,
we were able to solve the problems associated with the
LP method.
OUTLINE OF THE SYSTEM AND ITS FEATURES
Planning Process
The inputs to COMPASS-88 are as follows:
(1) Target quantity and quality index of coke to be
produced;
(2) Inventory information for the coal yard regarding
the quality and quantity of each coal brand;
(3) Coal shipment information regarding the arrival
date, prospective quality and tonnage of each coal
brand;
(4) Operational data for the coke ovens.
COMPASS-88 formulates the coal blending plan in
three stages as follows (see Fig. 2). The initialization
stage sets up the various parameters interactively as
preconditions for the plan. A crude plan is then formu-
lated to grasp the trend in coal quality from the inven-
tory. The refined plan is finally created for a detailed
blending program that is feasible and fits well with the
coal quality in the inventory.
COMPASS-88 adjusts the blend averages of coal qual-
ity indexes such as ash, sulfur, volatile matter, and re-
flectance fluidity to the targets by using quality estima-
tion models, and creates a set of the best blends by us-
ing expertise that has been provided by the human
experts to avoid coke quality fluctuation. Fig. 3 shows
some examples of this expertise.
The expertise for designing the blending program con-
sists of obtaining resolutions by branch and bound
methods, based on recognition of the steps (meta
knowledge) for effective resolution shown in Fig. 2,
and on the values and restrictions shown in Fig. 3.
The outputs from COMPASS-88 are as follows:
(1) The determined coal blending ratio by each brand
for every bed;
(2) Estimated quality indexes of coke that would be
produced from the determined coal blending ratio;
(3) Various graphs for analyzing the blending plan that
has been drawn up by COMPASS-88.

110
 Renewal of Setting up aimed quality index Setting up aimed quality index
coal brand quality
next bed next bed

Obtaining arriving Distributing Setting up the plan

coal delivery designated brand initialization
information
Breaking down blending ratio Adjusting blending ratio
Obtaining
coal inventory
Calculating Calculating
quality index values quality index values

Setting up aimed
coke quality Checking quality indexes

All beds OK
Bed scheduling All beds NG
completed completed
Adjusting
quality indexes
C Return j (^Completion)

Fig. 2 Planning process with COMPASS-88

Systems Configuration
In the case of an ES procedure that repeats by trial and
error, it is impossible to accurately forecast a resource
consumption in the CPU and memory, such a proce-
dure sometimes being called a "MIPS eater". Any in-
crease of such systems in a main-frame is not desirable
because of the strong influence on existing systems.
The continuing development of low-cost, high-effi-
ciency workstations should make it possible to run ES
on such hardware. However, at the time when a suit-
able workstation was been sought to run COMPASS-
88, there was an enormous difference in CPU power
between a main-frame and workstations that are af-
fordable according to the balance between investment
and assumed return. So much so that the creation of
suitable solutions in a practical period of time was
questionable when using a workstation.
Consequently, when determining the configuration of
COMPASS-88, we set up a policy to develop the pro-
gram for a workstation, but in case the creation of a
suitable plan became impossible in a practical period

VALUES
1. Best possible equalization of inter-bed quality
differences.
2. Best possible equalizatioon of inter-bed vari-
ation in the blending ratio of coal brands.
3. Speed in consumption of small stockpiles of
coal.
4. Maintenance of stock levels of reliable quality
coals
5. Use of the highest possible amount of semi-
soft coking coal.
RESTRICTIONS
1. Blending ratio to be 3.5% minimum for each
brand to be blended (expect for specific brands
such as oil coke).
2. No immediately high blending ratio for a recently
arrived brand (to be increased gradually)
3. Upper and lower limits to the blending ratio are
specified for some brands or their group.
4. Upper and lower limits are specified for variation
in the inter-bed blending ratio.

5L
5al blending plan to assume a specified oka qi
2
Fig. 3 Values and restrictions for the coal blending plan

111
of time, we would be able to transport the program to
the main-frame with the minimum manpower. We fi-
nally selected the Fujitsu G-150 workstation and
M
ESHELL/XM expert shell.
Features of COMPASS-88
When systematizing a planning task such as coal
blending, correction according to environmental
changes is foreseeable. ES, when compared with con-
ventional systems, is easy regarding maintenance, al-
though there can be no guarantee to handle a correction
rapidly. However, during the maintenance period for
ES knowledge and meta knowledge, the ability to per-
form tasks is required.
To meet this requirement, COMPASS-88 has the func-
tion anywhere in the program that a designer can inter-
vene in the planning process as follows:
(1) A blending ratio designation in which a designer
can give his intention prior to the crude designing by
COMPASS-88;
(2) A function for modifying ship's arrival;
(3) A function for modifying constraint values;
(4) A function for correcting an aimed quality index
that has been set up by COMPASS-88.
Problem-solving Mechanism
Coal quality adjustment involves something over 10
parameters including coal grade, coking properties,
fluidity, moisture, ash content, and volatile matter.
After blending the main brands, COMPASS-88 adjusts
the blending ratio to bring the quality index closer to its
aim. COMPASS-88 tries to choose a pair of brands to
be increased or decreased which meets the level of a
given constraint. When it succeeds in finding such a
pair, COMPASS-88 changes the blending ratio, and
then recalculates the quality index. These steps are
performed until the index value falls within the aimed
range (see Fig. 4).
Above process is a depth search, using the values and
restrictions shown in Fig. 2, when respectively deter-
mining the priority in expanding branches, and in cut-
ting off branches that have been developed.
>v v > Current quality index
GQ Brand to be > Aimed
X
decreased Equality
7D
C N. index
CO
13
8 Brand to be
increased
->*
Coal quality index A
Fig. 4 Concept of quality index adjustment
112
PROCESS OF KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION
Knowledge acquisition is the most important aspect of
ES development, but there is no practical or effective
method of knowledge acquisition. Therefore, we ac-
quired the expertise for formulating a coal blending
plan by the method that follows:
Learning about coal and blending. An expert gave us
lectures on operational restrictions, supply and demand
problems, and control aspects regarding the physical
and chemical properties of coal and blending.
Observation of designing task. An expert spoke his
thought process into a tape recorder while formulating
an actual blending plan, this know-how being analyzed
in the subsequent knowledge summarization stage.
Preparation and improvement of the knowledge speci-
fications. All this know-how was summarized, docu-
mented and then refined by asking questions or point-
ing out any contradictions to the experts. The problems
of our own lack of knowledge and the limited explana-
tions of an expert's thought processes were gradually
eliminated, thus making the knowledge specifications
more detailed.
Manual simulation. After assimilating this knowledge,
a manual simulation was done to confirm that a satis-
factory blending plan could be formulated.
It normally takes 2 days for the experts to design a 40-
day blending plan, while our simulation took about a
week to design a 10-day blending plan. Thus, the ex-
perts were 56 times as productive as we were. At that
time, we suspected this was caused by the difference
between a professional and an amateur, but we later
found that insufficient knowledge had been acquired.
Shortening the Processing Time
We aimed with COMPASS-88 to formulate a blending
plan in 4 hours so that at least 2 cases per day could be
handled. However, a practice run with test data using a
prototype for the crude plan took 15 hours. Completing
this plan would have taken more than 30 hours, which
is too long for a practical use. Therefore, we practiced
the various countermeasures shown in TABLE 1 to
reduce the processing time.
1) To revise the algorithm for quality index adjustment,
we needed to acquire more knowledge from the ex-
perts, who have the know-how to design a plan ef-
fectively in limited time, as well as to design a plan
which satisfies the required quality.
2-3) While a number of methods were conceivable for
tuning, we didn't have enough time to try all the
methods. Therefore, we concentrated our efforts to
look for a high effect with low manpower by bury-
ing code in the user defined function (UDF) to iden-
tify areas with long processing time.
The cumulative effect of the software improvements
shown in TABLE 1 would alone have cut down the
processing time to 1/17. However, we were also look-
ing for improvements to upgrade the quality of plan-
ning in parallel. The combined effect on the planning
 TABLE 1 Methods for reducing processing time proximate processing time needed, the knowl-
edge engineers can add additional knowledge
I I while considering the balance between proc-
No. Method Effect* Remarks essing time and the quality of the plan. Addi-
Change of quality tionally, the development schedule for ES
1 index adjusting 0.2 Avoiding combination explosivity should always include enough time for im-
algorithm proving the prototype.

2 UDF compilation 0.5

Useing RPLACD-type functions, and
black boards instead of objects;
3 Tuning 0.6 Reducing recursive calls, and
message passing;
post-improvement processing time
'Effect =
pre-improvement processing time
time after all these software improvements turned out
to be some 1/10 of the prototype. Consequently, we
met the time requirement, so that COMPASS-88 can
formulate a blending plan in 2 or 3 hours.
STUDY ON THE USE OF NUMERICAL
DESIGN METHODS
When observing the procedure used by the
experts for planning, it seemed that the resolu-
tion was uncertain and unassuming. The plan-
ning procedure also seemed to involve a process simi-
lar to the "simplex method" of LP. Therefore, we stud-
ied a system combining LP and ES, whereby ES evalu-
ates the results of LP and alters constraint equations for
those tasks that are not expressible by LP models. LP is
then used to recalculate based on the new constraint
equations.

Retrospective Considerations In model I of TABLE 2, resolution could not be ob-

The knowledge initially acquired for COMPASS-88
was not enough, and we had to acquire additional ex-
pertise and substantially modify the planning proce-
dure accordingly. Such a trial and error is unavoidable
for the following reasons:
(1) The prediction of resources consumption by ES is
difficult, and it is correspondingly difficult to de-
sign an algorithm with a suitable balance between
processing time and planning quality;
(2) To produce an ideal plan, the experts tend to present
complicated knowledge that they would them-
selves disregard because of the constraints on plan-
ning time;
(3) It is difficult to acquire knowledge which experts
use subconsciously; in particular, expertise for re-
ducing planning time tends to be missed, since such
knowledge cannot improve the quality of the plan.
We found that it is preferable to start developing a
prototype as soon as the knowledge engineers had ac-
quired the essential expertise. After grasping the ap-
tained in any practical time. Model II, although giving
a large change in blending pattern, is free from the de-
fects of Model I. An improvement to Model II ap-
peared to offer the means to a practical system. How-
ever, for the following reasons, we abandoned the
study of a system combining ES and LP:
(a) Mitigating the risk of ES was the motive for starting
the study of LP models. However, the manual
simulation by using the ES model only, which was
done along with the LP model application, gave
satisfying results, and LP turned out to be less at-
tractive.
(b) The experts did not have the required know-how to
evaluate the output of LP and to alter the constraint
equation. Accordingly, a considerable degree of
trial and error would have been necessary before
any practical system could be completed.
(c) We could not identify a clear division between the
LP and ES, which might cause a hindrance when

TABLE 2 Function sharing between ES and LP

^ - ^ _ Model I
Use ES to set up aimed quality, and then upper
& lower limits of designated brand blending ratios.
Outline
Then use LP to calculate blending ratio for all
beds for a plan period.
Model
Use ES to set up aimed quality, upper & lower
limits of designated brand blending ratios, and
upper & lower limits of brands used in the
previous bed. Then use LP to calculate one bed .

Objective Function Minimum grade variation Minimum grade error

Number of
constraint equation about 3,200
Proper use for business demand is impracticable
because 3 minutes and longer with a VP-50
super-computer is too long for CPU time.
Incapable of expressing upper & lower limits of
Evaluation blending ratio.
Smooth operation for each brand is difficult.
Experts have no know-how for actions to be taken
during infeasible period.
about 200
About 1 minute of CPU time assuming 27 beds
for a plan period, and 2 repetitions per bed (0.01
minutes of CPU time / bed).
Lower limit blending ratio almost resolved by
proper joint use of ES and LP.
The blending amount tends to veer toward either
upper limit or lower limit in a variable range,
making operation unsmooth.
Experts have no know-how for actions to be
taken during infeasible period.

113
 Fig. 5 Effects of COMPASS-88
reviewing models against environmental changes,
even though such models are made by applying a
combination of LP and ES.
COMPASS-88 was thus structured by using the ES
model only. In the meantime, experts have critically
evaluated the output of the LP model to draw out the
restriction conditions for the ES model, so that the
study on adopting LP was productive.
EVALUATION
COMPASS-88 has been in practical use since its first
blending design task in May 1989. The development of
COMPASS-88 has documented and systematized the
expertise for formulating a coal blending plan that pre-
viously existed only in the brains of experienced spe-
cialist engineers. Today, staff with absolutely no previ-
ous experience can formulate the coal blending plan.
Each blending plan drafted by COMPASS-88 does not
always exceed the level of that by conventional ex-
perts. However, work that used to take 2 days has been
reduced to 2-3 hours, and the method is capable of rap-
idly responding to changes in the quality requirement
for a blast furnace and ship arrival schedules. Further-
more, it has become possible to increase the span of the
planning, to shorten planning cycles, and to conduct
various case studies. The net result is that planning
accuracy has been improved in comparison with the
earlier method.
114
COMPASS-88 has reduced coke quality fluctuation.
Therefore, lowering the aimed coke strength can sat-
isfy the quality that a blast furnace requires. Thus
COMPASS-88 had contributed to reducing cost (see
Fig. 5).
CONCLUSIONS
An automatic method to formulate a coal blending plan
for cokemaking was developed using ES. It takes only
2 to 3 hours to output a 90-day blending plan that is as
good as an experts' one, so that blend simulations can
be carried out for various coke quality targets and coal
arrival schedules. This expert system has been manag-
ing coal blending and coke quality control at
Mizushima Works without an experts' assistance since
May 1989.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors express their sincere gratitude to staff of
Fujitsu, and Fujitsu Okayama Engineering for their
extensive cooperation in the development of this Sys-
tem.
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

A DATA BASED EXPERT SYSTEM FOR ENGINEERING

APPLICATIONS
D.W. Ginsberg and W.J. Whiten

Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, Isles Road, Indooroopilly, Queensland, Australia 4068

Abstract

A novel kind of expert system has been developed for the mineral processing industry. It has
been designed to classify quantitative continuous data (such as process measurements) and
has applications in data classification, process monitoring and control. The knowledge base of
the system is based on the results of clustering a training set of data using a newly developed
clustering program, especially designed for typical engineering type data.

The system is easy to use and has a relatively fast knowledge acquisition period associated
with it. Systems with multiple process variables are easily handled in a completely
multidimensional environment. The properties and behaviour of the expert system are
illustrated using the potential to identify coloured density tracers that are being used to
determine the performance of spiral separators.

Keywords

categorisation, classification, clustering, knowledge acquisition, outlier detection, data trends,

local cluster shape, continuous data, weighted distance measure, expert systems.

INTRODUCTION

In the artificial intelligence domain, the concepts of
classification and categorisation are distinct functions
which have complementary features. Classification
methods assign objects to predefined categories. Such
methods are common in artificial intelligence; one being
rule - based expert systems.
Category formation involves clustering similar objects in
a set of objects without a priori information on
classification (Anderberg 1973). Although having received
less attention, Thompson and Thompson (1991) assert
that a theory of categorisation is central to our basic
picture of reality.
A complementary two part procedure has been developed
to provide a novel expert system specifically designed for
engineering applications. The system acquires knowledge
by categorising a training set of data, and then classifies
new data points. It thus synthesises the concepts of
categorisation and classification into one expert system.
This clustering procedure is quantitative in nature, as
opposed to the highly qualitative nature of rule - based
expert systems. In addition, the clustering procedure,
which corresponds to knowledge acquisition through
interviews for rule - based expert systems, is significantly
shorter in duration. Some of the features of the clustering
program include finding local trends, the categorisation of
data and importantly, identifying outliers.
The second part of the procedure classifies new data
points by assigning them to one of the previously defined
clusters. The system handles points found in regions not
previously defined and has the capability of dynamically
modifying its knowledge base.
In order to appreciate the expert system, some of the
features of the clustering procedure need to be described.
Once the categorisation of a data set has been completed,
the classification of new data points is an extremely
simple procedure.

A number of applications suggest that categorisation CATEGORISATION OF A TRAINING DATA SET

could play an important part in expert systems. Although
this paper uses the identification of coloured density
tracers to illustrate the system's characteristics, other
attractive applications include identifying different ore
suites in mineral processes, image analysis and advisory
control.
The first part of the procedure categorises a training set of
data points into a number of clusters. These clusters have
a well defined shape and orientation. The clusters are
then given suitable qualitative or quantitative definitions.
The most difficult task in setting u p an expert system, is
the knowledge acquisition component. The traditional
interviewing of the expert by the knowledge engineer is
extremely time consuming. In addition, the knowledge
provided by the expert still has to be thoroughly checked
for consistency. The knowledge base is always limited by
the extent of the expert's knowledge. A typical rule based
expert system building procedure for mineral processing
is illustrated in Fig. 1 (Freeman et al 1990).

115
 A clustering technique, specifically designed for
EXPERT engineering applications, serves as the knowledge
acquisition component of the expert system. Some of its
k A properties are discussed in the following section.
T ^f
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CLUSTERING
Development or Knowledge Engineer TECHNIQUE
Process Metallurgist
The basis of understanding the developed clustering
I T technique and the ensuing classification system, is the
initial assumption about cluster shape. This is based on an
; r Expert System
Shell
individual cluster's sample covariance matrix, which

i 1 defines a multidimensional ellipsoid with principal axes

in the direction of the particular matrix eigenvectors. The
relative spread of data along a particular axis is given by
the associated eigenvalue. Thus, it is possible to preserve
T local trends in the data. This geometric description can
correspond (but is not limited) to a multivariate normal
Knowledge Base distribution for each cluster.

In the case of clustering a data set of coloured density

tracers used in experiments on spirals, the specific colours
>f
are measured in terms of the three primary colour
intensities; red, green and blue. This is based on the RGB
Inference Engine
colour space (Sears and Zemansky 1957, Vaughn 1990).
The coloured tracers fall into a number of three
L dimensional ellipsoids (such ellipsoids include spheres,
pencils and plates), principally corresponding to various
ranges of intensity of a particular colour. A two
^f dimensional example of white and lime clusters is
Advice / Action / Diagnostics illustrated in Fig. 2. More complicated shapes may be
Fig. 1 Development of a rule based Expert System represented by a number of ellipsoids.
for mineral processing applications
36-

34"
Neural networks is one alternative to rule - based expert
systems (Sestito and Dillon 1989) and is an area of artificial 32-

intelligence which has received much attention in the 30-

1 a
literature. One reason for all the interest shown in this 28-
_
^^ 1
/ a
a a
White
Limel
technique, is it addresses the process of automated 26- / a a Lime 2
n D a /a a
learning and allows for data points not necessarily seen
/D
24- n Do D O n a
a a a a
previously (such as the kind that noisy signals produce). 22-
Layers of neurons are interconnected; each with a
20-
weighting function. The weighting functions are obtained
by running a training set of data through the network. 18-
16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
Once these initial weighting functions are obtained, they Red Intensity
may vary dynamically in an attempt to accommodate the
changes in the process. This structure attempts to mimic
Fig. 2 White and lime clusters defining classification
the way information is processed by the human brain.
regions for the Expert System
In practice, it is often extremely difficult to obtain these
In order to facilitate appropriate points/clusters being
weighting factors and even the most simple of processes
agglomerated, the distance dissimilarity measure takes the
often require a large number of iterations before
shape and orientation of the cluster directly into account.
satisfactory weightings are obtained. In addition, there are
When measuring the distance from a cluster to a point,
no guarantees that a particular network can be trained at
the shape and orientation of the multidimensional
all. Cybenko (1990) is of the opinion that the design of
ellipsoid, as defined by its sample covariance matrix (a
neural networks for nontrivial engineering problems will
slightly modified sample covariance matrix is actually
not be any easier than other large scale engineering
problems. He also points to four successful applications of used), is taken into account by weighting the squared
neural networks found in the literature, where in each of Euclidean distance measure ie:
the four examples, the number of continuous parameters
required to parameterise the particular network was larger d2=(mn-x)TR-l(mn-x) (1)
than the number of data/training samples used in its
training. where m n is the centre of the cluster and x is the point
vector.
Clustering data has some obvious benefits in knowledge
acquisition. Firstly, most engineering processes have Equation 1 corresponds to scaling the squared Euclidean
some kind of data logging system and therefore have long distance in the directions of the eigenvectors of the
and detailed records of historical data; suitable to be used sample covariance matrix, with the corresponding
as a training set for the knowledge acquisition. Clustering eigenvalues. It corresponds to the Mahalanobis distance
directly addresses the problem of categorising data (Hartenberg 1975), with local cluster covariance
without a priori information. In addition, it can be a weightings being used instead of the covariance matrix for
highly quantitative procedure. the entire data set.

116
 The corresponding multivariate normal distribution is
given by (James 1985):
{(2)-/2 IRI -V2)exp[-0.5(m n - x ^ R " 1 ^ - x)] (2)
where p is the number of point dimensions.
A modified partitional leader algorithm (Hartenberg 1975)
for agglomerating points has been developed, since most
engineering applications do not require the complete
dendrogram produced by hierarchical methods. An initial
distance threshold for agglomeration is set. As the clusters
form, the points in the cluster progressively define the
region of the cluster. To form clusters, an initial
unagglomerated point is chosen and then points within
the specified distance threshold are added to form a
cluster. When a point is added, the sample covariance
matrix is updated and an improved cluster shape
definition is obtained. Since the shape of the cluster
changes as points are added, it is necessary to retest
unagglomerated points until no further points add to the
cluster.
After one cluster is completed, another unagglomerated
point is chosen and the process is repeated. If no clusters
form at the current threshold distance, a new threshold is
calculated and the process is repeated. This is repeated
until a maximum threshold is reached. Points that have
not formed into a cluster at the maximum threshold are
then reported as outliers.
Unlike the popular K - Means partitional method
(Anderberg 1973, Hartenberg 1975), no specification of the
number of ensuing clusters is needed. Although the K -
Means method produces locally optimum clusters, initial
clustering is based on random seed points, or the manual
selection of initial seed points; typically using two
dimensional projections of the data.
The modified leader algorithm avoids the danger of
having two or more seed points in the same cluster by
removing points available for clustering as the clusters
form. It automatically determines an appropriate number
of clusters, whose shape is determined by the properties of
the data, rather than the seed points.
In the case of the coloured density tracers, 363 data points
comprising of four colours, were categorised into 11
clusters (5 large clusters and 6 smaller clusters). Each
cluster has a defined mean and cluster threshold. Apart
from a single point, the data points in each cluster
corresponded to the same colour as the other data points
in the cluster. Thus, it is evident that good discrimination
between these colours is possible and the expert system
can be installed with some degree of confidence. Nine
outlying points were identified.
CLASSIFICATION OF DATA
The second part of the procedure, is to classify new data
points into the categories formed by the clustering
program. The clusters are each given some kind of label
or description (either quantitative or qualitative) and are
stored as the knowledge base of the expert system.
Most engineering processes have a large number of
process variables and thus a large number of possibilities
arise when trying to describe the process in a knowledge
base. In addition, previously unseen situations may arise
o w i n g to p r o c e s s drift, nonlinearities and
instrumentation failure.
117
When a new data point is sampled, either on line or from
a batch file, the weighted distance from each cluster to the
point is measured. This measure directly takes the shape
of each cluster into account, as described previously. The
smallest distance is then compared to some previously
defined threshold (typically 2 - 3 normalised units). If it is
smaller than the threshold, the point belongs to the
associated cluster and the appended advice is given or
action taken.
This classification function corresponds to Bayes'
classification rule for normally distributed points in a
particular cluster (James 1985). It is a quadratic
discriminant function and works well under a wide range
of conditions. Unlike the popular linear discriminant
function, clusters are not assumed to have equal
covariance matrices, which enhances the identification of
local trends in the data.
Note that in general, Bayes' rule is the optimum
classification rule. Even for clusters without a normal
distribution, the above form of the rule works well.
For example, the three density tracer clusters illustrated in
Fig. 2, define three regions in the expert system.
A problem that many engineering systems have, is
overlapping scenarios. These are very difficult to describe
in conventional rule - based expert systems. In this expert
system, however, a quantitative measure to both the
corresponding clusters is available.
Situations never seen before (possibly through
instrumentation failure) are reported as outliers.
Processes that suffer from severe drift or changing
dynamics may be dealt with in one of the following ways:
1. From the outset, cluster shape and orientation can
be updated continuously as points are agglomerated
into the specific clusters. This might lead to a
continuously updated knowledge base,
corresponding to machine learning in other
classification schemes such as neural networks.
2. A more robust method would be to simply acquire a
new knowledge base by clustering an updated
training set of data points. The clustering procedure
has a short execution time. For instance, a set of
1000 data points with under 10 process variables
takes 1 - 2 minutes on a Macintosh SE/30 (16 MHz
and floating point coprocessor).
Fig. 3 illustrates the structure of the proposed expert
system.
CLUSTER VERIFICATION USING
CLASSIFICATION
The complementary nature of the categorisation and
classification components of the system is highlighted in
the cluster verification procedure. In the categorisation of
a training set of data points, clusters form by
agglomerating all near points. This means that some
points may be better suited to membership of another
close cluster. A simple, yet effective clustering verification
procedure is to run the training set of data points through
the classifier, which assigns points to the closest cluster. In
this manner, clusters may be upgraded. This closely
corresponds to the mixture model clustering technique
(Mclachlan 1988) for locally optimising clusters.
 HISTORICAL DATA
REFERENCES

L ., no 1. Anderberg, M. (1973). Cluster Analysis for Applications,

Academic Press, New York.
CLUSTERING PROGRAM
2. Bowerman, R.G. and Glover, D.E. (1988). Putting Expert
Systems Into Practice, Van Nostrand Reinhold
Company, U.S.A.

3. Cybenko, G. (1990). Complexity Theory of Neural

On/Off Line
Networks and Classification Problems, Lecture Notes
Data in Computer Science: Neural Networks EURASIP
Workshop 1990 Proceedings, Springer - Verlag, Berlin
Heidelberg, pp26 - 44.
KNOWLEDGE BASE
4. Freeman, N. , Kemp, T. and Legg, J. (1990). The
Development of an Operator Guidance System for Lead
INFERENCE ENGINE Blast Furnace Operations, Proceedings AI 90, Perth
Australia.

5. Hartigan, J. (1975). Clustering Algorithms, John Wiley

and Sons, U.S.A.
ADVICE/ACTION/DIAGNOSTICS
6. James, M. (1985). Classification Algorithms, Collins
Fig. 3 Structure of the proposed Expert System Professional and Technical Books, Great Britain.

7. Mclachlan, G.J. and Basford, K.E. (1988). Mixture

SYSTEM SUITABILITY FOR A PARTICULAR Models: Inference and Applications to Clustering,
APPLICATION Marcel Dekker, New York.

One major problem with automated systems in general, is
choosing a suitable system for a particular application. For
example, using neural networks, this might prove to be a
time consuming, costly and frustrating endeavour. The
expert system described here has the significant advantage
of being able to answer the suitability question in a
relatively short time period. If no suitable or distinct data
trends emerge from clustering the training set's data
points, it points out the inherent problems in the process
(such as overlapping regions). In the categorisation of
coloured density tracers, no such overlap existed and as
was mentioned previously, the expert system could be
implemented with some degree of confidence.
CONCLUSIONS
8. Sastito, S. and Dillon, T (1989). Using Neural Networks
for the Extraction of High Level Knowledge
Representations for Machine Learning, Proceedings of
Australian Conference on Artificial Intelligence, pp413
-428.
9. Sears, W and Zemansky, M. (1957). University Physics
Electricity and Magnetism, Optics and Atomic Physics,
Addison - Wesley, U.S.A.
10. Thompson, B and Thompson, B ( January 1991).
Overturning the Category Bucket, Byte, pp249 - 256.
11. Vaughn, F ( December 1990). Color WYSIWYG Comes
of Age, Byte, pp275 - 279.

The newly developed expert system appears to be a useful

tool for engineering applications. Its fast knowledge
acquisition time and quantitative nature gives it
significant advantages over conventional rule based
expert systems and neural networks for certain
applications.

System suitability may be assessed in a short period of

time, thus eliminating costly and time consuming initial
testing.

The system caters for previously unseen situations,

caused by, amongst other things, instrumentation failure,
nonlinearities and process drift.

The expert system has been illustrated using the

identification of coloured density tracers, where 363
tracers were categorised according to colour. Despite the
problems typically endured under less than ideal
measurement conditions, such as reflections and
shadowing, 362 tracers were verified to be correctly
categorised The expert system could thus be expected to
classify further tracers according to colour with a high
degree of confidence.

118
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

ADAPTIVE EXPERT SYSTEMS FOR METALLURGICAL

PROCESSES
E.K. Juuso and K. Leivisk

Department of Process Engineering, University ofOulu, Oulu, Finland

A b s t r a c t . Expert systems are developed for the multilayer simulation system in order to improve the appli-
cation facilities. T h e combined system contains procedures for developing simplified fuzzy models on the basis
of deterministic simulation experiments. Since these models, together with rule-based linguistic models, are
embedded in the expert systems, there are a total of five levels of simulation. The linguistic models developed
from the fuzzy models are used together with qualitative relations to define suitable meaning for each linguistic
variable.
The knowledge base of the expert system is represented by linguistic relations which can be changed into matrix
equations. The reasoning is based on these matrix equations or on the aggregated sets of linguistic relations
which are obtained by solving the equations. Only forward chaining is needed in approximate reasoning because
all the variables can be handled in the same way. The system is adaptive since the meaning of the linguistic
values depends on the working point of the process.

K e y w o r d s . Adaptive systems; expert systems; fuzzy systems; computer simulation; hierarchical systems; met-
allurgical industries.

INTRODUCTION User Interface

The simulation system provides a method for comparing the
production alternatives of metallurgical processes (Juuso and
Uronen, 1989). The deterministic system originally developed for
the Outokumpu ferroalloy smelter includes many ways to anal- Knowledge
Multilayer D a t a Base
yse chemical reactions as well as electrical and heat flows (Juuso, Base
Simulation Management
1988, 1989a, 1989b). Expert systems were developed for fer- Management
System System
roalloy processes in order to utilize linguistic information in the System
extensive, hierarchical simulation system (Juuso, 1989a, 1989c).

Adaptive properties were included to the expert system by re-
lating the meaning of linguistic variables to the working point of
the process (Juuso and Leivisk, 1990b).
The multilayer structure based on a decomposition procedure
is very efficient in an iterative, gradually refining optimization
scheme. In addition to the deterministic simulation, the com-
bined simulation and expert system contains procedures for de-
veloping simplified fuzzy models on the basis of simulation exper-
iments. Since these models, together with linguistic models, are
embedded in the expert systems, there are a total of five levels
of simulation (Juuso and Leivisk, 1990a).
The combined simulation and expert system is a model oriented
system which can be used as part of multilevel process control
(Juuso, 1990). The whole system is in full operation during opti-
mization. In other parts of the multilevel process control, the
amount of details are decreased and the communication with
d a t a oriented systems, e.g. automation systems in monitoring
and control and decision support systems in management and
coordination applications becomes important.
The computer modelling of the deterministic simulation system
is carried out using standard F O R T R A N subroutines and MAT-
LAB functions in order to ensure the portability of the programs.
The multilayer simulation system is running in several computers
and there are some differences in the application fields of these
subsystems. Usually, the simulation programs are executed sep-
arately on each level of calculations. The common d a t a base
structure connects together the whole simulation and expert sys-
tem (Fig. 1). The input d a t a and results are transferred between
the computers through the computer network.
H
Knowledge
~ D a t a Base
Base
F i g u r e 1: T h e c o m b i n e d s i m u l a t i o n a n d e x p e r t s y s t e m .
The development work was started on Sperry 1100 series com-
puters and continued on an IBM 3083 computer. Since device-
dependent p a r t s of the system are collected in certain subrou-
tines, the simulation system has been transferred to P D P 11
series computers, VAX computers and IBM AT compatible mi-
crocomputers with some standard changes. The present system
is also running in several UNIX environments on H P and SUN
computers. The distributed parameter models and the simulation
experiments for the fuzzy linear regression require a mainframe
computer. The Cray X-MP supercomputer and the Alliant FX
minisupercomputer are used in more detailed calculations.
The prototype of the rule-based expert system was implemented
in the GURU programming generator on microcomputers. In the
present expert system based on P R O L O G language, the rules are
replaced by linguistic relations. In the interactive work with ma-
trix based models, the MATLAB system is used. The d a t a base
management system based on SQL language is running on the
IBM 3083 computer. For each subsystem, the environment is
chosen on the basis of program packages supporting the applica-
tion.

119
 MULTILAYER SIMULATION
In the multilayer simulation system, deterministic calculation
methods ranging from known parameters and formulae to de-
tailed simulation models are connected to fuzzy and linguistic
simulation models (Juuso, 1988, 1989a, 1989b). Actually, vari-
ables are described on four levels (Fig. 2): the fuzzy and linguis-
tic methods are most useful for expert system applications. In
the linguistic subsystem, the development is continuing towards
diagnostical applications, therefore definitions for the linguistic
values are related to the working point of the process (Juuso and
Leivisk, 1990b).
~ V Y Y \f~ Linguistic
/ \ I I Fuzzy
Discretized fuzzy
Deterministic
F i g u r e 2: T y p e s of t h e variables.
The fuzzy approach makes the generation of the production alter-
natives much easier. Discretized input values are used together
with nonlinear models of the electrical flow (Juuso, 1989a) and
models based on the mass and energy balances (Juuso, 1989c).
Additional models based on uncertain process knowledge are also
developed on fuzzy level from qualitative relations by introducing
quantitative meanings for the variables.
The aggregation of the information is continued on the linguistic
level where several fuzzy models can be merged into a set of lin-
guistic relations. Again additional knowledge which in this case
is based on qualitative information can be used in f he problem
solving. In order to make this level consistent with the other lev-
els a specific method for linguistification and delinguistification
is developed.
D e t e r m i n i s t i c Simulation
On the feasibility level, emphasis is laid on testing ideas. A charge
calculation model generates production alternatives on the basis
of design constraints (Juuso, 1988). The process constraints are
taken into account in the energy balance model. The calculations
of heat flow are based on the requirements of the process: elec-
trical flow is combined with heat flow by known specific energy
consumption and power density. Electrical resistance and aver-
age electrical conductivity are approximated by formulae (Juuso,
1989a).
On the design level, dimensions of the furnaces are placed un-
der consideration. A zone balance model divides the mass and
energy balance into several zone balances suitable for detailed
simulation model application (Juuso, 1989a). The calculations of
the electrical flow are based on the highest applicable resistance.
A descending burden element model corresponding to a batch
reactor model (Juuso, 1989b) provides a link between lumped
parameter and distributed parameter models.
On the process study level, spatial dependence is taken into ac-
count in the detailed models of electrical and heat flow (Juuso,
1989a, 1989b). The steady state solution for the temperature
distribution is obtained in the calculations by a transient scheme
based on the odd-even hopscotch method using finite difference
approximations (Juuso, 1989b). For chemical reactions, a kinetic
model of simultaneous reactions is employed. Finally, the pro-
cess development applications include a calculation method for
the chemical reaction equilibrium (Juuso, 1988).
120
Fuzzy Simulation
T h e deterministic simulation models are applicable in uncertain
environments if discretized values are used instead of distributions
(Juuso, 1989a). Each value has its own grade of membership
generated on the basis of a membership function, i.e. triangular,
trapezoidal or rectangular distribution (Fig. 2). In the triangular
case, the grade of membership is one only for one discretized
point, b u t in the trapezoidal case at least the boundary points of
the most possible area must be selected to the set of discretized
points. In the combined fuzzy and linguistic simulation, at least
three discretized values must be chosen from the most possible
area in order to take into account the interactions described by
the linguistic models.
In the method of the discretized fuzziness, the number of simu-
lation cases becomes very large when the number of uncertain
variables increases. In the fuzzy calculation level n, the num-
ber of simulation cases is (2n + j)m where j is the number of the
points selected from the most possible area, and m the number of
fuzzified parameters. In order to avoid long running times, sim-
plified fuzzy models are used insted of the deterministic models.
In formula based models, several fuzzy parameters are combined
to a single fuzzy coefficient by discretized fuzzy calculations. For
more complicated models, fuzzy models are developed on the ba-
sis of simulation experiments by fuzzy linear regression (Juuso,
1989a, 1989c).
C h e m i c a l r e a c t i o n s . In the simulation of chemical reactions, it
is i m p o r t a n t to take into account the fact t h a t recoveries depend
on the working point of the process, especially on the basicity
of the slag {{CaO + MgO)/Si02))- In the ferromanganese pro-
duction, the manganese content of the slag, (Mn), becomes very
high if the basicity is low (Drrer, 1972). The recoveries for
manganese and silicon can be estimated by combining the model
described above with Equation
.((Mn)[Si\l\ CaO + MgO
ln (1)
{ [Mn] ) = -a^Ji2
where [Mn] is the manganese content of the metal, (Mn) the
manganese content of the slag, and [Si] the silicon content of the
metal (Juuso and Leivisk, 1990b). Since there are also other
factors affecting to the recoveries, e.g. temperature and alumina
content of the slag, the parameters contain uncertainties.
Electrical flow. For the calculation of the electrical flow, there
are several formula-based models applicable to fuzzy simulation
(Juuso, 1989a). The electrical resistance is represented by
R= (2)
i^\j) '
where s is the electrode separation, hQ the height of the tip of the
electrode above the metal layer, he the electrode immersion and h
the burden height ( = h0-\-he); the shape factor d2 depends on the
furnace dimensions, and the connection factor 7 is assumed to be
0.92 for a three phase furnace (Juuso, 1989a). In the uncertain
environment, the average conductivity , the height h0 and the
shape factor d2 can have uncertain values. The average electrical
conductivity is estimated on the basis of conductivities of the
charge and the slag, ac and as respectively (Juuso, 1989a).
H e a t flow. A procedure based on one-dimensional cases (Juuso,
1989b) can be used in choosing the electrical parameters of the
submerged arc furnace. In the case of constant electrical conduc-
tivity, the steady state solution for the temperature distribution
of the molten zone is represented by equation
=4? K) -()] <3>
where J ^ e is the current density at the tip of the electrode and
Rs the radius of the tip sphere (Juuso, 1989b). Here the effective
thermal conductivity, AC, which includes the effects of conduction,
radiation and convection, is also assumed to be constant.
U n c e r t a i n t y c a l c u l i . The grades of membership for results Y* 1 1
are determined by the methods used to combine joint member- slag-cond(as , basicity i temperature)
ship functions corresponding to the fuzzy input d a t a Zj,j = I
1...M. This case is similar to the conditional statement conductivity ( 1
,as,ac,he,I)

*/ f ) Z] then Y* (4)
I
resistance(R, , he)
i=i

Since almost similar results can be obtained from several simula-

tion cases, the results are classified and the grades of membership voltage^^J.R)
for the classified values are combined by methods developed for \ I
conformative membership function. An important feature of the useful .power {P^ 1
,I,U)
method is t h a t the number of classes depends on the fuzzy cal-
culation level n (Juuso, 1989a).
In the case of non-interactive variables, the minimum method F i g u r e 3: Linguistic s i m u l a t i o n .
(intersection) is used for the joint computation and the maxi-
mum method (union) for the conformative calculations. A nega-
tive correlation between variables can be taken into account by a Electrode position
bounded sum (Lee, 1990b) which is also called Lukasiewicz O R
(Buckley and Siler, 1988): VH H N L VL

LOR(a,) = a = min(a + , 1), (5)

r VH |~N~] [T~| [VL] [VL] [VL] VL
where a and are the grades of membership for two cases under o R
consideration. For more complicated interactions, the fuzzy and n
linguistic simulation methods are combined.
d H [v^l [VLJ L S
u
c
t N [VH] [VL] N t
Linguistic Simulation i
The linguistic simulation is based on linguistic relations, i.e. in
V
i L [VH] [VH] H j
the conditional statement 4, the fuzzy vectors Z* and Y* are t
replaced by linguistic vectors. In the previous rule-based system,
y VL [VH] [VH] [VH] VH
there was clear distinction between input and o u t p u t variables
(Juuso and Leivisk, 1990b). In the present system, the linguistic VL L N H VH
rules used in previous systems are replaced by linguistic relations
and linguistic equations. Electrode immersion
The linguistic model part of the knowledge base consists of sev-
eral facts relating n linguistic variables. If n 1 variables are F i g u r e 4: T h e linguistic m o d e l of t h e electrical r e s i s t a n c e .
known, the remaining variable can be solved from the set of re-
lations which can be considered as a linguistic equation (Juuso,
1991). Usually, the number of variables in these sets ranges be- L i n g u i s t i c e q u a t i o n s . With careful selection of the variables,
tween 3 and 5. For expert system applications, a set of facts can the set of linguistic relations can be changed into a very sim-
be generated by solving linguistic equations. ple mathematical equation, e.g. the set of relations presented in
Figure 4 can be represented by
L i n g u i s t i c r e l a t i o n s . The linguistic process model is described
by groups of linguistic relations: each group can be based on a
single fuzzy model (Eq. 2), or several fuzzy equations can be ag-
gregated into a single group of linguistic relations. The variables
*> = (6)

of the relations are chosen in such a way t h a t the directions of

where Xj,j = l...ra, are the levels of the linguistic values for the
the changes are balanced, e.g. the first relation in Figure 3 is
variables which are resistance, electrode immersion and conduc-
based on the fact t h a t the increase of the resistivity of the slag,
tivity (m = 3). Here the values veryJow, low, normal, high,
as~l, with increasing basicity can be compensated by increasing
and veryJiigh are replaced by numbers -2, - 1 , 0, 1 and 2. This
temperature. This selection procedure is not necessary for the
model can also be generalized for finer fuzzy partitions.
application of the linguistic relations.
Several sets of linguistic relations can be combined in matrix
The electrical resistance decreases with increasing immersion
presentation, e.g. the linguistic models shown in Figure 3 are
depth, he, and increasing conductivity, . Equation 2 can be
represented by equation
represented by relations resistance(x,y,z) where x, y and z are
the linguistic values for the resistance, R, the conductivity, , and AX = 0, (7)
the electrode immersion, he, respectively. Each relation describes
which linguistic values belong together, e.g. where A is a matrix

resistance(normal, normal, normal) / -1 1 0 - 1 0 0 0 0 0 \

resistance(low, high, normal) 0 0 -1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
This model consists of 25 linguistic relations (Figure 4) if each 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 -1 0
variable has five linguistic values: veryJow, low, normal, high, 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 -i )
and very .high.
if the vector X contains the linguistic variables basicity,
The linguistic model described in Figure 4 is refined for actual ap-
temperature, , $, ac, he, R, I, U, and P/v
plications by taking into account the effects of the burden height,
h, and the shape factor, d2. For design applications, a more de- In order to solve the problem, five of these variables should be
tailed model including effects of the electrode separation, s, is known or variated. Due t o nearly singular matrices, some of
employed. The relation sets are also expanded and updated by these combinations cannot be used. However, only the integer
simulation experiments based on the fuzzy simulation (Juuso and solutions are required, and exactly the same set of solutions is
Leivisk, 1990b). obtained by any combination (Juuso, 1991).

