Methods and apparatus for operating production facilities
First Claim
1. A method for operating a production system that includes a plurality of production facilities, said method comprising:
- receiving, in real-time, for each facility, cost data for a first resource used by each respective facility to produce an output;
receiving, in real-time, for each facility, cost data for a second resource used by each respective facility to produce the output;
determining, in real-time, an automated incremental cost curve for the system based on a level of production of each facility and the received resource cost data; and
determining a production output target for each production facility to achieve an optimum production system output based on the real-time incremental cost curves.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for operating a production system that includes a plurality of production facilities is provided. The method includes receiving, in real-time, for each facility, cost data for a first resource used by each respective facility to produce an output, receiving, in real-time, for each facility, cost data for a second resource used by each respective facility to produce the output, determining, in real-time; an automated incremental cost curve for the system based on a level of production of each facility and the received resource cost data, and determining a production output target for each production facility to achieve an optimum production system output based on the real-time incremental cost curves. The system includes at least one production facility that includes a software code segment programmed to determine, in real-time, an incremental cost of a first resource based on a level of production of each respective facility.
25 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for operating a production system that includes a plurality of production facilities, said method comprising:
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receiving, in real-time, for each facility, cost data for a first resource used by each respective facility to produce an output;
receiving, in real-time, for each facility, cost data for a second resource used by each respective facility to produce the output;
determining, in real-time, an automated incremental cost curve for the system based on a level of production of each facility and the received resource cost data; and
determining a production output target for each production facility to achieve an optimum production system output based on the real-time incremental cost curves. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A production system for producing an output comprising:
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at least one production facility comprising a first resource receiving system, and a second resource configured to control and utilize said first resource in a production process; and
a computer system programmed to determine, in real-time, an incremental cost of said first resource at each respective facility based on a level of production of said facility. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A software code segment for controlling a computer to determine, in real-time, an incremental cost of operating a plurality of production facilities based on a first resource input to each respective facility and a second resource utilization of the first resource at each respective facility, said incremental cost based on a level of production of each said respective facility, said segment including:
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a fuel tracking module programmed for tracking at least one of real-time fuel cost, real-time fuel flow, and real time fuel quality for each respective facility;
a process component tracking module for modeling facility components to generate real-time heat rate curves for each respective facility; and
a dispatch decision module programmed to receive inputs from at least one of said fuel tracking module, said process component tracking module, and said dispatch decision module configured to generate real-time system dispatch cost curves. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification