Concept Of Expert System Research Articles

A Confluence-Based Expert System for the Detection of Heat Exchanger Fouling

Efficiency assessment of heat exchangers ensures appropriate use of the available energy. This article presents the concept of a heat exchanger on-line expert system based on qualitative reasoning. Using confluence of the heat exchanger effectiveness defined by the NTU (number of transfer units) concept for the simple parallel-stream heat exchanger, the methodology is developed to be used for the description of the generic behavior of the heat exchanger system. In this respect, particular attention was paid to the recognition of those situations leading to the degradation of the effectiveness of the heat exchanger. The article describes the selection of the diagnostic variables, and their on-line measurements including the logging system for monitoring and acquisition of the data. For a specific heat exchanger, the expert system assessment was performed for a number of different situations. An appropriate diagnostic system in the specified time period produces a set of readings of the diagnostic variables, describing the state of the system. The set of diagnostic variables converted into the confluence parameters constitutes the qualitative description of the instantaneous state of the system. A retrieval strategy is used to find the corresponding state in the knowledge base with the set of the parameters describing the individual malfunction state of the system. Each malfunction state is accompanied by a recommendation for its correction specified by expert advice.

Expert system applications in irrigation management: an overview

Abstract Due to the complexity of irrigation management problems, reliance on experience and experts is necessary for effective decision-making in this domain. Expert systems (ES) are efficient means for providing decision support to tasks that primarily require experience-based knowledge. This paper reviews the adoptability and suitability of ES applications in the domain of irrigation management. Core concepts of ES are briefly discussed. A detailed review of the existing applications of ES is presented under three classes of ES applications: (a) expert systems proper, (b) intelligent front-ends, and (c) hybrid systems. This review of literature shows that the ES approach is applied more recently to broader domain areas in contrast to the earlier systems that were focused on narrower domain problems. Additional research on ES application to domains such as real-time irrigation scheduling, reservoir operation involving stochastic nature of inflows and evapotranspiration demand, and integrated operation of irrigation system components is needed to evolve guidelines for optimal water use. The problem of handling multiple experts to evolve decisions that are less biased than an individual expert needs to be addressed. A methodology that takes into account the uncertainty of the ES decisions is also warranted. Further, there is a need for practical evaluation of the quality of recommendations made by the ES which would result in the successful implementation of the ES.

Concept of expert system for boiler fouling assessment

The expert system for fouling assessment development is one of the possible approachs to the mitigation of deposit formation on boiler heat transfer surfaces. This paper presents the evaluation of the diagnostic variables and their domain based on the criteria for the fouling assessment. In agreement with the boiler furnace design, respective fields for the deposit control are selected to be instrumented with the ‘clean’ radiation heat flux and ‘not-cleaned’ radiation heat flux for the on-line reading. The ratio of the ‘clean’ and ‘not-clean’ radiation heat flux is proved to be a sensitive diagnostic variable for the deposit thickness. The rate of change of radiation heat flux ratio, together with the efficiency of the heat transfer surface, are diagnostic variables used for the design of the expert system knowledge base. The knowledge base structure is based on the object oriented concept. In this respect the FOULING object is defined. Its structure is composed of the respective attributes and values linked with the number of situations to be selected for the assessment. The examples given are related to a 300 MWe power-plant boiler furnace. It includes the number of situations reflecting different deposit formation situations: total and upper level of side surface of fouling deposit.

Expert Systems and their Application in Library and Information Science

The article explains the concept of expert systems and how they function. The components of an expert system: the knowledge base, the inference engine, user interface and the knowledge acquisition module are explained. The various activities in the LIS field where such systems can be put to use are also discussed. http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dbit.16.4.3271

Prospects for building computer teaching systems for metrologists

The paper discusses computer-based training systems for metrological training. Descriptions are given of firstgeneration teaching systems and new ones based mainly on the expert system concept. Examples are given of experiment planning, data processing, statistical quality control, variance analysis, etc.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BASED EXPERT SYSTEMS: APPLICATIONS TO HORTICULTURE

Decreasing supporting resources and increasing complexity of horticultural crop production necessitate the new technologies be developed to transfer information to farmers as well as commercial producers. Expert systems, a sub area of artificial intelligence of computer science offer the possibility to implement horticultural knowledge into field practice in the form of computer programme in order to support the farmers in decision making at farm level. This paper provides an overview of the concept of expert system and examples of areas of horticultural applications of these systems are in use at present are also outlined. This paper further examines how expert system techniques are being used at present in problem solving and why someone in the field of horticulture might want to use them.

