Patent Document ID: 5548528
Application ID: 08380062
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for monitoring select output parameters in a manufacturing plant that are generated as a byproduct of the operation of the plant, the manufacturing plant having controls operating in response to received control values to alter the operation of the plant, and sensors to measure the operating parameters of the plant and output associated sensor values, comprising the steps of: determining at least once the level of the select output parameters output by the plant and the associated control values to the plant in addition to the associated sensor values, the step of determining at least once utilizing a predetermined determination process; measuring on a substantially frequent basis the control values to the plant and the sensor values output by the sensors; storing a representation of the plant in association with the determination process in a virtual sensor predictive network having as an output a predicted select output parameter level that corresponds to the actual select output parameter level determined by the determination process to be output by the manufacturing plant, the control values of the plant and the sensor values of the plant comprising inputs to the virtual sensor predictive network, the stored representation learned from the determined output parameter level by the determination process, the control values and the sensor values, the virtual sensor predictive network operable to be trained upon the determined level of the select output parameters, the measured control values and the sensor values to generate the stored representation; and generating an error when the predicted output parameter level exceeds a predetermined threshold.