Methods and configurations for optimizing technical systems

Abstract

The invention relates, inter alia, to a computer-implemented method for optimizing technical systems of a specified system inventory (AG) by means of a data processing system (100). For example, according to the invention, for each technical system of the specified system inventory (AG), a respective system-related actual performance indicator (IAKL) of a first type is determined, the system-related actual performance indicator describing a property of the respective system; the system-related actual performance indicators (IAKL) of the first type are used to determine an inventory-related actual performance indicator (IBKL) of the first type for the system inventory (AG), the inventory-related actual performance indicator describing the property with respect to the system inventory (AG); and an optimization method is carried out in which system modifications are simulated and at least one respective simulated system-related performance indicator (ALK) of the first type is determined for each simulated system modification; the simulated system-related performance indicators (ALK) of the first type for each simulated system modification are used to form a respective simulated inventory-related performance indicator (BLK) of the first type; a search is carried out for a modified design of one or more systems of the system inventory (AG) which results in an improvement of the simulated inventory-related performance indicator (BLK) of the first type, compared to the inventory-related actual performance indicator (IAKL) of the first type, according to a specified target criterion; and when a modified design which satisfies the target criterion is found, a data set (DS) is output which describes the modified design of the systems and / or measures leading to the modified design.

Description

[0001] 202413790

[0002] 1

[0003] Description

[0004] Methods and arrangements for optimizing technical systems

[0005] The invention relates to a computer-implemented method for optimizing technical systems within a given inventory of systems. The inventory of systems can also be referred to as a fleet or system fleet, and the inventory may already exist, but need not; for example, it may still be in a planning phase.

[0006] The invention is based on the objective of providing a method with which plant inventories can be optimized with particularly little effort.

[0007] This problem is solved according to the invention by a method with the features according to claim 1. Advantageous embodiments of the method according to the invention are specified in the dependent claims.

[0008] According to the invention, it is provided that for each technical installation of the given plant inventory, a plant-related actual performance indicator of the first type is determined, which describes a property of the respective installation; with the plant-related actual performance indicators of the first type, a stock-related actual performance indicator of the first type of the plant inventory is formed, which describes the property in relation to the plant inventory; and an optimization procedure is carried out in which plant modifications are simulated and at least one simulated plant-related performance indicator of the first type is determined for each simulated plant modification; using the simulated plant-related performance indicators of the first type, a simulated stock-related performance indicator of the first type is formed for each simulated plant modification; and a modified design of one or more installations of the plant inventory is sought.which leads to an improvement in the simulated inventory-related performance indicator of the first type – compared to the inventory-related actual performance indicator of the first type – according to a predefined target criterion, and if a modified configuration fulfilling the target criterion is found, a data set is output that describes the modified configuration of the systems and / or measures that lead to the modified configuration. 202413790

[0009] 2

[0010] A key advantage of the method according to the invention is that it can fully automate the process and consider a large number of plant configurations, seeking a solution based on the entire plant, rather than a plant-specific solution. In other words, the concept behind the invention is to improve the plant inventory or fleet as a whole. While the individual plants and their respective characteristics are taken into account, these characteristics only contribute indirectly to the search for an optimum for the entire plant inventory. Therefore, within the framework of the method according to the invention, optimization measures can be implemented that do not involve modifying all plants. Instead, some plants may remain unchanged and even perform below average, because the target criterion can be achieved simply by modifying a few other plants, for example, with very little effort.

[0011] With a view to automating the process without prior knowledge of all plant data, it is considered advantageous if the determination of plant data enabling the calculation of plant-related performance indicators includes automated internet research using a web scraping tool and access to databases with publicly available information. Suitable scraping tools for computer-aided research and data retrieval are generally known.

[0012] It is advantageous if the plant-related actual performance indicator of the first type, the inventory-related actual performance indicator of the first type, the simulated plant-related performance indicators of the first type and the simulated inventory-related performance indicators of the first type each describe the same technical quantity or - in the case of a summary of individual criteria into a summary indicator - are based on the same technical quantities.

