Abstract:Leaching process is the first step in zinc hydrometallurgy, which involves the complex chemical reactions for dissolving zinc-bearing material in dilute sulfuric acid. Ensuring the safe running of the process is a key point in the operation. An expert fault diagnosis system for the leaching process was proposed, which has been implemented in a nonferrous metals smeltery. The system architecture and the diagnosis procedure were presented, and the rule models with the cer-
tainty factor were constructed based on the empirical knowledge, empirical data and statistical results on past fault countermeasures, and an expert reasoning strategy was proposed which employs the rule models and Beyes presentation and combines forward chaining and backward chaining.

Key words: zinc hydrometallurgy; leaching process fault diagnosis; expert systems rule models; Beyes presentation