Integration of Operational Tasks in Chemical Plants- Investigating an Agent-Based Approach

The overall, coordinated management of different operational tasks in achemical plant can improve operational efficiency. Although each of thesetasks is responsible for a particular function, they are dependent on eachother, which is why an approach wherein all the different tasks can beintegrated into a single unified framework is desirable. While integration hasimportant benefits, its realisation presents considerable challenges. Fewprevious works have addressed this topic and even fewer have investigatedrecent computing paradigms which may greatly assist in the development ofa unifying framework.Multi-agent systems were introduced and investigated in this study as apossible means for achieving integration of operational tasks in chemicalplants, with an extensive methodology being devised to formalise the processof system development. The results were positive and demonstrated that theproposed agent-based solution was able to effectively account for the pilotplant setting. It was concluded that, in addition to presently availableintegration techniques and base technologies, the agent-based approachpresents a viable alternative solution.This book is adressed to people in industry who are looking for alternativeways to implement a unified operational task framework. It is also directedtowards researchers who have an interest in this area.