[0013] The plant-related actual performance indicator of the first type, the inventory-related actual performance indicator of the first type, the simulated plant-related performance indicators of the first type, and the simulated inventory-related performance indicators of the first type can each directly specify, or at least also take into account, the CO2 emissions of the respective plant or plant inventory as a technical parameter, or directly specify, or at least also take into account, the duration of continued operation of the respective plant or plant inventory in the event of a failure of an external energy supply network supplying the plants, or directly specify, or at least also take into account, the energy consumption of the respective plant or plant inventory, or directly specify the energy costs of the respective plant or plant inventory.

[0014] 3. at least take these into account, or specify the operating costs of the respective plant or plant stock, or at least take these into account, or directly specify the remaining service life of the respective plant or plant stock, or at least take this into account, or directly quantify the sustainability of the respective plant or plant stock, or at least take this into account, or directly quantify the share of sustainably generated energy in the total energy consumption of the respective plant or plant stock, or at least take this into account.

[0015] For example, it is advantageous if, for each asset in the plant inventory, asset-related performance indicators of two or more different types are determined and these are combined into two or more corresponding inventory-related performance indicators of the respective type, and, within the framework of the optimization process, the simulated inventory-related performance indicators of the two or more types are determined for each plant modification of one or more assets in the plant inventory, and the target criterion stipulates that all or at least a specified minimum number of simulated inventory-related performance indicators fulfill a type-specific individual criterion.

[0016] At least one of the types of performance indicators preferably relates to the necessary effort required for change.

[0017] When searching for the modified design that meets the target criterion, all assets in the existing plant portfolio are preferably included.

[0018] The optimization process preferably involves discretizing the search space, and when searching for the configuration that fulfills the target criterion, it is preferably assumed that the systems are subject to externally specified boundary conditions. Preferably, only those system modifications are considered in the optimization process when calculating the system-related and inventory-related performance indicators that relate to systems fulfilling the externally specified boundary conditions.

[0019] For all plant modifications that result in plants fulfilling the externally specified boundary conditions, the simulated existing-related performance indicators are preferably calculated, and this is preferably done based on all determined 202413790

[0020] 4 inventory-related performance indicators, one of the modified configurations fulfilling the target criterion was selected.

[0021] In a preferred design variant, it is provided that the optimization process starts with an initial plant modification and this initial plant modification is modified within the optimization process until the modified design that meets the target criterion is found.

[0022] The optimization procedure can include hierarchical two-level optimization.

[0023] Alternatively or additionally, it may be advantageously provided that, when searching for the design that fulfills the target criterion, the plants in the plant inventory are considered in a cluster-related manner, by first assigning each of the plants to one of at least two different clusters and calculating the respective simulated plant-related performance indicators based on the properties of a cluster reference plant assigned to the respective cluster.

[0024] Alternatively or additionally, it may be advantageous to provide that, when searching for the design that fulfills the target criterion, the measures are selected by forming a predefined catalog of measures in which a large number of possible measures are listed.

[0025] Alternatively or additionally, it may be advantageously provided that, when searching for the design that fulfills the target criterion, it is assumed that the plant-related performance indicators change linearly with a rate of change related to the scope of the respective modification measure, and that the calculation of the plant-related performance indicators includes the multiplication of the rate of change with the respective scope of change provided for by the modification measure.

[0026] The target criterion can advantageously stipulate that a desired minimum improvement in the simulated inventory-related performance indicator is achieved.

[0027] Alternatively or additionally, the target criterion can stipulate that a maximum increase in the simulated inventory-related performance indicator is achieved for a given change effort. 202413790

[0028] 5

[0029] The calculation of inventory-related performance indicators can include averaging or summing the asset-related performance indicators.

[0030] At least one of the assets in the plant portfolio is preferably a building or a factory.

[0031] It may also be advantageously provided that, after finding the modified design that fulfills the target criterion, an operating data set is generated which contains suitable operating parameters for operating the modified design of the plants in the plant inventory.

[0032] The operational behavior of the modified design of the plant inventory, which fulfills the target criterion, is preferably observed in real operation, and the operating parameters of the operational data set are preferably adjusted during plant operation if the actually observed operational behavior deviates from the simulated operational behavior.

