Intelligent Systems In Process Control

The following are proven successful application areas for a Knowledge-Based Expert System (KBES):
• Fault diagnosis: detection, root cause analysis, repetitive problem recognition
• Supervisory control
• Complex control schemes
• Recovery from extreme conditions
• Emergency shutdown
• Heuristic optimization, e.g., debottlenecking
• Startup or shutdown monitoring
• Batch phase transition detection and subsequent control mode switching
• Process and control performance monitoring
• Statistical Process Control (SPC)
• Real Time Quality Management (combination of the above)
• Online "smart" operator and troubleshooting manual
• Sequential or batch control
• Control system validation
• Object-oriented simulation of processes and control systems

Other applications have been successful as well.

The survey paper below was presented by Greg Stanley as the plenary session for an IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) conference. It is a summary of the state of the art in applying real-time knowledge-based systems (Artificial Intelligence & expert systems) in process control. After a brief overview of the features of a Knowledge-Based Expert System (KBES) useful in industrial control, several case studies are reviewed. The lessons learned are summarized. 

Experiences Using Knowledge-Based Reasoning in Online Control Systems (pdf) or HTML version
 

The G2 product by Gensym is the most popular real time expert system used by the process industries and others. The following technical paper by Moore, Rosenof, and Stanley describes the issues addressed by a real time expert system: Process Control Using a Real Time Expert System (pdf)