Hydrocarbon Processing - November 2021 - 74

Bonus Report
Digital Transformation
S. FERNANDES, Yokogawa Corp. of America Inc.,
Houston, Texas
Integrate artificial intelligence
with natural intelligence
Have you noticed that many articles about artificial intelligence
(AI), machine learning, data analytics, the Internet of
Things (IoT) or digital transformation likely include an image
of a human brain, like the one shown in FIG. 1? For many
years, the technology field has been borrowing human anatomy
concepts such as deep learning, an algorithm to recognize patterns
using neural networks. Publishers, editors and journalists
would advise me about the old cliché of " burying the lead, " but
note the next few paragraphs about genetic engineering before
shifting our focus to industrial engineering.
An article in The New York Times by Pagan Kennedy, " What
if you knew Alzheimer's was coming for you? " 1
highlighted that
simple blood tests may be able to deliver alarming news about
one's cognitive health. " Scientists say they are on the cusp of
developing blood tests that could detect the earliest signs of
Alzheimer's damage in people in their 40s and 50s who have
no obvious symptoms, " the article states. " Today, finding out
whether dangerous plaques are building up in your brain requires
either a PET (positron emission tomography) scan at
a cost of about $4,000, or a spinal tap. And while genetic tests
can help predict risk, they don't tell us anything about the current
states of your brain. "
Despite the scientific progress, this creates a social barrier:
Do you really want to know about your complete mental
state and share it with others? Do you want to keep it private
from employers and health insurers, or do you want to " openly
embrace it as part of your identity and publicly advocate for a
cure? " The dilemma affects many health organizations to the
extent that some discourage patients from learning their ApoE
genotype (FIG. 2). Some doctors cannot justify any drug or lifestyle
strategy that absolutely guarantees to protect the brain.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) approval of a
proprietary monoclonal antibodya
research despite past failures.
may renew interest in further
Parallels to industrial assets. When compared to the world
of industrial assets, the brain can be paralleled to any central
piece of equipment, machinery or control system with high
criticality. Is there a single industrial measurement analogous to
identifying the ApoE4 gene2
that can indicate the health of the
asset? Very likely, a larger set of parameters (the " genotype " ) of
the physical asset must be examined in real time (the present) to
draw potential conclusions. More can be understood if historical
data (the past) associated with those parameters are readily
available for a diagnostic analysis.
An additional valuable step is to use the right data to predict
likely outcomes (the future). Combining the present, the past
and the future, some mechanism of " intelligence " can be applied
to perform descriptive analytics (what has happened to the asset
health), diagnostic analytics (why the asset health has gone
through a certain condition), predictive analytics (when and
what may happen to its health) and prescriptive analytics (actionable
insights of what should be done).
Like the human body, a manufacturing facility, industrial
FIG. 1. The technology field has been borrowing human anatomy
concepts, such as deep learning, an algorithm to recognize patterns
using neural networks.
74 NOVEMBER 2021 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
plant or an operational unit is a set of interconnected assets (organs)
functioning according to the laws of physics, conserving
mass, energy and momentum under constraints of safety, environment,
sustainability and economics. To assess the overall
health of the production asset, an experienced operator will
check several critical variables in a holistic fashion, identifying
simple pump cavitation the same way a doctor would pay attention
to the heart and lungs working together in equilibrium. In
the same manner a physician would order a blood exam for an
elderly patient to check the leukocytes level for possible infection
(as high temperature or fever is usually absent despite bacterial
or viral contagion), an operator will check the laboratory
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