[0033] It may also be provided that the operational behavior of the modified design of the plant inventory, which fulfills the target criterion, is observed in real operation and plant characteristics are determined, which are then used for a renewed execution of the procedure for optimizing the plant inventory.

[0034] The invention also relates to a computer program product. In this respect, the invention provides that the computer program product comprises program instructions to cause a data processing system to execute a method as described above when the computer program product is executed on the data processing system.

[0035] The invention also relates to a data processing system. In this regard, the invention provides that the data processing system is programmed with a computer program product as described, or that the computer program product is stored at least in a memory of the data processing system.

[0036] The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments; the following are shown by way of example: 202413790

[0037] 6

[0038] Figs. 1-6 Arrangements suitable for carrying out exemplary embodiments of inventive methods for optimizing technical systems of a given plant inventory, and

[0039] Fig. 7-8 Examples of arrangements that are additionally suitable for controlling the optimized plant inventory.

[0040] For the sake of clarity, the same reference symbols are always used in the figures for identical or comparable components.

[0041] Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of an arrangement 10, by means of which exemplary embodiment variants of the methods according to the invention are explained.

[0042] The arrangement 10 comprises a performance determination device 11, a summarization device 12 subordinate to the performance determination device 11, an evaluation device 13 subordinate to the summarization device 12, and a modification device 14 subordinate to the evaluation device 13. In addition, a data processing system 100 comprises a scraping tool 15, which the performance determination device 11 can access as needed.

[0043] The aforementioned devices, namely the performance determination device 11, the summarization device 12, the evaluation device 13, the modification device 14 and the scraping tool 15, are formed by software modules of a computer program product CPP, which is stored in a memory 110 of the data processing system 100 and can be executed by a computing device 120 of the data processing system 100.

[0044] Arrangement 10 can, for example, operate as follows:

[0045] In a first phase, if an initial plant description IAB is entered into the data processing system 100 (see Figure 1), it is processed by the performance determination unit 11. The initial plant description IAB comprises, for each of, for example, m (m is a natural number) technical systems of a given plant inventory AG, which may already be realized or still in the planning phase, preferably plant data AD, which corresponds to the 202413790

[0046] 7

[0047] Performance determination device 11 enables the calculation of plant-related performance indicators.

[0048] If the initial plant description IAB for the performance determination unit 11 contains insufficient data, the performance determination unit 11 can use the scraping tool 15 to perform an internet search based on the initial plant description IAB and automatically query the plant data AD required for calculating the plant-related performance indicators from the internet.

[0049] Subsequently, the performance determination unit 11 calculates a plant-specific actual performance indicator (IALK) of the first type for each plant in the plant inventory AG, which describes a characteristic of the respective m-th plant. The m plant-specific actual performance indicators (IALK) of the first type can, for example, describe the energy consumption caused by each m-th plant through energy withdrawal from a connected energy supply network EVN.

[0050] Using the simulated plant-related performance indicators (IALK) of the first type, the aggregation unit 12 determines a plant-related actual performance indicator (IBLK) of the first type for the plant portfolio AG and forwards it to the evaluation unit 13. In this example, the plant-related actual performance indicator (IBLK) of the first type describes the energy consumption of the entire plant portfolio AG, i.e., the total energy that the plant portfolio AG draws from the EVN energy supply network. In the described case, the aggregation unit 12 can determine the plant-related actual performance indicator (IBLK) of the first type, for example, by simply summing the plant-related actual performance indicators (IBLK) of the first type according to:

[0051] The following example assumes that the plant inventory AG described in the initial plant description IAB has not yet reached the desired optimum because the energy consumption of the plant inventory AG is too high. Accordingly, the evaluation unit 13, which is subordinate to the summary unit 12, will determine that the inventory-related actual performance indicator IBLK still does not meet a predefined target criterion.

[0052] 8 is not fulfilled. In such a case, the evaluation unit 13 forwards the inventory-related actual performance indicator IBLK to the modification unit 14.

