Expert System for Emergency Response Design of an Expert System for Emergency Response to a Chemical Spill. 2. ERexpert Module Design and Development

Abstract

The requirements for standardized procedures, systematic documentation, and rapid response from personnel with different levels of training make the application of computer-based expert system technology a promising approach in the development of software that can aid in planning the response to chemical spills. In this paper, the development of a modular expert system is described. ERexpert, which was developed for use in the Microsoft Windows 3.1 environment, can be used to guide the nonexpert user through the emergency response process. The knowledge base of this program consists of two functional groups, a database of factual information and a rule base of heuristic expertise. The factual database, named Factbase, was developed using the Microsoft Access 1.0 relational database system. Spill related information was mapped into a set of subject-oriented tables. In the Rulebase, heuristic knowledge is first organized into a knowledge matrix, and the results are then converted into rules that can be used by the inference engine in solving problems with incomplete information. A multilayer knowledge domain matrix format has been designed to aid in the representation of complex decision-making processes. Microsoft Visual Basic 3.0 program language was used to develop the graphical user interface that provides quick and efficient control of the program. The implementation procedures and results are fully discussed together with a description of the program.

Expert Systems and Analytical Chemistry: Recent Progress in the ACexpert Project

“…Expert systems have also been applied to a number of other areas. Applications that allow evaluation of physico-chemical properties, 123 characterization of polymers, 124 converting chemical formulas to names, 125 and handling emergency chemical spill accidents 126,136 have been described. Some standard procedures in the chemical decision-making stream can be taken over by expert systems, improving the performance and productivity in laboratories as well as increasing the knowledge sharing probability.…”

“…Detailed discussions and examples of encoding domain knowledge based on the KDM technique can be found in other publications by our group. 110,111,119,126,136,147 5.4. The Knowledge Base File.…”

A Synthetic Method for Atmospheric Diffusion Simulation and Environmental Impact Assessment of Accidental Pollution in the Chemical Industry in a WEBGIS Context

“…In order to mitigate the damage of a chemical accident, a great deal of research has focused on the statistical analysis of accident risk [ 2 ] and executive emergency response plans [ 4 , 5 ]. With the development of environmental numeric simulation models [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ] and model integration techniques [ 10 , 11 ], many Decision Support Systems (DSSs) have been established to help manage chemical hazards [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. A recent survey found that most DSS are based on quantitative risk assessments of potential accident sources and used to predict and prevent major accidents.…”

“…However, limited by the technical capacity and design idea, these DSSs always have shortcomings in some respects. First the majority of DSSs can only handle specific types of accidents, mostly hazard release and diffusion [ 13 , 15 , 16 ]. Few take explosion and conflagration into consideration, but due to the serial simulation strategy, cannot realize the multi-type simulation simultaneously [ 14 , 17 ].…”

“…Second, other DSSs have utilized real-time data processing (including meteorology data and accident source information) [ 6 , 13 ], but cannot present real-time simulation results. Third, the system architecture for DSS is mostly in the client/server mode [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 18 ]. This category of system architecture is easy to design and implement, although the software modification for system function amendments, at client and servers ends, are very involved.…”