121
The result is an aggregated set of those linguistic relations which
are relevant if the process constraints described by the complete
set of linguistic equations are taken into account. As non-integer
solutions correspond to the solutions in finer fuzzy partition, they
can be excluded. The matrix method is implemented in the
MATLAB system, and the resulting set of linguistic relations
can be used either as a list of facts for a P R O L O G program or
as a database of alternatives for a FORTRAN program.
In this methodology, the linguistic relations are developed grad-
ually: only for a small p a r t of the problem is taken into account
at a time. By the m a t r i x method (Eq. 7) it is very easy t o build
large systems for different applications. The problem solving,
i.e. simulation or diagnostical reasoning, is based on integer ma-
trix manipulations. The linguistification methods based on fuzzy
simulation have a vital importance in connecting this methodol-
ogy to the real practice.
U n c e r t a i n t y c a l c u l i . The handling of uncertainties is an es-
sential part of the linguistic simulation. The membership func-
tions for results are calculated from the membership functions of
the known variables by the joint computation method described
above. The minimum method which weights the overlap as much
as possible (Buckley and Siler, 1988) suits very well into these
applications where smoothly changing results are prefered. Var-
ious families of T-norms (Bonissone and Decker, 1986) are not
useful in this application since they all produce smaller grades of
membership t h a n the min operator which is the upper bound of
T-norms.
The maximum method used for confirmative computation in the
discretized fuzzy calculations discounts the overlap between the
known variables (Buckley and Siler, 1988). This was a favourable
property in the discretized fuzzy simulation, but here it distroys
the smoothness of the results. Therefore, it is better to apply
the bounded sum (Eq. 5) which weights the overlap as much as
possible. The consistency with the fuzzy simulation can still be
improved by using the simultaneous support of the neighbouring
values n 1 and n -f- 1 as an additional evidence for the value n
(Fig. 5 and 6).
Electrode immersion
F i g u r e 5: M e m b e r s h i p values of n o r m a l electrical r e s i s t a n c e
in t h e t r a p e z o i d a l case.
" -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 user interface contains access to the lingustic facts through the
Electrode immersion
F i g u r e 6: M e m b e r s h i p values of n o r m a l electrical r e s i s t a n c e
in t h e t r i a n g u l a r case.
122
C o m b i n e d F u z z y and Linguistic S i m u l a t i o n
In the applications, fuzzy numbers are values of fuzzy variables,
and there are additional associations between these variables.
The models based on detailed calculations can be combined with
linguistic relations based on qualitative models, e.g. the increas-
ing viscosity of the slag with increasing basicity can be compen-
sated by using higher temperatures, but the high temperature
causes additional vaporization of the manganese, and simultane-
ously the increasing amount of the charge to be melted increases
specific energy consumption.
I n t e r a c t i o n s b e t w e e n s i m u l a t i o n m o d e l s . Interactions be-
tween the simulation models of the chemical reactions, electri-
cal flow and heat flow are very important, e.g. the conductivity
as depends on the temperature and the composition in the slag
layer. Therefore, it is necessary to include at least some features
from every subsystem to the calculations. In any subsystem,
this methodology makes it possible to avoid studying alterna-
tives which are irrelevant in another subsystem.
M e a n i n g of l i n g u i s t i c v a l u e s . The linguistic relations can be
developed on the basis of the fuzzy models, e.g. curves with
one independent variable can be represented on linguistic level
by dividing one of the coordinate axis into linguistic values while
the corresponding linguistic division for the other coordinate axis
is denned by the fuzzy model (Juuso and Leivisk, 1990b). This
procedure produces a set of linguistic relations for two variables:
other variables of the formula-based model are assumed to be on
normal level.
For diagnostical purposes, several variables should be aggregated
into a single set of linguistic relations. The procedure described
above could be extended for several variables by introducing com-
pensation effects into the relations. However, the number of simu-
lation cases increases quite fast with increasing number of vari-
ables if additional variables are included to the set of relations
variable by variable. If there are five linguistic values for each
variable, the meaning of five linguistic values must be solved on
each level.
It is much easier to develop the meanings for the other variables
by the combined fuzzy and linguistic simulation. As the most
possible ranges of different linguistic values are not allowed t o
overlap, the definition of the linguistic values of the main variable
must contain sufficient space between the most possible areas.
The consistency of the linguistic and deterministic models in the
multilayer simulation system are automatically checked by these
interactive fuzzy calculations (Juuso, 1991).
User Interface
In the ferromanganese model, parts of the model, i.e. d a t a modi-
fication, simulation calculations and printing out reports, can be
chosen independently (Juuso and Leivisk, 1990a). In modifica-
tion of deterministic input data, also programs for calculation,
checking and printing out are used in addition to the commu-
nication programs. The input d a t a is preprocessed in order to
make the actual simulation calculations more efficient.
In the fuzzy simulation, fuzzified values are generated on the ba-
sis of checked input d a t a which has already been accepted by
the simulation system. In the present system, the fuzzy calcu-
lation level n is the same for every fuzzy parameter and is re-
duced automatically if the number of simulation cases exceeds
the maximum value defined by the user. The same checking fa-
cilities which are used in the deterministic simulation are also
active in the case of fuzzy simulation (Juuso, 1989a, 1989c).
The linguistic d a t a is stored in relational databases and it is used
in knowledge-based systems (Juuso and Leivisk, 1990b). The
d a t a base management system. Since deterministic and fuzzy
input values are preprocessed, input d a t a can be given in any
form shown in Figure 2. Also probability based measurement
d a t a can be used if the mean value and standard deviation are
known.
 ADAPTIVE EXPERT SYSTEMS
In the expert system, domain-specific knowledge bases are cou-
pled with the simulation system, and the evaluation of alterna-
tives is based on fuzzy and linguistic simulation. Approximate
reasoning makes it possible to use linguistic quantifications with
more precise d a t a . The formula based models are used as rela-
tions between different parameters and variables. Depending on
the known facts, these relations can be utilized in several ways.
The relations are tuned by adjusting the meanings of the linguis-
tic values on the basis of the working point conditions.
Probabilistic Deterministic Fuzzy Linguistic
1 L
J 1
Fuzzification
t J
Linguistification
j 1 1 addition to the recalculation, some rule sets were replaced if the
KB Decision Making Logic
I 1 1 to the m a t r i x equation (Eq. 7), and only the meaning of linguistic
Delinguistification
I J 1 i
Defuzzification
1
Probabilistic
J
Deterministic
J
Fuzzy Linguistic
F i g u r e 7: Configuration of t h e a d a p t i v e e x p e r t s y s t e m .
Fuzzification Interface
Fuzzy and probabilistic d a t a are used together because uncer-
tainty appears under several forms: some observations measur-
able in a statistical sense are therefore captured by probabilities
while others require both probabilistic and possibilistic meth-
ods for characterization. Probability theory and fuzzy set theory
are not rival approaches, but rather complementary ones (Dubois
and Prade, 1989). In the fuzzification stage, the probabilistic d a t a
based on measurements is converted into fuzzy numbers which are
easier to manipulate t h a n random numbers. In this way, com-
putational efficiency is increased (Lee, 1990a). The fuzzification
function is an isosceles triangle defined by the mean value and
the standard deviation of the d a t a set.
Fuzzy numbers can be generated from deterministic values by
defining upper and lower limits in addition to the most possi-
ble value used in deterministic calculations (Juuso, 1989a). The
resulting membership function is triangular, but not necessarily
isosceles triangular. Also trapezoidal and rectangular member-
ship function can be used if the most possible value is on a certain
range (Fig. 2). In the construction of fuzzy values, interaction
between variables must be taken into account. Therefore, fuzzi-
fication is applied to d a t a groups: every d a t a value in the chosen
d a t a group is fuzzified so t h a t each case is acceptable (Juuso,
1989a, 1989c).
Linguistification Interface
The linguistification inferface has the central role in adapting the
expert system into the working point conditions. The linguistic
values for the variables are obtained by comparing their deter-
ministic or fuzzy values to linguistic classes of the variable. Fuzzy
variables can be represented either by trapezoidal fuzzy numbers,
(a/6, c\d), or by discretized versions of them. A fuzzy variable
can have several linguistic values, each with its own certainty fac-
tor. Therefore, trapezoidal (and rectangular) fuzzy numbers as
input variables may produce quite fuzzy results.
123
A fuzzy partition determines how many terms should exist in the
term set. For diagnostical purposes, coarse partition with five
terms is quite adequate. In order to use the same methodology
in control applications, a finer fuzzy partition is employed. If
each set of linguistic relations is represented in the equation form
(Eq. 6), the expansion of the system is very easy. Additional
definitions for linguistic values can be obtained by interpolation.
Actually, a gradually refining set of discretized values is used in
the combined simulation and expert system. In this kind of mod-
els, relative limits are very useful for applications. The meaning
of the linguistic values depends strongly on the working point.
E m b e d d e d Simulation
The linguistic models are essential parts of the knowledge base
and they are used on two levels: the fine partition is employed
in the area of low, medium and high values. In the case of very
low and very high values, the working point of the process is
changed considerably and a recalculation with the fuzzy models
was required in previous system (Juuso and Leivisk, 1990b). In
application area of the expert system was wide.
In the present system, the linguistic models are mostly integrated
values depends on the working point. The parameters defining
the meaning can be stored into databases. The alternative work-
ing points is based on the fine fuzzy partition, but the meanings
of linguistic variables are changed only if the working point is
moved out from the normal area (coarse partition). Fuzzy mod-
els can also be embedded within the rules by linguistification and
delinguistification.
Approximate Reasoning
The approximate reasoning in both fuzzy and linguistic simula-
tion was based on fuzzy logic. In the previous system (Juuso
and Leivisk, 1990b), the certainty factor algebra of the GURU
programming generator was applied to both fuzzy and linguistic
simulation. The joint certainty computation can use the mini-
mum, product, average or balance method. The confirmative
computation can use the maximum, probability sum, average
or balance method. For linguistic simulation, the bounded sum
method seems to be very useful in confirmative computation.
In the present system, the fuzzy logic is also applied to diagnos-
tical and control purposes. Linguistic simulation models, diag-
nostical reasoning models, and control rules are represented by
linguistic relations can be used in any direction. In the design
applications, the values of the basicity are used in estimating
the recoveries. In the monitoring and control applications, the
analysis d a t a is used in estimating the state variables. Only data-
driven forward chaining is needed since all the variables in the
set of linguistic relations can be handled in the same way.
Delinguistification Interface
Delinguistification is a mapping from linguistic variables to fuzzy
variables. The method is quite straigthforward: each linguistic
value corresponds to a trapezoidal fuzzy number, (a/6, c\d). Usu-
ally, the meaning of each linguistic value is already required in
the linguistification stage and can be found from the database.
However, the reasoning can also be based linguistic input values
(Fig. 7). In this case, the results can be represented on fuzzy
level only if the linguistic to fuzzy mapping is available.
Defuzzification Interface
A defuzzification inferface is aimed at control purposes where a
non-fuzzy control action is required. At the present, the com-
monly used strategies are the max criterion, the mean of maxi-
m u m and, and the center of area (Lee, 1990b). All these methods
are available in our system. Usually, the center of area method
which generates the center of gravity of the possibility distribu-
tion of a control action.
 Knowledge Base Management System
In the prototype of the rule-based expert system implemented
in the GURU programming generator, the consultation environ-
ment was modified by adjusting the settings of the environment
variables (Juuso, 1990b). In the present system, the rules are re-
placed by linguistic relations presented by P R O L O G predicates
and facts. The P R O L O G system contains expressions for in-
put, constructing alternatives, certainty factor calculation, simu-
lation, and result manipulation.
The d a t a base management system and the knowledge base man-
agement system are closely connected: expert systems can be
built on the basis of SQL commands. The linguistic rules are
specified on the basis of the shape of the relations. If the work-
ing point of the process is changed, the set of relations remains in
the same form as it was earlier, only the meaning of the linguistic
values is changed. For this kind of applications, the embedded
SQL commands in the FORTRAN code is a very efficient so-
lution. The matrix representation has made these applications
very fast.
MULTILEVEL CONTROL
The combined simulation and expert system is in full operation
for optimization applications (Juuso, 1990). In other p a r t s of the
multilevel process control, simplified fuzzy and linguistic mod-
els generated on the optimization stage are combined with other
models containing uncertainties. A number of reasoning systems
cooperating via common knowledge base are needed for the mul-
tilevel process control.
Optimization
The simulation system is designed for off-line optimization of pro-
duction alternatives by using deterministic steady state models
(Juuso and Uronen, 1989; Juuso 1990). During the optimization
process the amount of alternatives are reduced and more refined
methods based on the distributed parameter models can be used.
The results of simplified calculations are used as initial estimates
for parameters used on detailed levels. On the other hand, the
results of detailed calculations refine estimated input d a t a used
other levels. The adjustment of the meanings of the linguistic
values is an essential part of the optimization stage.
Monitoring and Control
The goal of the development work is a knowledge-based advisor
system which has close connections with the automation systems.
On the coarse fuzzy partition level, the adaptive expert system
is applicable to diagnostical purposes. If some variables become
high or low, the fault diagnosis system activates the fuzzy control
system. If some variables become very high or very low, the work-
ing point has changed beyond the area where the fuzzy control
system can take care of the process. The fuzzy control system is
used on the finer fuzzy partition level.
The multilayer simulation system based on steady state mod-
elling provides an aggregated overview which is very valuable in
control system design for the stabilizing control. The adaptive ex-
pert system is well fitted in the functional concepts presented by
Lehman (Linkens, 1990): it helps users to construct and verify
dynamical models. Combining the fuzzy approach with statis-
tical process control (spc) could be an appropriate way to use
simulation methods in the quality control.
Management and Coordination
The aggregated overview of the process operation is also very use-
ful on the management level where a whole system of processes
are organised for planning the market, the raw material alterna-
tives and the personnel. On the coordinationlevel, fuzzy methods
corresponding to the fuzzy control described above could be ap-
plied to the mutual adjustment of several coupled processes. The
rapid development in both process control systems and in man-
agement type systems provides new opportunities for plant-wide
automation.
124
CONCLUSIONS
T h e adaptive expert system merges symbolic and non-symbolic
concepts in a hybrid environment. Usually, the symbolic work is
changed into numerical form which means t h a t the reasoning is
actually done by solving matrix equations. This method based
on careful selection of variables has improved the system in many
ways. T h e relations are tuned by adjusting the meanings of the
linguistic variables. The calculation is based on the fuzzy and
deterministic models.
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D u b o i s , D . , a n d H. P r a d e (1989). Fuzzy sets, probability and
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Drrer, R. (1972). Metallurgie der Ferrolegierungen, G. Volkert
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Copyright EFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

KNOWLEDGE BASED SIMULATION AND

IDENTIFICATION OF METALLURGICAL REACTORS
M.A. Reuter* and J.S.J. van Deventer**

^Institut fr Metallhttenwesen and Elektrometallurgie, RWTH Aachen, Intzestrae 3,5100 Aachen, Germany
**Department of Metallurgical Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, 7600 Stellenbosch, South Africa

Abstract. This paper illustrates the application of a knowledge based system to

perform fault-diagnosis and dynamic simulation of batch and continuous metallurgical
and mineral processing systems. The proposed approach is essentially useful to
simulate ill-defined dynamic processes where existing fundamental and empirical models
fail owing to their lack of generality. The basis of the model is a set {k[C(t)] n , C(t n ),
t n } which is derived directly from kinetic data or concentration time data of a system of
continuous stages in series and its associated pivot knowledge. The generalized first
order kinetic model is defined by use of the above set and linked to a knowledge base
via adjustment objects containing a (rate) and (final recovery) adjustment factors.
This approach permits the dynamic simulation of a variety of metallurgical and mineral
processing systems at any process conditions catered for by the knowledge base. The
same set may be used to establish deviations from the pivot conditions quantified as a
and values, which hence permits the establishment of process conditions within the
metallurgical reactor. In contrast with most existing models, no curve-fitting is
required, as the kinetic model utilises experimental data directly, so that no fitting
variances are associated with the data. Also, adjustment factors are defined in an
intelligent way in the knowledge-based system so as to relate the operating conditions
to the kinetics of the process under consideration.

Keywords. Kinetics; batch and continuous simulation; reactor identification; knowledge

based; neural networks.

INTRODUCTION conditions, making a generalized characterization of

Schumann (1942) explained that the kinetic
behaviour of minerals during flotation will in many
cases supply worthwhile information regarding the
process and hence the effect of the various
process conditions. He also demonstrated that
changes of process conditions within flotation cells
have a measurable effect on the flotation response.
These observations based on the kinetics of the
process form the basis of the simulation and model
based diagnostic procedure discussed in this
paper.
Numerous models exist to describe the kinetics of
leaching, flotation, reduction and other processes
(Sohn and Wadsworth, 1979; Dowling, Klimpel and
Apian, 1986). Taking flotation as an example,
Dowling, Klimpel and Apian (1986) could show that
the kinetic flotation model based on a first order
process with a rectangular distribution was
superior to thirteen other models. However, by
fitting this model to the given data, the fitting
procedure produced a fitted final recovery of
>100%. Other flotation models performed badly due
to large confidence limits on the fitted parameters.
Models for leaching, precipitation, reduction and
adsorption would exhibit a similar behaviour to
that of the flotation models when fitted to kinetic
data, unless, however, the kinetic model is an
exact representation of the process being
considered. This is usually not the case owing to
some mixed kinetic mechanism underlying the
process.
The large number of models that are available for
defining the kinetics of the above-mentioned
processes contain a varying number of parameters.
When fitted to kinetic data, these parameters are
determined only within a certain confidence limit
by fitting procedures. Furthermore, each
parameter usually lumps various process
the process via these inexact parameters even more
difficult. It is clear from the above points that a
generalized simulation and diagnostic procedure
cannot be defined on the basis of these diverse
and inexact models.
It is hence the objective of this paper to develop a
generalized kinetic model with the following
characteristics: (i) it must fit the data exactly (no
variances), irrespective of the process type, (ii)
the parameters of the model must be a function of
all the possible process conditions (e.g. via
objects) catered for by the knowledge base, (i)
the proposed model and its accompanying
knowledge base must be simple (<2 parameters)
and must have an analytic solution for batch as
well as continuous reactor systems, and (iv) it
must facilitate diagnosis of the process conditions
within the respective reactors via its one or two
parameter(s).
Various knowledge based systems have been
developed to perform simulation and diagnostic
activities in chemical and metallurgical systems
(e.g. Stephanopolous and others, 1987; Fusillo and
Powers, 1988; Hoskins and Himmelblau, 1988;
Tzounas and others, 1988; Tucker and Lewis,
1988). Various architectures have been applied in
the above-mentioned and various other examples
not mentioned here. These include object
orientated (e.g. Venkatasubramanian and Rich,
1988), frame orientated (e.g. Beltramani and
Motard, 1988), goal-tree-success-tree (e.g.
Birkey, McAvoy and Modares, 1988) and other
architectures. The dynamic simulation of ill-
defined problems by the use of these techniques
has, however, found little application in the
literature. Dalle Molle, Kuipers and Edgar (1988),
and Kuipers (1984) proposed the use qualitative
simulation for this purpose.

125
Reuter and Van Deventer (1991a, 1991b) hence
demonstrated how a knowledge based system (KBS)
can be combined with a system of dynamic dC(t)/dt = -k[C(t)]n-C(t) (4)
equations to simulate leaching, pyrometallurgical
reduction, resin adsorption, carbon-in-pulp and where k[C(t)]n holds for the interval
c a r b o n - i n - l e a c h s y s t e m s . The methodology applied C(tn+1)<C(t)<C(tn). The p r o c e s s conditions for
is based on i n d e p e n d e n t adjustment objects in an which t h i s s e t ~{k[C(t)] n , C ( t n ) , t n } of r a t e s i s
hierarchical network u s i n g backward chaining for determined, a r e termed t h e pivot conditions and it
i t s solution a s for e . g . in EMYCIN (Shortliffe a n d i s postulated t h a t t h i s s e t remains i n d e p e n d e n t of
B u c h a n a n , 1975). No diagnostic system h a s really t h e p r o c e s s conditions, i . e . t h e kinetic mechanism
attempted to a d d r e s s diagnostics in metallurgical does not c h a n g e . This definition permits t h e
r e a c t o r s on a model b a s i s t h a t includes all possible simulation of p r o c e s s e s in which t h e kinetic data
process conditions within a particular unit a r e not a monotonic decreasing function in time
operation via i t s p a r a m e t e r s . Model based i . e . it could be S-shaped for example. An
diagnosis, a s it i s s u g g e s t e d h e r e , h a s been example is the induction period in the
r e p o r t e d for t h e diagnosis of electronic c i r c u i t s concentration r e t e n t i o n time data for t h e T e n n e s s e e
(Davis, 1984). copper r o u g h e r circuit (Dowling, Klimpel and
Apian, 1986), which cannot really be defined b y
In c o n t r a s t to t h e p r e v i o u s p a p e r s b y R e u t e r a n d t h e available theoretical models. It is exactly t h i s
Van Deventer (1991a, 1991b), t h i s p a p e r will induction period which could h a v e a decisive
demonstrate how a simple analytic model may be influence d u r i n g d i a g n o s i s .
applied to simulate a n d diagnose b a t c h and
continuous metallurgical r e a c t o r s b y applying a Equation 4 h a s an analytic solution for t h e given
suitable knowledge b a s e . T h e incorporation of a range:
n e u r a l network in t h i s a p p r o a c h is also d i s c u s s e d .
C(t)=C(tn)-exP{-k[C(t)]n-(t-tn)} (5)

KNOWLEDGE BASED MODEL
The most simple kinetic e x p r e s s i o n is a first o r d e r
kinetic model. Due to i t s two possible p a r a m e t e r s
k and t h e final r e c o v e r y R it would not b e capable
of d e s c r i b i n g many p r o c e s s e s v e r y a c c u r a t e l y .
However, if k is not a c o n s t a n t b u t a variable
e . g . k ( C ) , it h a s been shown ( R e u t e r and Van
D e v e n t e r , 1991a&b) t h a t t h i s kinetic e x p r e s s i o n
can d e s c r i b e a v a r i e t y of metallurgical p r o c e s s e s .
dC(t)/dt=-k[C(t)]-C(t) (1)
This definition implies t h a t if t h e p r o c e s s is f i r s t
o r d e r in n a t u r e f(C) will be equal to k a n d for a
second o r d e r p r o c e s s f(C)=k*C, a linear function
of c o n c e n t r a t i o n . If t h e p r o c e s s is c h a r a c t e r i z e d
b y mixed k i n e t i c s , f(C) i s a complex function of
C. This a p p r o a c h would s u g g e s t t h a t k=f(C) i s
reaction specific and a "finger-print" of
p a r t i c u l a r reaction, a n d could hence be used a s a
b a s i s for simulation and diagnostic a c t i v i t i e s . Note
t h a t t h i s model is essentially a o n e - p a r a m e t e r
model, as k[C(t)] also contains information
r e g a r d i n g t h e final r e c o v e r y i . e . where k [ C ( t ) J
becomes z e r o . I t i s h e n c e essential t h a t k [ C ( t ) ]
must cover t h e p r o c e s s o v e r t h e full e x t e n t of t h e
reaction.
As t h e a p p r o a c h d i s c u s s e d h e r e a t t e m p t s to define
a methodology not based on s t a t i s t i c s , the
definition of k [ C ( t ) ] should not be b a s e d on a
function of v a r i o u s p a r a m e t e r s to be f i t t e d . In
view of t h i s , k [ C ( t ) ] was defined a s a d i s c r e t e
function of C ( t ) , which i s a d i s c r e t e s e t of
a v e r a g e values for k [ C ( t ) ] a n d t h e i r associated
validity r a n g e s , calculated directly from the
practical kinetic data via e q . 1 in a discretized
form:
- <5C(t)
k[C(t)] = (2)
fit'C(t)ai
C(t)a is t a k e n to be t h e arithmetic a v e r a g e
between two s u c c e s s i v e data points s e p a r a t e d b y
t h e time i n t e r v a l 6 t . C ( t ) a v could also be t a k e n
a s t h e geometric mean, b u t most examples h a v e ,
however, been done b y applying e q . 3 . Hence,
for d i s c r e t e data p o i n t s , e q . 2 becomes for t h e
arithmetic mean (no c u r v e f i t t i n g ) :
To summarize: t h e s e t { k [ C ( t ) ] n , C ( t n ) , t n } is t h e
b a s i s of t h e model from which all o t h e r models a r e
derived.
Batch Model
Any deviation from t h e pivot conditions i s reflected
b y a and v a l u e s , which a r e derived from
a p p r o p r i a t e i n d e p e n d e n t adjustment objects or
adjustment object g r o u p s ( d e p e n d e n t o b j e c t s ) . In
this instance eq. 4 is rewritten a s :
dC(t)
-a-k[C(t)]n-[C(t)-C0-(l-)] (6)
dt
which holds for
a C0-3-[C0-C(tn+1)]<C(t)<C0--[C0-C(tn)]
This e x p r e s s i o n also h a s an analytic solution,
which holds for t h e validity r a n g e .
T h e d i s c u s s e d b a t c h approach may also be applied
to continuous r e a c t o r s if c o n c e n t r a t i o n - r e t e n t i o n
time data for a continuous bank a r e applied to
simulate t h e s e r e a c t o r s , a s was done b y Dowling,
Klimpel and Apian (1986). This implies t h a t t h e
set {k[C(t)]n, C(tn), t n } is calculated from
c o n c e n t r a t i o n - r e t e n t i o n time data for t h e b a n k .
Continuous Model
T h i s may b e defined b y a p p r o p r i a t e differential
e q u a t i o n s for a microscopic fluid ( R e u t e r and Van
D e v e n t e r , 1991a&b) or b y t h e following expression
for a macroscopic fluid, which defines t h e a v e r a g e
exit concentration for continuous r e a c t o r s :
l
n+l
C=ECr E ( t ) - e x p { - k [ C ( t ) ] n - ( t - t n ) } - d t (7)
tn
This equation may be solved analytically for simple
E ( t ) f u n c t i o n s , by a Gaussian q u a d r a t u r e ( P r e s s
a n d o t h e r s , 1989) or b y E u l e r ' s method:
(8)

-2-[C(tn+1)-C(tn)] C ( t n ) is calculated via e q . 5 or 6. In t h e s e

(3) e q u a t i o n s E ( t ) r e p r e s e n t s an a r b i t r a r y retention
[C(tn+1)+C(tn)]-t time d i s t r i b u t i o n ( R T D ) , which may be a function

126
of dead volume, fraction plug a n d / o r mixed flow, plant data may be compared to t h e R p i v o t and
number of reactors, retention time etc. k 1 pivot v a l u e s o f t h e pivot d a t a , from which a and
(Levenspiel, 1972). values, and hence appropriate operating
conditions may be estimated d i r e c t l y .
The linear differential e q u a t i o n s for microscopic
fluids may also be i n t e g r a t e d to p r o d u c e simple
analytic solutions.
Knowledge Base

Details of t h e knowledge base a r e too l e n g t h y to

Basis for Fault Diagnosis discuss here. It suffices to s a y t h a t the
knowledge i s represented in an hierarchical
T h e basis of t h e proposed a p p r o a c h i s to determine network, the top end (super-class) r e p r e s e n t s the
b y what a and f a c t o r s t h e p r o c e s s to be system being c o n s i d e r e d and t h e bottom e n d t h e
diagnosed deviates from t h e pivot c o n d i t i o n s . By i n d e p e n d e n t adjustment factors mentioned a b o v e .
means of a backward chaining p r o c e s s adjustment T h e s e may be of a r e g r e s s i o n t y p e , i . e . permitting
objects which p r o d u c e t h e s e a and v a l u e s , a r e t h e definition of t h e A r r h e n i u s equation a n d
determined. T h e u s e of n e u r a l n e t w o r k s to fundamental correlations s u c h a s S h = f ( S c , R e ) or of
perform t h e adjustment of a and v a l u e s , or to a factor t y p e e . g . (1 of n p o s s i b l e ) :
determine p r o c e s s conditions from given a a n d PROPERTY [Na-jarosite]
v a l e s , is p r e s e n t l y being i n v e s t i g a t e d . SUB-PROPERTY 100kg/m3
n-1 INTERACTION
Batch r e a c t o r s . The -factor is determined easily, FACTORS 1
i . e . simply t h e ratio of t h e final r e c o v e r i e s , w h e r e SLOPE FACTOR a=0.39
t h e slopes a r e z e r o . The -factor is determined RECOVERY FACTOR (3 = 1
via a time weighed slope i n t e g r a t i o n . Consider in COST FACTOR 1
dimensionless form for a first o r d e r equation
(similar for a second o r d e r equation) This adjustment object indicates t h a t t h e r a t e
d e c r e a s e s b y a factor of 0.39 if t h e Na-jarosite
seed concentration h a s a value of 100kg/m 3 (see
l/k' = t'k'-C*dt= (9) Table 8 ) . For t h i s same example t h e adjustment
o rule, constructed from the pivot adjustment
o b j e c t s , may be written a s :
which h a s been generalized to
if Na-jarosite precipitation (CLASS)
1/k" = E t n - k [ C ( t ) ] n - C ( t n ) - 5 t (10) and Distinguishing property (SUB-CLASS)
and [Fe 3+ ]=30kg/m 3
and [Na+]=8kg/m3
By comparing t h e time weighed slope l / k p i v o t of and [Zn 2+ ]=100kg/m 3
t h e pivot s e t { k [ C ( t ) ] n , C ( t n ) , t } to t h a t of t h e and [H 2 S0 4 ]=30kg/m 3
p r o c e s s to be d i a g n o s e d , an estimate for t h e ex- and [Na-jarosite]=300kg/m3
factor may be established from t h e ratio of t h e and temperature is 95C
time weighted slopes i n t e g r a t i o n , i . e . a = k ! / k p i v o t . then a=l
For second order processes this ratio also =l
a p p r o a c h e s W k p i v o t for t=> and for t h i r d o r d e r it cost factor=l
2
a p p r o a c h e s ( k ' / k p i v o t ) . For r e a c t i o n s of o r d e r ^
t h e r e s u l t of t h e time weighted i n t e g r a l is also T h e s e a n d o t h e r objects a r e g r o u p e d into a l a r g e r
1/k'. The time weighted slope l / k p i v o t for t h e object, t h e pivot object, defined for each data s e t .
pivot data is also an I D - t a g for t h e d a t a , which A n e u r a l network based a r c h i t e c t u r e is c u r r e n t l y
can hence be applied to identify o r e t y p e s e t c . being considered in addition to t h e adjustment
from t h e kinetic data a n d i t s associated pivot d a t a . object a p p r o a c h .
It is clear t h a t t h i s a p p r o a c h can also be u s e d to
determine t h e reaction mechanism for unknown
reactions if an e x t e n s i v e data b a s e is available.
Summary
If t h e batch simulation a p p r o a c h i s u s e d to
simulate continuous r e a c t o r s , t h e above method T h e s t r e n g t h of t h e a p p r o a c h d i s c u s s e d in t h i s
may also be applied to diagnose c o n t i n u o u s r e a c t o r paper is that it applies the same slope-
banks. concentration data s e t { k [ C ( t ) ] n , C ( t n ) , C ( t n + 1 ) }
to perform simulation a n d diagnosis in both b a t c h
Continuous r e a c t o r s . If t h e p r o c e s s is c o n s i d e r e d a n d continuous p r o c e s s e s .
to h a v e macroscopic fluid p r o p e r t i e s a similar
integration a s t h a t demonstrated b y e q . 9 may be
performed for continuous r e a c t o r s .
VALIDATION OF THE KNOWLEDGE
BASED MODEL
(ID
T h e v a r i o u s models d i s c u s s e d in t h e p r e v i o u s
section will be validated b y comparing t h e r e s u l t s
where with theoretical v a l u e s . T h e kinetic data in
column 1(a) of all t a b l e s a n d i t s associated
E(t)=(l/T)*(V/V )-exp[-(V/V )(t/r-Vp/V)] knowledge r e f e r to t h e pivot object. In t h e
or any other suitable function theoretical examples knowledge is not i n c l u d e d .
Also consult R e u t e r and Van Deventer (1991a&b)
For N ideal continuous r e a c t o r s in s e r i e s ( V p = 0 ) , for a v a r i e t y of o t h e r practical a n d theoretical
each with a mean retention time and examples of b a t c h p r o c e s s e s .
accommodating a first o r d e r reaction with a final
r e c o v e r y R, t h e above i n t e g r a t i o n would p r o d u c e Batch r e a c t o r s

C=(l-R)+[R/(l+k')] N (12) Two theoretical examples will be given in t h i s

section v i z . : a first o r d e r flotation model with a
Hence, given a specific RTD for a continuous r e c t a n g u l a r d i s t r i b u t i o n of r a t e c o n s t a n t s (Tables
r e a c t o r s y s t e m , R and k' values calculated from 1 a n d 2) and a second o r d e r r a t e eguation (Tables

127
3 a n d 4 ) . C Q i s 1 in both examples. Table 1 a n d TABLE4 Columns ( a ) : Concentration-time data
3 give t h e r e s p e c t i v e slopes calculated for each from t h e given model and k v a l u e s .
example via e q . 3 (& geometric mean) and Tables 2 Columns (b) according to e g . 4 - 6 .
a n d 4 give t h e r e s u l t s p r o d u c e d for v a r i o u s Columns (c) u s i n g geometric mean.
adjustment factors via equations 4 to 6.

(a): C/C0=l/(l+C0-k,-t) (b k c): Eq. 4 -

TAB LEI Summary of t h e calculated k f C ( t ) l n k'/min 20.0 10.0 1.00

v a l u e s according to e g . 3 , u s i n g t h e a 1.0 0.5 0.05
data in column 1(a) in Table 2.
t(min) Ka) 1(b) 1(c) 2(a) 2(b) 2(c) 3(a) 3(b) 3(c)
1 1
Column 1(a) of Table 2 0.000 1 000 1 000 1 000 1 000 1 000 1 000 1 000 1 000 1.000
k 0.025 0 666 0 670 0 665 0 800 0 819 0 815 0 976 0 980 0.979
C/C0=l-R-[l-(l-e" tj/k't]
0.050 0 500 0 450 0 498 0 666 0 670 0 666 0 952 0 961 0.960
C Range k[C(t)]n t[min]
0.150 0 250 0 225 0 248 0 400 0 381 0 398 0 870 0 887 0.884
1.0000 to 0.9507 0.496 0.000-0.102 0.175 0 222 0 200 0 221 0 364 0 348 0 363 0 851 0 869 0.867
0.9507 to 0.9046 0.487 0.102-0.204
0.9046 to 0.8615 0.478 0.204-0.306 6.225 0 008 0 008 0 008 0 016 0 016 0 016 0 138 0 138 0.138
etc. etc. etc. 6.250 0 008 0 008 0 008 0 016 0 016 0 016 0 138 0 138 0.138
.... to 0.0000 0.000
200.00 0 000 0 000 0 000 0 001 0 001 0 001 0 005 0 005 0.005

TABLE2 Columns ( a ) : Concentration-time d a t a

from t h e given model and R a n d k
v a l u e s . Columns (b) according to e g .
4-6.
(a): C/C0=l-R'[l-(l-e"k,t)/k't] (b): Eq. 4 - 6
I t i s clear from t h e above examples t h a t no
v a r i a n c e s e x i s t in a a n d v a l u e s , t h a t t h e
simulation i s almost exact and t h a t no fitting is
performed, which a r e t h e proposed criteria for an
a p p r o p r i a t e kinetic model for u s e in a model based
diagnostic a p p r o a c h .

R & k 1.0 k 1.0/min 0.5 k 0.1/min 0.1 k 4.0/min Continuous r e a c t o r s

I P & a 1.0 k 1.0 0.5 k 0.1 0.1 k 4.0
In t h i s section continuous reactors will be
t(min) Ka) 1(b) 2(a) 2(b) 3(a) 3(b) simulated by following a macroscopic fluid
approach. I n each case t h e theoretical e q . 11 i s
I 000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1 000 compared to the results produced by the
0 50 0.787 0.787 0.988 0.988 0.943 0 943 approximate e q . 7 . To calculate t h e slope data
1 00 0.632 0.633 0.976 0.976 0.925 0 925 s e t , e q . 3 was applied t h r o u g h o u t to p r o d u c e t h e
2 00 0.432 0.433 0.953 0.953 0.913 0 913 r e s u l t s summarized in Tables 5 a n d 6. I t is clear
4 00 0.245 0.246 0.912 0.912 0.906 0 906 from t h e p r e v i o u s examples t h a t a geometric mean
6 00 0.166 0.166 0.876 0.876 0.904 0 904 would h a v e p r o d u c e d more a c c u r a t e results.
However, in most c a s e s , t h e c o r r e s p o n d e n c e i s
a d e q u a t e . T h e i n t e g r a t i o n was performed b y a 15
point Gaussian Q u a d r a t u r e ( P r e s s and o t h e r s ,
TABLE3 Summary of t h e calculated k i " C ( t ) 1 n 1989). Note t h a t t h e top integration limit was not
values according to e g . 3 (& geometric t a k e n to be infinity. The given top limit was
m e a n ) , u s i n g t h e data in column 1(a) sufficient to calculate t h e a v e r a g e concentration
in Table 4 . from a continuous r e a c t o r for both t h e first a n d
t h e second o r d e r p r o c e s s e s . Note, however, t h e
small variations in t h e a n s w e r s for t h e second
C o l u m n 1(a) of Table 4 o r d e r p r o c e s s e s when t h e top limit c h a n g e s from 20
C/C0=l/(l+C0-k'"t) to 10 in Tables 5 a n d 6 r e s p e c t i v e l y . The given
theoretical solution for t h e second o r d e r p r o c e s s is
C Range k[C(t)] n k[C(t.)]n t[min] calculated via
( 1 / k r ) -&(-1/* ) -Ei(l/kx)
arithm. geometr> t[min]
(Levenspiel, 1972; E i s e r r o r i n t e g r a l ) .
1.00 to 0.66 16.000 16.330 0-0.025
TABLE5 Comparison of e g . 7 and 11 subject to
0.66 to 0.50 11.429 11.547 -0.050
different p a r a m e t e r s for t h e r e s p e c t i v e
0.50 to 0.40 8.888 8.944 -0.075
kinetic and R T D s . C ( t n ) i s calculated
0.40 to 0.33 7.273 7.303 -0.100
from t h e given kinetic models a n d
0.33 to 0.29 6.154 6.172 -0.125
etc. etc. etc. etc.
k T C ( t ) 1 n from t h e s e r e s p e c t i v e data
.... to 0.00 0.00 0.00
( I n t e g r a t i o n limits 0 and 2 0 ) .

