Instance-based regression with missing data applied to a photocatalytic oxidation process

In this paper, a modified nearest-neighbor regression method (kNN) is proposed to model a process with incomplete information of the measurements. This technique is based on the variation of the coefficients used to weight the distances of the instances. The case study selected for testing this algorithm was the photocatalytic degradation of Reactive Red 184 (RR184), a dye belonging to the group of azo compounds, which is widely used in manufacturing paint paper, leather and fabrics. The process is conducted with TiO 2 as catalyst (an inexpensive semiconductor material, completely inert chemically and biologically), in the presence of H 2 O 2 (with the role of increasing the rate of photo-oxidation), at different pH values. The final concentration of RR184 is predicted accurately with the modified kNN regression method developed in this article. A comparison with other machine learning methods (sequential minimal optimization regression, decision table, reduced error pruning tree, M5 pruned model tree) proves the superiority and efficiency of the proposed algorithm, not only for its results, but for its simplicity and flexibility in manipulating incomplete experimental data.