APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING TO POWER PLANT HEAT RATE PERFORMANCE MONITORING-

A KNOWLEDGE-ENGINEERING APPROACH WILL BE USED TO ACQUIRE THE EXPERTISE NEEDED TO OPERATE LARGE POWER PLANTS AT HIGH EFFICIENCY. THE FOCUS WILL BE ON THE ABILITY OF SKILLED OPERATORS TO MONITOR THE PLANT HEAT- RATE PERFORMANCE AS A MEANS FOR DIAGNOSING INCIPIENT FAILURES EARLY, RECOGNIZING DETERIORATING PERFORMANCE, AND KEEPING THE PLANT OPTIMALLY CONFIGURED. THIS ESSENTIAL SKILL WILL BE INTEGRATED WITH STATE-OF-THE- ART KNOWLEDGE AVAILABLE IN REPORTS AND THE BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNDERLYING PHYSICS OF THESE PLANTS. THE RESULTING KNOWLEDGE WILL BE MADE INTO AN EXPERT SYSTEM THAT CAN BE MADE AVAILABLE TO OPERATING CREWS AT LESS EFFICIENT PLANTS. PHASE I WILL CONCENTRATE ON OVERALL KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION, KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION, DEVELOPMENT OF A DEMONSTRATION SYSTEM, AND TESTING BY OPERATORS. THE EMPHASIS WILL BE ON DEVELOPING A GOOD APPROACH AND DETERMINING IF EXPERT SYSTEMS CAN EFFECTIVELY ASSIST IN IMPROVING THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LARGE POWER PLANTS. IF PHASE I IS SUCCESSFUL, THE AVAILABLE KNOWLEDGE WILL BE USED FULLY, AND THOROUGH TESTING WILL BE UNDERTAKEN IN PHASE II.