Equation and parameters e-t l/(l+t) l/(l*5t) i/(i+iot) I

In each of t h e examples a good c o r r e s p o n d e n c e i s a=l;=l;C0=l and 6=0.1
achieved between theoretical and approximate
models. For the geometric mean the t=l (Theoretical) 0.3679 0.5000 0.1667 0.0909
c o r r e s p o n d e n c e a p p e a r s to be much b e t t e r which Eq.5 t=l (Approx.) 0.3679 0.5000 0.1667 0.0909
permits a l a r g e r 6t to be t a k e n . From t h e f i r s t
slope in Table 3 calculated via e q . 3 it i s clear Eq.ll T=2;Vm=1.0;V =0.0 0.3333 0.4614 0.2002 0.1261
that k[C(t)]n=16=19.2-C for this interval jEq.7 r=2;Vm=1.0;Vp=0.0 0.3333 0.4616 0.2025 0.1320
(0.66<C<1), and for the geometric mean Theoretical 0.3333 0.4617 0.2014 0.1297
k [ C ( t ) ] n = 2 0 ' C , which is an exact approximation,
since r=-20C^ is t h e second o r d e r equation for Eq.ll x=2;Vm=0.8;V =0.2 0.2578 0.4075 0.1357 0.0748
t h e s e kinetic pivot d a t a . Eq.7 =2 Vm=0.8;Vp=0.2 0.2578 0.4075 0.1358 0.0749

Eq.ll T=2;Vm=0.5;Vp=0.5 0.1839 0.3613 0.1052 0.0559

Eq.7 r=2 Vm=0.5;Vp=0.5 0.1839 0.3614 0.1052 0.0559

128
TABLE6 Comparison of e g . 7 and 11 subject to The kinetics of this reaction are affected by a
different parameters for the respective variety of factors which include the temperature,
kinetic and RTDs. By applying the the concentration of the Na-jarosite seed,
data from column 1(a) of Table 4 as [ H 2 S 0 4 ] , [ F e 3 + ] and the [ N a + ] . The reaction
pivot to calculate kTC(t)1 n , C ( t n ) may kinetics for this reaction have been represented by
be calculated by e g . 6 (Integration a variety of complex models, e . g . :
limits 0 and 10).
dFe3+/dt=-k(T)[Fe3+]a[Na+]b[Na-jarosite]c[H2S04]d
(Rastas and others, 1979)
Equation and parameters l/(l+20t) l / ( l + 5 t ) 1 / d + t )
C 0 =l; p=l; 6=0.01 a=l a=0.25 a=0.05 or

t=l (Theoretical) 0.0476 0.1667 0.5000 dFe3+/dt=-{k1[Fe3+]2[Na+]1/2-k2[H2S04]1/4}

Eq.5 t=l (Approx.) 0.0472 0.1658 0.4999 (Wang Qlan-kun and others, 1985)

Eq.ll i=2;V m =1.0;V p =0.0 0.0786 0.2012 0.4609 From the results in Table 8 it is clear that the
Eq.7 i=2;7 i = 1.0;Vj=0.0 0.0790 0.1986 0.4569 proposed simple kinetic model and its associated
Theoretical 0.0803 0.2014 0.4617 knowledge base can produce the same and better
results as the rather complex and semi-empirical
Eq.ll T=2;Vm=0.8;V =0.2 0.0395 0.1357 0.4073 multi-parameter kinetic models given above. To
Eq.7 T=2 Vm=0.8;Vp=0.2 0.0390 0.1349 0.4065 predict the data in column 3(b) of Table 8 during
simulation, appropriate adjustment objects would
lEq.ll i=2;Vm=0.5;V =0.5 0.0288 0.1052 0.3613 produce the following adjustment rule:
!Eq.7 i=2 V m =0.5;v;=0.5 0.0286 0.1046 0.3610
1 if N a - j a r o s i t e p r e c i p i t a t i o n (CLASS)
Application to practical data and D i s t i n g u i s h i n g property (SUB-CLASS)
and [Fe 3+ ]=30kg/m^
Both examples discussed in this section were taken and [Na + ]=8kg/m 3
from the zinc hydrometallurgy. and [Zn 2+ ]=100kg/m 3
and [H 2 S0 4 ]=30kg/m 3
Zinc-ferrite leaching. The data for this example and [Na-jarosite]=100kg/m 3
were taken from Rastas and others (1979), who and temperature i s 85C
could describe these data by reaction controlled then =11110.39-0.39=0.152
shrinking core model. The model applied by 3=*=
Rastas and others was a reaction controlled cost factor=l
shrinking core model. As may be seen from Table
7 the correspondence i s very good. Also note the TABLE8 Na-Jarosite precipitation-time data
use of adjustment factors and their associated (Rastas and others, 1979). Data in
objects, e . g . for column 2 the temperature object column 1(a) were used to determine
would be (assuming only two objects viz. k [ C ( t ) 1 n by e g . 3 and used to predict
temperature and [H2SO4]): values in columns (b) according to e g .
4-6.
PROPERTY Temperature
SUB-PROPERTY 85C
1 INTERACTION (a): Data from Rastus and others ( b ) : Eq. 4 - 6
FACTOR 1 1
SLOPE FACTOR a=0.75 PIVOT
RECOVERY FACTOR =l c 95C 95C 85C 75C 95C
COST FACTOR 1 [Na-jar] 300kg/m3 100kg/m3 100kg/m3 100kg/m3 20kg/m3
TABLE7 Con version-time data for No 4 Zinc- a & 1.0 k 1.0 0.39& 1.0 0.15t 1.0 0.054&1.0 0.085&1.0
ferrite (Rastas and others, 1979).
Data in column 1(a) was used to t(min) 1(a) 1(b) 2(a) 2(b) 3(a) 3(b) 4(a) 4(b) 5(a) 5(b)|
determine kTC(t)1 n by e g . 3 , and to
predict values in columns (b) 0.00 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0
according to e g . 4-6. 0.50 24.9 24.9 28.1 27.9 29.2 29.2 29.7 29.7 29.6 29.5 !
1.00 21.7 21.7 26.4 25.9 28.4 28.3 29.4 29.4 29.2 29.2
2.00 17.4 17.4 23.6 22.9 27.0 26.8 28.8 28.8 28.5 28.1
(a): Data from Rastus and others ( b ) : Eq. 4 - 6 4.00 12.9 12.9 19.6 19.1 24.6 24.2 27.7 27.6 26.8 26.4
7.00 9.7 9.7 15.7 15.3 21.7 21.5 26.2 26.0 24.5 24.2
PIVOT 15.00 6.2 6.2 10.6 10.7 16.7 16.6 22.8 22.8 19.0 20.3
C 95C 85C 75C 95C 95C 25.00 4.4 4.4 7.8 8.0 13.1 13.3 19.8 20.0 14.4 16.9
[H2S04] 30kg/m3 30kg/m3 30kg/m3 50kg/m3 15kg/m3
a & 1.0 & 1.0 0.75& 1.0 0.43& 1.0 1.9 k 1.0 0.3 & 1.0
FAULT DIAGNOSIS
t(min) 1(a) Kb) 2(a) 2(b) 3(a) 3(b) 4(a) 4(b) 5(a) 5(b)
Diagnosis in this paper is taken to imply the
0.00 1.00 1 00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 detection of faults within the respective unit
0.40 0.84 0 84 0.88 0.88 0.93 0.93 0.72 0.72 0.95 0.95 operations, i . e . deviations from process conditions
1.00 0.65 0 65 0.73 0.73 0.82 0.83 0.43 0.45 0.88 0.88 within metallurgical reactors. Fault-diagnosis i s
3.00 0.30 0 30 0.39 0.39 0.56 0.58 0.13 0.13 0.68 0.68 discussed under three headings viz. the
5.50 0.15 0 15 0.22 0.20 0.37 0.38 0.04 0.05 0.49 0.49 identification of a class and s u b - c l a s s of a meta
7.00 0.10 0 10 class and fault-diagnosis in batch and continuous
16.00 0.016 0 016 reactors respectively.
25.00 0.004 0 004
54.00 0.000 0 000

Identification of a class and sub-class of a meta-

Jarosite precipitation. The example being class. This method is based on comparing the
discussed here is the precipitation of F e 3 + as Na- final recovery and time-weighted slope of kinetic
jarosite (Rastas and others, 1979): data of an as yet unknown class to those available
in the knowledge base. This permits the
3Fe 2 (S0 4 ) 3 +Na 2 S0 4 +12H 2 0=2NaFe 3 (S0 4 ) 2 (OH) 6 +6H 2 S0 4 identification of the unknown class. If the batch

129
flotation kinetic data are given, the possible ore
body and possible flotation conditions could be
established for a meta-class, i.e. for example the
flotation for a specific plant or ore body. If the
knowledge base is constructed consisting only of
pivot objects (no adjustment objects), the above
process could also be applied to perform process
identification i.e. the pivot conditions, associated
final recovery and time weighted slope data define
both batch and continuous (C-retention time data)
processes.
Identification of the process conditions within a
batch reactor. Consider the data in columns 1(a)
and 2(a) of Table 4. The theoretical time
weighted slope for these respective columns are
0.1281 and 0.2561 which implies a=0.5. Since the
final recovery is 100% in both cases, is equal to
1 (=100%/100%). The inference engine would
hence attempt to establish which process conditions
would produce the given adjustment factors. The
practical data summarized in Tables 7 and 8 could
not be applied here as the data do not cover the
process up to the final recovery and precipitation
respectively.
Identification of the process conditions within a
continuous reactor. Two methods will be pointed
out in this section. A third possible method based
on a microscopic fluid approach is discussed by
Reuter and Van Deventer (1991b).
Method 1 applies equation 9 and 10 as for batch
processes, to describe the kinetics of the flotation
bank as a whole. This approach implies that the
pivot objects are defined accordingly i.e. they do
not include batch kinetic data but contain
concentration-retention time (or stage number)
data. All adjustment objects are defined
accordingly with reference to these data. One
would obviously not be able to perform process
identification of batch cells with these data, hence
forfeiting generality. This method is hence
identical to that discussed previously for batch
reactors.
Whereas the batch fault-diagnosis procedure as
applied in method 1 applies eq. 9 or 10 to
determine an estimate of a, equations 7 or 8 and
12 are applied as the basis of diagnostic procedure
for method 2. This implies that batch kinetic data
form the basis of this method.
It has already been stated that for a first order
rate equation and an ideal retention time
distribution (V m =l) the solution of equation 11 is
l/(l+k*r). A meta-rule based on this equation has
been given above (eq. 12) for estimating a and
values. If the solution for the kinetic data
represented by e~^ are used to solve equation 7 or
11, a result of C av =0.333 is produced for Vm=l
and =2. For the kinetic model e~ 2t this result
would be C a v =0.2. It is a trivial exercise to work
backwards from the given C a v values, via equation
12, to obtain the respective rates of 1 and 2 for
=2. This would imply that a is equal to 2 with
reference to the pivot value of k=l. It is obvious
that the meta-rule eq. 12 can only produce an
exact value for a if the process has first order
kinetics. The meta-rule can, however, give an
estimate for an initial a value which can be refined
by a subsequent iterative procedure. Since the
solution of equation 7 is rapid, this iterative
procedure is fast. As an example consider the
data for =2 and Vm=l in Table 5 for the three
second order equations. If the data for the
second order equation l/(l+t) are taken as the
pivot, the following three a-values could be
estimated, viz. 1, 3.4 and 5.9 for the given
integration limits from 0 to 20. From these data
the process conditions can subsequently be
estimated. The theoretical a values are 1, 5 and
10 respectively for =1.
130
DISCUSSION AND SIGNIFICANCE
A simple generalized approach was discussed that
permits both the dynamic simulation of batch and
continuous processes. The basis is process
independent and has been applied to simulate
adsorption, leaching, reduction, precipitation and
flotation processes. The same basis has been
shown to permit diagnosis of batch as well as
continuous processes.
The above aspects are possible since the proposed
kinetic model gives an exact description of the
above mentioned processes without forfeiting
accuracy due to curve fitting. The 'one
parameter' model is well suited for manipulation by
adjustment factors in an object architecture. At
present a neural network architecture is being
investigated to relate the adjustment factors a and
respectively to process conditions.
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117-125.
Reuter, M.A., J.S.J. Van Deventer and W.I. Van der Merwe (1991a). The
application of knowledge-based systems to the simulation of gold
extraction processes, Minerals Engineering, 4, pp. 103-119.
Reuter, M.A. and J.S.J. Van Deventer (1991b). Knowledge-based simulation
and identification of various metallurgical reactors,
Metallurgical Transactions B, In press.
Shortliffe, E. and B. Buchanan (1975). A model of inexact reasoning in
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Schuhmann, R. (1942). Flotation kinetics I. Methods for Steady-State
Study of Flotation Problems, J. Phys. Chem., 64^ pp. 891-902.
Sohn, H.Y. and M.E. Wadsworth (1979). Rate Processes of Extractive
Metallurgy, Plenum Press, New York.
Stephanopoulos, G., J. Johnston, T. Kriticos, R. Lakshmanan, M.,
Mavrovouniotis and C. Siletti (1987). Design-Kit: An object-
oriented environment for process engineering, Comput. Chem.
Engnq., 11^ pp. 655-674.
Tucker, P. and K.A. Lewis (1988). An expert system for shaking table
diagnostics, Minerals Engineering, 2, pp. 87-92.
Tzouanas, V.K., C. Georgakis, W.L. Luyben, and L.H. Ungar (1988). Expert
multivariable control, Comput. Chem. Engnq., 12, pp. 1065-1074.
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process diagnosis, Comput. Chem. Engnq., 12, pp. 903-921.
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

SELF ORGANIZING CONTROL OF pH IN A STIRRED

TANK REACTOR
I.M. Shah and R.K. Rajamani
Department of Metallurgical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT84112, USA

M?is..tXiact. To-date, most of the useful work on the self organizing controller (SOC) has
been done on simulated processes. To test it in a real environment, its application to
controlling pH in a stirred tank reactor is tried here. Due to extreme nonlinearity of
the pH process, the basic design of SOC did not result in adequate controller response.
Therefore, an alternative approach utilizing preselected scaling factors but
appropriately choosing performance rules is examined. It is found that the decision
table resulting from a non-adaptive fuzzy controller serves as a good choice for the
performance table for the SOC. Under both servo and regulator type control situations,
the SOC provided impressive pH response. It is concluded that this simple self learning
controller methodology deserves attention. It can be suitable for many difficult to
model metallurgical processes.

Keywor<liS. Fuzzy set theory; computer control; pH control; control nonlinearities;

adaptive control; metallurgical industries.

A considerable amount of research on SOC has been

INTRODUCTION
Fuzzy set theory (FST) provides for emulating
human abilities of extracting essential features
of a system, and using this granulated knowledge,
not dependent on accurate measurements, in
judgement and decision making process. Control is
thus a natural candidate and a major application
area for the FST. A unique feature of a fuzzy
logic controller (FLC), which distinguishes it
from other rule based systems, is representation
of variables in the rules by fuzzy sets.
Mamdani and Assilian (1975) developed the first
fuzzy controller. Applications to a variety of
processes have been studied since then (Lee, 1990;
Tong, 1985). These research efforts have indicated
that the FST is effective in providing a framework
for adequate controller performance. The FLC has a
definite advantage in terms of ease of
implementation. Another important feature is
elimination of the need of a precise mathematical
model of the process.
done at University of London, under the guidance
of Prof. E. H. Mamdani. To-date, most of the
useful work is on simulated processes (Lembessis,
1984; Procyk, 1977; Yamazaki, 1982). A wide range
of processes, varying in terms of order of the
process and magnitude of features like dead-time
and non-linearity have been considered. A notable
limitation of these works has been the fact that
SOC has not been tried on a real system. Also, the
past studies have concentrated mainly on the servo
type control problem, i.e., handling changes in
the set point. Tackling both servo and regulator
type problems, the latter needing adjustments when
process load or disturbance changes, have been
targeted in the present work. Another important
aspect considered is the effect of changing
process dynamics. Changing time constant and
process gain with time is an important
characteristic of many real processes. In fact,
these are the processes that are most difficult to
model and control through traditional control
techniques. Thus the present effort is aimed at
bridging some critical gaps in the SOC literature,
by implementing SOC on a real process having
changing process dynamics.

One of the presumption in the FLCs is the

availability of a comprehensive set of control THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
rules (a protocol) to accomplish the control task.
In many process situations it is not possible to In the following, the essentials of the framework
pre-specify all necessary control rules, but only is briefly discussed. First the concepts pertinent
a few general rules can be stated a priori. Thus to the FLC are presented as it forms the lower
it is desirable that the controller learn from level of the two levels of SOC, the main topic of
past performance and generate required rules this research.
dynamically. This appealing extension to the FLC
has been referred to as the self organizing gemxal ^ r u c t o of ELC
controller (Procyk and Mamdani, 1979). It can be
likened to the adaptive controller of the control A fuzzy set (also called a fuzzy subset) A in a
literature. It provides a promising alternative universe X is characterized and represented by a
for control of complex processes, especially those membership function fA(x), e.g.,
involving changing process dynamics.
A = [ fA(x); x E X ] (1)
where fA(x) : X > [0,1]

131
An important concept in FST is that of implication
function. It deals with interpretation of a rule
(a conditional statement). Consider E, C, and as
three fuzzy variables. A rule, denoted as Sk, has
the form "If Ek and Ck then Uk". Note that this is
an abbreviation of "If E is Ek and C is Ck then U
is Uk". For control applications, Mamdani's
definition of implication function (Mamdani, 1974)
is widely used (Lee, 1990; Yamazaki, 1982). It
defines Sk as a fuzzy set, represented as a
cartesian product Ek x Ck x Uk. Its membership
function fgjje, c, u) is calculated as:
Min [ %,.(), fck( c )' f Uk< u ) 3 (2)
Several statements SI, S2, ..., SN connected using
a connective "else" (or "also") form a set of
statements (rule base). The overall relation R is
expressed as a union (Max) of individual
relations. It is characterized by a membership
function % ( e , c, u ) ;
fR(e, c, u) = Max [ fgi(e, c, u), f ^ e f c ' u ) '
..., f SN (e, c, u) ] (3)
For notational convenience, R is expressed as
R E C U = Max k (Ek x Ck x Uk) (4)
This relation defines the overall mapping from the
two antecedents E and C to the consequent U.
An inference rule helps determine a fuzzy subset
Uj, induced by the relation R and fuzzy values Ej
and Cj. For inference, the Max-Min rule proposed
by Zadeh (1973) has been used in most control
applications. This operation is represented as
Uj = Ej o Cj o R (5)
with the membership values of Uj characterized by
fuj(u) = Maxg M a ^ { Min [ f E j(e), f C j(c),
fR(e, c, u) ] } (6)
The forgoing discussions deal with a framework for
reasoning in situations involving fuzzy (or
qualitative) inputs and outputs. In process
control, however, the information provided through
process instrumentation is deterministic (non-
fuzzy). Also, only deterministic quantities are
sought as corrective actions from the controller.
Without going into details, Fig. 1 presents the
functional diagram of a FLC depicting the general
structure that has evolved over the years.
.ae......Seli.....Qrs.ani^.ing......Leyel
The FLC described above is characterized by a set
of if-then type qualitative rules. The derivation
of an adequate set of rules and its representation
in a form suitable for use in FLC is difficult for
complicated processes. Application of fuzzy logic
in such practical situations, requiring dynamic
learning capabilities, is the basic premise of
SOC. In the present work, the framework of SOC as
proposed by Procyk (Procyk, 1977; Procyk and
Mamdani, 1979) has been followed. It incorporates
a mechanism for the evolution of fuzzy control
rules based on process performance evaluations.
Figure 1 also depicts the structure of the SOC.
Essentially, a supervisory level is added which
changes the functional relationship between the
controller's input and output whenever the
performance is found unsatisfactory. The operator
or the control system designer provides what are
called the performance rules. These rules specify
the objectives the controller is to follow. The
algorithm is designed in such a fashion that these
performance rules can also modify the control rule
132
base on-line, either by generating new rules or
modifying the existing rules.
For convenience, consider a case where the control
rules and the performance rules both have same two
fuzzy variables as antecedents. These are error,
E, and change in error, C. They represent
information on the state of the process output,
which is also considered to be the controller
input. For the control rules, a fuzzy variable
change in the process input, U, is taken to be the
consequent and hence the controller output.
Through the use of variables E and C as
antecedents, a set of performance rules assesses
the process performance at every sampling instant.
The performance rules give as a consequent a fuzzy
variable, P, defined as the desired change in the
process output to improve process performance. The
variable P is assigned a value that reflects the
degree of correction required by the process
output. In all the applications in the past, P
directly represents reinforcement for adjusting
the consequent part of a responsible control rule.
The fuzzy variables E, C, U, and P take fuzzy
values, expressed as pre-defined fuzzy subsets,
representing their linguistic meanings. A set of
control rules gives a relation matrix R E Q J , as
given by Eq. (4). Similarly, the set of
performance rules gives relation matrix REcp:
R E C P = Max k (Ek x Ck x Pk) (7)
Consider that E is Ej and C is Cj at a particular
sampling instant. Then the output of the
controller, Uj, is represented by Eq. (5), and the
performance index value, Pj, can be similarly
inferred as:
Pj = Ej o Cj o R E C P (8)
The subset Uj represents the controller output
which is used to obtain the process input (control
action) while the subset Pj is used to modify the
controller rule base and hence the corresponding
controller relation matrix.
The rule modification procedure uses a parameter
called "delay in reward". For simplicity, this is
specified as a number, m, representing the number
of samples in the past whose action relates to the
current process situation. Let E 1 and C be the
error and change in error and U ! the corresponding
controller output at that time (m samples in the
past). Thus the desirable controller output for
future situation of E 1 and C , based on the
performance index, would be V = U' + Pj. In the
controller rule base, thus, the rule E 1 x C x U'
should be replaced by a rule E' x C x V .
One possible method suggested for effecting the
rule replacement is through a linguistic operation
of the form
RM = { C (REOJ) but n o t R,
l else
ER"] }
W
Here, R1 and R'' are the relation matrices of the
rules to be deleted and added, respectively, and
RN denotes the modified controller relation
matrix. In terms of set theoretical operations,
this can be written as
RN = Max { [ Min ( R ^ , ') ], [R ,f ] } (10)
' denoting the complementation operation.
The interpretation in terms of relation matrices
has shortcomings in terms of memory usage and
computation time. Another limitation is that the
rules which form the controller are not directly
accessible. This is because they are collectively
represented by a relation matrix only. Thus a
"simplifications" has been suggested to make the
procedure more practical. This involves replacing
the operations on relation matrices with those on
the control rules themselves.
The simplification is based on De Morgan's law
which inter-relates the union (Max), intersection
(Min) and complementation operations. The law,
which holds for both ordinary and fuzzy sets, can
be stated as "complementation of intersection
(union) is equivalent to union (intersection) of
complements".
Using De Morgan's theorem, the complement of R',
i.e., '( = E' x C x U M can be written as
' = Max (', ,!!') (11)
An identity is used at this stage to expand Eq.
(11) into a more convenient form. It specifies
that the intersection (Min) of a fuzzy subset and
a unit subset is equivalent to the fuzzy subset.
Let IE, IC and IU be defined as unit subsets of
respective universes, having all membership values
as 1.0. Then R1 can be written as
' = Max [ (' x IC x IU), (IE, 'x IU),
(IE x IC x IT) 1 (12)
Considering Eq. (12), the r.h.s of Eq. (10) can be
written in terms of individual rules as
Max { [ Min ( { Maxk (Ek x Ck x Uk) },
{Max [ (' x IC x IU), ( IE x .' x IU),
( IE x IC x IT) 1 > ) L [ (E x C x V ) ] }
which on manipulation gives,
Max { [ Maxk {[( Ek x *) x Ck x Uk],
[Ek x (Ck x ') x Uk], [Ek x Ck x (Uk x II")]} ],
[ (' x C* x V ) ] } (13)
Eq. (13) suggests the following procedure. Every
rule Ek x Ck x Uk be replaced by three new rules:
[ (Ek x E') x Ck x Uk ]
[ Ek x (Ck x ) x Uk ]
[ Ek x Ck x (Uk x U') ]
This new set and the additional rule E' x C x V
form the modified control rule base.
The difficulty however is the forming of new
subsets (e.g. (Ekx')) and tripling of the
number of rules every time a rule change is
necessary. To overcome this, an approximation is
used. It is based on reasoning that a rule not
sufficiently similar to the rule to be deleted
need not be changed. The degree of match is
checked using the property that the intersection
of a subset and its compliment produce a subset of
membership values all less than or equal to 0.5.
Thus, every rule is checked by checking the
membership values for subsets (Ek x j ' ) , (Ck x
'), (Uk x 12'). If all have membership values less
than or equal to 0.5, that rule k can be deleted.
If not, the rule is left unaltered. When all the
existing rules are thus processed, the new rule E*
x C x V is included in the controller rule base.
THE pH CONTROL PROBLEM
For the discussions in this work, pH is defined in
terms of [H + ], the hydrogen ion concentration in
g-ions/1:
133
pH = -log10 [H+]
Control of pH is an important objective in many
industrial processes. For applications like water
and wastewater treatment and many chemical and
biological processes, it is crucial to maintain
the pH within a specified range. In mineral and
extractive metallurgy industry also, it is a
common practice to control pH in process vessels.
For example, the pH of reclaimed water is
maintained at a pH of about ten before being fed
to a grinding circuit. Mine water treatment
plants, for heavy metal removal, also require pH
to be maintained in the range of 9.5-10.0 to
precipitate the metals as hydroxides, and then
final pH adjusted to 6.0-9.0 before discharging
the treated water (Young and Bohling, 1981). Also,
many reagents in processes like flotation and
flocculation work best only within a specified
range of pH values. Solvent extraction units,
leaching vessels, ion exchangers also require pH
monitoring. Corrosion inhibition is another area
where control of pH is important.
With the availability of very sensitive and
accurate instruments, measurement of pH has become
a routine in many industrial processes.
Maintaining pH is, however, by no means trivial.
The control is troublesome because of inherent non
linearity of the pH response to reagent additions,
characterized by a S-shaped titration curve.
Additionally, in many cases this titration curve
changes due to changes in the composition of the
process solutions.
The pH process was selected as an example problem
due to the challenge it presents. The other
advantage it offers is that it is not very
difficult to set up a test facility in a
laboratory. Additionally, it provides flexibility
in terms of adjustment of the level of difficulty
for the control problem. For example, the time
lag, dead time, non linearity, servo or regulator
type problem, etc. can be appropriately selected
with ease. Another interesting feature of the pH
process is its characteristic non-sharp target
specification making it a suitable candidate for a
fuzzy logic based approach. As Shinskey (1973) has
noted "Desirable response for a pH loop may differ
considerably from that expected from other
processes. ... any pH between 6 and 9 may meet
local regulations and therefore be acceptable." It
must be emphasized, however, that the main purpose
of the investigation is the explorations of the
technique of SOC.
Considering the importance of pH regulation, it is
not surprising that extensive literature exists
directly addressing the pH control problem.
MDreover, in testing of novel controller schemes,
many researchers use the pH process as an example
process because of the challenge and flexibility
it offers. Some of the recent experimental
investigations are briefly discussed in the
following. Of the numerous simulation based
studies, only a couple are mentioned (Clark and
Gawthrop, 1981; Parrish and Brosilow, 1988).
Because pH control "per se" is not the main
interest, a detailed review of literature is
avoided.
Gustafsson (1985) studied two different controller
schemes. Laboratory scale equipment was used to
test the controller implementations. Dynamic
modeling was done considering a set of reaction
invariant variables and a reaction variant
variable. A system of decoupled linear
differential equation specified the reaction
invariant part whereas a nonlinear static equation
related the reaction invariant variables to the
pH. The process was first modeled off-line based
on experimental input-output data. The first
controller scheme was designed to give linear
control loops, considering linear feedback of the
reaction invariant state vector. This reaction
invariant state vector, representing the
concentrations of hypothetical weak acids having
pre-specified dissociation constants, is not
directly measurable. It was computed based on the
measurements of pH and other control signals. The
implementation effectively implies a nonlinear
feedback of pH. The second scheme utilized a
linear feedback of pH, the feedback law being of
self tuning type. Here, for each sampling time,
the system parameter were estimated as they are
used in the calculation of the new feedback
coefficients.
Jutila (1983) also used the idea of hypothetical
chemical species in modelling the unknown liquid
composition. In an off-line identification step,
the process solution titration curves were used in
evaluating the dissociation constants of the
hypothetical species. An on-line Kalman-type
filter algorithm estimated the concentrations of
the hypothetical species. The pH and flow
measurements were used in this estimation step.
The controller adaptation was performed based on
this estimates. The modeling and control approach
was studied by simulations and the scheme was also
applied to a full-scale chemical waste-water
treatment plant. The possibility of adaptive
feedforward control loop was mentioned as the
distinguishing feature of this approach.
Investigating applications to the pH process of
self-tuning controller (STC), Proudfoot and co-
workers (1983) carried out a series of extended
trials. Here also, the target of the control was a
full-scale industrial-effluent treatment plant.
The STC was derived based on the assumption of a
linear first-order process model, together with a
cost function dependent on the integrated output
error. It was demonstrated that the self-tuning
algorithm was able to provide better parameter
values for the proportional integral controller
(PIC) than manual tuning. Also, the adaptive
controller gave better results than achieved by
fixed parameter PIC.
It is sufficient to state that many researchers in
the past have investigated advanced estimation
and/or adaptive control techniques to overcome the
difficulties of non-linearity and changes in non-
linearity. MDSt methods require the development of
a complex mathematical model. The methods of fuzzy
logic and SOC eliminates this need and thus can be
considered an attractive alternative.
EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
A 4 1 pyrex glass beaker or a 5 1 polyethylene
vessel was used as a reactor. Both had baffles to
help in achieving proper mixing inside the
reactor. In the tests reported, an acidic process
solution was neutralized using an alkaline
reagent. Both the process solution and the alkali
reagent entered near the bottom of the reactor.
The pH and the ATC probes were positioned near the
top to avoid the localized effects of the entering
solutions. The reactor outlet was an overflow tube
near the top, maintaining a constant liquid volume
in the reactor vessel. The effective hold up
volume for the two vessels were 3.95 1 and 4.65 1,
respectively.
134
Two centrifugal pumps were used to deliver the
acidic process fluid from two separate storage
tanks. This permitted making predefined change in
process solution compositions. The process inflow
rates were monitored using two block type flow
meters each equipped with a valve. A Cole-Parmer
digital pH transmitter, a pH electrode and an ATC
probe were used for pH measurements. The
transmitter supplied a 4-20 mA analog signal
proportional to the pH value. For the controlled
reagent flow, an Ismatec peristaltic pump was
used. A 0-10 V signal was used to manipulate the
pumping rate. A Keithley measurement and control
system was used for signal processing. An IBM PS/2
Model 70 computer was interfaced to the data
acquisition system for SOC algorithm
implementations.
Fuzzy Representation
In the present work, the error universe has 14
elements represented by integer values in the
range -6 and 6, with two zero values (0 and 0~).
The others have integer values between -6 and 6,
but 13 elements (only one 0). The number of fuzzy
subsets (linguistic values of the fuzzy variables)
defined on each of these universes are also the
same as the number of elements. We refer to Shah
(1991) for details.
In the fuzzy logic framework, the levels of
discretization of the universes, number of fuzzy
subsets, grades of membership, etc., needs to be
defined subjectively. These variables affect the
computations and the memory requirements, the
fineness of controller, and so on. The use of
above mentioned definitions for the pH process,
which is very much different from the processes
considered by Procyk, thus disregards this
subjectivity argument. It must be emphasized,
however, that SOC has additional adjustment
options like scaling factors, performance rules,
delay in reward, etc. The use of subjective
definitions will add complexity to the designing
of SOC. Thus the above ad hoc choice was done for
convenience and to demonstrate the applicability
of a general framework of SOC for widely varying
processes.
RESULTS
In the work reported here, a sampling time of 0.1
min was used. Also, the delay-in-reward parameter
was set to a value 1 for convenience. Thus only
the scaling factors and the performance rules are
left for adjustments. Knowledge of titration
curves and process operating characteristics was
used in designing a FLC (without adaptation) for
the pH process. The study, described in Shah and
Rajamani (1990), showed that a set of intuitively
developed control rules drove the controller in
the right direction. Nevertheless, the response
exhibited initial oscillations and long settling
time. Difficulties in developing an adequate set
of rules for the nonlinear pH process were
outlined. The need for developing an SOC was thus
demonstrated.
For initial SOC tests, the set of parameters that
worked under the FLC environment were kept the
same and the performance rules developed by Procyk
were used. A typical result is shown in Fig. 2.
Note that the test was started with acid solution
in the reactor. This, in effect, corresponds to a
set point change from the incoming pH value to a
set point value of 7 at time t = 0. Note that in
this manuscript, such a problem is denoted as
implicit set point change control problem.

Observe the very slow rise in pH during the
initial period. Two factors are responsible for
this. (1) the nature of the pH process i.e., the
titration curve for the solutions considered
indicated that a relatively large change in the
alkali amount is needed to cause any appreciable
change in pH when solution pH is near 3.0. (2) The
neutralizing alkali needs to neutralize both the
incoming acid and also the acid residing in the
reactor. The alkali rate thus exceeded the amount
needed to neutralize the incoming acid. In fact,
it reached the maximum value permitted by the
pump. It also resulted in the overshoot as seen in
the pH response.
Afterwards, the controller made changes in the
reagent addition rate to drive the pH value
towards the set point. In this respect, the
response was very similar to that observed for the
FLC test. However, once the pH was in the set
point region, the controller could not maintain
the steady reagent flow rate. It continued to
change some rules and a gradually diverting
response resulted.
In the above tests, including the FLC test, the
following scaling factor strategy was used. For a
particular test, constant GE and GC scaling factor
values were used to map the actual error and
change in error values to the elements of the
specified universes. However, variable GU values
were considered for two separate regions of the
error space. These regions correspond to; (1)
steep middle region and (2) flat regions at upper
and lower ends of the titration curve. The
variable GU values were achieved using a constant
GU value but separate GU multiplier values. Thus a
small GU value, but using a large multiplier value
for the outer region, faster response can be
achieved by making large changes in reagent flow
rates. A value of 1 for GU multiplier for the
other region allowed finer reagent rate tuning,
for pH relatively closer to the set point. This
strategy thus corresponds to having two
individually controlled reagent delivery lines
making fine and coarse adjustments in reagent flow
rates.
Additional tests using different GE, GC and GU
values did not show any improvement. The above
tests represent the usual design method used in
the SOC literature, of using a particular
performance index table and adjusting scaling
factors to tailor to the problem. The approach is
based on initial success (at least in terms of
process output convergence) of the particular
performance rule set for certain simulated
processes. It is likely that some combination of
the scaling factors could have provided better
results for the pH process also. However their
selection can be tedious.
An alternative is to choose scaling factors and
partition the space based on process and
performance requirements. The performance rules
can be tailored for the application. The problem
here is how to develop the set of performance
rules. Towards this end one possible approach is
to first develop a fuzzy controller (no SOC level)
around process conditions where adequate
understanding exists. Once a set of rules provides
reasonable controller performance, a set of
performance rules may be developed based on such
rules. This was examined next for the pH process.
135
The set of control rules used for the FLC test
were used directly as the performance rules. The
scaling factor values chosen were different, as
different acid flow rate and concentration values
were used. In fact, different tests in this set
were different amongst each other in this respect.
Another modification was the subdivision of the
error space into four regions rather then two as
done previously.
Figure 3 shows one of the results. Note that the
solution in the tank at the start of the test was
dilute compared to the incoming acid and the pH
value (about 3.5) at time zero is higher than the
pH of incoming solution (about 3). A marked
improvement in the response is clearly seen.
Unfortunately, not enough amount of reagent was
available and the run had to be stopped at about
12.7 min.
For the next test, the same process solution was
used again but the flow rate was reduced to almost
half the value. To keep the nonlinearity the same,
the reagent concentration was also reduced. Under
this conditions and keeping the same controller
parameters, it should be possible to get results
similar to those of the above test. Note however
that at the start of the run, a lower
concentration alkali reagent has to neutralize the
same volume of acid in the tank. Thus a more
sluggish start up should be expected. Put another
way, because of the change in the process flow
rate, the dynamics of the process are not the same
as before (the process time constant will be
almost doubled) and a longer time should be
expected before convergence.
The result shown in Fig. 4 indeed confirm these
assertions. It shows that the response is similar
to that of Fig. 3 except that the time scale is
almost doubled. Many other similar tests also gave
adequate controller performance, driving the
controller into set point region and reasonably
maintaining it there. These tests demonstrated
that the SOC implementation was able to handle the
implicit change in set point type control problem.
Tests where adjustment to explicit set point
change was demanded of the controller also showed
adequate performance. It is to mentioned, however,
that a set point value of 7 is most demanding
because generally the sensitivity at this point is
maximum. Adjusting to load change or process
disturbance is another common control problem.
This was dealt with next.
In the test shown in Fig.4, a disturbance in terms
of a sudden increase in alkali strength was
introduced at about 50 min. Note that for the pH
process, this also corresponds to a change the
process nonlinearity. Notice that it made the
controller response oscillatory. Thus the SOC
designed above did not adequately handle the
regulator type control problem.
A more common type of load variation in pH
processes is a change in incoming acid
composition/concentration. This is considered in
the next test. Here again, a implicit type
regulator problem is considered first. Note that
if a test is started with distilled water in the
reactor then the pH at time t = 0 will be around
7. The situation is analogous to the controller
being on and distilled water being the inflowing
process solution. The process thus effectively
experiences a disturbance in the flow as the acid
starts flowing into the reactor. This is the so
called implicit regulator type problem. For
explicit changes, a change in concentration of one
of the components of a two component acidic
process solution was considered.
For the tests done next the incoming acid was
normally 0.001 N HC1-0.001 N CH3COOH solution.
Also note the following three modifications in the
SOC scheme, which were introduced based on tests
with such solutions prior to the reported test.
One modification was based on the observation that
a particular change in error value, say 0.5, may
be considered small in the steep region but it
should be classified as large a change in error
for the flat region of the titration curve. Thus
like variable GU, variable GC scaling was
considered. Second, unlike previous scheme using E
alone, both E and C values were considered in
assigning GU multiplier value. Third, in line with
the adopted SOC design philosophy, a new
performance table was developed and used.
Figure 5 depicts result of one of the tests. As
mentioned, this test was started with distilled
water in the reactor. Note that another test was
done (not shown), where the reactor initially had
acid solution. Thus the results of the two tests
provided a basis for comparing the controller's
response to the two types of control problem
mentioned above. It appeared that the controller
learned more quickly in the load change problem.
The nonlinearity of the pH problem must however be
remembered, when the pH of the solution in the
reactor is already at pH 7.0, any acid coming into
the reactor will rapidly drop the pH of the
reactor contents due to high sensitivity of the pH
to acid or alkali in this region of the titration
curve. Thus controller will immediately react to
counter such large error and gradient values. Also
any reagent thus coming in will essentially
neutralize only the incoming acid, as the reactor
content is already at set point pH value. Thus the
controller can over react in almost no time and
consequently, good damping characteristics can be
rapidly acquired by the controller in regulator
problems.
To confirm the effectiveness of the controller in
dealing with load changes, an explicit load change
was introduced at about 25 min. This was in the
form of a change in the process solution to 0.001
N HCL-0.004 N CH3COOH solution. It must be
emphasized that the titration curves for the two
solution types are markedly different, the high
CH3COOH concentration solution demanding almost
two and half times reagent amount for
neutralization.
Next test was a repeat of the first part of the
above test, now for a high acid-low buffer (0.004
N HCL-0.001 N CH3COOH) type process solution. The
result, shown in Fig. 6 is once again quite good,
thus showing the effectiveness of the controller
schemes and the parameters chosen in handling the
three types of process solutions considered.
CONCLUSIONS
The claim that the SOC scheme can provide adequate
controller performance has been experimentally
verified. Application to a highly nonlinear pH
process required some modifications of the basic
SOC algorithm. Both servo and regulator type
control problems were tested, and SOC indeed
performed remarkably well. The difficult control
problem of handling changing process dynamics was
also successfully tackled.
136
In conclusion, use of FST as a tool to reduce the
complexity to a manageable level should receive
more attention. It is necessary that research
continues in the application of fuzzy logic to
difficult to solve problems. Then only the
greatest promise and ambitious goal of solving
problems not amenable to conventional techniques
of precise mathematics can be fulfilled.
REFERENCES
Clark, D.W. and P. J. Gawthrop (1981).
Implementation and application of
microprocessor-based self-tuners.
Automatica, vol. 17, no. 1, 233-244.
Gustafsson, T.K. (1985). An experimental study of
a class of algorithms for adaptive pH
control. Ch. Eng. Sei., vol 40, no. 5, 827-
837.
Jutila, P. (1983). An application of adaptive pH-
control algorithms based on physico-
chemical modelling in a chemical waste-
water treatment plant. Int. J. Control, vol
38, no. 3, 639-655.
Lee, C.C. (1990). Fuzzy logic in control systems:
fuzzy logic controller-Part I and II. IEEE
Trans. Syst. Man Cybern., vol. 20, no. 2,
404-435.
Lembessis, E. (1984). Dynamic learning behaviour
of a rule-based self-organizing
controller". Ph.D. Thesis, Queen Mary
College, University of London.
Mamdani, E.H. (1974). Applications of fuzzy
algorithms for simple dynamic plant. Proc.
IEE, vol. 121, no. 12, 1585-1588.
Mamdani, E. H. and S. Assilian (1975). An
experiment in linguistic synthesis with a
fuzzy logic controller. Int. J. Man-Machine
Studies, 1, 1-13.
Parrish, J.R. and C. B. Brosilow (1988). Nonlinear
inferential control. AIChE J., vol 34, no.
4, 633-644.
Procyk, T.J. (1977). A self-organizing controller
for dynamic processes. Ph.D. Thesis, Queen
Mary College, University of London.
Procyk, T.J. and E. H. Mamdani (1979). A
linguistic self-organizing process
controller. Automatica, 15, 15-30
Proudfoot, CG., P. J. Gawthrop and 0. L. R.
Jacobs (1983). Self-tuning PI control of a
pH neutralisation process. IEE Proc., vol.
130 D, no. 5, 267-272.
Shah, I. M. (1991). Application studies of a fuzzy
logic based self organizing controller. Ph.
D. Thesis, University of Utah.
Shinskey, F.G. (1973). pH and pION Control in
Process and Waste Streams, John Wiley and
Sons.
Tong, R.M. (1985). An annotated bibliography of
fuzzy control. In M. Sugeno (Ed.),
Industrial Applications of Fuzzy Control,
Elsevier Science Publishers, North-Holland,
pp.249-269.
Yamazaki, T. (1982). An improved algorithm for a
self-organizing controller. Ph.D. Thesis,
Queen Mary College, University of London.
Young, J.L. and R. A. Bohling (1981). Water
treatment at Homestake's Bulldog Mountain
operation. Mining Eng., vol 33, no. 12,
1689-1691.
Zadeh, L.A. (1973). Outline of a new approach to
analysis of complex systems and decision
processes. IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern.,
vol. 3, no. 1, 28-44.
 process

Kx>
outpu
t

Integratio
n | f(error
) ~~
|

Scalin
g Scalin
g
' I ' 1 I I I I I I I
Defuzzificatio
n Quantizatio
n 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Time, min
SUPERVISOR
Y LEVE
L
Fig. 4. Controller same as in Fig. 3 but
process dynamic changed. Also shown is
Performanc
e Rule
s
effect of change in alkali strength
Contro
l Rule Modifi
e

Knowledg
e Base
fuzzy sets Huzz
y rules

Implicatio
n & Inferenc
e

Decisio
n Unit

Fig. 1. Functional diagram of FLC and SOC

11

t -
f\ t
\f\t\i\ iWillflil
,,-i
piW
X -,

5-

3-
J \J U- 1)i 1/ v1 1 1
10 20 30 40
Time, min Time, min
Fig. 2. pH response with controller Fig. 5. pH and alkali rate responses
designed using basic SOC scheme for an explicit load change

i i

n (
71 1 il /

3-4-
V \)\)w 1
10
\ '
20
Time, min Time, min
Fig. 3. pH response with controller Fig. 6. Controller same as in Fig. 5 but
designed using alternative SOC scheme acid composition changed

137
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

OSTECH (Ornamental Stone TExtural CHaracterization):

A Structure of Expert System to Evaluate and Describe
Numerically the Textural and Structural Features of
Ornamental Stone Slabs
G. Bonifazi and A. Costantini
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali, delle Materie Prime e Metallurgia,
Universita degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", Via Eudossiana, 18-00184 Roma, Italy

Abstract. The recognition of ornamental stone slabs presenting similar

characteristics in texture, color and other "aestetic aspects" is an
important problem in all those applicative fields, where the economic use
of such slabs is closely tied to the possibility of determining similar
characteristics, so that slabs may be grouped homogeneously. This problem
may be tackled through petrographic analysis, or through the reliance on
ad hoc or subjective evaluations of an expert. These subjective evaluation
may work very differently from sample to sample and it is difficult to
obtain from such classification procedures accurate quantification of the
criteria used. The developed and set procedure has been planned and
implemented in order to be easily interfaced with numerical simulation
programs, where the textural characteristic modelling represents one of
the fundamental "step" of the input parameters.