Prototype Object‐Oriented System for Maintenance of Timber Trusses

The Department of National Defense of Canada has over 200 timber hangars on Canadian Forces bases throughout the country. The roof of these structures is supported by standardized timber Warren trusses. These trusses, constructed during World War II, have deteriorated over the years and require repairs. To properly maintain these buildings, regular inspections by military engineers to assess their structural and service conditions are required. Remedial actions such as member replacement or reinforcement are based on the results of the inspection. A knowledge‐based system is being developed for the general maintenance of these timber buildings. The system, on completion, will have four subsystems related to the inspection/repair, analysis, upgrading, and data management of all timber trusses. This paper describes the design and development of a prototype object‐oriented system for the inspection, upgrading, and data management of timber trusses, which integrates the concepts of expert systems, object‐orie...

Application of Neural Computing in Pharmaceutical Product Development: Computer Aided Formulation Design

AbstractMost pharmaceutical products are complex systems designed to meet several compendial or other performance standards simultaneously. Ideal or ‘optimum’ product composition and the manufacturing process variables are generally established after extensive experimentation. Artificial Neural Networks are pattern recognition tools that allow the development of ‘expert’ systems without having to write computer programs. With this technology it may be possible to develop formulation ‘expert’ systems to predict the formulation composition and the manufacturing process conditions necessary to achieve the desired performance standards. This report introduces the concept of a formulation expert system to predict the in vitro drug release profile from hydrophilic matrix tablets. Formulation expert systems or Computer Aided Formulation Design has the potential to reduce the time and cost of the product development process.

Application of FBOLES—a prototype expert system for fault diagnosis in nuclear power plants

Abstract The basic concept of a frequency-based on-line expert system (FBOLES) approach for the on-line fault diagnoses of nuclear power plants has been previously presented in our companion papers. This paper reports on the status of the protoype software development and the real time on-line experiment results. The main steam and feedwater condensate system (MSFCS, namely, the secondary loop) of a nuclear power plant (950 MW, three loops) simulated by the Tsinghua simulator has been selected as a target system at the present stage of development. The knowledge bases for MSFCS have been initially constructed. A total of 62 signals from the simulator have been selected as the on-line evidence for diagnosis. Thirty-three fault experiments were performed in which 21 were detected accurately (only one candidate) by FBOLES immediately after the first abnormal signals were received and the other 12 were detected accurately within 0·5 to 3 min as the development of abnormality. These experiments include not only the failures of pumps, valves, pipes, etc., of MSFCS itself, but also the failures outside MSFCS. Three of them involve non-initiating events. As a software package, FBOLES can perform either the on-line diagnosis where the signals are input from the simulator directly or the off-line diagnosis that either repeats the on-line diagnosis in a selectable time scale by using the data received on-line and stored on disk or allows users to input signals from a keyboard. Also, the integrated information base, including the modular mini knowledge bases and other necessary data, can be edited and assembled by users easily and compiled by FBOLES into coded format.

The concept and application of expert systems in the field of microbiological safety

Recent developments in microbiology have led to the construction of mathematical models that can be used reliably to predict the growth and death responses of microorganisms under a wide range of situations relevant to food safety and spoilage. During the same period developments in available software and hardware platforms for information technology (IT) have meant that the construction of expert systems in disciplines like microbiology have become a reality. The concept and stages of development of an expert system are described using an example of a prototype system that assesses the microbiological safety of chilled ready-to-eat meals.

FBOLES—outline of a frequency-based on-line expert system approach for fault diagnoses in nuclear power plants

Abstract The basic concept of a novel frequency-based on-line expert system (FBOLES) approach for on-line fault diagnoses in nuclear power plants has been presented previously. This paper reports further progress, and includes how to express the uncertainties of expert opinion in knowledge-bases and propagate then in inferences, and how to deal with imperfect knowledge-bases. It also describes the main elements of FBOLES and outlines how the system works under complex conditions including the dynamic behavior of signals during accidents, multiple failures, and on-line changes of plant operation mode. Its ability to diagnose root causes of accidents has been tested using the main steam and feedwater condensate systems of a full-scale, three-loop, 950 MW nuclear power plant simulated by the Tsinghua simulator. So far the results seem good.

RetroLite: An artificial intelligence tool for lighting energy-efficiency upgrade

A prototype software tool integrating knowledge-base and database approaches is developed to solve lighting-retrofit problems for energy conservation and management purposes. Founded on the types of problems and the conceptual differences between conventional programming and knowledge-based expert systems, it is felt that a system which combines both approaches is best for solving lighting-retrofit problems. The architecture of the system is built on the concept of knowledge-based expert systems and its links to a database. A commercially available knowledge-engineering tool and a dBase III-compatible complier are used for system development. Improvements necessary to upgrade the current research system into a deliverable tool are suggested.

