Patent ID: 7862771
Filing Date: 2011-01-04
Classification: B01D,G05B,Y10T

Abstract:
1. An article of manufacture for estimating either an attribute of a reactant applied during performance of, or an amount of a reactant exhausted by, a process having multiple process parameters (MPPs) that is performed to control an amount of a pollutant emitted into the air, comprising: non-transitory computer readable storage media; and logic stored on the storage media, wherein the stored logic is configured to be executable by one or more computers and thereby cause the one or more processors to operate so as to: receive signals corresponding to attributes of the MPPs, including (i) if the process is a wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) process, a signal corresponding to a measured current pH level of the applied reactant, and (ii) if the process is a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) process, a signal corresponding to a measured current amount of the reactant exhausted by the process; and estimate (i) if the process is the WFGD process, a current pH level of the applied reactant based on the attributes of the MPPs, other than the measured current pH level of the applied reactant, that correspond to the received signals, and on one of a neural network process model and a non-neural network process model that in either case represents a relationship between the pH level of the applied reactant and the attributes of the MPPs other than the measured current pH level of the applied reactant, or (ii) if the process is the SCR process, a current amount of the reactant exhausted by the process based on the attributes of the MPPs, other than the measured current amount of the reactant exhausted by the process, that correspond to the received signals and on one of a neural network process model and a non-neural network process model that in either case represents a relationship between the amount of the reactant exhausted by the process and the attributes of the MPPs other than the measured amount of the reactant exhausted by the process; wherein execution of the stored logic by the one or more processors also thereby causes the one or more computers to operate so as to (a) compare (i) if the process is the WFGD process, the estimated pH level of the applied reactant with the measured pH level of the applied reactant corresponding to the received signal or (ii) if the process is the SCR process, the estimated amount of reactant exhausted by the process with the measured amount of reactant exhausted by the process corresponding to the received signal, and (b) determine (i) if the process is the WFGD process, the validity of the measured pH level based on the comparison, and (ii) if the process is the SCR process, the validity of the measured amount based on the comparison.