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:
- continuously receiving, without perceived delay, for each facility, cost data for a first resource used by each respective facility to produce an output;
continuously receiving, without perceived delay, for each facility, cost data for a second resource used by each respective facility to produce the output;
continuously determining, without perceived delay, 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 continuously determined 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.
27 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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continuously receiving, without perceived delay, for each facility, cost data for a first resource used by each respective facility to produce an output; continuously receiving, without perceived delay, for each facility, cost data for a second resource used by each respective facility to produce the output; continuously determining, without perceived delay, 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 continuously determined 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:
- 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 continuously determine, without perceived delay, 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)
- 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
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23. A software code segment for controlling a computer to continuously determine, without perceived delay, 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 continually tracking, without perceived delay, at least one of fuel cost, fuel flow, and fuel quality for each respective facility; a process component tracking module for modeling facility components to continuously generate, without perceived delay, 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 continuously generate, without perceived delay, system dispatch cost curves. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification