The design of an expert system to aid in the selection of a wood fired boiler system.

摘要

Currently most industrial and institutional facilities rely on fossil fuels to power their boiler systems. As the quantity of these non-renewable resources is depleted, and the demand for them continues to exist their cost is expected to rise in the future, making alternative fuels economical. This work discusses the development of an expert system to help the operators of such facilities examine the feasibility of implementing a wood fired boiler system. The expert system software acquires information about the current facility via user input and uses that information to determine the optimal boiler type and size. The system also examines the economic effect of implementing a wood fueled system. A database of boiler types, sizes, and costs has been compiled and coupled with the expert system in order to determine an appropriate boiler for the specific application. Heating value, cost, and availability data for different types of fuel were obtained and considered in the boiler selection process. Cytec Industries of Willow Island, West Virginia was employed as a test case during the system development.