[0053] The modification unit 14 is prompted to perform a modification step by the transmission of the inventory-related actual performance indicator IBLK. Within this modification step, the modification unit 14 determines a plant modification that describes a modified design of one or more plants in the plant inventory AG and is intended to reduce energy consumption, and generates a modified plant description MAB that defines a resulting modified plant inventory AG, or a modification measure that would lead to a corresponding modified plant inventory AG.

[0054] In the present case, a modified design of the systems and / or measures leading to the modified design may include the additional installation of solar energy systems for internal energy generation or the use of specific energy-saving measures such as an improvement in thermal insulation to reduce the energy consumption of air conditioning units.

[0055] The modified plant description MAB is returned to the performance determination unit 11, which performs a new calculation, generating modified plant-related performance indicators (see Figure 2). These are subsequently referred to as simulated plant-related performance indicators to distinguish them from the initial actual performance indicators IALK, and are marked with the reference symbol ALK in Figure 2. The m simulated plant-related performance indicators ALK are then forwarded to the summarization unit 12, which uses them to calculate a simulated inventory-related performance indicator BLK.

[0056] The simulated inventory-related performance indicator BLK is sent to the evaluation unit 13, which uses it to check whether the target criterion is met or not.

[0057] If the target criterion is met, the assessment unit 13 will issue a data record DS describing the modified design of the facilities and / or the measures leading to the modified design. In the present case, the modified design of the facilities and / or the measures leading to the modified design would, as mentioned, for example, include the installation of solar energy systems for internal use (202413790).

[0058] 9

[0059] This includes energy generation or the implementation of specific energy-saving measures such as improving thermal insulation.

[0060] If, however, the target criterion is not met, the simulated inventory-related performance indicator BLK is forwarded to the modification unit 14 and one or more further iterations of the optimization procedure or optimization loop are carried out, which is formed by the performance determination unit 11, the summary unit 12, the evaluation unit 13 and the modification unit 14, until the target criterion or another termination criterion is met.

[0061] When determining further plant modifications, the modification unit 14 can, for example, take into account the inventory-related performance indicators (BLK) previously transmitted by the evaluation unit 13. This approach enables the modification unit 14 to identify previous changes that have significantly improved the plant based on the optimization history and to prioritize particularly promising changes.

[0062] Figure 3 shows a second embodiment of an arrangement 10 according to the invention, by means of which exemplary embodiment variants of the methods according to the invention are explained.

[0063] The arrangement 10 according to Figure 3 corresponds to the arrangement 10 according to Figures 1 and 2, with the difference that the performance determination device 11 enables the calculation of plant-related performance indicators for each of, for example, m technical systems of a given plant inventory AG. These are ALK of different types, for example, of the first to nth type (n is a natural number that can differ from m). A first type can, for example, describe the energy consumption of the systems, as has been described above in connection with Figures 1 and 2, and a second type can, for example, describe the CO2 emissions of the systems.

[0064] Using the asset-related performance indicators ALK of the first to nth type, the aggregation unit 12 determines asset-related performance indicators BLK of the first to nth type for the asset portfolio AG and forwards these to the valuation unit 13. 202413790

[0065] 10

[0066] The inventory-related actual performance indicators of the first to nth type are evaluated by the evaluation unit 13: If the plant condition described by the inventory-related performance indicators BLK of the first to nth type reaches a desired level, the evaluation unit 13 issues a data set DS that describes the corresponding design of the plants and / or measures that lead to the corresponding design; in this regard, reference is made to the above explanations in connection with the first embodiment, which apply accordingly here.

[0067] If the inventory-related performance indicators (BLK) of the first to nth type, either individually or collectively in the sense of an overall assessment (where individual performance indicators may not necessarily have to reach an individual threshold), do not yet meet the specified target criterion, the evaluation unit 13 forwards the inventory-related performance indicators (BLK) of the first to nth type to the modification unit 14, so that the optimization loop of the optimization procedure described above is repeated until the target criterion or another termination criterion is met; in this respect, reference is also made to the above explanations in connection with the first embodiment, which apply accordingly here.

[0068] Figure 4 shows a third embodiment of an arrangement 10 according to the invention, by means of which exemplary embodiment variants of the methods according to the invention are explained.

