System and method for automated mass balancing of raw material demand

Abstract

A computer implementation system and method for automatically determining the mass balance raw material demand for chemical products produced in the chemical production process of a production plant are disclosed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a method, apparatus, and system for producing at least two chemical products from one or more input materials and determining the raw material requirements associated with the production of the at least two chemical products, at least in part based on raw material requirement calculation logic.

Background Art

[0002] Technical Background In production processes, the allocation of raw material requirements to by-products is of great interest. Sustainable allocation of raw material requirements can help contribute to a collective reduction of environmental impacts in the fight against climate change. However, the accuracy of the allocation is hampered by systems that do not take into account the different properties that by-products may have when they are made from different materials. Therefore, there is a need to develop systems and methods for more accurately determining and allocating the sustainable raw material requirements of by-products.

Summary of the Invention

Means for Solving the Problems

[0003] Summary of the Invention In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for identifying the raw material requirements of two or more chemical products produced in a chemical production process of a production plant, the method comprising: - receiving input material data related to one or more input materials to the chemical production process; - receiving process data of one or more process steps in the chemical production process; - receiving consumption data indicating the amount of raw materials associated with producing two or more chemical products; - identifying, based on the process data, at least one process step for producing two or more chemical products from one or more input materials, the two or more chemical products including a first chemical product and a second chemical product; - If the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product is determined, at least partially based on the steering logic. -Calculate the raw material demand for the second chemical product based at least partially on the substituted raw material demand and consumption data for the first chemical product, - Outputting the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product and the raw material demand for the second chemical product, Includes.

[0004] In another embodiment, the disclosure relates to a computer-based method for identifying the raw material demands of two or more chemical products produced in a chemical production process of a production plant, wherein the method - Receiving process data for one or more process steps in a chemical production process, - Receiving consumption data indicating the amount of raw materials associated with producing two or more chemical products, - Identifying, based on process data, at least one process step that produces two or more chemical products from one or more input materials, wherein the two or more chemical products include a first chemical product and a second chemical product. - If the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product is determined, at least partially based on the steering logic. -Calculate the raw material demand for the second chemical product based at least partially on the substituted raw material demand and consumption data for the first chemical product, - Outputting the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product and the raw material demand for the second chemical product, Includes.

[0005] In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a computer-aided method for identifying input material requirements for two or more chemical products produced in a chemical production process of a production plant, wherein the method - Receiving input material data related to one or more input materials into a chemical production process, - Receiving process data for one or more process steps in a chemical production process, - Identifying, based on process data, at least one process step that produces two or more chemical output products from one or more input materials, wherein the two or more chemical products include a first chemical product and a second chemical product. - Determining the mass fraction raw material demand for the first chemical product, at least partially based on mass distribution calculations, - Determining the stoichiometric raw material requirements for the first chemical product, at least partially based on stoichiometric allocation calculations, - To identify the standard deviation for the first chemical product by comparing the mass fraction raw material demand for the first chemical product with the stoichiometric raw material demand for the first chemical product, - To determine whether the standard score of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, - If the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product is determined, at least partially based on the steering logic. -Calculate the raw material demand for the second chemical product based at least in part on the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product, - Outputting the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product and the raw material demand for the second chemical product, Includes.

[0006] In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a system for identifying input material requirements for two or more chemical products produced in a chemical production process of a production plant, wherein the system - An input configured to receive (i) input data related to one or more input materials to a chemical production process and (ii) process data for one or more process steps in a chemical production process, - A processor configured to (i) identify at least one process step that produces two or more chemical products from one or more input materials based on process data, wherein the two or more chemical products include a first chemical product and a second chemical product; (ii) determine the mass fraction raw material demand for the first chemical product at least in part on mass allocation calculations; (iii) determine the stoichiometric raw material demand for the first chemical product at least in part on stoichiometric allocation calculations; (iv) identify a deviation score for the first chemical product by comparing the mass fraction raw material demand for the first chemical product with the stoichiometric raw material demand for the first chemical product; (v) determine whether the deviation score for the first chemical product exceeds a target value; (vi) if the deviation score for the first chemical product exceeds a target value, determine the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product at least in part on steering logic; and (vii) calculate the raw material demand for the second chemical product at least in part on the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product. - An output configured to output the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product and the raw material demand for the second chemical product, It is equipped with.

[0007] In another aspect, the Disclosure relates to a computer implementation for automatically determining input material demands related to the production of two or more chemical products, wherein the two or more chemical products are produced by a chemical production network using input materials, the chemical production network chemically converts the input materials into chemical products exiting the chemical production network via chemical intermediates, and the method - Receiving input material data related to one or more input materials into a chemical production process, - Receiving process data for one or more process steps in a chemical production process, - Identifying, based on process data, at least one process step that produces two or more chemical output products from one or more input materials, wherein the two or more chemical products include a first chemical product and a second chemical product. - Determining the mass fraction raw material demand for the first chemical product, at least partially based on mass distribution calculations, - Determining the stoichiometric raw material requirements for the first chemical product, at least partially based on stoichiometric allocation calculations, - To identify the standard deviation for the first chemical product by comparing the mass fraction raw material demand for the first chemical product with the stoichiometric raw material demand for the first chemical product, - To determine whether the standard score of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, - If the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product is determined, at least partially based on the steering logic. -Calculate the raw material demand for the second chemical product based at least in part on the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product, - Outputting the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product and the raw material demand for the second chemical product, Includes.

[0008] In another aspect, the Disclosure relates to a computer implementation for automatically identifying sustainable input material demands associated with the production of two or more chemical products, wherein the two or more chemical products are produced by a chemical production network that uses sustainable input materials, the chemical production network chemically converts sustainable input materials into chemical products exiting the chemical production network via chemical intermediates, and the method - Receiving input data related to one or more input materials into a chemical production process, wherein one or more input materials include sustainable input materials. - Receiving process data for one or more process steps in a chemical production process, Receiving consumption data indicating the amount of at least one of one or more input materials related to the production of two or more chemical products - Identifying at least one process step for producing two or more chemical output products from one or more input materials based on process data, wherein the two or more chemical products include a first chemical product and a second chemical product - Determining the mass and / or energy proportion raw material requirements for the first chemical product based at least in part on a mass distribution calculation and / or an energy distribution calculation - Determining the stoichiometric raw material requirements for the first chemical product based at least in part on a stoichiometric distribution calculation - Identifying a deviation value for the first chemical product by comparing the mass and / or energy proportion raw material requirements for the first chemical product with the stoichiometric raw material requirements for the first chemical product - Determining whether the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds a target value - Determining the substituted raw material requirements for the first chemical product if the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, based at least in part on steering logic, wherein the substituted raw material requirements for the first chemical product indicate the amount of sustainable raw materials required to produce the first chemical product - Calculating the raw material requirements for the second chemical product based at least in part on the substituted raw material requirements and consumption data for the first chemical product - Outputting the substituted raw material requirements for the first chemical product and the raw material requirements for the second chemical product including

[0009] In another aspect, the present disclosure is a computer-implemented method for determining the environmental attributes of two or more chemical products produced in a chemical production process of a production plant, the method comprising - Receiving input material data related to one or more input materials to the chemical production process - Receiving process data for one or more process steps in the chemical production process - Identifying at least one process step for producing two or more chemical output products from one or more input materials based on process data, wherein the two or more chemical products include a first chemical product and a second chemical product; - Determining the mass fraction raw material requirement of the first chemical product based at least in part on a mass distribution calculation; - Determining the stoichiometric raw material requirement of the first chemical product based at least in part on a stoichiometric distribution calculation; - Comparing the mass fraction raw material requirement for the first chemical product with the stoichiometric raw material requirement for the first chemical product to determine a deviation value for the first chemical product; - Determining whether the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds a target value; - When the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, determining a substituted environmental attribute of the first chemical product based at least in part on steering logic; - Calculating the environmental attribute of the second chemical product based at least in part on the substituted environmental attribute of the first chemical product; - Outputting the substituted environmental attribute of the first chemical product and the environmental attribute of the second chemical product; including.

[0010] In yet another aspect, disclosed is a computer element, particularly a computer program product or a computer-readable medium, having instructions configured to perform any of the steps of the methods disclosed herein when executed on one or more computing nodes. In yet another aspect, disclosed is a computer element, particularly a computer program product or a computer-readable medium, having instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause any of the devices disclosed herein to perform any of the methods disclosed herein.

[0011] Disclosed, in yet another aspect, is the use of one or more chemical products associated with input material demand calculations provided by any of the methods disclosed herein and / or one or more chemical products produced by a chemical production network provided by any of the methods disclosed herein, for producing at least one individual product or at least one final product associated with one or more environmental attributes. The at least one individual product or at least one final product may be an intermediate or final product in a product supply chain. The at least one individual product or at least one final product may be based on one or more chemical products. The at least one individual product or at least one final product may be produced by individual production. Disclosed, in yet another aspect, is a method for producing at least one individual product or at least one final product associated with input material demand calculations, wherein target materials associated with one or more input material demand plans provided by any of the methods disclosed herein and / or target materials produced by a chemical production network provided by any of the methods disclosed herein are provided and / or used for producing at least one individual product or at least one final product associated with one or more environmental attributes.

[0012] In yet another aspect, the Disclosure relates to a computer element having instructions, which is configured to perform steps of the Method of the Disclosure when executed on one or more computing nodes, or to be performed by the Apparatus of the Disclosure.

[0013] Any disclosures, embodiments, and examples described herein relate to the methods, systems, apparatus, chemical products, and computer components described above and below. Advantageously, any benefits derived from any one embodiment or example are equally applicable to all other embodiments and examples.

