Conclusion
The fuzzy controller was implemented very quickly. The transfer of the process know-how into the fuzzy controller and its realization took 15 days. So far over 1,100 h of operating time have been evaluated. In nearly all situations the performance of the fuzzy controller was much superior to the manual control. It was able to keep the process parameters in the optimum range whenever the coal quality changed. It was also able to adjust the gas throughput with the necessary change rate. The average gas throughput was kept at the set point. The operating personal has accepted the fuzzy controller as a helpful component because its transparent integration into the PLS makes it easy for them to use it.