智能计算机系统提高发电厂的运行能力中英文对照..docVIP

Intelligent computer systems enhance power plant operations Douglas J.Smith Without computers and their associated technology, today’s power industry would be far less efficient and the maintenance and operation of power plants would be more costly. Computers are used for operating plants, diagnosing operating problems, optimizing the purchase of fuels, and scheduling outages. Artificial intelligence (AI) is one branch of computer science that models knowledge to solve problems in the same way that humans solve problems. The increased speed and power of computers plus their shrinking size has helped to expand the use of AI. (Another area in which AI is being used in the power industry is in robotics .See POWER ENGINEERING , July, 1989, page 22.) One of the fastest growing areas of AI is the expert system. Expert systems are programs that incorporate the knowledge of experts. The knowledge contained in such a system can be used to manipulate data in a manner similar to that used in the human reasoning process. In less than 20years, power engineers have gone from the slide rule to handheld calculators to today’s minicomputers .Now, almost all power engineers routinely use PCs. However, questions remain about the future use of computers in the power industry: . Where is the technology taking us? . What is the real payoff in terms of greater competitiveness and efficiency of operation? . How is it going to change the way utilities conduct their business? . What is the status of research in advanced computer technology and when will this be commercially available to the electric power industry? According to the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERE), the leading cause of forced fossil power plant outages is boiler tube failures. In coal-fired boilers, 3.16 of the forced outages per year, for each boiler, are attributed to failures of waterwall and superheater tubes. Waterwall tube failures also are the major cause of forced outages in gas-fired and oil-fir