Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin go to home page university of texas at austin college of engineering U T direct
David M. Himmelblau, PhD
The Paul D. & Betty Robertson Meek and American Petrofina Foundation Centennial Professor in Chemical Engineering


photo of David M. Himmelblau
Office: CPE 5.410 Mailing Address:
Phone: (512) 471-7445 The University of Texas at Austin
Fax: -- Deptartment of Chemical Engineering
Email: himmelblau@che.utexas.edu 1 University Station C0400
UT Mail: C0400 Austin, TX 78712-0231

Educational Qualifications:
Ph.D., University of Washington (1957)
Executive Officer, Computer Aids for Chem. Engr., Inc.
AIChE: Director (1974-76) , Fellow (1978), CAST Division Award (1986), Founders Award (1992)
Joseph Martin Award, ASEE (1987)

Focus:
Sensor Validation. Use of artificial neural networks for fault diagnosis and data rectification

Research:
An on-going problem in process operations as well as experimentation is: are the sensors used transmitting valid information or are the sensors faulty? We are applying a new modeling technique to answer this question, namely the use of b asis functions in a dictionary. Such dictionaries can represent sensor signals in time components at different frequencies. By discriminating between normal and abnormal patterns for the signal we hope to identify degradation of sensor performance in rea l time.

A related area of research is the application of artificial neural networks to data rectification. If valid sensor signals are observed, the signals still contain random noise and processible process faults. Rectification yields the best estimate of the correct value of a process variable under such circumstances.

Selected Publications

  • "Modeling and Control of a Packed Distillation Column Using Artificial Neural Networks", Computers and Chemical Engineering, Vol. 19, No. 10, p 1077-1088 (1995) (with J.C. MacMurray)
  • " Identification of Nonlinear Process with Deadtime by Recurrent Neural Networks", Proceedings of 1995 American Control Conference, Seattle, WA (1995) (with Y. Cheung)
  • " On-Line Sensor Validation of Single Sensors Using Artificial Neural Networks", Proceedings of 1995 American Control Conference, Seattle, WA (1995) (with M. Bhalodia)
  • " Identification of Nonlinear Dynamic Processes with Unknown and Variable Dead Time Using an Internal Recurrent Neural Network", Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol. 34, p 1735-1742 (1995) (with Y.Cheng and T. W. Karjala)
  • " Role and Impact of Computers in Engineering Education", Chemical Engineering Education, Winter, p 46-49 (1995) (with R.S.H. Mah)
    Estimation of Measurement Biases Using Recurrent Neural Networks and the Extended Kalman Filter", Proceedings of International Federation of Automatic Control (1996) (with T.W. Karjala)
  • " Rectification of Data in a Dynamic Process Using Artificial Neural Networks", Computers and Chemical Engineering, Vol. 20, No. 6/7, p 805-812 (1996) (with T.W.Karjala)
  • " Integration of Flexibility and Control in Process Design", Computers and Chemical Engineering, Vol. 20, No. 4, p 447-452 (1996) (with O.L. Chacon-Mondragon)

 

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