Applications of expert systems in chemical engineering and corrosion control

Expert Systems are computer programs which can help a non-specialist to make decisions, interpret data, diagnose faults, make predictions plan or design, by providing him access to the knowledge of experts on the particular field. In this paper the evolution of expert systems is reviewed and common expert system structures are described in detail. Possible application domains, advantages and shortcomings are discussed The available expert system development tools are reviewed and the “state of the art” in chemical engineering and corrosion control is described. It is concluded that, from the engineer's point of view, the creation of easy to use expert system development tools and the move to smaller computers are the most important developments in the expert system field. Those developments have made it possible to create new expert systems by everyone, not just artificial intelligence specialists. While in both chemical engineering and corrosion control we are still in the early stages of research and development, the increased activity in those fields will certainly yield expert systems which will make the engineer's work easier and more effective.