Decision support system for fault diagnosis and recovery of gas distribution networks

This paper describes an expert system for online fault detection and diagnosis of gas transmission networks, combining model- and knowledge-based methods. It consists of a set of hierarchically structured components which include signal processing, state observation, rule-based knowledge processing as well as an advanced user interface. In addition, an intelligent hypertext tool is integrated into the user interface to support the operator during fault recovery. The diagnosis system was tested with real measurement data from a medium sized gas distribution network. Its real-time capability and effectiveness for basic fault detection purposes was demonstrated by industrial applications