Using PC-based shells to write an expert assistance for use with the ASPEN (Advanced System for Process ENgineering) computer code

Conference · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:6331717

Parkinson, W. J.; Luger, G. F.; Bretz, R. E.

Many engineers argue against using expert systems to solve problems because of the relatively high cost of specialized LISP machines and the large expert system shells written for them. This paper demonstrates how small, but useful, expert systems can be written with inexpensive shells and run on inexpensive personal computers (PCs). Two such shells are CLIPS and EXSHELL. CLIPS, developed by NASA, is a forward-chaining, rule-based system. It is written in the C language, but the rules are entered in a LISP-like format. EXSHELL, developed by the Computer Science Department at the University of New Mexico, is a backward-chaining, rule-based system written in PROLOG. Each of these shells was used to write an expert assistant to aid the design engineer in using the ASPEN (Advanced System for Process ENgineering) computer code. ASPEN is a large computer code used to design chemical plants and refineries. Among other things, ASPEN computes mass and energy balances for the plant design. Unfortunately, an expert, or several experts, are required to use ASPEN to its full potential. For example, choosing the proper thermodynamic package to represent a given process is important in developing the correct mass and energy balances. An ASPEN user may be an expert in plant design, yet may not be expert enough at thermodynamics to pick the proper package from the many offered by ASPEN. CLIPS and EXSHELL were used to develop a useful expert assistant to help process plant designers pick the proper thermodynamic package to be used with particular operating conditions at various points in the ASPEN plant simulation. This paper also demonstrates the utility and ease of use of these inexpensive shells and compares the approach used by each. 11 refs., 12 figs.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6331717
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-89-833; CONF-8904136-1; ON: DE89009396
• Resource Relation: Conference: Applications of artificial intelligence in chemical engineering, Houston, TX, USA, 2 Apr 1989; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
42 ENGINEERING
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
CHEMICAL PLANTS
EXPERT SYSTEMS
PETROLEUM REFINERIES
A CODES
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN
EQUATIONS OF STATE
PERSONAL COMPUTERS
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
COMPUTER CODES
COMPUTERS
DIGITAL COMPUTERS
EQUATIONS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
MICROCOMPUTERS
020400* - Petroleum- Processing
420200 - Engineering- Facilities
Equipment
& Techniques
990210 - Supercomputers- (1987-1989)