INTEGRATING EXPERT SYSTEMS FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHIC METHOD DEVELOPMENT

A complex expert system for high-performance liquid chromatographic method development has been obtained by linking several smaller stand-alone expert systems (modules), each representing a part of the entire domain. The modules LABEL, DASH and LIT select initial chromatographic conditions (first guess), the modules LABEL', DASH' and LIT' perform retention optimization and the module SLOPES, which consists of the stand-alone expert systems VARIABLES, DESIRE and CRISE, is used for selectivity optimization. The linking is achieved through a supervisor, that is able to decide which of the former stand-alone expert systems must be activated at each stage of the development. The stand-alone expert systems were implemented by the use of the expert system building tool (ESBT) KES. To allow communication between the modules, they were embedded in C-language programs, without modification of the knowledge of the smaller systems.