A Data-Driven Kernel Principal Component Analysis–Bagging–Gaussian Mixture Regression Framework for Pulverizer Soft Sensors Using Reduced Dimensions and Ensemble Learning

Abstract

In light of the nonlinearity, high dimensionality, and time-varying nature of the operational conditions of the pulverizer in power plants, as well as the challenge of the real-time monitoring of quality variables in the process, a data-driven KPCA–Bagging–GMR framework for soft sensors using reduced dimensions and ensemble learning is proposed. Firstly, the methodology employs a Kernel Principal Component Analysis to effectively reduce the dimensionality of the collected process data in a nonlinear manner. Secondly, the reduced principal components are then utilized to reconstruct a refined set of input samples, followed by the application of the Bagging algorithm to obtain multiple subsets of the samples and develop corresponding Gaussian Mixture Regression models. Ultimately, the fusion output is achieved by calculating the weights of each local model based on Bayesian posterior probabilities. By conducting simulation experiments on the coal mill, the proposed approach has been validated as demonstrating superior predictive accuracy and excellent generalization capabilities.