Application of a KDD metodology to a real industrial process

By means of an acid plant it is possible to transform sulphuric dioxide (SO2) into sulphuric acid, using for this a set of chemical and physical processes. In the process of smelting copper mineral a large amount of SO2 is produced. This compound would be highly pollutant if it was emitted to the atmosphere. However, there are certain situations in the process of smelting copper mineral, in which SO2 escape to the atmosphere. This would be avoidable if we exactly knew under which circumstances this problem is produced. In this paper we present a practical application of KDD technique to the chemical industry. With this technique we obtain rules that make possible the definition of proceedings that should help to optimise the functioning of the sulphuric acid production system. By means of the obtained results we show the viability of using automatic classifiers to improve a productive process, with an increase of the production and a decrease of the environmental pollution.