[0069] The arrangement 10 according to Figure 4 corresponds to the arrangement 10 according to Figure 3 with the difference that the performance determination device 11 operates by including a discretization of the search space, namely cluster-related and not plant-specific; this can mean, for example, that the performance determination device 11 assigns each of the technical plants described in the plant description IAB or MAB to a plant cluster by means of an internal cluster module CM and that the calculation of the plant-related performance indicators ALK of the first to nth kind is carried out on the basis of the properties of a cluster reference plant assigned to the respective cluster.

[0070] The modification unit also operates by incorporating this discretization of the search space, i.e., cluster-based, and, using an internal cluster module CM, considers only those plant modifications when determining the modified plant description MAB that lead to plants which can each be assigned to one of the clusters considered by the performance determination unit 11. (With 202413790)

[0071] In other words, plant configurations that are not cluster-compatible would be disregarded during optimization.

[0072] Clustering can, for example, take into account that the systems should only be equipped with components of specified component types: For example, it can be taken into account that solar modules are only available in certain sizes and with certain performance specifications, or that only those with specified sizes and with specified performance specifications should be installed.

[0073] Furthermore, the above statements relating to Figure 3 apply accordingly to the third embodiment according to Figure 4.

[0074] Alternatively, in the arrangement according to Figure 4, it can be provided that for all technically possible plant variants and accordingly all technically possible plant inventories or plant fleets, in particular for example for all cluster-compliant plant variants and all technically possible combinations of cluster-compliant plant variants, the resulting inventory-related performance indicators BLK1 to BLKn are determined and only then is the plant configuration selected that yields the best inventory-related performance indicators BLK1 to BLKn in the overall consideration.

[0075] In such a case, the evaluation body 13 only completes the optimization loop when all technically possible plant inventories or plant fleets have been recorded and the resulting inventory-related performance indicators BLK1 to BLKn are available; only when this is the case does the evaluation body 13 make the final decision as to which of the plant inventories or which of the plant fleet is considered optimal.

[0076] Figure 5 shows a fourth embodiment of an arrangement 10 according to the invention, by means of which exemplary embodiment variants of the methods according to the invention are explained.

[0077] The arrangement 10 according to Figure 5 corresponds to the arrangement 10 according to Figure 3, with the difference that the performance determination device 11 operates under the assumption that the plant-related performance indicators ALK change linearly with a rate of change related to the scope of the respective modification measure. Accordingly, the performance determination device 11 can determine plant-related performance indicators by multiplying an internally stored rate of change dALK / dU with a value from the 202413790

[0078] 12

[0079] Modification facility to perform the received scope specification U, which merely defines the scope of each desired change measure.

[0080] Furthermore, the above statements relating to Figure 3 apply accordingly to the fourth embodiment according to Figure 5.

[0081] Figure 6 shows a fifth embodiment of an arrangement 10 according to the invention, by means of which exemplary embodiment variants of the methods according to the invention are explained.

[0082] In the arrangement according to Figure 6, it is provided that after finding the modified design that fulfills the target criterion, the evaluation device 13 additionally generates an operating data set BDS, which contains operating parameters suitable for the operation of the modified design of the plants in the plant inventory.

[0083] Furthermore, the above statements relating to Figures 3 to 5 can apply accordingly to the fifth embodiment according to Figure 6, depending on the design of the optimization procedure.

[0084] Figure 7 shows a sixth embodiment of an arrangement 10 according to the invention, by means of which exemplary embodiment variants of the methods according to the invention are explained.

[0085] In the arrangement according to Figure 7, a control module 16 is provided which observes the operating behavior of the plant inventory described by the data set DS in real operation and, based on observation information I, adjusts the operating parameters of the operating data set BDS during plant operation by forming a modified operating data set BDS' if the actually observed operating behavior deviates from the simulated expected operating behavior.

[0086] Furthermore, the above statements relating to Figure 6 apply accordingly to the embodiment shown in Figure 7.

[0087] Figure 8 shows a seventh embodiment of an arrangement 10 according to the invention, which serves as an example to illustrate various embodiments of the methods according to the invention. 202413790

[0088] 13

[0089] In the arrangement shown in Figure 8, the control module 16 is designed to determine plant characteristics by generating a new initial plant description IAB', which is then used for a renewed execution of the optimization procedure to optimize the plant inventory. The determination of the new initial plant description IAB' can be carried out, for example, if the actually observed operating behavior deviates from the simulated expected operating behavior beyond a predefined limit.

