KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEM FOR THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF MIXING EQUIPMENT

The paper presents a methodology of mixing system design and an expert system that is built according to the proposed principles. The knowledge-based system for the predesign of stirred vessels is strongly user-oriented. The presented program selects and designs impeller, tank, and auxiliary equipment (baffles, entering). There are performed mixing power and mechanical calculations, too. The system is constructed as an object-oriented database in MS-Windows environment. The Excel tables are used, as the databases, for the selection of stirred vessel components. The stirred vessel components are objects in Nexpert Object (by Neuron Data Inc.) knowledge bases. A user interface is developed with ToolBook (by Asymetrix Inc). The knowledge bases are activated from the user interface to get the possible selection candidates in ranked order for the problems under consideration. Part of the user interface is an explanation system. The main features of the system are flexibility and good imitation of the design activity.