Keywords: Ornamental stone; aestetic characteristics; image analysis;

texture analysis; quality control.

INTRODUCTION To achieve the above mentioned goals it

Procedures and methodologies based on
picture processing techniques of sample
images have been greatly increased in
these last few years. This growing
development is mainly due to the wide
range of applications suitable for this
technique and to the development of
computing systems more and more
sophisticated at a lower and lower costs.
need to create an integrated software (SU)
and hardware (HD) architecture able to
conduct all the determinations and the
analyses in order "to extract" from the
samples the informations for a further
classification, thus strictly related to
the utilization of data that is:
1. the identification of the lythotypes
and its characteristics;

Today's microcomputers are powerful enough 2. the classification from a marketable

to address digital image analysis problems
and are inexpensive enough to standard
equipmenet. Digital images recorded by a
TV camera system provide an inexpensive
and widely available source of data. An
"expert system" which uses reasoning
techniques and incorporates comprhensive
knowledge in its classification rules can
extract information about rock-types from
digital images.
The possibility to operate a mineralogical
and petrographical classification on the
characteristics of a sample image,
deriving from a rock by numerical analyses
can represent an important step in the
development of procedures to define, to
control and to verify, in automatic form,
the set of parameters conditioning the
results of beneficiation flowsheet further
applied to the rock itself.
The development of such a procedures has
opened the way towards the possibility to
develop systems able to operate an
objective quantification of the
"ornamental stone characteristics"
starting from the exam of a certain number
of sample images. It is simple to
understand as the "aesthetical
characteristics" of a marble or of a
granite, for example, represent one of the
basic parameter to establish the "quality"
of such a product.
point of view of different products
coming from the same lythological
family, but having different
aestethical characteristics;
3. the definition of the numerical set of
parameters representative of the
textural and structural
characteristics of the rock;
4. the definition and formalization in
numerical form of "quality standards"
for the different products.
Together with the effort to define and
quantify numerically "the quality" of a
rock, an other aspect has to be
considered: the possibility to define a
classification criteria able to recognize
and select not only sample of rocks coming
from different lythotypes but also samples
belonging to a same lythotypes but
presenting similar or different
aesthetical characteristics.
The recognition of similarities in the
texture and in the characteristics of
ornamental stone slabs is infact of
fundamental importance to determine their
proper utilization for ornamental
purposes. Further, given a sufficient
stock of stone slabs, those that are
obviously very similar can be selected to
be assembled together, so that a

139
homogeneous surface is obtained, but often
at great expense with an excessive waste
of material.
For all these reasons, it is important to
study the classification procedures and
the determination of similarities in a
formal way, by defining appropriate
analytical procedures of aestetical
characteristics and determining a suitable
hardware and software architecture able to
1. identify the characteristics to be used
in the classification algorithm;
2. classify the slabs in appropriate
categories based on their properties
and similarities;
3. determine the distribution of
parameters of recognition with regard
to the class boundaries.
ROCK SAMPLE AS SOURCE OF
INFORMATION
Any analytical procedure is based on the
exam of samples characterized by specific
attributes. Very often aim of the
analytical procedure is to evidence one of
more these specific attributes.
For the determination discussed in this
paper the sample is represented by an
image: related to a rock surface. All the
attributes necessary to perform the
aestetical characterization have to be
extracted and transformed in numerical
form starting from the image.
The surface of the sample is constituted
by a set of cristalline elements, each of
them having its own chemical, physical and
shape characteristics. Together with these
parameters have to be considered the
discontinuities (fractures, microfractures
and cavities) characterized by a specific
typology, orientation and shape.
Defined an acquisition scale and fixed the
related acquisition parameters, the
surface of the rock (sample image) can be
regarded as a whole, practically
continuous, of plain domains internally
connected, each characterized by a
frontier (profile) and by a chromatic
function able to describe the color of
each plain domain. It's thus possible to
identify on the sample more than one
domain defined by the same chromatic
function, but characterized by a different
profile and/or in different position
inside the image.
The informations detectable from the
analyses are therefore based on an
evaluation of the type, the entity, the
distribution and the mutual position of
the domains inside the sample itself. The
data have to be successively transformed
in a set of values to characterize the
image and to operate a comparison among
different samples.
The difficulty to create a numerical
structure able to operate an exam of the
image, following the above mentioned
criteria, is due mainly to the
bidimensionality of the problem and to the
synthesis of the informations resulting
from the analyses.
All the research work and the first
attempts to create and to implement the
hardware and software architectures have
140
been developed following a sequence of
operations and a logic of analysis similar
to those utilized by the best expert
system today present on the market: the
man.
DIGITAL IMAGES HANDLING,
MANIPULATION AND ANALYSIS
Image Processing (IP) systems are good
example of a technology that facilitates
better and faster decisions (Aggarwal,
1977); they are used mainly for traditiona
Decision Support System (DSS) when a
particular set of samples is analysed in
order to extract informations not easily
detectable by the human senses, as for
example shape or morphological
characteristics of objects.
Try to create an architecture of Expert
System (ES) able to extract and manage
informations from images on the bases of
their "aestetical characteristics" is
certainly not a simple task.
Differently from a DSS an ES working in
this field (IP) have to guarantee the
possibility to face and solve the problem
in an unique way. Each slab or set of
slabs have to be univocally characterized
and classified inside a market class.
A DSS is generally based on the following
items:
1. DSS usually addresses problems
typically faced at the managerial
level. Such problems are often not
well structured and have little or no
existing solutions.
2. DSS attempt to incorporate quantitative
management science methodologies into
traditional data processsing
functions.
3. DSS generally facilitate easy,
convenient and interactive use by both
computer and non-computer
professionals.
4. DSS tend to diversify into various
areas in terms of flexibility,
applicability and adaptability for
decision making.
On the contrary, the major distinguishing
characteristics of an ES may be summarized
as follows:
1. ES are typically domain-specific. That
is, their individual areas of
application are well-defined,
structured, and narrowly bounded.
2. ES tend to operate by utilizing
heuristic problem solving approaches.
That is, ES problems have no
algorithmic solutions. Problem
solutions or conclusions are generated
by inferences often based on
incomplete or uncertain data.
3. ES are organized in three distinctive
levels: knowledge base (problem
solving rules, procedures, and data
relevant to the problem domain),
Fig. 1. Industrial engineer and expert
system interface [Adedeji, 1988]. An
expert system can be defined as a
knowledge-based system with the knowledge
acquired from humane who are experts in
their field. Knowledge base: This includes

Fig. 1.
the rules that represent the knowledge
which is known to the system and a list of
facts about the problem. There are many
ways to encode knowledge, each one having
positive or negative points:
- Semantic networks
- Object-Attribute-Value triplets
- Rules
- Frames
- Logical expression
Inference engine: This the program that
applies the rules to the input data, draws
conclusions and solves internal conflicts.
Among other things, the inference engine
must decide where to start and path to
follow if more than one alternative
exists. The two most popular methodologies
used in inference engines are backward and
forward chaining. Furthermore, both can be
differentiated in either depth-first or
breadth-first search.
working memory (task-specific data for
the problem under consideration), and
inference engine (generic control
mechanism that applies the axiomatic
knowledge in the knowlegde base to the
task-specific data to arrive at some
usable solution or conclusion).
The main goal in the definition of a
structure of ES working in the field of
ornamental stone textural characterization
is to create a human-reasoning-emulation
architecture which can mimic human
behaviour in solving problem by employing
symbolic knowledge (Fig. 1 ) .
The implmentation of such a procedure is a
knowlwedge-based system which utilize a
set of rules, stored in its rule base,
able to solve complex problems as those
related to the aestetical characterization
of ornamental rocks, for which traditional
algorithms either do not exists or are
impractical (Fig. 1 ) .
A key factor in the implementation of such
a kind of ES is that this application area
is heavily dependent on expert heuristics.
That is, problem-solving heuristics whose
robustness can serve as measure of the
141
superiority of one expert's judgementand
exprience over another. Infact, if a
problem can be solved in an algorithmic
fashion such that one expert's solution is
essentially as good as any other, then
conventional programming may be the
appropriate choice.
An ES for the recognition and
classification of ornamental stone
aesthetical characteristics have to
satisfy basically the following
conditions:
1. Ease of the data collection. This task
is one of the most difficult to
realize: the input data are
represented mainly by the images and
subordinately by other related
informations as origin, physical and
chemical characteristics and so on.
Machine vision is an area of
Artificial Intelligence (AI) that has
been more successful in research
laboratories than in actual practice.
The reason is that laboratories
operates under controlled conditions
on the contrary in a factory the
acquisition of image can be subjected
to all sorts of unanticipated
variations.
2. Frequency of problem occurrence. On the
basis of different problems, related
with the aesthetic characterization, a
different and a more or less wide
range of rules have to be formulated,
developed and implemented.
3. Representation of data. The informative
content of each sample (image) is very
high, thus a set of procedure based on
different approach have to be
developed in order to operate a
synthesis of the informations and to
generate a data set (pattern vector)
subjected to be handled. Can the
pertinent knowledge (data set
associated to each sample image) be
organized as a knolegde base? Are
there clear-cut relationships or
heuristics that can be handled in
terras of IF-THEN statement? A correct
answer to these two questions strongly
contribute to a valid representation
of the data.
4. Value of problem domain. An analysis of
the different aspects, related with
the classification, has to be
conducted to establish the most
appropriate and convenient range of
aspects to emphasize during the
analyses to properly identify the
parameters of interest.
5. Costs. An aspect to be considered,
strongly conditioning the development
of such an ES is the cost; either in
terms of HD and SU or in terms of man
resource assesment (experts) during
the project. The point is particularly
delicate considering the necessity to
merge together different expertise
ranging from IP (Andrews, 1972), AI,
petrography, geology, natural
resources, architecture, ornamental
stone marketing and so on.
6. Availability of human experts. Is there
access to willing experts to provide
inputs that will form the knowlegde
based? The answer to this question is
not easy. A large number of
classification criteria and
classification procedure exists
strictly related to the lythological
 characteristics of the sample (i.e.
marble and/or granite) and on the
"experience" and the "approach" of
each expert. Try to operate the
merging among all these different
"phylosophies" is probably the hardest
goal to reach in developing a
procedure to create an ES working on
ornamental stones.
7. Resource availability. Are the needed
resources (computers, programmers,
software, etc.) available? Uhat will
it cost to upgrade the existing
resources to the adequate level
required for the expert system
project? Two aspects have to be
considered:
i) the numerical computing of each
data set of the characteristics of
the image related to a stone
sample;
ii) the development of SU architecture
able to handle and manage the
whole set of informations on the
bases of rules.
For the point i) ("numerical
computing") a large number of programs
exists. Inthis case it needs to re-
arrange or to adjust the codes in
order to perform the requested
analyses inside a pre-defined
environment eventually easy
interfaceable with the SU architecture
mentioned in i i ) . On the contrary for
point ii) ("development of SU
architecture") the interaction among
experts of different areas is the base
to establish relations between the
numerical data set resulting from thr
analyses on each sample image and its
aesthetical characteristics. It is
easy to understand as in this case a
great effort have to be realized in
terms of human, HD and SU resources.
ALGORITHMS ANALYSIS
AND DEFINITION
further eleborations and interactions with
other informative structure is the main
problem arising during the encoding stage.
The attempt to establish a hyerarchical
structure and a procedural sequence based
on these informations contrasts with the
development of a system having great
flexibility. Thus two solutions based on
a) a priority criterion, or
b) an heuristic criterion modelled in term
of IF-THEN-DO conditions can be
aopted.
Both present advantages and disadvantages.
The first (priority criterion) gives good
result when applied to subjects (stones)
characterized by a data set markedly
different, this way the goal of
identification and/or classification can
be quickly reached. The second (heuristic
criterion) even if less fast enable to
solve the problem in the best way.
Digital informations
These informations derive directly from
the analytical systems and are the results
of DIP performed on rock samples. During
the analyses the ES perform a control of
the results successively obtained in order
to suggest the further analytical
procedure to adopt to fully characterize
and classify the sample.
Interactions between pre-assigned and
digital informations
Great importance have to be attributed to
the data base dimensions and structure
containing the informations, moreover the
system (rules) analyze both forward and
backward, seeking rules or facts that
support an action.
The integrations of the data deriving from
the experience (pre-assigned) with those
deriving from the DIP is not easy
especially if interaction criteria have to
be established.

The ornamental rock are commercialized in

the form of slabs of different size. Each
slab (surface) can be considered as a
whole of crystalline elements
characterized by their physical, chemical
and geometrical individuality. The
distribution of these elements (mineral
grain) on the surface, together with the
polishing degree, affect the aesthetic
characteristics of the sample.
A criteria have to be formulated to define
a basic procedure able:
a) to associate to each sample a certain
number of pre-assigned or pre-defined
informations (commercial name,
exploitation site, lythological and
petrographical characteristics, etc.);
EXPERIMENTAL AND DISCUSSION
All the research work developed up to now
has been mainly focused on the teraptative
to identify the best procedure and the
best algorithms to characterize the slab
TABLE 1.1 - Sample (Granite): Sardinian
Pink. The rock is characterized by coarse
grains (minerals). The presence of pink
feldspar phenocrystals is noticeable. The
textural characteristics just described
are well evidenced by the values assumed
by the parameter R 3 e ( = 0*.45,90,135)
in comparison with the same assumed by the
same parameter for the Sardinian Grey (see
Table 1.2).

b) to quantify numerically by Digital

Image Processing (DIP) the Textural
informations of rock surface parameter 45 90 135
characteristics (color analysis,
texture analysis, degree of pictorial 2
Rie-10- 0.5448 0.5586 0.5877 0.5547
omogeneity, morphological and Rae-10* 1 0.6708 0.6386 0.5632 0.6474
morphometrical analyses of the Rae'lO-* 0.7923 0.7926 0.7925 0.7925
constituents, etc.). R 4 e'10* 3 0.3995 0.3995 0.3995 0.3995
R5e-10+o 0.3750 0.3796 0.3939 0.3777
Pre-assigned informations R e'10- s 0.3815 0.3815 0.3816 0.3815
R 7 e-10+ 3 0.1352 0.1355 0.1358 0.1355
The definition of this set of data and Ree-10- 1 0.5516 0.5491 0.5436 0.5498
their arrangement in a form suitable of Rve-10* 1 0.3860 0.3862 0.3862 0.3862

142
 TABLE 1.2 - Sample (Granite): Sardinian TABLE 1.6 - Sample (White Marble); Carrara
Grey. The sample is characterized by fine White Veine Brouille'.
grains. The presence of grey-whitish
feldspars is noticeable. Not frequent the
presence of pink feldspars. Textural
parameter 0 45 90 135
1
Textural ie'10- 0.4533 0.4845 0.4887 0.4783
1
parameter 0 45 90 135 R 2 0 " 10+ 0.6564 0.5713 0.5388 0.5862
Ra e "10+* 0.3755 0.3755 0.3756 0.3755
3
-,--* 0.5782 0.5716 0.6167 0.5764 R4 e "10+ 0.1401 0.1401 0.1401 0.1401
Re e 10-
'
1
0..6913 0..7153 0..5929 0..7042 R '10+
0.3804 0.3947 0.3994 0.3918
Ra e 10+* 0..1262 0..1261 0,.1262 0 .1262 Re '10+ 3 7345 0.7344 0.7346 0.7345
R4 e 10-3 0..4319 0,.4319 0,.4319 0,.4320 Rre ' 10+ 2017 0.2024 0.2012 0.2023
1
Ra e 10+
' 0.,3944 0..3874 0..4092 0..3897 Re '10+ 5680 0.5612 0.5599 0.5625
RA 0 10-* 0..3831 0..3831 0..3831 0..3831 R*'10+ 0.4041 0.4045 0.4042 0.4044
R7 e 10+3 0..2526 0..2523 0..2536 0..2524
1
Re e 10+ 0..5672 0..5688 0..5601 0,.5681
1
Rv 0
' 10- 0..4055 0..4956 0..4053 0..4055

Results related to the values assumed by

the textural parameters (see Appendix)
derived for the different lithotypes. All
TABLE 1.3 - Sample (White Marble): Carrara the exams has been conducted on 30x30 cm
White Bruille'. The rock is characterized sample images, acquired in standard
by the presence of grey patches and/or lifihtin conditions. The results well
veins. Operating a comparison with the evidence the high selectivity of these
values of the textural parameters derived parameters. The proposed approach can
from the analyses for this sample set and operate a synthetic description ("difiital
those derived from the other marbles (Tab. values") of ornamental stone preeentin
1.4, 1.5 ed 1.6) it is possible to see as different aesthetic characteristics.
a good correspondence exists between
aestehtical and numerical characteristics.
surface by a set of parameters directly
derived by IP.
Textural
The possibility to obtain a set of digital
parameter 0 45 90 135
informations able to well characterize the
R1e-10-S 0,.4889 0.5222 0.5253 0..5223 aesthetical features of each rock sample
Ree-lO* 1 0,.6455 0.5609 0.5285 0,.5605 is infact the most difficult goal to
Rae-lO* 7 0,.3066 0.3066 0.3067 0..3067 reach. IP techniques must mimic the
R 4 e'10** 0,.1239 0.1239 0.1239 0..1239 logical route usually followed by human
R 5e -10* 0..3834 0.3983 0.4001 0..3982 expert to judge a slab.
R A e -10+ 2 0,.6909 0.6909 0.6910 0..6808
R 7 *10- 3 0..1758 0.1766 0.1754 0..1766 Two facts have to be considered in the
Ree-10* 1 0.,5603 0.5535 0.5523 0..5534 choice of the number and of the type of
R9e-10*1 0..3972 0.3977 0.3874 0..3977 the digital informations to be derived:

1. the time needed for computation,

TABLE 1.4 - Sample (White Ilarble): Carrara
White JT. 2. the selectivity of the algorithms and
the derived numerical parameters;

Textural both influencing the possibility to

parameter 0 e conduct in a reasonable way all the
45 90 135 analyses.
R1 10" = 0 .4460 0 .4740 0 .4770 0 .4737
Re 0 1 0 +
1
0 .6515 0 .5735 0 .5374 0 .5733
The identification of the way in which the
R 3 0 . 1 0- 6 0 .6025 0 .6025 0 .6026 0 .6025 aesthetic surface characteristics of an
R4 e ' 10+3 0..2111 0..2111 0.,2111 0..2111 ornamental stone can be recognized and
R ' 10+ 0..3842 0..3961 0.,3996 0..3964 mesured by IP techniques, can be worked
Re e 10+
e
0,.9059 0..9059 0..9060 0..9059 out by fixing three different groups of
R7 1 0 +
3
0,.2306 0..2313 0..2297 0,.2313
parameters (Bonifazi, 1988):
1
Re ' 10+ 0. 5723 0. 5 6 6 0 0. 5647 0.,5659
R * ' 1 0 +
1
0..4095 0..4098 0..4095 0..4098
parameters depending on the surface
color levels and that cen be measured by
spectral analysis of the radiation
reflected by surface themselves;

- parameters depending on the polishing

TABLE 1.5 Sampl e 1CWhite M a r b l e ) : Carrara degree of surfaces, and derivable by the
White D. analysis of the noise presenting the
spectrum of the radiation diffused by
surfaces;
Textural
parameter 0 45 90* 135 - parameters depending on the textural and
structural characteristics of surfaces and
a
Rie-10- 0 .5812 0 .6199 0.6270 0 .6223 computable by the analsysis of texture and
Rse-lO^ 0 .6440 0 .5603 0.5264 0 .5587 structure of the surface themselves.
R3e-10+* 0,.2119 0 .2192 0.2192 0,.2192
R4'10+3 0,.1148 0 .1148 0.1148 0,.1148 The algorithms adopted to quantify the
R*e-10+ 0,.3830 0,.3975 0.4014 0,.3988 above mentioned parameters are those
R6e-10+= 0,.6673 0,.6673 0.6674 0,.6673 deriving by the classical IP texture
R7-10+3 0..1305 0..1313 0.1309 0..1313 analyses (see Appendix) (Resenfeld, 1970).
1
Re"10+ 0.,5444 0.,5378 0.5364 0.,5376
R,e-10+1 0..3813 0,.3819 0.3816 0..3819 The basic assumptions of such a set of

143
procedure is that an image, in this case a
slab surface, can be considered as a
continuos two-dimensional function f(x,y)
of two planar variables x and y, that for
each pair of coordinates can provide a
value which is representative of the color
level value (Schacter, 1978) (see
Appendix).
Texture generally means the distribution
of the spatial variations of color levels
(or gray, if the image is in black and
white) of an image related to a surface.
An image can be considered as formed by
more elementary scenes.
coefficients able to quantify the
aesthetical characteristics of a stone.
The considerations developed in this paper
and the results derived show as a correct
interactions of the different set of
informations ("pre-assigned and digital")
can conduct to develop an integrated tool
able to extend the frontiers of computer
usage, usually well marked and limited in
this field (ornamental stone
characterization), for characterization,
classification and decision making.

An elementary scene can be reduced to a

uniform pictorial element. More generally
an elementary scene can be characterized
by three fundamental parameters: the
profile, the skeleton and the structure.
The structure can be characterized by a
certain number of factors in reference to
the elements that form an elementary
scene:

dimensions, levels of color, ori entation

of elements;

- number and frequencies of the different

elements;

- different elements' distribution.

The texture evaluation of the image

surface can be carried out when the
average size of the structure elements is
smaller than the analyzed area; the
statistical recurrences in the
distribution of elements in the elementary
scene can be noticed.

Both conditions are verified in the

present study. A statistical analysis of
the distribution of the various elements
that constitute the elementary scenes
(and/or the whole image) can represent the
most immediate approach for the texture
evaluation.

A certain number of parameters can be

derived this way. Each parameter can be
considered as representative of the mutual
spatial relations among the color levels
associated to each pixel constituting the
image. These parameters work out an
exemplification and a structuring of the
informations, in this case the aesthetical
characteristics present in the image.

The results of the experiments (see Table

1) conducted on a large number of samples
shows these procedure can be considered
and adopted as the best approach for the
determination of the "digital
informations" necessary for the
development of an ES able to carry out the
requested aesthetical characteristics of
stones.

The textural characterization of

ornamental stone slabs by means of image
processing, enables both to well
synthetize the set of aesthetic parameters
that characterize a stone and to carry out
an objective documentation on which the
successive exams or processing will be
based.

The results show how by this procedure it

is possible to carry out a large number of
analysis in a completely automatic way; to
set up data base formed by images and
their related textural values to have an
integrated analogic-digital information
system and, finally, to define

144
APPENDIX - Schematic representation of the algorithms and the procedures adopted to
quantify image aesthetical characteristics by the classical IP texture analyses.

For texture evaluation, the definition of suitable color-level, spatial-dependence

matrices of an image may be defined. Consider an image of size N M by N y where they
indicate respectively the number of pixels in each coordinate direction which are use to
represent the image. If the image is in black and white, each pixel can be characterized
by N g levels of grey denoted by (g(i,j) = 0,1,...Ng, -V i,j ) , (Bonifazi & Massacci, 1988).
Thus, the image can be defined by the following set:

P = { (i,j)|(i,j) ( U x Ly) } (1)

where LK and Ly are the two sets, respectively LH = { 1,2,...,NM ) and L y = { 1,2 Ny }
being g(i,j) the level of grey of the pixel having (i,j) coordinates. The formulation of
these relations enables the construction of a grey-tone spatial-dependence matrix M k , k
being the serial number of the directions along which the distance d is calculated.Thus,
if the main directions are 0, 45, 90 and 135 the corresponding grey-tone spatial-
dependence matrices are defined by the following relations:

Mi(l,ffl,d)= #{((p,q),(r,s)) (Ly x Lx)x(Ly x L x ) | p-r = 0,

|q-s| = d, g(p,q) = 1, g(r,s) = m) (2)
M*(l,m,d)= #{((p,q),(r,s)) (Ly x Lx)x(Ly x L x ) | [ p-r = d, q-s=-d ] ,
or [ p-r = -d, q-s = d ] , g(p,q)=l, g(r,s)=m) (3)
M 3 (l,m,d)= #{((p,q),(r,s)) (Ly x Lx)x(Ly x L x ) | | p-r| = d,
q-s = 0, g(p,q) = 1, g(r,s) = m) (4)
M 4 (l,m,d)= #<((p,q),(r,s)) (Ly x Lx)x(Ly x L x ) | [ p-r = d,
q-s = d ] , or [p -r = -d, q - s = - d ] , g(p,q)=l, g(r,s)=m) (5)
being # the number of couples of pixels that check the mentioned conditions.

Uith reference to the first of the four matrices, the element Ml(l,m,d) is equal to the
set of ordered couples of pixels: (PQ) (r,s) whose distance according to the
coordinate axis y is null and whose distance in the x coordinate direction is d, which
also have grey levels g(p,q)=l and g(r,s)=m respectively. The matrices Mk (k = 1,...,4)
are symmetrical, that is:

M k (l,m,d)=M k (m,l,d) (6)

and the size of the matrix M k is equal to NgxNg. The following correspondence between
directions and the matrices are defined: 0,k = 1; 45,k = 2; 90,k = 3; 135,k = 4.

From the M k (l,m,d) matrices the required information on the image characteristics:
homogeneity, contrast, type of boundaries, image complexity, etc. can be obtained. Image
processing is carried out by taking into account normalized grey-tone spatial-dependence
matrix, (Aggarwal et al., 1977), which is defined as a matrix whose generic element:

M' k (l,m,d) = M k (l,m,d)/T k (7)

which is defined, of course, only if 1, m, d are integers and where:

if k=l, then T-, = 2(N H -l)N y (8)

if k=2, then Ta = 2(N*-1)(N y -1) (9)
if k=3, then T3 = 2N H (N y -l) (10)
if k=4, then T4= 2(N H -1)(N y -1) (11)
From these normalized matrices M' k (l,m,d) a series of parameters can be derived:

Rii. = - E N * m ., M' k (l,m,d)) e (12)

R 2 k = *-,- zz E N " 1 . 1 [M' k (l,z-l,d) + M' k (l,z + l,d)] (13)
R3k = 11.1 ENc,.i [(lm)M' k (l,m,d)- ]/ (14)
where , , and are respectively the means and the standard deviations of the
marginal distributions connected with M' k (l,m,d)) .

R4k = - E N e m .i ( 1 - ) s M' k (l,m,d) 2 (15)

where _ is the mean of the values of the M' k (l,m,d) matrix.

R 5k = E^i-i EN*m-i M' k (l,m,d) /(l + (l - m ) e ) (16)

Rk = E 2 N z - 2 EN*i-i zM' k (l,z-l,d)) (17)
Ry* = 2 " , - E N 1 . 1 (z - R k )*M' k (l,z-l,d) (18)
Re k = ~ " , - 2 "- M' k (l,z-l,d)Log{ENgj=lM'(j,z-j,d)} (19)
R9k = - E N 1 - 1 ENflm-i M' k (l,m,d)LogM(l,m,d) (20)
These 9 parameters can be calculated with reference to each of the 4 matrices M k (l,m,d),
(k = 1,...,4), corresponding to each direction. Notice that of particular interest are the
first three parameters of the R l k (i=l,2,3..) which can be identified as the angular
second moment, the contrast and the correlation in the respective directions. These
definitions directly apply.

145
 REFERENCES Bonifazi, G., P. Massacci and G. Patrizi
(1989). Pattern recognition for
Adedeji B. Badiru (1988). Expert systems texture classification of ornamental
and industrial engineers: a stone slabs . IEEE International
practical guide to a successful Conference on Image Processing.
partnership. Computers Ind. Engng. Singapore, pp. 851-860.
1, pp. 1-13. Rosenfeld, A. and B.S. Lipkin (1970).
Aggarval, J.K., Duda R.O., Rosenfeld A., Texture synthesis. In: Rosenfeld.
(1977), Computer Methods in Image A. and Lipkin. B.S. (Editors).
Analysis, IEEE Press. New York. Picture Processing and
Andrews, H.C., A.G. Tescher, and R.P. Psycopicftorics. Academic Press, New
Kruger (1972). Image processing by York, 309-345.
digital computers. IEEE Spectrum. 9_ Schacter, B., A. Rosenfeld and L. Davis
pp. 20-32. (1978). Random mosaic models for
Bonifazi, G. and P. Massacci (1988). textures. IEEE Transactions on
Ornamental stone characterization by Systems. Man and Cybernetics. 1_ 694-
image processing. International 702.
Conference on Operational Research.
Management Science and New
Technologies. EURO IX - TIMS XXVIII.
Paris.

146
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and NEW METHODS
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

NEURAL NETWORK MODEL FOR RECOGNITION OF

CHARACTERS STENCILED ON SLABS
K. Asano*, J. Tateno*, S. Maruyama*, K. Arai*, M Ibaragi** and M. Shibata**

^Technical Research Division, Kawasaki Steel Corporation, 1 Kawasaki-cho, Chiba-city, Chiba 260, Japan
**Chiba Works, Kawasaki Steel Corporation, 1 Kawasaki-cho, Chiba-city, Chiba 260, Japan

Abstract. T h e N o . 3 c o n t i n u o u s c a s t i n g p l a n t at C h i b a W o r k s of K a w a s a k i
S t e e l C o r p o r a t i o n i d e n t i f i e s e a c h s l a b by s t e n c i l i n g a c o d e on t h e s u r f a c e of
e a c h s l a b . T h e s t e n c i l e d c h a r a c t e r s a r e o c c a s i o n a l l y d e g r a d e d by b l u r r i n g o r
s p o t s of p a i n t a n d m a y b e c o m e u n r e a d a b l e f o r o p e r a t o r s w h o h a n d l e t h e s l a b s .
In o r d e r to d e t e c t s u c h d e f e c t s of c h a r a c t e r s a n d to a s s u r e t h e q u a l i t y of t h e
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n c o d e s , a c h a r a c t e r r e c o g n i t i o n s y s t e m h a s b e e n d e v e l o p e d by
u s i n g a t h r e e - l a y e r neural n e t w o r k m o d e l . The c h a r a c t e r s are e x t r a c t e d from
t h e i m a g e t a k e n by MOS c a m e r a s by m e a n s of a p a t t e r n m a t c h i n g m e t h o d .
A f t e r p r e p r o c e s s i n g , t h e i m a g e s of e a c h c h a r a c t e r a r e p r o v i d e d to t h e n e u r a l
n e t w o r k m o d e l w h i c h p r o d u c e s a c r i t e r i o n of s i m i l a r i t y b e t w e e n t h e c h a r a c t e r s
a n d t h e s t a n d a r d p a t t e r n s . An a l a r m is g i v e n to o p e r a t o r s w h e n t h e q u a l i t y of
c h a r a c t e r s h a s b e e n j u d g e d to be d e f e c t i v e by t h e n e u r a l n e t w o r k m o d e l . T h e
c o r r e c t c l a s s i f i c a t i o n r a t e of t h e c h a r a c t e r s is m o r e t h a n 9 9 % , a n d t h e r a t e o f
o v e r l o o k i n g d e f e c t i v e c h a r a c t e r s is 0 % . T h e s y s t e m h a s b e e n successfully
u s e d f o r t h e q u a l i t y a s s u r a n c e of s l a b m a r k i n g .

K eyw ords. Character recognition; Classification; Neural nets; Image

p r o c e s s i n g ; Steel industry; Casting; Alarm s y s t e m s ; Automation.

INTRODUCTION In r e c e n t y e a r s , t h e r e h a s b e e n a g r o w i n g
i n t e r e s t in a r t i f i c i a l n e u r a l n e t w o r k m o d e l s .
The c o n t i n u o u s c a s t i n g (CC) p r o c e s s a l l o w s In p a r t i c u l a r , m u l t i l a y e r f e e d f o r w a r d neural
m o l t e n s t e e l to be c o n t i n u o u s l y c a s t a s t r a n d , networks have been used for pattern
w h i c h is c u t by t o r c h e s i n t o s l a b s w i t h a s i z e classification, process control, robot control
of a b o u t 25 0 X 2 0 0 0 X 1 0 0 0 0 m m . a n d s o o n . It w a s a n t i c i p a t e d t h a t a s i m i l a r
The i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of each slab is very method could be used for character
i m p o r t a n t to e n s u r e its p r o m p t d e l i v e r y to a recognition.
h o t s t r i p m i l l . T h e N o . 3 C C P l a n t at C h i b a A system for recognition and quality
Works of Kawasaki Steel Corporation evaluation of c h a r a c t e r s stenciled on the
i d e n t i f i e s e a c h s l a b by s t e n c i l i n g a c o d e on s u r f a c e of s l a b s w a s t h e r e f o r e developed,
t h e s u r f a c e of e a c h s l a b j u s t a f t e r c u t t i n g by u s i n g a t h r e e - l a y e r n e u r a l n e t w o r k m o d e l , to
t h e t o r c h . As t h e s t e n c i l e d c h a r a c t e r s are e n s u r e t h e c o r r e c t t r a c k i n g of t h e s l a b s a n d
o c c a s i o n a l l y d e g r a d e d by b l u r s or by s p o t s of their prompt delivery. This paper describes
p a i n t a n d m a y b e c o m e u n r e a d a b l e for the the neural network model and the
o p e r a t o r s who h a n d l e the s l a b s , a quality c o n f i g u r a t i o n of t h e s y s t e m .
a s s u r a n c e s y s t e m for t h e s e c h a r a c t e r s has
b e e n in g r e a t n e e d .
Although a number of investigations on QUALITY EVALUATION OF
c h a r a c t e r r e c o g n i t i o n h a v e b e e n d e s c r i b e d in THE CHARACTERS
the literature and several character
recognition systems have been developed, T o r e c o g n i z e t h e c h a r a c t e r s p r i n t e d on t h e
m o s t of t h e m d e a l w i t h c h a r a c t e r s p r i n t e d on s u r f a c e of i n t e r m e d i a t e p r o d u c t s l i k e s l a b s ,
p a p e r , in w h i c h t h e q u a l i t y of c h a r a c t e r s is t h e f o l l o w i n g p o i n t s n e e d to be c o n s i d e r e d :
r e l a t i v e l y h i g h a n d t h e b i n a r y i m a g e s of t h e 1) T h e c o n t r a s t of c h a r a c t e r s is r e l a t i v e l y
characters can be easily obtained. The l o w , their e d g e s are not c l e a r l y d e f i n e d , and
m e t h o d o l o g y for r e c o g n i z i n g c h a r a c t e r s t h a t besides, t h e i r i m a g e is u s u a l l y identified
are b l u r r e d , deformed or a c c o m p a n i e d by from a d i s t a n c e under n o n - u n i f o r m l i g h t i n g ,
n o i s e s u c h as t h o s e on t h e s u r f a c e of a s l a b s o t h a t s i m p l e t h r e s h o l d i n g is n o t a p p l i c a b l e
has not p r e v i o u s l y been e s t a b l i s h e d . to o b t a i n t h e g o o d b i n a r y i m a g e .