[0014] Embodiment The public, regulators, and financial investors are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of chemical production processes. Major companies have announced ambitious plans to track and manage the environmental impact of their product production. When chemical production processes produce two or more by-products, accurately allocating raw material demand to these by-products can be challenging.

[0015] Traditionally, raw material demand is attributed (or allocated) using material balance. This method assigns environmental attributes according to the mass ratio of the resulting by-products. However, by-products are often different materials with distinct properties. Assigning environmental attributes based on mass ratios fails to take into account the distinguishing properties that different materials may possess. Therefore, conventional allocation methods, such as material balance, can lead to inaccurate allocation of raw material demand to by-products with different properties.

[0016] The purpose of this disclosure is to provide a system and method for more accurately allocating raw material demand to by-products.

[0017] The systems, methods, and apparatus of this disclosure enable more accurate determination of raw material demand in chemical processing and provide chemical products that have a positive impact on the environment throughout the value chain. By using raw material demand calculations to determine whether the mass allocation method is sufficiently accurate for the process (or process step), the values ​​of raw material demand for by-products can be calculated more accurately. Specifically, in the case of a chemical network that produces two or more chemical products from two or more input materials through interconnected, connected, and disconnected production chains, the raw material demand logic can be used to determine the raw material demand for by-products, thereby enabling a more accurate calculation of the environmental attributes of the remaining by-products produced in the chemical process. Chemical products may have identifiers that enable reliable assignment of raw material demand to the chemical product in line with the physical setup of the chemical production network. In this way, the environmental impact of by-products can be made transparent to customers (who may further process the by-products). By more accurately assigning environmental attributes to chemical products, the chemical production process can be adjusted to increase the efficiency of the chemical production process and / or reduce its environmental impact.

[0018] The systems, methods, and apparatus of this disclosure enable more accurate determination of raw material demand in chemical processing and provide chemical products that have a positive impact on the environment throughout the value chain. By using raw material demand calculations to determine whether the mass distribution is sufficiently accurate, the values ​​of raw material demand for other by-products can be calculated more accurately. Specifically, in the case of a chemical network that produces two or more chemical products from two or more input materials through interconnected, connected, and disconnected production chains, by using process measurement data to determine the environmental attributes of the by-products, it becomes possible to calculate more accurately the environmental attributes of the remaining by-products produced in the chemical process. Chemical products may have identifiers that enable the reliable assignment of environmental attributes to the chemical product in accordance with the physical setup of the chemical production network. "Environmental attributes" may be, for example, environmental impact or measure, social impact or measure, environmental compensation measure, social compensation measure, product, precursor product, intermediate, or any calculated impact of raw materials. In this way, the environmental impact of by-products can be made transparent to customers (who may be further processing the by-products). By more accurately assigning environmental attributes to chemical products, the chemical production process can be adjusted to increase the efficiency of the chemical production process and / or reduce the environmental impact.

[0019] The following outlines several embodiments of this disclosure as examples. It should be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments and / or examples.

[0020] The carbon footprint, or product carbon footprint (PCF), refers to the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted or removed during the production process at a manufacturing facility, and is expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents. The PCF can be assessed using either cradle-to-gate (partial PCF) or cradle-to-grave (total PCF).

[0021] The fossil footprint or product fossil footprint (PFF) can refer to the amount of petrochemical raw materials consumed in the production process at a manufacturing facility (e.g., naphtha, crude oil, coal, and natural gas, or intermediates from raw materials that require a certain amount of naphtha, crude oil, coal, and natural gas). The PFF may be expressed as kilograms of methane (or methane equivalent) per kilogram.

[0022] Environmental attributes can refer to properties or characteristics associated with environmental impact. Such properties may be properties or characteristics of input materials or chemical products. Environmental attributes can indicate the environmental performance of one or more materials and / or the performance of one or more chemical products. Environmental attributes can be derived from the properties of input materials, chemical production networks, and / or chemical materials. Environmental attributes can be associated with the environmental impact of one or more materials at any stage in the life cycle of a material or a product made from a material. The stages of a material's life cycle may include the stage of supplying input materials, the stage of producing products such as intermediate or final products, the stage of using the product, the stage of processing an end-of-life product, the stage of recycling an end-of-life product, the stage of disposing of an end-of-life product, the stage of reusing components from an end-of-life product, or any subset of the stages. Environmental attributes can be specified or derived from any activities of one or more entities participating at any stage in the life cycle of one or more materials or products made from such materials.

[0023] Environmental attributes may include one or more characteristics attributable to the environment or the sustainability impact of a material or product. Environmental attributes may include environmental characteristics, technical characteristics, recyclability characteristics, circularity characteristics, or complementary risk characteristics, or characteristics associated with the environmental impact of one or more materials or products.

[0024] Environmental characteristics can specify or quantify ecological criteria associated with the environmental impact of a product. Environmental characteristics may be measurements obtained during the life cycle of one or more products, or may be generated or derived therefrom. Environmental characteristics may be determined at any stage of the product's life cycle and can characterize the environmental impact of the product at or up to such a stage. Environmental characteristics may include impact categories such as, for example, fossil footprint, carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions or global warming potential, primary energy demand, cumulative energy demand, biological and bioresource consumption, atmospheric emissions, stratospheric ozone depletion potential, ozone formation, terrestrial and / or marine acidification, water consumption, water depletion, water availability, water pollution, noise pollution, freshwater and / or marine eutrophication potential, human carcinogenicity and / or non-carcinogenic toxicity, photochemical oxidant formation, particulate matter formation, terrestrial, freshwater and / or marine ecotoxicity, ionizing radiation, agricultural and / or urban land use, land conversion, land use, indirect land use, deforestation, biodiversity, mineral resource consumption, fossil resource consumption, and / or raw material demand (e.g., sustainable raw material demand and / or fossil raw material demand). Environmental impacts may be defined or quantified by the product fossil footprint (PFF), which refers to the amount of petrochemical raw materials consumed in the production process of a manufacturing facility (e.g., naphtha, crude oil, coal, and natural gas, or intermediates from raw materials that require a certain amount of naphtha, crude oil, coal, and natural gas).

[0025] Environmental characteristics can be calculated from a combination of one or more environmental characteristics. Environmental characteristics may include product or material characteristics related to the production of materials or products, such as renewable, bio-based, vegan, halal, kosher, palm oil-free, and natural.

[0026] Environmental attributes can be digital assets associated with input materials or chemical products. Environmental attributes can digitally specify the environmental impact of input materials or chemical products. Environmental attributes can be related to fossil footprints or carbon footprints. Environmental attributes can relate, for example, to the renewable, bio-based, and / or recycled content of input materials and / or chemical products. Environmental attributes can include qualitative data points relating to the type of impact, for example, in light of input materials or chemical products. Environmental attributes can specify types such as recycled, renewable, and / or bio-based. Qualitative data points can be converted into quantitative measures such as environmental units or balancing units. Environmental attributes can include quantitative data points relating to the type of impact, for example, in light of input materials or chemical products, recycled content, renewable content, or bio-based content. Environmental attributes can specify recycled, renewable, and / or bio-based content. Environmental attributes can include further environmental characteristics of input materials or chemical products.

[0027] The calculated product characteristics may include the product fossil footprint, product carbon footprint, energy consumption, water consumption, crude oil consumption, labor (e.g., labor hours associated with the production of the product), social burden (e.g., injuries and / or accidents associated with the production of the product), raw material demand (e.g., including sustainable raw material demand and / or fossil raw material demand), and other product characteristics that can be measured and calculated.

[0028] As used in this disclosure, the term “input materials” refers to any articles purchased from a supplier and transported to a production plant. Input materials may include starting materials used in the production processes of the production plant to produce a product.

[0029] Input materials, like the products mentioned above, can be present at any step along the value chain. This means that a product from one production plant can be an input material from another production plant. Input materials can include very basic items such as air, water, natural gas, sulfur, or salt.

[0030] Input materials can refer to the raw materials of a chemical production plant. In chemical production, raw materials can refer to the raw materials or substances used to produce a particular chemical product. These materials may be natural resources such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal, or renewable resources such as biomass and plant-based materials. Raw materials are typically converted into more valuable chemical products through a series of chemical reactions and processes. Raw materials may refer to petrochemical raw materials such as naphtha, crude oil, coal, and natural gas, or intermediates from raw materials that require a certain amount of naphtha, crude oil, coal, and natural gas.

[0031] Raw materials may also refer to sustainable raw materials, such as renewable and / or recycled raw materials. Sustainable raw materials refer to the use of raw materials or resources that can be naturally replenished or regenerated over time without causing significant harm to the environment or depleting natural resources. This may include using renewable resources, such as plant-based raw materials, or ensuring that non-renewable resources are used in a way that minimizes waste and environmental impact. Renewable raw materials may include crops (e.g., corn, sugarcane, soybeans, and palm oil grown specifically for use as biofuels or other chemical raw materials), forest and wood products (e.g., sawdust and wood chips), as well as algae (and other aquatic plants), and other sources that can be replenished (generally) faster than they can be depleted (e.g., bionaphtha, biomethane, biogas, etc.). Recyclable raw materials may include plastic waste and raw materials from other sources (e.g., pyrolysis, synthesis gas, etc.).

[0032] As used in this disclosure, “production plant” refers to any facility capable of producing any kind of goods that are sold to end customers or further processed at different production plants. A production plant may be located in one or more locations. If a production plant is located in multiple locations, they must be under common control, which is common if the locations belong to the same company or affiliated company. Examples of plants include power plants, steel mills, oil production plants, oil refineries, chemical plants, partial oxidation plants, pharmaceutical production plants, construction material production plants, machinery production plants, automobile production plants, textile production plants, furniture production plants, food production plants, home appliance production plants such as mobile phones, and paper manufacturing and / or processing plants such as printing presses.

