EXPERT SYSTEMS GO ON-LINE AT BLUE CIRCLE.

New ways to optimising energy use in cement-making kilns were sought. As the kiln operators use relatively simple rules of thumb of optimise the process, and these rules were relatively well documented, the conclusion was reached that a suitable control system could be designed using a linguistic rule-based expert system approach in which the decision making methods and actions of the human experts could be emulated. LINKman, a self-contained supervisory control system, is presented that is capable of being used in a stand alone manner or alongside existing instrumentation and control system.