Neural model input selection for a MIMO chemical process

Abstract

In modelling non-linear systems using neural networks (NN), a commonly used method for the selection of network inputs, or to determine system order and time-delay, is to try different combinations of the system input–output data and choose the best one, giving minimum prediction error. The method is increasingly difficult to apply to industrial systems, due to their multivariable nature and complexity. A systematic method for the selection of model order and time-delay is developed in this paper, and applied to the neural modelling of a multivariable chemical process rig. The method is much simpler compared to the structure identification of the Non-linear Auto-Regressive with eXogenous inputs model (NARX), since the latter also needs to determine the significant terms from a linear-in-parameters polynomial. The orders and delays for system input and output are determined by identifying linearised models of the system. The method can also be applied to other approximations of a MIMO non-linear system, such as fuzzy logic models, etc. The application example demonstrates the selection procedure. Finally, the process rig is modelled using NNs according to the chosen structure, and the modelling error is compared with that of models with different structures to show the effectiveness of the method.