[0033] A chemical production network may include multiple types of production processes for producing different chemical products from input materials. A chemical production network may include a complex production network that produces multiple chemical products in multiple production chains. A chemical production network may include connected, interconnected, and / or unconnected production chains. Connectivity may be provided by the fact that processes, operations, and entry points are located within the same building, or within a common fence, or within any other security or organizational containment which indicates that the operations are controlled by the enterprise. Connectivity may be provided by a concept called "Scope 1," which is the definition of organizational boundaries that determine the operations owned or controlled by the enterprise (see Greenhouse Gas Protocol, https: / / ghgprotocol.org / sites / default / files / standards / ghg-protocol-revised.pdf). Indicators of connectivity may be pipes for delivering and sharing any raw materials, intermediates, products, steam, water, wastewater, or public utilities such as general sewer pipes. A chemical production network may produce multiple intermediates from input materials, and chemical products from intermediates. Input materials can enter the chemical production network at the input point. Chemical products can exit the production network at the output point.

[0034] A chemical production network may have one or more entry points where input materials are supplied to a chemical product network. Input materials may include fossil materials, non-fossil materials, or both. Fossil input materials may include crude oil, natural gas, coal, or derivatives thereof. Non-fossil input materials may include renewable raw materials, bio-based raw materials, or recycled materials. Input materials may include raw materials for a gasification plant, steam cracker, or synthesis gas plant. Input materials may include synthesis gas produced from fossil raw materials, non-fossil raw materials, or both. Input materials may include, for example, pyrolysis oil from recycled waste, synthesis gas produced from recycled waste, naphtha produced from bio-based materials, methane from bio-based materials, or a combination thereof. Input materials may be supplied to at least one gasification plant, steam cracker, synthesis gas plant, or any plant in the production chain for downstream products such as nitrogen, ammonia, methanol, ethylene, propylene, sulfur, etc. The input materials may include intermediate chemical products produced elsewhere using fossil and / or non-fossil input materials. The input materials may include mineral-derived inorganic materials, salts, metals, glass, etc.

[0035] Input materials associated with one or more environmental attributes provided at the entry point of a chemical production network may include, but are not limited to, recycled pyrolysis oil, recycled pyrolysis gas, recycled synthesis gas, recycled hydrogen, recycled naphtha, recycled methane, recycled ethane, recycled propane, recycled chemicals, or combinations thereof. Recycled chemicals may include, but are not limited to, recycled ammonia, recycled methanol, recycled ethylene, recycled propylene, recycled benzene, recycled toluene, recycled xylene, or combinations thereof. Recycled chemicals may include, but are not limited to, recycled glass, glass fibers, metals, alloys, recycled polymers, recycled oligomers, recycled monomers, or combinations thereof. In the context provided herein, recycled input materials may include any material that contains, at least partially, recycled contaminants and / or is produced at least partially from recycled contaminants. Recycled contaminants may, but are not necessarily, be physically and / or chemically traceable. Recycled contaminants may be a calculated property of the product. Recycled contaminants may be communicated by a set of control methods, such as a mass balance model or a book-and-claims model or a combination of both models.

[0036] Input materials associated with one or more environmental attributes provided at the entry point of a chemical production network may include, but are not limited to, bio-based pyrolysis oils, bio-based pyrolysis gases, bio-based synthesis gases, bio-based hydrogen, bio-based naphtha, bio-based methane, bio-based ethane, bio-based propane, bio-based chemicals, or combinations thereof. Bio-based chemicals may include, but are not limited to, bio-based ammonia, bio-based methanol, bio-based ethylene, bio-based propylene, bio-based benzene, bio-based toluene, bio-based xylene, or combinations thereof.

[0037] Bio-based chemicals may include, but are not limited to, bio-based polymers, bio-based oligomers, bio-based monomers, or combinations thereof. In the context provided herein, bio-based input materials may include any materials that at least partially contain and / or are at least partially produced from bio-based content. Bio-based content may, but is not necessarily, be physically and / or chemically traceable. Bio-based content may be a calculated property of the product. Recycled content may be communicated by a set of control methods, such as a mass balance model, a book-and-claims model, or a combination of both models.

[0038] "Recycled materials" or "bio-based materials" are non-exclusive examples of the calculated environmental attributes of a product.

[0039] A chemical production network may include multiple production steps for one or more production chains. The production steps included in a chemical production network may be defined by the physical system boundary of the chemical production network. The system boundary may be defined by location or control across the production process. The system boundary may be defined by the locations of the chemical production network. The system boundary may be defined by a production process jointly controlled by one or more entities. The system boundary may be defined by a value chain with a time-delayed production process to the final product, which may be individually controlled by multiple entities. A chemical production network may include a waste collection step, a waste sorting step, a recycling step such as chemical recycling by pyrolysis, a cracking step such as steam cracking, a partial oxidation step such as a synthesis gas plant, a separation step to separate the output of one process step, and further process steps to convert such output into chemical products that exit the system boundary of the chemical production network. An entry point to a chemical production network may be marked by input materials entering the chemical production network. Input materials entering the chemical production network may be used to produce one or more chemical products. Chemical products can leave the physical system boundary of a chemical production network. The exit points of a chemical production network can be marked by the output of chemical products from the network.

[0040] Chemical products can be produced by a chemical production network, provided with input materials associated with one or more environmental attributes. Chemical products can be produced by a production chain of a chemical production network, provided with input materials associated with one or more environmental attributes. Chemical products can be produced from input materials associated with one or more environmental attributes.

[0041] In one embodiment, if the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds a target value, the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product is determined, at least in part, based on the steering logic. - The steering logic determines whether it includes dedicated production data related to the first chemical product. - If the steering logic includes dedicated production data related to the first chemical product, the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product is selected based at least in part on the dedicated production data related to the first chemical product. It also includes.

[0042] In one embodiment, if the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds a target value, the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product is determined, at least in part, based on the steering logic. - If the steering logic does not include proprietary production data related to the first chemical product, determine whether the steering logic includes externally supplied production data related to the first chemical product. - If the steering logic includes externally supplied production data related to the first chemical product, select the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product based at least in part on the externally supplied production data related to the first chemical product. It also includes.

[0043] In one embodiment, if the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds a target value, the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product is determined, at least in part, based on the steering logic. - If the steering logic does not include externally supplied production data related to the first chemical product, it identifies the input coefficients related to the first chemical product. - Selecting the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product based at least in part on the input coefficients related to the first chemical product, It also includes.

[0044] In one embodiment, determining the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product, at least in part on the steering logic, when the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds a target value, further includes determining, at least in part on the steering logic, whether to apply a correction factor to the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product.

[0045] In one embodiment, selecting a substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product includes selecting a substituted sustainable raw material demand for the first chemical product.

[0046] In one embodiment, calculating the raw material demand for a second chemical product based at least in part on the substituted raw material demand for a first chemical product includes selecting the substituted sustainable raw material demand for a second chemical product based at least in part on the substituted raw material demand for a first chemical product.

[0047] In one embodiment, process data may be collected through interfaces to different production plants, for example, through different computing or storage resources that are communicably connected to different production plants. Process data may also be collected through interfaces to the corporate resource planning systems of different group companies. Process data may be integrated to identify intermediates produced by one group company and used by different group companies.

[0048] In one embodiment, the production plant performs interconnected process steps. In the context of the present invention, the term “interconnected” refers to embodiments in which at least one process step uses two intermediates from different other process steps, or uses one intermediate from different other process steps, each producing this intermediate, or yields two intermediates used in two different other process steps. Preferably, the production plant performs interconnected process steps. In some embodiments, the production plant is a chemical production plant that performs interconnected process steps. Often, the interconnected process steps are performed in different facilities, possibly in different locations and operated by potentially different groups of companies.

[0049] In one embodiment, process data may be collected through interfaces to different production plants, for example, through different computing or storage resources that are communicably connected to different production plants. Process data may also be collected through interfaces to the corporate resource planning systems of different group companies. Process data may be integrated to identify intermediates produced by one group company and used by different group companies.

[0050] In one embodiment, the input includes an interface to an integration system that collects process data from different production plants, and the integration system integrates the process data to identify intermediates produced by the different production plants.

[0051] In one embodiment, the output includes a user interface configured to display the substituted raw material demand for a first chemical product and / or the raw material demand for a second chemical product. The user interface may provide a graph that visually represents the raw material demand associated with the chemical products. In some embodiments, the user interface may show the contribution to raw material demand along the production process. In some embodiments, the user may use the user interface to analyze the contribution to raw material demand and monitor, manage, and / or adjust the production process to minimize, for example, the raw material demand for the chemical products.

[0052] In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to calculate the raw material demand for an intermediate produced in a preceding process step and to use the raw material demand for the intermediate as input for calculating the raw material demand for a first and / or second chemical product. In an interconnected production process, the calculation of raw material demand can be facilitated by subdividing it into similar calculation parts, one for each process step.

[0053] In one embodiment, a processor configured to determine the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product, at least in part, based on steering logic, when the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds a target value, - The steering logic determines whether it includes dedicated production data associated with the first chemical product. - If the steering logic includes dedicated production data related to the first chemical product, the processor further includes a processor that selects the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product based at least in part on the dedicated production data related to the first chemical product.

[0054] In one embodiment, a processor configured to determine the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product, at least in part, based on steering logic, when the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds a target value, - If the steering logic does not include proprietary production data related to the first chemical product, determine whether the steering logic includes externally supplied production data related to the first chemical product. - If the steering logic includes externally supplied production data relating to the first chemical product, the processor further includes a processor that selects the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product based at least in part on the externally supplied production data relating to the first chemical product.

[0055] In one embodiment, a processor configured to determine the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product, at least in part, based on steering logic, when the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds a target value, - If the steering logic does not include externally supplied production data related to the first chemical product, identify the input coefficients related to the first chemical product. - Further includes a processor that selects a substituted raw material demand for a first chemical product based at least in part on an input coefficient related to a first chemical product.

