Operational Knowledge Research Articles

Application of Expert System for Blast Furnace Operation Control

We have applied the technology of expert system which is based on Knowledge Engineering to the furnace condition diagnosis system, which was one of the most important systems of the operation control system on the blast furnace. This expert system is constructed by two systems, the first is the ‘Abnormal Furnace Condition Prediction System’, the second is ‘Furnace Heat Monitoring and Control System’. In these system we used the operator's knowledge and experience, and a large quantity of sensor data that are gathered by an on-line process computer. The important character of this system is that it is a real-time expert system. We developed and applied this system to the relined No.5 Blast Furnace in Fukuyama Works and have achived good results.

Operation Support System for Water Supply Systems Using Knowledge Based Method

This paper presents an attempt to improve the operation support system for real water supply systems. The conventional systems based on mathematical programming are not satisfactory, since operators cannot understand how solutions are derived. We propose an operation support system based on the operator's own heuristic knowledge for problem solving processes, from which we can expect smooth interaction with the operator. This concept was examined through a prototype system which is constructed based on the heuristics of operators in charge of actual operation. As a result, we conclude that this approach can realize a human-friendly and effective support system. The outline of the system structure, composition of knowledge base, and flow of execution are included. This study is concerned with the application of knowledge engineering and cognitive science to a real world.

分子構造自動解析システム(CHEMICS)

This paper describes developments in the CHEMICS system for the structure elucidation of organic compounds from spectroscopic measurements. At the first step of the paper, how to generate all the possible isomeric structures from a molecular formula is mentioned. The system has been prepared on the basis of the generation method. The possible parts (components) are provided by the comparison os unknown's data with a set of components preliminarily stored in a computer. Candidate structures are generated using those selected compcnents The number of candidates may be diminished by the operator's knowledge and/or prediction of spectrum for each candidate structure.

Application of expert systems to process control

This paper describes the EXTASE system, an expert system for alarm processing in the vacuum distillation tower of a refinery. The system is able to find the cause(s) of an active alarm as well as the dependencies between alarms that were originated by the same disturbance in the process. Starting with an analysis of the operato's activity while performing information synthesis tasks, a computer model is abstracted. This model is based on a very simple hypothesis-driven search strategy. The search relies on causal relationship called “couplings” which encode the operator's basic knowledge about the behavior of the process. This approach allows the system to account for possible sensor failure in the diagnosis of process alarms.

The Social Design of Office Automation

ion and solitude With information technology, most operations, procedures, and acts at work become abstract and immaterial. Thus, symbols, figures, and languages of a varied nature become the essential mediating factors between the workers, their work, and previous knowledge, and their very community, professional culture, and aspirations. In addition to distinctions in category and other differences (in salary, company status, or career), the center of gravity in office work is shifting toward a series of functions which call for intensified mental and cognitive activity that can be called cognitive mediation of work and of its social and context. Moreover, the stereotyped images of an intelligent, creative, and rewarding activity on the one hand, and of a repetitive and intellectually boring job on the other, are now giving way to a vision that is a hybrid product of the information revolution: despite job status and cultural differences, there now exists a series of tasks, both inside and outside the office, that are marked by the same standards, use the same symbolic mediation, and create the same sense of loss of identity when dealing with the intelligent processes of the machine. The involuntary and paradoxical recomposition of work Today machine and work procedures require not only a certain amount of mental commitment, which may vary with the complexity of the machines and the operator's knowledge and experience, but the ability to deal with a new component in the work as well. The automation of the office has added a new organizational load to work, that is, a component dealing with the effects of the variables that define the organization of social relations and work in the office. At the center of an ever-increasing number of office activities we find the processing, checking, and sometimes the analysis of symbolic data and mediating information produced by information-based systems. The borderline between jobs and their respective cultures now has a tendency to disappear, giving to a much vaster group of activities in which the work is carried out in similar conditions, with processes of the same kind, content, and intelligibility, and, above all, in similar contexts.

