Intelligent Systems for Malfunction Diagnosis and Response
{'Code': '07020000', 'Directorate': {'LongName': 'Directorate For Engineering'}, 'Division': {'LongName': 'Div Of Chem, Bioeng, Env, & Transp Sys'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Maria Burka'}
In an operating chemical plant, product quality is maintained by                monitoring process variables and controlling their fluctuations                 within a desired range.  When operating conditions vary outside                 these design limits, not only is the product quality in jeopardy,               but if left uncorrected, these variations could result in a                     catastrophic event such as an explosion, fire, or the release of                toxic chemicals.  The objective of this project is research                     leading to the development of computer-based systems for on-line                diagnosis of process malfunctions to be used by plant operators.                Computer-automated diagnosis has been studied in many domains.                  However, several features distinguish the chemical plant                        diagnosis problem:  (1) the state description involves                          time-dependent continues and discrete variables, (2) there are                  complex stream topologies with feedback and feedforward flows of                material, energy and information, (3) complex dynamics are                      associated with malfunction response, (4) malfunctions include                  chemical effects such as side reactions, mechanical faults such                 as valves sticking and blockages in pipes, and information                      processing faults such as sensor vary, possibly producing a                     family of response types for the same malfunction, (6) the                      diagnosis is based on on-line measurements with fallible sensors,               parameters are measured.  This research will create new                         mechanisms for joining plant-specific and general behavioral                    knowledge with diagnostic methodology.                                                                                                                          The PI plans to do research in four subareas:                                   (1)  Create and refine formal representation of the objects                          involved in diagnosis and operator advising, including:                         a.  Physical entities such as plant units,                                      b.  Abstract objects such as constraints on normal                                  behavior and system intended functions, and                                 c.  Conceptual objects such as malfunction hypotheses,                              inferred malfunctions, abnormal events, and                                     explanations.                                                          (2)  Based on these representations, develop a library of unit                            operation models and a mechanism to link these                                  components to form models of the causal topology and                            intended functions of specific plants.                                (3)  Develop a mechanism for interpreting the basic flowsheet                             model and identifying potentially significant real-time                         events, their causes and relationships.                               (4)  Conduct research on dynamic reasoning leading to the                                 development of a general inference mechanism for                                interpreting real-time event sequences.                                                                                                               Dynamic mathematical models of process plants incorporating                     realistic features and a board range of malfunctions will be                    developed. This will permit testing of the representations and                  methodologies, and the investigation of process/model mismatch,                 the effects of noise and of out-of-order alarms.  Architecture                  will be created into which plant- specific knowledge can be                     incorporated by industrial design engineers.
{'FirstName': 'Mark', 'LastName': 'Kramer', 'EmailAddress': None, 'StartDate': '09/15/1988', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'Massachusetts Institute of Technology', 'CityName': 'Cambridge', 'ZipCode': '021394301', 'PhoneNumber': '6172531000', 'StreetAddress': '77 MASSACHUSETTS AVE', 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'Massachusetts', 'StateCode': 'MA'}
[{'Code': '1403', 'Text': 'Proc Sys, Reac Eng & Mol Therm'}, {'Code': '9145', 'Text': 'SPECIAL PROGRAMS-RESERVE'}]
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1988&All=true', 'xml': '8814226.xml'}