Service continuity: a trump card for productivity?

The cost/performance ratio should be optimized when designing the electrical network for a cement plant. Specifically, power availability is clearly a major criterion to evaluate network performance. This paper describes the use of ADELIA, an expert system that was developed in order to easily compare several different electrical network configurations. The comparisons are made at specified points in the network from the reliability point of view. The numerical results can then be used by engineers to find what electrical network best corresponds to the plant production requirements. This paper is based on the analysis of electrical systems. However, ADELIA can be used for any system where sufficient input data concerning failure rates and mean times to repair are available. The use of the ADELIA expert system is illustrated with an example.<>