Computer Assistance — Implications for Memory Performance as a Function of Control Responsibility Assigned to Man

A perceived consequence of increasing computer assistance, within such contexts as air traffic control, is that the operator's knowledge and overall appreciation of the system could be impaired. This paper described a laboratory based research programme, investigated within a memory model the purpose of which was to provide a context and test constructs applicable to the complex and varied tasks of man-machine systems. Results indicated some decrement in recognition (memory) performance due to the subject's adoption of a monitoring rôle. Proposals are made for computer-aiding rather than full automation, so that the operator remains within the control loop, thus allowing his overall appreciation of the system state to be maintained.

Considerations in Developing and Utilizing Operator Training Simulators

Effective electric system operation depends on strengthening the relationship between the system operator and the electrical system with its associated control system. This relationship can be developed through a training medium which increases the operator's knowledge of the behaviot of the power system under various operating conditions and contingencies, and its response to control actions. An Operator Training Simulator (OTS), which simulates the static and dynamic responses of the operator's power system and his control system, can accomplish these training objectives. The concepts developed in this paper are based on the work of the project team through funding by the Electric Power Research Institute.

Verbal reports as evidence of the process operator's knowledge

Verbal reports as evidence of the process operator's knowledge

Dynamics of the Eye and Head during Movement between Displays: A Qualitative and Quantitative Guide for Designers

The purpose of this paper is to provide a designer or systems analyst a guide to human performance limitations in vision when fixation must be redirected from one display to another. The focus is on large angular separation (greater than 20 deg) and on tasks wherein speed is of importance. Patterns of eye and head movements are shown, as well as quantitative data on saccades, periods of eyelhead compensation, and head movement. Independent variables include interdisplay angle, display visibility, operator's knowledge of display location, and some relevant characteristics of a possible task which must be interrupted for the refixation. Intersubject and intrasubject variability are also presented.

A Technique For Measuring And Evaluating The Performance of a Beam Pumping System

Abstract Because of ever-changing pumping loads, and the problem of determining what proportion of the fluid load is elevated by the artificial lift system and what part by the reservoir, beam pumping performance has, in the past, been difficult to accurately measure, interpret and understand. Often, beam pumping units are performing in an exemplary fashion, without the operator's knowledge or appreciation of the machine's economy and effectiveness. Occasionally, beam pumping units are misapplied, marginal performers, and yet the operator mistakenly believes them to be efficient and economical. Outlined below is asimple and precise technique, inexpensive and easy to follow, that accurately compares and rates a beam pumping unit's mechanical performance, as well as its economy of operation. This simple method can also be used to rate the effectiveness and economy of the unit's prime mover. IMPORTANT Because of the complex behaviour of sucker rod pumping systems with their involved harmonic force patterns, it is desirable that performance comparisons between different beam pumping geometries, and/or different prime movers, be made on the basis of both (or all) systems, having approximately the same stroke length and pumping speed. It is also recommended that the same, or similar bottomhole pump and downhole conditions exist, as to pump submergence and volumetric efficiency. Unstable wells, fluid and gas pound, as well as other pumping irregularities may reduce the accuracy of comparative results. GENERAL It has been estimated that, as of 1971, the number of beam pumping units in service throughout the world exceeded the half million mark. Interestingly, a large percentage of these primitive machines employ the same basic geometry used on the earliest oilfield pumping mechanisms, over a century ago. Despite its advanced age and substantial numbers, little attention has been given to the development of a technique for measuring or evaluating the beam pumping unit's functional ability - either comparing the performance characteristics of different types of pumping unit geometries or comparing the unit's performance to some fixed reference. Inattention to this aspect of beam pumping technology is understandable, because, for many years, most beam-type geometries were essentially alike, obviously resulting in the same or similar performance. Additional1y, operators were engaged in oil production, so that they had little time or inclination to study the slight variations between various units. With the advent of the air balance unit in the 1920's, pumping unit geometry took on a different look, with substantial1y altered geometric and kinematic characteristics and performance. The air balance unit was followed some years later by other types of pumping unit geometry, differing widely from that so long employed by the historic conventional unit. For years, after the introduction of the newer types of pumping unit geometry, little thought was given to differences in performance characteristics, and it was not until H. E. Gray, a mathematician for Shell Oil Company's Research & Development Section, presented a paper entitled "Kinematics of Oil Well Pumping Units" that the industry's attention was focused on the fact that pumping unit geometry and kinematics could play a significant role in the unit's functional ability, or performance.