Software agents for process monitoring and notification

ABSTRACT

Safety and efficiency are primary concerns in chemical processing facilities, though the complexity of many such systems often makes it difficult for operators to detect abnormal conditions before they compromise throughput or become hazardous. In this paper, we report initial results from the application of multi-agent systems to monitor complex chemical processes and flexibly and appropriately notify key plant personnel about off-nominal conditions.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
        I.2.11 Distributed Artificial Intelligence

Additional Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
      I.2.4 Knowledge Representation Formalisms and Methods
          Subjects: Representation languages; Semantic networks

  J. Computer Applications
  J.2 PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING
      Subjects: Chemistry

General Terms:
Algorithms, Design, Human Factors, Measurement, Reliability, Theory

Keywords:
DAML, FlexFeed, KAOS, KARMEN, OWL, agent, chemical process, monitoring, notification, ontology, policy