UPM Institutional Repository

Machine learning-driven soft sensor implementation for real-time fault detection in CDU of oil refinery


Citation

Alrijeb, Mothena Fakhri Shaker and Othman, Mohammad Lutfi and Ishak, Aris and Hassan, Mohd Khair and Albaker, Baraa Munqith (2025) Machine learning-driven soft sensor implementation for real-time fault detection in CDU of oil refinery. Engineering, Technology and Applied Science Research, 15 (1). pp. 20425-20432. ISSN 2241-4487; eISSN: 1792-8036

Abstract

Soft sensors in oil refineries provide operators with important insights into the behavior and performance of processes using real-time and historical data to generate predictions. This data-driven strategy makes it easier to make wise decisions for detecting faults, thus improving process optimization and control. The Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) imposes very harsh working environments for measuring instruments, imposing both the use of a very robust sensory system and periodic maintenance procedures, which are time-consuming and costly. Notwithstanding such precautions, faults in those measuring devices, such as temperature and pressure sensors, still occur, and the presence of a sensor fault deteriorates the efficiency, productivity, and reliability of the refinery process. Recent works focused only on some fault types (e.g., bias and drift), ignoring others. This study presents the design of a soft sensor to detect all possible fault types in the real-time processing of an oil refinery. This method used actual data collected from the Salahuddin oil refinery in Iraq, several preprocessing methods, and a machine-learning approach. The proposed soft sensor was designed using several stages, including data collection, preprocessing, clustering, and classification. In the classification stage, an approach based on a Bagged Decision Tree (BDT) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) was implemented to classify the detected faults. The proposed soft sensor was trained and tested using actual data, achieving a high fault detection and classification result of 99.96%.


Download File

[img] Text
123499.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (1MB)

Additional Metadata

Item Type: Article
Subject: Signal Processing
Subject: Materials Science (miscellaneous)
Divisions: Faculty of Engineering
DOI Number: https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.9781
Publisher: Dr D. Pylarinos
Keywords: Bdt; Machine learning; Oil refinery; Soft sensor; SVM
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
Depositing User: Ms. Siti Radziah Mohamed@mahmod
Date Deposited: 22 Apr 2026 05:30
Last Modified: 22 Apr 2026 05:30
Altmetrics: http://www.altmetric.com/details.php?domain=psasir.upm.edu.my&doi=10.48084/etasr.9781
URI: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/123499
Statistic Details: View Download Statistic

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item