Intelligent control based on expert system for grain drying

ABSTRACT Drying is an integrative technique concerning diversified subjects such as heat and mass transfer, food properties, modelling, computer science, etc. In grain drying, the main objective is to achieve a desired moisture content with minimum consumption of energy in the shortest drying time. However, achieving this objective can be very difficult in grain drying process because of its multiple variables, long time delays and nonlinearity. In this paper, an intelligent control approach based on expert system (ES) is presented to achieve this objective. Expert systems provide powerful and flexible means for obtaining solutions to a large variety of engineering problems that cannot be solved by traditional methods. On the basis of this analysis, an on-line grain drying intelligent control and ES based on process parameter reasoning are designed for a cross-current drier. Finally, an on-line measurement and intelligent control software is developed by Lab VIEW. The practical control results show that the on-line measurement and intelligent control system of the dryer product has a satisfying control performance.