147
2) The quality of the characters itself is not
important as long as they are readable by
operators.
The following additional points also need to
be considered in c o n s t r u c t i n g a system:
1) The characters are marked by using
stencils as shown in Fig. 1, so that they
c o n s i s t of a number of small areas rather than
a series of continuous l i n e s .
2) Due to high temperature and r o u g h n e s s of
the surface of a slab, the image of a character
is sometimes degraded by b l u r s , smears and
other types of noise as shown in Fig. 2,
black squares s h o w i n g g r a y - s c a l e l e v e l s .
3) The p u r p o s e of the system is not only to
recognize characters but also to
unreadable characters and give an alarm.
However, since no information about the
stenciled characters is given to the system,
both recognition and quality evaluation need
to be done s i m u l t a n e o u s l y .
C o n s e q u e n t l y , basic requirements which the
system has to meet are the recognition and
quality evaluation of characters with a margin
that permits degradation of the characters to a
certain degree.
Methods available for pattern recognition can
be classified as either statistical
s t r u c t u r a l . With the former method,
similarity between two patterns is evaluated.
If we take a certain function which r e p r e s e n t s
the similarity between a sample pattern and
the standard pattern of each category to
recognize the c h a r a c t e r s , then we can use the
value of the function to evaluate the quality
of the characters to satisfy the r e q u i r e m e n t s .
We took a three-layer neural network model
to construct a function r e p r e s e n t i n g this
similarity by utilizing its ability for function
approximation.
PATTERN RECOGNITION USING
A MULTILAYER NEURAL NETWORK MODEL
Let us consider the three-layer feedforward
neural network model shown in Fig. 3. Units
in the input layer have only one input and a
linear activation function. The activation rule
for a unit in the hidden layer and the output
layer is a non-linear monotonic function of
the weighted sum of its inputs JC;;
n =f(Lwfixi ~eJ>
where yj is the j-th output value, wjt are the
weights of c o n n e c t i o n s , and ] is a bias.
We used a sigmoid function for the activation
function:
f (*)=W(1+e-*).
The neural network works as a multi-
dimensional non-linear function as a whole,
which can be trained to approximate the
desired i n p u t - o u t p u t mapping by learning
from a set of examples.
B a c k - p r o p a g a t i o n (Rumelhart, 1986a, 1986b),
which is a kind of g r a d i e n t - d e s c e n t method,
is widely used as a learning p r o c e d u r e . The
p r o c e d u r e repeatedly adjusts the weight of the
connections in the network to minimize a
measure of the difference between the actual
output vector of the network and the desired
output vector.
This difference m e a s u r e , E, is defined as
=^-)2> (3)
where c is an index over cases ( i n p u t - o u t p u t
p a i r s ) , j is an index over output units, and d-
is the desired output value for y .
Each weight is changed by the following rule:
dE (4)
Aw = -
detect
where is the learning rate.
We used the following rule for accelating
convergence:
Aw(n) = -n=-+aAw(n-\)' ^ '
aw (n)
where s u b s c r i p t n indexes the presentation
number, and a is a constant which determines
the c o n t r i b u t i o n of the past weight change to
the current weight change.
The neural network is applicable to pattern
or recognition by making the input units and the
the output units c o r r e s p o n d to patterns and
categories respectively. To recognize a
character, the simplest way is to use
character patterns c o n s i s t i n g of pixels and to
make those pixels c o r r e s p o n d to the input
units. In this case, both feature extraction
and c l a s s i f i c a t i o n can be executed by the
network.
APPLICATION OF THE NEURAL NETWORK
MODEL TO THE SYSTEM
Statistical pattern recognition is based on
Bayesian d e c i s i o n . From the standpoint of an
optimal c l a s s i f i c a t i o n , the neural network
should be trained so that it represents the
Bayes a posteriori probabilities of each
category (Asoh 1989). However, this is not
r e a l i s t i c because training in this way requires
a vast amount of samples to represent the
d i s t r i b u t i o n s of p a t t e r n s . With the stenciling
system in q u e s t i o n , it is difficult to obtain
enough samples of unreadable characters in
every category because character deterioration
to such a degree rarely h a p p e n s .
(1) C o n s e q u e n t l y , we utilized the neural network
in another way. We determined the standard
patterns for each category artificially and
trained the network so that its output values
would indicate a kind of similarity between
the artificial standard patterns and the sample
p a t t e r n s . The network works not only as a
(2) n o n - l i n e a r d i s c r i m i n a n t function but also as a
evaluation function for the quality of the
characters.
Examples of the standard patterns are shown
in F i g . 4 , l o w - p a s s filtered patterns being
used and consisting of 160 pixels
c o r r e s p o n d i n g to the number of input units.
Each pixel has a value between 0 and 1, and
the hidden layer contains 20 units. There are
two n e t w o r k s , one for the alphabetic and the
148
o t h e r for the n u m e r i c c h a r a c t e r s . The o u t p u t the case of t h e h i d d e n units which are
layer for the former contains 14 units a c t i v a t e d by G. T h e s i g n s a r e vice-versa
c o r r e s p o n d i n g to t h e c h a r a c t e r s f r o m A to N , r e g a r d i n g t h e c o n n e c t i o n s to t h e o u t p u t u n i t
t h e o t h e r c h a r a c t e r s n o t a p p e a r i n g in the corresponding to G, so that t h e s e units
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n c o d e s . The o u t p u t l a y e r for the c o n t r i b u t e to t h e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of D a n d G.
l a t t e r c o n t a i n s 10 u n i t s c o r r e s p o n d i n g to t h e Figure 10 shows the weights of the
n u m e r a l s from 0 to 9. T h e n e t w o r k was c o n n e c t i o n s f r o m t h e i n p u t u n i t s to t h e s e
t r a i n e d by u s i n g b a c k - p r o p a g a t i o n , u s i n g t h e hidden units, black and white squares
a r t i f i c i a l s t a n d a r d p a t t e r n s for the t r a i n i n g meaning positive and negative values,
p a t t e r n s for e a c h c a t e g o r y . T h e d e s i r e d o u t p u t respectively. A comparison between Fig. 5
vectors are unit vectors which are o r t h o g o n a l and F i g . 10 s h o w s that the w e i g h t s of
to e a c h o t h e r a n d h a v e an e l e m e n t w i t h a c o n n e c t i o n s f r o m t h e f e a t u r e s for D to t h e
value of 1 at the position of the h i d d e n u n i t s a c t i v a t e d by D h a v e positive
corresponding categories. values, and those to the hidden units
a c t i v a t e d by G h a v e n e g a t i v e v a l u e s f o r t h e
c a s e of t h e n e t w o r k c o n t a i n i n g 2 0 h i d d e n
CAPABILITY OF THE NEURAL NETWORK u n i t s . A g a i n , t h i s is v i c e - v e r s a r e g a r d i n g t h e
w e i g h t s of c o n n e c t i o n s f r o m t h e f e a t u r e s for
G . C o n s e q u e n t l y , t h e w e i g h t s of c o n n e c t i o n s
D i s c r i m i n a t i o n of S i m i l a r Characters
f r o m t h e i n p u t u n i t s to t h e h i d d e n u n i t s w o r k
as a template for the classification of
S o m e of s t e n c i l p a t t e r n s s h o w n in F i g . 1
c h a r a c t e r p a t t e r n s . H o w e v e r , in t h e c a s e of
r e s e m b l e each o t h e r , like p a t t e r n s for D and
the n e t w o r k c o n t a i n i n g 8 hidden u n i t s , some
G t h a t a r e s h o w n in F i g . 5 . T h e r e a r e o n l y a
w e i g h t s have the o p p o s i t e s i g n , w h i c h may
s m a l l n u m b e r of p i x e l s t h a t a r e n o t c o m m o n
w e a k e n t h e p o w e r of r e c o g n i t i o n . S o w e u s e d
w h i c h w o r k as f e a t u r e s to d i s t i n g u i s h one
t h e n e t w o r k c o n t a i n i n g 2 0 h i d d e n u n i t s for
from the o t h e r . When the s a m p l e p a t t e r n s are
further study.
d e r i v e d f r o m t h e i m a g e s of c h a r a c t e r s , t h e
f e a t u r e s a r e w e a k e r d u e to d e t e r i o r a t i o n .
Figure 6 shows intermediate patterns between
D a n d G o b t a i n a b l e by a l i n e a r i n t e r p o l a t i o n SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
of t h e t w o p a t t e r n s . Figure 7 shows the
activation levels of the output units
Hardware Configuration
c o r r e s p o n d i n g to D a n d G w h e n t h e p a t t e r n s
of F i g . 6 w e r e p r e s e n t e d to t h e i n p u t l a y e r
a f t e r l o w - p a s s f i l t e r i n g l i k e t h a t in F i g . 4 . T h e s y s t e m c o n f i g u r a t i o n is s h o w n in F i g .
While patterns D and G have a large 1 1 , a n d t h e s p e c i f i c a t i o n s of t h e s y s t e m a r e
c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t , the a c t i v a t i o n levels s h o w n in T a b l e 1.
of t h e t w o units show sigmoidal curves In N o . 3 CC Plant, identification code
r e g a r d i n g the i n t e r m e d i a t e p a t t e r n s for the m a r k i n g is d o n e s o o n a f t e r t o r c h cutting.
t w o o r i g i n a l p a t t e r n s , w h i c h is h e l p f u l for E a c h s l a b a f t e r b e i n g c u t by t h e t o r c h e s is
discrimination. c a r r i e d on t a b l e r o l l e r s to a c e r t a i n p o s i t i o n
w h e r e i t s c r o s s s e c t i o n is c o o l e d w i t h w a t e r
a n d its i d e n t i f i c a t i o n c o d e is s t e n c i l e d on t h e
A c t i v a t i o n L e v e l s of T h e H i d d e n Units s u r f a c e . It is t h e n c a r r i e d to a s l a b y a r d .
The stenciling system sends a timing signal
F i g u r e 8 s h o w s t h e a c t i v a t i o n l e v e l s of t h e to t h e c h a r a c t e r recognition system after
h i d d e n u n i t s w h e n t h e s t a n d a r d p a t t e r n s for m a r k i n g , b e f o r e an i m a g e of t h e stenciled
e a c h c a t e g o r y w e r e p r e s e n t e d . In t h e c a s e of c h a r a c t e r s is t a k e n by MOS c a m e r a s . Two
the n e t w o r k c o n t a i n i n g 20 h i d d e n u n i t s , t h e r e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n c o d e s a r e s t e n c i l e d on s o m e
are r e d u n d a n t h i d d e n u n i t s w h i c h can be s l a b s , s o t w o c a m e r a s c o r r e s p o n d i n g to t h e
a c t i v a t e d by a n y of t h e p a t t e r n s , l i k e t h e t w o c o d e s a r e i n s t a l l e d . H a l v e s of i m a g e s
u n i t s of N o s . 3 , 7 a n d 1 1 . T h e r e is no t a k e n by t h e t w o c a m e r a s a r e s y n t h e s i z e d a n d
r e d u n d a n t u n i t in t h e c a s e of t h e n e t w o r k s e n t to t h e s i g n a l - p r o c e s s i n g s y s t e m b a s e d on
containing 8 hidden units (networks a VME bus m i c r o c o m p u t e r , w h e r e the images
c o n t a i n i n g h i d d e n u n i t s less than 8 did not a r e d i g i t i z e d a n d p r o c e s s e d . All p r o c e s s i n g is
c o n v e r g e in o u r e x p e r i m e n t s ) . e x e c u t e d by s o f t w a r e algorithms, and the
F i g u r e 9 s h o w s t h e a c t i v a t i o n l e v e l s of t h e processed images are presented to the
h i d d e n units w h e n the i n t e r m e d i a t e p a t t e r n s o p e r a t o r s w i t h r e c o g n i t i o n r e s u l t s . An a l a r m
s h o w n in F i g . 6 a r e p r e s e n t e d a f t e r l o w - p a s s is g i v e n to t h e o p e r a t o r s in t h e t o r c h - c o n t r o l
filtering. In the case of the network r o o m by a b u z z e r a n d d i s p l a y on a TV m o n i t o r
c o n t a i n i n g 20 h i d d e n u n i t s , the h i d d e n u n i t s w h e n t h e q u a l i t y of t h e c h a r a c t e r s h a s b e e n
of N o s . 6, 8, 9 and 17 a r e activated j u d g e d to be d e f e c t i v e by t h e s y s t e m .
s e l e c t i v e l y by p a t t e r n s D a n d G. In t h e c a s e
of t h e n e t w o r k c o n t a i n i n g 8 h i d d e n u n i t s , t h e
Signal Processing
h i d d e n u n i t s of N o s . 1 a n d 7 a r e a c t i v a t e d
s e l e c t i v e l y . T h e w e i g h t s of c o n n e c t i o n s f r o m
T h e b a s i c a l g o r i t h m f o r p r o c e s s i n g is s h o w n
t h e s e u n i t s to t h e o u t p u t u n i t s c o r r e s p o n d i n g
in F i g . 1 2 .
to D h a v e p o s i t i v e v a l u e s ( e x c i t a t o r y ) in t h e
T h e p r o j e c t i o n of e a c h i m a g e to t h e v e r t i c a l
c a s e of t h e h i d d e n u n i t s w h i c h a r e a c t i v a t e d
axis is calculated to detect the region
by D, a n d h a v e n e g a t i v e v a l u e s ( i n h i b i t o r y ) in
c o r r e s p o n d i n g to t h e c h a r a c t e r s by m e a n s of a

149
pattern matching method. The projection of
the detected region to the horizontal axis is
then calculated to find the boundaries of the
characters and to segment the region into
images of each character. After p r e p r o c e s s i n g
such as correcting the inclination due to the
camera p o s i t i o n s , noise rejection, trimming
and contrast enhancement, the images of each
character are converted to images c o n s i s t i n g
of a normalized number of pixels in
accordance with the number of input units of
the neural network model, as shown in Fig.
2. The g r a y - s c a l e data of the images is then
provided to the neural network model, which
produces a criterion of similarity between the
characters and the standard p a t t e r n s .
An alarm is given in the following c a s e s :
1) the p r e p r o c e s s i n g is terminated abnormally
owing to a defective character;
2) the value of the output unit which showed
the maximum activation level, whether or not
it c o r r e s p o n d s to the category the character
belongs to, is less than the t h r e s h o l d value,
which means that the character is not judged
to be similar to any of the standard p a t t e r n s .
A value of 0.5 is used for the t h r e s h o l d , and
the time required for total p r o c e s s i n g is about
3 s e c o n d s . Examples of the original image
and the recognition results are shown in Fig.
13.
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
This character r e c o g n i t i o n system has been
applied at No. 3 CC Plant and tested on more
than 3 0 , 0 0 0 s labs since August 1989. The
original images and the recognition results
were recorded on video tapes, which have
been used to evaluate performance o f the
system.
Recognition
The recorded images of the characters were
manually checked, and the correct
classification rate of the characters
calculated. Characters which were judged to
be i n d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e by eye were eliminated
from the calculation in the following c a s e s :
1) characters were m i s s i n g ;
2) parts of characters were missing or
degraded, so they were unreadable
p o s s i b l y could be misread;
3) characters were too blurred or too faint to
read.
The correct classification rate of
characters has been more than 9 9 % , which is
satisfactory for the p u r p o s e of the system.
The p r e p r o c e s s i n g algorithm and adoption of
the neural network have made the system
effective even when images of characters
were degraded by blurs and s p o t s . Examples
of degraded characters that have
correctly recognized by the system are shown
in Fig. 14.
Alarm
The recorded images of characters were also
checked from the s t a n d p o i n t of proper
j u d g e m e n t for an alarm. As the threshold for
this judgement is set high to avoid
o v e r l o o k i n g defective c h a r a c t e r s , an alarm is
given for about 3% of s l a b s . This allows a
0% margin of error to be maintained so that
no defective characters are overlooked.
Excess alarms are not a serious problem with
the system, because the operators can look at
images of the characters on a TV monitor and
confirm the degrees of deteoriration of each.
Examples of characters for which the system
gave alarms are shown in Fig. 15. In the case
of (a), D is u n r e a d a b l e . While the category
assigned by the system was I, the value of
the output unit c o r r e s p o n d i n g to I was less
than 0 . 5 , so mark ' # ' was added to the
r e c o g n i t i o n r e s u l t , which gives an alarm. In
the case of (b), all the characters of the
identification code were m i s s i n g , which was
detected during p r e p r o c e s s i n g . Mark ' @ ' ,
another mark giving an alarm, was added to
the r e c o g n i t i o n r e s u l t .
CONCLUSION
A character r e c o g n i t i o n and its quality
evaluation system was developed, using an
artificial neural network model, to assure the
quality of identification codes stenciled on
c o n t i n u o u s l y cast s l a b s . The p r e p r o c e s s i n g
algorithm and adoption of the neural network
have made the system effective even when the
image of a character is degraded by blurs and
noise such as from spots of paint. The correct
classification rate of the characters is more
than 9 9 % , which is satisfactory for the
purpose of the system. The rate of
o v e r l o o k i n g defective characters on slabs to
be alarmed is 0%, while the excess alarm rate
is nearly 3 % , which is not a problem because
o p e r a t o r s can back up the system visually.
was The system has been successfully used for the
quality a s s u r a n c e of slab marking.
REFERENCES
or Rumelhart, D . E . , J . L . McClelland and the
PDP Research Group ( 1 9 8 6 ) . Parallel
Distributed Processing, Vol. 1. The
MIT P r e s s , Cambridge, M a s s a c h u s e t t s ,
the pp. 3 1 8 - 3 6 2 .
Rumelhart, D . E . , G . E . Hinton, R . J . Williams
( 1 9 8 6 ) . Learning r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s by
b a c k - p r o p a g a t i n g e r r o r s . Nature, 323,
533-536.
been Asoh, H . , N. Otsu ( 1 9 8 9 ) . Nonlinear data
analysis and multilayer p e r c e p t r o n s .
Int. Joint Conf. on Neural N e t w o r k s , //,
411-415.
150
 T A B L E 1 S p e c i f i c a t i o n of t h e S y s t e m

Camera MOS-type camera X 2 / strand of CC

Optical filter Cold filter

Synthesis of video signals of two ^
Synthesis of images
cameras
VMEbus microcomputer system
Processing system

Light source
CPU: 68020+ 68881
Frame buffer: 512 X 480 X 8bit X 8

500W Halogen lamp X 2 / strand

M
F i g . 1. Stencil patterns

Hidden layer
Input layer Output layer

Fig. 3. Three-layer neural network

model
(a) Original stencil (b) Characters extracted from images
patterns
Fig. 2. E x a m p l e s of b l u r r e d c h a r a c t e r s
(Each s q u a r e s h o w s the g r a y - s c a l e . )

(a) Pattern for D (b) Pattern for G

Pixels not in common

(a) Original stencil (b) Low-pass filtered patterns
patterns ill Pixels in common

Fig. 4. P a t t e r n s for t r a i n i n g the neural F i g . 5. C o m p a r i s o n b e t w e e n p a t t e r n s for

network model D and G

F i g . 6. Intermediate patterns between D and G

( T h e s e p a t t e r n s w e r e o b t a i n e d by a l i n e a r i n t e r p o l a t i o n of
p a t t e r n s D and G, c h a n g i n g w e i g h t t for D . )

151
A Correlation coef. between intermediate patterns and G
A Correlation coef. between intermediate patterns and D
O Activation level of the output unit corresponding to G
Activation level of the output unit corresponding to D Number of units Number of units

(a) Neural network (b) Neural network

containing containing
20 hidden units 8 hidden units

0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

F i g . 8. Activation levels of the hidden units
Weight for G for the standard patterns

Fig. 7. Activation levels of the output units

and correlation coefficients for the
intermediate patterns shown in F i g . 6

1.0 1 B 4 B B

7 y>
I
0.8
>
<
c
#o 0.6
a
>
0.4
<
0.2

f l D D
0.4 0.6 0.8 .i
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 "
Weight for G Weight for G
(a) Neural network containing (b) Neural network containing
20 units in the hidden layer 8 units in the hidden layer

Fig. 9. Activation levels of the hidden units for the intermediate

patterns shown in F i g . 6
(Only those unit numbers are shown which are activated
selectively by patterns D and G . )

No.6 No.8 No.9 No.17 No.l No.7

DQ D. o . o |_|G D P .I
DMB- a o DQ D o a D(Z " Ho
a a not I
a in o a UM.U a a
D D - ")
::::-oR
- < )ammm i_| fj"i

CaO
DD 3D naq I o- - H M
a
a o = D D a D =DD
a o ^rtr
- o a a DD a D .-..::
n -=Dag
: . o o D DD a O D D * "I L . . . . a -
D * a I. DDD
: O * c Ol I. . . c a DD
a B DQ o . ' U U U U U BB
pa OQQD
D noi D =
a Dc [ D o p . aD
5m a
(a) Neural network containing (b) Neural network containing
20 hidden units 8 hidden units
Positive value D Negative value
(The area of each square is proportional to the absolute value of the weight. The position of each square
corresponds to the pixel of the characters.)

Fig. 10. Weights between the input layer and the hidden layer
(Weights are shown only for those units which are activated
selectively by patterns D and G . )

152
 F
Camera
Image
synthesizer

Light VME bus

microcomputer

Frame
buffer
kfl
Alarm
Monitor H Marker Correction of inclination
of characters

Fig. 11. S c h e m a t i c d i a g r a m of t h e s y s t e m Segmentation

Conversion in accordance with unit number

of neural network model
(a) Original image
Calculation of neural network model

No

( END ) Alarm

F i g . 12. O u t l i n e of p r o c e s s i n g algorithm

(b) Result of recognition

Fig. 13. E x a m p l e of r e c o g n i t i o n
( E a c h i m a g e r e c o r d c o n s i s t s of t w o
i m a g e s t a k e n by t w o MOS c a m e r a s . )
(a) Alarm for an unreadable character
(2-8528BDI)
Output value: 0.437(#)

(a) Characters with low contrast

(b) Alarm for missing characters

Output value: - (@)

(b) Characters marked imperfectly and blurred Fig. 15. E x a m p l e s of d e f e c t i v e - c h a r a c t e r

a l a r m s g i v e n by t h e s y s t e m
F i g . 1 4 . E x a m p l e s of d i f f i c u l t c h a r a c t e r s t h a t
c a n be d i s c r i m i n a t e d by t h e s y s t e m

153
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

AN EXPERT SYSTEM FOR CONTINUOUS STEEL

CASTING USING NEURAL NETWORKS
A.B. Bulsari, M. Sillanp and H. Saxen
Kemisk-tekniskafakulteten, Abo Akademi, SF 20500 Turku/bo, Finland

Abstract. Developing an expert system is often time consuming even after knowledge acquisition.
Artificial neural networks offer an advantageous alternative to coding such knowledge in an
expert system shell or writing a program for it. This paper illustrates the feasibility of using a
feed-forward neural network for knowledge storage and inferencing, like an expert system, for
an industrial problem.
The inputs to the network were information about an incoming ladle of steel, and the output
was about its suitability for successful continuous casting, giving an indication on whether
problems would be encountered in the beginning and/or at the end of the casting. A trust-
region optimisation method was used for training the networks, where the input-output relation
of the nodes was given by a sigmoid function. This training method has been used successfully
for other neural network problems and was found to be quite reliable and robust.
By using a feed-forward neural network as an expert system for predicting operational problems
in the continuous steel casting process, some inconsistencies in the knowledge base were also
revealed.
Keywords. Neural nets, steel industry, expert systems

[6]. This method is very simple and its storage

1. Introduction
Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are claimed
to have a good potential for knowledge acquisition,
representation and storage. Therefore, it seems likely
that certain kinds of (fuzzy) expert systems in the
field of chemical or metallurgical engineering rather
should be implemented in form of ANNs. Knowledge
engineering, expert system development effort as well
as CPU time for inferencing could be saved when the
neural net approach is feasible. Even though ANNs in
the above mentioned fields have been utilised mainly
for diagnosis, pattern recognition and process control,
there have been several attempts to implement expert
systems in neural networks [1,2,3].
ANNs consist of interconnected computational
elements called nodes, or neurons. The internal nodes
usually receive as inputs a weighted sum the net
input of the output signals from other nodes. The
output, or activation, of a node is calculated as a
(usually nonlinear) function of the net input. In
multilayer feedforward networks, which are considered
in this paper, there are a few layers (the input, output
and possibly some hidden layers) through which the
information passes. There is no feedback, and usually
each node in a layer receives signals only from the nodes
in the layer below it; no connections exist within the
layer. Further, a bias, which may act as a threshold, is
usually added as an input to each node in the hidden
and output layers.
Various configurations and topologies of neural
networks exist [4,5], but layered feed-forward networks
have been frequently used in technical applications.
The network parameters are adapted by network
training, where the weights which yield a network
that best fits the training instances presented are
determined. The most common network training
method has been the so called back-propagation
requirements are small, which means that big
networks can be trained. However, because the
back-propagation by the generalised delta rule is
a modification of the steepest descent optimisation
method, its convergence is usually very slow. A trust-
region method [7,8] which uses higher order information
was therefore used in this work. This choice turned
out to be advantageous as long as the number of
unknowns is not very large, say not more than a few
hundreds. This restriction does not seem very severe,
since oversized networks should anyway be avoided.
Chemical and metallurgical engineers do not
yet routinely use artificial neural networks as problem
solving and modelling tools. This is probably due
to the fact that the main research in the field has
been carried out within computer science. In chemical
engineering, the major efforts have been on process
control and identification [9,10,11], fault diagnosis
[12 - 16] and pattern recognition. In metallurgical
engineering, there have been some efforts in signal
preprocessing [17], solving subproblems in expert
systems and pattern recognition [18,19]. In this work,
a problem from the field of steelmaking is tackled by
using neural networks.
2. Continuous steel casting
Steel casting is the process of giving shape
to molten steel. Ingot casting the traditional
method has been under the recent decades
gradually replaced by continuous casting (see Fig. 1)
in steelmaking. The first large scale industrial
continuous casting applications appeared during the
1950's. Before that time, steel was exclusively cast
through ingot casting. Casting steel in a continuous
process leads to a considerable reduction in energy
consumption and to a uniform quality over the full
length of the casting strand. Other major advantages
are the increased casting capacity, reduced labour

155
 and repair costs, and improvements in yield as the
number of forming steps are reduced and final product Schematic representation of the curved conti-
dimensions can be fit better. Possible drawbacks of nuous casting process and the two strand bloom
continuous casting are high investment costs, wear of caster at Ovako Steel Imatra.
refractories due to high casting temperatures, and the
fact that some steel brands are not well suited to be Jatkuvavaluprosessi kaoviollises esitettyn sek
cast continuously. Ovako Steel OyAb:n Imatran terstehtaan kaksilin-
jainen bloomivalukone.
Finland has been a pioneer in adopting the
continuous casting method in steel production. Since
the middle of the 1960's the new steelmaking capacity
has been based on continuous casting. Today almost
all the crude steel produced in Finland is cast by the
continuous casting method.
The objective of this work was to analyze if an
important and clearly defined problem in steelmaking
could be tackled by using artificial neural nets. The
problem in question is whether to accept or reject
a heat the liquid content of a steel ladle for
continuous casting: It would be of great value to be
able to foresee potential technical or quality related
problems that may be expected if a heat of liquid
steel prepared to be cast were actually taken to the
casting process. From the operational experience of
engineers and operators at Rautaruukki Oy, Raahe
Works, Finland, heuristic knowledge was acquired,
partly in form of a decision tree represented as Table 1. Fig. 1. Continuous steel casting
This table was used in the test of the neural network
approach.
3. T h e n e t w o r k a n d its t r a i n i n g
Table l. Training instances 126 to 170
The layered feedforward network used in this
work (see Fig. 1) has an input layer where the nodes
do not transform the signal, but only distributes it 4 33 1 11 22 22 22 00 00
towards the nodes in the layer above them. Each node 44 33 1 22 11 11 1
1 00 00
in the upper layers receives as input a weighted sum of 44 33 1 22 11 22 11 00 00
the outputs (activations) of the nodes in the layer below 4 33 1 22 22 11 11 00 00
it. A bias is further added to the input of each node;
44 33 1 22 22 22 11 00 00
this is equivalent to an additional weighted connection
to a node with a unit activation. The net input, *,, to 44 33 1 22 22 22 2 00 00
the ?::th node can thus be written 44 33 22 1 11 22 11 00 00
N
44 33 22 1 22 11 11 00 00
Xi = 22wijaj = wfa, 44 33 22 1 22 11 2 00 00
j=o 44 33 22 1 22 22 11 00 00
44 33 22 1 22 22 2 00 00
44 33 22 22 22 22 11 00 00
22 1 11 11 11 11 11 1 00
22 1 11 22 11 22 11 1 00
22 1 11 22 22 11 11 1 00
22 1 11 22 22 11 2 1 00
22 1 11 22 22 22 11 i 00
22 1 11 22 22 22 2 1 00
22 1 22 11 11 22 11 1 00
POSSIBLE 1 22 22 11 1 00
22 22 22
V HIDDEN
22 22 11 11 11 22 11 1 00
22 22 11 22 22 22 1i 1 00
22 22 22 11 22 11 11 1 00
22 22 22 11 22 22 11 1 00
33 11 11 22 11 11 11 1 00
33 11 11 22 11 11 2 1 00
33 11 22 11 11 11 11 1 00
33 11 22 11 11 11 2 1 00
33 22 11 11 11 11 11 1 00
33 22 11 ii 11 11 2 1 00
Fig. 2. The layered feed-forward neural network.
33 22 11 22 11 22 11 1 00
where N is the number of nodes in the layer 33 22 11 22 11 22 2 1 00
below the one where the node is located and , is the 33 22 11 22 22 11 11 1 00
node's bias. The output, or activation a,, of a node 33 22 11 22 22 11 2 1 00
is given by the logistic activation (sigmoid) function of 33 22 22 11 11 11 11 1 00
the net input 33 22 22 22 22 11 11 1 00
a = 33 33 11 11 11 22 11 1 00
J i + e -/J*i
33 33 11 11 22 11 11 1 00
which is a monotonically increasing function. The 33 33 11 22 22 22 11 1 00
parameter is a gain term which is introduced for 44 33 11 11 11 11 11 1 00
numerical reasons. In the sequel, the following notation 44 33 22 22 22 11 11 1 00
will be used for the feed-forward neural networks: Nin = 11 22 22 22 00 11
11 11 11
number of input layer nodes, Nout = number of output
layer nodes, and iVhid = number of nodes in each hidden 22 11 11 11 11 11 22 00 11
layer. Thus, the network configuration can be written 22 11 11 22 11 22 22 00 11
as as (N in , iVhid,., Wout). For a feed-forward layered
neural network of this type, the number of parameters,

156
i.e., weights in the weight matrix W = {>,_,}, is thus Table 3. Classification of the 7 casting variables
given by ^ o u t x ( ^ h i d + l)+7Vhidx(7Vhid + l) + ...+yVhidx(^in + l). and the variable codes used in Table 2.
A modification of the Newton-Raphson method
for solving nonlinear equations (or non-linear regres-
sion problems) was used to determine the optimum va-
lues for the elements of the network weight matrix W.
This trust-region method [7,8,20] differs from the back 1 2 3 4
propagation method [5,6] in that the search direction
is formed as an interpolation between the directions
given by Newton's and the steepest descent methods. 1 low fairly low fairly high high
The linearised model for the residuals is applied within
a trust region, where it, based on "experience" from 2 high normal low
earlier iterations during the search, has been found to
be valid. The strength of the method lies in its ability 3 little much
to shift towards the steepest descent direction whene-
ver the linearised model is inappropriate (e.q., when far 4 short long
from the minimum), still being able to show nice con-
vergence close to the minimum, where Newton's met- 5 short long
hod is superior.
6 first subsequent
4. The knowledge base
7 short long
The knowledge elicited from experts at the iron
and steel industry Rautaruukki Oy [21] was in terms of
qualitative data partly in the form of a decision tree
for the effect of some central variables on the outcome originally classified in four crisp classes: successful
of the casting process. However, no distinction was casting, initial problems, problems at the end of
made whether these situations were practically possible casting, and unrealisable casting. For training the
or not. Therefore the decision tree, part of which is neural networks, the output was, however, provided
represented in Table 1, also includes cases on which no in terms of two variables, the first indicating whether
actual information about the outcome of the casting or not there would be problems in the beginning, and
could have ever been obtained in practice. Table the second for the end of the casting (c/. lines 8 and 9
2 explains the meaning of the columns of Table 1. of Table 2):
Variables 1 through 7 refer to the first seven casting
(input) variables (columns 1 through 7 of Table 1),
while the eighth and ninth variables state whether
initial problems or problems at the end of the casting, Table 4. Classification of the outcome of the casting.
respectively, are expected.
The "input variable" information is expressed 0 1
in form of crisp classes represented as numerical codes
between 1 and 4. The physical interpretation of the
8 no yes
classes appear below in Table 3.
As the range of input variable 1 has been 9 no yes
discretised into four classes, variable 2 into three, and
the remaining variables into two classes, a total of
4 x 3 x 25 = 384 different combinations can be specified.
Naturally, the hypothetical casting data has been A single output to classify the problems using
subject to widespread simplifications as only a few and 0, | , , and 1 as the target for the output was also
crisp classes have been introduced for each variable. attempted, but the errors were somewhat more difficult
The results, i.e., the castability of a heat were to interpret. Alternatively, one could use 4 separate
output nodes for the 4 classes. This too was attempted,
but the increased number of unknowns (weights) in the
network led to convergence problems.
5. Results

Table 2. Explanation of the columns of Table 1.

This section describes some results of analysis
of the heuristics in the knowledge base by using feed-
forward neural networks. The networks were trained
1 liquid steel superheat after ladle treatment by minimising the error square sum, SSQ, of the 384
instances in the knowledge base. As the number of
2 heat content of the ladle outputs equals two, the average squared error for the
instances is obtained by dividing SSQ by 768.
3 mass of skull in ladle

4 holding time of ladle before the casting
5 ladle stirring time
6 ladle position in the casting sequence
7 ladle casting time
8 problems at the beginning of casting
9 problems at the end of casting
5.1 A neural network without hidden layers
A network with no hidden layers does not
usually perform well enough, but as shown in [22],
it reveals the cross correlations between inputs and
outputs. Therefore, a (7,2)-network was trained giving
the results of Table 5.

157

Table 5. Optimum weights for the (7,2) network.
Output 1 Output 2 | further nodes. What is too many and what is just
From:
Bias +1.22 -0.12
Superheat -0.52 -0.65
Heat content +0.37 +0.58
Mass of skull +0.17 +0.37
Holding time +0.47 +0.35
Stirring time -0.46 -0.39
Ladle position -0.36 -0.19
Casting time -0.17 +0.37
This solution corresponds to an error square
sum of SSQ=33.7 or an average square error of 0.29.
Even though the model is not good, it has at least
revealed the interrelations between the input and
output variables. It can be seen that a larger superheat
reduces (implied by negative weights) the possibilities
for problems at the beginning or the end of the casting.
As for the second input variable, a low heat content
(indicated by a high input to the second input neuron)
favours higher activations for both outputs, i.e., casting
problems. It may be noted that the first 6 parameters
have a similar effect on both the output variables.
The casting time (variable 7) is seen to mainly exert
influence on the conditions at the end of the casting,
a short casting time being favourable for avoiding
problems (which should be expected). Skulls (variable
3), in turn, are not very likely to cause problems in the
beginning, and the ladle position (variable 6) does not
significantly affect the temperatures during the final
phase of the casting. These two findings agree well
with the physical knowledge of the problem that is
coded in the knowledge base: i) Skulls usually appear
at a high position at the ladle wall, and therefore
mainly affect the temperature of the uppermost liquid
"layers". As the steel is tapped into the tundish
through a hole in the bottom of the steel ladle, the part
of the liquid which is cooled by the skulls will enter the
tundish at a late stage, ii) Initial problems caused
by low temperatures can be expected when a new
tundish is taken into operation. The introduction of a
new tundish is implicitly captured in the sixth input
variable, the ladle position in the casting sequence.
Thus, when casting the first steel ladle there may be
initial problems encountered due to a cold tundish.
The effect of all seven input variables can thus be
explained without any apparent contradictions against
physical principles, which indicates that the knowledge
base is sound as a whole. For a more detailed discussion
of the physical motivation and interpretation of the
heuristics, see Sillanp [23].
5.2 Feed-forward neural networks with hidden layers
With one hidden layer, network training was
carried out with 4 or more nodes in the hidden layer.
For the (7,4,2) network, the error square sum dropped
to SSQ = 14.000, almost completely contributed by
14 instances with errors of 1.000 or -1.000. The
(7,5,2) network yielded SSQ 7.834, but one weight
was very large which indicates less reliability of the
result. The errors were here more evenly distributed,
and no complete misclassifications were reported. With
the (7,6,2) network, only 6 instances contributed with
significant errors (SSQ 6.000). For 7 nodes in the
158
hidden layer, the error square sum was reduced to 4.000
(four misclassified instances), while the SSQ further
dropped to 3.000 (three main errors) as an eighth
hidden node was introduced.
One can fit the data set accurately by adding
sufficient is a matter of investigation. Here (7,6,2)
seems to be a reasonable network, after which the
extra nodes simply seem to fit some additional training
instances. The (7,6,2) network did not fit instances
55, 149, 152, 153, 169 and 352, while the (7,7,2)
could not fit instances 55, 127, 148 and 152. The
(7,8,2) network did not fit 143, 153 and 176. From
these observations it is clear that one should use some
method to eliminate nodes that do not contribute to
the generalisation capacity of the network, but merely
fit special (and possibly contradicting) instances of
the training set. Recently, some methods for weight
elimination have been proposed in the literature [24],
which could be employed to tackle the problem of
network overparametrisation.
Networks with two hidden layers proved to
be difficult to train. Most attempts resulted in
very large weights and large values of SSQ (> 30).
Apparently, numerical problems were caused by the
strongly nonlinear nature of the network model and the
existence of several local minima in the search space.
5.3 The refined data set
The (7,6,2) network indicated that the instances
55, 149, 152, 153, 169 and 352 were difficult to fit
into the existing framework in which the remaining
378 instances fitted well. This seemed to be a possible
sjanptom of inconsistency in the knowledge base. As
the instances were examined, the 55th instance was
found to be contradictory since e.g. instance 165 with
higher superheat was classified as "initial problems"
while the knowledge base classification of instance 55
was "successful casting". Instance 149, in turn, had a
low superheat as the only reason for possible problems,
and was classified as "successful casting" by the neural
network instead of "initial problems" as indicated in
the knowledge base. Instances 152, 153, 169 and
352 could be explained similarly implying that the
neural network's expectation was more reasonable than
what was in the training set. Modifying the data
set according to the revelations of the (7,6,2) network
resulted in the refined data set, which was completely
learned by the network (SSQ 0.76493 10" 16 ).
The results from the (7,7,2) or (7,8,2) networks
could, naturally, have been utilized in a similar manner,
which would have led to (other) sets of consistent
data. There are, though, some objections to this
approach. The (7,8,2) network learns the 55th instance
without any error. Obviously, it has also learnt the
inconsistencies simply because of its higher storage
capacity; with a sufficient number of weights, one can
fit even random numbers in a neural network without
errors. Similar findings for time-series modelling
by neural nets have been reported [24]. In these
applications, the oversized networks were shown to be
able to reproduce the noise of the training set, which
resulted in inferior prediction performance on a testing
set of data. The drawbacks of using too many model
parameters are, indeed, well known to anyone with
experience in the field of mathematical modelling or
curve-fitting.
The (7,6,2) network thus seems to be a network
of appropriate size for the problem in question; it does
not generalise too much, and it does not seem to learn
inconsistent instances. The number of parameters of
this network is 62, which still must be considered quite
high. Naturally, there could be alternative methods
for capturing the information of the knowledge base.
The number of unknowns required to describe the
knowledge should be much smaller than the number
of training instances, because of the redundancy of
the branches in the decision tree. The neural net
approach must therefore merely be considered one of
many possible ways to tackle the problem.
6. Conclusions
The work demonstrated that neural networks
can be used for knowledge storage and convenient
retrieval for use as an expert system. A real industrial
problem decision making in continuous steel casting
the solution of which would be of practical value
for the metallurgical industry, was tackled by using
neural networks. This approach may save a lot of
time in developing the system. Further, inferencing is
almost instantaneous and no expensive expert system
development tools (and thick manuals) are required,.
Inconsistencies in training instances (or "outli-
ers") can be identified with the help of the networks.
There seems to be something like the correct size of a
neural network for the example studied: Too many hid-
den nodes can force the network to learn inconsistent
data.
Networks with one hidden layer performed
better than networks with two hidden layers, and
also better than the one without hidden layers.
Networks with two hidden layers have, according to
our experience, always been more difficult to train.
Apparently, there are many local minima which make
the search for a global minimum more difficult, and
the increased number of unknowns also makes the
multidimensional search problematic.
A ck nowledgement s
Rautaruukki Oy, Raahe, Finland, is gratefully
acknowledged for its cooperation with the authors and
for providing the continuous casting heuristics.
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Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

NEURAL NETWORKS FOR STEADY-STATE PROCESS

MODELLING AND FAULT DIAGNOSIS
J.J. Cilliers
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Private Bag Rondebosch,
Cape Town 7700, South Africa

ABSTRACT

The use of Artificial Intelligence techniques to assist operators in process fault

diagnosis has recently generated considerable interest. This paper discusses the
ability of feedforward Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to be used as process models
suitable for fault diagnosis using parameter estimation. A comparison of the
performance of various network architectures and training data sets generated from
rigorous experimental designs is given. Model performance is evaluated using
extrapolation and interpolation.

