A knowledge-based reasoning model using causal table for identifying corrosion failure mechanisms in refining and petrochemical plants

Engineering Failure Analysis, Available online 3 May 2012, In Press, Accepted Manuscript
A knowledge-based reasoning model using causal table for identifying corrosion failure mechanisms in refining and petrochemical plants
Wei Wu a, Guangxu Cheng a, Haijun Hu a, Yaoheng Zhang b
a School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, PR China
b Research Institute of Lanzhou Petrochemical Corporation, Lanzhou 730060, PR China
Abstract
Corrosion is one of the main causes of equipment failure in refining and petrochemical plants. Identifying the numerous corrosion mechanisms in refining and petrochemical plantsis a critical a key issue.
Authors propose a knowledge-based reasoning model using a causal table rather than traditional IF-THEN rules to organize and represent domain knowledge.  Uncertainty in the reasoning process is addressed by using a hybrid method involving a combination of the Bayesian method and certainty factor theory. An application example for the identification of environmentally assisted cracking mechanisms in petroleum refineries is presented.
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