Synthesis and validation of operating procedures based on untimed automata

To facilitate efficient procedure synthesis, the extended finite automata are adopted in this work to model all components in a chemical process. The intended operation is divided into several stages and each characterized with a set of unique features, e.g., stable operation, condition adjustment, material charging and/or unloading, etc. The control specifications of every stage should then be stipulated accordingly and also described with automata. The observable event traces (OETs) embedded in this system can be produced by synchronizing all aforementioned automata. The candidate operating procedures are summarized with sequential function charts (SFCs) on the basis of these OETs. The commercial package ASPEN Plus Dynamic has been used to validate these SFCs in simulation studies.