[0090] Furthermore, the above statements relating to Figure 7 apply accordingly to the embodiment shown in Figure 8.

[0091] Furthermore, in all arrangements described in connection with Figures 1 to 8, it can be provided that the optimization procedure starts with an initial plant modification and that this initial plant modification is modified during the optimization process until the modified configuration fulfilling the target criterion is found. For example, the modification device 14 can process such an initial plant modification IAF, as shown by way of example in Figure 2, which is representative of all figures.

[0092] Finally, it should be mentioned that the features of all the embodiments described above can be combined with each other in any way to form further embodiments of the invention.

[0093] Furthermore, all features of dependent claims can be combined individually with each of the dependent claims, either alone or in any combination with one or more other dependent claims, to obtain further embodiments. 202413790

[0094] 14

[0095] Reference symbol list

[0096] 10 Arrangement

[0097] 11 Performance determination device

[0098] 12 Summary facility

[0099] 13 Assessment institution

[0100] 14 Modification facility

[0101] 15 scraping tools

[0102] 16 Control module 100 Data processing system

[0103] 110 storage

[0104] 120 computer equipment

[0105] AD Investment Data

[0106] AG Asset Inventory

[0107] ALK plant-related performance indicator

[0108] BDS operational data set

[0109] BDS' modified operational data set

[0110] BLK inventory-related performance indicator

[0111] CM Cluster Module

[0112] CPP computer program product dALK / dU rate of change DS data set EVN energy supply network I observation information IAB initial plant description

[0113] IAB's new initial asset description

[0114] IAF initial plant modification

[0115] IBLK inventory-related actual performance indicator

[0116] IALK plant-related actual performance indicator m natural number

[0117] MAB modified plant description n natural number U perimeter specification

Claims

202413790 15 Patent claims 1. Computer-implemented method for optimizing technical systems of a given inventory of systems (AG) using a data processing system (100), characterized in that - for each technical system in the specified system inventory (AG), a system-related actual performance indicator (IAKL) of the first type is determined, which describes a characteristic of the respective system, - using the asset-related actual performance indicators (IAKL) of the first type, an inventory-related actual performance indicator (IBKL) of the first type of the asset inventory (AG) is formed, which describes the characteristic in relation to the asset inventory (AG), and - an optimization procedure is carried out in which - Plant modifications are simulated and for each simulated plant modification at least one simulated plant-related performance indicator (PPI) of the first type is determined, - using the simulated plant-related performance indicators (ALK) of the first type, a simulated inventory-related performance indicator (BLK) of the first type is formed for each simulated plant modification, - a modified design of one or more assets in the asset portfolio (AG) is sought, which leads to an improvement in the simulated asset-related performance indicator (BLK) of the first type - compared with the asset-related actual performance indicator (IBKL) of the first type - according to a predefined target criterion, and - if a modified design that meets the target criterion is found, a data record (DS) is output that describes the modified design of the systems and / or measures that lead to the modified design.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the determination of plant data (AD) which enables a calculation of the plant-related performance indicators (ALK) includes an automated internet search with a scraping tool (15) and access to databases with publicly available information.

3. Method according to any of the preceding claims, 202413790 16 characterized in that the plant-related actual performance indicator (IAKL) of the first type, the inventory-related actual performance indicator (IBKL) of the first type, the simulated plant-related performance indicators (ALK) of the first type and the simulated inventory-related performance indicators (BLK) of the first type each describe the same technical quantity or - in the case of a summary of individual criteria into a summary indicator - are based on the same technical quantities.