Results indicate that the modelling ability of ANN's is generally insensitive to

network architecture and that performance is not significantly better than that of
linear interpolatory models. Data generated through rigorous experimental designs
would therefore be better suited to conventional modelling techniques.

ANN's have also been applied as direct fault classifiers from process measurements.
Some comments on recent results reported in the literature is given.

KEYWORDS

Mineral processing, Process models, Artificial Intelligence, Neural Networks

INTRODUCTION

Process Fault Diagnosis Hvdrocvclones

The use of computer assisted techniques to assist
operating staff on complex chemical and
metallurgical process plants with fault diagnosis
has received widespread interest. Only in recent
years, however, have the use of Artificial
Intelligence (AI) techniques become popular.
Recently, the use of Artificial Neural Networks
for fault diagnosis has been intensively
researched.
ANN's can be used in two ways to enhance fault
diagnosis systems. In the first case, the network
is used to develop a mathematical model of the
process, i.e. to form a relationship between the
process variables (network inputs) and responses
(network outputs). This can then be used to
determine whether a difference exists between the
process responses and the network outputs for a
certain set of input process variables. Should a
significant difference exist, this can be related
to process faults. It should be evident that a
robust model is required that can be used under a
wide range of operating conditions (1).
In the second instance, the ANN is used to
directly form a relationship between a set of
process measurements and a comprehensive fault
list. In this case, the network is used to
classify the measurement patterns into operating
regimes (2).
In the discussion to follow, the use of ANN's to
model steady-state process operations is
analysed. Some comments of the use of ANN's as
classifiers is also given.
Hydrocyclones are commonly used in the Minerals
Processing industry as size classification
devices for particulate slurries. Their correct
operation is critical and can have a large impact
on the profitable operation of the process as a
whole. Very accurate mathematical models of
hydrocyclones have been developed (3). These
models are relatively complex and are unsuitable
for real-time parameter estimation for fault
diagnosis. They can, however, be used as a
steady-state replica of an operating
hydrocyclone, and data collected for the training
of a Neural Network. The trained network can
subsequently be applied to the physical system.
This exercise is thus attempting to model the
response of a physical system using an ANN, using
data collected from a mathematical model of the
process. In cases where such a model is not
available, data collected from the process itself
will be required to train the network.
Four critical parameters were identified as
system variables, namely the cyclone vortex
finder and spigot diameters (physical parameters)
and the feed particles size distribution and
density (operating parameters). Four responses
are monitored; the recovery of solids to the
underflow, the percentage solids in the
underflow, the underflow fines content and the
operating pressure. The process model required
will therefore have four inputs and four outputs,
and fit a surface in multi-dimensional space.

161
Data can be collected from the system by TABLE 1 : Average Percentage Response Errors for
performing simulations. It must be kept in mind, Various Model Architectures
however, that if data is to be collected on an
operating plant, or under experimental RESPONSE LINEAR 4 NODE 8 NODE 20 NODE
conditions, two complicating factors exist.
Firstly, data from physical tests is generally 1 0.62 1.67 1.22 1.12
subject to error and noise. The data collected
from the simulator therefore represents an 2 2.25 1.50 1.10 0.93
extremely optimistic case.
3 9.84 5.93 4.71 7.04
Secondly, data collection under these conditions
is extremely time consuming and therefore, in 4 4.40 1.27 1.08 0.95
general, a rigorous experimental design is done
before testwork commences. These designs often
take the form of n m experiments, where n is the
number of levels tested for the variable (e.g. It can be noted that an increase in the number of
low, medium and high for a 3-way factorial hidden nodes in the network does not
design), and m the number of variables tested. significantly improve the average error in the
For the system under consideration, therefore; 2, model predictions.
3, 4 and 5 way factorial designs yield 16, 81,
256 and 625 data sets respectively. Since a Figures 1 to 4 show the trend response of the
single experiment may take a full day to perform, system, and the predictions of the linear, 4, 8
it can be appreciated that the results shown here and 20 hidden node models. The trend in the
also represent an optimistic scenario. response of the system is relatively simple,
being positively linear, parabolic, exponential
(or parabolic) and negatively linear for each of
Evaluation Technique the four responses, when only the single variable
is changed. It must be noted that the data points
Two effects were investigated, namely the network corresponding to 5 and 40 feed % solids require
architecture used and the amount of training data model extrapolation, the remainder interpolation.
available. For the former, feed-forward networks
with different numbers of hidden nodes were used, Two results are immediately evident. Firstly, the
using data from a 3-way factorial design (81 data extrapolations tend to improve slightly as the
sets). In the latter case, a single architecture number of hidden nodes is increased, indicating
(8 hidden nodes) with 2 to 5 way factorial that additional nodes are required to capture the
designs were compared. underlying model form. Secondly, none of the
neural networks capture the essence of the data
Evaluation was done in two ways. Firstly, a test trends and do not perform significantly better
set of 200 random input values within the than the most simple linear model.
training range were evaluated and the error
statistics monitored. This gave an indication of
the general model accuracy. Secondly, one of the Experimental Design Effects
model input variables was varied across the
training range and slightly beyond, while the Believing that the above results were an
three other input variables were kept constant at indication that too little training data was
values midway between any of the training data. available, the effect of varying the training
These results gave an indication of the ability data set size was investigated. For this case a
of the trained network to both interpolate and network having 8 hidden nodes, which performed
extrapolate from the training data, and to mimic adequately in the previous tests, was used.
operating trends.
TABLE 2 : Average Percentage Response Errors for
Various Experimental Designs
EVALUATION
RESPONSE 2 WAY 3 WAY 4 WAY 5 WAY
Neural Network Models 1 2.14 1.22 2.81 1.66
All tests were performed using the NeuralWorks 2 3.38 1.10 1.90 1.91
Explorer v4.01 package (10). The networks were
trained using normalised cumulative delta 3 6.14 4.71 9.00 7.22
backpropogation and had hyperbolic tangent
transfer functions. Input was scaled between -1 4 1.88 1.08 2.06 1.20
and +1, and the output between -0.8 and +0.8, to
allow for modest extrapolation. Training data was
presented to the network using a randomised Table 2 shows the average percentage errors for
shuffle-and-deal technique. Training was the same 200 test cases used previously. Note
performed until the RMS error on the output nodes that the average errors do not necessarily
stabilised. decrease as the number of training data sets
increases. The linear model developed using a
three-way factorial design (cf Table 1) does not
A simple linear model without interaction terms perform significantly worse than either the four-
was calculated from a 3-way factorial design or five-way networks, trained with three and
experiment as a base comparison. seven times as much data, respectively.

In some cases, training converged at an error

Network Architecture Results
Table 1 shows the average percentage errors
calculated for the 200 random test data sets
presented to each of the trained ANN
architectures and to the linear model.
level higher with more data than with less data,
indicating that the network is "learning" the
data itself, rather than the underlying
functional form. Considering the experimental
effort that is required to perform a 5-way
factorial design experiment, the lack of model
accuracy is disturbing.

162
Figures 5 to 8 show the trend results for each of
the model responses, in the same format as
before. Note again that an increase in the
training data does not significantly improve the
trend results. REFERENCES

1. Himmelblau,DM. (1978). Fault Detection and

DISCUSSION
In general, when steady-state models of process
operations are developed, only a limited amount
of test data is available. Results indicate that
this lack of data means that neural network
models of steady-state processes will not perform
significantly better than even the most simple
linear approximation to the system response. Well
designed experiments allow full use to be made of
conventional mathematical and statistical model
building techniques and is therefore a more
suitable methodology than ANN's for this
application.
Through experimental design and heuristic
knowledge, a broad picture of the response
surface can be developed, which can guide the
functional form required for the response model.
Although it is known that Neural Networks can
approximate any non-linear function (4), explicit
control of the model form being developed when
using conventional modelling techniques is
valuable and should be exploited if possible.
Diagnosis in Chemical and Petrochemical
Processes, Elsevier.
2. Hoskins, J C , and Himmelblau, DM. (1988)
Artificial neural network models of knowledge
representation in chemical engineering. Comput
Chem Engng, 12, (9/10), 881.
3. Cilliers, JJ., and Hinde, AL. (1991). An
improved hydrocyclone model for backfill
preparation. Minerals Engineering, 4, (7-11),
683-693.
4. Lippmann, RP. (1987) An introduction to
computing with neural nets. IEEE ASSP Mag 4.
5. Bhat, N. and McAvoy, TJ. (1990). Use of neural
nets for dynamic modelling and control of
chemical process systems. Computers Chem Engng,
14,(4/5), 573.
6. Rich, SH., and Venkatasubramanian, V. (1989).
Causality-based failure driven learning in
diagnostic expert systems. AIChE J, 35, (6), 943.

When extrapolation of operating trends is 7. Huang, WH., and Lippmann, RP. (1988). Neural
required, results indicate that the response of net and conventional classifiers. Amer. Inst.
an Artificial Neural Network can be extremely Physics Neural Network Conference, 387.
unreliable. Conventional mathematical models,
even when not extremely accurate (as in the case 8. Kramer, MA., and Leonard, JA. (1990).
of the linear model above), have yery predictable Diagnosis using backpropogation neural networks -
qualities when extrapolating and may, generally, analysis and criticism. Computers Chem Engng, 14,
be more suitable for process modelling. This is (12), 1323.
certainly the case when hard-limiting transfer
functions are used and the extrapolation response 9. Leonard, JA., and Kramer, MA. (1991). Radial
is limited by definition. basis function networks for classifying process
faults. IEEE Control Systems, April, 31.
These results do not mean that ANN's are not
suitable for use as process models. Considerable 10. NeuralWare Inc. 1991.
success has been had when using this methodology
for process control (5). The ability of a model
to continuously improve is appealing, and while
problems exist with on-line training of ANN's,
this is a promising field. In this case, the data
set is practically infinite. This necessity of a
randomly distributed data set spanning the
response surface to be modelled is essential.

The use of feedforward, sigmoidal ANN's as direct

fault classifiers from measured input data has
been investigated widely (6). Recent publications
tend, however, to indicate that ANN's will
perform no better than conventional nearest
neighbour classifiers (Z,8). Work is in progress
with modified network architectures and transfer
functions in an attempt to improve this
performance, although problems in its practical
implementation do still remain (9).

While it is expected that ANN's will, in future,

play an important role in both the fault
diagnosis and control of process operations,
their successful application will require
considerable further research.

163
 UNDERFLOW % SOLIDS
RECOVERY TO UNDERFLOW

FEED % SOLIDS
FEED % SOLIDS

MODE
L TYP
E
MODE
L TYP
E
SYSTE
M -- LINEA
R * 4 N O DSE
SYSTE
M LINEA
R -*- 4 N O D SE
8 N O DSE 20 N O D SE
- - N O D SE -- 20 N O D SE

OPERATING PRESSURE
UNDERFLOW FINES CONTENT

FEED % SOLIDS
FEED % SOLIDS

MODE
L TYP
E
MODE
L TYP
E
SYSTE
M LINEA
R -*- 4 N O D SE
SYSTE
M -- LINEA
R -*- 4 N O D SE
"- 8 N O D SE 20 N O DSE
-" S N O D SE - * ~ 20 N O D SE

Fig 1 to 4:
Comparison of Neural Network Architectures
and Linear Model with System Responses.
(Three Way Factorial Design Experiment)

164
 RECOVERY TO UNDERFLOW UNDERFLOW % SOLIDS

RECOVERY TO UNDERFLOW UNDERFLOW % SOLIDS

^
*. -^St^=^
^ - *
%^ s*r^

^ ^ ^--/w/^'
% ,
~^^-'
^x%= &>j
^O 6 ^.^-*

'
1
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
FEED % SOLIDS FEED % SOLIDS

FACTORIA
L EXPERIME
TN FACTORIA
L EXPERIME
TN

SYSTE M -*- 2 WAY

-*- 3 WA
Y
SYSTE M 1~ 2 WAY ^fc- 3 WAY

-a- 4 WAY - *- WAY

-0- 4 WAY - *- 5 WAY

UNDERFLOW FINES CONTENT OPERATING PRESSURE

UNDERFLOW FINES CONTENT OPERATING PRESSURE

Jt /
ifr^ ^ /

^* /' /
/frf /
/// / /
/// / / / s$?
/// y^f
/ <>/ ' s/^
0
/ v3 / j /
^
i ^ ^
,
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 15 20 25 30 35 40

FEED % SOLIDS FEED % SOLIDS

FACTORIA
L EXPERIME
TN FACTORIA
L EXPERIME
TN
SYSTE
M - <- 2 WA
Y -*- 3 WA
Y SYSTE
M - +- 2 WA
Y -*- 3 WA
Y
- e- 4 WA
Y - *- S WA
Y - B- 4 WAY - *- 5 WA
Y

Fig 5 to 8:

Effect of Training Data Set Size on Trend

Prediction for 8 Hidden Node Network.

165
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

MINERAL PROCESS CONTROL BY NEURAL NETWORK

K. Okaya and T. Inoue
Department of Mineral Development Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract. Learning capability represents the most outstanding feature of artificial neural network
(ANN). To avail of this particular property of the ANN the authors are trying to form a process
controller for mineral processing of which design can be established free from human expertise. At the
present stage of the development the ANN process controller comprises a standard ANN with three
layers for input, hidden and output activities. In order that the ANN can shape a process controller
the input layer is provided with extra cells to contain the history for several times the retention period,
so that the goodness of control can be evaluated pertaining to the current process dynamics.
The performance of the controller is observed by a process simulator operated under two types
of Gaussian noise. Thus, Gaussian pink noise is used to mimic the actual process disturbance, while
the particle size monitor is assumed to pick up an observation noise which is Gaussian and white. It
was proved that the ANN learns itself even though slowly only with the minimum teaching by human
expertise. Although the quality of control is not so high at the present stage of development, the
impact of the controller requiring less design skills will be of immense value, particularly when the
neuro-computing technology with higher performance is realized in future.

Keywords. process control; neural network; back propagation; learning method; mineral processing.

INTRODUCTION
The authors has been investigating the control techniques for
mineral processing using several types of computing meth-
ods, such as expert system, fuzzy logic and artificial neural
network (ANN). These new methods which have been stud-
ied are expected to have great possibility for automatic con-
trol in practice. Especially the authors consider that ANN
will be able to realize the control system which can auto-
matically adapt itself to such a process for which designing
of the control system is difficult without learning capability.
We have tried to adapt ANN to a control system of mineral
processing from the following three reasons.
(1) Mineral processing is an ill-defined and complex process
whose operating conditions are liable to frequent changes. So
it is difficult to design a control system of mineral processing
by the methods based on mathematical modeling. ANN can
be utilized to construct process models and controllers.
(2) The time constant for most of the mineral processing op-
erations are not so small. Considering the current calculation
speed of small computers ANN controllers are supposed to
be rapid enough to comply with them.
(3) In general mineral processing operations are known to as-
sume self-regulating property. At the first stage when learn-
ing of ANN is not complete ANN may likely to control im-
properly. It will be possible to circumvent this disadvantage
of ANN by temporarily switching over to manual control
or auxiliary (non-ANN) controller to maintain the process
within a tolerable conditions.
The study of the process control by ANN is still at the first
stage. Implementation of ANN requires a very large memory
space and a huge amount of simple arithmetic operations.
However, the integration density of semi-conductor memories
and the computer speed has been increased steadily for the
last few decades, and we forecast the trend will continue
further on.
In this situation it seems worthwhile to work on the appli-
cation of ANN for process control, in particular to explore
how to obtain the teaching signal for ANN. In the problems
such as pattern recognition it is obvious that teaching signal
can be secured in a large range of applications. In auto-
matic control, however, it is not so simple. In this paper we
will propose a configuration of the ANN controller system
and the learning method for optimal control. The result is
shown in an application of a grinding circuit simulator.
NEURAL N E T W O R K
Most of the mineral processes involve time delays; hence they
are quoted as dynamic processes. In order to learn the dy-
namics of the process, the ANN must be provided with extra
neurons to represent the history for several times the reten-
tion period (Fig.l). Not only the ANN process model but
also the ANN process controller requires these extra neurons.
Learning of the process dynamics is substantially equivalent
to making a simulator of the process. The learning of the
simulator establishes the relationship between the input and
the output of the process. This simulator can be used in the
later time to tune the controller.

167
 ANN has coincided fairly well with that of the actual pro-
cess. Ten neurons are used as the input layer of this ANN
to approximately cover the retention period of the process.
The hidden layer consists of 100 neurons, while the output
layer has only one neuron. About 70,000 sets of data have
been used until the status of Fig.3 was reached, where learn-
ing appeared to be nearly complete. Step responses of the
ANN and the process are shown in Fig.4. We can see that
the dynamics of the ANN after learning is compatible with
the process.

Fig.5 shows again the step response of the ANN and that of
the process with dead time plus first-order delay. The accu-
racy of the response from the ANN appears to be inferior to
that of Fig.4. This is probably because several neurons in
the input layer have been ineffectual according to the dead
time, which otherwise should have been served to represent
the process dynamics. To avoid this problem it may be ap-
propriate to use additional neurons.

Figure 1: Configuration of ANN.

uf1VVf\I
It is not so difficult to organize the learning mechanism of the
process dynamics, since a reliable teaching signal is available.
The weighting factors of the ANN system can be corrected
according to the error of the calculated output values against
those of the real process.

The learning process of-the simulator is shown in Fig.2 and \

y
3. Input and output data of the objective process are given
to the input layer, and the response of the process is used as
a teaching signal. \ !
\
The responses of the process and the ANN look like inter-
acting each other, reflecting that ANN is trying to mimic

error

Figure 3: Learning of the process simulator (final stage).

Figure 2: Learning of the process simulator (early stage).

the actual process dynamics in the early stage of learning

as shown in Fig.2. The difference between the two is more
distinct, when we observe the errors (lower diagram). Fig.3 Figure 4: Step response of simulator
shows the final stage of learning, where the response of the with a second-order time delay.

168
The learning of control actions by the ANN according to
the existing controller is similar to that of the simulator,
or the process model, as described above. Fig.6 shows the
result of the learning which was taught by a PID controller.
It is indicated that the ANN acts as a controller, though
unfavorable results are observed in some areas. This may be
attributed to the shortage of the number of neurons.
From these results it becomes clear that we can obtain the
process simulator or the controller which simulates the dy-
namics of the process or the existing controller using simple
ANN with three layers and additional neurons to deal with
the dynamics. However, the capability of the controller can
not surpass that of the controller which was used for teach-
ing. In the next section We will discuss how to optimize the
dynamics the controller by the ANN.
Figure 5: Step response of simulator
with a dead time and a first-order time delay.
Figure 6: Step response of neuro-controller
with a second-order time delay.
OPTIMIZATION
OF THE ANN CONTROLLER
We have introduced two phases of learning for the ANN as a
controller. First phase is the learning of basic dynamics for
the ANN which has no bit of knowledge yet. Second phase is
169
optimizing the dynamics of ANN. The procedure of teaching
the dynamics to the ANN controller is shown in Fig.7.
On the first phase the ANN should acquire the outline of
the controller dynamics. This phase is useful for the inno-
cent ANN to converge rapidly. In order for ANN to learn
the controller dynamics it is beneficial to have an existent
controller from which ANN can get the teaching signal. If
no controller is readily available, a virtual controller must be
prepared in the system for temporary use. This virtual con-
troller is made to tune the ANN controller using the process
simulator which is mentioned above. The purpose of this
virtual controller is to determine the basic dynamics of the
controller against the process being considered. To this end
the simplest model of the controller is sufficient, but it is not
necessary to optimize this controller completely.
On the second phase the ANN controller must be optimized
step by step. The optimization is carried out using the ANN
simulator and a kind of evaluating function. For example,
sum of squares of the process errors against the set point will
be an index value of the badness of control. The ANN con-
troller can be tuned so that the badness can be minimized.
In order that the ANN controller can be optimized in this
way it is essential to have a dependable process simulator.
generate and tune
temporary controller
learn control dynamics learn control dynamics
from from
the temporary controller the existent controller
learn process dynamics
T
optimize control dynamics
using the simulator
and the evaluating function
T
C END J
Figure 7: Teaching process of the control dynamics.
SYSTEM COMPOSITION
Our system contains two sets of ANN's. One of them is
used for modeling the objective process, and the other serves
as the adaptable controller. In order to enable calculating
the responses of the ANN's quickly, all of the data of the
ANN's should be located on the computer memory. If an
ANN consists of Z, M and TV neurons for input, hidden
(intermediate) and output layers respectively, {(L+M+N)+
( Z * M + M * N ) + (.M+iV)}*4 bytes of memories are required
to keep the data of all the neurons, connecting factors and
thresholds. In addition to this {(Z*Af+/* JV) + (Af+)}*4
bytes of memory are required to execute back propagation
by the momentum method. Furthermore, for the calculation
of these matrices or vectors, the work area size will come up
to about 3 times the largest matrix size.
Our system is written in FORTH language on a personal
computer. The processor of the computer is i80386 (20MHz
clock cycle) with a co-processor for crunching real numbers
and a 9M byte memory. This FORTH system itself has been
developed by the authors to realize the ANN system with a
large number of neurons. Theoretically our system is capable
of the memory area up to 2G bytes.
SIMULATION
A grinding circuit simulator was used for testing the per-
formance of the ANN control system consisting of the ANN
model and the ANN controller (Fig.8). In this set up the
80% size of the product is controlled by changing the feed
rate. The mill model consists of 5 completely mixed sections
with back mixing flow simulating the diffusive flow of mate-
rials through the mill axis. The feed ore is assumed to be a
mixture of two types of ores having different hardness. The
proportions of the soft and hard ores were assumed to change
around 30 and 70% respectively. The variation was assumed
to be represented by a pink noise whose auto-correlation
function can be indicated by an exponential function of time
difference. It was also assumed that the particle size monitor
picks up an observation noise which is Gaussian and white.
Figure 8: Grinding circuit model.
[/urn]
55 C
50
45
[]
55
B process simulator for tuning the ANN controller. However,
50
45
[%]
40
30
20
0 1 2 3 4 5 [k]
Figure 9: Results of the simulation.
170
Fig.9 shows one of results of the simulation. Line A indicates
the trace of the proportion of the soft ore. Line B is the re-
sults without control. Line C is the results with the ANN
controller. As the figure shows, the system remains relatively
stable, when the magnitude of the observation noise against
the average product size is 5%. When the noise level is in-
creased over 10%, the ANN controller could not control the
process any more. This means that the ANN model could
not learn the dynamics of process correctly at this high noise
level.
DISCUSSION
On the process of developing the control system by ANN's,
several problems have become apparent. A few considera-
tions about these problems will be discussed below.
Determination of the number of neurons
in the hidden layer
To take the case of the XOR problem, as the simplest ex-
ample, two neurons are required theoretically for the hidden
layer to form the ANN. We should be able to calculate the
exclusive-or against a pair of input data with this ANN. Nev-
ertheless, the learning of this function is not always success-
ful. According to the initial values of the ANN parameters,
it can require an extremely large number of repetitions until
it gets converged. It was proved that the converging speed
of the ANN depends on the combination of the signs of the
initial values, while the setting of the weighting parameters
(determined with random numbers) are influential as well.
In order to avoid the unfavorable effect of the initial values,
it was found to be advantageous to increase the number of
neurons in the hidden layer. We used 100 neurons in the
hidden layer to obtain satisfactory results.
Choice of the correction method
At first appearance the collective correction method seems
to assure minimum cycles of corrections required, and hence
the maximum rate of learning in the back propagation of the
ANN. It turned out, however, that the collective correction
method presents only a smaller degree of correction per cy-
cle compared to the successive correction method, because
of the averaging effect specific to the former. On the other
hand, introduction of the momentum method proved to be
beneficial for increasing the converging speed. Based on the
above results observed we decided to use the successive cor-
rection method in combination with the momentum method
in our system.
Finding the optimal manipulated value
for the ANN controller
We need to know the optimal manipulated value using the
the proper value of correction may only be obtained a later
time using some kind of an evaluating function. It has been
mentioned above that the process simulator is available to
search for the optimal value. Iteration is required to find out
the optimal value. It takes too much time for this calculation,
however. Instead of this, only three times of simulation was
performed in our system to acquire the approximate value for
correction. The solution can be expected to improve itself in
the repetition of learning.
Availability of the teaching signal
by perturbation
It should be noted that the results shown in Figs.2 and 3
are obtained from the simulations on the computer with a
random and extensive change in the input level. On the con-
trary the state of real process will not change so drastically
as shown there. Hence it is anticipated that much longer
time is necessary for the learning of the simulator after the
actual process. In this context we will have two problems:

(1) In the actual process the extent of state change occurs

only in a limited degree in the normal operating conditions,
and ANN may lack the knowledge necessary to cope with
the extraordinary conditions where ANN controllers are ex-
pected to work properly, too.

(2) The signal obtained from the actual process are stained
by noise. The influence of noise on the learning efficiency
must be examined. If the effect of noise is fatal, we will have
to devise any possible means to cope with this problem.

These problems are not yet studied, but remain as the task
to be examined further in future.

On-line adaptation of ANN

In the simulation of the grinding circuit control shown above

are run after learning of the ANN's is over. Learning of the
controller system consisting of the ANN model and the ANN
controller required about 10 hours using a personal computer
stated above. No problem will exist for the controller to
continue learning on-line, while it is controlling the actual
process. For the combination of a small scale control system
studied here and a small computer available today, the 10
hour learning period will be considered as reasonable for real
applications.

CONCLUSION

Application of ANN for process control has been discussed.

The control system developed comprises two sets of ANN's
(the ANN process model and the ANN controller) to be in-
tegrated together to form the entity. Also, Two phases of
learning have been introduced to tune the ANN controller.
In order to deal with the mineral processes involving time
delays the input layers of these ANN's are provided with
extra neurons to hold the time series of data. Simple exam-
ple on mineral process simulation and feed back control with
process disturbance and observation noise indicates that the
ANN can be applicable to on-line process control.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We wish to acknowledge Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific

Research (No. 02452226, 1990) for support of the research
work presented here.

References
[1] T.Inoue and K.Okaya : Modelling of Grinding Circuits for
Simulation Studies, Proceedings, 4th Asian Symposium in
Mineral Processing, Manila, April 1991.

[2] W.T.Miller, R.S.Sutton and P.J.Werbos : Neural Networks

for Control, The MIT Press, London, 1990.

171
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

PROGNOS: A PROTOTYPE EXPERT SYSTEM FOR FAULT

DIAGNOSIS OF THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM OF
LOAD-HAUL-DUMP VEHICLES IN KIRUNA MINE,
LKAB, SWEDEN
N. Vagenas

Division of Mining Equipment Engineering, Lule University of Technology, Lulea, S-95187, Sweden

Abstract. As a consequence of the increasing complexity of

modern mining machinery and systems, more time is consumed
on repair following a breakdown. Equipment breakdowns cause
lengthy and costly delays in the operation of mines. PROGNOS
is a rule-based expert system for fault diagnosis of the
transmission system of Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) vehicles in
Kiruna mine, Sweden. This paper presents the problem
approach and discusses the formulation of the knowledge
base as well as the software implementation. The use of
expert systems for fault diagnosis of mining machinery can
be a cost and time effective approach of minimizing repairs
in the mines.

Keywords. Rule-based expert systems; mining vehicles;

transmission system; fault diagnosis; failure detection.

INTRODUCTION FAULT DIAGNOSIS OF MINING EQUIPMENT

An expert system is a computer program that uses
knowledge and inference procedures to solve
problems that require human expertise for their
solution (Ramani, 1989). Recently, several expert
system applications in mining have been reported
in the literature. Expert systems have been
developed for selection of mining layouts, problem
identification in mining machinery, mining
equipment selection, etc., (Wilke and Seewald,
1989; Atkins and others, 1990; Guo and Xin,
1990; Hrtgen, 1990).
The application of expert systems for fault
diagnosis of mining machinery is considered as
appropriate, since human expertise is generally
required in the solution process of these
problems. Human expertise may be considered as a
combination of intelligence, experience and
intuition. Human expertise can be easily lost
through job transfer, retirement or job
separation. It is a waste of knowledge if human
expertise cannot be captured, documented and
maintained.

During the last few years, Swedish mining
companies have shown an interest in the possible
use of expert systems for maintenance of mining
machinery (e.g. fault diagnosis). Studies in mines
have shown that the maintenance cost both indirect
and direct often constitutes 50-60% of the
equipment cost (Kumar, 1989). Direct costs usually
consist of costs for labor and material. Indirect
costs occur, for instance, due to loss of
production.
It has also been reported that at present, many
Swedish mines are operating with 80% emergency
repairs and 20% planned maintenance (Danielson,
1987). Statistics in a Swedish mechanized mine
indicates that in average 500 to 750 operating
hours per month are lost either due to machine
breakdowns or due to non availability of machines
(Kumar, 1990). In several Swedish mines, the costs
for a machine to stay idle in a repair shop due to
a breakdown can reach the level of 3000 to 5000
SEK/hour per machine (cost estimation in June
1990).
Downtime of mining machinery is considered as a
major cause of reduced production in the Swedish
Mining Industry. Fault diagnosis consumes often
more than 60% of the total repair time of a
machine. Furthermore experienced repairmen in some
Swedish mines foresee that the use of expert
systems may reduce the time duration of a fault
diagnosis process by 20% to 50%.
Expert systems offer the possibilities to capture
and maintain human expertise. Fault diagnosis of
mining equipment generally relies on the
experience and intuition of maintenance personnel.
Furthermore, in some cases, manuals from the
manufacturers contain insufficient or limited
information about faults and fault reasoning.
As it has been indicated by repairmen of
Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) vehicles (Fig. 1) in Swedish
mines, diagnosis of the true cause of a defect may
not be straightforward. For example, a defect
occurring anywhere within the transmission system
of an LHD may have repercussions elsewhere on the
vehicle and leads to secondary defects. Thus, at
first sight it may not be apparent which of the
defects actually initiated the problems.
Therefore, there must be a systematic approach of
analyzing and formalizing failure information to
detect the true cause.
Diagnostic techniques which enable identification
of the true cause of a machine breakdown quickly
and effectively can reduce the repair time and the
associated cost in the mines.
Application of expert systems for fault diagnosis
of mining machinery has been reported in the
literature, see for example, (Patton and others,
1989; Mitchell, 1989; Price and Lewis, 1989;
Bandopadyay and Venkatasubramanian, 1989).

173
The expert systems assist in finding faults for a
machine and in proposing repair-actions for
correcting the faults. The main steps involved in
a diagnostic process and implemented in an expert
system are :
- Fault detection (the expert system attempts to
detect the presence of a fault)
- Fault localization (the expert system attempts
to locate a fault to a sufficiently small
subregion of the system or component)
- Fault identification (the expert system attempts
to identify the fault)
- Fault correction (the expert system suggests
corrective actions to restore the normal
operation of the component or system)
The quality and the performance of an expert
system is mainly dependent upon the type, depth
and breadth of knowledge incorporated in the
knowledge base. Usually, for fault diagnosis of
mining equipment, the following classes of
knowledge can be employed to develop expert
systems :
- Descriptive knowledge which deals with the
hierarchical decomposition of a system - it
identifies and analyzes the structural and
functional modules of the system
- Behavioral knowledge which indicates the normal
and abnormal functionality of the components of
a system - this knowledge is based on
pre-defined failure modes or constraints that
characterize the behavior of a system
- Operational knowledge which describes the
principles of operation of a system or a
component
- Heuristic knowledge which allows a fast
association between symptoms and their most
probable causes, thus avoiding a time consuming
complete reasoning analysis - heuristic
knowledge is often based on empirically
obtained information about fault-cause
relationships and fault priorities
- Diagnostic knowledge which provides information
about methods adapted to diagnose a system
- Maintenance knowledge which provides all the
information relevant to the history of
maintenance of a system, such as symptoms,
corrective actions, chronological order of
fault occurrences, etc.
In general, expert system technology for fault
diagnosis of mining equipment is still in infancy.
At present, most of the literature concentrates on
the technical issues of designing expert systems,
such as knowledge representation, inference
mechanism and user interface. Reports about the
experience of using an expert system in a mine are
still limited. Initiating, planning, carrying out
and completing an expert system project still is
not a straightforward task. Introducing a new
technology carries risks for all the participants
in the project. Thus, careful judgment is required
to select expert system projects.
Developing an expert system involves many tasks
beyond analyzing and solving the problem. These
tasks include :
- Identification of experts and other sources of
expertise in the problem domain
- Acquisition and validation of the required
knowledge
174
- Identification of end-users specifications and
computer facilities
- Selection of appropriate expert system
development tools
- Obedience to time and budget constraints imposed
on the project
Criteria that can be used to select expert system
projects for fault diagnosis of mining equipment
are presented in Table 1, (Efstathiou, 1989).
Table 1. Criteria for selecting expert system
projects for fault diagnosis of mining
equipment.
TABLE 1
Criteria for selecting expert system projects
for fault diagnosis of mining equipment
The task requires expertise
The task is well defined and bounded
The task is decomposable
Algorithmic techniques are not satisfactory
Symbolic representation and reasoning are more
appropriate
Heuristic knowledge is important
Experts are available and willing to help
A payoff is expected by applying the expert
system
The user interface is straightforward
Hardware and software are available
In general, it is necessary for the developer of
an expert system to have sufficient information
about the equipment/component under study. This
demands awareness of the following issues :
- Equipment specifications
- Manufacturer's input concerning the equipment
design characteristics
- History of operation of the equipment in a mine
- Maintenance and repair history of the equipment
in a mine
- Human factors related to the usage of the
equipment in a mine
- Working environment of the equipment
- Economic factors related to the operation and
downtime of the equipment
In general, the application of expert systems for
fault diagnosis of mining equipment can offer to
mining companies a possibility to achieve the
following three goals :
- Effective diagnosis of equipment
- Better education of service personnel in the
mine
- Better understanding of equipment behavior and
performance
For the equipment manufacturers, the development
and use of diagnostic expert systems can result
in :
- Better design of equipment
- Effective use of knowledge about the equipment
inside the company
- Better documentation of the design
characteristics of equipment
- More descriptive service manuals of equipment
for the customers
The Div. of Mining Equipment Engineering at Lule
University, Sweden in close cooperation with the
maintenance division of the iron ore mining
company LKAB in Kiruna, Sweden, has developed a
prototype consultative expert system, (called
PROGNOS), for fault diagnosis of the transmission
system of the TORO 500 LHD model manufactured by
ARA Inc., Finland, see (Vikman, 1990).
A consultative expert system is supposed to give
advice and guidance to the user for solving a
particular problem in a manner similar to
consulting a human expert.
PROBLEM APPROACH
LHD vehicles are used for both loading and
transportation of minerals in underground mines.
The LHDs are economic for haulage on short
distances and can also load trucks or rail cars.
The flexibility of these machines allows the
extraction of irregular orebodies, thereby
improving the recovery of the total ore reserve.
At present the Swedish Mining Industry has a large
number of diesel powered vehicles and a few
electric machines.
The availability and reliability degree of these
machines have a significant importance to the
total productivity of a mine. To apply an
effective fault diagnosis, it is necessary to
understand the failure characteristics of the
equipment. In general, partitioning the equipment
into object categories assists in identifying the
parts of the equipment that require maintenance. A
partitioning procedure can indicate critical items
and identify failure mechanisms (Kumar, 1989).
Thus, the LHD machine can be divided in several
sub-systems (e.g. transmission system, electrical
system, etc.), (Fig. 2 ) . At present, PROGNOS deals
only with the transmission system of a TORO 500
LHD model.
Future upgrades are expected to include knowledge
bases for other sub-systems of the machine (e.g.
hydraulics, electrical system, etc.). There are
several reasons for initiating the development of
the prototype expert system PROGNOS from knowledge
gathered for the transmission system :
- The transmission system is not as complicated as
other sub-systems of an LHD machine (e.g.
hydraulics)
- Documentation of faults in the transmission
system made by the mining company was considered
as adequate and descriptive
- Experienced repairmen in Kiruna mine felt
confident to define and describe faults in the
transmission system
The role of the transmission system is to transmit
the power from the engine to the wheels. The power
is transmitted to a converter through a fibre
pinion. From the converter, the power is
transmitted via an axle to the gear box.
The gear box distributes the power to the front
and back wheels through two cardan axles (Fig. 3 ) .
The power reaches the front differential through a
middle axle and a cardan axle. The power to the
back wheels is transmitted directly from the
cardan axle to the back wheel differential. The
differential distributes the power to the wheels
through the built in planetary gears in the hub
and through the axles, (Vikman, 1990).
175
A common method for representing knowledge in
diagnostic expert systems is by using rules.
PROGNOS has a knowledge base of "If..Then" rules
and typically uses a deductive approach to making
inferences, (Nau, 1983). This approach can be
expressed simply by the syllogism : Given fact "A"
and Rule "A > B" then infer "B".
Using the rule-based deduction method, the
sequential hypothesis-and-test reasoning process
of the human diagnostician is adapted. Given an
initial set of symptoms, the expert system is
supposed to construct a hypothesis about the
causes of these symptoms and then search for
further information in order to arrive at the
fault (Bandopadhyay and Venkatasubramanian, 1989).
KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION
Knowledge acquisition is a critical step in the
design process of an expert system. The process of
knowledge acquisition often creates the biggest
bottleneck in expert system development because of
the difficulty in accessing every piece of
knowledge an expert uses in solving problems
(Mitchell, 1989). The following methods were used
for acquiring and capturing the knowledge in
PROGNOS :
- Study of operations documents (e.g. TORO 500
manual and fault reports written by repairmen in
the mine)
- Interviews with experienced repairmen in the
mine
- Studies of relevant literature (e.g. textbooks
for vehicle transmission systems)
Figure 4 displays the approach taken for knowledge
acquisition. The fault reports taken into
consideration deal with 9 electric powered and 17
diesel powered T0R0 500 LHD models in Kiruna mine.
Approximately 2300 fault reports for LHDs have
been investigated for the period Jan-Sept. 1989.
400 of these reports were found to be related to
problems in the transmission system.
After a thorough analysis and classification, 96
faults were identified and 102 repair actions were
distinguished. In the discussions with experienced
repairmen in the mine, questions were asked to
them for determination of important symptoms and
faults. As knowledge and information were
gathered, it became possible to start formalizing
rules. These rules and the associated knowledge
were separated into modules which represent
components or parts of the transmission system
(Fig. 5 ) .
The repairmen also helped in validating and
verifying the contents of the knowledge base. The
knowledge base for the transmission system of the
TORO 500 LHD model is constructed mostly from the
knowledge derived from the fault reports in the
mine and the discussions with the repairmen. The
vehicle's manual provided limited information.
SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION
Once the knowledge base is formalized, a suitable
Expert System Building Tool (ESBT) must be chosen.
The choice of ESBT is guided by the nature of the
knowledge representation. In PROGNOS, the
knowledge is captured and represented by
"If..Then" rules.
Thus, an ESBT that is user-friendly in
constructing "If..Then" type of knowledge bases is
preferable. Other important considerations are the
hardware requirements, software portability,
maximum number of rules, high level language
interface, graphics interface, interface with
databases and spreadsheets.
PROGNOS was developed using lst-CLASS as ESBT
(Hapgood, 1987). This ESBT offers a high degree of
intuitive presentation of the knowledge base. This
results in a rapid development and testing of a
prototype knowledge base. lst-CLASS also allows
external text and graphics supporting programs to
be activated by the rules when they are triggered.
During consultation, for each piece of advice
given, the user of lst-CLASS can graphically trace
the rule logic and underlying data that leads to
that specific advice, as well as, retrieve
detailed explanations if it is desirable. The use
of this particular ESBT does not imply a personal
endorsement by the author.
PROGNOS has already been tested in Kiruna mine. So
far the tests have been encouraging. The advices
given by the system for fault diagnosis are
considered by the repairmen in the mine as logical
and reasonable.
CONCLUSION
PROGNOS is a prototype rule-based expert system
for fault diagnosis of the transmission system of
TORO 500 LHD models in Kiruna mine, Sweden.
PROGNOS can be considered as one of the first
attempts to explore the potential and limitations
of applying expert systems for fault diagnosis of
mining machinery in the Swedish Mining Industry.
Artificial intelligence is an emerging technology
in the field of computer applications. Expert
systems as a branch of artificial intelligence can
be used in applications where imitation of human
intelligence and reasoning process is required.
Fault diagnosis of mining machinery is a research
field where expert systems can be successfully
applied, since human experience and intuition are
important for diagnosing equipment faults.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to thank the staff of the
maintenance division of Kiruna mine, LKAB, for
their cooperation and encouragement. Thanks are
also acknowledged to Gruvteknik 2000 for the
financial support.
REFERENCES
Atkins, A. S. , Ren, T., Singh, R. N. (1990).
Applications of Expert Systems in Engineering
Risk Assessment in Decision Support,
Proceedings of the 22nd APCOM Symposium.
Berlin, Germany, September 1990,
ISBN 3-7983-13741.
Bandopadhyay, S. and Venkatasubramanian, P.
(1989). A Fault Diagnostic Expert System Model
for Longwall Shield Support, Proceedings of
the 21st APCOM Symposium. Las Vegas, USA,
ISBN 0-87335-0790.
Danielson, B. (1987). Study of Maintenance
Problems in Swedish Mines, Study Report, (in
Swedish), Idhammar Konsult AB, Sweden.
Efstathiou, J. (1989). Expert Systems in Process
Control. Longman, ISBN 0-582-04267-4.
176
Guo, W. and Xin, J. (1990). Two Applications of
Expert Systems in Underground Coal Mining,
Proceedings of the 22nd APCOM Symposium.
Berlin, Germany, September 1990,
ISBN 3-7983-13741.
Hapgood, W. (1987). lst-CLASS Expert System.
Instruction Manual, Programs in Motion Inc.,
10 Sycamore Road, Wayland, MA 01778, USA.
Hrtgen, F. (1990). Determination and Presentation
of Escapeways by Combination of CAD and Expert
systems, Proceedings of Uie 22nd APCOM
Symposium. Berlin, Germany, September 1990,
ISBN 3-7983-13741.
Kumar, U. (1989). Maintenance strategy for
mechanized mining systems, Licentiate Thesis,
Div. of Mining Equipment Eng., Lule
University of Technology, Lule, Sweden,
1989:OIL, ISSN 0280-8242.
Kumar, U. (1990). Reliability Analysis of
Load-Haul-Dump Machines, Doctoral Thesis,
Div. of Mining Equipment Eng., Lule
University of Technology, Lule, Sweden,
1990:88D, ISSN 0348-8373.
Mitchell, J. (1989). A Knowledge-based System for
Hydraulic Maintenance of a Continuous Miner,
Proceedings of the 21st APCOM Symposium. Las
Vegas, USA, ISBN 0-87335-0790.
Nau, D. (1983). Expert computer systems,
Computers. February 1983, pp. 63-85.
Patton, S.B., Novak, T., Sanford, R.L. (1989).
Electrical Fault Diagnosis Using Expert
Systems, Mining Engineering. Sept. 1989.
Price, A.E. and Lewis, D.C. (1989). Reducing
Machine Downtime with Consultative Expert
Systems, Mineral Resources Engineering
Journal. 1989, Vol 2, No 2, pp. 97-107.
Ramani, R.V. (1989). Expert Systems in Mining
Engineering - An introductory review,
Proceedings of the 21st APCOM Symposium. Las
Vegas, USA, ISBN 0-87335-0790.
Vikman, K. (1990). Development of an Expert System
for Fault Diagnosis of the Transmission System
of a TORO 500 LHD Model in LKAB's Underground
Mine in Kiruna, Examensarbete 1990:01 E (in
Swedish), Div. of Mining Equipment Eng., Lule
University of Technology, Lule, Sweden.
Wilke, F.L. and Seewald, M. (1989). The
Fundamentals for an Expert System, Designed to
Assist the Layout Planning of Face Operations
for an Underground Coal Mine, Proceedings of
the 21st APCOM Symposium. Las Vegas, USA,
ISBN 0-87335-0790.
 An electric LHD. Tramming capacity 8000 kg.
3
Bucket size 3.2-5.4 m . Electric motor 132 kW.
Cable length 210 m. Length 9.5 m, width 2.4 m,
height 2.4 m.