[0056] In one embodiment, a computer implementation method for determining the raw material demand for two or more chemical products produced in a chemical production process of a production plant is: - Determining whether the first chemical product and / or the second chemical product contain hydrogen in a mass distribution exceeding a threshold, - If the first chemical product and / or the second chemical product contain hydrogen in a mass distribution exceeding a threshold, the energy content raw material requirements for the first chemical product shall be determined at least in part based on the energy content distribution calculation, It also includes.

[0057] Brief explanation of the drawing The present disclosure will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings and the same reference numerals in this disclosure are intended to refer to the same or similar elements, components and / or parts. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0058] [Figure 1] An example of a chemical production network that produces one or more chemical products from one or more input materials is shown in relation to an operational system that includes raw material demand calculation logic. [Figure 2] An example of a chemical production network that produces one or more chemical products from one or more input materials is shown in relation to an operational system that includes raw material demand calculation logic for calculating raw material demand. [Figure 3] This shows an example of a chemical production network that produces multiple chemical products from fossil fuel inputs and non-fossil fuel inputs. [Figure 4] This disclosure shows selected embodiments of the chemical production network. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart showing a selected embodiment of the raw material demand calculation logic according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] This is a flowchart showing a selected mode of raw material demand calculation using steering logic according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] This is a flowchart showing a selected mode of raw material demand calculation using steering logic according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] An example of raw material demand calculation using one embodiment of the present invention is shown. [Figure 9] This is a block diagram showing a selected embodiment of an electronic system having raw material demand logic according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0059] Detailed explanation This disclosure relates to computer implementation systems and methods for determining and calculating the raw material requirements (e.g., sustainable input material requirements, fossil input material requirements, etc.) for products produced in the chemical production processes of a chemical production plant.

[0060] The disclosed systems and processes are applicable to a variety of products produced from input materials, such as chemical products or precursor products. As used herein, the term “product” may refer to any article that can be sold to another party at any point in the value chain. This may include end products for end users (e.g., automobiles, paints, toys, or medicines). This may also include articles that are typically sold to other companies for further processing (e.g., steel parts for machinery, plastic pellets for extrusion, or chemical compounds such as acrylic acid for producing superabsorbent material for diapers). This may also include articles that are very early in the value chain, such as crude oil fractions (e.g., naphtha), agricultural products (e.g., soybeans), or refined sand for glass production.

[0061] Figure 1 shows an example chemical production network 110 that produces one or more chemical products from one or more input materials, in relation to an operational system 120 that includes an attribute management system. Different input materials (raw materials) may be provided as physical inputs from material providers or suppliers in order to produce one or more chemical products. The chemical products produced from the input materials may have one or more properties related to the environmental impact of the input materials or the chemical products produced from the input materials.

[0062] A chemical production network may include multiple interconnected process steps. A chemical production network may be an integrated chemical production network with connected or interconnected production chains. A chemical production network may include multiple different production chains sharing at least one intermediate product. A chemical production network may include multiple stages of a chemical value chain. A chemical production network may include the production, refining, processing, and / or purification of gas or crude oil. A chemical production network may include a steam cracker, or a synthesis gas plant connected to multiple production chains that produce chemical products from the effluent of a steam cracker or synthesis gas plant. A chemical production network may include multiple production chains that produce chemical products from one or more input materials leaving the chemical production network. A chemical production network may include multiple layers of a chemical value chain. A chemical production network may include physically connected or interconnected supply chains and / or production sites. Production sites may be in the same location or in different locations. In the latter case, production sites may be connected or interconnected by dedicated transport systems such as pipelines, supply chain vehicles such as trucks or ships, or other means of freight transport.

[0063] A chemical production network can chemically convert input materials into one or more chemical products that exit the network via chemical intermediates.

[0064] Input materials can be supplied into the chemical production network at any entry point. Input materials can be supplied into the chemical production network at the start of the chemical production network. Input materials can, for example, constitute the raw materials for steam crackers. Input materials can include bio-based raw materials, recycled raw materials, and fossil input materials for the production of chemical intermediates and chemical products.

[0065] A chemical production network may include multiple production steps. The production steps included in a chemical production network may be defined by the system boundary of the chemical production network. The system boundary may be defined by location or control across the production process. The system boundary may be defined by the locations of the chemical production network. The system boundary may be defined by a production process jointly controlled by one or more entities. The system boundary may be defined by a value chain with time-staggered production processes to the final product, and these processes may be individually controlled by multiple entities. A chemical production network may include waste recovery and sorting processes, recycling processes such as pyrolysis, cracking processes such as steam cracking, separation processes for separating the products of one process step, and further process steps that convert such products into chemical products that exit the system boundary of the chemical production network.

[0066] The chemical production network operating system 120 may monitor and / or control the chemical production network based on the operating parameters of different processes. One process step to be monitored and / or controlled may be the supply of input materials or the release of chemical products. The operating system 120 may also monitor and / or determine the raw material demand for one or more chemical products produced by the chemical production network. Another process step to be monitored and / or controlled may be the assignment of environmental attributes to chemical products produced through the chemical production network. Another process step to be monitored and / or controlled may be the registration of environmental attributes associated with input materials introduced into the system boundary of the chemical production network. Yet another process step to be monitored and / or controlled may be the management of environmental attributes associated with input materials and chemical products of the chemical production network.

[0067] The operating system may be configured to access data related to input materials, processes, and / or chemical products produced by the chemical production network. For example, the operating system may be configured to access input material data for raw materials used in the chemical production network. Raw materials may include fossil raw materials and / or sustainable raw materials. Sustainable raw materials may include bio-based, recycled, and / or fossil input materials. The operating system may be configured to receive consumption data indicating the amount of input materials (e.g., sustainable raw materials, fossil raw materials, etc.) related to producing one or more chemical products in the chemical production network. The term “consumption data” refers to historical production data indicating raw material consumption related to the production of chemical products. Consumption data may include average consumption over time (e.g., average consumption over one year, average consumption over five years, etc.) to smooth out seasonal and other fluctuations related to the chemical production process. The operating system 120 may be configured to access process data. Process data may include digital representations of one or more process steps of one or more production processes. Such representations may include, or be associated with, information regarding input materials and process steps in one or more production plants.

[0068] The operating system may be configured to convert one or more input materials used in a chemical production network into recycled, renewable, or bio-based components into balancing units.

[0069] The operating system may be configured to distribute balancing units to at least one balancing account associated with recycled input materials or bio-based content. The operating system may be configured to distribute at least a portion of the balancing units from at least one balancing account to at least one chemical product.

[0070] The operational system may be configured to manage balancing units associated with inputs and chemical products produced by the chemical production network. In particular, the operational system may be configured to determine balancing units associated with the use of input materials that affect the environmental properties / attributes of chemical products produced by the chemical production network. The operational system may be configured to determine balancing units associated with chemical products and the environmental properties of those chemical products. In this way, the operational system may be configured to allocate balancing units to a balancing account or to deallocate balancing units from a balancing account. Balancing units may be considered credits deposited into or deducted from an account (e.g., a digital inventory) associated with inputs and chemical products of the chemical production network.

[0071] The operating system may be configured to register inbound environment attributes, convert inbound environment attributes to balancing units (and back if necessary), and / or assign outbound environment attributes, and manage inbound and outbound assignments.

[0072] Figure 2 shows an example of a chemical production network 110 that produces one or more chemical products from one or more input materials, in relation to an operational system 120 which includes an attribute management system 240 for managing two or more environmental attributes and a raw material demand calculation logic 245 for calculating the raw material demand for by-products (when the production process produces two or more by-products). The chemical production network 110 is described above with reference to Figure 1.

[0073] The operations system 120 is a digital operations system configured to collect, store, manage, and interpret a wide range of production, stoichiometric, and / or business data for the chemical production network 110. The operations system 120 may be part of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Alternatively, the operations system 120 may be partially implemented in an ERP system and partially implemented in one or more additional systems that are coupled with the ERP system. The operations system 120 may also be implemented in one or more systems outside of the ERP system.

[0074] Input materials 202-206 are supplied to the chemical production network 110 at the feed-in point 212. The input materials may include conventional fossil fuels 202 (e.g., naphtha) and sustainable input materials 204-206. Sustainable input materials 204-206 may include renewable input materials (e.g., biogas and / or bionaphtha) and / or recycled input materials (e.g., pyrolysis oil). After they are delivered to the chemical production network 110, the conventional input materials 202 and sustainable input materials 204-206 may be combined when they enter the chemical production process (e.g., by being supplied to the same tank).

[0075] Input data for sustainable input material 204 is provided to the operational system 120 in 222. Similarly, input data for sustainable input material 206 is also provided to the operational system 120 in 224. For example, the receipt of goods (and / or BOM and / or chemical production recipe) containing the input data for each sustainable input material may be provided electronically to the operational system 120 when the sustainable materials 204-206 are delivered to the chemical production network 110. The operational system 120 may receive the input data 222-224 through an interface to any computing system or device, such as a local or remote database or an ERP system, particularly its supply chain module or a centralized or decentralized computing system or device including processing and storage. Thus, the input data for each input material may be collected from any computing system or device, such as an ERP system or a centralized or decentralized computing system or device including processing and storage. In some cases, the input data for each input material is collected through an interface to two or more databases. Therefore, it is necessary to convert the information retrieved from different databases into a single format in order to enable further processing. In particular, input material data obtained from a database may be attributed to input materials through the identification of input materials in the database, which needs to be converted into identification of input materials for process data used in the process according to this disclosure.

