Bulk Material Portion Tracking for Precise Footprint Costing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional industrial processing of bulk materials lacks the ability to precisely determine environmental and other costs, leading to rough estimates and a lack of transparency in the environmental footprint of products.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for industrial processing that involves defining material portions, generating unique identifiers, and tracking these portions through multiple process steps to determine costs such as energy consumption, carbon emissions, and fuel usage, using a processor and data system to generate history data sets and aggregated costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional industrial processing methods are used, then the processing can be performed with simple methods, but the environmental footprint and costs can only be estimated on a very rough scale
Solution Approach 1:
The bulk material is divided into discrete material portions, each assigned a unique identifier. This segmentation enables individual tracking of environmental costs and resource consumption for each portion through multiple process steps, transforming rough aggregate estimates into precise measurements for specific material units.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms by continuously collecting process sensor data, determining costs for each process step, and generating history data sets that are aggregated to provide accurate environmental footprint information. This feedback loop enables precise tracking and measurement of environmental costs throughout the industrial processing chain.
2Loss of information
If detailed tracking of material portions through multiple process steps is implemented, then precise environmental cost determination is achieved, but the system complexity and data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs universal data structures and processing methods that can handle multiple types of environmental cost data (energy consumption, fuel costs, carbon emissions) through a unified framework. The history data set structure and aggregation methods are designed to be multi-functional, accommodating various process steps and material portions without requiring separate complex systems for each data type.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 1C~2
Figure 3A
AI summary
A method (200) of industrial processing of a bulk material, the industrial, processing comprising a plurality of process steps (100), the method (200) comprising defining a material portion (110) of the bulk material; generating a material portion identifier (120) associated with the material portion (110); processing the material portion (110) in at least two process steps of the plurality of process steps (100); the method (200) comprising for each process step of the at least two process steps: determining a cost of processing the material portion (110) in the process step; and generating a history data set, wherein the history data set is indicative of the cost, the process step and the material portion identifier (120); and wherein the method (200) further comprises determining an aggregated cost based on the history data sets.