Fig. 1. An LHD machine.

LHD Machine

Engine Hydraulics Brakes Transmission Tyres/Wheels Body

Static Dynamic
parts parts

Engine Cylinder Piston Crank shaft Bearings

block head

r 1 r 1

Bucket hydraulics Others such as steering, etc.

Tanks Pumps Tubes Filters

Piston Valves Seals

Fig. 2. An example for partitioning an LHD machine to identify

significant items, after (Kumar, 1989).

1. Front wheel axle 3. Middle axle 5. Gear

2. Cardan axle 4. Back wheel axle 6. Converter

Fig. 3. The transmission system of a TORO 500 LHD model manufactured

by ARA Inc., after (Vikman, 1990).

177
 EXPERTS OPERATIONS DOCUMENTS RELEVANT LITERATURE

INTERVIEWED BY
MODELLER OR INFORMATION EXTRACTED AND
KNOWLEDGE ENGINEER CAPTURED BY MODELLER

MODELLER COLLATES DATA AND INFORMATION AND THEN FORMULATES

RULES AND RELATIONSHIPS AMONG PARAMETERS AND VARIABLES

PROTOTYPE KNOWLEDGE BASE

Fig. 4. An approach for knowledge acquisition.

TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

ENGINE FIBRE PINION CONVERTER CARDAN AXLE GEAR FRONT

Flywheel Throttle unit

Crankshaft Hydraulic regulator
Stator Gear box
Turbine wheel Loading pump
Pump wheel Converter
Turbine axle Oil radiator
Free wheel Filter
House Magnetic regulator group

CARDAN AXLE MIDDLE AXLE CARDAN AXLE DIFFERENTIAL

Sunwheel
Planetary wheel
Bearing
Axle tap

Fig. 5. The knowledge base is constructed by partitioning components

or parts of the transmission system of the vehicle, after
(Vikman, 1990).

178
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

THE SIMULATION OF ILL-DEFINED METALLURGICAL

PROCESSES USING A NEURAL NET TRAINING
PROGRAM BASED ON CONJUGATE-GRADIENT
OPTIMIZATION
T.J. van der Walt*, J.SJ. van Deventer* and E. Barnard**
^Department of Metallurgical Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa
**Computer and Electronics Engineering Department, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa

Abstract. Most metallurgical processes are ill-defined in some way owing to their complex natures.
This causes difficulty to construct adequate phenomenologicai models for such processes. It is
shown in this paper how neural nets (NN's) can be used to model ill-defined reaction systems by
using a typical metallurgical process, such as carbon-in-leach (CIL).

Multi-dimensionality (a high number of system variables), which causes problems for modelling, is
investigated. It is then illustrated how a NN trained with noisy data can be employed to reduce
dimensionality by following two approaches. Firstly, the influences of the system variables are
quantified with a perturbation analysis technique. Less significant variables are then eliminated from
a specific part of the operating domain. Secondly, the NN is used successfully to identify
mathematical relations between system variables and functions. If a relation is known, it can be
expressed mathematically. The ill-defined process domain thus shrinks further. Eventually the non-
defined variable space has a low dimensionality. The relations between functions and these variables
can more easily be learned with NN's. Such a simplified NN-model is then incorporated in a dynamic
simulator to predict the performance of the reactor system, and compares extremely well with a
phenomenologicai model simulator. A new approach to conduct process identification on the basis
of continuous data is also proposed.

Keywords. Adsorption, multi-dimensionality, neural nets, perturbation analysis.

INTRODUCTION to be a promising modelling tool to cover the

The problem with most unit operations and metallurgical
processes is that they are ill-defined in some way. This
places an obligation on the modelling engineer to
construct adequate mathematical models to be fully
representative of the whole system. In weakly-defined
systems, such models are usually domain-specific and
unreliable. The carbon-in-leach (CIL) process will be used
here to illustrate the proposed theory of neural net (NN)
modelling.
Recently KBS has been applied increasingly in treating ill-
defined problems, especially in the chemical industry.
Reuter, Van Deventer and Van der Merwe (1991)
explained the application of KBS to the simulation of CIP-
and CIL-circuits. From batch reactor simulations, they
constructed system variable profiles (such as gold
concentration and gold-loading-on-carbon profiles) which
were coupled with the kinetics of the adsorption and
leaching processes through a data base.
The search for a technique which has the ability to analyze
a "black-box" system effectively is still continuing. Such a
technique should be able to construct a mapping between
system variables and parameters so that this relational
mapping can be implemented as a "black-box" model.
Most importantly, it should have the ability to learn
relations within those system domains which cannot
readily be modelled by means of conventional techniques.
The connectionist network-approach studied here seems
abovementioned gaps in the metallurgical modelling toolkit.
A further major problem for any modelling expert is the
question of multi-dimensionality. The amount of
information (such as system data points) required to
model a process adequately, increases exponentially with
a rise in the number of process variables, which in turn
has an influence on the process performance. In order to
explain this, consider a function / to be oepicied on an m-
dimensional variable space Rm. If i/j is the average
number of data points necessary within the j t h dimension
to represent the whole system sufficiently, the minimum
number of data points needed will be
m
p - , W
/-1
It should now be clear that the addition of every single
dimension will cause an exponential decay in information
contained by a specific set of information for a system.
This problem will also be addressed using the CIL-
example. Also, the process of training a NN-model is
much more complex for a system of higher dimensionality,
owing to an increase in complexity of the total mapping
with every additional variable. It will be shown how
automated perturbation analysis can be performed by
means of a trained NN and its training data set in order to
quantify the degree of influence of the separate process
variables on the different function surfaces. Having done

179
so, variables which are identified as "low-key" variables
within a certain domain of the system, can be eliminated
and dimensionality is reduced accordingly.
DIRECT MODELLING OF A
CONTINUOUS REACTOR
In practice a model compiled on batch data needs, almost
without exception, to be adjusted considerably if it is to be
incorporated in a simulator for a continuous system.
Hence, it is proposed here that process identification
should be conducted preferably on the basis of continuous
data
The dynamics of a continuous reactor can be described
by performing material, energy and momentum balances
over the reactor. A typical material balance equation for
substance X in a CSTR is:
-f = ,-Xou,* f P)
/ represents the reaction (s) which take place within the
reactor. This reaction term can be expressed in terms of
the other three terms of the latter equation:
The terms on the righthand side of equation 3 should be
measurable so that / can be calculated with this
expression. At the same instant when / is determined,
some other process variables which might probably have
an influence on / , are evaluated as well and combined
with / to form a system data point. All such data points
are put together to make up an information data set, which
can be used by the modelling engineer to develop a model
in some way or another. In the case of a NN modelling
approach, this data set is employed as a "training set" by
a NN training program to learn the relations between the
different process variables and functions.
NEURAL NETS
Various NN-topologies have been proposed. However,
recent success in connectionist network research is mainly
attributed to the achievements in multilayer perceptrons
with backpropagation training algorithms. The architecture
and training algorithm of the three-layer perceptron used
here will now be discussed briefly.
NN-architecture
Figure 1 illustrates the NN used for the purpose of this
paper. The three-layer perceptron consists of three layers
of nodes, viz. (1) an input layer, (2) a single hidden layer
and (3) an output layer. Nodes of adjacent layers are
connected and these connections quantified with weights.
The weight matrix of a trained NN contains the information
about a system under investigation. Each node is
characterized by an activation function (linear or sigmoidal
in this case). During a feedforward calculation of the NN,
the values for the system variables as contained in a
training data point, are fed as inputs to the input nodes.
Each system variable is associated with a different input
node. An additional input node, the bias node with a
constant value of 1, provides extra degrees of freedom
which enables a fitted curve to be moved up or down in
the variable space. The activities of the input nodes are
180
Fig. 1: Architecture of a three-layer perceptron
calculated by their activation functions, which are linear in
this case. They simply take the values of the system
variable inputs. The inputs to the hidden and output
nodes are calculated by adding the products of the
activities of all nodes in the previous layer with the
corresponding weights of the connections which attach the
separate nodes in the previous layer to the specific node.
The activities of the hidden nodes are calculated with the
sigmoidal squashing function (act = 1/(1+exp(-input))),
while the output nodes are linear again. The outputs of
the NN are equal to the activities of the output nodes.
Training a Neural Net
The training process of NN's is an important part of NN-
research. It involves optimizing a weight matrix of a NN so
that the NN will memorize the mapping between a number
of system variables and functions. The backpropagation
algorithm, as described by Rumelhart, Hinton and Williams
(1986), is used by the NN training program, which
incorporates the conjugate gradient (CG-) optimization
algorithm with restart procedures of Powell (1977) as
optimization method. During each training iteration all
weights of the NN are adjusted in such a way as to
decrease the value of an objective function. Most NN
training programs employ the LMS-error function as
objective function and the net used here is no exception.
Mainly two steps can be identified during each iteration of
training, viz.
1. determining the error-weight gradients of each
weight in the network by presenting all training
examples once to the net;
2. adjusting the weight matrix by means of an
optimization method.
The first step in calculating the error-weight gradients (step
1) is performed in the following substeps, for each training
example respectively:
(i) A training example is fed to the input layer. The
activities of all nodes in the net are calculated
during a feedforward step as described in previous
paragraphs.
(ii) The value of the error function at each output node
is calculated.
(iii) During a backward sweep the error-weight
gradients throughout the whole weight space are
determined via the procedure of backpropagation.
It is vitally important that an effective optimization method
be used during step 2. The CG-method is usually able to
 locate a minimum of a multivariate function much faster Gold balance on carbon for the / t h stage:
than the momentum algorithm which is customarily
employed with backpropagation. Furthermore, its memory
usage is in the order of N (number of weights) locations. W,- Q
SPC<!M
Also important to note is that the CG-technique eliminates dt (e, +e 0 )
the choice of critical parameters, such as the learning rate (5)
+4
and momentum parameters of the momentum algorithm.
On the other hand, like all gradient descent optimization (^>
techniques, the CG-algorithm can converge into local
minima, which is a major drawback.
Gold balance on ore for the / t h stage:

dGj
MODELLING A TYPICAL
METALLURGICAL PROCESS
M,
dt 7T^ G *
(e, +e_ )

<V-1
Qfs,.,PoGM (6)
A known phenomenological model for the CIL-process +e
was used to generate data points during a single
K, H>
simulation run of a continuous CIL simulator for a 5-stage ^ V O ^ f l , * *
cascade. These data points were determined at
consecutive time steps for all 5 stages in the cascade, and
the data points represented a very broad and practical
range of the CIL-variable space. It constituted a training The volumetric flow rate of the overflow slurry stream (Qfs)
set which could be used to train a NN-model for the CIL- can be calculated as follows:
system. It is shown here how a NN-model for a specific (7)
O, I Of
ore and carbon type can be developed and refined by
analyzing the training set, quantifying the influence of the
different variables and by reducing the dimensionality Q f is the voiurnetric flow rate of the siurry input to the first
accordingly. stage. During the intervals when no carbon transfer takes
place, Q s is non-existent and Q fs equais Qf for all stages.

-,, f2 and l3 are the kinetic reaction terms and are

described by the following equations according to the film
diffusion model for adsorption and an empirical expression
for the process of leaching:
6k,W,
{CrCs) (8)
Pc<*c

-k,M,(QrQrf (9)

1 , Qr
(10)
- (Wa)
Last stage]
N
El u ted A Freundlich isotherm describes equilibrium at the carbon
carbon
4
Q* surface, so that

Fig. 2: Schematic diagram of the CIL-cascade cs - <-jr (11)

where A and n are the equilibrium paran'raters, specified to

The mass balances of the gold in the different phases are
described by equations 4 to 6 and were constructed for
the cascade illustrated in Fig. 2. With the exception of the
first and last reactor stages, these balance equations are
applicable for each intermediate stage in the CIL-cascade,
as portrayed schematically in Fig. 2. C is the gold
concentration in water, q represents the gold loading on
the carbon and G the degree of gold in the ore.
Volumetric fractions for water (/), carbon (c) and ore (o)
are expressed by e.
Gold balance in liquid phase for the / th stage:
s CM
(4)
be 6 and 0.2 respectively for the specific carbon. Further
specifications of the carbon is a density (pc) of 900 kg.nrf3
and an average particle diameter of 1.4mm. The
adsorptive and leaching coefficients (kf & k,) are assumed
to remain constant at 10"5m.sec"1and 1.2 kg ore .g Au " 1 .sec" 1
respectively. The grade of gold in the ore at infinity (G")
was specified to be 8x10" 6 g Au .kg ore " 1 .
During a typical simulation run with the phenomenological
model simulator, fv f2 and f3 were calculated and the
values of C, q, G, M (mass of ore in the reactor) and W
(mass of carbon in the reactor) registered together with
the three reaction terms. At random vaiuas for M (400-500
tons) and W (between 10 and 25 tons) vi/ere generated at
each time step for every stage. This was done at fixed
reactor volumes of 750m 3 for all stages. The values of f-\,
f2 and f3 of these data points (variable-function pairs with
5 input variables and 3 output functions) were then
randomly corrupted with 20% Gaussie. noise. The first
training set thus contained noisy data which is typical of an

181
industrial system. After scaling the values of the data
points, this training set was employed to train a NN which
in turn was used to perform perturbation analyses on the
training data set.
Training the Neural Net
It is important largely for three reasons to scale the input
and output values of the variable and function values.
Firstly the input node activities of the NN should be
bounded so that the weights between the inputs of the
sigmoidal hidden nodes are sensible (their absolute values
should not be too large). This will cause extremely slow
training convergence. Secondly it is imperative that the
input values to the net are of the same absolute order.
During training each weight is adjusted according to the
overall smallest error-weight gradient. The error-weight
gradient is directly proportional to the magnitude of the
input node according to backpropagation. A very small
input node will thus prevent the weight that connects it to
the hidden layer, to make a significant contribution to the
objective function and will slow down the training process.
Thirdly, whilst learning is complicated if highly curved
function surfaces should be found, NN's can easily learn
smooth relations.
For these reasons, the values of the input-output pairs are
scaled as illustrated in Fig. 3. The variables C and Q
varied over 3 to 4 orders of magnitude (0.001 to 10)
and were effectively scaled logarithmically. In order to do
comparable perturbation analyses the range of all scales
variables was specified to be between approximately 4 and
-4. NN's with activation functions such as this seem to
control such input ranges effectively. All variables were
scaled accordingly.
Six NN's with 12 hidden nodes each and different random
weight matrices at the start of the training runs, were
trained on a 2000 noisy data point training set constructed
as described earlier. The training results are displayed in
Table 1. From these results it is clear that NN's handle
noise well. The average absolute errors (normalized as a
% of 4), when compared to the "true" scaled
phenomenological model calculations for the input variable
values in the training set, show that the trained neural nets'
predictions of ^, f2 and f3 are much closer to the desired
scaled values as is the case for the noisy scaled function
Fig. 3: NN (A) trained on noisy data for the CIL-process
182
TABLE 1 Training Results of 6 NN's converged upon
by a Training Set with 20% Gaussian noise on f v f2 & f3
- (all nets have 12 hidden nodes, but different random weight
matrices at the start of the training runs)
Number of training Average absolute error normalized as %
iterations of 4 |
Noisy data NN-predictions \
1567 3.34 1.57
1106 3.22 1.48
3455 3.56 1.20
2825 4.21 1.52
3214 3.21 1.31
1918 3.67 1.47
2348a 3.54a 1.42a I
values. Note that these errors were calculated as the
average absolute differences between the specific scaled
function values and the model-predicted scaled function
values ("true" scaled values) for all training data points and
over all three output nodes. The number of training
iterations is also significantly lower than would have been
the case for a training program with a momentum
optimization algorithm.
One of these NN's was used to complete a perturbation
analysis on the training set. This net will be referred to as
NN (A) below.
Automated perturbation analyses
It is very difficult and sometimes impractical to perform a
perturbation analysis on noisy data points gathered from
an industrial system. Some techniques such as factorial
design have been developed to analyse data points of an
ideally defined system. Noisy data limit the applicability of
such linear perturbation techniques.
A NN automatically identifies smooth function curves which
enable its convenient use in perturbation analysis on the
whole system. This is done in the following manner: For
a given variable space coordinate the value of a function
is calculated by the trained NN (note that the scaled NN
output value is scaled back to the function value). This
predicted value is the perturbation midpoint. The scaled
value of a specific variable is now adjusted to both sides
of the midpoint with the same constant absolute value,
while the other variables are kept constant. The values of
the function at these two new coordinates are predicted by
the NN. The absolute differences between the midpoint
and the two discriminate perturbated function values are
divided by the absolute midpoint value, and the average of
these two relative values calculated. This average is
expressed as a percentage (see Table 2). This is done for
all variables (dimensions) for a specific data point. At a
specific location within a system's variable space the
influences of the different variables on the separate
functions are now quantified so that the magnitudes of
these average perturbated values can be compared
directly. Non-significant variables can now be eliminated
from the variable space within the relevant domains.
For this specific CIL-system where the input variables were
scaled between 4 and -4, a low constant value of 0.1 was
selected to adjust a certain variable value to both sides of
the midpoint. The normalization constant is chosen to be
0.1, which will prevent the NN from being used in its highly
inaccurate extrapolative domain. The importance of
 TABLE 2 Perturbation results of five randomly A simplified NN-model
selected data points, using MM (A)
As was expected, the perturbation results showed that f-j,
f2 and f3 are functions of the following variables for specific
1 Data point coordinates \ ore ana carbon types:

data Cx10 3
qx103
Gx10 4
M W forq > 1 g.kg'1:
\\ point C [g.rrT3] [gkg1] [g.kg1] [tons] [tons] | U ^ (0, q, G, M, W) (12)
f2 = e(C, q, W) (13)
1 3340 7380 5.0 450 18
2 750 4610 3.1 forq < 1 g.kg'1:
3 125 1500 2.2
4 26 337 1.6 U = (0, G, M, W) (14)
5 8 91 1.3 f2 = e(C f W) (15)
Average relative perturbation values for U: \ for all values of q:
1 29.25 33.64 14.07 1.57 3.12 f3 = 0(G, M) (16)
2 11.75 3.65 1.62 0.52 2.00
3 29.02 1.14 3.01 0.14 2.90
4 32.82 0.65 11.45 0.48 2.97 Identifying mathematical relations. NN (A) was also used
5 61.91 2.10 35.93 1.84 8.15 | to confirm the linear relationships between f2 & W, as well
as f3 & M. In the case of f2 & W the first three data points
Average relative perturbation values for f9: \
of Table 2 are used to illustrate how this is done. For
1 26.92 22.84 6.16 0.74 1.63 each of these data points the value of W was varied within
2 10.05 1.47 1.89 0.43 1.62
3 22.68 3.49 0.62 0.33 2.41 its data range, while the values of the other 4 variables
4 23.58 0.57 2.01 0.09 1.96 remained constant. f2 was calculated with NN (A) at
5 24.96 .44 6.02 ! 0.24 2.02 || different l/lZ-values for each data point. These NN-
Average relative perturbation values for f^: \ predictions of f2 were plotted against W for each data point
1 0.32 0.61 1.24 0.15 0.05
in Fig. 4. This figure confirms the direct proportionality
2 0.64 0.55 8.01 0.71 0.05 between f2 and W. The linear curves can be forced
3 0.99 0.27 10.09 0.46 0.28 through the origin, so that f2 can be expressed as follows:
4 0.08 0.19 12.19 0.44 0.09
I 5 0.23 0.68 14.13 0.34 0.13 I
f2 = W.r2, (17)
where r2 = a(C, q) if q > 1.0
scaling all variables to approximately the same range and r2 = a(C) if q < 1.0.
should now be apparent. Perturbation analysis was done
on each data point of the training set for C, q, G, M and W The same procedure was performed for f3 and M, and
consecutively, and their influences on a!l three functions f1s equation 18 displays the simplified functions.
f2 and f3 determined. To illustrate the effectivity of this
proposed technique, 5 randomly chossn data points of the ^3 = M.r3, ( 18 )
training set are used to do perturbation analyses with NN where r3 = (G).
(A). The perturbation results are summarized in Table 2.
It was assumed that some a priori knowledge about the
CIL-system is available. It should be highlighted that the
Perturbation calculations tor tne goic concentration C NN approach that is proposed here does not tend to
show that functions fA and f2 are very sensitive to changes
of C, while C does not have any significant influence on f3. replace all existing modelling techniques and available a
The gold loading q seems to be strongly related to f^ and priori knowledge about the system. This modelling
f2 at high gold-concentrations and -carbon-loadings, but approach should contribute to the modelling toolkit. If it is
loses this effect rapidly towards lower values for these a known fact that the gold mass balance in the liquid
system variables. This corresponds with the model phase is dependent on an adsorption and leaching
predictions generated in terms of the exponential
Freundlich isotherm. Again q has a negligible effect on f3. process, equations 17 and 18 can be combined to
Although the perturbation results for the gold grade G are describe .
less apparent for these 5 data points, it could be shown
that G has higher perturbation values for functions fA and U = M.r3-W.r2 (19)
f3 than for f?. It should be noted that the range of a
specific variable plays a significant role in the order of
magnitude of the perturbation values. For example, M
varies from 0.4-0.5 tons, while C can take on any value
between approximately 0.001 and 10 gA U - m According
to the CIL-phenomenological model, any perturbative
change of a log-scaled C which is done with the same
perturbation constant as employed for a perturbation
analysis on M, the former will register a higher sensitivity
level than for a linearly-scaled M or W. This is the reason
for the lower order perturbation values of M and IV. The
same principle holds for M and W mutually. W spans over
a wider relative range than M. Hance, Table 2 shows that
W has a more significant effect on f2 than on f3, and vice
versa for M. The perturbation results thus conform with all
phenomenological model properties.

Consequently, these results can be used to simplify the

system. G and M are eliminated as variables for f2, while
the same is done with C, q and W in the case of f3. A cut-
off point in the (/-dimension for f2 is identified at q=1. This
is done after realizing the unimportance of q at low q-
values. The simplified NN-system will thus employ two
different NN's for the two separate q-intervals. This is Fig. 4: Relation between f2 and W
described later. as predicted by NN (A)

183
 CONCLUSIONS
Gold concentration Ig.m

A new approach to conduct process modelling on the

basis of continuous data collected directly from an
industrial reactor, was proposed and applied to modelling
a CIL-process. Multi-dimensionality as a problem to any
modelling technique, was addressed with different
approaches which utilized a NN trained on noisy data.
The dimensionality was reduced and a very accurate NN-
model could be constructed for the CIL-process. This
I.O model was incorporated in a dynamic simulator which
0 20 40 60 predicted the performance of the CIL-process successfully.
time [hours]
phen. model * NN-model I - * - NN-model II Critics of NN's as modelling technique have valid doubts
if the dimensionality-problem is not solved adequately.
Fig. 5: Comparison between Concentration Profile Further work is conducted to refine and automate the
Simulation Results for stage 1, as predicted by the proposed techniques for reducing dimensionality. This
CIL-simulator incorporating different Models. also includes the design of a new NN-topology which
should be able to reduce dimensionality, even within the ill-
defined variable space.

According to these relationships, a simplified NN-model REFERENCES

(NN-model I) with three NN's (two nets for each q-interval
for r2 and a net for r 3 ) was constructed. These NN's were Powell, M.J.D. (1977). Restart procedures for the
trained on exactly the same training data with the conjugate gradient method. Mathematical
exception that the data set did not contain noise. The Programming, Vol.12, pp. 241-254.
NN's of r3 and r2 (lower q-range) had only one input node Reuter, M.A., Van Deventer, J.S.J., Van der Merwe, I.W.
(the bias node ignored), while the NN for r2 within the (1991). The application of knowledge-based
higher g-range was specified to have two input nodes. systems to the simulation of gold extraction
The dimensionality of the "ill-defined" parts of the system processes. Minerals Engineering, Vol.4, No.2,
has been reduced considerably from a 5-dimensional one pp. 103-119.
to an ill-defined dimensionality of only 2 (function r2 for q Rumelhart, D.E., Hinton, G.E., and Williams, R.J. (1986).
> 1.0) and 1 (functions r 2 for q < 1.0 and r3) by means of Learning internal representations by error
the two techniques described above. NN-model I was propagation, in Rumelhart, D.E. and McClelland,
used to replace the phenomenological model in a dynamic J.L (Eds.), Parallel Distributed Processing, Vol.1,
CIL-cascade simulator. At each time step, f1s f2 and f3 MIT Press, Cambridge.
were calculated by equations 17, 18 and 19.

LIST OF SYMBOLS
Comparing simulation results. Another NN-model (NN-
model If) consisting of three NN's (one net for each of f^, C Gold concentration [g.m" 3 ].
f2 and f3) was trained with the same data points used for of Average diameter of solid particle [m].
training NN-model I. Each one of these NN's had five f Reaction term in mass balance.
input nodes for the five variables as explained. The G Gold grade in the ore [g.kg" 1 ].
reason for splitting up the different output features of NN kf Adsorption constant [m.sec" 1 ].
(A) was to simplify the training processes to find suitable k| Leaching constant [kg.g~1.sec~1].
mappings between f^, f2 and f3 and the 5-dimensional M Mass of ore in a single reactor [kg].
variable space more easily. The training sets for these p Density [kg.nrf 3 ].
NN's were also noiseless. The convergence errors for Q Volumetric slurry flow rate [m 3 .sec" 1 ].
these trained NN's compared well to the convergence q Gold loading on the carbon [g.kg -1 ]
errors of the NN's in NN-model I. NN-model II was also t Time [sec].
incorporated in the simulator and the simulation results of V Reactor volume [m 3 ].
the two NN-model simulators compared to the results of W Mass of carbon in a single reactor [kg].
the phenomenological model-simulator. All NN's of NN-
model I and // were defined to have 7 hidden nodes. The Greek symbols
number of NN-weights (degrees of freedom) of the two
NN-models are thus the same, so that their simulation e Void fractions.
results can be compared as well. Some simulation results
of reactor stage 1 for the three models referred to, are T Residence time of reactor stream [sec].
shown in Fig. 5.
Subscripts
The simulation results with NN-model I are highly superior
to the results of simulations with NN-model II, if compared c Carbon.
to the simulation results of the phenomenological model- I Liquid phase.
simulator, which are viewed to be the standard. This is i i t h reactor or stage.
mainly due to a large reduction in dimensionality and an in Reactor entrance stream.
associated improvement of the model. o Ore.
out Reactor exit stream.

