Intelligent online process monitoring and fault isolation

BBN Systems and Technologies in Edinburgh is engaged in a research and development programme investigating intelligent process monitoring (IPM), aimed at producing a practical online advisory system for the process industries. In this project BBN is capitalising on its expertise in the fields of data acquisition and analysis, expert systems, computer systems, control and man-machine interfaces. The introduction of online IPM systems will assist operators by abstracting alarm information, isolating potential faults, aiding fault diagnosis and proving information to help the operator make decisions that affect future plant performance and safety. BBN is developing an IPM system based around an existing signal processing and graphics display package and a commercially available expert system shell. To these elements BBN have added software for data acquisition, a structure for controlling interprocess communications, and real-time extensions for the expert system