[0076] The operating system 120 may initiate a virtual production step after receiving input data for sustainable materials 204-206. Virtual production refers to receiving input data for sustainable input materials, generating environmental attributes (based on the sustainable input materials), and "producing" conventional input data (e.g., data describing the corresponding quantities and / or values ​​of conventional input materials).

[0077] For example, when the operating system 120 receives input data for sustainable input materials (e.g., 222-224), it may start a virtual production process. Using the input data 222-224, the virtual production process may analyze the input data and apply a corresponding recipe. For example, the virtual production process may determine the volume (or mass) and type of sustainable input material received from the input data. The virtual production step may then be applied to the sustainable input materials 222-224. The virtual production step may "produce" both environmental attributes (e.g., 234-236) and conventional input material 232. The amount of conventional input material 232 produced (virtually) may be equal to the amount of sustainable input material 204-206.

[0078] After the virtual production process, the operational system 120 can credit digital inventory (also known as virtual balancing account) 232 with the amount of conventional raw materials created by the virtual production process. The operational system 120 can also convert environmental attributes into balancing units and allocate or credit those balancing units to digital BU inventory (or virtual balancing account) 234-236. The conversion may include a conversion factor that takes into account the chemical difference between fossil-based input materials such as naphtha and methane and non-fossil input materials such as pyrolysis oil. The conversion factor may relate to the lower calorific value of pyrolysis oil in relation to the lower calorific value of naphtha or methane. The conversion factor may include the ratio of the lower calorific value of pyrolysis oil to the lower calorific value of naphtha or methane. In this way, the chemical difference between fossil input materials and renewable input materials can be taken into account.

[0079] Digital inventories 234-236 can determine and track both the quantity (e.g., volume and / or mass) and value of sustainable inputs 204-206, respectively. For example, the operational system 120 can analyze input data 222 to determine the amount of sustainable input 204 received. Similarly, the operational system 120 can analyze input data 224 to determine the amount of sustainable input 206 received. The operational system 120 can then credit digital inventories 234 and 236, respectively, with the amount of sustainable inputs received.

[0080] Furthermore, the operational system 120 can also determine values ​​related to balancing units to be credited to the digital inventory. For example, the operational system 120 can determine the value of a balancing unit by calculating the cost difference between sustainable inputs 204-206 and their corresponding equivalent fossil inputs. The operational system 120 can determine the cost of an equivalent amount of fossil input using the average price, actual price, market price, or other appropriate value. The operational system 120 stores and tracks the quantities and values ​​corresponding to sustainable inputs in the digital inventory 234-236. For example, balancing units stored in the digital inventory 234-236 may contain quantity and / or value information corresponding to sustainable inputs 204-206.

[0081] The operational system 120 includes a fusion system 246 for creating sustainable chemical products by combining a balancing unit with conventional products. For example, the operational system 110 may process orders for products 252-264. If a customer purchases conventional chemical products 252-258, the operational system 120 can process the purchase using the conventional product digital inventory 242-244.

[0082] However, if a customer purchases sustainable chemical products, the operational system 120 can instruct the fusion system 246 to combine balancing units from digital inventory (or virtual balancing account) 234-236 with conventional products from digital inventory 242-244.

[0083] The fusion system 246 can generate digital assets 272-274 (which may or may not be incorporated into other records such as BOM and / or sales records) that define (or identify) sustainable products from combinations of balancing units and conventional products. For example, the fusion system 246 can create sustainable products by combining conventional products (242-244) with environmental attributes from digital inventory 234, as shown by 272. Similarly, the fusion system 246 can create circular products by combining conventional products (242-244) with environmental attributes from digital inventory 236, as shown by 274. Thus, the operational system 120 enables the chemical production network 110 to efficiently create multiple sustainable products from multiple inputs, including sustainable inputs combined with fossil inputs in a large-scale, interconnected chemical production network.

[0084] Consumption data is provided to the operating system 120 in 247. For example, historical production data showing the production of chemical products (e.g., 252-264) in the chemical production network 110 and the associated raw material consumption (e.g., consumption of input materials 202-206) may be provided electronically to the operating system 120. The operating system 120 may receive the consumption data 247 through an interface to any computing system or device, such as a local or remote database, or an integrated system, an ERP system, or a centralized or decentralized computing system or device including processing and storage.

[0085] Input consumption data may be collected from any computing system or device, such as an integrated system, an ERP system, or a centralized or decentralized computing system or device including processing and storage. In some cases, consumption data for one or more products 252-264 may be collected through an interface to two or more databases. Therefore, it may be necessary to convert the information retrieved from different databases into a single format in order to enable further processing. In particular, consumption data obtained from databases may need to be attributed to input materials (e.g., sustainable raw materials such as 204-206) through the identification of input materials in the database, which needs to be converted into identification of input materials for process data used in the processes of this disclosure.

[0086] The operating system 120 includes a raw material demand calculation logic 245 for calculating the raw material demand for one or more chemical products (e.g., 252-264 and / or intermediates, co-products, and / or sidestreams of 252-264) produced by the chemical production network 110. For example, the raw material demand calculation logic 245 can first check the process data of a process step (or process) to determine whether it is producing two or more by-products. If so, the raw material demand calculation logic 245 can determine whether to calculate the raw material demand for the by-products using (1) an attribution determined by mass or (2) an attribution determined by energy. For example, the raw material demand calculation logic 245 can check whether one of the by-products contains hydrogen with a mass distribution above a threshold. If one of the by-products contains hydrogen with a mass distribution above a threshold, the raw material demand calculation logic 245 can calculate the raw material demand for the by-product using an attribution determined by energy content. If the by-product does not contain hydrogen with a mass distribution exceeding a threshold, the raw material demand calculation logic 245 can calculate the raw material demand for the by-product using the assignment determined by mass.

[0087] If the raw material demand calculation logic 245 selects an assignment determined by mass, it can check the results to see if they deviate from the stoichiometric allocation by exceeding the target value.

[0088] If so, the raw material demand calculation logic 245 can apply a substitution method to determine the raw material demand for at least one of the by-products. As will be further explained below with reference to Figures 5 to 9, the raw material demand calculation logic 245 can then use the consumption data 247 and the values ​​from the substitution method to calculate the raw material demand for the other by-products.

[0089] Figure 3 shows an example of a part of a chemical production network that produces multiple chemical products from fossil and non-fossil input materials. The input materials are represented as R1, R2, and R3, and the products are represented as P1 to Pn+1. Intermediates (i.e., all items that are neither input materials nor products) are represented as I1, I2, and I3. The energy required for each production process is represented as E1, E2, E3, and E4. The process steps are represented as PS1, PS2, PS3, and PS4. Input materials R1 and R2 are processed in the first process step PS1 using energy E1 to produce intermediate I1. In the next process step PS2, intermediate I1 is processed together with intermediate I2 using energy E3 to reach products P1, P2, and Pn. Intermediate I2 is also produced in the same production plant in process step PS3 by processing input material R3 using energy E2. In process step PS3, another intermediate I3 is obtained, which is further processed in another process step PS4 using energy E4 to reach another product Pn+1. It can be easily recognized that the input materials R1, R2, and R3, as well as the energies E1, E2, and E3, have an impact on the environmental attributes of products P1, P2, and Pn. However, in addition, the use of I3 may also have an impact, because if the demand for product Pn+1 changes, the input I3 may not be fully utilized due to the low demand for product Pn+1, and the higher proportion of the environmental attributes of R3 and the environmental impact due to E2 may need to be attributed to I2, and by extension to P1, P2, and / or Pn. Therefore, it is usually necessary to provide complete information on all input materials and all process steps in the production plant, at least when there is a relationship between different chains of process steps from input materials to products. Process data may include a digital representation of one or more process steps of one or more production processes. Such expressions may include or be associated with information about input materials and process steps in one or more production plants, if there is a relationship between different chains of process steps from input materials to the finished product.

[0090] Figure 4 shows another example that may occur particularly in the chemical industry. Input materials R1 and R2 are processed in the first process step PS1 using energy E1 to produce intermediate I1. In the next process step PS2, intermediate I1 and input material R3 are processed using energy E2 to reach product P1, and reagent R2 is also obtained at the same time. R2 can be reused in process step PS1, thus forming a cycle. In this situation, process data may include information on how much of the reagent R2 is used from the supplier and how much of the recycled reagent R2 obtained in process step PS2 is used.

[0091] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating a selected mode of calculating the raw material demand for two or more or by-products according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. An operating system (such as operating system 120 shown in Figure 2) receives input material data related to one or more input materials in 510. The input material data may be obtained or derived from information provided by input material suppliers (e.g., via bills of materials, digital product passports, digital twins, etc.). In some cases, the input material data may be from public or private databases. Due to differences in the production process or logistics of the materials, different suppliers may provide the same input material with different input material data. Therefore, input material data may be collected for each supplier along with the supplier identifier.

[0092] This information can then be used to calculate the environmental attributes of a particular input material, depending on the supplier and the amount of that input material used. Priority rules may be defined when the environmental attributes of a single input material are available from multiple sources. These priority rules may depend on data quality or source certification.

[0093] The results may be taken into consideration when determining and / or calculating the raw material demand (and / or environmental attributes) of chemical products. Input material data is typically collected through interfaces. Input material data may be received through interfaces to local or remote databases or any computing system or device, such as ERP systems, particularly their supply chain modules or centralized or decentralized computing systems or devices including processing and storage. Input material data may therefore be collected from any computing system or device, such as ERP systems or centralized or decentralized computing systems or devices including processing and storage.

[0094] In some cases, input material data may be collected through interfaces to two or more databases. In such cases, it may be necessary to convert the information retrieved from different databases into a single format to enable further processing.

