Energy system modeling apparatus and methods
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer-implemented method for modeling and/or improving operational performance of a power plant, said method comprising:
- providing a graphical user interface configured to allow a user to manipulate equipment icons into an energy system model representation;
using modular, function-based equipment models to simulate behavior of a plurality of physical components represented by the manipulated equipment icons, wherein the equipment models are piece-wise linear functions that simulate non-linear behavior of the plurality of physical components;
generating at least one script that defines a mathematical relationship between the plurality of physical components as a function of at least one rule governing behavior of the plurality of physical components;
using the at least one script to generate an optimized solution to the energy system model using the equipment models, wherein said generating an optimized solution comprises performing a mixed integer linear programming optimization on the equipment models to determine a first set of said plurality of physical components to operate and a second set of said plurality of physical components to not operate, wherein the first and second sets represent an optimized mode of operation of the power plant; and
displaying the solution of the energy system model.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer-implemented method for modeling and/or improving operational performance of an energy system includes providing a graphical user interface configured to allow a user to manipulate equipment icons into an energy system model representation, using modular, piece-wise linear equipment models to simulate non-linear behavior of equipment represented by the manipulated equipment icons to solve an energy system model represented by the manipulation, and displaying a solution of the energy system model.
39 Citations
15 Claims
-
1. A computer-implemented method for modeling and/or improving operational performance of a power plant, said method comprising:
-
providing a graphical user interface configured to allow a user to manipulate equipment icons into an energy system model representation; using modular, function-based equipment models to simulate behavior of a plurality of physical components represented by the manipulated equipment icons, wherein the equipment models are piece-wise linear functions that simulate non-linear behavior of the plurality of physical components; generating at least one script that defines a mathematical relationship between the plurality of physical components as a function of at least one rule governing behavior of the plurality of physical components; using the at least one script to generate an optimized solution to the energy system model using the equipment models, wherein said generating an optimized solution comprises performing a mixed integer linear programming optimization on the equipment models to determine a first set of said plurality of physical components to operate and a second set of said plurality of physical components to not operate, wherein the first and second sets represent an optimized mode of operation of the power plant; and displaying the solution of the energy system model. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A computer system having at least a display, a pointing device, one or more processors, and memory, said memory having stored therein a set of instructions configured to instruct the processor or processors to:
-
display a graphical user interface of icons; accept input from a pointing device to manipulate equipment icons into an energy system model representation; use modular, function-based equipment models to simulate behavior of a plurality of physical components represented by the manipulated equipment icons to solve the energy system model representation, wherein the equipment models are piece-wise linear functions that simulate non-linear behavior of the plurality of physical components; generate at least one script that defines a mathematical relationship between the plurality of physical components as a function of at least one rule governing behavior of the plurality of physical components; generate an optimized solution to the energy system model using the at least one script and the equipment models, wherein said generating an optimized solution comprises performing a mixed integer linear programming optimization on the equipment models to determine a first set of said plurality of physical components to operate and a second set of said plurality of physical components to not operate, wherein the first and second sets represent an optimized mode of operation of the power plant; and display the solution of the energy system model. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A machine readable medium readable for use with a computer system having at least a display, a pointing device, one or more processors, and memory, said medium having recorded thereon a set of instructions configured to instruct the processor or processors to:
-
display a graphical user interface of icons; accept input from the pointing device to manipulate equipment icons into an energy system model representation; use modular, function-based equipment models to simulate behavior of a plurality of physical components represented by the manipulated equipment icons to solve the energy system model representation, wherein the equipment models are piece-wise linear functions that simulate non-linear behavior of the plurality of physical components; generate at least one script that defines a mathematical relationship between the plurality of physical components as a function of at least one rule governing behavior of the plurality of physical components; generate an optimized solution to the energy system model using the at least one script and the equipment models, wherein said generating an optimized solution comprises performing a mixed integer linear programming optimization on the equipment models to determine a first set of said plurality of physical components to operate and a second set of said plurality of physical components to not operate, wherein the first and second sets represent an optimized mode of operation of the power plant; and display the results of the energy system model. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
-
Specification