4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plant-related actual performance indicator (IAKL) of the first type, the inventory-related actual performance indicator (IBKL) of the first type, the simulated plant-related performance indicators (ALK) of the first type and the simulated inventory-related performance indicators (BLK) of the first type are each defined as a technical parameter. - directly specify the CO2 emissions of the respective plant or plant portfolio (AG) or at least take them into account or - specify directly or at least also take into account the duration of continued operation of the respective plant or plant inventory (AG) in the event of a failure of an external energy supply network (EVN) supplying the plants or - to directly specify the energy consumption of the respective plant or plant inventory (AG) or at least to also take this into account or - to directly state the energy costs of the respective plant or plant portfolio (AG) or at least to also take them into account or - specify the operating costs of the respective plant or plant inventory (AG) or at least take them into account or - directly specify the remaining service life of the respective plant or plant inventory (AG) or at least take this into account or - directly quantify the sustainability of the respective plant or plant portfolio (AG) or at least take it into account or - directly quantify the share of sustainably generated energy in the total energy consumption of the respective plant or plant portfolio (AG) or at least take this into account.

5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that 202413790 17 - for each asset in the asset portfolio (AG), asset-related performance indicators (AKL) of two or more different types are determined and these are summarized into two or more corresponding asset-related performance indicators (BKL) of the respective type, - within the framework of the optimization process, for each plant modification of one or more plants in the plant inventory (AG), the simulated inventory-related performance indicators (BLK) of the two or more types are determined and - the target criterion stipulates that all or at least a specified minimum number of simulated inventory-related performance indicators (PIs) must meet a species-specific individual criterion.

6. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - the optimization process involves discretizing the search space and assumes, when searching for the design that fulfills the target criterion, that the systems are subject to externally specified boundary conditions, and - only those plant modifications within the optimization process are taken into account when calculating the plant-related and inventory-related performance indicators (PIAs) that relate to plants that meet the externally specified boundary conditions.

7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that for all plant modifications that lead to plants fulfilling the externally specified boundary conditions, the simulated existing-related performance indicators (BRIs) are formed and, based on all determined existing-related performance indicators (BRIs), the modified design or one of the modified configurations fulfilling the target criterion is selected.

8. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the optimization method starts from an initial plant modification (IAM) and this initial plant modification (IAM) is modified within the scope of the optimization until the modified design fulfilling the target criterion is found.

9. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that 202413790 18 - when searching for the design that meets the target criterion, the assets of the asset portfolio (AG) are considered in a cluster-related manner by first assigning each asset to one of at least two different clusters and calculating the respective simulated asset-related performance indicators (APIs) based on the properties of a cluster reference asset assigned to the respective cluster and / or - When searching for the design that meets the target criteria, the measures are selected by creating a predefined catalog of measures, in which a large number of possible measures are listed.

10. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - when searching for the design that fulfills the target criterion, it is assumed that the plant-related performance indicators (ALK) change linearly with a rate of change (dALK / dU) related to the scope (U) of the respective change measure, and - the calculation of the plant-related performance indicators (ALK) includes the multiplication of the rate of change (dALK / dU) with the respective scope of change (dU) provided for by the change measure.

11. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - the target criterion stipulates that a desired minimum improvement in the simulated inventory-related performance indicator (BLK) is achieved and / or - the target criterion stipulates that a maximum increase in the simulated inventory-related performance indicator (BLK) is achieved for a given effort in changing the system.

12. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the formation of the inventory-related performance indicators (BLK) includes an averaging of the plant-related performance indicators (ALK).

13. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that 202413790 19. After finding the modified design that meets the target criterion, an operating data set (ODS) is generated which contains suitable operating parameters for the operation of the modified design of the plants of the plant inventory (AG).

14. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the operating behavior of the modified configuration of the plant inventory fulfilling the target criterion is observed in real operation and the operating parameters of the operating data set are adjusted during plant operation if the actually observed operating behavior deviates from the simulated operating behavior.

15. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the operating behavior of the modified design of the plant inventory fulfilling the target criterion is observed in real operation and new plant characteristics are determined, which are then used for a renewed execution of the method for optimizing the plant inventory.

16. Computer program product, characterized in that the computer program product (CPP) comprises program instructions to cause a data processing system (100) to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 when the computer program product (CPP) is executed on the data processing system (100).

17. Data processing system (100), characterized in that the data processing system (100) is programmed with a computer program product (CPP) according to claim 16 or at least is stored in a memory (110) of the data processing system (100).

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