[0095] The operating system, in 515, receives process data for one or more process steps in a chemical production process. The process data may include information about the process steps from the required input materials to the finished product. In the context of this disclosure, “process step” means a specific stage or operation in the overall process of producing a chemical product that cannot be reasonably separated in time or space. It may include one or more chemical reactions or physical processes such as mixing, distillation, filtration, or drying.

[0096] Typically, all operations of a single process step are performed in one building using specific, dedicated equipment. A production plant's production process may include one or more process steps. Process data may include digital representations of one or more process steps of the production process.

[0097] Process data may include information about what reagents are needed and in what quantities for each process step. Process data may include a digital representation of one or more process steps of a production process, and such representation may include or be associated with information about what reagents are needed and in what quantities for one or more processes. "Reagents" may be input materials or intermediates of different process steps. "Intermediate" refers to an article such as a substance that is neither an input material nor a product, but is made from an input material or an initial intermediate, further processed into other intermediates, and finally processed into a product. Each process step may require one or more reagents. The "quantity" of a reagent refers to the mass, volume, or number of parts per intermediate or product, depending on the nature of the reagent, intermediate, and / or product. Mass is typically used for bulk items such as metals. Volume is typically used for liquids such as water or glycerol. The number of parts is typically used for individualized articles such as screws or plastic pieces. All of these units are given for each unit of the intermediate or product, for example, 1 unit of reagent equals 0.5 kg per 1 kg of product.

[0098] Process data may include information about what co-products are produced and in what quantities for one or more process steps. Process data may include a digital representation of one or more process steps in a production process, and such representation may include, or be associated with, information about what co-products (or by-products) are produced and in what quantities for each process step. Some process steps, such as the assembly of steel parts, may not produce any co-products. In this case, the process data does not include information about co-products. However, many process steps produce co-products (by-products).

[0099] A distinction can be made between the co-product and the “residue.” In the context of this disclosure, residue refers to any article that is inevitably obtained in one process step but cannot be used in a different process step. Sometimes, residue may be recycled to obtain input materials or intermediates that can be used as reagents in a process step, i.e., it may undergo another process step or multiple process steps. However, in some cases, there is no economically viable use for the residue. In this case, the residue must be disposed of. For example, it can be burned in an incinerator. If the incinerator is part of the production plant, preferably, recovered heat and / or electrical energy may be considered. It may also be transferred to a sewage plant for flaring, or, in the case of carbon dioxide, it may also be stored in an empty gas field.

[0100] Process data may include information about what one or more intermediates are obtained at each process step and in what yield. Process data may include a digital representation of one or more process steps of a production process, and such representation may include or be associated with information about what one or more intermediates are obtained at one or more processes and in what yield. In the context of this disclosure, “yield” refers to the ratio of the result from a particular process step to a theoretical maximum. If the yield is 100%, for example, when components are mixed during formulation, the process data may not include information about the yield. However, if there are losses in the process steps, the yield may be less than 100%. In chemical reactions, the yield is typically less than 100% due to side reactions and losses during purification. In other processes, the yield may also be less than 100%, for example, when steel parts are cut or drilled, a certain percentage will be defective, and defective parts may result in losses if they cannot be reused. In chemistry, defective parts may be called off-spec material and may be re-produced, sold as “secunda”, or treated as waste or residue.

[0101] Process data may include information on any direct environmental impacts of process steps (e.g., petrochemical raw material consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, etc.).

[0102] These environmental impacts can arise from the chemical reactions of input materials that consume petrochemical raw materials. Such environmental impacts may also originate from the chemical reactions of input materials that contain greenhouse gases or generate greenhouse gases during the execution of process steps, for example, through heating. A typical example is cement production, where heating of input materials, particularly limestone, generates carbon dioxide. Process data may include a digital representation of one or more process steps of a production process, and such representations may include or be associated with information regarding the direct environmental impacts of each process step. Information regarding direct environmental impacts may include, for example, information regarding which petrochemical raw materials were consumed (and in what quantities) and / or which greenhouse gases were emitted (and in what quantities). This quantity may be given relative to the quantity of input materials or relative to the quantity of the product or intermediate of each process step. The latter may be derived from the former by multiplying by the yield of the process step.

[0103] In the simplest case, one or more input materials are processed in a single process step to reach a product. An example might be a cable tree, where specific cables and plugs are the input materials, and they are assembled to form a product sold to an automobile manufacturer. However, in most cases, production processes are more complex. Multiple input materials are processed into various intermediates that are then processed into different products; one input material may be used to produce two or more intermediates, and one intermediate may be used to produce two or more products. In such situations, the final environmental attributes of a product may depend on the quantities of other products produced in the production plant. Therefore, typically, process data includes information on what reagents and in what quantities are required for each process step for all products that share at least one reagent or intermediate in common.

[0104] The operating system, in 520, receives consumption data for one or more by-products produced by the chemical production process. The term "consumption data" may refer to quantitative data indicating the amount of raw materials (or input materials or raw materials) consumed during the production process to produce a particular chemical product. This data may include the amount of each raw material consumed, for example, sustainable raw materials and / or fossil raw materials.

[0105] Consumption data is crucial not only for determining the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of production processes, but also for identifying potential inefficiencies or waste in those processes. It can also be used to optimize production processes, reduce costs, and minimize the environmental impact of chemical production. Consumption data may include (or be derived from) a digital representation of the amount of raw materials consumed to produce two additional chemical products in a chemical production process.

[0106] In some embodiments of this disclosure, consumption data is based on historical production data showing raw material consumption related to the production of chemical products.

[0107] Consumption data may be specific to a site, legal entity, production process, and / or country in which the production process takes place. Consumption data may include average consumption over time. For example, consumption data may provide average annual consumption, average five-year consumption, and / or ten-year average consumption of a chemical product. Average consumption data can smooth out seasonal and other variations associated with the chemical production process. An integrated system (e.g., integrated system 1010 shown in Figure 10) can collect consumption data from different production plants, sites, legal entities, etc. The integrated system can process and structure the consumption data used by the operational system.

[0108] Consumption data may include a digital representation of the (sustainable and / or fossil) raw materials required to produce by-products in a chemical process that produces two or more by-products. Consumption data may include, for example, information about the raw materials (and the quantities of raw materials) consumed to produce by-products. This quantity may be given relative to the quantity of input materials or relative to the quantity of the product or intermediate at each process step. The latter may be derived from the former by multiplying by the yield of the process step.

[0109] Consumption data can be received through an interface to any computing system or device, such as a local or remote database, an ERP system, or a centralized or decentralized computing system or device including processing and storage. Consumption data can therefore be collected from any computing system or device, such as an ERP system or a centralized or decentralized computing system or device including processing and storage. Typically, consumption data can be collected through an interface to two or more databases. In such cases, it may be necessary to convert the information retrieved from different databases into a single format to enable further processing.

[0110] The operating system may analyze the process data received in 515 to determine whether the production process (or process step) produces two or more by-products (if there are two by-products, they may be called the first chemical product and the second chemical product). If so, in 525, the operating system determines the raw material demand calculation method to apply. For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the operating system first determines whether to calculate the raw material demand for two or more by-products based on mass attribution or energy content attribution. Mass attribution refers to a method of allocating the amount of raw materials used in the production process to each by-product based on their respective masses. This method involves determining the mass of each by-product produced in the process and then dividing the amount of raw materials used in the process proportionally based on the mass of each by-product.

[0111] For example, consider the following chemical production process: In the chemical product process, 1000 kg of raw materials are used to produce the following two by-products: Product A and Product B; • The raw materials consist of 60% fossil fuels and 40% sustainable materials (e.g., biomass); and The production process produces 600 kg of product A and 400 kg of product B.

[0112] In order to determine the amount of sustainable raw materials used in the production of each by-product, according to the attribution by mass, first, the mass of each by-product produced is calculated as a percentage of the total mass of both by-products. • Mass of product A = 600kg / (600kg + 400kg) = 60% • Mass of product B = 400kg / (600kg + 400kg) = 40% Next, the amount of sustainable raw materials used in the production of each by-product is calculated as a percentage of the total amount of sustainable raw materials used. • Sustainable raw materials used in product A = 40% of 1000kg x 60% = 240kg • Sustainable raw materials used in product B = 40% of 1000kg x 40% = 160kg Therefore, in this example, 240 kg of sustainable raw materials are attributed to product A, and 160 kg of sustainable raw materials are attributed to product B.

[0113] Energy content allocation refers to a method of allocating the amount of raw materials used in a production process to each by-product based on its respective energy content. This method involves determining the energy content of each by-product produced in the process, and then proportionally dividing the amount of raw materials used in the process based on the energy content of each by-product.

[0114] For example, suppose a chemical production process uses 1000 GJ of raw materials to produce two by-products: assume that product A and product B consist of 60% fossil fuels and 40% sustainable fuels (e.g., biomass), with the LHV (low heating value) of the fossil fuels being 40 GJ / ton and the LHV of the sustainable fuels being 20 GJ / ton. Also assume that the production process produces 600 GJ of product A and 400 GJ of product B.

[0115] To determine the amount of sustainable raw materials used in the production of each by-product, first calculate the total energy content of the raw materials used: • Total energy content of raw materials = (60% × 40 GJ / ton) + (40% × 20 GJ / ton) = 32 GJ / ton.

[0116] Next, we calculate the amount of sustainable raw materials used in the production of each by-product as a percentage of the total energy content of the raw materials used: • Energy content of product A = 600 GJ • Energy content of product B = 400 GJ • Total energy content of both by-products = 1000 GJ • Sustainable raw materials used in product A = 40% of (600 GJ / 32 GJ / ton) × 20 GJ / ton = 187.5 tons • Sustainable raw materials used in product B = 40% of (400 GJ / 32 GJ / ton) × 20 GJ / ton = 125 tons.