184
Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991
REQUIREMENTS AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT DECISION SUPPORT
SYSTEMS
L.K. Nenonen
National Research Council, Canada
INTRODUCTION
Decision Support Systems (DSS) apply intellectual
and computer technologies to help improve decision-
making (Keen 1986). The DSS concept was con-
ceived in the business sector in the mid-1970s as a
means to better utilise Information Technologies
(IT) to support strategic, financial and investment
decisions. The concept has been adopted in other
sectors to support design and operations manage-
ment decisions and has served to focus attention on
the ultimate objective of all IT applications, namely
to support decision-making. While the literature on
the topic is extensive, work is needed to integrate the
different approaches and IT-based support tools.
Operations management (OM) encompasses those
decision-making tasks requiring human participation
and excludes those decisions taken automatically by
plant process control systems (PCS). However, since
OM decisions can be implemented by the PCS (e.g.
via changed set-points), they must be taken using
knowledge of the PCS. As part of OM, managers set
production, quality and cost targets, planners/sched-
ulers create plans/schedules to meet those targets and
operations supervisors deploy available resources to
implement those plans/schedules. Thus, OM can in-
volve a variety of decisions taken by different deci-
sion-makers with effects over different time dura-
tions. Unexpected events and uncertainties about
their durations (e.g. equipment breakdown and re-
pair) complicate these decision-making tasks, partic-
ularly those of operations supervisors. Union and
safety rules, individual and company rights and ex-
pectations and internal and external environmental
constraints must be respected. Thus, decision-mak-
ing must proceed in a timely way and must consider
many factors.
DSSs for OM (DSS/OM) will need various types of
IT-based tools and user assistance to apply them ef-
fectively for data management and decision-making.
Optimisation models can assist planning and schedul-
ing tasks. Simulation models can assist operations su-
pervisors to evaluate outcomes of their decisions.
Expert System (ES) technology can be used to store
and make available knowledge about how to solve
problems, how to use the IT tools in the DSS to help
solve them and to implement operating rules in the
context of simulation models. While DSS/OMs for
specific plants (e.g. an underground mine, a pulp
and paper mill, a manufacturing plant) must satisfy
specific local requirements, they should also satisfy
requirements considered vital to all DSSs.
185
PLENARY PAPERS
The objective of this paper is to discuss general DSS
requirements, supporting technologies and their ap-
plication for decision support. It is based on a rather
wider than deep look at the literature.
2.0 GENERAL DSS REQUIREMENTS
To develop a specific DSS, explicit knowledge is
needed about the organisation, the types of deci-
sions/problems to be assisted, the types of decision-
makers to be served and their individual prefer-
ences. The DSS should advise users of the strengths
and limitations of the IT-based tools in the context of
the problems to which they are being applied.
Decision-makers apply experience, intuition and
knowledge to analyse a situation and to decide on ac-
tions to be taken. A DSS should encourage the user
to be systematic and to increase the scope of factors
normally considered. The DSS should embody and
reinforce an organisational unity of purpose and of
spirit, a set of 'ethical guideposts' and 'intellectual
quality controls' to improve the consistency and
quality of the decisions (Keen 1986). The impor-
tance of understanding the rationality of the organi-
sation a DSS is to support is also stressed by Guariso
andWerthner (1989).
Sequences of related decisions are often made in the
context of a problem (e.g. A refiner has broken
down. As production supervisor, what should I do
and how and when should I do it?). In situations
where all data and knowledge is available, the deci-
sions could be taken by decision-making processes
coded in the DSS. If some data are unknown or un-
certain or the problem itself is not clearly identified,
the decision-maker will need to play a larger role.
Feelings of powerlessness and of information over-
load can adversely affect the performance of deci-
sion-makers. Providing them with more information
may not improve their performance. Information
overload contributes to the gap between what we
know and what we understand (Wurman 1989). A
DSS should help the decision-makers consider more
facts when making a decisions. It should work in
harmony with and enhance the user's process of 'se-
lective attention' by which he/she controls the vol-
ume of information considered at any moment.
Keen (1986) believed that DSSs should be more 'ac-
tive' (i.e. encourage new, better quality solutions)
and less 'passive' (i.e. encourage acceptance of con-
servative, lower quality solutions). For example, an
optimiser in an 'active' operations management DSS
could suggest a solution which had not occurred to
an operations supervisor.
To cope with our increasingly complex technological
society, people are tending to acquire more spe-
cialised training and experience. Since some DSS
users may be relatively specialised and narrow in
their scope of reasoning, DSSs should encourage, if
not force, users to take a broader perspective of the
potential impacts of decisions being considered.
Changes in staffing, equipment and procedures are
expected to occur with increasing frequency and the
experience available for decision-making is expected
to become less broad and deep. Therefore, a DSS
should be adaptable and its role is likely to increase
in importance with time.
DSS users may not be knowledgeable about the IT
tools in the DSS. A DSS should be designed to min-
imise the likelihood that the user may misinterpret
results it generates. Where the context is well-de-
fined, the DSS could indicate which tool would give
the most reliable results for the decision at hand.
The DSS user-interface influences the degree to
which the intellectual capabilities of the DSS/deci-
sion-maker team can be effectively applied. Coombs
and Alty (1981) list the following independent vari-
ables which define the DSS requirements: (1) The
users job (determines the relevance of the DSS to the
user), (2) The decision-making task (specifies the in-
formation and processing needs), (3) Discretionary
powers of the user (degree to which the user can de-
cide what he does and how he does it), (4) Role of
the user (behaviour expected of the user), (5) Per-
sonal factors (personality, attitudes, motives, intelli-
gence). Based on these independent variables, user
requirements are developed under the following cat-
egories: (1) Task needs (information, information
processing), (2) Support needs (Advise user what the
DSS can do, how to ask it to do it), (3) Expectations
(what the user is prepared to do and not do), (4)
Psychological needs (job interests, autonomy over
decisions). Coombs and Alty also discuss other as-
pects such as structured/unstructured tasks, impact
of DSS design decisions on pre-structuring tasks,
variabilities between users, and focus of control be-
tween the user and the DSS.
Results from a computer users survey (Rushinek and
Rushinek 1986) indicated some important require-
ments to be met by a DSS. It should meet user
expectations re speed and support, give the user con-
trol and a feeling of independence. A DSS should
detect and advise the user when his application is ap-
proaching the capability limits of the DSS and en-
sure that the user never loses control of the system.
186
3.0 BRIEF REVIEW OF SUPPORTING TECH-
NOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS
A DSS combines intellectual and computer technolo-
gies. Intellectual technologies include the knowledge
residing in the decision-maker and in the DSS soft-
ware, including knowledge about how to use the
knowledge for decision-making. Computer technolo-
gies are the hardware/software technologies used to
store information and knowledge and to make these
available for decision-making.
3.1 Intellectual technologies
Much effort has been devoted to determine how hu-
mans observe, think, learn, solve problems and
make decisions and to determine how to code and
use this knowledge via computer-based systems.
McKenney and Keen (1974) categorised the thinking
styles of decision-makers (e.g. preceptive, receptive,
systematic) and developed a model of cognitive style
to describe them. Smith (1988) developed a theory
of problem structuring, assessed a number of meth-
ods and proposed a way to deal with managerial
problems. Lewandowski and Wierzbicki (1988) de-
scribed work at the International Institute for Ap-
plied Systems Analysis (IIASA) on aspiration-based
decision analysis and support. IIASA concluded that
a diversity of model-based tools are needed to sup-
port decision-making, that such tools cannot deal
with all human concerns and that a DSS should pro-
vide an interactive decision analysis tool for learning
about decision problems rather than for selecting
optimal solutions.
Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) categorised the stages
by which adults acquire new skills as follows:
novice, advanced beginner, competent performer,
proficient performer, expert performer. One DSS
role is to make the knowledge of the expert available
to other categories of decision-maker. The expert
performer sees by intuition what needs to be done
and decides how to do it. A DSS should help deter-
mine what needs to be done and help decide how to
do it.
Insights into development and use of DSSs can be
derived from research in man-machine systems on
topics such as task analysis. Harker and Eason
(1985) believe that the functions and roles of IT sys-
tems such as DSSs be defined first, then the informa-
tion requirements. An emphasis on systems analysis
tends to lead to systems ill-suited to perform the
functions needed by their users. The functional
needs of a DSS can be defined by analysing the deci-
sion-making tasks of the potential users. Harker and
Eason describe an 'open-system' task analysis com-
bining functional analysis of the task and an analysis
of user characteristics to determine the system speci-
fications. Payne and Green (1986) describe a goal-
based 'task-action grammar' approach. It involves a
planning step in which the current state is compared
with the goal state and a sequence of simple tasks is
determined that will lead towards the goal state.
Vicente and Rasmussen (1988) describe a cognitive
architecture for DSSs for industrial process control.
As use of automation increases, process operators
deal with higher-level supervisory control or opera-
tions management tasks. Cognitive analysis of such
tasks helps match their characteristics to the appro-
priate level of DSS and to the decision-making
agents: designer, operator, computer. By listing the
designer as a decision-making agent, Vicente et al
highlight the fact that the DSS design will influence
the way decisions are made using it. Vicente and
Rasmussen believe that ES technology could be used
to make the DSS design knowledge available to the
users. They describe six levels of decision support
ranging from data validation and display to com-
pletely automatic decision-making. They have devel-
oped an interface framework to match the DSS to
the process and to the decision-makers.
Gaines (1988) reports that empirically-based design
recommendations for person-computer interfaces
have grown from some 10 rules in the 1970s to over
1000 rules in the 1980s. He described a conceptual
framework as a basis for generalizing such rules and
as a guide for system design. This framework should
encompass both 'causal' and 'anticipatory' models of
human behaviour.
3.2 Information Technologies (IT)
ITs to assist operations management decision-making
include: Database management, modelling (proba-
bilistic, analytical, event-based), mathematical pro-
gramming (Linear, nonlinear, dynamic), Expert Sys-
tems, neural networks, user interfaces, object-ori-
ented design and programming, spreadsheets.
In the context of any given decision-making task,
each type of IT (and its specific form of implemen-
tation in the DSS of concern) has strengths and limi-
tations which should be made known to the decision-
maker. Accuracy and validity of results produced
and the time performance are two concerns. The
DSS should guide the user to the best tool for each
decision in the task at hand.
Some tasks can require combined or sequential use
of different types of tools, for example, expert sys-
tems and simulation models. Problems can arise in
linking particular products together to service com-
bined applications.
Mathematical programming tools are used to seek
optimal solutions to problems that can be cast in the
rather rigid forms required to permit application of
the algorithms. Kribbe et al (1987) developed user-
friendly software to help formulate problems in a
nonlinear programming form and an algorithm to
transform the NLP into sub-problems solvable by
conjugate gradient methods. Shaw et al (1984) de-
veloped a user interface for an optimisation model
which included a model management system, a dia-
logue module and an inferencing module to explain
model results. Nambiar et al (1988) developed a
187
DSS for steel mill production planning which uses
intuitive knowledge to permit use of LP models. Di-
rect use of such models was not feasible due to prob-
lem size and the need to deal with uncertainties. Wu
et al (1990) developed a DSS for managing produc-
tion of diverse small-volume orders. The DSS in-
cludes a database (dBASEIII Plus), a model (UNDO
Integer Programming) and user dialogue systems.
Inventory costs are minimised using an interactive
heuristic procedure (Model dialogue system) to
solve a large bicriterion (Minimum total earliness,
total flowtime) integer programming problem.
Menus and question/answer dialogues help the user
create feasible schedules by inserting or deleting idle
times from schedules proposed by the model. These
examples illustrate the need for interface modules to
optimisation models to help users formulate their
problems in the required forms and to guide their
operation to improve their performance. Explana-
tion, modules are also used to explain the results in-
cluding the potential impact of the assumptions and
approximations required to cast real problems into
the rather rigid forms associated with the algo-
rithms. Users will probably need some understand-
ing of how the algorithms function and of the impli-
cations of the assumptions on which they are based.
'Symbiotic Systems' is another general approach to
decision support. Manheim et al (1990) described a
'Symbiotic DSS' (S/DSS) for production planning
and scheduling. A 'Computer-Directed Process Man-
ager' based on a model of the user works indepen-
dently of user direction to assist in problem solving.
The S/DSS sits outside a commercial production
planning and scheduling package (Schedule-X by
Numetrix Inc. of Toronto, Canada) and helps the us-
er to develop production schedules. Scriabin et al
(1988) described a Symbiotic System using visual
problem representations. In a nurse scheduling ap-
plication, proposed schedules are presented visually
such that the scheduler can quickly spot rule viola-
tions (Bell et al 1990). These examples of Symbiotic
systems illustrate two effective techniques for DSS,
(1) use of user models to assist application of 'tech-
nology codes' and, (2), use of visual representations
of problem solutions to facilitate their validation us-
ing the decision-makers visual pattern-matching ca-
pabilities.
DSS generators are high-level end-user languages
facilitating development of models primarily for
business decision-making. They are interactive, pro-
vide common financial functions and, in some cases,
Monte Carlo simulation and tools for developing and
evaluating what-if scenarios. Sharda (1988) reported
on an experimental study of the effectiveness and ef-
ficiency of a DSS built using a DSS generator called
'Interactive Financial Planning System' (IFPS). Con-
clusions were that use of the DSS resulted in more
effective decisions ( measured in terms of net earn-
ings), investigation of more alternatives, increased
confidence in the decisions and a reduction in vari-
ance in profit performance. Benson used a DSS gen-
erator called FCS-EPS developed by Thorn EMI to
develop a simulation model to evaluate economics of
installing a monitoring and control system (MCS) in
a potash mine. The model included an operating
schedule for machine and crew assignments and
maintenance work. Impact of installing the MCS was
investigated by varying the breakdown durations.
It may be feasible to develop DSS generators for op-
erations management purposes (e.g. a DSS generator
to facilitate development of DSSs for operations
management of mineral processing plants).
Modelling and simulation techniques have been used
to support decision-making, sometimes in combina-
tion with other ITs such as Expert Systems (ES). Fil-
ip et al (1989) described a layered modelling ap-
proach where external models are converted to an
internal form. Moser (1989) used an ES to analyse
model results, draw inferences and make recommen-
dations. Ulgen and Thomasma (1989) developed a
'Simulation Program Generator' with a natural lan-
guage interface to help decision-makers build pa-
rameter, event or icon-based models of manufactur-
ing plants. 'Qualitative Physics', the art and science
of symbolic reasoning about physical systems can be
a source of ideas on development of simple models
representing only features relevant to the problem
being solved (Shrager 1988). Lee (1990) discussed
the combined use of the efficiency of a rule-based
ES with the robustness of a model-based system.
Falster (1987) described use of data-driven models
combined with heuristic rules for planning and
scheduling. These examples contain ideas on how
various types of models (external/internal, parame-
ter/event/icon-based) could be used, sometimes in
combination with ESs, to support decision-making.
4.0 DSS ARCHITECTURES/LANGUAGES
A DSS architecture or language should facilitate in-
tegration of the IT tools needed to support the tar-
geted decision-making tasks. Various options should
be considered before making a selection.
Chalfan (1986) described use of a knowledge repre-
sentation language called the 'Meta-level Representa-
tion System' (MRS) to integrate existing procedural
codes for aerospace design applications.
Jagannathan et al (1989) describe a 'Blackboard'
model, a conceptual, high-level organisation of in-
formation and knowledge and a method for its dy-
namic control and use for problem-solving. It can
encompass multiple knowledge sources, different ap-
proaches to reasoning and support step-by-step
problem solving. Corkill (1991) describes a black-
board-based approach involving integration of
OPS5, a rule-based ES language, with the University
of Massachusetts Generic Blackboard System.
Corkill describes the requirements of a problem-
solving architecture that can be embedded with other
architectures and that can coexist with multiple in-
stances of itself and of other problem solvers.
188
Rubin et al (1988) describe an architecture for an
ES that can function as an 'operator's associate'
(OA) in supervisory control of a complex system.
An OA is a support system architecture with control
and understanding properties to enhance human abil-
ities, overcome human limitations and complement
human preferences. Provision of understanding
properties requires an 'operator's function model
(OFM) to represent interrelations between dynamic
system states and operator functions. Operator
knowledge comprises static knowledge of the sys-
tem, dynamic knowledge of the current system state
and procedural knowledge about how to carry out
operator functions. To be useful as an OA, the
knowledge required by the OFM must be imple-
mented by an ES. The OFM is used to infer the in-
tent of observed operator actions (intent inferencer).
A blackboard framework of problem solving was
chosen to represent the inferences and carry out the
assessments of the OA.
Rosenbloom et al (1985) describe the application of
Soar to develop a more efficient version of Rl, an
OPS5-based ES for configuring DEC computer sys-
tems. Soar, based on OPS5, is another problem-solv-
ing architecture where problem-solving activity in-
volves attempts to satisfy goals via heuristic searches
in problem spaces. Soar uses a mechanism called
'chunking' to create new production rules that allow
the system to perform actions directly rather than
via problem-solving on subgoals. Tests on four
unibus configuration tasks showed a reduction by
factors of 20 to 200 in the number of decisions re-
quired.
Realtime ESs can communicate with sensors and ac-
tuators in the process environment, perform under
time constraints and do multiple tasks (Diaz 1990).
While such ESs perform process control functions,
they may also be able to implement operations man-
agement functions to support operations supervisors.
Diaz reports that realtime ES products are available
which can communicate with database management,
spreadsheet and other foreign software and can man-
age operation of multiple ESs. Realtime ESs are be-
ing developed using blackboard architectures (Diaz
and Orchard 1990, Green 1985) which could facili-
tate implementation of DSSs for operations manage-
ment.
Reitman (1990) describes development of two Al-
based LISP-based 'generic' executive DSSs called a
Management Adviser and an Operations Adviser
(OA). OA helps managers develop manufacturing
strategies accounting for capacity utilisation, inven-
tories, lead times and unit costs. The Palladian Soft-
ware Language was used which combines object-ori-
ented programming, production rules, model-based
reasoning, goal-directed control and constraint-
based inferencing. A graphic 'roadmap' mechanism
shows the user all the places to which he can go at
any time during an analysis. Due to their experience
in development and application of business-oriented
DSSs, suppliers of such systems have developed lan-
guages or tools that integrate all the needed func-
tions. Adaptability and compatibility of these lan-
guages/tools to operations management applications
should be investigated. Even if they cannot be used
directly, perhaps some of their concepts and design
features can be adapted.
5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
The following check list contains features to consid-
er when developing or selecting a DSS:
1. Support a systematic approach to decision-mak-
ing.
2. Encourage decision-maker to enlarge cope of fac-
tors considered.
3. Reinforce goals, values and ethics of the organisa-
tion. Incorporate explicitly to facilitate changes.
4. Provide quality control of decisions.
5. Support decision-making in the context of prob-
lem-solving.
6. Provide only the information needed/requested.
7. Provide suggested decisions/solutions.
8. Facilitate adaptability to changing conditions and
to progress of users in acquiring new decision-mak-
ing skills.
9. Provide advice on what tools to use and how.
10. Maximise comparability with the users jobs,
tasks, discretionary powers, expectations, thinking
styles, levels of experience.
11. Define functions and roles of the DSS first, then
information needs.
12. Incorporate problem domain knowledge in the
form of task guidance systems and IT tool applica-
tion knowledge in the form of technology guidance
systems.
13. Ensure that the user is always in control.
14. Assist user to structure unstructured tasks. Facil-
itate their incorporation into task guidance systems.
In seeking information on intellectual and computer
technologies, here are some topics and starting
points:
(a) Thinking styles of decision-makers (Mckenney
and Keen 1974).
(b) Models of cognitive style (McKenney and Keen
1974, Vicente et al 1988).
(c) Theories of problem structuring (Smith 1988).
(d) Aspiration-based decision analysis and support
(Lewandowski and Wierzbicki 1988).
(e) Task, functional, user analysis (Harker and Eason
1985, Payne and Green 1986).
(f) Distribution of task elements between the user
guidance system, the uger and the IT support tools
in the DSS (Vicente and Rasmussen 1988 ) .
(f) Identification of levels of DSS needed and match-
ing the DSS to plant and user needs (Vicente et al
1988).
(g) DSS architectures/languages (Corkill 1991, Diaz
1990, Rubin et al 1988, Rosenbloom et al 1985,
Chalfan 1986).
(h) Symbiotic systems, visual representations (Scn-
abin et al 1988).
(i) Modelling and ES (Ulgen and Thomasma 1989).
(j) Conceptual framework for describing human-
computer interaction (Gaines 1988).
189
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Copyright IFAC Expert Systems in Mineral and
Metal Processing, Espoo, Finland, 1991

APPLICATION VIEWPOINTS OF EXPERT SYSTEMS IN

MINERAL AND METAL PROCESSING
K. Leivisk
Department of Process Engineering, Control Engineering Laboratory, University ofOulu,
SF-90570 Oulu, Finland

1. INTRODUCTION

The number of reported applications of Expert Table 1. Classification of Expert Systems applications and
Systems has increased rapidly in all engineering methods in mineral and metal processing.
branches and this workshop is also showing similar
type of behaviour in mineral and metal processing. Control Level Application Methods
Applications are not limited to some type of DSS Quality planning Knowledge-based
processes, only, but they are widely distributed over systems +
the whole field. Research work is very active and Conventional
the development rate is high. However, the programming &
technology seems to be maturing and therefore the Data-base methods
Production control Scheduling Knowledge-based
risks connected to industrial applications are Energy management systems
becoming lower. conventional
simulation and
optimization
The role of Expert Systems depends more or less on methods
the level of control where they are applied. On the Diagnostics Knowledge-based
lowermost control level the requirements of the systems
actual, time critical control functions must be taken Neural networks +
conventional
into account. Also the integration with existing methods
conventional control systems and with control Process control Supervisory control Rule-based systems
methods and algorithms is essential. Stabilization Fuzzy control
Direct control Neural networks
On the upper levels, in diagnosis and DSS,
man/machine interface and explanation mechanisms
play an important role. Integration of Expert or valuing dynamics and long time delays make also
Systems with existing mathematical models and the situation more complicated. These kind of
methods is important. The use of Expert Systems to processes need the inclusion of human knowledge
systematically store the key expert knowledge and and qualitative reasoning in control strategies. Also
know-how is also emphasized. On the upper levels, uncertainties in systems, environments and
the acquisition, validation and updating of measurements can require the application of Expert
knowledge is an essential and also problematic area. System tools.
The functions and methods of Expert Systems Specific features of expert control are reviewed for
applications in mineral and metal processing can be instance by rzen (1989): Non-monotonic
classified as shown in Table 1. reasoning is required because the validity of data is
changing with time and the state of the system and
this must be automatically taken into account.
2. EXPERT SYSTEMS IN PROCESS CONTROL Interrupting mechanisms must be available to
priorize between asynchronous events of different
Expert Systems applications exist for nearly all importance. A real-time system must also include
types of processes, simple and complex. The most features like temporal reasoning capabilities; ie. it
beneficial, however, seem to be complex processes must be possible to connect time and reasons and
where process performance and behaviour are their sequences together; and reasoning under
difficult to model with conventional methods. The limited time and based on erroneous or missing
complexity is often connected with big amount of sensor data.
measurements with uncertainties and high noise
levels, where the operators have difficulties in According to Saito (1990), in expert control the
system monitoring and following the process recognition-judgement-action cycle is repeatedly
performance and especially the changes in it. Slow carried out (see Fig. 1).

191
Figure 1.
Expert control as a recognition-judgement-action
cycle.
INTERPRETATION/ PLANNING/
DIAGNOSTICS DESIGN
Stabilizing control
In stabilizing controls both open-loop and closed-
loop applications arc in use (Fig. 2).
Advisory systems are based on process
measurements and they are giving advice to process
operators. In this case, the control loop is closed
only by the operator. Examples are found for
instance in Partington, (1989) for BOS monitoring
and control and blast furnace control.
Basically, two variants of closed-loop control exist.
First, Expert System can take care of the whole
control using for instance Fuzzy Control. Some
examples are found in Saito (1990). Secondly,
Expert System is used in tuning conventional
controllers, in changing control strategies and
adopting to varying operational conditions. This is
done by utilizing expert knowledge and rule-based
systems.
Another way of dividing Expert System applications
to process control would be to look at the state of
the process; ie. to look for systems for start/stop
sequences, normal operation and state changes (Fig.
3). It is, however, quite surprising to see that very
few systems for start/stop sequences and process or
production line state changes have, this far, been
reported.
EXPERT
SYSTEM
USER
CONTROL
SYSTEM
r
PROCESS ^ ^
ON-LINE OPEN-LOOP
ADVISORY SYSTEM
Figure 2. Principles of open-loop and closed-loop expert controllers.
192
START NORMAL STATE NORMAL STOP
OPERATION CHANGE OPERATION
Figure 3. Different states of the process.
Supervisory control
As far as the supervisory control is concerned
Expert Systems type of applications have been done
already before using process control computers and
Fortran and other languages. Customized systems
have been built for different processes.
Expert System tools seem to offer several
advantages facilitating especially systems building: it
is possible to use linguistic terms instead of
programming approach, system building is faster
with minimum programming skills and computer
knowledge, and system modification is easier.
Supervisory applications, however, suffer from the
same limitations and lacks as other Expert Systems
as reviewed in the later chapters.
Requirements are discussed in Herbst et al. (1990)
and they differ slightly from the stabilizing system
requirements: Real-time features are same as before
(interrupt mechanisms, time-limited features,
priorities). For supervisory systems, data transfer
with stabilizing level systems is of course a must.
This means links with distributed control systems or
EXPERT
-* SYSTEM
/
EXPERT
CONTROL
-j
SYSTEM S/STEM
^
PROCESS PROCESS
ON-LINE CLOSED-LOOP
SYSTEMS
equal and communications to both directions are
needed. Also connections with algorithmic parts in
supervisory systems are needed. This means the
utilization of process models and optimization
systems. In many cases, connections with process
monitoring and analyzing systems must also be
included.
The greatest challenge on the supervisory control
level would be building systems that utilize expert
knowledge in the systems tuning and
implementation stage. This is usually the most time
consuming stage in supervisory system projects and
the success in it is very much dependent on the skills
of the system engineer. These kind of applications
have not been reported.
3. OTHER APPLICATIONS
Needs for other applications are more or less same
as before; Expert Systems are used when it is
necessary to handle a lot of complicated, varying
and uncertain information, when the decision
making is based on experience and on qualitative
reasoning. One important aspect in upper level
Expert Systems solutions is that they make it
possible to retain the key knowledge in the system
and facilitate diminishing the negative effects of
changing personnel. They are also used in training
of new staff members and, wisely applied, give
their users a chance to keep up their own
knowledge.
Upper level Expert Systems are mostly consulting
systems and with the aid of these experts can reduce
their working loads.
ORDERS
PROBLEM
FORMULATION
| CONSTRAINTS
REQUIREMENTS
ORDERS
CONSTRAINTS
REQUIREMENTS
Figure 4. Different ways of applying Expert Systems in scheduling.
193
Diagnostics
Diagnostics and fault detection systems are classical
applications of Expert Systems. Compared with
algorithmic-based fault deduction the biggest
advantage of Expert Systems approach is that it
gives possibilities to follow human's way of fault
diagnosing.
Applications vary from troubleshooting of
hydraulic and electronic systems to vibration
analysis. The essential feature is combining of
Expert Systems with mathematical models and other
conventional tools and finally their integration with
total condition monitoring systems.
Expert Systems in scheduling
In scheduling application Expert Systems are
targeting to the higher throughput, the keeping of
delivery times and good end-product quality. The
functions vary from the allocation of customer
orders to the selection of the routing in the mill
according to product requirements.
Two main possibilities are available. In the first
one, Expert System is used together with
conventional algorithmic scheduling in the problem
formulation stage and in combining qualitative or
rule-based information in the system. In this way
the strict mathematical problem formulation is
adopted to changing requirements.
In the second approach, the whole scheduling
problem is formulated as a rule based system and
the solution itself can also include some algorithmic
parts (Fig. 4).
SCHEDULES
ALGORITHMIC
PARTS
SCHEDULES
The utilization of Expert System approaches in
scheduling gives possibilities to include qualitative
information about limitations, bottlenecks, quality
variables, strategy changes etc. into the solution.
This is not necessarily possible in algorithmic
approaches.
As mentioned above Expert System approaches are
sometimes used together with conventional
algorithmic approaches. The result is a suboptimal
or feasible schedule or several schedules are
presented for operator selection. One problem here
is to guarantee the optimality of the solution. The
feasibility is assured for instance by simulations.
DSS/ES applications
The higher in the control hierarchy we go, the
more important are connections with conventional
data processing systems and data bases. DSS/ES
systems are by nature consulting systems and it
means that operator interface questions are having
still more importance compared with earlier
mentioned systems. Also the questions connected
with maintenance and updating are emphasized.
Moving from rule-based systems to object-based
makes modifications easier.
Figure 5 gives some implication of the structure for
this kind of system. The applications vary a lot.
Product and quality control and different design and
planning activities seem to be the most popular.
REQUIREMENTS
/ PROBLEM
FORMULATION
RESULTS
Figure 5. Rough scheme of DSS/ES system structure.
194
4. ADVANTAGES
There are not too many detailed studies available on
the results gained with Expert Systems in mineral
and metal processing. This is due to the fact that we
are dealing with the new technology in the trial
stage. Also the applications are on areas where the
results are difficult to estimate quantitatively. Some
examples are given by Born, 1989, Partington,
1989, Atsumi, 1989, Saito, 1990 and Herbst et al.
(1990) and following is a short conclusion of these.
A regularly mentioned advantage is the improved
and more consistent decision making by non-experts
and the saving of experts' time. It is also possible to
process uncertain knowledge like the expert is doing
it. By storing of expert knowledge the expertise is
kept within the company eventhough experts are
leaving the company or moving to other positions
inside it. The similar effect is also gained by using
Expert Systems in training of new staff members or
in keeping staff members' skills on the existing
level.
Expert Systems make fast system development
possible using prototyping with some tools even by
users without any intervention of system
programmers (mostly concerning the knowledge
base). First results are shown very rapidly.
Prototyping has also some disadvantages and
especially with large scale systems it does not give
the clear picture of the job in the beginning and
may even be misleading. The need for more
efficient tools for systems design is clear.
LIMITATIONS
With Expert Systems, different tools are available
for users with different skills: AI languages,
toolkits, shells and application packages. Figure 6
shows the situation according to Partington (1989).
APPLICATION
SPECIFIC PACKAGES
SCOPE
OF USE SHELLS
TOOLKITS
GENERAL AI LANGUAGES
HIGH LOW
PROGRAMMING SKILLS REQUIRED
Figure 6.
Different Expert Systems tools according to the
scope of application and the programming skills
required (Partington, 1989).
In the supervisory control the savings are coming
from the same sources as in the conventional
systems. Expert Systems help to stabilize the process
and to adapt operations to changes in feed variations
and changing equipment conditions. Examples are
given in Herbst (1990) for SAG circuits, where the
application of Expert System increased throughput
by 6-15 % and decreased the energy consumption
by 2.5 %. Concerning the blast furnace systems
Atsurni (1989) reported that in 93 % of cases the
Expert System was judged to perform at least as
well as the human operator.
5. PROBLEMS
Expert Systems suffer also from some limitations
and disadvantages. Some of these are commented
upon in the following:
Lack of systematic methods for knowledge
acquisition and validity testing. This problem is met
in all applications and some automatic, or at least
systematic, methods are expected by the user. In
control applications this is seen as a necessity to
check rule-based control with model based controls
in order to assure for system optimality and
stability.
Lack of learning capabilities. This comes up
especially with deeper knowledge and large scale
systems. Also in this case some automatic methods
that help the system to adapt its operations
according to what has happened in the past are
waited for.
Lack of proper design methods. Once again,
especially for large scale systems prototyping is an
195
inefficient approach. Small prototypes do not tell
enough about the requirements of the large scale
applications and full protos turn out very expensive.
Some systematic structural design methodology and
corresponding supporting functions for system
design are needed.
Problems in integrating with existing systems.
Nearly all applications include interfacing and
integration needs; we need interfacing with
program languages, conventional simulation and
optimization programs, outside hardware and
software. For instance in process control
applications the degree of integration must be
considered case by case as long as distributed system
vendors do not have Expert System tools as
standard functions in their systems.
Need for training. Being a new technology, Expert
Systems applications introduce considerable training
especially for the staff that is responsible for
development, updating and maintenance of Expert
Systems. This concerns both hardware and
software. This need is also increased in some cases
by the lack of maintenance support and knowledge
from some tools' vendors and by the need to keep
the company knowledge in own hands.
6. REFERENCES
Atsurni T., 1989, Artificial Intelligence in the
Japanese steel industry. IISI Technical Exchange
Session "Use and application of Expert Systems and
Artificial Intelligence". Chicago 1989, pp. 31-42.
Born A., 1989, The application of Expert Systems.
IISI Technical Exchange Session "Use and
application of Expert Systems and Artificial
Intelligence". Chicago 1989, pp. 1-6.
Herbst J.A. et al., 1990, Report on actual benefits
arising from the application of expert control
system in industrial semi-autogenous control
circuits. Proceedings of 6th IFAC Symposium
Automation in mining, mineral and metal
processing, Buenos Aires, Argentina 4-8 September
1989. Pergamon Press, 1990, pp. 53-60.
Partington D., 1989, Expert Systems developments
within British Steel. IISI Technical Exchange
Session "Use and application of Expert Systems and
Artificial Intelligence". Chicago 1989, pp. 15-29.
Saito T., 1990, Application of artificial intelligence
in the Japanese iron and steel industry. Proceedings
of 6th IFAC Symposium Automation in mining,
mineral and metal processing, Buenos Aires,
Argentina 4-8 September 1989. Pergamon Press,
1990, pp. 31-38.
rzen K-E., 1989, An architecture for expert
system based feedback control. Automatica
25(1989)6, 813-827.
 AUTHOR INDEX

Anabuki, Y. 63 Kanemoto, M. 51 Shibata,M. 147

Ando,N. 19 Kerttula,M. 79 Sillanp,M. 155
Arai,K. 147 Koponen, P. 31 Snopek, W. 39
Aral, S. 71 Kumar, S. 95 Spassov, K. 57
Arima, K. 51 Kuribayashi, T. 89 Spring, R. 7
Asano, K. 147 Stange, W. 13
Stohl, K. 39
Laitinen, T. 79 Syrjnen, M. 103
Barnard, E. 179 Lassila, 0 . 103
Bonifazi,G. 139 Lee, H.G. 45
Bradford, S.H. 1 Lee, I.O. 45 Takenaka, K. 89
Brimacombe, J.K. 95 Leivisk,K. 119,191 Tashiro,K. 19
Bulsari, A.B. 155 Tateno, J. 147
Teraski, T. 19
Maruyama, S. 147 Terazono, K. 109
Choi,T.H. 45 Mattila,P. 103 ThibaulU. 25
Cilliers,JJ. 161 Meech,J.A. 95 Trm, S. 103
Costantini, A. 139 Moritz, Th. 39 Tottori, H. 51

Filev, D. 57 Nakata, E. 109 Uronen, P. 31

Flament, F. 25 Nenonen, L.K. 185
Franklin, M. 7
Fujimoto, H. 71, 109 Vagenas, N. 173
Fukaya, N. 71 Okaya, K. 167 van der Walt, T.J. 179
Owaki, R. 63 van Deventer, J.S.J. 125, 179
Viherma,R. 31
Ginsberg, D.W. 115
Pesonen, L. 103
Piironen, T. 79 Watabane, M. 19
Haataja,R. 79 Weigert, Th. 39
Hadjiski,M. 57 Whiten, W.J. 115
Hirao,F. 89 Rajamani, R.K. 131
Hodouin, D. 25 Rm,T. 31
Hosoda,M. 89 Reuter, M.A. 125 Yamane, H. 51
Yi, S.H. 45
Yoshida,T. 51
Ibaragi, M. 147 Sakane, K. 51
Inoue, T. 167 Sakiyama, H. 63
Samarasekera, I.V. 95
Sanou, K. 71
Jin, J.G. 45 Saxen, H. 155
Juuso, E.K. 119 Shah,I.M. 131

197
 KEYWORD INDEX

Acquisition of knowledge-based information, 79 Feedforward neural network, 25

Adaptive control, 131 Fuzzy model, 57
Adaptive systems, 119 Fuzzy set theory, 131
Adsorption, 13, 179 Fuzzy systems, 51,119
Aestetic characteristics, 139
Alarm systems, 147 Grinding simulation, 25
Artificial intelligence, 1,19,45, 71, 89,103,109,161
Automatic control, 1,19 Heuristic programming, 71
Automation, 39, 147 Hierarchical systems, 119
Hierarchically intelligent control, 1
Back propagation, 167 Hot coil finishing line, 89
Batch and continuous simulation, 125 Hydrocy clones, 13
Blast furnace operation, 45
Blending, 109 Image analysis, 139
Blowing control, 51 Image processing, 147
Breakouts, 95 Inference processes, 71

Casting, 147 Kinetics, 125

Categorisation, 115 Knowledge acquisition, 95,115
Character recognition, 147 Knowledge base, 57, 89
CIP, 13 Knowledge based, 125
Classification, 79, 115, 147 Knowledge engineering, 19, 31, 39, 45, 51, 89
Clustering, 115 Knowledge representation, 95
Cokemaking, 109 Knowledge units, 95
COMDALE/X, 95
Commercial expert systems, 79 Ladle metallurgy, 57
Computer control, 1, 19, 63, 131 Learning method, 167
Computer graphics, 7 Local cluster shape, 115
Computer simulation, 119
Continuous casting of steel billets, 95 Mathematical model, 57
Continuous data, 115 Mathematical programming, 109
Control engineering applications of computers, 1 Metallurgical industries, 39, 119, 131
Control nonlinearities, 131 Metals production, 31
Cracks, 95 Micro-computer-based control, 103
Microcomputer based control, 1
Data trends, 115 Mineral processing, 7, 13,25, 161, 167
Mining vehicles, 173
Electrical steel finishing line, 63 Multi-dimensionality, 179
Evaluation and testing of expert systems, 95
Expert system technology, 79 Neural controller, 25
Expert system, 45, 63, 89, 95 Neural nets, 13, 147, 155, 179
Expert systems, 1, 39, 71, 109, 115, 119, 155 Neural networks, 79, 125, 161, 167

Failure detection, 173 Ornamental stone, 139

Fault diagnosis, 173 Outlier detection, 115

199
Perturbation analysis, 179 Rhomboidity, 95
pH control, 131 Rolling mills, 103
Plant inverse neural model, 25 Rule base, 57
Plant neural model, 25 Rule-based expert systems, 173
Power management, 31 Rule-based systems, 79
Prediction, 31
Process control, 1, 7, 13, 167 Scheduling, 39
Process models, 161 Steel industry, 19, 31, 63, 71,147,155
Production control, 71, 103, 109 Steel manufacture, 39, 103
Programming environments, 7 Surface inspection, 79
Programming languages, 79 Synthesis methods, 71

Quality control, 79,139 Texture analysis, 139

Quality problems in billet casting, 95 Thermal state, 57
Transfer system, 89
Reactor identification, 125 Transmission system, 173
Real time computer systems, 19 Transportation control, 63
Real-time computer system, 63
Real-time control, 89 User interfaces, 79
Real-time expert system, 51
Refining process, 51 Weighted distance measure, 115

200
 Published Symposia/Workshop volumes
SYMPOSIA VOLUMES
AD ALI & TUNALI: Microcomputer Application in Process Control
AKASHI: Control Science and Technology for the Progress
of Society, World Congress 1981, 7 volumes
ALBERTOS & DE LA PUENTE: Components, Instruments and
Techniques for Low Cost Automation and Applications
ALONSO CONCHEIRO: Real Time Digital Control Applications *
AMOUROUX & EL JAI: Control of Distributed Parameter Systems
(1989)
ATHERTON: Multivariable Technological Systems
BABARY & LE LETTY: Control of Distributed Parameter Systems
(1982)
BALCHEN: Automation and Data Processing in Aquaculture
BANKS & PRITCHARD: Control of Distributed Parameter Systems
(1977)
BANYASZ & KEVICZKY: Identification and System Parameter
Estimation (1991)
BAOSHENG HU: Analysis, Design and Evaluation of Man-Machine
Systems (1989)
BARKER: Computer Aided Design in Control Systems
(1991)
BARKER & YOUNG: Identification and System Parameter Estimation
(1985)
BASANEZ, FERRATE & SARIDIS: Robot Control "SYROCO '85"
BASAR & PAU: Dynamic Modelling and Control of National
Economies (1983)*
BAYUS: Safety of Computer Control Systems (1983)*
BEKEY & SARIDIS Identification and System Parameter Estimation
(1982)
BINDER & PERRET: Components and Instruments for Distributed
Computer Control Systems*
CALVAER: Power Systems, Modelling and Control Applications
Van CAUWENBERGHE: Instrumentation and Automation in the
Paper, Rubber, Plastics and Polymerisation Industries
(1980)*(1983)
CHEN HAN-FU: Identification and System Parameter Estimation
(1988)
CHEN ZHEN-YU: Computer Aided Design in Control Systems
(1988)
CHRETIEN: Automatic Control in Space (1985)
CHRISTODULAKIS: Dynamic Modelling and Control of National
Economies (1989)
COBELLI & MARIANI: Modelling and Control in Biomedical
Systems
CUENOD: Computer Aided Design of Control Systems*
DA CUNHA: Planning and Operation of Electric Energy Systems
DE CARLI: Low Cost Automation
De GIORGIO & ROVEDA: Criteria for Selecting Appropriate
Technologies under Different Cultural, Technical and Social
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DEVANATHAN: Intelligent Tuning and Adaptive Conrol
DUBUISSON: Information and Systems
EHRENBERGER: Safety of Computer Control Systems
(SAFECOMF88)
ELLIS: Control Problems and Devices in Manufacturing
Technology (1980)*
FERRATE & PUENTE: Software for Computer Control (1982)
FLEISSNER: Systems Approach to Appropriate Technology Transfer
FLORIAN & HAASE: Software for Computer Control (1986)
FRANKE & KRAUS: Design Methods of Control Systems
GEERING & MANSOUR: Large Scale Systems: Theory and
Applications (1986)
GENSER et al: Control in Transportation Systems (1986)
GERTLER & KEVICZKY: A Bridge Between Control Science and
Technology, World Congress 1984, 6 volumes*
GHONAIMY: Systems Approach for Development (1977)
HAIMES & KINDLER: Water and Related Land Resource Systems
HARDT: Information Control Problems in Manufacturing Technology
(1982)
HERBST: Automatic Control in Power Generation Distribution and
Protection
HRUZ & CICEL: Automatic Measurement and Control in
Woodworking Industry-Lignoautomatica'86
HUSSON: Advanced Information Processing in Automatic Control
ISERMANN: Automatic Control, World Congress 1987, 10 volumes
ISERMANN: Identification and System Parameter Estimation (1979)
ISERMANN & FREYERMUTH: Fault Detection, Supervision and
Safety for Technical Processes
ISERMANN & KALTENECKER: Digital Computer Applications to
Process Control*
ISIDORI: Nonlinear Control Systems Design
JAAKSOO & UTKIN: Automatic Control, World Congress 1990,
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JANSSEN, PAU & STRASZAK: Dynamic Modelling and Control of
National Economies (1980)
JELLALI: Systems Analysis Applied to Management of Water
Resources
JOHANNSEN & RIJNSDORP: Analysis, Design, and Evaluation of
Man-Machine Systems*
JOHNSON: Adaptive Systems in Control and Signal Processing
JOHNSON: Modelling and Control of Biotechnologjcal Processes
KAY A & WILLIAMS: Instrumentation and Automation in the Paper,
Rubber, Plastics and Polymerization Industries (1986)
KHEIR et al: Advances in Control Education
KLAMT & LAUBER: Control in Transportation Systems (1984)*
KOPACEK & GENSER: Skill Based Automated Production
KOPACEK, TROCH & DESOYER: Theory of Robots
KOPPEL: Automation in Mining, Mineral and Metal Processing
(1989)
KMMEL: Adaptive Control of Chemical Processes (ADCHEM'88)
LARSEN & HANSEN: Computer Aided Design in Control and
Engineering Systems
LEININGER: Computer Aided Design of Multivariable
Technological Systems*
LEONHARD: Control in Power Electronics and Electrical Drives
(1977)*
LESKIEWICZ & ZAREMBA: Pneumatic and Hydraulic Components
and Instruments in Automatic Control*
LEVIS & STEPHANOU: Distributed Intelligence Systems (1991)
LINKENS & ATHERTON: Trends in Control and Measurement
Education
MACLEOD & HEHER: Software for Computer Control
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MAHALANABIS: Theory and Application of Digital Control
MANCINI, JOHANNSEN & MARTENSSON: Analysis, Design and
Evaluation of Man-Machine Systems (1985)
MARTOS, PAU & ZIERMANN: Dynamic Modelling and Control of
National Economies (1986)
McGREAVY: Dynamics and Control of Chemical Reactors and
Distillation Columns
MLADENOV: Distributed Intelligence Systems: Methods and
Applications
MUND AY: Automatic Control in Space (1979)
NAJIM & ABDEL FATTAH: System Approach for Development
(1980)*
NIEMI: A Link Between Science and Applications of Automatic
Control, World Congress 1978, 4 volumes*
NISHIKAWA & KAYA: Energy Systems, Management and
Economics
NISHIMURA: Automatic Control in Aerospace
NORRIE & TURNER: Automation for Mineral Resource Development
NOVAK: Software for Computer Control (1979)
O'SHEA & POLIS: Automation in Mining, Mineral and Metal
Processing (1980)
OSHIMA: Information Control Problems in Manufacturing
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PAUL: Digital Computer Applications to Process Control (1985)
PERRIN: Control, Computers, Communications in Transportation
PONOMARYOV: Artificial Intelligence
PUENTE & NEMES: Information Control Problems in Manufacturing
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RAMAMOORTY: Automation and Instrumentation for Power Plants
RANTA: Analysis, Design and Evaluation of Man-Machine Systems
(1988)
RAUCH: Applications of Nonlinear Programming to Optimization and
Control*
RAUCH: Control of Distributed Parameter Systems (1986)*
REINISCH & THOMA: Large Scale Systems: Theory and
Applications (1989)
REMBOLD: Robot Control (SYROCO'88)
RIJNSDORP: Case Studies in Automation Related to Humanization of
Work
RIJNSDORP et al: Dynamics and Control of Chemical Reactors
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RIJNSDORP, PLOMP & MLLER: Training for Tomorrow-
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ROOS: Economics and Artificial Intelligence
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SAWARAGI & AKASHI: Environmental Systems Planning, Design
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SINHA & TELKSNYS: Stochastic Control
SMEDEMA: Real Time Programming (1977)*
STRASZAK: Large Scale Systems: Theory and Applications (1983)
SUBRAMANYAM: Computer Applications in Large Scale Power
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TAL': Information Control Problems in Manufacturing Technology
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WORKSHOP VOLUMES
ASTROM & WITTENMARK: Adaptive Systems in Control and Signal
Processing
BOULLART et al: Industrial Process Control Systems
BRODNER: Skill Based Automated Manufacturing
BULL: Real Time Programming (1983)*
BULL & WILLIAMS: Real Time Programming (1985)
CAMPBELL: Control Aspects of Prosthetics and Orthotics*
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FLEMING & JONES: Algorithms and Architectures for Real-Time
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GELLIE & TAVAST: Distributed Computer Control Systems (1982)*
GENSER et al: Safety of Computer Control Systems (SAFECOMF89)
GOODWIN: Robust Adaptive Control
HAASE: Real Time Programming (1980)
HALANG & RAMAMRITHAM: Real Time Programming (1991)
HALME: Modelling and Control of Biotechnical Processes*
HARRISON: Distributed Computer Control Systems (1979)
HASEGAWA: Real Time Programming (1981)*
HASEGAWA & INOUE: Urban, Regional and National Planning -
Environmental Aspects
JAMSA-JOUNELA & NIEMI: Expert Systems in Mineral and Metal
Processing
JANSEN & BOULLART: Reliability of Instrumentation Systems for
Safeguarding and Control
KOPETZ & RODD: Distributed Computer Control Systems (1991)
KOTOB: Automatic Control in Petroleum, Petrochemical and
Desalination Industries
LANDAU, TOMIZUKA & AUSLANDER: Adaptive Systems in
Control and Signal Processing
LAUBER: Safety of Computer Control Systems (1979)
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EYKHOFF: Trends and Progress in System Identification
NALECZ: Control Aspects of Biomedical Engineering
TITLI & SINGH: Large Scale Systems: Theory and Applications
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TROCH, DESOYER & KOPACEK: Robot Control (1991)
TROCH, KOPACEK & BREITENECKER: Simulation of Control
Systems
UHI AHN: Power Systems and Power Plant Control (1989)
VALADARES TAVARES & EVARISTO DA SILVA: Systems
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Van WOERKOM: Automatic Control in Space (1982)
WANG PINGYANG: Power Systems and Power Plant Control
WESTERLUND: Automation in Mining, Mineral and Metal
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YANG JIACHI: Control Science and Technology for Development
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LOTOTSKY: Evaluation of Adaptive Control Strategies in Industrial
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RODD: Artificial Intelligence in Real Time Control (1989)
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RODD: Distributed Databases in Real Time Control
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RODD & MLLER: Distributed Computer Control Systems (1986)
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SIGUERDIDJANE & BERNHARD: Control Applications of
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SZLANKO: Real Time Programming (1986)
TAKAMATSU & O'SHIMA: Production Control in Process Industry
UNBEHAUEN: Adaptive Control of Chemical Processes
VILLA & MURARI: Decisional Structures in Automated
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