Fuzzy control system for peanut roasting

A fuzzy control system was developed for continuous, cross-flow peanut roas ting. A roasting kinetic model based on the combined dynamics of heat trans fer and browning reactions was developed. A combination feedforward-feedbac k scheme was implemented in application software developed by this research group for fuzzy rule-based control. Inputs to the control system included numeric values from process sensors as well as linguistic observations by o perators. The control system was tested on a pilot-scale roaster and it suc cessfully maintained roasted peanut colour within an acceptable range despi te disturbances in roaster bed depth, roasting air temperature and colour s etpoint. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.