PERTURBATION TEST METHOD FOR MEASURING OUTPUT RESPONSES

摘要

The present invention is a method for determining the optimum operating practice for an industrial process. The methodology includes a combination of process control steps and data analysis techniques to investigate responses to controlled "black box" process inputs, e.g., coal and air feeds for coal-fired furnaces in the case studies above. A unique time-dependent perturbation is specified (10), then applied to individual process feed streams (20) to give a signature in the data that permits the acquisition (30), assemblage (50), filtering (60), and detection of various measured responses for regulated electric utility furnaces. The perturbation is implemented using the plant control system data (40). Individual control signal set points are perturbed using matrix calculations (70) for each piece of equipment supplying process inputs of interest. As a result, complex commercial processes can be evaluated for optimization (80) without changing the normal configuration of the system.