Dimensionality Reduction with Input Training Neural Network and Its Application in Chemical Process Modelling1

Many applications of principal component analysis (PCA) can be found in dimensionality reduction. But linear PCA method is not well suitable for nonlinear chemical processes. A new PCA method based on improved input training neural network (IT-NN) is proposed for the nonlinear system modelling in this paper. Momentum factor and adaptive learning rate are introduced into learning algorithm to improve the training speed of IT-NN. Contrasting to the auto-associative neural network (ANN), IT-NN has less hidden layers and higher training speed. The effectiveness is illustrated through a comparison of IT-NN with linear PCA and ANN with experiments. Moreover, the IT-NN is combined with RBF neural network (RBF-NN) to model the yields of ethylene and propylene in the naphtha pyrolysis system. From the illustrative example and practical application, IT-NN combined with RBF-NN is an effective method of nonlinear chemical process modelling.