Corporate perspectives on technology transfer: the expert-systems apprenticeship program

The authors describe their experiences in designing, marketing, implementing, and evaluating a six-month, $1.1 million technology-transfer program called the expert-systems apprenticeship program (ESAP). ESAP had a formal classroom component to instruct eight employees in expert-system concepts, followed by an apprenticeship phase, during which the staff designed and implemented prototype systems under the guidance of experienced knowledge engineers. These prototypes were company-sponsored projects that solved real business problems. The prototypes not only demonstrated the applicability of the technology to the company's business, but also seeded the corporation with working systems to promote continued development of expert systems.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Production System Development for Expert Systems Using a Recursive Partitioning Induction Approach: An Application to Mortgage, Commercial, and Consumer Lending

ABSTRACTThe concepts of expert systems and decision support systems have received considerable attention recently. While systems have been proposed for various problem areas in business, difficulties still exist in the knowledge acquisition phase of development. This paper presents a recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) approach to knowledge acquisition. The RPA production system approach was applied to data sets representing the mortgage, commercial, and consumer lending problems. Comparison of the classification rates across these problems to the results of a generalized inductive inference production system (Quinlan's ID3 algorithm) and across the mortgage and commercial lending problems to traditional statistical modeling approaches indicated that the RPA approach provided superior results while using fewer variables.

Applications of expert system building tools in structural design

This paper summarizes the basic concepts of expert systems and describes some of the applications of three commercially available expert system tools. The function of the various components of the tools is explained using simple design examples. It is concluded that a tool can be employed to develop useful expert systems for real-world applications, provided factual and heuristic material is available for creating a knowledge base. Key words: artificial intelligence, knowledge-based expert systems, knowledge base, inference mechanism, expert system building tools, structural design, applications of expert system building tools.

On the evaluation of heuristic information systems

Abstract The concept of heuristic information systems is introduced and discussed with respect to the properties and use of heuristic systems. The concept of heuristic information systems includes the concepts of expert systems and information retrieval systems. The conceptual framework used in the evaluation of information retrieval systems is applied to two published cases of expert systems evaluation. An analysis of the results shows that the two types of systems have similar performance characteristics in the chosen framework.

On the evaluation of heuristic information systems

The concept of heuristic information systems is introduced and discussed with respect to the properties and use of heuristic systems. The concept of heuristic information systems includes the concepts of expert systems and information retrieval systems. The conceptual framework used in the evaluation of information retrieval systems is applied to two published cases of expert systems evaluation. An analysis of the results shows that the two types of systems have similar performance characteristics in the chosen framework.

Implementing Expert Systems into Business‐to‐Business Marketing Practice

Discusses artificial intelligence, particularly expert or knowledge systems, and its relevance for business‐to‐business marketing and marketing decision support systems. Enables the reader to understand the basic concepts of expert systems while providing more technical references, before discussing current and potential applications for decision support systems. Argues that expert systems will ultimately play a major role in such applications, developing over the next two decades. Includes appendices and a glossary of terms and definitions.

Enhancing the learning process with expert systems

The purpose of this paper is to show how expert systems are used to enhance the learning process or improve basic skills of students. It provides resource material to business faculty for the teaching of a one or two session module on expert systems in a graduate or undergraduate statistics class. After briefly introducing the concept of expert systems and discussing their potential uses in education, a student exercise involves using STAT-EXPERT, an expert system designed to help students in selecting the appropriate statistical analysis technique for a mini case situation described in the exercise.

The Potential Application of Expert Systems in Dairy Extension Education1,2

The application of artificial intelligence technologies encompasses a number of fields with opportunities for exploiting these tools to solve real world problems that traditional programming environments do not offer. Expert systems offer a structured approach to knowledge representation and use techniques to manipulate data in ways that may generate inferences not explicitly programmed. When encoded in an expert system, rules help guide the user through masses of data and the expert's reasoning strategies and rules captured in die system. An expert system approach to problem solving provides a flexible yet structured approach to many problems that extension specialists (“experts in a field”) now solve relatively routinely. The data-intensive nature of dairy herd management analysis offers numerous opportunities to apply expert system concept to the monitoring and controlling of herd performance. The ability to query the expert system rule structure during a consultation provides the user the opportunity to view the flow of the rules used during the session, thereby increasing the user's expertise and providing an instructional experience. The expert system development process is necessarily iterative and therefore demands a highly flexible programming environment. An overview of factors to consider when evaluating the potential for using an expert system for a particular application and factors to consider when selecting an expert systems programming environment will be discussed.