This paper describes a real-time expert system that offers on-line dec
ision support to operators of complex plant who are faced with unusual
and potentially hazardous situations. The overall background and phil
osophy of the system as well as its essential functionalities are desc
ribed. A pilot application for an extractive distillation unit of a pe
trochemical plant is then presented with emphasis on the techniques an
d models being used. This includes in particular a description of the
structural, functional, and behavioral models of the plant which suppo
rt many of the required functionalities of this type of system. Finall
y, the distributed and object oriented software architecture, a key te
chnique for such systems, is illustrated. (C) 1995 John Wiley & Sons,
Inc.