[0117] Returning to step 525, the operating system can analyze the process data received in 515 to determine whether to calculate the raw material demand for the process (or process step) by mass attribution or energy content attribution. For example, based on the process data, the operating system can identify at least one process step that produces two or more chemical products from one or more input materials, where the two or more chemical products include a first chemical product and a second chemical product. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the operating system analyzes the process data to determine whether the first chemical product and / or the second chemical product have a hydrogen mass distribution greater than a threshold. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the threshold may be 1% (percentage of hydrogen by mass). In other embodiments, a different threshold may be used.

[0118] If the mass distribution of hydrogen is greater than the threshold, the operating system can calculate the raw material demand for the by-product by its energy content (in 530). However, if the mass distribution of hydrogen is less than the threshold, the operating system calculates the raw material demand for the by-product by its mass assignment (in 535).

[0119] As shown in Figure 6, in 615, the operating system can then compare the raw material demand calculated by mass assignment with the raw material demand (of a process or process step) calculated by stoichiometric assignment. Stoichiometric assignment refers to a method of allocating the amount of raw materials used in a production process to each by-product based on the stoichiometric ratio of the chemical reactions involved in the process. This method involves calculating the theoretical amount of each raw material required to produce a given amount of each by-product based on the equilibrium chemical equations of the reactions involved in the process. In some embodiments, the operating system uses steering logic (e.g., steering logic 940 shown in Figure 9) to determine whether the mass assignment calculation deviates from stoichiometric assignment. The steering logic may include entries (or flags) indicating whether the mass assignment calculation deviates from stoichiometric assignment by a target value (e.g., 954 in Figure 9). The target value may indicate an acceptable range for the deviation between mass assignment and stoichiometric assignment. The term “deviation” may refer to the amount by which the mass assignment calculation deviates from stoichiometric assignment. Target values ​​and standard scores may be expressed as percentages (e.g., 5%, 10%, 20%, etc.).

[0120] Steering logic can include a collection of data organized in a structured manner. For example, steering logic may be a data structure that organizes the data (e.g., into rows and columns).

[0121] The steering logic may have rows (or other data structures) corresponding to by-products (for example, as shown by 952 in Figure 9). The row corresponding to a by-product may include a field that stores a value indicating whether the mass assignment calculation deviates from the stoichiometric assignment by a target value for that by-product (for example, as shown by 954 in Figure 9).

[0122] Figure 8 shows an example of a chemical process to which the operating system 120 can apply the substitution method. Chemical process 800 produces two by-products, namely formamide (FA) and methanol (MeOH) (as indicated by 805 and 810, respectively). FA 805 is the intended product, and MeOH 810 is the co-product. Chemical process 800 involves reacting ammonia (NH3) 815 with methyl formate 820. If mass assignment is applied, FA 805 and MeOH 810 will have the same raw material demand (on a kg basis). However, the molecular compositions of the two by-products are very different. For example, the nitrogen from ammonia 815 is entirely present in FA 805. Nitrogen is absent in MeOH 810. Therefore, the raw material demand calculated by stoichiometry will be very different from the raw material demand calculated by mass assignment. In such cases, the operating system 120 can apply the substitution method (for example, to calculate the raw material demand for MeOH 810).

[0123] If the deviation between the two calculations does not exceed the target value, the operating system continues the raw material demand calculation using mass-based attribution (in 625). However, if the deviation between the two calculations exceeds the threshold, the operating system applies a substitution method to determine the raw material demand for at least one of the by-products, as shown in 620. In some embodiments, the target value is 10%, and in other embodiments, a different threshold amount may be used.

[0124] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating a selected mode of determining the raw material demand for a by-product using a substitution method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The operating system can check multiple datasets in order of priority to determine whether a dataset contains the substituted raw material demand value (or simply substituted value) for the by-product. The term “substituted value” refers to the raw material demand value that the operating system will replace the raw material demand value determined by the mass attribution of the by-product. Referring to 710, the operating system queries the steering logic (e.g., the steering logic 940 shown in Figure 9) to determine whether the steering logic contains the raw material demand value (for the by-product) based on dedicated production data (e.g., for a site or legal entity in which the production process occurs). If the steering logic contains the raw material demand value (for the by-product) based on dedicated production data, the operating system replaces that value with the value determined by mass attribution and returns to 640 in Figure 6. The term “dedicated production data” may refer to data specific to a particular production unit, process line, site, legal entity, and / or country. It may include information about the raw materials used, production parameters, the quality of chemical products, etc.

[0125] If the steering logic does not include raw material demand values ​​based on dedicated production data, in 720, the operating system can query the steering logic to determine whether it includes raw material demand values ​​(of by-products) based on non-dedicated production data. The term "non-dedicated production" data may refer to data that is not specific to a particular unit (or line, site, legal entity, etc.). Non-dedicated production data may include data from sources outside the chemical production network, such as literature values ​​for a representative process. If the steering logic includes raw material demand values ​​(of by-products) based on non-dedicated production data, the operating system replaces those values ​​with values ​​determined by mass attribution (as shown in 725) and returns to 640 in Figure 6.

[0126] If the steering logic does not include raw material demand values ​​based on (1) dedicated production data or (2) non-dedicated production data, the operating system may query the steering logic to select an input coefficient for the by-product. The term “input coefficient” refers to data derived from production data of a known process that provides guidance for estimating raw material demand. For example, if a by-product is part of a different chemical production process in a chemical production network, the input coefficient may be an indicator of the amount of raw material consumed to produce the by-product in that chemical production process. The operating system then substitutes the value determined by mass attribution (as shown in 730) into the input coefficient and returns to 640 in Figure 6.

[0127] After selecting the substituted raw material demand value (or "substituted value"), the operating system determines whether to apply a correction factor to the substituted value in 640 (Figure 6). The term "correction factor" refers to a coefficient used to adjust the substituted value, for example, if the concentration of the by-product is less than 100%, or if one or more additional process steps are required to purify or concentrate the by-product. For example, if only 90% of the by-product mass is of usable quality, a correction factor is used to adjust the substituted value to reflect the reduction in usable mass of the by-product.

[0128] The operating system replaces the mass-attributed raw material demand value (of the by-product) with the selected substitution value in 645. Then, in 650, the operating system determines the raw material demand for the second by-product (e.g., the second chemical product). The calculation of the raw material demand for the second by-product can be based at least in part on resource balancing between input materials and the resulting chemical product. For example, input resources (such as mass and raw material demand) are generally balanced with output resources, as shown by equations 1 to 5. M1+M2→M3+M4 (however, M i (1) m1+m2→m3+m4 (where m i (This is the mass (kg)) (2) -(m1EA1+m2EA2)~(m3EA3+m4EA4)(where EAi (3) For example, raw material demand. -Input ~(m3EA3+m4EA4) (4)

[0129]

number

[0130] The operating system can access input material data and consumption data (from 510 and 520) to determine the input values ​​(in Equation 4). In addition, the selected substituted value can be used for one of the two output terms (e.g., for m3EA3). The remaining unknown value (e.g., m4EA4) can be calculated using Equation 4.

[0131] Figure 9 is a block diagram showing an electronic system 900 comprising an operating system 120 including steering logic 940, according to the present disclosure. The electronic system 900 includes a processor 905 that provides processing, operation management, and instruction execution for the system 900. The processor 905 may be any type of microprocessor, central processing unit, processing core, field-programmable gate array (FPGA), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), graphical processing unit, programmable controller, etc.

[0132] The processor 905 is communicatively coupled to the memory 910, storage 915, and network interface 920 (for example, via the interconnect 925 and network interface 920). The network interface 920 may be coupled to the data source 970 via a wired and / or wireless network (and / or a combination thereof).

[0133] The data source 970 may include one or more locations or systems where data is stored or generated. The data source 970 may include a wide range of systems or devices that collect, store, or process data. The data source 970 may include one or more databases, file servers, applications, storage devices, and / or memory devices. The data source 970 may be (partially or entirely) internal and / or external to the chemical production network. The data source 970 may include structured and / or unstructured sources of data. Structured data sources may include those with a predefined schema, such as relational databases. Unstructured data sources may include those without a predefined schema, such as sensor data. The data source 970 may include data sources for input material data 972, process data 974, actual consumption data 976, dedicated production data 978, external procurement consumption data 980, input coefficients 982, and / or correction coefficients 984. The data source 970 may be connected to the operating system 120 via wired and / or wireless networks (and / or a combination thereof).

[0134] The electronic system 900 includes steering logic 940. The operating system 120 can access the steering logic 940 to determine the substituted raw material demand values ​​for a by-product (e.g., a first chemical product). For example, the operating system 120 can access the steering logic 940 to determine whether the material identifier associated with the first chemical product is enumerated in the steering logic 940 (as shown by 956). If so, the operating system 120 can use the values ​​stored in the steering logic 940 (e.g., the substituted values ​​in 958) to determine the substituted raw material demand value for the first chemical product. The operating system 120 can then apply the process described above with reference to Figures 5-7 to determine and output the raw material demand for a chemical process producing two or more by-products.

[0135] The methods described herein are particularly useful for production plants that perform interconnected process steps. In relation to the present invention, the term “interconnected” means that at least one process step uses two intermediates from different other process steps, or each uses one intermediate from different other process steps that produce this intermediate, or results in two intermediates used in two different other process steps. Preferably, the production plant performs interconnected process steps. More preferably, the production plant is a chemical production plant that performs interconnected process steps. Often, the interconnected process steps are performed at different locations operated by different plants, possibly different groups of companies.

[0136] The raw material demand obtained by the method of the present invention can also be used to optimize the raw material demand for downstream products. The raw material demand for chemical products can be entered into a database along with other product information, such as manufacturer, specifications, price, or availability. In this way, manufacturers of downstream products can search for products with desired environmental impacts to contribute to the environmental attributes of their downstream products and thus optimize the environmental impacts of their downstream products.

