Mechanistic Modeling and Simulation for Process Data Generation

The
paper presents a new benchmark simulator for testing advanced
fault detection and diagnosis methods as well as control and optimization
schemes, among other training and educational applications: BDsim.
The context is the biodiesel production through the transesterification
reaction of oil by methanol, in continuous mode. This process was
accurately modeled and simulated, including a wide variety of upsets
that may occur at different levels: process, sensors, and actuators.
Each process fault is modeled in a rigorous way to make the simulator
a realistic test bed for advanced data-driven algorithms. Furthermore,
faulty scenarios not covered by current simulators were incorporated,
such as intermittent faults and equipment degradation phenomena. The
user has freedom to select the faults to simulate as well as their
timing and magnitude. The code is fully compatible with both Matlab
and Octave. BDsim is publicly available, registered under the GNU
General Public License.