Development of a vision‐based online soft sensor for oil sands flotation using support vector regression and its application in the dynamic monitoring of bitumen extraction

Extraction from oil sands is a crucial step in the industrial recovery of bitumen. It is challenging to obtain online measurements of process outputs such as bitumen grade and recovery. Online measurements are a prerequisite for innovating better process control solutions for process efficiency and cost reduction. We have developed a soft sensor to provide online measurements of bitumen grade and recovery in a flotation‐based oil sand extraction process. Continuous froth images were captured using a VisioFroth camera system on a batch flotation unit. A support vector regression (SVR) model with a Gaussian kernel was constructed to develop a soft sensor for bitumen grade and recovery using froth image features as the inputs. The model was trained and validated for batch flotation of different grades of oil sands ore at industry‐relevant process conditions. A Dean‐Stark analyzer was used to obtain offline grade and recovery measurements that were used to calibrate the soft sensor. Mean squared errors (MSE) of 62 and 74 were achieved for grade (%) and recovery (%), respectively, and this was obtained using 5‐fold cross validation. The developed soft sensor model has been applied successfully in the real‐time dynamic monitoring of flotation grade and recovery for different grades of ore and operating conditions.

     

Experimental studies of liquid flow maldistribution in a random packed column

Liquid flow distribution has been a major concern when scaling up random packed columns. This study concerns the measurements of liquid flow distribution in a large scale column packed with 25.4 mm stainless steel Pall rings. The liquid flow distribution was studied with packed bed height from 0.9 to 3.5 m, liquid flow rate from 2.91 to 6.66 kg/m²·s, and gas flow rate from 0 to 3.0 kg/m²·s. In addition, three systems, water/air, aqueous detergent solution/air and Isopar/air, were used to study the effect of liquid physical properties on liquid flow distribution, and two different liquid distributors were employed to test the effect of liquid distributor design. It was found that liquid flow distribution was strongly influenced by liquid distributor design, packed bed height, gas flow rate and liquid viscosity, slightly influenced by liquid flow rate, but not by liquid surface tension.     

Effects of surface tension on tray point efficiencies

Sieve tray efficiencies for the distillation of methanol/water, acetic acid/water and cyclohexane/n-heptane mixtures were measured as a function of composition under fixed vapour and liquid rates in a 0.15 m diameter distillation column. Experimental results show that surface tension has a significant effect on tray efficiency and the number of transfer units. Further tests in a simulator column with air/water, air/methanol and air/(water + surfactant) systems having different surface tensions revealed that bubble sizes in froths are mainly determined by surface tension. The results also show that bubble break-up and coalescence occurs in the froths.     

Reliability assessment of CMOS differential cross-coupled LC oscillators and a novel on chip self-healing approach against aging phenomena

In this paper, reliability of CMOS differential cross-coupled LC oscillators is examined, and a novel on chip aging detection and healing technique is developed to increase the lifetime of oscillator circuits. Aging causes degradation in several transistor parameters, such as threshold voltage, mobility, and transconductance. While these changes cause irregular timing characteristics and increased power consumption in digital circuits, the case is quite different for their analog counterparts. Analog circuits, especially nonlinear ones, show more deviations at the output due to parameter changes. In order to evaluate the aging effects on nonlinear analog circuits, two different oscillator structures (n-type and p-type) with 5 GHz oscillation frequency were designed using 0.13 μm technology. The phase noise analysis of fresh and aged oscillators was performed analytically and through simulations. Based on these analyses the robustness of oscillators was discussed. Finally, an on chip aging sensor and self recovery mechanism are proposed to increase the robustness of the CMOS LC oscillators.     

FOULING OF SIEVE TRAYS

Fouling due to the deposition of solids on sieve trays was studied in a 153 mm diameter column and a 90 mm diameter simulator. Tests were carried out with various gas-liquid-solid systems to determine the effect of the fouling mechanism on tray performance. For an air-water system containing saturated NaHCO₃, fouling from crystallisation occurs due to water evaporation by dry air at the tray holes. For a CO₂-water system containing K₂C0₃ and saturated KHC0₃ the reaction between C0₂ and K₂CO₃ causes the precipitation of KHCO₃ at the gas-liquid interface. For the air-water system containing insoluble solids, flour and Ca(OH)₂, no fouling was observed for a 48 hour test period. Interesting results on tray performance were also obtained. Test results indicate that (1) trays with larger holes have higher resistance to fouling, (2) fouling does not occur when trays are operated under weeping conditions, (3) fouling rate increases with increasing gas loading, (4) a bed of mesh packing on the sieve tray accelerates the fouling rate. A mathematical model has been developed for predicting the effect of crystallisation fouling on tray pressure drop as a function of time.     

On the decomposition of Roesser's 2-D system model

It is shown that Roesser's 2-D system model (1975) satisfying rank conditions (10) can be decomposed into two equivalent systems connected in feedback form, with one being 1-D and the other 2-D of reduced order     

An ontology-based universal design knowledge support system

An effective and efficient knowledge support system is crucial for universal design process, as it has become a major design issue in the last decade with the growth of the elderly population and disabled people. There are a limited number of CAD investigations on the nature of knowledge processing that supports the cognitive activities of universal design process. Therefore, this paper proposes an ontology-based computer-assisted universal design (CAUD) plug-in tool that supports designers in developing satisfactory universal design solutions in the conceptual design phase. The required knowledge processing and representation of the developed tool is motivated by the ontological language. It is based on the multiple divergence–convergence cognitive strategies and cognitive needs of designers in the analysis/synthesis/evaluation operations. The CAUD plug-in tool is the first attempt to interface the universal design knowledge ontologically and respond to the requirements of conceptual design phase. According to the user acceptance study, the tool is assessed as useful, understandable, efficient, supportive and satisfactory.     

Performance of combined mesh packing and sieve tray in distillation

The hydraulic and mass transfer performance of a combined knitted mesh packing and sieve tray has been measured for the distillation of methanol-water mixtures. It was found that by adding a shallow bed of packing, the Murphree tray efficiency increased by 40–50% over a wide range of concentrations and flow rates. This increase in tray efficiency can be attributed to a much smaller and more uniform bubble formation on the packed tray. Hydraulic measurements have shown that the packed trays have lower weeping and entrainment, as well as slightly higher froth heights and pressure drops.