[0137] The present invention further relates to a non-temporary computer-readable data medium for storing a computer program that includes instructions for performing steps of a method according to the present invention. The computer-readable data medium includes, for example, a hard drive on a server, a USB storage device, a CD, a DVD, or a Blu-ray disc. The computer program may include all the functions and data necessary for performing the method according to the present invention, or it may provide an interface for performing a part of the method on a remote system, such as a cloud system.

[0138] The present invention further relates to a system or apparatus for determining the environmental attributes of products produced in the production process of a production plant.

[0139] Unless explicitly stated otherwise below, the descriptions relating to methods also apply to systems or devices. A system or device may be a computing device, such as a computer, tablet, or smartphone, or a device such as a distributed computing system or device or a cloud system. Often, computing devices have network connectivity to communicate with other computing devices, such as servers or cloud networks.

[0140] Figure 10 shows a schematic diagram of an integrated system for integrating data in a chemical production network. Production entities C1 and C2 may be different production plants, production sites, corporations, group companies, etc. Each production entity provides process data 1001, 1004, consumption data 1002, 1006, and input material data 1003, 1008 to the integrated system 1010 (and integrated subsystems 1012-1016) via an interface.

[0141] The integrated system 1010 collects and integrates a wide range of data from the chemical production network 1010, enabling the operation system 120 to monitor and manage the chemical production network. For example, the integrated subsystem 1012 can integrate process data to identify intermediates produced by one production entity and used by different production entities. The integrated subsystem 1014 can integrate consumption data to provide the operation system 120 with consumption data by site, legal entity, group company, country, etc. Similarly, the integrated subsystem 1016 can integrate input material data to provide the operation system 120 with input material data by site, legal entity, group company, country, etc. One or more of the integrated subsystems 1012-1016 can integrate the environmental attributes of each input material 602, 606 to arrive at a single list of input materials having the relevant environmental attributes.

[0142] The electronic system 1000 includes an input (or input unit) 1020 which may be configured to receive (i) input data relating to one or more input materials to a chemical production process, (ii) process data for one or more process steps in a chemical production process that may be required to produce a chemical product from one or more input materials, and (iii) consumption data indicating the raw material demand for the chemical product. In this disclosure, the chemical production process produces two or more by-products (e.g., a first chemical product and a second chemical product). The processor or processing unit 1030 is configured to determine the raw material demand for one or more by-products (e.g., the first chemical product).

[0143] According to this disclosure, the processing unit 1030 determines the raw material demand for by-products based on steering logic. For example, the processing unit 1030 may refer to a digital file (such as a lookup table, database, memory, or storage location) containing the raw material demand for by-products based on data accessed by the steering logic. The processing unit 1030 may arrive at the raw material demand for by-products by taking into account the information obtained from the input unit 1020 and the integration system 1010. The output or output unit 1040 is configured to output the raw material demand for the first chemical product.

[0144] This disclosure has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments and examples. However, a person skilled in the art who practices the invention described in the claims will be able to understand and implement other variations by examining the drawings, this disclosure, and the claims.

[0145] Any of the steps presented herein can be performed in any order. The methods disclosed herein are not limited to any particular order of these steps. It is not required that different steps be performed in a specific location or on a specific node of a distributed system; that is, each step may be performed on a different computing node using different equipment / data processing.

[0146] As used herein, “determine” also includes “initiate or cause to determine,” “generate” also includes “initiate and / or cause to generate,” and “provide” also includes “initiate or cause to determine, generate, select, transmit and / or receive.” “Initiate or cause to perform an action” includes any processing signal that triggers a computing node or device to perform the respective action.

[0147] In the claims and herein, the term “including” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude plural. A single element or other unit may perform the function of several entities or items described in the claims. The mere fact that certain means are described in different dependent claims does not imply that a combination of these means cannot be used in a favorable implementation.

[0148] Any disclosures and embodiments described herein relate to the methods, systems, devices, and computer program elements outlined above, and vice versa. Advantageously, any benefits derived from any embodiment and example are equally applicable to all other embodiments and examples, and vice versa.

[0149] All terms and definitions used herein are to be understood in a broad sense and have their general meanings.

[0150] Any disclosures and embodiments described herein are merely examples of, and should not be considered as limiting, to the methods, systems, or application devices disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A computer-based method for identifying the input material requirements for two or more chemical products produced in a chemical production process of a production plant, - Receiving input material data associated with one or more input materials to the chemical production process, - Receiving process data for one or more process steps in the aforementioned chemical production process, - Receiving consumption data indicating the amount of raw materials associated with the production of two or more chemical products, - Identifying, based on the process data, at least one process step that produces two or more chemical products from one or more input materials, wherein the two or more chemical products include a first chemical product and a second chemical product. - Determining the mass fraction raw material demand for the first chemical product based at least partially on mass distribution calculations, - Determining the stoichiometric raw material requirements for the first chemical product based at least partially on stoichiometric allocation calculations, - To compare the mass fraction raw material demand for the first chemical product with the raw material demand based on stoichiometry for the first chemical product, and to determine the standard deviation for the first chemical product, - Determining whether the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, - Determining whether the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, at least in part, based on steering logic, - Calculate the raw material demand for the second chemical product based at least in part on the substituted raw material demand and consumption data for the first chemical product, - Outputting the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product and the raw material demand for the second chemical product, A computer implementation method, including

2. Based at least in part on the steering logic, if the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product is determined as follows: - Determining whether the steering logic includes dedicated production data associated with the first chemical product, - If the steering logic includes dedicated production data associated with the first chemical product, the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product is selected based at least in part on the dedicated production data associated with the first chemical product. The computer implementation method according to claim 1, further comprising:

3. Based at least in part on the steering logic, if the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product is determined as follows: - If the steering logic does not include dedicated production data related to the first chemical product, determine whether the steering logic includes externally supplied production data related to the first chemical product. - If the steering logic includes externally supplied production data relating to the first chemical product, the selection of the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product is based at least in part on the externally supplied production data relating to the first chemical product. The computer implementation method according to claim 2, further comprising:

4. Based at least in part on the steering logic, if the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product is determined as follows: - If the steering logic does not include externally supplied production data related to the first chemical product, it determines the input coefficients related to the first chemical product. - Selecting the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product based at least in part on the input coefficient related to the first chemical product, The computer implementation method according to claim 3, further comprising:

5. A computer implementation according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein determining the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product if the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, based at least in part on the steering logic, further comprises determining whether to apply a correction factor to the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product, based at least in part on the steering logic.

6. The computer implementation method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein selecting the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product includes selecting the substituted sustainable raw material demand for the first chemical product.

7. A computer implementation according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein calculating the raw material demand for the second chemical product based at least in part on the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product includes selecting a substituted sustainable raw material demand for the second chemical product based at least in part on the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product.

8. - Determining whether the first chemical product and / or the second chemical product contain hydrogen in a mass distribution exceeding a threshold, - If the first chemical product and / or the second chemical product contains hydrogen in a mass distribution exceeding the threshold, the energy content raw material demand for the first chemical product is determined at least in part based on the energy content distribution calculation, A computer implementation method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:

9. A non-temporary computer-readable data medium for storing a computer program which includes instructions for performing steps of the method described in any one of the prior claims.

10. A system for identifying the input material requirements for two or more chemical products produced in the chemical production process of a production plant, - An input configured to receive (i) input data related to one or more input materials to the chemical production process and (ii) process data for one or more process steps in the chemical production process, - A processor configured to (i) identify at least one process step that produces two or more chemical products from one or more input materials based on process data, wherein the two or more chemical products include a first chemical product and a second chemical product; (ii) determine the mass fraction raw material demand for the first chemical product at least in part on mass allocation calculations; (iii) determine the stoichiometric raw material demand for the first chemical product at least in part on stoichiometric allocation calculations; (iv) identify a deviation value for the first chemical product by comparing the mass fraction raw material demand for the first chemical product with the stoichiometric raw material demand for the first chemical product; (v) determine whether the deviation value for the first chemical product exceeds a target value; (vi) determine whether the deviation value for the first chemical product exceeds the target value at least in part on steering logic; and (vii) calculate the raw material demand for the second chemical product at least in part on substituted raw material demand and consumption data for the first chemical product. - An output configured to output the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product and the raw material demand for the second chemical product, A system equipped with these features.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the input includes an interface to an integration system that collects process data from different production plants, and the integration system integrates the process data to identify intermediates produced by the different production plants.

12. The system according to any one of claims 10 to 11, wherein the output includes a user interface configured to display the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product and the raw material demand for the second chemical product.

13. If the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, the processor, configured to determine the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product, at least in part on the steering logic, - Determine whether the steering logic includes dedicated production data associated with the first chemical product. - The system according to any one of claims 10 to 12, further comprising a processor that selects the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product based at least in part on the dedicated production data relating to the first chemical product, if the steering logic includes dedicated production data relating to the first chemical product.

14. If the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, the processor, configured to determine the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product, at least in part on the steering logic, - If the steering logic does not include dedicated production data related to the first chemical product, determine whether the steering logic includes externally supplied production data related to the first chemical product. - The system according to any one of claims 10 to 13, further comprising a processor that selects the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product based at least in part on the externally supplied production data relating to the first chemical product, provided that the steering logic includes externally supplied production data relating to the first chemical product.

15. If the deviation value of the first chemical product exceeds the target value, the processor, configured to determine the replacement raw material demand for the first chemical product, at least in part on the steering logic, - If the steering logic does not include externally supplied production data related to the first chemical product, it determines the input coefficients related to the first chemical product. - The system according to any one of claims 10 to 14, further comprising a processor that selects the substituted raw material demand for the first chemical product based at least in part on the input coefficient related to the first chemical product.

Images